Everyone's getting gift cards from me for stores where they can buy some of the items on their wish lists. I can almost hear you asking, 'Why didn't you just buy one of the items, then?' Because I can pick up most of the gift cards in the supermarket while I'm there anyway, and the rest can be mail ordered. Also because I hate hunting through a store for a particular item, and with youngsters there's no knowing if they still want what they thought they wanted when they made the lists nearly a month ago.
At least I put in enough effort to place the gift cards in attractive enclosures and to decorate the envelopes, usually with a scan of the predominant design on the front of the card. That kind of computer craft is looks a lot more time-consuming and potentially frustrating than it actually is, and I enjoy the process of working out how to get the effect I want.
I go out for my Christmas celebration and need only to prepare some food to add to the meal. I seldom have any guests around the holidays, so my only decorating consists of a ready-made, but natural, wreath on the front of the house. It's purpose is to keep the neighbors from thinking that I'm a Scrooge. If I had window candles, I'd turn them on for the first time this evening, in recognition of the solstice.
Marianna