Tuesday's Tip

today's tuesday's tip is brought to you courtesy of my sister, laura.

i like this tip because it's a good christmas follow-up... and it involves using something you already have (instead of buying something).  laura takes old christmas cards (like the ones she received this year) and cuts off the front pictures to use them as gift tags on next year's presents.  you can make these gift tags as small or as large as you want and then simply use a hole punch to make a place to thread ribbon through and attach to your gift.  this is a great plan for when you run out of those nifty little sticky-gift labels and (if you're like me) refuse to buy more and simply resort to using a ball-point pen to label gifts.  yes, i do that.  reused cards make gifts look a bit more special but won't cost you a thing.  and that's important to me.  it's not that i don't like to spend money on gifts... but the actual wrapping and tags, which are quickly disregarded and thrown away, are not where i want the bulk of my finances to go.

another reason this tip works for me is because it gives a second use to christmas cards.  i enjoy sending cards.  i send a lot (much to my husband's amazement: do we know that many people??)  but, again, during a season when money is burnt up as quickly as the wood in my woodbox during these 20 degree winters, i don't like spending the bulk of my resources on christmas cards.  granted, they are usually appreciated, but they serve a rather short-lived purpose.  this year, i actually ordered our christmas cards in july simply because i found a really great deal.  laura's reminder to find another use for these friendly hellos stretches their value a bit more.