christmas

I guess I coulda skipped a Top Ten {Tuesday} today… I mean there are only FOUR more shopping cleaning days till Christmas! I know most of you will be jumping off your computer and into real life this week. But for those of us who carry our laptops around on a chain, I figured a Top Ten linky would be good!

And speaking of online and off-line life, here are the…

Top Ten Online Things That Have Made My IRL Christmas Easier

1. Reindeer Noses

How great is this? The EASIEST teacher-friend-neighbor gift EVER. Just drop some red-green M&Ms into a clear ornament and slap this FREE PRINTABLE tag on it. This is what we gave Lydia and Asa’s teachers at church. Everyone thought they were clever, the kids loved handing them out and I liked it because it only took 20 minutes to make 45 of them from start to finish. (I used clear bags and printed the tag on sticker paper. Here’s my version.)

2. I Share Printables

A billion awesome printables all together for your viewing and printing pleasure. Not only can you browse and print, if you have a fun printable you can link it up! I used this adorable one to decorate the outside of the package I sent to my aunt.

3. Secret Santa

This is our second year of drawing-a-name with our family. Actually, last year, we didn’t draw a name. We just bought a random gift (a good one, not white elephant) and then did that crazy stealing game. Only no one was crazy and Mama ended up with her own present because she liked it so much.

Anywhoo.

We decided to draw names because I found this cool website that will draw names for you, privately email everyone and keep track from year to year! Plus, you can add wishlists and even restrict who is matched with who. How cool is that?

4. Facebook

Do you know how many messages I have sent out on facebook this month? It’s the easiest way to find someone’s address for Christmas cards. Just message them. Every single person you know at the tip of your fingers! Yesterday I realized I have seven extra cards and updated my status to see who wanted one. Those cards were snapped up right away. OK. Only one person asked. But still. She would have missed out otherwise!

5. 1+1+1=1 Christmas Nativity Pack

This is a little printable pack with some fun games, coloring pages and more. Lydia and Asa have been playing with them all month. We actually used the Joseph and baby Jesus pattern-game to make some cards for the dads in our lives as part of our fun Advent Activities! Aren’t they cute?

6. Amazon

I don’t think I could have done Christmas without Amazon. I’ve got Amazon Prime via Amazon Mom(have you signed up for that yet?) and it’s awesome. I just click and buy. I mean, it’s free shipping. That’s like going to the store but NOT PACKING UP TWO KIDS IN WINTER COATS AND CHASING THEM AROUND THE STORE.

I think today is the last day to order and get FREE shipping AND have it delivered by Christmas. How awesome is that?! And I do hope you’ve been clicking to Amazon via your favorite blogger. Hint, hint.

7. Wraparound Labels

I  love the Christmas cards I sent out. But one reason I love them has nothing to do with the adorable picture inside. It has everything  to do with the label on the outside. I’ve been in love with wrap-around labels for a long time (you can find TONS of them on DIY Wedding blogs or on etsy).

So, I was overjoyed to find these FREE Christmas-y colored ones from A Very Chocolate Life, I knew I had to have them! I printed them off on sticker paper (BEST STUFF EVER) and then cut them with my handy dandy mini paper cutter (SECOND BEST THING EVER). And voila–awesome and adorable envelopes. PLUS–because the return address is on the back, you only have to attach ONE label instead of two. Awesome.

8. Flavors.me

I just love this idea! I heard about flavors.me from Melanie at Blogging Basics and thought it was cool for someone like me who is on every social media site out there—it’s basically a giant business card of all your social media and websites. I thought it would be super cool to have a spot for us to point our un-web-savvy friends. So, I created this page with all our contact info–address, cell phones, websites, emails, facebook profiles and more. Then I put the URL on the bottom of our Christmas cards. Smart, right?

Well, the site doesn’t always load correctly and it doesn’t really have all the knobs and twiddly bits I want. But I still like the idea of a contact-info-hub. You know, kinda like our own personal facebook. Or maybe it’s overkill. But at least my kids are cute, right?

9. Online shopping

I know I’ve mentioned this so many times. But I have loved buying gifts that actually GIVES. I’ve bought gifts from 31bits, FashionABLE, World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, Micro and AziziLife. And buying online? Even better!

10. What online thing has made your Christmas easier?

Link up your Top Ten list and join in the Top Ten {Tuesday} fun! All you have to do is WRITE a top ten list, PASTE it below, LINK back to me in your post & then start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants with facebook likes, stumbles, comments and tweets! For better and more succinct guidelines see my Top Ten {Tuesday} page!

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