• Remember what went well—it’s so easy to say “I wish I’d been able to buy more” or “The tree wasn’t big enough” but why not focus instead on what went well over the holidays? Did your lonely neighbor make a new friend at your Christmas brunch? Was your daughter thrilled by the gift of her grandmother’s jewelry? Make a list of what made you sad and then run it through the shredder. There, it’s over! Now, make a list of the things that made you smile and keep it close to help you over the post-holiday hurdle.

• Practice gratitude—somewhere in the world there is someone who would LOVE to have a Christmas like you had this year. Make the decision to practice gratitude in each holiday situation. Cookies burn before the big party? Aren’t you glad you have friends you can call to bring more? Rained every day of your holiday trip? Wasn’t it fabulous to be anywhere else but at the office? Retrain your mind to be thankful, no matter what the circumstances. It makes you more fun to be around, and you won’t spend January counting your regrets.

• Examine your expectations—what was it you were expecting to happen that didn’t this Christmas? Was it a realistic expectation, or were you going for perfection? Sometimes our expectations set us up for disappointment. Allowing holidays to be less than perfect goes a long way toward alleviating post-Christmas stress.

It’s our goal, here at Holiday Assistants, to help each of you have a wonderful, stress-free Christmas. No matter how much help you have, though, your holidays may not be exactly as you’d hoped.

Help yourself avoid post-Christmas regrets by keeping things in perspective. With a little expectation control and a heart filled with gratitude for the good things, you’re going to be so much happier as you put away the ornaments this year.

The truth is, even in these difficult times, most of us still have many things to look forward to in 2010. To keep my life in perspective, I’ve made a list of the things I’m happy are a part of it. I hope you’ll do the same.

• We can certainly celebrate our families! What would our lives be like without the people closest to us? Let’s make sure our loved ones know we’re happy to have them near us this New Year’s Day.

• Let’s hear it for friendships! I’m surrounded by warm, wonderful people who aren’t afraid to tell me the truth. What a great thing to look forward to in 2010!

• We can keep learning! My vote is for growing and learning more than we ever have in the coming year. Let’s find mentors and role models, training and education and let’s be smarter and more competent by New Year’s Day 2011.

• We live in freedom! If you’re reading this from many parts of the world, you can celebrate the freedom in which you live. I’m so grateful I can start a business, live where I choose and become whomever I want as an American.

• We’re smart, creative people! The people I’ve heard from on this blog are innovative thinkers looking for a better way to work and care for their families. On January 1, let’s set our minds to finding solutions for the problems that plague us.

I have no doubt, readers and friends, that the coming year is going to be a great one! Allow me to encourage you to look for the best in your lives on New Year’s Day. Set aside the discouragements of 2009 and focus your wonderful creativity on making the lives of the people around you better. Grow a business, build a family, help your neighbors. If we can center our attention on those things, I guarantee, we’ll all be better off this time next year.

New Year’s Eve Party Themes
Why simply greet your guests with drinks and hors d’oeuvres when you can build your party around a theme? Entice your guests to get into the spirit with theme invitations, decorations and refreshments. Here are some great party themes that easily lend themselves to ringing in the New Year:

•    60s, 70s or 80s Party! Depending on your guests’ age group, pick a decade and go all out! No need to spend a lot on decorations, invites or food. For a Sixties Party, draw a pair of bell bottom jeans or a peace symbol as your invitation template. A disco ball would make a great 70s invitation, as would a printed picture of an 80s movie cast.

Invite everyone to wear their “hippie gear”, Disco wear or 80s leg warmers and big bangs. Ask them to bring pics from the past, too. Put those pictures on a table or wall and see who can identify the most “Golden Oldies.” Decade trivia questions and a dance contest to music from your theme decade round out the party.

Sixties food: fondue and anything on a stick, “red beer” made with tomato juice or Vodka Collins. Seventies party food: Watergate salad, fried cauliflower or mushrooms, deviled eggs and chicken ‘drumettes’ with sauce. Cocktails should definitely include daiquiris. Eighties food: Pasta salad, chocolate mousse, mini pesto pizzas and quiche; at the bar, serve pina coladas.

•    Casino Party! Another way to handle a large crowd is with a casino party. No need to buy expensive equipment; poker tables can be created with cards and poker chips. Set up an area for throwing dice, and even a bingo game can work into this theme. There are playing card invitation templates available, or make your own, then decorate your party area with playing card-themed centerpieces and wall designs.

Keep things friendly by playing for inexpensive prizes such as small gift certificates or baskets of cookies. Serve food that’s portable (think “bar menu”) so no one has to leave the tables long. Make the party BYOB and provide setups, or furnish beer. Whether your crowd is into Texas Hold’em or less intense gambling, there’s a way to hold a casino themed party that works.

•    Fiesta! It’s easy and inexpensive to entertain a crowd with an Hispanic-themed New Year’s Eve party. Choose brightly colored paper to print invitations. Serve easy food like chili con carne’, tacos, burritos and nachos, or get fancy with seviche’, carne’ asada or fish tacos. Make your own salsa to save some cash. Have the makings for margaritas available, and serve domestic or Mexican brews.

Decorate your house in cactus, sombreros, chili peppers, and tissue flowers. Use red, white and green tablecloths. Mini terra cotta pots holding a cactus or two make good center pieces, accents and take-home gifts. Use larger terra cotta pots to hold chips and utensils.

No matter how you set the theme for your New Year’s Eve party, this is definitely a good year to hold one! Start everyone’s year on a fun note and it could be the start of a truly Happy New Year.

No worries! I’ve put together a quick list of green-friendly ways to pack and store your Christmas decorations.

• Save the Boxes! Not everyone thinks to save the original ornament packages. Taking the time to carefully open packages and save them is definitely green! By the way, when you buy new ornaments, look for ones with minimal packaging, too.

• Reuse Boxes from Other Sources. Wine boxes, in particular, are perfect for packing smaller round ornaments. The dividers keep them separated and protect them from breakage. If you don’t have boxes of your own, ask Trader Joe’s, a wine dealer or your local supermarket if they have boxes to spare.

• Go Green with Packaging. The paper in your shredder makes the perfect packing around delicate ornaments. You can also save your wrapping paper for the same purpose.

• Involve Others! Hoping to encourage others in your life to go green? Why not ask friends and family what packing materials they have to spare, and exchange until everyone has enough?

• Buy as Little as Possible. Anything you can do to keep from buying new materials helps. If you simply don’t have enough boxes to pack your decorations securely, buy sturdy containers that will last several years. Also, look for boxes and containers that use the least materials.

There’s no reason why over-packaging has to end the post-Christmas glow. Buying ornaments in packages you can use to repack them is the first step. Deciding to recycle other boxes, rather than buying more, and involving others in your green-friendly Christmas all help reduce the materials being produced or headed for the landfill.

Now, doesn’t that sound like a better way to wind up the holidays? I hope you’ll let me know what other green packing ideas you use this year when putting Christmas back in the box.

We are grateful for the opportunity to spread the spirit of the season with everyone who walks through the doors at SCCA house. By bringing a touch of the holiday to such a place we hope to have brought warmth and energy to an otherwise blank canvas.

Spreading the cheer and sparkle of the holidays always brings a smile to all of our elves’ faces. This job in particular brought home the true meaning of the season.

Charity is such an incomplete word, because it doesn’t fully describe the action of giving in a time of need. To give something so simple is easy, what you receive from that action is enormous. Ask anyone who has helped out at a soup kitchen or worked for a charity what it’s like and you don’t get a recitation of a grueling day’s work. You get all the stories from the lives that were touched.

Great Tip #1: Nesting Works Wonders!
Remember those children’s toys that fit inside each other? You’d open up the largest barrel, and a series of smaller and smaller barrels appeared. That’s a great principle for holiday decoration storage. Find a group of boxes that fit inside each other, with several inches to spare. Here’s the packing sequence: pack the smallest box completely full. Place it inside the second smallest (should be several inches left empty around the margins) then fill in the empty space with flexible, unbreakable decorations. Continue the sequence until you use all your boxes. You’ll end up using only enough space to store the largest box! Another nesting idea: save egg cartons and use them to store ornaments, and then place them inside a larger box to keep them contained. Think of the time you’ll save carrying only one box to the basement!

Great Tip #2: Paper Rolls Save Time When Storing Lights!
If you don’t have the original packaging for your holiday light strands, wind them onto empty gift wrap rolls as you take them down. Watch for burned-out bulbs and replace them as you store. Stand all your rolls of lights in one box or basket until next year. No more wasting hours untangling last year’s lights!

Great Tip #3: Sock Away Those Candles
Many of us reuse decorative candles from Christmas to the next, but hate the dings and dust they gather. We could, of course, buy special boxes with dividers to store them, but here’s a space and money saving way to keep candles clean from one year to the next. Slide candles into large crew socks, tie the top, then hang them from beams or rafters or slip the socks into an unused piece of luggage (just be sure to mark the bag with a bow to remind you!)

Great Tip #4: Mix it Up!
If you have lots of holiday linens you store in bins, why not slip fragile decorations within each fold? Tree-toppers, ceramic figurines, and other breakables don’t require extra storage space with this method. When unpacking next year, unfold and empty one linen at a time to prevent breakage.

Great Tip #5: Bag It!
No matter how green we attempt to be over the holidays, we usually wind up with durable plastic or paper bags from stores or gift wrapping. Why not reuse all those bags to hold lightweight decorations? Remember to save all of your gift wrap for packing and wrapping, too.

With a little thought, anyone can find ways to pack and store holiday decorations that save time and space. I like to tell my clients, “Use what you have, combine what you can and look for unused space.”

Whether you’re storing your artificial tree in over-the-car garage shelves or packing your breakables in seldom-used suitcases, be on the lookout for more unconventional and time-saving ways to store your decorations. We’d love to hear your ideas!

1.    Gifts for Senior Citizens: Vow this year to stop with the fruitcakes and handkerchiefs! If they’re tech savvy, buy them software, an mp3 player or computer accessories. Older travelers would appreciate a car safety kit, an easy-to-use GPS, compact map sets or a digital camera. One more thought: give your time and a scrapbook kit to help them put together special memories.
2.    Gifts for Kids: Get kids off the couch and back outdoors with active gifts: in-line skates (with helmet!), sports equipment like basketballs and baseball gloves, running shoes and yard games. You could also give the gift of a day for just the two of you to scour the consignment sporting goods shops most cities have. For days indoors, buy fun educational software. Check out Software for Kids for the newest games with a purpose.
3.    Gifts for ‘Tweens: Give ‘tween girls another goal besides becoming a pop star by encouraging them to read great books. The American Library Association publishes a top ten book list for young readers each year. Are your young teens skaters, gamers or techies? Find magazines that feed that genre and subscribe in your ‘tween’s name. One more great idea: take your young teen to cultural and educational experiences – lectures, gallery shows, concerts, science demonstrations. The time spent doing so could be a real gift to his future.
4.    Gifts for Teens: A reader told me she bought gas gift cards for young drivers last year, along with large strobe flashlights for their cars. Another teen gift outside the norm is the gift of history. Create a scrapbook or digital photo album with their family history in pictures. Take your teens skiing, snowmobiling or cave exploring, any type of adventure trip gift that will spark an interest outside the Internet.
5.    Gifts for College Students: Obviously, college students like to receive money to supplement meager funds. But what about making a basket of groceries, laundry supplies or toiletries? Find out how they travel to class and order train or subway passes. Have their car detailed during Christmas break. Buy them a membership to a gym they’ve mentioned. If the dorm allows appliances, think espresso makers or mini microwaves.
6.    Gifts for Young Professionals: Surprisingly, one of the things the young career set misses most is home cooking. Make casseroles and freeze them in small containers that can go straight into the microwave. Packed in a soft-side cooler, they’re easy to take home (and bring back for more!)
7.    Gifts for Young Marrieds’: Remember what it was like just getting started? They may have registered for china, crystal and silver, but few couples receive everything they need to set up house. Encourage a green married lifestyle with household gifts from Gaiam.
8.    Gifts for Parents: Trust me, every parent has had a day or two when they questioned whether they were equipped to raise children! Books, DVDs and mp3s on parenting issues, given with empathy, can really help. Another great gift for parents in your life – a day to themselves. Create a gift certificate awarding them a Saturday without kids, and then show up to babysit. They might also appreciate a “grown-up basket” filled with books by their favorite authors (check used bookstores), munchies and a set of foam earplugs!
9.    Gifts for Baby Boomers: Not everyone with grey hair is quite ready to settle down to retirement. Many over 50’s are working full-time and caring for older parents, and maybe even grandchildren. Why not give a massage gift certificate, an invitation to a dinner they don’t have to cook or a mix of great mp3 music they’ve mentioned?
10.    Gifts for Party Hosts & Last Minute Guests: I always like to have some small gifts made or purchased to give as hostess gifts or for last minute arrivals. Bake miniature fruit breads or shortbread and freeze it until the day you need it. Wrap in colorful plastic wrap and use those gift bags you recycled from last year to make them festive. If you want to go all out, shop your local dried fruit & nut vendor for goodies you can drop into the gift bags.

Geared up now to get started with this year’s gifts? Remember, if money is an issue, give time or the fruit of your individual talents. Let’s take the pressure off to buy more this year, and focus on giving gifts that reflect our relationships, instead.

1. Start with a clean, healthy tree – Whether you buy your live tree from a lot or cut it yourself at a tree farm, it’s important to choose a fresh, green tree and to clear out debris before putting it in the stand. Remember, at some point in the past it was growing in the great outdoors! Leaves, dead needles and even bird’s nests may be hidden in the branches. Use your gloved hands to gently brush debris from your tree if your tree vendor doesn’t use a “shaker.”

2. Use the right stand – This is a biggie! If you set out to buy a three foot tree and come home with one that brushes the ceiling, your flimsy tree stand may not hold it. Don’t risk your beautifully decorated tree falling over; make sure your tree stands firmly without any wobble. One more tip: your pre-cut tree’s trunk may be sealed to keep it fresh. Ask your tree vendor to cut a half-inch slice off the bottom to allow water to flow freely up the trunk.

3. Water, water, water! – And speaking of water—it’s the magic ingredient that keeps your Christmas tree fresh. Fill your tree stand with water as soon as your tree is in place, then check daily to see if it’s been absorbed.

By the way, people swear by their special concoctions that prolong the life of their Christmas trees. I’ve heard of adding sugar, aspirin, or a really exotic brew of micronized iron, bleach, and corn syrup to the water to keep your tree fresh longer. There are also several commercial Christmas tree preservatives you can use, but the big secret is making sure it gets enough water.

4. Keep your tree out of hot spots – To keep your tree from getting too dry, be sure to keep it away from heating vents. No sense having a miniature Santa Ana wind blowing across your tree and presents!

5. Don’t let your tree linger too long – Once Christmas is over, be sure to discard it if it’s showing signs of drying. Even the healthiest cut tree will begin dropping needles after a few weeks in the tree stand, so don’t let your Christmas tree linger too long once the presents have all been unwrapped.

There’s nothing quite like a live Christmas tree to set the tone for the holidays. Choose a healthy tree and make sure you use the right stand. Water your tree daily and don’t expose it to heat. That’s all it takes to have a beautiful live tree that will last to the end of the season!

A full-time student and single mother, Tina only wants what every parent wants during the holiday season. To see her daughter’s eyes light up with the joy of the season. But after a year of upheaval there just isn’t any budget left for sparkle. So what do you do when your little girl tells you her only wish for the season is to have a holiday tree?

On November 29^th Holiday Assistants will bring this simple bit of sparkle to a little girl who wants it more than anything else. But that’s not all we will be bringing. You see, it’s not enough to just fulfill the little dreams. We prefer to share the magic within them as well. On this special day we will also bring along a few special things so we are sure to see the sparkle in this families eyes for a long time to come.