Your full-service holiday solution!

The holidays are about giving, sharing and enjoying each other and the world around us no matter how much or how little we have. But for some, the holidays aren’t as bright as they should be. This is especially so for those who are receiving cancer treatments. It is these individuals who need the spirit of the holidays the most.

On November 29th ‘Holiday Assistants’ and ‘Brothers Holiday Lighting’ are joining up to spread the holiday spirit at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance House. SCCA House is the newest housing facility for cancer patients, their families and caregivers. Built by architects Weinstein A/U and Walsh Construction, the SCCA House is SMTG Certified. It is one of, if not the greenest building in Seattle to date. SCCA house accommodates up to 60 families in private units as a home away from home during the cancer fighting process. For more information on SCCA house visit: http://www.fhcrc.org/about/pubs/center_news/online/2009/09/SCCA_House_update.html.  It is our hope that through enlivening the common space of this building with holiday cheer we will bring happiness and a welcoming atmosphere to all who enter.

Holiday Assistants is dedicated to bringing cheer and sharing the joy of the holiday season through our decorations. Holiday Assistants has always put the community first, whether through our decorating, volunteering, or information. Bringing cheer and spreading the holiday spirit throughout the Seattle area and beyond truly brings us joy. We are delighted to be a part of “Lighting up the Holidays” and having an opportunity to share our excitement for the holiday spirit with everyone around us. Whether we are doing holiday decorating for businesses or residences, we are always delighted by the joy in our clients’ faces!

Got a guy in your life you need to buy a Christmas gift? Why settle for giving him ties and socks when, with a little imagination, you can give him a thrill on Christmas morning? Here are ten top gift ideas for Seattle men this holiday season.

1. The Gift of Games! Give your guy the gift of a second childhood by gifting him with a game. Xbox is a perennial favorite, and if he already has one, buy new games for him to enjoy. Same goes for Wii; I hear NBA 2K10 is a major man pleaser.
2. The Gift of a Smooth Shave! Men can be downright obsessive when it comes to shaving products! The Art of Shaving in Bellevue understands, and they carry a full line of premium shaving products. Choose from their incredible selection, or give him a gift certificate so he can go a little crazy in the store.
3. The Gift of Live Sports! We may not have the Sonics this year, but there’s plenty of sports action in Seattle. If your guy loves live sports, why not buy single game or season tickets for his favorite team?
4. The Gift of Green! No, I’m not an advocate of forking over money instead of a thoughtful gift! But I do love green Christmas gifts, and a recycled materials messenger bag from Alchemy Goods is perfect for the eco-conscious man in your life.
5. The Gift of Tunes! Does he roam the house singing his favorite tunes? Mp3 players are still a big hit for men who love music. If he’s already addicted to his iPod, Apple carries downloads, accessories and apps he’s bound to love.
6. The Gift of Technology! Chances are your beloved techie has been talking about a great new handheld or laptop he’s dying to have. Take notes, and then go online to find the best Seattle technology deals. One more tip: if he’s truly geeky, why not a gift certificate to Seattle’s own REPC Ebay store?
7. The Gift of Knowledge! If your sweetie always has his nose in a book, surprise him with a little more reading material. Seattle is home to some marvelous bookstores: Michael’s Books in Bellingham is a great place to find rare and out-of-print books in time for Christmas.
8. The Gift of Great Threads! If his wardrobe’s a bit threadbare, it’s time to take action. Ian in downtown Seattle has top sportswear brands and the best denim in town!
9. The Gift of Pampering! Valentine’s and Capelli’s are two of Seattle’s premium men’s salons. Pamper your guy with one of their special packages to have him looking sharp and feeling great.
10. The Gift of Classic Style! A classy gift for the man you love is a custom or vintage piece of jewelry. Browse the offerings of more than fifty jewelry artists at Facere in the City Center Building.

I hope this list leaves you inspired to buy the man in your life something special this Christmas. Seattle’s the perfect place to find it, so let’s start shopping!

You love giving gifts at Christmas to your friends and family, and you’d like those gifts to encourage a green lifestyle. That means picking gifts made from sustainable sources, that don’t contain toxic materials and have minimal packaging. You’re in luck! There are dozens of ways to give green at Christmas. Here’s my top ten list for this year:

• Anything from Vers Electronics—they manufacture iPod cases, speaker sets and other high quality electronics that use less energy and are made from sustainable materials using eco-friendly methods.

• Give rechargeable batteries and a battery charger to parents who buy electronic toys for their kids. Better yet, buy them a gift pack of the new USBCell AA batteries that recharge when plugged into a USB port.

• Pamper someone you love in an eco-friendly way by giving them 100% organic cotton bath sheets from OrganicStyle.com. Check out their full line of green gifts.

• GreenSmart Laptop Sleeves are a smart, inexpensive gift made from 100% post-consumer recycled water and soda bottles.

• Put sparkle in a teen girl’s eyes with a Car Fabric cosmetics bag made from unused stock fabric once intended for American autos. See them at EcoMeme.com.

• Spoil your eco-friendly toddler with a Drumming Squirrel 100% organic cotton t-shirt or onesie, also from EcoMeme.com.

• Give non-toxic toys made from 100% recycled milk jugs from Green Toys. (Check out the cool recycling truck!)

• Eco-conscious electronics fans will love the Solar Monkey solar charger with a variety of adaptors which allow you to recharge phones, cameras, PDAs, and other small electronics without ever plugging in!

• For organic clothing gifts, how about women’s organic cotton crew socks in a rainbow of soft colors or CoolMax organic cotton sport socks for men, both from KasperOrganics.com?

• Ship organic food gifts to your far away friends and loved ones from TheNibble.com.

My final thoughts on green gift giving: once you find the perfect eco-friendly gifts, stay green by wrapping your gifts in recycled gift paper or old gift bags. Cut decorative accents from last year’s Christmas cards and use them as gift tags. Consider using sustainable hemp twine or organic cotton ribbon to seal gifts, rather than plastics-based tape and ribbon.

That finishes my whirlwind trip through green gift giving. I hope this helps you and yours have a very green Christmas this year!

Need a gift for your teens this Christmas that won’t produce eye-rolling or outright rebellion? I’ve found some super ideas for gifts that will have teenagers saying, “Great gift!” instead of “Can I exchange it?”

Great Christmas Gifts for Teen Girls

• Gotta girl who’s eco-conscious? Gift her with a green bag from VivaTerra (and check out all the other green gifts while you’re there!)

• Give young teens a little girl time with a Candy Cane Pedicure from the Four Seasons Spa, right here in Seattle.

• Teen girls who love vintage clothing will be thrilled with a gift from one of Seattle’s great vintage shops. Red Light Vintage has two locations, PassionFly Clothing Exchange in Bellingham is teen-centric, and SugarTown Vintage in Ballard gets high marks

• One more gift for teen girls – anything from Juicy Couture, a funky online accessory and clothing shop with cool gifts like jelly iPhone cases.

Great Christmas Gifts for Teen Boys

• If your teen guy likes games, try the Nintendo DS Lite, Wii’s new game, The Beatles: Rock Band or Pinball Hall of Fame for PS2 or 3.

• For teens into outdoor sports, shop Seattle’s REI. Better yet, give him a gift certificate and give him the ultimate experience.

• Check your local phone accessory store or iPod store for accessories for your teen’s favorite technology.

• Hard core techno-nerds love ThinkGeek.com! They carry useful (but geeky!) gifts like a USB Mini Monitor by Memo, Eyeclops Night Vision Goggles and a stainless steel Video Watch.

• Rock your skater’s world with a gift certificate or a pair of Vans from Evo here in Seattle.

Your teen’s going to love Christmas morning if you take the time to pick a gift that suits them. Pay attention to the brands they wear, play or listen to, and shop accordingly. Christmas is going to be so much nicer this year!

Do last year’s crowded airports, endless security check lines, luggage restrictions and cancelled flights have you dreading holiday travel? Here are four common-sense things you can do to make your travel much less stressful this holiday season.

Travel Stress Reliever #1: Choose to travel away from peak times.
One of the reasons holiday travel by air is so stressful is that everyone chooses to depart and arrive on the same days! Here’s a thought…if your schedule is at all flexible, book flights away from peak travel time. Flying back on Sunday after Thanksgiving makes packed flights, lost luggage and airport chaos much more likely. Can you fly back on Monday? Check online travel sites for alternative flight dates and times to save yourself a headache.

Travel Stress Reliever #2: Ship, rather than carry, your packages.
What could be sadder than arriving at Grandma’s, only to learn your Christmas gifts didn’t make the transfer flight? A smart way to avoid lost or damaged gifts is to ship them through a service such as FedEx Ground to your destination. Even if you’re spending the holidays at a resort, your hotel will hold your gifts until you arrive. Plan ahead and ship early so your gifts will be there when you arrive.

One more note: today’s airport regulations make carrying gifts on-board difficult; you may have to unwrap them at the security check, and liquids can’t be carried on. Why risk having to leave gifts behind? Ship them and forget them!

Travel Stress Reliever #3: Purchase On-Board Meals at the Airport
When taking a long flight, packaged meals may be offered on-board but supplies are usually limited. Don’t risk listening to your stomach growl from Boston to L.A.; stop on your way through the airport and purchase a meal to take on-board. Security personnel won’t blink at sealed sandwiches and cheese sticks, and you won’t have to worry about missing a meal. This tip’s especially helpful for families with small children!

Travel Stress Reliever #4: Prepare for the Inevitable
In spite of the best holiday travel planning, we can’t control the airlines or the weather. Ask each member of your family to pack boredom busters like books, mp3 players and handheld games in one family carry-on. Long hours waiting for the weather to break are much less nerve wracking when you come prepared to entertain yourselves.

Don’t be afraid to take that holiday trip this year! Do some smart planning and this year’s trip could become one of your family’s treasured holiday memories.

Here’s a picture of Thanksgiving Dinner that isn’t very appealing: everyone rushes to eat their way through the meal you took hours to prepare so they can go do something they really want to do! Yuck! I’d like to propose some easy ways to make Thanksgiving Dinner a little more exciting this year.

New Faces! A friend told me she’d started inviting at least one new person to Thanksgiving Dinner each year. By doing so, her family gets to know a neighbor, a coworker or someone in need of a meal. The friendships that have grown from those Thanksgiving invitations have added welcome new color to her family’s life.

New Food! I’m all for traditional turkey and dressing, but why not add something completely different as a side dish? Maybe your kids would like to help prepare a Native American dish. Ask friends from different ethnic groups what food traditions they enjoy at Thanksgiving, and ask them to bring some along. Who knows?  Maybe spring rolls alongside the cranberries will become a family favorite!

New Conversation! Go around the table and ask each person to name the most important event in their life this year. That’s just one example of how to get people talking over the turkey. If your guests have trouble making small talk, put small conversation cards at each place. Amazon.com has lots of listings for “tabletalk cards”, or you can create your own. Just think of questions that require more than “yes” or “no” and let each person choose one to ask the rest of the table.

New Entertainment! Here’s a way to keep teens focused on your family this year—have them prepare ahead of time a simple Thanksgiving puppet show, video or other entertainment to keep the younger kids busy before dinner. Musical teens might want to teach the little ones an easy song to sing to your guests.

New Ideas! One reason older kids might be cranky at family dinners is they don’t feel involved in the planning. As you plan your meal, ask each member of your family what they would like to include at this year’s dinner. A friend discovered her fourteen year old son learned to bake at school, but had never shared his skills with the family until he offered to make banana bread!

New Stories! Ask your guests to share their Thanksgiving memories. It’s surprising how widely holiday traditions can vary between families. You just might decide to adopt something shared into your own traditions!

Whether it’s just your family that sits down together on Thanksgiving, or friends fly in from around the country, there’s no reason this special day should be dull. Expand your traditions to include new foods, new ideas and new activities. That’s the way to serve something exciting at each year’s Thanksgiving feast.

ven in the middle of a recession, most of us have a great deal to give thanks for at Thanksgiving. Sometimes it’s hard to show our gratitude, so I’ve gathered five easy ways to show your appreciation at Thanksgiving.

I.    Make “thank you” place cards for friends and family.
If you serve a “sit down” dinner on Thanksgiving, one way to let the people in your life know you appreciate them is to create a simple quarter page card to place above their dinner plate. Insert some colorful Thanksgiving clip art and a simple note thanking that person by name for the way they enrich your life.

II.    Invite someone who makes a difference to dinner.
Is there a family who volunteers for your church, or someone who made a big difference for one of your children? Why not invite them to Thanksgiving Dinner to show your appreciation?

III.    Make a Thanksgiving donation to your favorite charity.
You’re probably generous all year long, but why not encourage your family to make a special Thanksgiving donation to a charity? Give the kids a chance to donate a portion of their allowances or earnings from an after school job.

IV.    Make a Thanksgiving video of the people you’re thankful for.
After dinner, surprise your Thanksgiving guests with a “Why I’m Thankful for You!” video or slide show featuring clips and photos of the people attending. From little kids to senior citizens, everyone likes to hear they’ve done something special. If you’re really talented, add music and make a DVD copy for each person attending.

V.    Make thank you gifts and deliver them on Thanksgiving Day.
Recruit your family to help make and deliver small thank you gifts to special people on Thanksgiving. This can be as simple as decorated lunch bags filled with pumpkin mini muffins. Teach your kids the joy of expressing thanks by surprising special people with gifts that say “We Appreciate You!”

This is our biggest holiday decorating season yet for Holiday Assistants!

Our business holiday decorating clients realize the value of bringing customers in their doors this season with festive decorations and they know how important it is to keep employee morale up, too.  We are nearly fully booked decorating large commercial spaces (hospitals, retirement homes, downtown Seattle offices, restaurant chains) as well as store fronts and conference centers.  Our commercial holiday decorating clients tend to prefer holiday decorating themes like winter wonderland, Pacific Northwest winter, and themes around colors and textures.  We have a lot of fun putting our designers together to come up with holiday decorations just right for our clients and their customers.  It’s all about making our clients look and feel special each holiday season.  We take care of all the little and big details so our clients can focus on their business without interruption!

Contact us today to inquire about using our decorating services for your business.  425.605.0207.  We provide full-service holiday decorating for businesses in the Seattle and Eastside areas.

At a complete loss how to help your Mom or Dad with the holidays without bruising their pride? Here at Holiday Assistants, we have the perfect solution.

We know aging parents may not appreciate having the chore of decorating, buying gifts and planning holiday parties taken out of their hands. So why not tell them “Thanks for making so many of my holidays perfect” with a Holiday Assistants gift certificate?

When a client lets me know a senior citizen needs an assist during the holidays, I’m ready to offer assistance in ways that won’t make them feel brushed aside. We’ll sit down with your parent and find out which holiday tasks they prefer to do themselves and which they’re ready to hand off to us.

This approach to assisting your parents works especially well when your parents live in the Seattle area and you don’t. Rather than sending the usual fruit basket or coffee-of-the-month club membership, give Mom or Dad the gift of an extra hand during the holidays.

We love helping our clients have stress free holidays, and your parents will be no exception. Whether it’s hanging holiday lights, helping set up the tree or shopping for those hard to please family members, we’ll step up and help make this holiday season more enjoyable for the senior citizen in your life.

Making the holidays bright is our specialty. Let us know how we can offer an assist to your aging parents. We can’t wait to help!

Here it comes…that season when you wonder if you’ll have a free day before January! It’s so easy, in the rush and crush of the holidays, to get a little grouchy, isn’t it?

Here’s my antidote for Christmas crankiness—find four things in your life for which you are incredibly grateful. Write them down and keep your list handy for times when you feel the Grinch taking over.

Need some help? Here are just four of the things you may be taking for granted right now:

Family: Even at their orneriest, our families give us connection. They are the people who share our history and our future, and that’s a pretty special thing. If you’re blessed with family this holiday season, add that to your list and find ways to show them you’re grateful they’re around.

Friends: If you don’t have family, you may have built a circle of friends to hold close. The love of friends is wonderfully powerful, so add friendship to your gratitude list if special people share your life. By the way, this is the perfect season to let them know!

Everyday Necessities: Here’s a reality check we could all use sometimes: as you’re brushing your teeth, showering and heading to holiday tasks, slow down and recognize how amazing things like toothpaste and hot water really are!

The things most of us consider everyday necessities for life aren’t available to millions of people. I’m personally grateful for soap, shampoo and electricity! What’s on your list?

The Beauty of Nature: Step outside your door before you plan another holiday detail. Take two minutes to record what’s out there. Are leaves rustling across your yard? Is a deep blue autumn sky hinting snow? Maybe bright sunshine and warm sand greeted you at your doorstep.

No matter what your holiday setting, there’s something to be appreciated in nature. What could be better than the sights, scents and sounds of our natural surroundings? Don’t miss them this year, and find time to share them with your family, too.

Now, was that so hard? Honestly, if I had ten minutes, I could write ten things I’m grateful for and want to remember during the holidays. Faith, freedom, and the ability to earn money…those are only three more of the possibilities we haven’t explored.

Promise me you’ll do this for yourself. Make your “gratitude list” and keep it nearby this holiday season. It’s the best cure I know for keeping the Christmas crazies at bay!