Last Minute Luxury
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The holidays can be stressful, especially if you're the one doing all the shopping, cooking, wrapping, and hosting! Why not pick up a special, relaxing gift for you to enjoy when the hub bub dies down?
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Christmas Companions
It's easy to forget the four-legged members of your family during the Christmas rush. Reward their loyalty and friendship with a treat from Pets on the Handmade Highway.
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December 15, 2009 Issue 7
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Hello!
Welcome to a very special issue of News from the Handmade Highway. In this issue, our sellers are sharing more of their holiday traditions and memories, and we're spoiling you rotten with some last minute gift ideas! Enjoy!
~Lori
Christmas Cookies Goat's Milk Soap courtesy of So Stinking Sweet.
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The More the Merrier!
This holiday tradition is from Kim Lapacek of Kim's Crafty Apple and The Apple. Kim writes: "My mom has 12 brothers and sisters. Then they have all had kids. All
the brothers and sisters live in the Green Bay, WI, area as well as my
89 year old Grandma. The Saturday prior to Christmas we rent a hall to
celebrate Christmas. 100+ of my relatives show up and it's a great
time. Half of the hall is a normal hall with lots and lots of food,
laughter, card game playing and catching up. Part of what we rent is a
gym where the younger kids can run around in...it's nice to keep that
chaos seperate from the rest.
Instead of exchanging gifts, we all make an ornament to decorate the
christmas tree with. At the end of the celebration we draw names and
give that person the ornament we made. It's so much fun to look at the
tree and see what everyone came up with that year."
 
Pictured above are little Bright Matryoshka Doll Ornaments and a Red Modernized Santa from her shop.
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Frame Your Memories
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Whimsical Xpressions
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For A Cold Winter's Night...
 This tradition comes to us from Vicky Brown of Shore Debris.
"My family draws names in the summer for 'Secret Santas.' On Christmas
eve, you get a box from your Secret Santa that has Christmas pajamas.
You have to wear them that night and the following day for Christmas all the way to the end of the day when all of the presents have been opened. This takes all day because we open one present at a time oldest to
youngest. At the end, we take a big group photo of the
entire family in Christmas PJs. The picture includes handmade
accessories. This year I'm making ribbon chokers for the women and men
will have antlers!"
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Find the Pickle...
This tradition comes to us from Amanda of Dawn Correspondence. It's a great activity for the little ones! Amanda writes, "This is a pretty common tradition but really fun to do with the kids.
My sister hides the pickle ornament in the tree on Christmas Eve and
the kids have to look through the tree trying to find the pickle.
Whoever finds it first gets a special present (something small) that
evening. It's really fun to see the kids get so excited over searching
for the pickle, and they've started looking forward to that every year
more than anything!"
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The Gift of Time
 This story comes to us from Debbie Roelle of Debbie's Dreamworks. It touched my heart; I hope it does the same for you. Debbie writes: "Here is a little short story that really touched my life. One of our family traditions is taking my four children for a drive to
see Christmas lights. We live in the back country of San Diego and
there are a few areas with houses that traditionally have beautiful
yard displays.
Last year at this time I was doing elderly home care.
My patient was a wonderful elderly lady who was experiencing her first
Christmas without her husband. I surprised her one night asking
her, "Would you like to get out of this old house for little while?" She
practically flew out of her chair with delight and said, "Yes, where are
we going?" I told her it was a surprise. We threw a couple blankets over
her pajamas, made some hot cocoa, I warmed the car up for her and off
we drove.
I knew the areas that we have always taken my kids to so I drove to each and every neighborhood. Her eyes filled with tears.
Her wonderful memories of all the past holidays started warming her
heart. She and her husband would take their own children and
grandchildren to the exact same locations. I had no clue this was their
family tradition, too. She gave me the biggest hug ever; it truly made
my Christmas!
She is now living with her son and can no longer hear but
she has learned to send text messages so we can still keep in touch. I
truly am grateful for the time we shared together and for being able to
make a small little difference in someone's life!"
Sometimes the best gifts are truly handmade, aren't they? Times are tough right now. Remember that many gifts don't need to involve your wallet at all!
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Thanks for being part of our mailing list!
Until next week,
Lori Ward, Founder, Handmade Highway
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