To-Do List for July

q Shop the Independence Day clearance sales for items suitable for Christmas use: red plates (paper or plastic), napkins, tablecloths, star-shaped ornaments, star garland, candles, patriotic items that can decorate a Christmas tree, and stocking stuffers such as flag or star pencils, etc.

q Experiment with a new recipe that you may want to serve during the holiday season or to give as a gift. I found a recipe for microwaveable divinity candy a few years ago. I plan to test it to see if it is as good as my mother used to make.

q Plan your Christmas newsletter. We’ve passed the halfway mark of the year. Make note of memorable happenings so that you’re ready when it’s time to type up your newsletter to add to Christmas cards.

q Plan your Christmas photo, if you plan to include a family photo in your Christmas cards or as a gift for family members—or even as part of a calendar.

Photo Gift Tip: My daughter makes personalized calendars for her grandma, father, and me each year. She carries her camera in her purse and snaps pictures throughout the year so that she has some good shots to represent each month on the calendar; most are family shots, but some are nature scenes with quotes or verses added. The calendars become keepsake items. Plus, you can add birthdays to help scatterbrained people remember them! You can use computer software to design a calendar, but you can also upload photos to a site that has calendar templates to help you create a calendar. Any store that prints photos probably offers templates online. We’ve used Walgreens and Walmart, as well as a local printer.

This list offers you one activity per week, if you intend to do all four. All are doable, as none require a lot of time. If you choose to do less, that’s fine too. Just do something! Don’t let our favorite holiday catch you unprepared!

Vintage Christmas

I’ve been organizing my photos. For close to ten years, they have been taken with a digital camera, but I’ve come into possession of some vintage prints that I’ve been scanning and organizing as well.

TIP: Keep your photos scanned, sorted, saved, etc. Friends have lost years’ worth of family photos to computer crashes and errors. That’s heartrending! Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do in today’s snowstorm.

I thought I’d share a couple of vintage Christmas shots. I love to look at the details and see what decorations (and people) used to look like.

My First Christmas - back in the 1960s

Real Fire, Real Tree - Christmas 1981

My mom has always had a star like that one as a tree topper. I've had stars, angels, bows, and a Santa hat. I love to change things up now and then! But my mom is content with her star. The one she has now was bought for her by my brother, she says. She might still have the tree I gave her more than 20 years ago!

The lone stocking in the picture is one I bought for my brother. We didn’t “do” stockings in my childhood. I tried to start a new tradition. I had bought one as part of my gift to my brother (filling it with candy and goofy toys), and I made myself one out of an old sheet that I decorated with magic marker drawings. I completely understand why that one is not hanging by the fire.

I’m watching it snow from the corner of my eye. Snow is an exciting occurrence in this part of the USA. I hope it blankets everything in white. I left my outside Christmas lights up, hoping for a chance to get a photo of my house with snow and lights as if it was a snowy Christmas. (Just a little eccentricity of mine)

The snow is so light it almost looks like rain. I’m going to make some hot cocoa and watch the snow before time passes and it’s too late.

What do you do when you see snow?