Christmas is coming...

Yep, you heard me right. Christmas is coming and it will be here before we know it. I know it is just around the corner because all the stores are starting to deck their halls. But it isn't even Halloween yet, you ask? Doesn't matter. Christmas is just around the corner.
I know it's true because I already bought one or two Christmas gifts. Never mind that I also bought Christmas gifts in February...I like to plan ahead and I love bargains. All of the nieces and nephews are so grown up now nobody wants Barbie or Transformers or Tinkerbell or Bob the Builder. So I have to let my creativity take over.
It's true the thing they want the most is money--cold hard cash or a gift card to their favorite place (or mine--good ole Target carries everything!) I like to find fun ways to present it. Once I even fashioned money into a rose to present as a gift. I learned how to do it on a craft show but I forget how i did it now. The recipient was baffled as to what it was but once she figured out it was money she was good with it!
I love to give gifts and half the fun is searching for just the right stuff. I have stood in line for a Cabbage Patch doll and have bought every Star Wars action figure ever made. I find out the kids' favorite candy and favorite color to help me find some fun thing to put their gift card with.
I got that idea from my mother who always added some fun candy or other goodie with the money she gave my boy cousins. It seemed to work for her so I adopted the practice. Even my kids do it now that they are grown.
Sometimes I even take notes. My sis and I shop together a lot and so if she really likes something I go home and write it down and the store and either I try to go back or I tell her husband about it. Now, if she read this blog, she knows my secret but that's ok. She knows I have a terrible memory.
I have a special place where I keep gifts so I don't forget I have them. It's part of the memory thing. If I don't put it there I forget. It's true. Once I gave my sis a gift I had had for her about three years and kept forgetting.
After I collect all the gifts I spread them out by family member up in my craft room and decide if I have enough. This usually occurs around Thanksgiving or December 1. It helps me decide what else to get and who to get things for in case I forgot somebody.(which so far, knock wood, I never have)
So, as you can see Christmas is coming. It is right around the corner and I'm ready!