Pinteresting Things....

I kind of consider myself an expert Pinner on Pinterest.  I have more boards than anyone else I know, and a lot of pins.  I've tried a lot of things on Pinterest that were absolute FAILS.  (Let's don't even discuss the "Cake in the Mug" incident!)   I also tend to really avoid holiday-specific pins because they always look better and easier than they are.  However, this year I found some real gems that I want to share.  No idea where they originated.  

• Christmas Cards On A Ring--I always struggle with what to do with holiday cards as they come in.  We used to tape them to a wall (not ideal, leaving tape marks all over the wall of choice...), but this year, I used a hole puncher to put a hole in the upper left corner of each card, put them onto a binder ring (the kind that snaps shut) and added a little bow.  It looks so pretty, I keep the ring right in a basket on the coffee table (not a very clear picture, I know, but you get the idea....).

• Hot chocolate in the crockpot.  HELLO.... where has this idea been all my life?  Make the hot chocolate (recipes abound on the internet) and put it in the crockpot for the Christmas eve party.  
• SHOPPING!!!!--I saw something at WalMart last night that was absolute GENIUS.  A little late for this year, but next year I'm all over it.  A woman was walking up and down the aisles and she had two carts with gift bags open and labeled with names.  As she walked around, she put the gifts she wanted into each bag.  Naturally, I asked her what the heck was going on, and she let me take a peek.  For her grandkids, she had pajamas, slippers, their favorite treat, a small stuffed animal and a game in each bag.  She said she chooses a theme every year and sticks to that for everybody.  When the bags are full, she takes them to the cashier, who rings up each bag, putting the items back into the already-labeled bag.  When the woman gets home, she adds tissue paper and she's done.  Each person's gifts are in ONE BAG.  I was just amazed.
• Decorating--every year when I decorate the tree, I get out all the decorations, choose the theme of the year and the color of the lights and go through everything to find what I want on the tree this year.  (Yes, I am aware that having so much stuff is ridiculous, but it dates back to when we had a tree in every room, including bedrooms--now I'm down to two trees)  This year when I take the tree down, I'm sorting every theme into it's own bin, and white lights will go into one bin and colored in another.  Can't imagine why I haven't ever thought of this before.