Money

necie1286 wrote:

No Roses are not to big to press. just take the flower u wish to press and some wax paper and put into like the middle of a book then put that book under some heavy books and a few days it should be dry and pressed prefectly. i used to do it when i was little and they always came out prefectly and i had them for a long time

How would you give them to someone? Seeing as with normal flowers, you can stand them up in a vase whereas with pressed flowers, they're flat..And I wouldn't want to stick them on a card seeing as the card would get thrown away after it's served its purpose. :huh:

you could do different ones and could make a little book with them like get a blank pages book and put them on each page or put them in a picture frame and make like a shadow box with them.

You can also use silica gel crystals to preserve flowers in their original shape. I've never tried it, but I've heard that it works pretty well. I think you can buy the crystals at most flower shops, or maybe hardware stores.

And I agree about the cards! But I still send them out... I'm not really close to my siblings, and we don't exchange presents, but we do exchange Christmas cards. I keep all the ones that I get, not sure what they do with them though.

For wrapping presents, instead of paper, I use gift bags and tissue paper, so they can be reused for several years. I have a few cloth gift bags, but mostly I use the heavy-paper ones from the dollar store. It also makes it harder for people to guess what their present is, since you can't really feel the shape as well through the bag.

This is the first year I didn't send out cards. I feel guilty because I usually send them out very early, and many people tell me that receiving my card is how they know to send their own out. But it is so expensive. I used to do a family photo card, and the cost is just out of reach this year. But I have every holiday card I have ever received, so I assume a lot of people do save them. But then what? 20 years from now when I look at them again, what will it mean to me? I don't know. But I save them anyway. So no card from me this year, but maybe I will send an email with a photo instead? Is that tacky?

scootiebee, I don't think an email with a family photo is tacky at all. Unless you have some elderly relatives who would think it was... but then again, they wouldn't likely have email anyway. You're sending the same photo and the same greetings, to the same people you would have sent a paper card to, and saving a few trees (and dollars) in the process. Sounds like a good idea to me.

I have never sent a Christmas card in my whole life and don't feel sorry at all.
My family gets cards from my aunt and uncle, and tons of cards from business partners, naturally addressed to my parents.
My mom has a bad feeling because of not sending out card (this hits her every 5 years), she then buys a bunch of cards but never gets to writing anything in them and finally sending them out. Utter waste of money, but well, she buys the ones from UNICEF so at least some money goes to charity.