If you still have some shopping left to do this holiday season, let me offer up something to think about. When it's garage sale time, and people go to purge all the old stuff their kids used to play with, what's the first thing to go? All the loud, spinning, whizzing, battery-operated, brightly colored, one trick pony plastic crap. And the stuff that gets saved and passed down? The classic, high quality handmade stuff made from natural materials like wood and fabric. Well-constructed doll houses. Sturdy, smooth, hand-stained block sets. Super soft teddy bears. …
Christmas
7 Ways to De-Stress Your Holiday Season – EA Show #47 (Live)
This episode was broadcast live and featured spirited feedback from the chat room. We talked about our childhood memories of the "Mall Santa" and debated whether he was cool or creepy. We also gave 7 easy tips to keep the stress out of your holiday season and shared our best Christmas presents ever. Plus K&J Nation came up with several holiday-themed Adultitis warning signs. Share Your Thoughts... What do you think about this week's show? What was your best Christmas present ever? How did you feel about the Mall Santa? We'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below or in the video …
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You Name It
You've heard of "Name That Tune"? How about "Name That Tree"?! A dear friend shared with me yesterday that every year they get a real Christmas tree. They have the family tradition of naming the tree. One year it was Bruce the Spruce, another year Ralph. This year their tree's name is Leviathan. (I asked her to repeat the name like three times over the phone). Yes, Leviathan. You know, the Greek fabled sea monster! (He's the green freaky guy in the picture.) Do you think there's much Adultitis in their household this holiday season? It's hard to be a stressed-out mess when you look over …
The 12 Days of Wishmas: Day 4
We had a "snow emergency" in Madison today, which is a fancy way of saying we got pounded with about 6 inches of wet and heavy white stuff. Schools were closed and the traffic was slow... which made the traffic for our 12 Days festivities slow also. I certainly don't blame people for staying inside! By the way, is there anything better than the early morning discovery that school is closed? I had the chance to experience this again as an adult a handful of times, being a teacher. It was glorious! Today's super fun childlike event was "make your own ornament." If you want to give this a try, …
The 12 Days of Wishmas: Day 2
We just completed Day 2 of our 12 Days of Wishmas. Today's fun activity was creating paper snowflakes. When's the last time you made one? Many of our customers admitted that it had been decades since their last endeavor creating paper precipitation. I kicked off the day by making one myself, as an example of this creative childhood craft. Little did I know just how uncreative my example would prove to be. Our visitors got pretty fancy, as you can see. I can't wait to hang them in our windows tomorrow. …