Well we did baking so now onto some craft

OK so there will be the kitchen section - with all the useful stuff about making Christmas cakes by now so they have time to mature by Christmas (favorite family Christmas cake recipes anyone?)

My daughters have been unimpressed with early Christmas decorations in the mall but I must admit that at least it gets me thinking about the plan for the season. My favorite site coming up to Christmas has got to be Organized Christmas - unfortunately with each passing year it gets more ads but there are some wonderful ideas there underneath the Americanisms. I particularly like a planning task for around this time of the year where you think about what went well and not so well the year before and think of areas you want to focus on.

However every year I get caught in the trap of the Christmas craft magazines - the Christmas quilting and cross stitch magazines have an irresistible lure that sucks me in every time. Not only that but they are the ones I find hardest to throw away. It was no different this year - I even commented to the newsagent that I had to overcome the addiction as I never actually got to do the projects (and in this case I'm not convinced my newly balanced lifestyle will make much difference) However his response to my joking comment about contributing to his profits was a really insightful question in the context. He asked me if I enjoyed reading them and when I said I did, he suggested that maybe they had served there purpose well for that alone. So this year I am going to just enjoy the browsing and not create a mental list of all the things I am going to make.

Choosing how to use effort wisely is a much under recognised skill.