Holiday Resources Online

As the holidays loom, stress starts building, but lucky for you there are plenty of holiday resources online to help you get through this time of year.

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It is a seemingly uphill battle as you juggle all of the things you have to do for the holidays. There is shopping for every person on your list; then you have to wrap it all. There are parties to plan, and with that comes food to buy and prepare. Let’s not forget your regular day job because you need that in order to pay for everything else! With a little help all of this could be much easier.

As turkey is the norm for Thanksgiving in the United States, ham is nearly as much of a staple for Christmas for many people all over the world. However, ham isn’t the only dish that is traditionally served at holiday meals. You can look forward to such things as fish stew, green bean casserole, corn bread, many types of stuffing, shepherd’s pie and more. Every country and religion has its own traditions that followers practice year in and year out, and traditional recipes are important for a perfect meal.

• Find traditional, old-fashioned favorites at Donogh’s Holiday Cooking. If you need a recipe for cheese balls, caramel popcorn balls, mincemeat muffins or sweet potato casserole then you are in the right spot.
• Traditional Christmas dinners can consist of many thing like honey glazed ham. Many menus also include parker house rolls and green bean casserole. Your Christmas menu can be as varied and diverse as your family like Nigella Lawson's menu from Epicurious. If you want traditional with a twist then try a Christmas menu filled with elegant food for your family.
• Enjoy holiday favorites from Annie’s Recipes, including some goodies for the kids to enjoy like macaroni and cheese. You will also find great beverage recipes, appetizers and main courses.
• Many holiday festivities can be made sweeter by choosing the right beverages. One favorite among Europeans is mulled wine, but with this recipe you will also find recipes for hot cider, glogg and egg nog.

You spent money on a gift, so you want it to look right. Wrapping presents during the holiday season can be a chore at best and a nightmare of monumental proportions at its worst. You might find tape in places you never thought possible, wrapping paper cut in ways that would make surgeons wince and duct tape being used in a pinch. Here are some streaming video resources to make this chore more manageable:

• A light-hearted YouTube video on wrapping
• How to Wrap a Present Professionally
• Style at Home Magazine – Pretty Presents
• How to Make a Bow
• The Mad Man’s Guide to Wrapping Presents

If you don’t want to go through this trouble, you can always go to a gift wrapping station at your local mall. You will find that many malls have a table set up for a local charity group or fundraising organization like the Boy Scouts willing to wrap your gifts for a fee.

Some families have a “joke gift” that is given and passed around for laughs, so why not enjoy joke gift wrapping? You can take a small item and place it in a small box; wrap it then place it in another box and wrap that. You can continue doing this until you get bored. There are also themed wrap options, such as the “Redneck Present” wrapped with an assortment of scrap newspapers, taped with duct tape, and the recipient’s name written with permanent marker.

There is a very fine line between nice and tacky this holiday season when you are decorating the exterior and interior of your house. Look to these holiday resources online to help you keep it tasteful:

• Decorating and Craft Ideas from HGTV
• 101 Easy Decorating Ideas
• Christmas Decorating Tips

Don't worry if money is tight during the holiday season. Just because you are low on funds doesn’t mean you can’t have swanky holiday decorations. There are some very good resources for the budget conscious:

• Ruby Glen’s Ten Holiday Decorating Tips on a Budget
• Low-Cost Decorating Ideas from Real Simple
• Ten Inexpensive Holiday Tips
• Holiday Decorating on a Budget

Many offices around the world partake in a Christmas gift exchange. Some enjoy a “Secret Santa” exchange where you don’t know who is giving the gift. Everyone in the office agrees on a set price (typically no more than $25). You draw a name from a hat (or some other means) and that is who you buy for. You don’t have to reveal yourself to the person at all if you don’t want to, or you can have fun with the element of surprise. However, how do you buy for someone that you don’t know very well?

• Observe the person in the cubicle environment and see, if you can, what sort of things they use to brighten up their work space, such as pictures or other decorative touches.
• Ask someone you know to be closer with the person whose name you pulled – they may be able to give you some valuable insight.
• Keep your present simple and not too personal because you are in a work environment - no lingerie or adult items.

Sending out cards to loved ones is a time-honored tradition created by a starving greeting card industry, but that doesn't make the sentiment any less meaningful. Remember that holiday resources online allow you to do many things, including sending cards. For instance, what if you don't know someone's current address? That's fine because with the Internet at your disposal you can find nearly any address you need.

The holidays are a time for giving and a time for reflection so use these moments well. Live long, live well and live happy. And live more conveniently with the multitude of online resources at your fingtertips.

• Free Online Driving Game
• Online Maps of Canada
• Free Online Games
• Play Toddler Games Online

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