The Elf Blog

Craft Control

In the world of crafting, there’s a concept called STABLE – stash beyond life expectancy. Essentially, it means you’ve stockpiled more craft supplies than you could ever possibly use. This is a bad thing.

So, in the next month or so, gathering together all of your craft supplies and do an inventory. You may be surprised at what you find. If your stash exceeds your life expectancy (and no fair assuming you’lllive to be 163) If you have an excess of crafting supplies here are some hints for managing it:

• STOP BUYING SUPPLIES. NOW! No buying supplies until your current inventory is under control. The only exception is a limited amount of something necessary to complete a project. And don’t buy that until you reach the stopping point.

• Gather all the partially completed projects and make yourself a completion schedule.

• Organize your supplies so you know where everything is. When possible, judiciously substitute what you have for what you need. For example, you need a baby gift and you have material for a cross-stitched bib. Don’t go out and buy what you need to sew a bear.

• If there’s stuff you know you’ll never use, donate it. Places that might want it include schools, special education centers, assisted living facilities, and scouting troops.

Activity of the Week #3

Each week in 2012, I’ll post an Activity of the Week. They won’t be huge things, just something to move you in a different direction or give you a new perspective or shake things up in some way

Here’s the Activity for Week 3:

Thank a teacher. Any teacher. Send a note to an old teacher of yours. Drop a note to someone who teaches your child. Thank a friend who works as a teacher. Just drop a thank you note in the mail to a local school or send an email to the office. With the holidays past and June ever so far away , teachers could use a little encouragement. We place increasing demands on them for salaries that wouldn’t cover a sports team’s towel budget. The teachers I know are hard-working, dedicated men and women who want the very best for their students.

Accountability: I gave my dog a gingerbread-shaped chewy for Christmas. She ignored it since it was too big for her to take a bite. I finllay started chopping it up so she can enjoy it!

Alone at Christmas

If you will be alone at Christmas and you do not want to be, it's time for my annual elf offer.

Before noon on Christmas Eve, send an email to chiefelf at aol dot com wth your cell number and I will call you on Christmas Day to chat for a bit.  (It might be a good idea to le me know what time zone you are in.) Unfortunately, this offer is limited to the US, but I really will call.

Merry Christmas.

Giving Stuff Away -- The Basics

So, you have a stack of stuff you want to give away.  What do you do with it?

Clothes and household goods are accepted by many charities.  Some groups sell these items in a thrift store.  Others (particularly homeless shelters, prison-to-work agencies, and refugee resettlement groups) give the items directly to their clients. Some will pick up the items.  In other cases you need to drop it off.  If you donate the material to a charity, you may be eligible for a tax deduction.  If so, get an itemized receipt.  To make it easier, make a list of everything you plan to donate.

Books, videos, and CDs can be donated to some schools, libraries, community centers, and retirement homes.  Please make sure you call these places before you take the materials to them to make sure they receive donations.  Some cannot accept donations while others can do so only at certain hours.  Another option for these items is a used book store.  My library has a used book sale.  In some towns, schools or charities have periodic used book sales. 

For larger items, you might want to consider online lists like CraigsList or FreeCycle.  You’ll want to post photos and monitor requests carefully.  And never be home alone when the pick-up takes place.

What methods have you used to dispose of useful things you no longer need.

Time for Kindness

I often wonder how many acts of kindness go undone because we are too bust to take the time they require.

Of course, some kindnesses take substantial amounts of time that require planning and scheduling.  These would include things like regular volunteering at an organization or offering to coordinate an event for a school or church or community organization. 

But most kindnesses take very little time.  Where could you find time in your schedule to:

• Make soup for a sick friend?
• Shovel an elderly neighbor's walk?
• Send a card or drop a note to someone who might be lonely?
• Offer to run someone's errand while you are out?
• Say a kind word?
• Let someone go ahead of you in line?

These are little thngs, but like the old song says, "Little things mean a lot."

Year End Donations

If you want to deduct your charitable contributions on your 2010 taxes, you must make the contribution before the year's end.

You can do that by making an online contribution or by sending a check dated no later than December 31st (and please don't date the check December 31st and mail it in February -- that's just bad form.

Take a few moments today or tomorrow to look at what you've donated so far this year and how much more you want to donate.  Then divide that amount among the groups you choose to support.  And make a record for tax purposes.

Christmas Gratitude

Remember:  We're still celebrating Christmas.  Make sure to take time to spend with those you love, watch movies, read books, drink hot cocoa and spiced cider and mulled wine.

It's also a good time to write your Christmas Thank You notes. Yep, actual notes that you mail with a stamp.  If you did not open a gift in someone's presence or you didn't exchange gifts, you need to write a note of thanks.  It doesn't need to be long but it needs to go out this week.

Keep making Merry -- Christmas.

Some Truly Wonderful Ideas

I don't usually do this, but the ideas in this blog post are so wonderful that I just wanted to pass them on to you today.

Together and Apart

The holidays are often viewed as an idealized time of familial togetherness. But often, that's not the reality.

Long times spent together can strain relationships, especially for people used to being on their own turf.  Having to accommodate others' schedules, needs, and preferences can be quite a challenge.

When planning holiday celebrations, it's important to plan not only times together such a meals, celebratory gatherings to trim a tree, to open gifts, to go caroling, etc. It's also critical to plan things that allow people some time apart.

Here are some ideas:

• Have an errand day when people can go off on their own and take care of personal and group errands.
• Allow for time and spaces where people can go off on their own or in smaller groups to read or watch a movie.
• When possible, allow for a choice of activities so groups can break off.  In some cases, it may even work to have multiple "seatings" for meals.
• Always be open to people to step away from group activities and do something on their own. We all need our own space sometimes -- even elves.

Philanthropy

Given the still-uncertain ecomony, thinking about giving money away can be a scary thing. But planning for your charitable giving and making it a regular part of your budget allows you to keep better control of your charitable expenditures.  Instead of making contributions without forethought, in response to emotional pleas, you can do your research and plan where you want to give.

Here are some basic principles to plan your giving:

• Decide how much you want to give in a year, be it a specific amount or a percentage of your income (gross or net).  Set aside that amount each month.
• For things that are really important to you, consider setting up an automatic deduction.  You save writing and sending checks and your primary causes get their money on a regular basis.
• Decide if you want to give many small donations or a few larger ones.  It's really a question of personal style.
• Keep aside 10-25% of your total planned amount to give for the emergency things that will arise during the course of the year.
• Kee a record of how much you give,to whom, the dtae, and the method. (I use a spreadsheet.)  It will make tax time much easier.