“Early
Bird” Christmas Newsletter from ShowYourPizzazz.com
In this
issue:
* Creating the Christmas Mood
* Decorations
* USA Kids Christmas
* Wedding Pages
* Gifts from the heart, not the wallet!
* Christmas Recipes
* Show Your Pizzazz News
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CREATING THE CHRISTMAS MOOD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanksgiving was wonderful and you are still full from the Turkey
but now it is time to get in the mood! THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT!
Christmas is a magical time. How about treating your family to a
little magic on ice? Disney on Ice
is touring the US with 5 great shows including Mickey and Minnie’s
Magical Journey; Monsters, Inc; Disney Princess Classics; Toy Story
2; and 3 Jungle Adventures.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
brought Christmas to Cape Girardeau on Wednesday, or at least the
Christmas spirit, with its two-hour show of spectacular light
displays, emotion-filled music and inspirational message said
Kathryn Alfisi or Missouri. You can catch TSO almost anywhere in the
country sometime between now and December 30th. This one is
guaranteed to get you in the spirit.
Radio City Christmas Spectacular
starring the world-famous Rockettes,
featuring exciting new elements, as well as traditional favorites,
such as the "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and "The Living
Nativity", bring families back to Radio City Music Hall year after
year. The Christmas Spectacular features a cast of more than 140
people, glamorous costumes, and holiday music written exclusively
for the Show. The Radio City Rockettes will continue to dazzle
audiences with precision dance and world-famous eye-high kicks and
Santa Claus will make a special appearance from the North Pole.
Don’t live near the Radio City Hall? You can see the Christmas
Spectacular with your family at any one of these great sites:
Fabulous
Fox Theater – St. Louis – Saint Louis, MO
Fox Theatre Detroit – Detroit, MI
Radio City Music Hall – New York, NY
Sheas Performing Arts Center – Buffalo, NY
Temple Buell Theatre – Denver, CO
Wang Center – Boston, MA
You can
find dates, times and available tickets for all of the above shows
by visiting
www.ShowYourPizzazz.com
and clicking on Premium Tickets under the Top 10 Gift Ideas.
Looking for something a little more local? Contact your local
Chamber of Commerce, Civic Center, Community Center, Church, and
Clubs to discover local plays, concerts, and volunteer opportunities
that you can share with your children to make this Holiday Season
really special.
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DECORATIONS
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Visit our online party supply store at
http://showyourpizzazz.makesparties.com
for all your holiday party supplies including Christmas, Hanukkah,
Kwanzaa, and New Years.
Decorate Yourself! Visit
www.ShowYourPizzazz.com
and click on Costumes under Party Necessities for all your Biblical
Character costumes including Joseph, Mary, Balthazar, Melchior,
Gasper, Shepherds, Angels and more.
If you are having your own holiday party, how about hosting it as
Santa and Mrs. Clause? There are so many choices to make your
celebration unique. Some of my favorites are the wooden soldiers,
elves, all the Dickens’ characters, the walking Christmas Tree, the
Grinch, and of course the gingerbread man.
Don’t forget the accessories like the elves big ears, or Santa’s toy
bag.
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USA KIDS CHRISTMAS 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have mentioned this wonderful Christmas Toy Donation program over
the last few months in our newsletters and it even rated a feature
spot on the front page of the Corridor News Paper as well as second
page articles in 3 other papers. Unfortunately, all the publicity
and good intentions have not resulted in an outpour of support for
our needy military families. There are currently more than 180 needy
children in the program that would like to receive a toy for
Christmas. PLEASE open your hearts
to these little ones whose parents are
protecting our country.
Show Your Pizzazz is offering you the opportunity to purchase
quality toys at WHOLESALE prices to be donated to these little
angels. Please take a moment right now to make a child’s Christmas
morning a happy one. Visit
http://www.showyourpizzazz.com/USAKids/USAKidsChristmasEntry.html
to learn about the program, read the comments from the children, and
purchase a toy like Sesame Street First Pals for just $6.46; My
Happy Family Doll House for just $11.99; Rumble Remote Controlled
Cars for just $13.10; Care Bears Crawl n Play for just $8.58 and so
much more.
I don’t want to tell these families that we just couldn’t find any
donors so we cannot help you this Christmas.
Please help us help them.
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WEDDING PAGES
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We have upgraded our wedding pages to include tons of articles and
information to help you with your special day. Find out how to cut
costs and still have a cake fit for a queen. Which necklace is right
with your neckline? What are the different types of tuxedoes? What
are the traditions of an Irish wedding and what are the details of
the candle ceremony? Find all these answers plus unique ideas for
the perfect gift like a romance novel staring the newlywed couple,
where to get discount rose petals, how you can get the widely sought
after Chocolate Fountain, tons of wedding resources, and more.
There are also many contests and freebies listed on our wedding
pages that could make your dream wedding and honeymoon absolutely
perfect and they are all absolutely FREE. You will find everything
from a $50,000
beauty makeover and bridal planners to Calgon products to help you
relax.
Visit our online post office to send and receive FREE cards for your
bridal shower or engagement announcement. There are 1000’s to choose
from and Show Your Pizzazz sponsors the service for our friends and
customers so you can send as many as you want absolutely free.
http://www.showyourpizzazz.com/PostOffice/postoffice.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIFTS FROM THE HEART – NOT THE WALLET
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A girlfriend of mine told me that her favorite Christmas gift she
had ever received was when her daughter was in Kindergarten. The
class took empty boxes (toothpaste, mascara, etc.), covered them in
wrapping paper and tied them with a ribbon. They attached this note:
I took an ordinary box
As empty as can be
I filled it with a special gift
And wrapped it carefully.
But please don’t ever open it
Just leave the ribbon tied
And hold it tightly near your heart
Because my love for you’s inside!
Have the little ones paint or color on a small poster board (5” x 7”
or 8”x 10”) leaving room for a border. Use themes to get their
creativity flowing like “what Christmas means to me” or “family
photo” or “Jesus’ birthday party”. Once these works of art are dry,
cut a border out of construction paper and frame the art with the
child’s name and age showing on the border. My son made this for me
when he was in kindergarten. He used black paint on white paper and
didn’t really make a picture at all but I hung it on my wall, and it
is still there.
How about getting the kids involved in making a gift they can give
their friends. After kindergarden, it gets a little tougher to think
of things that kids can make themselves and that other kids would
like to receive as a gift. Here are two really cute ideas:
1) First, gather baby food jars and fill them with potting soil,
planting a flower seed that the child can care for during the months
to come. Decorate the jar by cutting a round piece of colorful
fabric large enough to cover the entire jar. Fold the fabric over
the bottom of the jar and tie the ribbon tightly in the upper
grooves of the jar to hold the fabric in place. Attach a little card
with the care instructions and type of flower.
2) Another idea is one that I am sure you have seen when you were a
child. Everyone loves the candy cane creatures and they are
inexpensive enough to give to all their friends. All you need is a
pack of 6 inch individually wrapped candy canes (try new flavors
like Gobstoppers and Starbursts), ribbon, wiggle eyes, little red
pom poms, brown pipe cleaners, and a glue gun or craft glue. Tie the
ribbon around the upper part of the cane’s long side which will be
the reindeer’s neck. Then attach the pipe cleaners to the top of the
cane branching off like antlers. Glue the eyes on the rounded part
of the candy cane and the red pom pom on the tip for a nose.
For out of town friends and family, think about the little things
that may be abundant in your town but very hard to find in theirs.
If you live in an area where pinecones are plentiful, consider this
gift for your long distance love. Visit your local antique shop or
thrift store for a unique plate or platter. Include several
different size candles (Dollar Stores or Wal-Mart seem to be the
least expensive) leaving room for two or three smaller pine cones to
be arranged on the platter. Tie ribbons around small bundles of pine
needles to further decorate the plate and bring that wonderful smell
of country into their home. Include a note to make every step
personable. Here is an example:
Dear Moriah,
Since you could not make it home for the holidays, we
wanted to send a little bit of home to you.
The plate, we found at ABC’s Antiques where little Blake declared
Purple was your favorite color.
The candle’s are to warm your dinner table while you are so far
away.
The pinecones were picked by Blake, Cory, and Skylar last Wednesday
at the park. They each picked three pinecones and then played rock,
paper, scissors to determine which ones we would send.
The pine needles should remind you of when we were young, climbing
the trees (and me getting stuck).
The ribbon reminded me of those dresses mom made for us when we were
in elementary school and you told me that she made them out of
curtains. – That was not nice by the way.
Merry Christmas,
The Family
As an alternative to the pinecone, fill a bowl or bag with nuts and
include a cheap metal nut cracker covered in ribbons. Take the
children out with you to gather the nuts and make it a family gift.
Consider including a picture of the event with the gift. Your loved
one will enjoy knowing that you thought of them enough to make this
very special gift.
If you would like to purchase a gift for your loved ones, make sure
it means something to both of you. Consider giving a gift that
represents your faith. Visit
http://www.showyourpizzazz.com/GiftFinder/religious.html
for ideas on inspirational gifts, Christian videos, music, games,
software, jewelry and more. Or visit
http://www.showyourpizzazz.com/GiftFinder/Christmas.html
for tons of ideas for personalized Christmas gifts like a calendar
with all the grandkids pictures (my sister makes a great one) or
your little sports star’s picture on a Wheaties box.
Some other ideas are the ever popular brownies in a jar, wine
glasses painted by your children, hand written copies of your
favorite recipes and board games to bring the family together.
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CHRISTMAS RECIPES
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Here's a tasty potato casserole, made with potatoes, chives, and
cream cheese.
· 4 cups cubed potatoes
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 cup milk
· 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
· 1 tablespoon chopped chives, fresh or frozen
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon pepper
· 1/2 teaspoon instant dried minced onion
· paprika
· fresh or frozen chopped chives for garnish (optional)
Cook potatoes with 1 teaspoon salt in boiling water to cover 15
minutes or until tender; drain. Place cooked potatoes in a shallow,
lightly greased 2-quart casserole. Heat milk and cream cheese in a
medium saucepan, stirring until cheese is melted. Add chives, salt,
pepper, and dried onion; pour over potatoes.
Thanks to our Friends at Diana’s Kitchen we were able to share this
wonderful Christmas recipe. Please visit her site for many more
including side dishes, dessert, and even leftover recipes. Click
here or copy and past this URL into your address bar: http://dianaskitchen.com/index.htm
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SHOW YOUR PIZZAZZ NEWS
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We made the front page of the Corridor Newspaper on Veterans Day!
They printed a nice article about USA Kids Christmas 2004 and a full
color picture of me standing by toys for the program. This article
was also run in 3 other newspapers that same week. I hope to scan
the article and add it to the website for everyone.
I was informed yesterday that Show Your Pizzazz has made the finals
in The San Diego Business Journal’s Family Owned Business Award
program. The winner will be announced at a breakfast on December
7th. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
My son, Blake, was also awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from
the I-15 Diamond Gateway Chamber of Commerce for his community work
at the Carmel Mountain Ranch Street Festival. Congratulations Blake!
We want to hear from you! What do you like
about the site and newsletter? What do you want to hear more about?
What could you do without? Have a favorite recipe you would like to
share? Or how about a unique party idea or party picture?
Send us an e-mail at
TonyaRenay@ShowYourPizzazz.com
Tonya Sease
(858) 382-5825
TonyaRenay@ShowYourPizzazz.com
www.ShowYourPizzazz.com
