Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas to Take Money, Stress Out of Christmas

As you look over the list of gifts you need this holiday season, an unsettling feeling starts. How will I pay for all these gifts? How about homemade gifts?

Gift-giving is meant to be a time for sharing how much you appreciate others, but rising prices and tight budgets take the feel-good vibes right out of gift-giving traditions. This year, take the money stress out of the holidays by turning to homemade gifts. Homemade gifts are a great way to show you appreciate someone while also adding a personal touch. Gifts don’t need to be expensive to be special. Get the family involved in the fun and you will be creating memories while making unique gifts for those who mean the most in your life. Patch explores the homemade holidays in hopes that you will find something to inspire you to enjoy the season more. Healthy options: Pack energy in a jar with healthy snacks like energy bars, dark chocolate…

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GW

11:32 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012

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Holiday Shopping: Spending Limits For Kids’ Presents?

How much is too much to spend on children and teens? We want to hear your thoughts!

As the holiday shopping season goes into full swing, some people are maxing out their credit cards to pay for presents and others are setting budgets and sticking with them. Scour just about any Facebook stream or stop in a local coffee shop and chances are you’ll hear parents debating the merits of setting spending limits. Or, you'll hear them lamenting about just how much they've already spent. The ideas for a perfect limit do seem to vary rather greatly. Some parents say $100 per child is more than enough. Others tend to lean toward much more generous figures. After all, there’s nothing like seeing a child’s eyes light up as they unwrap gift after gift. And that’s what we want to hear from you about, Millburn! Do you set spending limits…

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Fun Facts and Trivia for Thanksgiving

Canadian Turkeys, carving the lobster and a turkey the size of a dog.

No need to worry about conversation topics around the Thanksgiving dinner table. Let your guests fill up on this Thanksgiving fun facts. 

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Saint Barnabas Offering Free Bereavement Support for the Holidays

Saint Barnabas Medical Center is offering a free eight-week support group for those who lost loved ones through death

The holiday season can be a difficult time for those who recently experienced the death of a loved one. The Pastoral Care Department at Saint Barnabas Medical Center is offering a free public bereavement support group to help others through the period from Thanksgiving to the New Year.  The support group will meet every week from 6:30 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday from November 13 to January 8 at the interfaith chapel inside Saint Barnabas.  Group discussions will cover a variety of topics, including how to handle sadness and pain and adjusting to life changes. Participation is limited and people must register and speak with a bereavement councilor to see if the group is right for them, said the Rev. Thomas Craig, director of pastoral care.  “…

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Share Your Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes!

Do you make a non-conventional dessert? Side dish? Main course? Tell us about it!

While the “traditional” Thanksgiving dinner usually consists of turkey and trimmings, we have all established different traditions through the years. That said: Do you bake or cook anything that strays from conventional Turkey Day cuisine? Perhaps it is a dessert, a side dish – or maybe even the main course. We are looking for your non-traditional recipes to share with our Patch readers. Please e-mail them (and pictures) to bfalzarano.patch@gmail.com and we will publish them early next week. And, of course, feel free to share below in the comments.

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Holiday Season 2010

St. Rose Church Celebrates Epiphany

The church holds a celebration honoring the arrival of the three wisemen.

Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, isn't until Thursday, but St. Rose of Lima Church celebrated the day early on Sunday. The church hosted a family event that included music, scripture, dance and pageantry. It also included a live nativity pageant, which included animals like a camel. The Mascarina family portrayed the Holy Family (baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph), and over 350 people attended the event. Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the three wisemen in the Christmas nativity.

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Preschoolers Hold Annual Holiday Tea

They marched as toy soldiers and sang songs for their families.

The school district's integrated preschool program held its annual holiday tea for parents, family and friends right before the Christmas break a little over a week ago. Students in the 3-year-old program had their tea in the morning, and the 4-year-olds students had theirs in the afternoon. Students dressed as toy soldiers and marched around the gym before singing festive songs for those who were assembled. The preschool is located at South Mountain Elementary School. Monday is back to school for Millburn-Short students after more than a week off for Christmas break.

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Holiday Season 2010

Millburn Students Give from the Heart for Holidays

They participated in a number of drives to help those in need during the holiday season.

All of Millburn's schools have been involved in a variety of gift-giving drives this holiday season. In addition to contributing to the Millburn Police Department's annual Toys for Tots appeal, all schools have held holiday drives to provide gifts to those less fortunate. Hartshorn Elementary School families donated gifts to 250 children from the Department of Youth and Family Services. South Mountain and Wyoming elementary schools also collected for DYFS families, providing 270 gifts in total for those children. Glenwood families donated new and wrapped gifts for 300 needy children in a school in Newark.  For the fifth consecutive year, Deerfield Elementary School's holiday parties were wrapping parties. Students donate and wrap hats and …

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Holiday Season 2010

Churches Celebrate Christmas with Pageants, Candlight Services

Find a listing of Christmas church services around Millburn-Short Hills.

Christmas pageants, live nativity scenes and candlit carols are all part of Christmas Eve in Millburn-Short Hills. Christians will be heading to church services Friday night to celebrate Christmas, and churches also will hold services on Christmas morning. Below you'll find a list of services happening at churches in Millburn-Short Hills. Some Christmas celebrations extend beyond this weekend. Christ Church in Short Hills Christmas Eve 4:30 p.m.: Christmas Pageant 10 p.m.: Pre-service concert 10:30 p.m.: Christmas Eve Service Christmas 10 a.m.: Christmas Day Service Sunday 8 a.m.: Holy Eucharist 9:30 a.m.: Festival of Lessons and Carols Jan. 2 8 a.m.: Holy Eucharist 10:30 a.m.: Service for the New Year Community Congregational Church …

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