Countdown to Christmas

Happy Saturday Readers!

I know, it's only September.  But....time flies.  We have good intentions with these crafty DIY holiday projects and then something happens and it's December 12th and we haven't started ANY of them.Who's with me?

Not this year!! I already have a couple gifts in the works thanks to My Digital Studio.  These are probably my favorite ones I have set to go because all I'll have to do is print them and then wrap them and people on my lists will open up a beautiful handmade gift.  Of course, I'm not going to share what they are because my family reads my blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Here's a couple great ideas from My Digital Studio (remember, there is a FREE 30 day trial you can get here.  Also, My Digital Studio downloads work with other programs, too)

1) Compilation of Recipes--here's a great book already complete where you just drag and drop pictures of your favorite recipes in, type up the recipe in the text boxes, hit print and you have your own cookbook you'd be proud to give people.  They won't believe it when you tell them you made it yourself, and, who doesn't love new recipes to try?

2:) Photo Calendar: A favorite of my parents, my husband's parents, and my grandparents are the yearly calendar with the pictures of us kids and their grandkids.  I try to put pictures of each during their birthday months and fun things we've done together through the year.  Here's the one I used last year, can't wait to see what the 2014 downloads look like-I've been collecting pictures.

3.) I am thinking about this cute color book swatchbook and some new crayons for my nephew and Jack. They are a year apart and this would be something for them to do together when they need something quiet to do over the holidays:

4.) Finally, how about a birthday calendar.  Stampin' Up! creates this beautiful template that you can just write in the birthdays and voila, a thoughtful, functional gift anyone can use.  This is something I need to do in my own family.  We are all of the age now where we are getting married and starting families, and I don't like to forget a special day.  The best part, it's swatchbook size which means it will fit in your bag or purse and is smaller than your checkbook!

I hope I have given  you a few ideas that will work for your friends and family!  Join me in creating a thoughtful gift in minutes and get started on those holiday to dos early.  Thanks for stopping in!

PS.....another thing you can print are your Christmas cards and tags!  Here's a scrapbook page I created in MDS featuring our Christmas card last year and just one example (out of MANY) that you can print yourself.