Christine, I'm so glad you're enjoying the albums. I love putting them together for people as well as looking thru them often myself. I never get tired of decorating photos and ideas. :o) You are off to a wonderful start on your village! I REALLY like the way you've arranged the base and the buildings. I can't wait to see more! Oh, did you notice how many people made 'smoke' come out of their chimneys with a tiny piece of the snow batting? I love that idea and never would have thought of it myself. Because one of my kitties is a "brat cat", the last couple of years I've had to empty my huge china cabinet and set up my Village IN it. LOL. I'll show you some of the photos later after I hunt up the links in my own album. I like he can't knock stuff over but still would prefer it set up in the open. Glad you posted over on Holidays, would love you to join us there. Karen

I love this thread and glad to see it back! I am kind of hit and miss at doing crafts. I have done lots of the glass garden totems, I posted some pics here of them some time ago. And I do make jewelry as my hands allow these days. Right now I have been named Project Manager for our Garden Club and I come up with crafts and projects we can all do for fun and also to sell at our yearly sale. This is one of the more recent ones I taught them and I made for the sale. They are fall leaf covered candle holders. Super easy.

I would look around your community for ideas. Mine has a splashpark that is popular among families with toddlers (it's like a mini, age-appropriate "waterpark" for the little crowd), a children's museum, some local farms that have children's programs, etc. Our splashpark is free, so for the "gift" perhaps a few beach towels, little flip-flops or sunglasses for the kids (if any of these are still available at a Target or Kohls--we get these things around Xmas time for those planning winter vacations to warm-weather destinations) and a gift certificate to a local lunch or ice cream spot. Your card explain a day of family fun. You could do this same thing with a local petting zoo, switching out the beach towels for hand sanitizer. ;-) That's just an idea off the top of my head, but my first inclination would be to look around my community to see what's available for families with toddlers. It's been a while since mine were that age, but I always savored those days when our family just blew a whole Saturday having nothing but fun with the kids.

A good friend of mine knits while travelling. For the first few years after 9/11, she was unable to use knitting needles, but now people can do so. Ambien. I've never tried the stuff, but I've heard so many stories of diverse reactions, l certainly wouldn't want to experiment in the air. Alcohol. If you can handle a drink or three on the ground, go ahead, but note that high altitudes will make the stuff go to one's head much faster than on the ground. Cut yourself off sooner. Unless you like airplane toilets, cutting back on diuretics may be indicated. Although, yes, it's a good excuse to get up and move occasionally. If you are sensitive to any foods, avoid those. Those compression socks sound like an excellent idea! Reading material is essential. A magazine or two, a paperback, an e-reader... I'm not afraid of flying (momentary holding of breath as we take off and land aside). My problem is the extreme discomfort at being folded into seats not meant for tall people with bad knees. Hence I always aim to get aisle seating. Since my last flight, I now have a bad ankle. At any rate, due to my size and leg issues, it is impossible for me to sleep on planes. I suspect not even morphine would do it... i do try to sneak a leg into an edge of that aisle where it won't trip anyone, and drowse a bit, but that trolley (which needs the full aisle) comes by every 30 minutes! At 2 am, really???