Hey, I just happen to know about that holy trash dumping first hand lol! Hundreds of years ago, our office served as a drop-off point for donations to a new charity in the small town in which I lived then; the charity didn't yet have its own building, & it was Christmas time. Most people just brought in their boxes & said thanks, & we said thanks, & they left. One day a young, well-if-casually-dressed woman came in & questioned me closely about the donations. When she was satisfied that the charity deserved her "donations", she had her husband bring in their 2 little moppets. Gravely, she explained to the moppets that they were doing a good deed by giving their old toys to "the poor" (I hadn't heard that term since the last time I watched an old movie like maybe A Christmas Carol), & her husband hauled in some boxes & she ceremoniously presented the boxes to us. Next day, I was first in the office; unlocked the door, went in, was overwhelmed by the smell, looked everywhere, couldn't find it. Secretary came in & immediately said, "It's the boxes those people brought in.". Not only were the toys broken & torn up, but the husband's sweaty, grass-clipping-smeared week-old laundry was in there. The guys at the hardware store next door just shook their heads when they gave our secretary the key to their dumpster (we only had "trash bag" pick-up, no way to get rid of this mess). After that, I checked every incoming box & bag, & for a little while, I felt a bit guilty about pawing through the people's donations, but it beat having to take an anti-histamine & air out the office! (& the head of the charity added a new stipulation in her newsletter, something like, "Please do not offer us your old socks, used underwear, or broken or dirty items. If you can't use it, our clients can't use it.") edited to add: I had to edit to correct a typo, so I'm adding this: It's been many many years since I've thought of this. The moppets would be grown by now, & I wonder how they turned out. Maybe they wrap up their discarded yard-work clothes, used coffee grounds, & broken electronics for their parents at Christmas!

We did not do much in the way of gifts this year but we did go to my neighbors home for Christmas dinner and we always exchange gifts. She has no family to buy for other than her husband and her dogs so she has started showering us with Christmas gifts because she enjoys it so much. I try to reciprocate. She is an avid gardener and works in my yard all the time. She often gets into poison ivy. I got her the very best quality leather gauntlet gardening gloves I could find in her tiny hand size. She was so thrilled. She said oh my God no more poison ivy on my wrist. I also bought them a Cajun pork Tenderloin wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cream cheese and jalapeños. She cooked it for their new years eve meal last night and said it might be the best thing they have had. That made me happy.

I agree1 930;s and before.....used to be you could date a glass ornament by the metal cap...until I saw a dealer cleaning up the caps from a box of broken ornaments after the good ones had been sold. My tree has dozens and dozens of old ornaments....and I have a sltle tree that has a bunch of the old cardboard ornaments and some very little old ornaments, including some old clip on birds. And Martha...I won't be as kind as the rest....I can just say "Dummy!" Seems we have to do that sort of thing once every 10 years to keep us buying loads of stuff we don't really need.

Sharon, I think tie fabric tends to be slippery. :) When I first looked at the photo I thought it was more 3D - points extending in all planes. Now it looks like all the points are in one plane. I think sewing like you said wouldn't be too hard, and instead of piping I think I would do hand embroidery around the edge - stem stitch or couching. Donna