Hidden Money Ornaments

It's time to share another money gift idea! This year, my nephew Timothy's Christmas gift was money hidden inside Christmas ornaments. 

I shared the steps to painting and decorating glass ornaments a few weeks ago, but I intentionally didn't mention how great they are for hiding money! 

To hide money in a glass ornament, simply remove the top of the ornament, roll up the money, and slide it in. Replace the top. Money fits perfectly inside. It's not too difficult to get out; tweezers help. 

Making the gift was the easy part. Getting it from California to Idaho took a bit more effort. Fortunately, all four ornaments survived the plane trip. Once I got to Idaho, I attached a tag (1 of 4) to the green ornament. I wrapped it for Timothy to open and kept the other three to hide. 

I'd expected we'd be opening gifts at my mom's house, where I could hide the ornaments amongst the many on her tree. Instead, we opened gifts at my sister's house. They don't have a traditional Christmas tree up anymore. 

Needless to say, a cat tree would not be a great place to hide glass ornaments (for many reasons), so I had to resort to tucking them anywhere I could find that would not be too obvious (to the humans) or enticing (to the cats). Success! No one noticed the ornaments until Timothy opened the first one and started looking for the rest. 

Believe it or not (I barely do), this is the 42nd money gift tutorial I've shared. You can see them all here: Creative Ways to Give Money. Fingers crossed that I can dream up something for #43!

Choose Your Own Themed Christmas Gifts, White Elephant Style

I did something completely different for my inlaws' Christmas gifts this year: I created six themed gifts (each with a single word clue as to what was inside), then let them pick which gift they wanted, White Elephant style. I designed the gifts so that each was similar in value and would appeal to multiple relatives. The gifts included: Savory, Furry, Playful, Sweet, Pampered, and Faithful. 

In Steve's family, the youngest person opens their gifts first. So his younger sister got first pick. Being a proud Dog Mom of two, she guessed (correctly) that Furry contained dog-themed items and chose that one. It included a super soft blanket with dogs on it, a mug with a paw print at the bottom, dog-themed playing cards, and a donut-shaped dog chew toy (affiliate links here and below).  

Steve's older sister opened Savory next. It was filled with meats, cheeses, crackers, and mustard. 

Steve's brother-in-law chose Playful. He got Raptors playing cards, IQ Puzzler Pro, Eight Eighteen, and I Know.. You Don't.

Steve's aunt stole the Furry gift, so Teri opened Pampered. She got a pack of winter-scented foaming body scrubs, a battery operated candle in birch wood, and a 'Fresh Cut Roses' candle. Roses are a thing in our family because of our last name.  

Steve's mom chose Sweet. I included only a single edible item, the Maple Baking Chips. The other items were Sweets by Hershey lip balms, a Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll Candle, post-it notes that look like candy, Holiday Cookie hand soap, Sugar Cookie hand sanitizer, and a s'mores snowman ornament. 

Steve's dad opened the final gift, Faithful. It had been completely ignored up until that point, yet when he opened it almost everyone in that group of faithful 49ers fans wish they'd chosen that one. It included a 49ers drink cozy, 49ers buttons, and a 49ers nutcracker. 

It was a lot of fun putting these themed gifts together. I enjoyed thinking up each theme and then trying to find items to fill the bags. And it was just as fun seeing who picked each bag as their gift. 

One Little Word 2026

I first participated in Ali Edwards' One Little Word in 2011, making 2026 my sixteenth year. My past words, which you can read about here, include: Balance (2011), Celebrate (2012), Try (2013), Enjoy (2014), Relax (2015), Share (2016), Connect (2017), Believe (2018), Reach (2019), Focus (2020), Strengthen (2021), Thrive (2022), Play (2023), Learn (2024), and Adapt (2025).

My word for 2026 is Shine.

2025 was about adapting to my life as a breast cancer patient and empty nester, as well as the loss of my dad. It was not an easy year, but I've come through it stronger. I am doing so much better now than I was this time last year and I'm proud of that. I don't know what challenges await me in 2026, but I will continue to adapt as necessary. And, as much as possible, I want to Shine. 

When I was making my tag and how to represent the word Shine, the obvious choice was a sun. I had a chipboard sun that was the perfect size. I painted it with one of my favorite shades by Plaid, Mango Mambo (affiliate link). I didn't want to use blue for the tag since I did that last year, so I went with a beautiful leaf green, then sponge painted a true green on top of that. 

As always, this year's One Little Word doesn't replace previous years' words. I continue to live with Balance, Celebrate, Try, Enjoy, Relax, Share, Connect, Believe, Reach, Focus, Strengthen, Thrive, Play, Learn, and Adapt. The fifteen tags have been hanging like this in my craft room for the past year, but I'm going to have to do something different to make space for Shine. Stay tuned.  

Did you pick One Little Word for 2026? If so, let me know in the comments what it is and why you chose it!

Creative Resolutions for 2026

Happy New Year!

For over 20 years, I've been making creative resolutions each January. I enjoy challenging myself by setting attainable goals that push me and help me grow creatively. Before I jump into my goals for 2026, it's time to see how I did in 2025. 

Of the eight resolutions I made, I completed five and made partial progress on one. I'm pleased with that, particularly considering I did a lot of other creative things that weren't on the list.


First, the resolutions I completed:

• I finished 46 scrapbook layouts in 2025. While I'm technically six layouts short of an average of one per week, it's close enough that I'm counting it.
• I exceeded my goal of taking two creative classes by participating in Summer Creative Workshop. I took six classes. I enjoyed them, learned a lot, and stretched myself creatively. 
• I had a lot of fun using acrylic paint with Gelli Plates. I'll definitely be doing more experimentation very soon. 
• I'm not sure why I specified that I'd do a monthly photo challenge. I prefer challenges with a bunch of prompts you do on a single day (a photo scavenger hunt) over the ones where you take a single photo each day for a month. I did a photo challenge at Disneyland and I'm totally counting it. 
• I used several new-to-me art supplies, including Kuretake Gansai Tambi, Ohuhu Kakaako Acrylic Markers, and Ohuhu Halawa Colored Pencils. I also made a point to use supplies I hadn't used in a long time, like when I made the most frustrating name art ever. 

I gave myself partial credit for one resolution:

• I tried a few recipes from Pinterest... sort of. In general, I don't like following recipes. I've done enough cooking that when I try something new, I usually read several recipes for the same dish, then mash them together to make up my own version. I did that a couple of times this year using recipes I'd pinned years ago. I didn't make a scrapbook layout, card, or craft inspired by Pinterest. I'm rarely on Pinterest since my job with Fun Family Crafts ended. 

There are two resolutions I didn't do:

• I can't believe it, but I didn't do any edible art projects this year, let alone use a new technique. I did create a roundup of all the edible flower crafts I've made. It doesn't count for the resolution, but I'm proud of it so I'm sharing it here. 
• I don't think I made any projects inspired by books. If I did, they weren't memorable enough for me to think of them now.  

Here are my creative resolutions for 2026:

Have you made creative resolutions for 2026? Tell me about your plans in the comments!