Dear Santa,

We have been mostly nice all year. It seems everyone we know is cutting-back on toy spending this year, the economic situation being what it is. We’re enjoying sending Christmas ecards again this year.  At our house, we send unlimited funny Christmas ecards and holiday greeting cards to all our family and friends across the country. This has cut-down Christmas costs for us;  instead of spending money here and there on various $5 gift cards, we’re saving money with fun and beautiful Christmas ecards.

So we understand, Santa Claus, if you need to save on your expenses this year too. In our letters from years past, normally, we’ve asked for certain material items – remember when we asked for a car? Oh, and then there was that year with the letter where we explained to you just why exactly diamonds are a girl’s best friend. But, we promise this year, Old St. Nick, that we’re okay with just the health of our families, a blessing on this great country, and wishes for a prosperous 2012.

Hanukkah begins next Tuesday evening. If you haven’t started preparing for it yet, our DIY article here will get you started!

1. The Menorah

First thing’s first. The beautiful menorah candles have such a meaningful significance. Counting down the eight days of Hanukkah, lighting one of the eight candles each night, is a sacred way to remember the past and to cherish time with family.

The blog, Old Growth Yiddishkeit, has lovely advice on how to make an environmentally sustainable menorah that is still kosher.  Using olive oil and cotton wicks is better for the environment and actually a closer match to what they  would have used in the 2nd century BCE.

2. Dreidel

   An excellent article from Patch.com, gives instructions on how to glamorize your dreidels using Elmer’s spray adhesive, fine glitter, and a decorative glass vase. Martha Stewart Crafts (available at Michael’s) makes fine glitter. It’s more powdery and subtle. In my opinion it looks better on the dreidels than the large traditional glitter squares. Less messy too!

3. Latkes

The Huffington Post featured an avant-garde recipe that puts a new spin on this traditional food. How ’bout adding  celery root and parsnip to your latkes this Hanukah? I thought it sounded delicious.

4. Celebration

Dance, laugh, and sing with your family in celebration of Hanukah. Here are a few great ways to do it!

Rock-out with your kids to this bouncy Hanukah pop ballad sung a capella by the Maccabeats. It has over six million views on YouTube!

Menorah. Check. Dreidel. Check. Latkes. Check. Hanukah e cards … we’ve got you covered. Another way to wish others joy is to send Hanukah e cards to family across the country. We have plenty of Hanukah e cards here at DoozyCards.

 They’ll love groovin’ to this original Happy Happy Hanukah song e card.

So now that this blog post has hopefully equipped you with everything you need, go get started with the Hanukah preparations! We here at DoozyCards wish you a warm Hanukah 2011.

We love heart-warming stories around Christmastime. It truly is the season for giving. We loved this story that took place in Grand Rapids, Michigan this past Tuesday.

A woman was at Kmart buying for the Toys for Tots charity, when she decided to pay-off three layaway accounts belonging to three random strangers. This snowballed into other Kmart shoppers doing the same thing, and three days later $3,500 had been donated towards layaway accounts.

There are plenty of ways to show your Christmas giving spirit this season. Sending Christmas ecards to your loved ones far away  shows them you care. We here at DoozyCards, offer 6 months of free Premier Membership to active service men and women currently in the Armed Services. That’s why when we came across this nonprofit group called Trees for Troops it really sang to our hearts.

This group partners with Christmas tree growers and FedEx to deliver 17,000 trees to military families. FedEx uses East, West, and Central routes to deliver these trees to such deserving families. Lighting up a Christmas tree fills your home with warmth and cheer. You can find out how to donate to Trees for Troops here.

Even if you are not able to do random acts of kindness this year, send Christmas ecards to your family and friends as a token of kindness.

Whether you shop at brick and mortar or online, engaging in gift-giving this season is wearisome for even the most intrepid shopper. Parking at malls, traffic, and waiting in line pushes us towards the worldwide web where we can shop from bed in our PJs.

This year I ordered online from Macy’s, Wal-Mart, and Amazon.com, and let me tell you, seeing those boxes pile-up in my entryway was much better than lugging them around town in the backseat of my car. Harried Christmas shopping amongst the chaos of Los Angeles is not the best look for a woman.

I also found this great site, Etsy.com, that has great gifts for friends and housewarming. One of my favorite sellers on this site is BandA Prints that does custom prints of your home state, football team, and gifts for babies. It was so easy to order from this seller, and have it delivered directly to my house.

Our Holiday Greeting Cards are a “Happy Holidays!” to your loved ones through the push of a button. For me, living here in Southern California, there are days in December where the sun is out, and it’s actually quite balmy. But I know for sure my relatives on the East Coast are building a snowman. They have enough snow in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut to sled, throw snowballs, and roll large balls into the the belly and head of a snowman. That’s why I sent one of my family members this Snowman Seasons Greetings. This card is a beautifully animated video of a little boy building a snowman. I love his bright orange mittens, and his creative use of a tin pail as a hat. I love sending Holiday Greeting Cards to commemorate this special time of year.