In case you still need gift tags and packaging ideas, you can find a mother lode of options over here at Tipnut, including a link to these from Sugarloop, shown above.
Play this little memory matching game online at Sodapix, a Swiss stock photo company. (Via Swiss Miss.)
Get a PDF of these cute animals from the talented Lotta Bruhn. Print them on sticky label paper or decoupage them onto something. Thank you, Lotta, and thanks for the tip, Babalisme.
We have an aluminum tree this year, but weren't sure how to light it. Idea one: use a string of Christmas lights like normal people do on Christmas trees. The problem: the cords only come in dark green or white, and both stick out like a sore thumb on this tree. Idea two: get one of those color wheel things that people used decades ago. The problem: It doesn't light up your tree whatsoever, and the gizmo is, to quote my husband, "a piece of crap."
Here's a bad photo for you. The tree is about six feet tall and rather skinny. It's like me in high school. I had silver metal braces, too.
Last night I printed some of these from Martha Stewart to stick on presents. Get them here.
Get 50% off all mousepads and postcard sets in my shop this Saturday and Sunday, 12/13-14.
If you are not yet sick to death of making Christmas decorations, here are more projects with instructions:
Last night was the little gathering of blog readers at my house. There were nine guests, and each person turned out to be very, very wonderful. A large knife was brandished at one point, but it was only used for cutting cake. Whew. We all managed to fit at my long dining room table and ate desserts, made some paper ornaments, and compared thumb flexibility. One person had heard a theory that the further your thumb bends backwards, the more artistic you are. I'm not sure we arrived at any conclusions, but we had a good time. Guys, thanks so much for coming over!
Free snowflakes for all you Illustrator users. Get an .ai and .pdf file here, compliments of Jeni-cek.
I was trying to think of other ways to make easy ornaments from paper and created these last night while watching CSI reruns. They're made from cheap computer paper. How to:
3. Put a little piece of double-stick tape at the tip of the first "page." Then bend it inward toward the center and stick it down. Repeat for every "page" until you have a circular flower shape.
Of course I had to do an orange one.
Didn't I just get done saying I don't like orange and purple together very much? Yeah, then I go and buy this planner. $2.99, CVS Pharmacy. I always keep a "month at a glance" version around, but usually this cheap kind has some dumb photos of puppies or palm trees on them. I'll take orange and purple, thank you.
These are the stockings my mom and I made last Christmas for our family for hanging at her house. The production sort of spilled over into after Christmas, due to a miscalculation on how long they would take, so I didn't post them here last year. (Click the photo to view larger.) Guess which one is mine!
The folks at Mibo are offering a printable 2009 calendar PDF and a chance to win a lovely tea towel (giveaway is every three months) to those who join their mailing list. Click here to sign up for your calendar.
For the first year ever, we didn't get a real Christmas tree. I bought this aluminum one on eBay after Christmas last year. I love real trees, but I also like to change things up. And I think if you're going to have a fake tree, it shouldn't even pretend to look like a real tree. So we have this. I made a tree skirt for it out of the Fireworks fabric. (Hey, shipping at JCaroline is only $5 on all domestic orders through Dec. 20, I just discovered.) 
I made some vase slip covers, too. You can read my easy tutorial at Modish this week or find it in my archives if you want to make some.
And I had some fabric scraps left so I was going to make a whole bunch of these stuffed ornaments and do a garland or something. Except I lost interest after making just one. And I was so lazy I couldn't even stitch the opening shut after I stuffed it. I used a glue gun. Maybe next time I will try to do a whole sewing project with a glue gun. Yes.
Download a free Word template from Microsoft that works with Avery paper products. You can customize the message and print 'em out. I like.
I was dying to use my fabric to make a pair of non-traditional, retro-looking stockings for Alex and me. And then, despite repeated pin injuries, because I loved them so much, I kept going and made a few extra to stick in the shop. They're lined with fuzzy fleece and I wish I could wear them on my feet. Of course I'd have to make them about 10 times bigger. Because I have big feet, not because they are mini stockings.
HAO reader Devrah emailed me a picture of the fabric wall art she made. I love it! She wanted a 6' x 2' piece of art, so to save money, she bought two 2' x 3' frames and screwed them together, then stretched black and white IKEA fabric over the whole thing. And the best part: she used orange fabric paint to fill in some of the shapes in the print to coordinate with her bookshelves, shown below. Genius! 
It looks like IKEA is no longer selling the exact print Devrah used, but you could add your own color to one of these black and white prints. For instructions for stretching fabric over frames, see here.
I'm always wishing I could meet you guys. This seems difficult since right now there are about 6,000 of you clicking over here on week days, plus another 7,600 subscribing to the feed. I can't fly you all here and fit you into my condo! Here's the best I can do: 
