Uncategorized

Holiday Gift Tags

Each Christmas Eve, I sit down with my husband and several rolls of paper, scissors, and tape to wrap all of the gifts for our family. It’s a fun time of sipping on drinks, and discussing the reactions we anticipate the next day. We work. We talk. We laugh. And it’s a fun memory of every Christmas season–one that marks the end of the hustle and the start of the relaxing gift of Christmas day. It is finished!

Our family is heading to England this Christmas and I am so excited to share some new traditions with my readers. But as we prepare to travel, I am in major prep-mode for making sure all of our gifts get to the destination and recipient without confusion. That’s why Gift Tags are so important.

This year as you sit down to wrap gifts, consider purchasing this $2.00 Holiday Gift Tag sheet to help ease the process. Print the tags onto sticker paper for easy transfer to wrapping paper, or to plain paper (just add tape).

The Ameri Brit Mom

Uncategorized

5 Gift Ideas for a Writer

This is Part 2 of my gift-giving guide for the Holiday season of 2022. Last week, I shared 5 Gift Ideas for a Reader–be sure to check that out! Now, I want to give attention to the writers in our lives. These can be people who are somewhat difficult to buy for because writing requires very little in the digital age. Many writers can get by with just a computer, and for that reason it can get tricky trying to gift them the experience of writing.

These items in the list I curated are aimed at helping writers hone their skills through practicing the art of writing. The gift ideas range in price from $5-$100, and represent many facets of the writing experience.

I am not an affiliate for any of these items. All of these recommendations are things I genuinely enjoy and am choosing to share with you because I am so fond of them.

1. PaperMate InkJoy Gel 0.7

The PaperMate InkJoy Gel 0.7 are my favorite pens for writing. They glide gently across the page and without smearing or ghosting. These have become a go-to and staple in my writing life.

2. Plum Paper Planners

Lately, I’ve moved away from Bullet Journaling and into a custom-built planner from Plum Paper. Although they can get pricy, these planners can be tailored to the needs of the writer and the pages are beautiful and of great quality. I am in love with my Plum Paper planner and I use it regularly to plan out blog posts, track purchases for The Ameri Brit Mom, and to schedule out the events in my life.

3. 642 Things to Write About Book

A universal experience for all writers is the lack of ideas. When you gift a writer a book of prompts like 642 Things to Write About by the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto you help them to defeat this hurdle to their practice and help unlock ideas just waiting to be captured on the page.

4. Small, low-maintence (or artificial) plants

Plants (whether artificial or living) add to the ambiance of a writer’s space. I recommend a set of smaller artificial plants, but if your writer has a green thumb then something requiring low maintence would be best. The plants should not deter their attention from their writing, but instead help to craft an environment that keeps their butt-in-chair.

5. SkillShare Subscription

A subscription to Skillshare was my big gift from my husband in 2021. With this subscription, I was able to take courses on many of my hobbies from creatives and leaders in their fields. For example, I learned how to improve my social media marketing strategies, film lifestyle vlogs, write a modern resume, and so much more. This is the most expensive gift on the list, but worth the cost in order to help the writer in your life invest in their skills and grow their toolbox.

When you buy a gift for a writer you are investing in a hobby and lifestyle that extends far beyond pages of words. You are showing them that you value what they have to say and believe in them to launch their gift into the world.

The Ameri Brit Mom

Faith · Uncategorized

Value: Five Minute Friday

Happy Friday!

I hope those of you who live in the USA had an amazing Thanksgiving gathered with loved ones and lots of yummy food. Thanksgiving was a little different in my family this year as my youngest sister is living in Canada. Her empty seat at the table was a constant reminder of the miles between us. Thankfully, Mom and Dad are headed to Niagara today in a car packed with leftovers and cards from all of us.

Today I’m gathering with others that I am also thankful for as we meet up every Friday to share encouragement and life with one another. This week the Five Minute Friday community is writing on the prompt: Value.

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With the conclusion of Thanksgiving festivities our hearts turn in anticipation toward the Christmas season. I woke up this morning to a Facebook feed endlessly announcing Holiday sales. Like many, I spent time yesterday with the people that mean the most to me and being thankful for all the Lord has blessed me with. But, like many of you, I am so tempted to turn around–not 24 hours later, and cultivate a spirit of want.

Can we just have a day to simmer in the juices of thanksgiving? I mean, goodness, our turkeys marinate longer than us!

How can we so quickly switch from “Lord, thank you” to “Lord, I want”?

This holiday season I am praying to stay cognizant of my attitude.

I want to enter into this Christmas season with the same sense of thankfulness that I felt gathered around the table yesterday.

The promise of a Savior–that is why I am thankful and why I anticipate Christmas.

Please join me in remembering the true gift of family and placing value on the things that matter most this season.

The Ameri Brit Mom

Family · Uncategorized

Five Minute Friday: Break

This week the topic for the Five Minute Friday link-up post is Choose your own. So I chose my post to be on the idea of Break. What is a link-up? Essentially a link-up is when you join other bloggers and write on a similar topic. You share your blog posts with one another and begin conversations via a host site. You can head over to Kate Motaung’s page to check out other entries from inspired bloggers. Here’s my five minutes of uninterrupted, unedited writing on this week’s topic:

It is now officially Christmas break for my husband and I. No words can accurately describe the feeling of turning my keys in my classroom lock for the last time in 2015. I stayed a little later after school today to ensure a completely work-free vacation and so I am thrilled to say that there will be no grading or lesson planning happening in my life between now and January 5!

In light of the Holiday season and the break that I have just entered I decided to make a Bucket List today of all the things I would like to accomplish between now and my far-off return to the classroom.

  1. Netflix Binging: Aside from reading, Netflix is the best tool for helping me unwind and de-stress. My husband, Arianna, and I have been looking forward to a few evenings of snacks in the living room and a couple of episodes of favorite shows.
  2. Finish writing draft 1 of my novel: I still have an end goal in mind for my novel and that is to finish draft 1 by January 1. I’m about four chapters shy of that goal currently so we will see what the next two weeks hold for the future of the novel.
  3. Read 3 books: Although I have read a couple books this school year it is increasingly difficult to read as much as I’d like the further I get into the year. I have a “to-read” list that I’m looking forward to putting a dent in this break. Currently, I’m finishing up I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. I love it so far and will let you know what I think when it is finished.
  4. View holiday lights: Every year we like to journey to Lancaster, Ohio to a lovely home light show. We always stop at Starbucks, get warm drinks, and then drive through the light display. It’s a beautiful property lined with animated LED lighting. This is a fun family tradition. We also may end up at the Columbus Zoo Wildlights this weekend which is another beautiful and festive display.
  5. Take Arianna to see Santa: To be honest we’ve never done this before. This year is the first Christmas where she has asked to visit St. Nick so we are going to carve out some time to stop in and see him at his house in downtown Circleville. That will be the beginning of a new family tradition I suppose.
  6. Christmas Baking: Need I say more? It isn’t the holidays without a kitchen lined with goodies.

When I’m not working on part of my Bucket List  I will be totally relaxing, enjoying time with the people who mean the most to me, and not thinking about work.

Five Minute Friday is taking a break over the next couple of weeks. Below is a schedule of the link-ups in the making.

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What are your plans this season?