DIY Christmas Gift #3

STOP

If you are a family member of mine, you are no longer welcome here.

Move along.

Yep, round three of DIY Christmas gifts.

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"Experiences" opposed to "Things" are all the rage these days in the gift giving department.  I'm not sure how it is has become a trend, rather than the norm, but that's a topic for another post.

As you know, my sister cashed in on her Northrop Dinner from last Christmas, last month.  A special dinner at my house may be a wee bit excessive, but you can do this on all kinds of levels.  I'm pretty sure, that no matter where you live, there's a restaurant you can get take-out from.  

Chinese, Italian, Persian, Thai, Indian, Mexican, no matter the flavor, you can turn it into a special dinner.

Set a nice table.  Light some candles.  Buy or pick some fresh flowers.  If cooking isn't your thing, put the food you picked up in some nice, oven-safe serving dishes.  Keep everything warm until it's time to eat.  For an appetizer, buy a couple nice wedges of cheese, cut up some fruit, open a box of crackers and call it gourmet.

Open a bottle of wine, some beer, or a nice sparkling water and you've got a fancy shindig.

There are zillions of websites online where you can get free invitation printables.  

I found these two on a site called Greetings Island.  I just punched in a Google search and it was the first site to pop up.  Both were easy to fill in with my own info, I saved them to my computer, and then printed them off on some cardstock.
I did them in black and white, 'cause ink is expensive and we're poor.  :)

I mounted them to some scrapbook paper and added some bling, but that really isn't necessary.

You can even go old-school and buy an invitation, and then hand write the details.

This works for family, friends, neighbors, teachers, people you barely know.  There's nothing better than sitting around a table full of food and having a conversation.  Whether you prepared the entire meal, or not, doesn't matter in the least.

This year, my sister put Northrop Dinner on her Christmas wish list again.  

She'll be getting the green invitation and I'm giving the pink one to my mom and step-dad.

And there ya go, a gift where all the work comes later.  :)