Celebrate Simply: Your Guide to Simpler, More Meaningful Holidays and Special Occasions

The holiday season is closing in fast, and with it the panic. Who needs to be on my shopping list? What can I get them? How much can I spend? What kind of cookies should I bake, what meals should I try, where am I going to put up the tree? In this age of hustle-and-bustle, it's easy to get so caught up in the holidays that we forget to enjoy ourselves. We over-schedule, over-spend, over-indulge, and come away feeling empty. For a lot of us, money is a big issue and time isn't much better. By celebrating simply, we can cut out the unnecessary baggage that comes along with the holidays and focus on what really counts: our Lord and our family. In Celebrate Simply Nancy Twigg shares her own experiences with holiday overload, from the fiasco that was supposed to be The Perfect Christmas to the tension surrounding The Ideal Wedding. Twigg pulls no punches about the stuff-crazed society we all get caught up in, but right after pointing out the problems, she offers simple solutions and a ton of great ideas to help you streamline and simplify every holiday, from Thanksgiving and Christmas to weddings and birthdays. Each section begins with history about the holiday, which helps us to see what we should be focusing on as Christians. She wants to help us all put the spiritual significance back into the special days, and by pointing out what that is, it's easy to see where she gets some of her great ideas for how to stay focused on it. She offers advice for family outings and charity work right along with how to make a gift basket and have that perfect present available for giving any time. The best thing about this book is the practical advice. She actually gives simple gift ideas that can easily be personalized, from the homemade to the sales-rack to the clutter-free. There's a comprehensive index in the back to categorize them all and give you some great starting points. I started brainstorming even as I read it, and I'm actually excited about getting started on what I had been dreading up until now. It's also really easy to go just to the section you most need at that time, rather than having to read the whole thing in a sitting to get her point. Celebrate Simply is a fabulous resource that any shopper and planner should flip through before hitting the malls or the drawing board. I'm going to be going back to this book a lot throughout the year for advice and ideas; it's already helped me focus on what the upcoming holidays are really about. It'll not only help you fine-tune your gift giving, it would also make a great gift itself for that chronic holiday-overloader who starts each new year with too much stress from the preceding two months. Thank you, Nancy! Let's hope we can all learn from your experience!

Written by resourceful wife and mother Nancy Twigg, Celebrate Simply is a solid guide to learning how to celebrate the true meanings of holidays without excessive shopping and overspending. Although a spiritual as well as family-centered guide, Celebrate Simply primarily focuses upon practical strategies for joyful celebration on a budget. Chapters discuss meaningful gift giving, simplifying Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, wedding celebrations (and this is sorely needed in today's hyper-expensive wedding culture), Halloween, Thanksgiving and graduation ceremonies, and also birthdays and anniversaries. Enthusiastically recommended for all families regardless of income level, as the frugal suggestions are notable for their emphasis on the person-to-person connections that holidays are truly all about. "Look for free or low-cost activities that could serve as the theme and entertainment for the [children's birthday] party. Does your city have a children's museum? Is a local church hosting a free puppet show?"

This book isn't just about Christmas. It's about solving the problems of stress and overspending on any holiday or special occasion--and recapturing the spirit of celebration. Celebrate Simply provides creative examples and ideas for simpler, more economical, more meaningful traditions and gift giving. Author Nancy Twigg writes from a clear Christian perspective, providing biblical and historical insight for many holidays and celebrations. Chapters are dedicated to birthdays and anniversaries, weddings, graduations, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's and Father's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have the first edition of this book and was excited to read the revised and expanded edition. I'm sure you could find a used copy of the original at a very low price, but I highly recommend the updated version instead. Nancy has added additional wisdom and insight along with new suggestions for gift giving and celebrating. Celebrate Simply is a well organized, handy reference book that I consult often.

If you are looking as I was to take the anxiety out of the holidays, save money, and put Christ back into your festivities, then this book is for you. I started implementing what I had read after reading the first chapter and it saved me dollars and stress, as I had a month where I had to buy three graduation gifts, a baby shower gift, and three birthday gifts. The author, Nancy Twigg, makes the book simple, easy reading, but it is packed full of helpful information. This book is a must-have for each home and church library of those who want to simplify all of the holidays. I highly recommend it to all people!

Are you one of the many people who look upon holidays as just another deadline in life? For many people the additional financial stress, time pressures, and other factors seem to take the pleasure right out of holidays and other special occasions. Nancy Twigg starts with an illustration of a holiday gone wrong that we can all sympathize with - Christmas. From there she discusses gift giving in general and the "rules" of gift giving that create stress. She shows how these "rules" are not valid in the context of meaningful gift giving.The remainder of the book examines specific holidays and provides a healthy, historical perspective of the holiday as well as simpler and easier methods to celebrate. Throughout the book her Christian perspective is in the forefront even to the point of quoting several Bible verses at appropriate places. Specific holidays and special occasions examined include Christmas, Valentine's day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, weddings, Halloween, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and anniversaries. The final chapter gives many selected resources to implement the ideas in the book.Some of the ideas are wonderful lessons for children. I especially liked the Resurrection Cookies that are part of the Easter Holiday suggestions. Complete with the recipe and suggested Bible verses that apply to the preparation and cooking process it is a truly innovative activity. If holidays represent additional work and stress for you instead of holiday joy and excitement then this book is for you; especially if you are a Christian and want suggestions on alternative ways to recapture the holiday spirit with a religious focus. "Celebrate Simply" is a highly recommended read.