Squawkfox

‘Tis the season to be jolly. So get joyfully jolly with these free Santa gift tags, Christmas cards, thank you notes, and greeting cards for your family, friends, and neighbors. These printable labels can also be used in the mail as return address cards.

Just print these fun and frugal Santa gift tags to place on your presents. Be thankful to your friends and send them Santa thank you messages. Or just share jolly Saint Nicholas as a quick little greeting card to let someone know you’re thinking of them. Santa puts a smile on faces of all ages, so don’t keep these just for the kids.

Thank You Notes & Greeting Cards

Gift Tags

Looking for a simple sewing project for your leftover fabric? Since many of you are looking for frugal and free ways to decorate for the holidays, why not try this little softie Christmas tree pattern! It’s a fun way to use (or reuse) worn clothing, bits of fabric, and odd buttons.

Softies are basically stuffed felt and fabric toys. They are fun to make, easy to design, and cost next to nothing if you’ve got some sewing notions kicking around the house. As far as sewing projects go, this one is super simple. Just make a cone, sew on a circle, stuff, then decorate. Done.

If you make one of these softies big enough, you can save some bucks on bark by leaving the real Evergreen trees in the forest. Or just take a pass on buying artificial Christmas trees. Anytree, you don’t need serious sewing skills to stitch a forest using this free sewing pattern. This little sewing project creates a softie Christmas tree standing about 6 inches tall. Get creative and have fun playing with the pattern dimensions to sew slimmer or plumper versions.

Get Your Free Sewing Pattern

Sewing Project Ingredients

• Free Sewing Pattern
• Thread
• Needles
• Scissors
• Fabric Pieces
• Beans or Rice
• Polyester Filling
• Sewing Machine
• Sewing Notions (buttons, ribbon, or other tree decorations)

Sewing Project Instructions:

1. Use pattern to mark fabric with 1 cone and 1 circle base.

2. Use scissors to cut 1 cone and 1 circle base from the fabric.

3. Add tree decorations like buttons and ribbon before sewing tree (optional).

4. With cone inside out, use sewing machine to sew sides of cone with about 1/4 inch seam.

Do you like my old Singer Sewing Machine? It’s a vintage 1960s Singer Featherweight. My mom got it for me eons ago, for Christmas.

5. Pin circle base to cone. You may need to play around to match the cone to the circle base, depending on fabric.

6. Stitch circle base to cone with a 2 inch gap (for turning right-side out). The cone and circle base are now a softie tree. Turn softie tree right-side out.

7. Use polyester filling to stuff the softie tree. Do not pack too loose or too firm.

8. Use rice or beans to weigh the tree bottom for standing.

9. Hand stitch the opening closed.

Now get creative and plant trees for any frugal occasion! Seriously, this is a fun project for all sewing abilities.

Doing any handmade sewing projects this holiday? Got any Christmas tree decorating ideas?

Grocery price scanners. They’re supposed to make buying food at the register fast, easy, and accurate. But it never fails. I guesstimate every 12th or so grocery item in my cart is scanned incorrectly, overcharging me.

Since I watch closely, I can’t help but notice how many scans are inaccurate and ding me extra dollars. Just last week I corrected the busy cashier on three items which scanned and overcharged me $4.23. On a grocery bill of $63, I was overcharged 6.7 percent of my total grocery bill. Yikes!

I admit it’s hard to watch my groceries scan. There’s a lot to do at the till. I have to ready my reusable grocery bags, then bag my groceries, then pay the bill. But for me, making the effort to watch my wares ring through is worth it. So I wonder…

Question: Are you ever overcharged at the grocery register? Do you watch your groceries scan? Do you say anything?

Fox’s Answers:

• Yes. I always watch my groceries scan at the register. I have my eye on every scanning detail, and count every over dinged dollar.
• Accuracy is hit and miss. The most inaccurate scans tend to be on sale items, produce, and non-packaged foods.
• I correct all false scans. I must admit, I feel kind of foul telling the cashier something scanned inaccurately, especially when there’s a line-up behind me. But hey, it’s my money.

Got some thoughts on scanning at the register? Share your scanning wins and woes!