Christmas shopping on my mind...

I've finished my list and purchased most of the items I'll be buying for Christmas this year. I have a lot of things to *make* however - so once I'm more mobile, I'll get to work on that. If you aren't obsessed with shopping obscenely early, however, and still plan to buy gifts, I would like to direct you to two of my favorite sites:

TenThousandVillages.com has an online store featuring all of the fantastic fair trade goods that you can find at Ten Thousand Villages sales and festivals, plus more. I love finding treasure from Ten Thousand Villages. I've given jewelry, home decor, pillows, and Christmas decorations as gifts, and purchased for myself, from their sales in years past. This year I'm organizing a sale at our church, so I'll be waiting to shop there, but if you don't have plans to attend a sale or if you want to get a discount off the already-very-reasonable prices they have on handmade items, check out the website. Today and tomorrow only (Saturday, November 8), you can get twenty percent off your entire purchase using the code BAGSALE at checkout. Check out the beautiful natural wreaths, the gorgeous jewelry, the lovely nativity sets, and so much more. And be socially responsible and support fair trade and all that, too. ;)

My second recommendation, for those looking to find gifts on a limited budget, is the Overstocks section of Lands' End. I love browsing through this part of the site, and they have so many wonderful items available at great prices. Lands' End has great customer service, quality products, and considerable variety, even in overstocks. I picked up several button-down shirts for Hubs and a top for myself, as well as oodles of gifts for family and friends. Check out the Packable Tote, a good deal at $14.99 and available in several great color combinations, and the king size set of flannel sheets in Ruby, for only $19.99. Shhh! Those are gifts for some of my relatives.

I think I've been pretty productive so far during my convalescence - it's early November, and I'm already halfway finished! I still have several tricky people on my shopping list, however, including the two kids who already have everything, Big Girl and Two.