Driving Notes

Good afternoon!

It’s my first day doing the Drive and I was pretty excited about it! We talked about ‘Thank You Note Day’ and I gave you a rundown on how my Christmas went, as well as fun ‘Holiday Hacks’ to make the Christmas season a little bit easier for you!

Thank You Note Day…

Starting in ancient times with Egyptian and Chinese societies, these two groups would use papyrus papers to write friendly letters or letters of good luck to those they cared about. In the early 1800’s, Europeans would write social notes and deliver them to friends and family, which then eventually began the greeting card. You can read the full story on how this holiday got started, and how to celebrate it here.

Mystery Monday…
Our Mystery Monday Question was: “IN WHAT YEAR WAS THE FIRST WRITTEN RECORD OF A DECORATED CHRISTMAS TREE?” The answer? 1510!
Congratulations to our winner Megan of Mt. Vernon! She won a $5 gift certificate to Troyers of Apple Valley!
You can read up on the history of the Christmas tree at WhyChristmas.com!

Holiday Hacks…
I gave you a lot of great holiday hacks to make this season a little bit easier on you! I’ve actually used a few of these, and they’re really handy! Here’s visuals to the some of the ones I mentioned! Check out the links to these websites I got these from for more awesome Christmas hacks!
Buzzfeed, Mashable, Good Housekeeping, and Living on the Crafty Side of Life. 

1. If you have smaller, miscellaneous ornaments, they store well in egg cartons!
2. If you have some bigger miscellaneous ornaments or ornaments you’ve lost the boxes to, take and put them in red solo cups or cups of that kind. Line the cups up in a plastic tub, place the ornaments in the cups, cover that layer with a sheet of cardboard and repeat until there’s no more room! Glass bulbs fit really, really well in the cups, so I would use those for glass bulbs that I’ve lost or destroyed the boxes to!
3. You can go to the extreme and wrap your whole tree in Saran Wrap and put it up in the attic until next year if you’d like 🙂
4. When you’re done using your wrapping paper, don’t tape it to keep it from unraveling, use a toilet paper roll to keep it from unraveling instead! All you have to do is save a toilet paper roll, and cut it long ways and just slip it over your wrapping paper!
5. When using a roll of tape that isn’t on a dispenser, stick a paper clip to the tape when you’re done using it, and the paper clip will keep tabs of where the end of the roll is, so you’re not continuously rotating the roll of tape, trying to find the end! (Bread tabs and binder clips work just as well)!
6. A quick and effective way to remove sap from your skin is with toothpaste!
7. Store your rolls of wrapping paper in a garment bag! This keeps the rolls in one place and out of the way, plus you can hang it up in your closet until you need it next!
8. If you have leftover gingerbread men and don’t really want to eat them, you can put three coats of varnish on them and that will turn them into ornaments that will last forever!
9. Pin the nose on the Rudolph: All you need to make it is posterboard, push pins, some tape, black, brown and red construction paper. Black for the eyes, brown for the antlers, and red for the nose. Cut as many noses as there are children! You can also use tape instead of pushpins for younger children!

I hope you had a great Christmas! Stay safe!!!