Neighbor Gifts and Why They Matter

I try to make a small gift for my neighbors every Christmas.

It's important to me to make contact during the holidays, because they can be such a hard time for people. My next door neighbor is a widow as is the neighbor on the other side of her house. My other neighbor is a single mom.

You never know what people are struggling with this time of year, and it's a time of year when people expect and welcome visitors even if it's just for a few minutes. Their homes are decorated and ready for company, and if that company doesn't come, that's sad.

I enjoy baking and making crafty packaging, or handmade ornaments for my visiting days.

One year, a neighborhood Christmas open house at my next door neighbor's house is how I found out that my across the street neighbor thought I was a murderer. It's true!

I used to do a crafty segment on the local news, and the news truck would show up at 5 AM and park in front of my house for a few hours, with cables going from the truck into my house - lots of lighting in my living room, etc.

So we were chatting at this party and this guy's wife told me that he had been googling looking for a murder one morning when he saw them. I was all - do I seem murdery????

And then I remembered that one time I rang their doorbell at 3 AM with great hostility when their car horn had been honking for an hour (the wiring in the car was jacked and if the temperature dropped below 50, the horn would start honking - and it did not wake them up, but it woke us up - for many days in a row, and I was finally pushed over the edge) and I very scarily whispered that I'd be happy to disconnect the battery in the thing permanently if he did not remedy it forthwith. But that was completely justified and does not make me a murder suspect. Especially since they quickly got rid of the car.

So this is why it's good to show yourself at the holidays and find out if everyone thinks your a murderer, and to check on your friends. It's even better to give them gifts to make them suspect you less.

So last year, I made Mason jar snow globes for everyone! These are super easy to make and use minimal supplies you might already have.

I used this size of plastic DIY Christmas ornament, and I snapped the tab off with pliers. I used these wide mouth jars, which exactly fit the jar lids, and I used these figurines, and these - the ticket here is that they have to be the right size to fit under the dome. You'll see what I mean in the video below. I used my cordless hot glue gun to put the entire thing together, and finished it with opal glitter glue.

Last year, I used these beautiful blue jars - these are my faves.

You can purchase just the lid inserts, and so I made a few free-standing globes that don't go on a jar lid. Note in the video the difference - these cannot be added to a ring lid and you'll see why. These are desk or home decor.

Amazon.com: Ball Mason PINT Jars... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: Ball Mason Jar-16 oz.... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: S SEEKINGTAG Clear... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: Christmas Miniature... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: FunPa 12PCS Christmas... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: Sulyn 4 oz. Glitter Glue... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: Ball Wide Mouth Mason Jar... [ AMZUS ]

Fun, right?

Here's a quick video on the process!

Tell me in the comments what some of your holiday traditions are!

Loveyameanitbye.