It's been a year since you promised your starving wallet and bloodshot eyes that you'd be proactive and prevent future holiday breakdowns by planning ahead and avoiding the nonstop shopping frenzy. If the idea of a calm, comfortable holiday season still sets your little heart atwitter, now's the time to start compiling a list of good Christmas gift ideas to show loved ones your year-round devotion. Here are 21 ideas to get you started:

1. Give your best pal a ticket to attend an afternoon holiday movie marathon and pig-out. Bring a cookie or cupcake decorating kit and ingredients for whipping up a batch of chubby red velvet Santas.

2. No book lover's collection is complete without a special edition of a holiday classic, such as Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol or Margery Williams's The Velveteen Rabbit.

3. Tell your pajama-loving friend (you know, the one who eats Hot Pockets for dinner every night) that she can attend her own in-home cooking demonstration wearing bunny slippers if she'd like.

4. Show your crafty niece how to put her tactile skills to work making handmade clothespin dolls. Pack a stocking with old-fashioned clothespins, a few spools of embroidery thread, a preteen-friendly glue gun, and a fine-point Sharpie.

5. A countertop composter, which can be anything from an "official" in-home bin to a large airtight jar, is a useful gift for the city-dwelling environmentalist whose New Year's resolution is to start a small garden.

6. Bring the holiday host and hostess a basket of fresh ingredients for making Bloody Marys or Mojitos and you might be invited to attend a cocktail hour at their Aspen chalet.

7. Vow to spend more Sunday afternoons watching classic movies with your parents if they promise to use a yearlong Netflix membership to explore new film genres.

8. Your spouse was probably too busy, um, studying to think about picking up a distinguished-looking coffee mug from his or her college bookstore. On Christmas morning, present your beloved with a cup of coffee and take a few moments to remember a favorite holiday home from school.

9. Give your dentally obsessed coworker a miniature Christmas tree decorated with fancy toothpaste samples, natural dental floss, and an adorable suction-cup toothbrush cover.

10. Modern sushi dish sets do double duty as tasting platters. Pick up a few different patterns and keep them on-hand as emergency gifts.

11. A dainty pickle ornament is always a hit, especially if your second cousin's children are anxious for a game to play while the grownups talk turkey.

12. Permanently boost your boss's mood with an insulated mug and removable coffee press. Pair with a bag of rich, bold beans and replace the morning grumpies with some extra pep.

13. It's too soon for a puppy, but your animal-obsessed kids can practice pet ownership with a little piggy or moo-cow from the Adopt-a-Farm-Animal Project.

14. Your loyal babysitter will be thrilled with a decorative tin filled with S'mores ingredients, especially if you suggest she teach the kids in front of the fireplace while you change the baby's diaper.

15. Fill a sturdy hamper with luxurious take-care items that the college students in your book club can't afford. It's amazing how decadent organic conditioners and shaving creams can feel after a night of cramming at the library.

16. Before you decorate the tree, spend a snowy afternoon with the kids personalizing a box of plain ornaments with a pack of paint markers, a shaker of multicolored glitter, and a roll of cheerful ribbon for replacing those drab metal hangers.

17. In case the new driver in your family groans over a monogrammed canvas bag filled with jumper cables, a digital tire gauge, and a First-Aid kit, add a coveted new CD for good measure.

18. Get your hands on a gorgeous photo of your aunt and uncle's favorite vacation spot. Commission a local artist to create an original painting based on the scene.

19. 'Tis the season for helping your child's teacher get ready for the long stretch before Spring Break. A versatile work tote is a universal must-have for anyone whose sanity depends on organization.

20. If your brother or sister has always wanted to just get on a plane and go, a nautical map of his or her favorite would-be destination would look lovely near the front door.

21. Help your parents overcome those forgetful senior moments with chalkboard or whiteboard decals they can use to remember recipes, family events, and easy-to-miss deadlines. They might even remember how much they enjoy writing little love notes to one another.

Once you've got a sizable list in front of you, taking the time to enjoy a mug or two of hot chocolate won't feel like a luxury, but a reward for honoring your promise to yourself. Now that you've got the blueprints for a season of thoughtful giving and wide-open afternoons, you're on your way to becoming the rare holiday-lover you once aspired to be. In fact, you might even want to get a few friends, whip up a batch of homemade eggnog, and host a small present-wrapping party, just for fun.

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Encouraging art is a good move in classrooms, no matter the age of the children. Creativity seems to come naturally for many kids, and allowing them to express it in a healthy way is a good thing. For this reason, easels are helpful items to have in a classroom, as they can make it easy for children to paint or draw. Of course, like any other type of classroom furniture, there are plenty of options when it comes to easels.

If you have children of different heights and ages in your classroom, such as in a preschool, you might find easels with adjustable heights to be invaluable. In fact, such easels usually have two sides, and each one can be set at different heights. Some easels even feature up to four sides of different heights. This makes it easy to allow four children of different ages or heights to draw or paint simultaneously. This type of easel has hinges that easily lock into place when you find the right height.

Many easels feature not only a blank paper canvas, but also a large chalkboard. In fact, some include a whiteboard, too, as well as space to store erasers, markers, and chalk. Of course, you can also attach plain white paper to this type of easel so that kids can use it to draw or paint. Such easels allow children several ways to express their imagination. If they enjoy playing with chalk or child-friendly dry erase markers, they have the opportunity to do so, but can also quickly switch to paint or regular markers when you add paper to the easel.

Some specialty easels include certain extras that you might find appealing. For example, some include much more storage space than most, with several shelves underneath that are big enough to fit small bins or buckets of supplies. Keeping all the art supplies in one place makes this type of easel a great piece of classroom furniture. Other easels attempt to encourage more creativity than ever in kids by including a certain theme. Some look like fire engines, police cars, or ambulances, which are especially appealing to toddlers who enjoy bright, recognizable themes.

Before you choose an easel for your classroom, think about the ages, heights, and interests of kids in your class. If you have a specific art time, it makes sense to get several easels that have adjustable heights so that many kids can paint or draw at once. However, you may simply have one easel available for play time. Either way, this type of classroom furniture can encourage kids to get creative.

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As the classroom door closed, Joey got up from his seat. Rushing to the front of the room, he ran his fingernails down the blackboard.

Squeak...squeak... the sound echoed through the room.

The girls in the second grade class squealed, "Eek! Stop it Joey!"

The boys all laughed.

Three more boys jumped up to add their squeaking nails to the din.

With so much noise, it was not surprising that none of the boys heard the classroom door open, or the Sister enter the room. It wasn't until the ruler was cracked across the boys' knuckles in quick succession that they realized they had been busted - quite literally. Their next stop was in the School Administrator's office. Of course, he was also their own parish priest.

While they sat in silence, they heard each phone call - one at a time.

"Your son was scratching the blackboard with his fingernails when Sister Elizabeth was out of the room for a moment. No, it is only a minor infraction. He was told to stay in his seat when she stepped into the hallway. Yes, she exercised discipline, a ruler across the knuckles."

All four heard the same conversation time after time until each of their homes had been called. Once the black telephone handset was placed in the cradle, the boys glanced at each other.

"Well, my boys," he began, "it seems that we have a problem."

Each boy kept his eyes trained on the floor.

"Look up at me, please."

When the boys looked up at Father Wilcox, they saw him smile. "Don't misunderstand me, boys. I know that hearing the girls squeal because you run your fingernails on the chalkboard is fun...at your age. Believe it or not, I was your age once. But it is inappropriate and the bad behavior will not be tolerated. You must show restraint by doing as you are instructed by your teachers. What you did was very disrespectful."

Father Wilcox pulled the pink pad from his drawer. "But Father, wait, please don't do this, we'll behave" the boys protested. The dreaded pink pad was used for detentions, suspensions and sometimes - even expulsions.

Taking his time, the priest wrote four forms, one after another and then handed one to each boy. "Take this to Sister Elizabeth, she will remove the top form and give you the yellow copy for your parents. Sister Elizabeth will tell you what to do next."

The boys walked very slowly back to their classroom, two of them in tears. After all, they were only eight years old. When they handed the forms to Sister Elizabeth, she read them, gave each of them the yellow copy and directed the boys to their seats.

Joey and his friends looked at the Sister quizzically, the Sister said, "The Father has decided to overlook this transgression as long as you agree to clean the blackboards for the next two weeks."

The boys yelled, "Yes, yes, yes! We will, we promise. We'll behave from now on, Sister."

The second grade girls all laughed at the boys. "No more squeaking fingernails for awhile."

At the end of the day, Joey and his friends were standing at the blackboards with the erasers in their hands. They looked at each other and in one motion all four boys raked their fingernails down the blackboard.

Sister Elizabeth was at the back of the room...

"Eek!" was all they heard from her before the crack of the ruler found its mark.

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If you are renting a photo booth for your next party, props are a fun way to make sure you end up with some really memorable photos. If you are short on time, the easiest way to get great props for your party is to purchase a props package from the photo booth company you are working with. These packages may include hats, wigs, sunglasses, boas, masks, and other props sure to spark your guests' creativity.

Most photo booth rental companies will also let you bring your own props. If your party has a specific theme, such as a luau or pirate party, you can tailor the props to fit with your theme to help your guests get into the spirit of the party. Party stores are a good place to find fun costumes and props, but they can be pricey. To get a good selection of props on a budget, try shopping right after a holiday, when many seasonal items will be on clearance.

If you're the creative type, you can even save some money by making your own props. Mustaches on a stick, empty picture frames for your guests to put their faces through, and sock puppets are all simple to make and fun to bring into a photo booth.

If you want to keep copies of your guests' photo strips, you can give them the chance to leave you a message right in the picture by providing a small chalkboard or dry erase board. Just make sure it is small enough to fit in the photo frame!

When putting together your prop kit, don't worry about what the typical props are. Choose what you think will be the most fun! Just make sure all of your props are visible from the waist up. Hula skirts and funky shoes may be a hit at a costume party, but are not good props for a photo booth.

No matter what you choose to do, props can definitely add that extra something to your photo booth experience.

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