Some parents look at the Santa legend as a lie and these are the folks who usually open their presents on Christmas Eve. Such is near blasphemy in my house. Oh, I know I shouldn’t judge but neither should people misjudge the character of Santa. He was, after all, a real individual with qualities I want my kids to know about. I do believe in being truthful with my children and, when asked, I’ve been so with the Santa story. But I don’t miss out on a thing with it either. Santa is celebrated in my house. I’m convinced that if we were all a little more like the Santa of old we’d all likely have a merrier Christmas.

That’s why I’m a big believer in Santa letters. That connection with Santa directly to my kids is one that not only charms but one that continues what I consider a sacred tradition. We track Santa on Christmas Eve, read the Night Before Christmas together and even color pictures together as part of our Christmas celebrations. And every year I try to get a letter from Santa for each of the kids — even the teenagers. The letters can run from humorous to advice-laden — it just depends upon what is important to each child and what is going on in their lives. Santa to me is a hero. And I am trying to develop him as a hero in the eyes of my kids as well.

I believe the true nature of Santa Claus needs to be upheld as parents. We can fight the merchandisers of the world, we can overcome the movie and music makers. Those who make merchandise of Santa don’t represent the real character of him. We do, as parents. It just depends upon how much we invest in him.

Missing from this first floor display is any kind of reference to other types of Christmas decorations. There are no trees, no lights, no Nativities, no wreaths, no stockings, no tree-toppers, no trains, toys or typical trappings of the holiday season whatsoever. I was tempted within 30 seconds to walk out of the shop until I noticed some stairs off to the left – and decided to look at the upstairs offering.

Here was Christmas in Boston’s real display – nearly triple the size of what was offered on the street level entrance to the store. Here the real themes of Christmas ornaments were displayed. It was almost all exclusively ornaments, though some lights, garland and other small Christmas décor items could be found in associated theme areas.

And what theme areas they were! I found the Nativity ornaments I sought, the candy cane ornaments, the Santa ornaments, the blown glass tradition ornaments in shapes of wreaths, stockings and trees. There were more sports ornaments, humorous ornaments, baby ornaments, angel ornaments, nutcracker ornaments and several Americana-style ornament themes from fishing to patriotic ornaments.

The shop features a variety of personalized ornaments created on the spot or available for purchase to take home and personalize on your own. Though our visit came during the heat of a summer’s day we felt the spirit of the season descend as the strains of White Christmas could be heard – on the second floor hideaway of Christmas in Boston.

Take some time out this holiday season to show your spouse how much you love them.

Set a date night to go shopping for friends and family. Make a list in advance so that you know what you are purchasing for whom in advance. This way you know how much you are spending ahead of time and there is no arguing over what you are going to purchase each person on your list!

Ride around in your car and look at the Christmas lights in your neighborhood. It is nice to see what different decorating ideas others have come up with. There is something about the lights that can bring a smile to your face.

If there is a place in your town that you can take a horse drawn carriage ride, take your spouse out for dinner then for a ride.

If you have a Christmas tree farm in your area, take an evening and go pick out a Christmas tree together.

Turn off the computer, your cell phones, television and decorate your Christmas tree together. Ignore all distractions and just spend that time together. Turn on some Christmas music, make some hot chocolate and spend the evening decorating the tree. Be sure to take a picture of you and your spouse in front of your tree after decorating it.

Make a cocktail, turn on some Christmas music and wrap Christmas presents together. Sure they may not turn out like they were wrapped at Macy’s but it is the memories you make wrapping the presents, not the wrapping job that you are doing this for!

There are always Christmas functions in each city. In Orlando there is an indoor park that has slides made out of ice. When you go in they give you a rain jacket to put on and you go through sliding down slides and playing with fake snow.

Disney World at night during Christmas is always a romantic way to spend an evening together. Disney pulls out all the stops every year and decorates the castle in a holiday theme. It would hard to not be in the Christmas spirit at Disney during the holiday season!

This year for Christmas don’t buy a box of generic cards to sign your name in and send out. Send out personalized cards. It is much cheaper than you think!

You can purchase a box of generic cards that you slide a 4X6 picture in. Open your picture folder on your computer and pick out a favorite picture of you and that person that is receiving the card.

You probably have funny pictures of the two of you together or a funny picture of that person from the summer. Go to Walgreens.com and upload the picture to their site and have it printed out. They will print your pictures in an hour and it will only cost you are .25 cents per picture.  Do this for each of your recipients. If you do not have a picture of that person, send a funny picture of you!

This is such a personalized way to send out a card that doesn’t cost a lot and won’t take you long to put together.

If you have a lot of pictures of a close friend, send them a picture book for Christmas. Kodak has a great site that you can upload your pictures to and personalize each page to have a caption with each picture. You can print your favorite picture on the cover and it comes out just like a hard-back book would. You can write them a letter on one of the pages letting them know how much you appreciate their friendship.

This is a great personalized gift for under thirty dollars. You could do this for your closest friends and family. It is something they will proudly display on their coffee table that their friends will come over and look through. It is better to spend money on a personalized gift that you know they will love then purchase a thirty dollar sweater they may or may not wear.

Another great personalized gift is to purchase someone a digital frame and upload a bunch of pictures to it. When they open it they can immediately plug it in and see the pictures start to scroll through. If the person already has a digital frame, you can purchase a memory card and upload a new set of pictures to it.

Give them the memory card and they can plug it in to their frame.

Personalizing a gift doesn’t take a lot of time or money, get creative and make your loved ones feel special this Christmas!

When you and your family or friends gather this year to exchange gifts, come up with a theme.

You can draw names to exchange the gifts, or put all the gifts in a pile and draw numbers. Number one will pick the first gift. Then number two will either take number ones gift or pick another gift out of the pile. The person that draws the final number has the best advantage cause they can see all of the presents to choose from.

Some ideas for different themes are you can do a funny theme. Each person brings one gift and it has to be a funny gift. It may bring back a memory of something funny that happened or just a funny gift.

You could do a memory theme. Each gift has to have a story to go along with it from something that happened during that year.

A spa theme is perfect for a group of girlfriends. Each person can bring nail polish, bath salts, a robe or slippers and exchange them in a gift exchange.

If you have a group of friends that like to read a book exchange would make a great theme. You can either purchase new books or use books that you have read before and could recommend as a good read.

A home-made them would make each person be creative in what they are going to bring. You could require each person bring something they made. You could bring food, an ornament, a frame with a picture in it, anything that the person would have to put some thought in to and can’t stop at the store on the way to your home.

You could have an under ten-dollar theme. This will force people to not over spend and it will force them to be creative with how they are going to spend the ten dollars.  This will help if you have a diverse group, some people can afford to spend more than ten dollars and some cannot afford it. This will put the whole group on the same playing field and will not make those that cannot afford expensive gifts feel bad.

Be creative and come up with a fun unique idea that will bring lots of laughter and memories to the group.

This year, come up with some ideas that you can do with your friends and family that does not cost a lot of money. Get your camera out, take pictures and videos and create lifelong memories.

Invite your friends and family over to make Gingerbread Houses. This is not only fun, you spend time with your loved ones and everyone gets to be creative with their houses.

Have a cookie making night at your home. Ask each person that is attending to bring one of the ingredients to the cookies. Not only does this help the host not spend all of the money for the craft but everyone feels like they contributed. Spend the evening making your favorite Christmas cookies. Take pictures of each step and each of the different cookies with the person that made that cookie.

Let each person take home their cookies or go as a group and give them to people. It will bring a smile to your face and the person receiving the cookies.  Bring the cookies to your local convenience store clerk, pharmacist, hair dresser, bartender, mail clerk, school office, teacher or anyone else that you see all year long and would like to give them a little something at Christmas.

Ask around at your church or ask your friends what families are not going to have a Christmas dinner this year. Find out their name, phone number and address. If you would like, you can call them and ask them what they would like for Christmas dinner or you can surprise them with dinner.

Gather your friends and family and go to the grocery store to purchase items to make dinner for the needy family. Go home and spend time together peeling and mashing potatoes, carving the turkey and baking a pie.

Once dinner is finished, bring it over to the family and present it to them. Be sure to bring them paper plates and napkins, you never know if someone has dishes in their home and it makes an easy clean-up for them.

Bring your camera along and take pictures of your kids bringing in the food to them and the proud look they will have on their face.

Creating last memories during the holidays doesn’t have to involve toys and a lot of money. Just being thoughtful and having your loved ones around is all you need.

If you plan in advance for the holiday season it will reduce your stress. Make a list of every person you are shopping for this year. Make this list far in advance of Christmas.

Write down what you want to purchase each person. Things you need to think about are, how much are you going to spend on gifts this year and how much are you going to spend on each person. Are you going to a lot fifty percent of your budget to your children and the other half for the remainder of your family and friends.

Make an announcement to your friends and family that this year you are on a limited budget and that you will be making minimal amount of purchases.

If you have a large family, draw names. This way each person does not have to buy a gift for each person. It lightens the stress burden and the financial burden to only have to purchase a gift for one person.

Shop early! It is stressful to go in to the stores at Christmas time.  Stores are crowded, the traffic around the stores are horrible and finding a parking spot can be impossible sometimes.

If you can get all of your shopping done before Thanksgiving you are doing yourself a huge favor. The stores are less crowded before Thanksgiving than after.

Do not feel obligated to run out and purchase a gift for each person that may have given you a gift. Gifts are not supposed to be given with the expectation of getting something in return.

Some people just have too many people in their lives to purchase something for each person. Spending a night together having a nice dinner is far more memorable then buying them a coffee mug that they are going to forget about next year.

Make sure you have purchased all of your decorations for this year in advance also. Ultimately you are trying to avoid going to stores during December. This can help with the stress load.

If you have to go shopping during the busy month, go during the day during the week when most people are at work. Or if you are a night owl, go shopping at twenty-four hour stores late at night. The crowds and parking are going to be far less stressful during this time.

Decorating your tree in a coastal theme will bring back memories of the beach. You can decorate with the coastal theme on a small budget.

You can place sand dollars, starfish and seashells on your tree. Use large starfish and just sit them in your tree. Buy blue, white, or teal garland for your tree. Drill a hole in the shells and hang them on the tree with raffia. Strand on some blue and white lights and you will have a coastal Christmas tree.

Traditional Christmas – The snowflakes and gingerbread men as icons of Christmas. These tried and true Christmas ornaments fit into almost any décor thanks to their popularity and best of all, they are very easy to find and they are affordable.

Those who are on a budget or are worried small children may break expensive decorations can start out with simple Christmas balls, inexpensive garlands and mass produced ornaments. As either your budget or children grow you can ease into higher end ornaments of the same style and begin improving the quality of your ornaments. Another option would be to place your nicer ornaments towards the top of your tree.

Antique and Victorian Christmas Ornaments — If you are looking to create the images or memories of an old fashioned Christmas, you can easily do so with Victorian or antique Christmas ornaments. These ornaments are very detailed decorations that often include cherubs, lace or flowers. More whimsical ornaments might be shaped as Victorian boots or colorful birds. Another option is to choose ornaments that look like jewelry.

Gold beaded ornaments that resemble large tear drop earrings look stunning on a tree used on wreaths and garlands.

Western and Country Christmas Ornaments — If you are a little bit country you can have a whole lot of country charm come Christmas with the right ornaments. Typically these types of ornaments are divided into two separate and distinct styles: The western type based on symbols from the old west or the primitive country variety often found at gift shops or craft sales. Primitive country Christmas ornaments usually consist of wood crafts which are hand painted.

This style can range from wooden signs to hang on your walls or traditional Christmas symbols such as Santa or snowmen that have been painted with bright colors. These ornaments create a very relaxed and cozy atmosphere and are perfect for those that enjoy country living and want their decorations to reflect that style.These style ornaments can be found at Christmas craft shows around the holidays.

It is always nice to help out local vendors that probably handmade these ornaments. For an old western theme, choose Christmas ornaments such as cowboy boots, sheriffs badges in place of stars or miniature horseshoes. Those who would like to stick with the western theme but prefer a dressier look can decorate with turquoise beads or a few dream catchers.

This year you could choose to have a pink theme. You would decorate your tree in pink, wrap your presents in pink, hang pink stockings, put pink bows on your wreaths, hang pink lights and serve pink sugar cookies to go along with your theme.

Next year you could have a beach themed Christmas. If you have shells that you have picked up on vacations you can buy raffia, drill a whole in the shell and hang them on your tree for ornaments. If you do not have any shells from vacations they are easy to find at a local souvenir shop or purchase them online at Oriental Trading for a very small cost.

Add a shell on to each bow for decoration. Tie red ribbon around shells and hot glue them on to a wreath for your front door.

Just by adding red or green ribbon to any item in your home gives it a holiday look at Christmas time.

Changing your light bulbs to red and green are an easy way to change your home into a holiday feel.

If you have children you could have a cartoon Christmas theme. Each item including wrapping paper could have cartoons on them. Cartoon stockings are easy to find either in the store or online.

Get creative and come up with some unique ideas. If you have a passion for something, make that the theme of the year. Or let your child pick the theme for the year.

If you like old classic cars, then make that your theme. It is very easy to find ornaments online to match your theme. Add an ornament on to the Christmas present to give your tree the complete look.

If you can’t find stockings with your theme of the year, you can easily make one. You can purchase fabric, cut out the stocking and sew it up. Or you can purchase a solid color stocking that is already made and hot glue items on it.

The whole purpose of having different themes each year is to look back at different themes and laugh and to create different memories and holiday traditions for your family. Eventually your children will look forward to picking out the theme for the year and help you with decorating. If they are helping with the ideas they are going to be excited to help you.

The first year is the best time to start collecting an ornament every year that has your names engraved on them or a picture of the two of you each year. There are many different places that you can have these made. Things Remembered in the mall is a great place to have a personalized ornament made each year.

If you add a picture to each ornament you can see how you have changed over the years and it will bring back memories to the home you may have lived in at the time, or fashion that was in style at the time.

Are you going to leave cookies out for Santa and his reindeer every year? This would be a good time to start that tradition. Are you going to make cookies and drive around to each of your friends’ houses and hand them out?

This is the time to start creating these memories and traditions that will continue on for many years to come.

Will you and your spouse give each other your presents in the private or will you open them in front of your family? Do you plan on buying one large gift that is for both of you? You may need a new washing machine, so instead of buying a few small presents for each of you, you can go and purchase one large item together.

Or you can take a trip together every year and that will be your gift to each other. Spending time together will eventually be a priority as your lives get busy with work and children. Spending a weekend together away at a hotel or a quick getaway could be a great present to each other.

Will you spend Christmas Eve with one set of parents and Christmas morning with the other set of parents? Are you going to have both of the families together and have one large family gathering? Or will you alternate years spending Christmas with the parents? This can be a touchy subject sometimes and it is probably best to figure out these answers before the Christmas season arrives so that there is not any tension around the holidays.

Be sure to take pictures and videos while you are doing these new traditions. Sometimes it is hard to remember the small details but pictures are worth a thousand words.