Don’t you just love gifts you aren’t expecting? My teenaged daughter, Erica, worked her tail off yesterday and got our decidedly unwelcoming family room looking very Christmas-y. She cleaned the room, put a lighted garland over the door, placed a few snowmen in various locations around the room, and even gave my stuffed Santa and Mrs. Claus a place of prominence on top of a book case.
She then tossed some Christmas pillows and a red and green blanket on the sectional, “lit” a yule log on the TV (you can find it on Comcast OnDemand), and set the most important decoration of all — our nativity set — on top of the piano. Last but not least were the soothing tones of Michael Buble’s Christmas album, “Let it Snow,” wafting from the stereo. (I’ve always liked that word…wafting….)
I helped a little by placing a Christmas tablecloth on our dining table (which is in the family room…it’s a big room), but she did everything else. She gave us a great gift yesterday, not just in the decor of the room, but she also helped us find the Christmas spirit that seemed to be so lacking around here in recent days.
Thank you, Erica. 
In turn, I would like to “pay it forward” and hopefully spread a little of that Christmas spirit your way. Everything below is free. Enjoy!
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Free MP3 Downloads of Christmas Songs and Carols at Feels Like Christmas. If you don’t have an iPod or other MP3 player, you can play these directly from your computer while you’re working (or playing).
Get a letter from Santa! The Santa Claus Museum in Santa Claus, Indiana, has been sending letters from the jolly old elf to children everywhere since 1914. Every letter received by December 14 will receive a reply. It’s free, but please consider making a donation to help cover the cost of postage. There’s also an option to just print a letter from Santa yourself. No waiting!
Cartoon Cottage has some free animated Christmas clip art you can add to your blog or web site. They’re really pretty cute. They also have some fun Snowman clip art.
I love this next one! If you’re a lover of all things vintage and find the idea of an old-fashioned Christmas especially endearing, you’ll love these free vintage holiday images. Add them to your blog, tuck them in an email, make your own Christmas cards or labels on homemade goodies. You can also choose to use one as your holiday profile picture on Facebook, or even as your background on Twitter. The possibilities are endless!
Want more clip art? Snogirl offers some high-quality (and fun) Christmas graphics. She really did a great job with these! Look around her site and have fun.
Finally, check out the Christmas page at The Holiday Spot. There’s so much to enthrall you at this site that I’m not even going to start telling you what they’ve got. Just grab a cup of hot chocolate, start up some of the Christmas music you downloaded from above, and have fun!
I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season so far. We’re getting our tree tonight (hopefully), so pictures will follow. Have a great day!
©2009 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/SDinius, and become a member of the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook fan page by clicking here.
Everyone likes free things, right? In today’s post, I’m listing some really cool freebies just for you, fellow crazybusy mama! Read on and check out whatever interests you.