We appreciate all feedback we get from those of you that use the site and we’ve added a few new features this year that were popular requests from many of you.  Any time we look at adding new things we strive to give it to you while still keeping things simple.  Here are the highlights of what we have added for 2011:

Multiple wishlists – This was far and away one of the most requested changes we were asked for.  You can now add wishlists under your own account for the kids,the pets, or even that grinchy spouse that refuses to log on to the computer.  This will make it much easier for you to share gift ideas and what could be more fun than sending a “Sneaky Message” from the dog!  To use this feature just click “Add Another Wishlist” at the bottom of your current wishlist, give it a name, and then throw some ideas on there.

Leave some names “out of the hat” – Along with the option to have multiple wishlists the person in charge of your group can easily choose to completely leave some people out of the name drawing if they choose to.  When the group leader clicks “Draw Names”, the first option they will see is to uncheck anyone they don’t want in the drawing.  This works great if you want to draw names for the adults, but leave the kids and the chihuahua out of the drawing.  Let’s face it, nobody wants the kind of presents that little “peaches” likes to leave on the carpet.

Improved invite/join process – We greatly simplified the process of joining a group when you receive an invite from someone.  You’ll have a clickable link with an invite code attached to it, and you’ll simply choose a password and a nickname for yourself and you’re in!  Easy is always better, and we work hard to put the complicated behind the scenes so that you can get to the fun without the headaches.

Dates on wishlist items – Families, coworkers, and friends that return from year to year wanted to know if wishlist items were new or leftovers from last year.  We now display the date an item was added just below each item so you can quickly tell if that Justin Bieber obsession was just a phase from last year or if it has staying power!

We have many updates we continue to work on to improve and enhance the fun of doing your Secret Santa at SneakySanta.com and as always we appreciate your feedback and the fact that you share your holidays with us.  Merry Christmas!!

Check out Walmart’s Black Friday sale on walmart.com, because who needs to get up at 4am to hit Walmart’s awesome sales when you can get lots of them online from your cozy chair at home, right? Beginning at 10pm on Thursday evening, long after you’ve got your fill of turkey and all the sides, but before the craziness begins on “Black Friday” you can get great deals.  Examples include select Wii and XBox 360 games for $10 and $15, and Power Wheels ride on toys for as little as $99! Some of the awesome deals that start at 12:01am Friday are a 51″ Samsung television for $498 and a Canon SLR Digital camera for $479!

On top of the great deals offered at walmart.com, they have introduced their Home Free Shipping service. This allows you to choose from over 90,000 eligible items and if your order is $45 or more your items will arrive to your address within 3-5 days for free. Who needs the hussle and bussle of Black Friday when you have great deals and great shipping?

So while you are making your plans now for Thanksgiving weekend, take a few minutes to look through Walmart’s Black Friday Ad and start making your list!  Also, don’t forget to sign up for your secret santa online at sneakysanta.com. The site that allows you to create a group, post pictures, make a wish list, draw names and even send “sneaky” messages. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  Save room for dessert!

Other features of Amazon’s Prime Membership are free two-day shipping on millions of products, and unlimited streaming of TV shows and movies. They  have about 13,000 movies and shows to choose from!   So for just $79 a year, you can take advantage of these features and the new Lending Library.

The Amazon.com Kindle e-reader is one of the most popular devices on the market today.  With their whisper-net technology you can download a book within seconds and start reading it instantly! They have a few new products in the Kindle line that range from just $79 for their basic e-reader to their new fire for $199. The basic e-reader will present ads and promotional offers but it is a fair trade for the lower price if it fits your budget.  The new Kindle Fire has a multi-touch screen that allows you to download books, apps, movies, songs, and of course games! The Kindle is an awesome product which is reflected in the more than 33,000 reviews the Kindle Keyboard model has!

So if you love to read, or have a reader in your Sneaky Santa wish list, check out the Kindle and its amazing features! Don’t forget to add it to your wish list this Christmas.  Merry Christmas!

Samaritans Purse -  This charity is run by Franklin Graham, the son of Reverend Billy Graham.  During this holiday season their  “Operation Christmas Child” is in full swing.  You can pack a shoebox to give a child from all over the world.  You can go to their site, print a tag  and choose an age group and gender of a child your shoe box is for. Drop your box(es) off at a location near you. You can find a list on their site or mail directly to them and they take care of the rest! They deliver your package to a needy child from around the world. One thing we like about this site is you can “Follow your box” to see where in the world it is delivered! That’s exciting!  This is an awesome opportunity to “give back” this Christmas season.

The Salvation Army  – We’ve all seen the bell ringers at various retailers during the holiday season collecting our spare change each year.  The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Christmas Campaign started in San Francisco in 1891. It enables the Army to provide food, toys, and clothing to over 6 million people during the Christmas season and millions recovering from personal disasters nationwide.  It also helps those in poverty,  and gives utility and homeless assistance and other various social needs.

The Salvation Army also has the Angel Tree program.  This program allows you to choose an angel from a tree at various retailers and purchase a gift that a person in need has requested and return this item with the angel tag to the tree/retailer you got it from. The gifts are then given to the person(s) in need. This year they have joined with JC Penney to offer online angel adoptions. An individual, group, church, or company can adopt several angels together. You can go to  www.jcpenney.com/angel  to find out more information.

These are just a few samples of the charities that are local and worldwide. No matter where you live around the world there is always someone in need. So during this holiday season take time to be thankful for what you have and, if you’re able,  give back in money, time, or your skill. Merry Christmas!

]]> http://www.sneakysanta.com/blog/news/charities-to-think-about-this-christmas/feed 0 http://www.sneakysanta.com/blog/fun/have-fun-this-christmas-by-starting-a-secret-santa http://www.sneakysanta.com/blog/fun/have-fun-this-christmas-by-starting-a-secret-santa#comments Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:03:23 +0000 admin http://www.sneakysanta.com/blog/?p=156 Continue reading →]]> Christmas is getting ever closer and you may start feeling overwhelmed by what to buy for who and how much should you spend. How about making Christmas extra fun this year by doing a Secret Santa for the family, girlfriends, or even the office! Here are a few tips on getting a Secret Santa started for your group.

1. You can do one the old fashioned way by picking names out of a hat, or you can try a fun secret santa website like ours! Our site allows you to create groups, create wishlists, add pictures, and even send “sneaky messages” to one another.

2. Consider setting a spending limit if you wish for the group. Some people are more budget minded and like to know the limit to spend while others would be so excited they might go overboard! So to be fair for everyone, a spending limit if often a good idea.

3. Choose a date to draw the names for your secret santas whether its from a hat or at sneakysanta.com.

4. You may want to set a deadline for everyone to make their purchases so that if a gift needs to be mailed it is received in time for your get-together or at least for the most fun day of the year- Christmas!

5. If you’re getting together before Christmas, select your date and let everyone know ASAP so they’re not running around the night before purchasing things that aren’t on their Secret Santa’s list!

6. Decide whether or not to put the kids names in on the name drawing. In these tighter economic times, it may suit your family or group to add the kids to the list. More names on the list means more surprise as to who has your name. Of course you can also decide to have just the adults in the group. Some groups have the adult names in the list and then each person may purchase a gift for all the kids in the group.

Sneaky Santa loves our customers! We’d love to have you come check out our site at sneakysanta.com and see all the fun and memories you can make! You are able to create groups, add group and individual pictures, add and delete your wishlist items, and even add a web address for items you want to give your sneaky santa hints for. You can send messages to an individual, the group, or send a “sneaky message”. So come have fun this Christmas whether you live close to your family and friends or if they are spread out across the country and the world. We love the fact that family and friends can have this fun connection during the holidays! Merry Christmas to all!

The hectic holiday season will soon be upon us and we all know what that entails. There will be lots of lists made for present shopping, grocery shopping, scheduling to see the kids’ Christmas programs, and let’s not forget the Christmas card list! With all that chaos we need to be sure not to forget time together as a family. Here’s a list of our top five favorite must-see Christmas movies the kids will love and you’ll enjoy the family time together.

Of course some all time classics:
1. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964) Our favorite little reindeer first appeared in a 1939 booklet by Robert L. May and was published by Montgomery Ward. From there Rudolph made his television debut in 1964 with Burl Ives narrating the film. It tells of the outcast reindeer, an ambitious elf who wants to be a dentist, and the island of misfit toys that want to help Santa Claus save Christmas.

2. Frosty the Snowman (1969) Another favorite classic character is Frosty the Snowman who comes to life when a magician’s hat is placed on his head. Professor Hinkle the Magician wants his hat back after his failed attempt of pulling the rabbit out of the hat, but sees that Frosty has come to life! The kids want to save Frosty from the Professor so they go on an adventure to take Frosty to the North Pole.

3. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) is yet another classic from the 1960′s. Originally a children’s story by Dr. Seuss in 1957 and published by Random House this story was made into the well-known animated film in 1966. The film is about a grumpy, bitter creature who is annoyed by the warm hearted, singing Whos of Whoville. He sets out with his favorite companion Max to take away the happiness of the Whos by stealing all their Christmas presents, decorations and all! Later, the Grinch realizes that there is more to Christmas than getting gifts. His “two sizes too small heart” grows! He ends up returning what he stole and the Whoville community welcomes him.

Now here are two favorites that are more recent.
Elf (2003) starring Will Ferrell is just a good, funny family movie for the Christmas season. Buddy (Will Ferrell) was an orphan who was adopted by an elf after crawling into Santa Claus’ bag of toys on Christmas Eve. He goes back to the North Pole with Santa and is raised as an elf. Several years later, he learns he is not an elf and goes searching to find his real father (played by James Caan ). This film is about his hilarious journey, and his newfound love interest that he meets along the way. The child-like Buddy will make you laugh and appreciate the meaning of Christmas.

The last movie we’d like to mention here is Home Alone (1990). This Christmas comedy stars 8 year old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) who is mistakenly left home alone when all of his family rushes out of the house for Christmas vacation. Mr “Big Man of the House” is soon faced with two not so good burglars who have funny battle after funny battle with the 8 year old Kevin. Clever Kevin rigs up booby traps, decorations and such to keep these burglars out. Make sure you swallow that soda or you might have some coming out your nose on this movie!

We hope that your Christmas season is full of family time and you are able to enjoy some of these kid friendly Christmas movies this season! Merry Christmas!

The “Christmas Price Guarantee” program covers the eight weeks leading up to Christmas.  If you find a lower advertised price on an item that you purchased from Walmart from another retailer they will give you the price difference on one of their gift cards.  This is especially handy for those of you that do your secret santa at Thanksgiving.  Even if you purchased a gift and have already given it you’ll be able to take advantage of any savings advertised up until Christmas.

The primary restrictions on the offer are that it does not apply to Internet advertisements or Black Friday offers. This is one of many aggressive steps we are seeing from retailers targeted at Christmas shoppers in 2011 that are even more inclined to look at bargains in a down economy. Walmart also recently revived their layaway program to assist those that want to ensure that they get the items they want but pay for it over an extended period of time. You can learn more about the Christmas Price Guarantee program in the video below.

They also have a few other Christmas music downloads for free already including:
The Very Merry Christmas Sugo Holiday Sampler

Timeless Christmas (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Sampler)

Chacra World Music Holiday Sampler

You can typically find lots of free Christmas music downloads on Amazon from now until the big day. We’ll pass them on to you as we hear about them!