Pop a cork
Nothing says festive like bubbles. So don’t forget to buy champagne and other sparkling beverages to help toast Christmas and ring in the new year.
Have a green Christmas
Give a gift to the Earth this year by planning to reuse or recycle your holiday cards and wrapping paper.
Before the Christmas morning gift-opening frenzy hits, set aside a big box for collecting wrapping paper as the gifts are opened. Save the paper to reuse next year, or shred it for use as packing material.
Turn greeting cards into ornaments or gift tags, or cut off the fronts and use them as holiday postcards next year.
If you don’t want to save the wrapping paper and cards, recycle them in one of River Valley Paper Co.’s collection bins throughout Summit County. They’re often found at schools and churches and in the Metro Parks.
Tarantino time
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds) will be back on big screens on Christmas Day with Django Unchained. The R-rated western set two years before the Civil War stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington.
Early reviews have been mostly favorable in a that’s-so-Quentin way, with one critic calling it “goofily unhinged, consistently engrossing [and] facetious.”
Last-minute gifts
Time’s running out and you still don’t have presents for your parents or grandparents? Finding gifts for folks “of a certain age” can be tough. So here are a few ideas.
Fresh fruit or flowers delivered to their home throughout the year.
If they are travelers, purchase restaurant gift cards online in an area they will be visiting. If they have a cruise planned, buy onboard credits.
Perhaps they are short of cash. If so, pay a utility bill.
Stamps and stationery are a good idea. It can be hard for them to believe just how much postage is these days.
And if they are in a nursing home or assisted living, deposit money into his or her facility account to pay for things like a barber, beauty shop or other expenses.
New in your paper
Look in the Beacon Journal every Monday starting Jan. 7 for American Profile, a magazine focusing on hometown life in the Midwest. Stories will focus on people, places, lifestyles and food of the region, health trends, current issues and celebrity news.
On stage
Today is your last chance to catch holiday productions on local stages:
• My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding — 2 p.m. at Actors’ Summit, Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St., Akron. $28, $25 seniors; 330-374-7568.
• A Carol for Cleveland — 2:30 and 7 p.m. at Cleveland Play House, Allen Theatre, 1407 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. $49-$69; 330-241-6000.
• A Christmas Carol — 3 p.m. at Great Lakes Theater, Ohio Theatre, 1515 Euclid Ave., Cleveland; $28-$60. 216-241-6000.
