To celebrate the holiday season, we wanted to share our Christmas wish list with you.  To add a fun twist, we expressed our desires within the parameters that money would be no object and that we would include both a selfish gift and an unselfish gift.  Here is our 2011 Christmas wish list:

Selfish List

• Donnie – Backpack across Europe
• Courtney – Travel the country to see each NFL team play in their home stadium
• Neal – Visit all the Disney parks including Disneyland, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Paris.  He would conclude his trip with a long Disney cruise.
• Daniel – Build a water park inside his house complete with slides and a wave pool
• Jared – Drive a burnt orange Saleen S7
• Holly – Own a villa on St. John, Virgin Islands

Unselfish List

• Donnie would donate money to foster home organizations and be directly involved in helping children in foster homes find a loving permanent home.
• Courtney would donate his money and time to assist areas stricken with natural disasters like Joplin, Missouri.
• Neal would be inclined to donate his time and money to non-profit organizations.
• Daniel expressed that he would help people no matter the cost.  He would buy items for people in need and devote time to those who need assistance.  The fact that money would be no object would be his gift.
• Jared would fully fund an orphanage in Guatemala.
• Holly would provide unlimited food and clothing for children in Diriamba, Nicaragua.  I would build each citizen a brick home complete with indoor plumbing.

What would you do?

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Tomorrow is the big day, but don’t forget that we’re about to shut the book on 2010. So to take a break from Christmas-themed material, let’s let Uncle Jay explain the year that began a new decade for us.

We shot and edited our Christmas card last Thursday. We sent out emails to everyone our list to warm their hearts during this chilly time of year.

Obviously, we didn’t catch Jim Carrey in a Grinch costume. So we had to do some heavy duty photo shopping. The first step was to find a picture of The Grinch, cut him out and perform some color correction.

Then we all got together in the studio and took a quick picture using Daniel’s Nikon D90, Alien Bee flash head and a remote trigger. Our neighbors at Bell Jar Boutique next door lent us a dummy to use as a stand in.

Daniel then proceeded to remove the background, and substituted it with this gem:

He dropped us and Jim Carrey into the middle of this Winter Wonderland and added a little bit of air brushing, drop shadows and color correction among his other tricks. We ended up with what you see at the top of the page.

Next year we’ll try to send out hard copies, but in this day and age, emails are almost better. Have a great Christmas everybody. We’ll see you after the holidays!

Remember when you woke up Christmas morning and were so amazed at all the packages under the tree with their glittering bows and crisp paper wrapping? You smiled with delight to see what Santa had brought you while you pretended to be asleep and laid there tossing and turning thinking about what you would open first the night before.

Well now that you’ve aged, you know you have to “help out” Santa. And not only that, but Santa doesn’t bring you presents to give your friends, family and co-workers.

While we’re still at the Thanksgiving stage of the yearly Holidays countdown, people are typing emails to Santa, making online wish lists, strategically placing magazines with circled items around the house, hiring a skywriter, sending carrier pigeons, firing Post-It Notes out of a t-shirt gun during a sporting event, using morse code via a lighthouse (or smoke signals for the landlocked), or filming a short infomercial professing your undying love for that one cherished item. But if you are just too busy, or thick, to notice the subtle nature of said hints, we at Donnie Bell Design, have you covered.

Here is our first annual 2010 Season of Spending Gift Guide Look Book Wish List Spectacular:

Sterling’s Gold: Wit and Wisdom of an Ad Man — $10.49

Advertising pioneer and visionary Roger Sterling, Jr. (of the critically acclaimed Mad Men cable television show on AMC) has come into contact with all the luminaries and would-be luminaries of the advertising world, and he has acquired quite a reputation among his colleagues for his quips, barbs, and witticisms. Taken as a whole, Roger Sterling’s pithy comments and observations amount to a unique window on the advertising world and life in New York City in the middle of the twentieth century.

Wisdom of King Solomon — priceless

The son of David and King of Israel was renowned for his wisdom, believed by many scholars to be one of, if not the, wisest men to have ever lived. Tales of his intelligence are now common fables, such as deciphering who is the real mother of a child by seeing the women’s reactions when his plan was to cut the debated child in half. You too can have this wisdom if you are gifted it from God. Better talk that one over with the big man upstairs.

iPad — $829

Apple’s latest must-have gadget that features built-in apps designed to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch screen. It also features a 64 gigabyte hard drive with wi-fi capabilities and a 3G network.

CR7 Safari — $400

The unique NIKE SENSE adaptive traction system that adjusts to certain playing surfaces with retractible cleats and the extra light but supportive flywire technology have both been incorporated into the exact specifications of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. Optimized for speed, the cleats feature a unique Safari print.

Corgi — $300

The Pembroke Welsh corgi is the smallest dog in the Herding Group. Pembroke Welsh corgis are famed for being the preferred breed of Queen Elizabeth II, who owns several. These dogs have been a dog favored by British royalty for more than seventy years. The Pembroke Welsh corgi has been ranked at #11 in Stanley Coren‘s The Intelligence of Dogs, and is thus considered an excellent working dog.

Hover Board — $8,000

Featured in the highly successful film “Back to the Future II”, the hover board is THE modern form of transportation that is both fun and functional. It takes the original skateboard design and modifies to include small, solar-powered engines that produce compressed air which allow it to hover several inches off the ground. It is also sensitive to pressure and weight, adjusting to the user’s own body and allowing for the amount of air to increase when needed for tricks so you can impress all your friends.

Ghostbusters’ Ecto 1 Custom Paint Job — Around $4,000

A custom paint job that would repair any scratches, dents or dings in the body and feature a glossy white coat with red trim below the windows that extends from the front door to the rear taillights, a Ghostbusters logo on the driver’s side and passenger’s side doors and a vanity license plate reading “Ecto 1.”

Harry Potter Laser Tag Wands — $22.99 each

Love Harry Potter? But you’ve seen “Deathly Hallows Part 1″ and are bummed that the end is almost here? Then check out these laser tag wands. There are four styles of wand to choose from, including Harry’s, Hermione’s, Ron’s and Voldemort’s with authentic sound effects from the movies and even light up when a spell is cast.

Monster Truck — $200,000

While the price is inflated, how much is your happiness worth as you mount, conquer and ultimately destroy all forms of traffic in front of you during rush hour? With this 80′s classic Bigfoot as seen above, you can not only take down any obstacle, you can do it in style.

Shake Weight — $29.95

Made to sculpt your upper body in only 6 minutes per day, the Shake Weight for men frees you of the gym. No motor or batteries, you build definition, size, and strength in less time by working your chest, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Never mind your friends’ snickers. They’re just jealous.