>> assembly the bicycles and legos and things. >> we'll talk about what you can do with all the leftover wrapping paper and we'll have makeovers. >> do you know who is here? we love danny. >> today is the day after christmas. do you know what a lot of people do? >> it's the last thing i want to do. they go shopping. >> when we were kids, because my mom always knew about the sales, when it's christmas day, it's noon, we've opened the presents, you've eaten, now you go to the malls. but everything is on sale. christmas cards are cheap, paper, all that stuff. but minus that, winter clothes are so inexpensive and we still have january, february. >> so a financial reason to do it. >> we also thought it was fun. we always did that. >> i believe you. and i'm happy for you. you have memories. >> i do. >> do you remember anything you bought? >> no. >> there you go. >> but we didn't have big malls like that in egypt, so my parents were like we're going to the mall. we used to leave our house about 9:30, 10:00, and we would have lunch and dinner at the mall. >> that's lovely. >> sad, isn't it. >> no, it isn't sad. suze orman told us don't do gift cards because people don't love them and you forget about them, you never use them and then they expire. >> did you get some? i bet you people got them yesterday. you can actually go to like a drug store and they have all the gift cards like barnes & noble, this one, that one. so people pick one up and say my friend goes to barnes and noble, and you're -- it kind of strikes me a little bit as a lazy gift. a little. don't you think? it's a little lazy. think about it. >> i don't know. if you know the person well enough to know that they adore books, but you don't know which book they might adore, i think it's a lovely thought. i mean, i really do. whatever somebody does for you, you should be grateful for. you know? >> we have a segment coming up on returning gifts. and when to return and how to return, how do you do it in a nice way. >> do you know who has the greatest return policy in the history of the world? >> nordstrom's. >> there is no s on it. >> people are so anal. but don't say anal the day after christmas. but at nordstrom, you can have a purse, wear it, shoes, they're amazing. >> they're like thank you for your old ruined shoes. >> thank you for your very unrecent purchase. i don't know how they do it. what about that christmas tree? when do you think the tree should come down? >> that's a big question. a lot of people don't know. >> who makes the rules anyway? but tradition says anyone? ♪ at the christmas party hop >> who is it singing? >> the jonas brothers? who is it? >> no, brenda lee. tradition says trees come down by the 12th night after christmas. which is the day of epiphany or the king's day, which is january 6. >> in our house, decorated in the closet. >> no, it was around february, we always set up our christmas tree downstairs in our basement. and with the fireplace and stuff. and someone rang the door bell and to show how infrequent guests were, my parents were like oh, my god, someone is here. get the tree. so we're carrying the tree into this storage room closet and that was it. so that was christmas again and we went to the storage little room, and it was like, oh, my god, a christmas miracle, it's decorated. >> this says so much about your family that you forgot the christmas tree was in the closet. >> we did. >> i see where you get it from. i do, i do. i love it. >> but i love that my parents were a little panicky that around february -- >> who was it that arrived? >> no, because nobody came to our house. we didn't have like lots of people that came over. >> really? >> no. >> i never met your dad, but your mother is the sweetest woman in the world. >> we didn't have a lot of people coming over, but then we just kept doing that because it was so easy. >> what about the outdoor decorations? i did not realize that a lot of people get frustrated when their neighbors keep their lights on forever, keep that ugly santa on the roof and all that stuff. someone pointed out to me who shall remain nameless, amanda, that more and more it's custom area for people to leave all of that up if they're expecting one of their loved ones who is serving in the armed forces who is scheduled to come home so it's like christmas for them. so i'm never going to judge it again. unless it gets to fourth of july. >> there is something different between having white lights up and colored candy canes and stuff like that. >> that is a sign of maturity. the colored lights are for little kids. you get serenity and stuff from the little white lights. >> so let's get away from the holidays and a lot of people probably got engaged over -- sara haines did. >> she did. >> so when you get engaged, sometimes you are not sure, you're like, oh, my god, the family and everyone is in, and then if you start thinking about it and you're not 100% sure that this person is right for you, so when is it butterfly and you're nervous and when should you trust your gut and say i'm making a humongous mistake. >> folks at florida state university conducted yet another study. they say that the results show that engaged couples know on a subconscious level whether or not you'd be happy. your first marriage, honestly, you're about to walk down the aisle, gut feeling right then? >> you know, i felt like it was the right thing. my mother and father didn't at all. but they never shared it with me. in retrospect, i was just way too young to be getting married. what about you? because yours was a doozy. mine was a doozy, too. all those first marriages that do not work out, look them up under the title what was i thinking. >> that does happen. i think you -- i'm an optimist, so i often explain things away. that's just nerves. in a relationship, when somebody is not right, you can will it in your head to be something -- can we change subjects? what is next? >> well, unmarried couples are not the ones choosing not to get married. more and more they are buying a home together. attorneys say can you draw up something about cohabitating, but buying a mortgage so that we're all clear if something doesn't work out. >> if you're dating someone for a year and you're already buying a home, that is showing commitment, maybe even not more so, but it's getting up there in terms of like -- >> what i don't like about some of our government policies is they work against marriage. you pay a marriage penalty for different things. we should relook at all of that. >> but if you're not ready to get married but you're ready to buy a home interest someone -- i don't know. >> we'd like to hear from you. and a lot of women are changing their last names like women always did. ♪ every time that music, i feel like we should stop and pay homage to it. a quarter of the women married in the '90s kept their own last names. in 2011, only 8%. and some of the celebrities even have already made their fortunes on their own name are changing them. kim will become kim kardashian west. >> i think the pendulum, it's so funny to see how it swings. at one point it was the feminist people and now people are going back the other way. i think they remain their -- the married name is for married life. and then they keep their stage name. >> like miranda lambert actually took blake shelton's name. >> that was a dark day in your life. >> no, i'm very happy for them. >> oh, wow. yeah. >> and jennifer garner is legally jennifer affleck. jessica biel is jessica timberlake. >> this is the perfect ihoda for this day. a man wrote a song called i already miss christmas. >> i like him. let's go. ♪ there's wrapping paper on the floor, the stockings aren't hanging anymore ♪ ♪ santa came by here yesterday, why does he feel so far away ♪ ♪ i already, already, already miss christmas ♪ >> sweet. he's a sweetie. >> great download. >> another great download, all those christmas clichés. you want to hear a great, great song. and just in time for christmas. two new ones that are just unbelievable. that's lovely. >> did christmas leave with you a bunch of gifts that you didn't want? this is the first christmas we have no gifts and i loved it. >> it was excellent. we'll tell you how to donate some or swap them. >> i don't have to do any of that. and we'll find out how these lovely ladies look after their ambush makeovers. the holidays have come and gone, which mean there is are several gifts you love and several you don't know what to do with. >> here to help figure out how to help the unwanted gifts is the executive editor of "all you" magazine. how are you? >> although you're grateful for people being so generous, you won't love everything. >> it is so nice people have given you gifts, but maybe you don't like what it looks like, maybe it doesn't fit you, maybe you have too many of them and so there are really smart things that you can do. and we're all about helping people shop smarter and that comes to returning and even donating. >> sometimes you don't get the receipt in the box. so you can just take it back? >> everybody knows you keep the tag organization the box. but there are three things you can do. number one, arrive early. right at the beginning of the day, the most experienced salespeople are working. the lines are shorter. everything will go smoother. >> so when it opens up, be there. >> totally. number two, act fast. the magic window for returns is within two weeks. so most returns accept them within two week without a receipt. and also once items get discounted, you will only get the last price. they will give you the low he is price. and then number three, if you don't have a recent, don't stress. you can always go to the website and print out the style number, the name and the price and take that to the store. and 99% of time, that will work especially if stores like kohl's, jcpenney, they don't require the gift receipt. >> and where should you donate gifts? >> this is a really good thing especially with tech. tablets have been really big, laptop, smartphones. you might have things that were good for you last year and now you won't be using them anymore. but there is a wonderful website called the giving effect.com. they partner with 1600 charities around the country, you just type in your zip code and it turns up charities near you and all the things that they're looking for. you can then send the items in and get the tax donation. and it's a wonderful thing, too, if you have children's clothes or children's toys you won't use. children's hospitals can use those items. >> make sure you clean all those toys. >> and wipe the computer from any kind of personal -- and you talked about swapping. >> there is a trade-in program. if you have books, cds are or maybe you have doubles of, you can go on to the website, type in what the item is, they will tell you what it's worth to them. you will get a credit on amazon and then you have 7 days to mail it in. so it's a great deal. you don't have to pay for shipping or anything. you often get doubles of things and you just don't know what you'll do. >> and you talked about reselling gifts? >> yes. say you got a sweater or some kids' clothes that are not the right size and you don't know what do. you don't need them. instead of just throwing them in the closet, there is a website called threadup.com. i use it all the time. they send you a bag, you fill the bag with stuff. you mail it back to them. no shipping costs in any which way. you get 25% to 40% of the cost of the items, the retail cost. you can use it either to buy stuff on the site or in paypal. >> i like to give to charity. >> and then finally, gift cards. a lot of people get gift cards this time of year and if you i- look at it, you know right away if you're going to use this or the not. and so there is a website called card pool.com, they make it so easy. you literally type in the amount and the number on the gift card, you will get up to 92% of the value, they will mail you a check the next day. it could not be any simpler. reality is people spend so much time and so much thought putting effort into giving you gift this is time of year and why not make it really worth something. >> what is that last site? >> it's called card pool.com. >> what a wealth of information you are, nina. as always. great to see you. >> now that you know what to do with all those gifts, we have ideas for all the wrapping paper. that and much more to come. i always thought a vine was add a car, , ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron! whoa. ah...yeah, pretty much walked into that one. geico anywhere anytime. just a tap away on the geico app. >> with hotwire's low prices, i can cross even more places off my travel wish list. this year alone, i hit new york and texas. see, hotwire checks the competition's rates every day so they can guarantee their low hotel prices. >> men: ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e, hotwire.com. ♪ a good place to pick up grapes. but, no, it's something else. >> takes short video, lasts only six seconds or less. and with nearly 300,000 follows, ian is one of the most popular non-celebrity on vines. >> and ian makes a living out of this. let's see one. >> i wonder how you make money off of these vines. i guess mario armstrong will explain how you make money with videos on the web. >> and danny will show us what you can do with all the leftover wrapping paper that is still hanging around. >> and get your kids unplugged and enjoy fun. indoor activities for the whole family. >> get them off that technology stuff for a while. and we'll check out the results of the two lucky ladies for ambush makeovers. all of that is coming up, but you have to wait. we're back on this thirsty thursday with another edition of our plaza ambush makeover. once again our resident makeover team has waved their beauty magic wands and made some magic. la-la-la-la. >> hi, ladies and gentlemen. how was it today? >> everyone is in holiday spirit and what a better way to start out the new year than with a new look. >> shelly is 46 and is from austin and she'd rather sleep than spend time getting ready. take a listen. >> i know you're flipping out. >> i am. i so needed it. my hair is a mess and i'm a mess. >> i don't think your husband thinks that, but you're not thrilled about this for one reason. >> i don't like getting on the air for one. but i'm excited to see what is going on here, see her in a way that i've never seen her before. >> you're a good husband. we'll only put you on tv a lot now. happy holidays. >> thank you. i'm so excited. >> all right. and jeff is excited, too. >> he's a cutie. the lone ranger. leave your blind fold on for just a second. here is shelly before. shelly, let's see the new you. >> all right, jeff, take off your blind fold. >> she's beautiful. >> are you ready, shelly? turn around and take a look at yourself. >> oh, my gosh. >> look right here at camera 12. tell us about the hair. >> the hair, just made it much shorter, much more layered. and just gave it much more style. and her hair had an orange quality to it, i gave it a rich light chocolate brown which goes great with her skin color. >> what do you think of the sexy sassy hair? >> it looks really good. i came to new york on my 50th birthday present, but i feel like i'm going home with a different woman. >> surprise! >> and that dress fits her perfectly. >> a lot of people don't know, we don't have mirrors where we get dressed, and she was like fuschia, are you sure? >> i love it. big round of applause. take her out someplace beautiful. >> shelly, you can go join your husband. our second lady is julie, she's 52 from columbia, missouri. recently retired from her job, and she begged them to give her a brand new look to go along with the brand new chapter in her life. >> and you can't stop singing. we picked her because we heard that. >> and i watch the girls daily and i can't wait. >> so what are you hoping for? >> whatever you want to do. >> we like to hear that. >> that's the attitude. all right. she's here with her friend, sandy. let's take one last look at julie before and bring out the new julie. oh, wow. okay. wow. sandy, take it off and take a look at your friend. >> oh, my goodness. oh, julie. >> turn around and see what she sees. >> oh, my god! who am i? >> something tells me you wear glasses in real life. >> only for driving. >> look how great you look over there. tell us about the hair. >> i think julie just wanted to get up and close and personal. i obviously changed the hair color. she was blond. the blond was washing her out. i added who are depth, gave her a classic layered haircut. >> sandy loves her friend. why are you crying? >> i'm so happy for her. >> she looks beautiful. >> and we love the outfit. >> flip around for one second. that will come off. >> love it. love to see friends like that. it's so great. shelly, why don't you come back out. thank you as always. danny will show you what you can do with all the leftover wrapping paper right after this. no that you've unwrapped all your gifts, the big cleanup is under way. what do you do with all the paper? danny is back to help us create post-christmas crafts. no that you've unwrapped all your gifts, the big cleanup is under way. what do you do with all the paper? reuse it! danny is back to help us create post-christmas crafts. >> hello, danny. post-christmas syndrome right now? are you good? >> i'm great. always happy to be with you guys. so it's christmas day. you have cards and gift wrap and ribbons. what do you do with it? you can reuse it or make a really fun craft project. take your holiday cards. it's like two inside. you make a christmas card village. this is the actual base of the house. >> that's cute. >> just take a little piece of tape, cut out doors and windows. and you take an old pillow -- >> nice sound. >> there might be pellets of nice in there. >> this is your snow. >> that's great. >> so ornaments, your gift wrap. i like this idea because you can spread your gift wrap. we give you a ball and i'll take a ball. and we'll take -- what you do is you shred the gift wrap and fill it on the inside. scissors, a paper shredder. and you hang a tag with like the year that you had the present so that you have a collection that evolves year after year. >> probably don't remember the present, but -- >> but it's like a memory ball. and the ornament things will now, half price. >> that's right. okay. all right. >> okay. more balls. >> you can never have too many balls. >> this is your old ribbon. cut it up into little strips like this. >> this is adorable. >> thank you. >> when i compliment you, it's because i sincerely mean it. >> here is ribbon. you cover the styrofoam ball and year after year, you have these sort of decorative -- >> i think this is fun. i love stuff like that. >> you want to do little pieces so it's like a confetti effect. but -- >> i love that. >> no right or wrong way to do this. >> this is therapeutic. i get into this especially with my own christmas cds on. i just love that. >> that's what i listen to. >> all my 16 cds, right? >> all of them, yes. >> you have the box set. >> and i have the limited edition, the european version. okay. so this is a chalkboard paint. you take your old tags, and we turn them into generic tags. you can use them for birthday gifts. >> smart. danny, knocking it out of the ballpark, baby. >> and the last one? >> you take the cardboard tube, stuff your old gift wrap in it, wrap it up, put little pieces of twine and this is a great thing to put in the fireplace to get it going. >> all right. stop it. you've set a brand new standard today. way to go, danny. alaska is a very extreme envir environment. >> 30 foot seas, hurricane force winds. >> you go in really bad situations, but we always pull it off. >> easy down. >> hit the water. game on. >> go. go! >> what's left? underwater. >> the reason why we all do this job is to save lives. >> a lot of the times the coast guard comes before the family. >> when he's out flying i do pray. >> i love you, daddy. >> everything they throw at us we do. >> fall is finally here. >> and for every season there's a reason to watch. >> wake up with al. >> it's just right. >> all your local weather, travel updates and the day's top stories. >> it's going to change the temperatures. >> you just can't beat this kind of weather. >> everything you need to know first thing. >> we're like a killer app in the morning. >> so tap into us. >> weekday mornings at 6:00 and 10:00 only on the weather channel. ybody knows that parker. well, did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter - sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know. from youtube videos to vine, anyone and every is making movies online, but what if you could cash in on your web cam? >> you tube have become a profitable career with thousands of people making six figure salaries off of their videos. so can you do the same? >> mario armstrong is here with some suggestions. hey, mario. nice to see you. >> good to see you. >> i have to be honest, i thought people posted their home movies and stuff and you got lots of click and you didn't make any dough off of this. >> absolutely not. quite the contrary. they pay you for the amount of clicks that you receive. so what you want to do is if you know you're making videos and you hope a lot of people will click on them, get into the revenue share program and the more clicks you get, the more you'll get -- the check you'll get. >> so youtube sends you the check. >> youtube sends you the check. >> so how do you know if you're hitting the jackpot? you post something crazy with your kid and you have the viral -- >> people should focus on their passion. a lot of people will try to make the gold thing happen. you know this. it has to be authentic. so do what you love to do and then let that spread. >> like this woman made $1.2 million off of youtube. how did she get this big? >> she's big into helping girls and makeup with women. so she decided to start shooting video clips and was teaching -- >> she's adorable. >> yeah, great energy. and she has a deal with l'oreal and she just launched her own line. >> good for her. she looks like she's about 19 years old. she's adorable. >> we were talking earlier about the vine videos, six second deals. >> you can make dough off of those? >> you can. this is relatively new. these are six second video clips. people are getting very creative on what they're doing with six seconds. this is pretty creative, to move traffic along. you don't see any branding going on in this, but what you do see are advertisers wanting to hire these folks to make ads for them. >> a lot of talent out there. >> lots of talent out there. >> is this the one from jesse? >> we were looking at ian and jesse. this is jesse. >> friday night. you know what that means? >> what, jesse? >> exactly. >> how do you keep up with all this? we have the girl from one direction or whatever? >> i need help. there is a guy -- >> she didn't make money off of that. >> she's making money now because she has over a million followers. >> she has a brand? >> what people need to understand, if you have a skill, something that you can do well, should you focus on how you can show people how to do what it is that you do. >> all on youtube. >> or vine or google now. >> thank you, mario. happy new year to you. how to get your kids to unplug over the winter break. >> and enjoy fun family times. but first, this is "today" on nbc. if you're like a lot of family, your kids are probably home from school this week either plugged into a video game or telling you that they are so bored. >> donna has ideas to keep your kids busy while nurturing their creative side. hey, donna. we love this. getting away from the video games and ipad. >> you're home together as a family, spend it together as a family. >> chloe is so sweet. she has lovely manners. >> all those presents, you how about doing the thank you notes. >> one of the best things you can teach your children to do. >> so you can make cards out of anything. chloe is working on this right here, we use buttons and felt and stamps and just made a cute little thank you. maybe even cereal. just glue it -- >> exactly. >> what a way to spend the day. >> what does samantha have cooking over here? >> she's putting together all the things that remind her of last year. this is a time capsule, you can put in magazine clippings, maybe a halloween picture. >> and bury it somewhere? >> yeah, go hide it. >> where will you bury it? don't tell us. keep it a secret. >> if i had made one when i was a kid, maybe i would have some of these things in it. you find it later. go ahead and put all the favorite things in a pinata and on new year's eve, break open last year's, start the new year fresh. >> that's clever. all right. >> and this is a family game. i say this is a great game, i used to play this a lot. you can make your family history into a game. you create spaces with pictures and you can go ahead and make cars. for one chip, name the player to your right's favorite sports. you can play with chips or m and ms. >> so how well do you know your family members. such a clever idea. >> adorable. >> easy to do. >> what is chelsea working on? >> we love resolutions in our house. we made a resolution board. whether it's making the honor roll. and you can turn to it during the year. >> a good reminder. >> exactly. >> and this is about telling jokes? >> turn your house into a comedy club. they spend the day writing down jokes and one at a time, you can get up and perform. >> do you have a joke for us? let me tell you one. there was a rabbi ana priest -- no, kidding. >> do you have one, honey? >> he's thinking about it. >> all right. thanks, donna. tomorrow how hard do you really need to be working? immunity soups to help keep you healthy. >> and more curb appeal for your home. >> have an awesome day, everyone. god bless. >> i'm here to help. through this get together. [applause] ♪

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