Christmas Time's a'Comin'🎅

I'm not sure why this list of tips promotes so many retailers, but you can ignore that and still get some good ideas for a stress-free Christmas. 

August is not too early to start to plan. When it was just the six of us in our little family, I started Christmas gift shopping in May. It was the start of our family birthday season and a good time to collect wish lists from our kids.

Although our family birthday season has grown to be year round (except for April and November) I still keep up the tradition of starting to ask for wish lists in May. Most of my adult kids give me wish lists all year long, which I love!

Another thing I generally do in August is to begin planning for family Christmas events. I make lists of food I might serve, goodies I might make, and games we might play. The lists start out pretty long, but I whittle them down as the holidays approach.

This month I'm going to choose my Christmas postcard and focus on getting the right photos to use. I'm also going to start a draft annual Christmas letter.

What are you going to do to achieve a stress-free Christmas?

The Clock is Tickin'...

 

... toward a stress-free Christmas! Looks like this month's list is focused on preparing to buy gifts. I have to admit though, that I wonder if this list was sponsored by specific retailers?! 

Even so, August is definitely the month to start your Christmas gift list. Costco and Sam's Club are both starting to stock toys. Walmart and Target had huge toy sales in July to empty the shelves to prepare for the Christmas toy stock. Hobby Lobby had several aisles of Christmas decor.

Make your list, check it twice, and get ready to save some money this year!

Christmas Time's a'Comin' 2.25.2021

 I've been doing alot of thinking about Christmas 2021 and what I hope it looks like. Of course I'll have Family Christmas for as much of the family as possible. Of course I plan to be completely done with shopping and wrapping by Thanksgiving. Of course I'll decorate the house inside and out. And I'll once again send out some sort of Christmas card.

I'm just not sure what that will actually look like. For some reason I am just really tired this year. I haven't lost my enthusiasm or my anticipation of the holidays. It's just that having two-four grandkids here for school multiple times a week for the past year is really wearing me out. 

We really want to put our house on the market and move to a smaller home. I'm tired of cleaning and Dan is tired of taking care of a pool and yard. We want to have time to attend soccer games, football games and whatever else the Grands get involved in.

What does that have to do with Christmas you ask?

Well, the house we're interested in takes 10-12 months to build right now, so we could be spending Christmas in a temporary housing situation. Kind of hard to picture Christmas under those circumstances.

So I'll admit it. This post is blah. I am excited, however to read all of your posts and find inspiration in your Holiday planning!

Christmas Time's a'Comin'

 Oh boy! Only two months to go until Christmas Day! 

Have you been working toward a stress-free Christmas? I have. If ever we needed less stress this is the year. I've finished shopping for several people in my family. I have prepared my Family Christmas menu and my Christmas Day menu. I've wrapped all the gifts I've purchased to this point. And I'm finished with stocking stuffers for half the family.

This year has been chaotic at my house. My daughter and her two kids moved in on February 1st. She's having a house built and should get the keys on November 10th. We knew they would be living here for several months, but we had no idea that the virus was coming.

The kids school closed down March 13th and we began the awful, horrible, ridiculous, stressful, inadequate process of distance learning. It was really a joke for the rest of that school year. We survived Grammy's Summer Camp with virtually no activities. Thank goodness we have a swimming pool. Then began distance learning for the new school year. It is somewhat improved, but still incredibly stressful. My daughter works for a company that contracts with DCS, and is responsible for 150+ kids living in 18 group homes. She was working 12+ hour days for several months so the kids schooling fell to me. I felt (and feel) so inadequate.

Plus our house is stuffed to the brim with our stuff, their stuff, the stuff she's buying for the new house. I joke that I live in a warehouse.

Now Christmas is coming. The photo above shows my storage option this year for purchased/wrapped gifts. It's not great, but it works! 

I wish I could start decorating on November 1st, but with so much stuff in the house, there's no way. She will start moving on November 13th and I hope to start decorating with a vengeance that weekend!

I have managed to make and freeze 18 dozen Peanut clusters, 10 dozen Cashew clusters, and two Pistachio Bread loaves, so I feel good about that.

Hope you're making progress on having a stress-free Holiday Season!

Christmas in July Day Sixteen

As you know I'm on the lookout for tips that will lead to a stress-free holiday season. Although I've had my own plan for over 20 years, I'm always looking to improve it.

I found these on Pinterest and thought they might be useful:

I'm not familiar with Santa's Bag app, but I do have a Christmas List app on my phone. However, I also keep a paper chart of gifts.

The use of specific stores made me wonder if this was a sponsored list, but I couldn't figure it out. Obviously I am not personally recommending specific stores that you should shop at.

There's that tip about freezing cookie dough again... maybe it's a sign that I should try that this year!

The only thing I have to say about October is that if you haven't already purchased the Christmas merchandise that you saw and liked at Hobby Lobby in August, you're probably too late. It flies off the shelves. That's why I've adopted a "if you like it buy it when you see it" philosophy.

If we cut down a fresh tree in November, it would be a pile of brown twigs by Christmas. I do start putting my trees up in November. 

All in all, I think these tips are helpful... and I love the graphics!

No matter what method you use, the goal is for a stress-free Christmas!

Christmas Time's a'Comin'

According to my phone there is 86 days until Christmas!

I am progressing nicely on "building" the snowmen for the Christmas tree. I keep asking for boxes from everyone. My daughter told me last week that her kids asked her if we are moving since we need so many boxes! haha They will be surprised when they see what I needed them for.

I started going through my recipes to make my holiday menu and baking plan. Since I will have family staying with me I want to be prepared with simple meals so I don't spend all my time in the kitchen. 

I normally start signing/addressing Christmas cards on 10/1, but since I've started doing Christmas postcards that is not practical. So instead, tomorrow I'm going to start working on the layout for the postcards and scheduling time to take the style of photos I want to use.

I'm counting down the days to 10/25 when the Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movies begin.

I'd like to start decorating (mainly to remind myself of what I've got). I plan to really change things up this year and begin the process of downsizing my Christmas decor. I'm just ready for a massive change.

How about you? How's your stress-free Christmas prep going?

CIJ: The ABCs of Christmas ~Freedom

Freedom. You may think this is an odd word to use in a Christmas post. But I'm talking about freedom from stress in your holiday celebrations. I promise you it is possible. But of course, it takes effort and planning to pull it off.

In 1994, I was working at my church. We decided to launch a new Christmas event called "A Christmas Journey" which would include "building" the town of Bethlehem and other locations from the Christmas story and running performances for two weekends. As the administrative assistant for the Programming Department which was responsible for this event I realized that I would have to be ready for my family Christmas early.

This was the beginning of my goal to have a stress-free Christmas. It's now 24 years later (how is that even possible?) and I have to say that I'm pleased with the results. Most years I do achieve a stress-free Christmas. Once in a while I fail. But, I'm always ready to try again the next year.

Here are my top ten tips for FREEDOM during the Holiday Season.
Starting today!

1. Make a budget. This keeps us from going overboard and facing huge credit card bills in January!
2. Make a planner. You can use an old spiral notebook, an app on your phone, the free printables from Organized Christmas, or whatever method works for you. Your planner should include a calendar, budget sheet, shopping lists, purchased lists, menu planner, Christmas card list, etc.
3. Make wish lists. Ask your family/friends what they want for Christmas. If you've never done this before it may feel awkward, but trust me, it's not as awkward as giving someone a gift they don't want.
4. Schedule special events. Grab your calendar and start thinking about the special events you want to participate in this year and get them scheduled. This includes family Christmas, school programs, church programs, local events; you name it! If you want to attend it, schedule it.
5. Christmas cards. Let's face it, they're dying. But I love them. If you love them too, it's not too early to start your card list. Now is the time to start thinking about your annual letter if you write one.
6. Start shopping! I shop for Christmas year around. Especially for stocking stuffers. My adult kids give me their Christmas wish lists in May. I save the youngest grands for last because their interests can change so quickly. Shopping early is a big help in sticking to a budget.
7. Baking. I try to sit down in July and think about the goodies I want to make for the holiday season. I gather the recipes in one spot so I can find them in November when I start baking. In September, I start buying the ingredients needed.
8. Decor. Look at photos from Christmas past and think about your decor. Do you want it to be the same? Do you want to change things up? Organized Christmas has a great worksheet for planning your decor for each room of your home.
9. Take care of yourself. I know, we always think of ourselves last.We feel uncomfortable stating our desires and wishes to others. We're so busy doing that we don't take time for being. It's time to break that cycle! Write down your Christmas wish list for your family. If you have to tell them exactly where to buy it, or take a picture of it - do it! I've even been known to buy gifts for myself, give them to my husband to wrap, just to be sure I got what I really wanted!
10. Relax. What doesn't get done, doesn't get done. It's not a contest. No one is grading you. If some element of your usual Christmas tradition stresses you out, discontinue it, give it over to someone else in the family, or re-design it to work better for you. As our families grow up and grow in size, it's ok to drop old traditions so we can pick up new ones.

Let's make this the most stress-free holiday season ever!

June 1st - Stress-free Christmas Begins

Today is the day my stress-free Christmas planning officially begins. My gift chart is printed out. My budget is set. I'm ready to start cruising toward a stress-free Christmas celebration.

As I shared in an earlier post, I am set up for stocking stuffers. I've been steadily adding to each sack and if I do say so myself, I've found some great ideas this year.

I've also been purchasing gifts and will begin the wrapping/storing process today.

I'm working on my Christmas in July blog posts and am about half finished.

We were at Hobby Lobby yesterday and there are several aisles of Autumn decor, but the Christmas decor is still being stored on stop of the shelves in baskets. It won't be long now...

Stress-free Christmas: Flexibility

Happy Halloween! In a typical year I decorate the house for Fall over Labor Day Weekend. I have a few Halloween pieces that are included in the decor which come down on November 1st. I then leave up my Fall decor until Thanksgiving (if I'm hosting) or November 15th when I begin the Christmas decorating.

This year is very different.

JD, Janel, and Blizzard are coming for Thanksgiving this year. I am hosting the family gathering. But since it is Blizzard's first Thanksgiving and Christmas I am choosing to go with Christmas decor. They are rarely here for Christmas and I want to have the house decorated for them this year.

So, I'm implementing Plan B this year.

I pulled down all of my Fall decor yesterday and it is packed and back in storage. I will begin Christmas decorating tomorrow with the hopes of having it all done by 11/18 when they arrive. We plan to have them open their gifts while they are here. We usually have to do that over Skype with them.

You may be wondering where the stress-free element is in all of this? Me too!

No, I'm really not too stressed out. I have their gifts bought and wrapped and ready to go under the tree when it is up. I'm still on track to finish all of my Christmas preparations by Thanksgiving which is my yearly goal. It may be odd to everyone else to attend a Thanksgiving Dinner decorated in Christmas, but I think they will understand why I'm doing it this one year.

So, as we move out of October and into November I am thankful that family is coming to visit, thankful that I'm not completely overwhelmed with the changes, thankful for flexibility! haha

Stress-free Christmas: Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movies!

I love to watch the movies on the Hallmark Channel. I mean the Christmas movies. They are great to stitch to! I can follow the story line without having to keep my eyes glued to the screen. They are light entertainment and always have a happy ending. They keep me in a Christmas-y mood!

And, they're a great stress reliever!

Today is the start of the 2017 Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas Movies. There will be several new releases this year and many old favorites. I will be planted on the sofa, stitching away at a Christmas stocking and tuning in this afternoon...

Stress Free Christmas - Christmas cards

If you've been reading my blog, you know how much I enjoy Christmas cards. I enjoy receiving them and I enjoy sending them. Part of my timeline toward a stress-free Christmas began October 1st. Each year on October 1st I get out my Christmas cards and start signing them.

When I began this practice many years ago, I had dozens of names on my list. Now I have very few. I'd like to have more. To make the job easy to handle, I sign about five cards per day until they are done. As I sign them I address the envelopes (now I use labels that I make myself) and I add a "P" or a "L" or both in the upper right hand corner where the stamp will go. This indicates if that person is to receive a photo or a letter or both.

I usually purchase my cards the year before from Current, Inc (when they go on clearance) or from Barnes and Noble (at after Christmas discount prices). About every fourth year I don't purchase any cards, opting to use up all of the cards I have on hand instead.

If you receive cards from me it is entirely possible that you'll get the same card twice in two years. I do not keep track of what design I send to who. Of course, I don't keep track of what design I receive either...

This year's designs are from Current, Inc.

Once my cards are signed, I put them aside on my craft desk to await the insertion of letters/photos in November.

I would love to exchange Christmas cards with you. If you'd like that too, leave me a comment and I'll email you my address and ask for yours.

This is one of my favorite tips for assuring that I'll have a stress-free Christmas. Let me know if it works for you!

Stress-free Christmas - Pantry, Freezer, Fridge

Only 110 days until Christmas Eve!

Now that Labor Day is past, our thoughts turn to the Fall/Winter holidays. This is a great time to start "eating out" your pantry, freezer and fridge to make room for all of the items you'll need for the upcoming holidays.

The grocery ads will be starting to highlight sales on canned food, pie crusts, ice cream, hams, turkeys, and other items that we all need to prepare holiday meals. Already this weekend we visited one store that had their holiday baking supplies featured on a center aisle. And I don't know about you, but on any given day there is no room in my pantry or fridge for extras. There's certainly no room in my freezer for a turkey and a ham!

The idea is to start eating the foods you already have on hand and limit your buying of bulk items. That way when the first ad comes out for green beans, cranberry sauce, or jars of turkey gravy at 2/$1.00 you have somewhere to put them.

Another reason that I start eating out of my freezer this time of year is so I'll room to store the goodies I pre-bake for the holiday season. This year I'm wanting to make new quick breads. I hope to make them this month and freeze them for Thanksgiving and Christmas family events.

I've already informed my husband not to buy a ton of meat that's on "Manager's Special" at Sprouts... at least not until the holiday season is over!

Stress-free Christmas - Village 9/1

If there's one area that does not lend itself to a stress-free Christmas in my home it's my Christmas Village.

I love my village. Each piece holds a special meaning for me. I think it's beautiful when it's set up. Everyone who comes over oohs and aahs over it. The grandkids love it.

So what's the problem, you ask?

Storage and placement. It's a pain to store all of the buildings and accessories. They take up a ton of room. Right now I store them in the bottom cabinet of my laundry room. As you can see they fill both sides up. If I get any new pieces this year I'll have to come up with a better storage solution.

   

The other issue I have is where to set them up each year. In the beginning I would set up a folding table in my living room.

2007

But as my collection grew I needed more flat surface to set up on. I've tried several solutions during the years, but have never found one that I really like.

2013

2017

So as I begin my preparations for this Christmas Season I am once again stressed out about where to set up my village.

If you have any suggestions, I would surely welcome them!

2015

Stress-free Christmas: Holiday Grand Plan

I'm always on the lookout for a good organizational plan to share for a stress-free Christmas and today I've found one! Thanks to Pamela over at The Lady of the House Speaking for sharing a link to the Holiday Grand Plan.

It looks like an easy plan with lots of free printables and suggestions for a stress-free holiday season. The plan officially started yesterday, but you're not too late to join in.

 Please let me know if you start this plan, I'd enjoy hearing how it works for you!

Stress-free Christmas - Stocking Stuffers

I know, it's the middle of August, who is thinking of stocking stuffers?! You are, if your goal is a stress-free Christmas.

As I have mentioned many times before, I have a love/hate relationship with stocking stuffers. I love getting them for the people that are easy to buy for. I hate getting them for the people (men) that are difficult to buy for.

Up until 2016, I only purchased stocking stuffers in the two or three months before Christmas. In 2016 as I was purchasing Easter Egg Hunt items I had an epiphany: some of this stuff would make great stocking stuffers for the kids. Why I didn't think of this before is beyond me. So now I haunt Target's Dollar Spot year round looking for stocking stuffers.

Other good sources are Cost Plus World Market, Harbor Freight Tools, the Clearance corners at Hobby Lobby, and the 99 Cent Store.

On Pinterest I have a board with stocking stuffer ideas. I need all the inspiration I can get.

To keep track of my SS purchases, I created a simple chart with a column for each family member. During January - July I keep the SS gifts in a small tub with the rest of my Christmas purchases. In August I set up individual gift sacks and load them with the SS gifts. I keep my chart with the gift sacks. This year I have the sacks set up on the shelf in my craft room.

As you can see, yes, I have a sack for myself. Dan is notorious for last minute shopping so years ago I began to buy my own SS gifts and then tell him what he got me! hahaha

On the day before our Family Christmas Celebration I stuff the stockings, fold the bags and store them for next year.

Some years I wrap the SS gifts in tissue paper, other years I just place them in the stockings unwrapped.

If you have a Stocking Stuffer organizational tip, please, share it with us. I hope this tip will help as we work our way to a stress-free Christmas!