Can you believe it’s already November? I don’t know about you, but I am starting to think about the holidays and everything that needs to get done. I tell my kids all the time that you do anything one bite at a time, no matter how big the project or task so I thought I would put together a quick Holiday Prep Checklist of everything that needs to be done this holiday season so I can start crossing things off one at a time!
When it comes to the holidays I like to break my planning and prep into categories of things that need to be done, then I tackle one small task at a time before I move on to the next thing. Staying organized and getting an early start on my Holiday Prep is ESSENTIAL to having a fun and relaxing Christmas that I can enjoy with my friends and family. Here are just a few of the areas I like to get ahead of this time of the year.
Menu Planning and Baking
One of the things that I find the most helpful during the holidays is to start menu planning early! If I have a good menu plan for holiday weeks and Christmas parties it’s quick and easy to place an online grocery order or hit the store and grab everything I need all at once. The key here is making a detailed list, sit down and think about all the meals you need including breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and any baking you need to do! Once you have a list of all of the meals & recipes you need to make it’s really quick and easy to make a shopping list for all those ingredients.
Decorating for the Holidays
One of the things that gets me in trouble this time of the year is walking into stores that are decorated for the holidays and feeling like I need to buy all of the new decorations and items! I typically try to re-use most of what I have from past years and then add in just 2-3 new items each year but as soon as the decorations start hitting the stores I feel myself wanting to spend extra to get all the decorations!
I have found that going through my holiday boxes even if I am not quite ready to put my Christmas Tree up is a really easy way to avoid over buying. When I take the time to look through what I already have it helps me visually see how much I have and I’m less tempted to grab extra holiday decor items the next time I hit the stores.
Another thing I do during the holidays is break down decorating into smaller tasks. It can be so overwhelming to try to do everything in one day so I broke down things like Decorating the Front Porch, Decorating the Mantle and the Decorating the Christmas tree into separate tasks on my Holiday Prep Checklist so that I can tackle each task as I have a little piece of time.
Holiday Shopping
Another area of the Holidays that can be really stressful is holiday shopping. I start making my holiday shopping list in September with a list of items that I think each person on my list will enjoy, then I watch for deals on those items! I have found that when I start my list early it helps take off some of the pressure as we get closer to the holidays because I’m normally finished shopping by the time Black Friday and Cyber Monday wrap up.
It’s also really important to start thinking about your Holiday Budget and any additional purchases that you need to make. Even little things like wrapping supplies or baked goods for teachers can add to your budget so I like to make sure all of these things are included when I set my budget for the year.
Christmas Activities
What is the one thing that makes you feel like Christmas on the inside and out? For me those things are making gingerbread houses, turning on a Holiday playlist, visiting the local square to see the Christmas lights and more! Add those items to your Holiday Prep List and start booking them on the calendar! The last 2 years, I sat down with my husband and went over our calendar with a list of things we wanted to and actually added those Christmas activities to the calendar. That way when someone asked if we were busy or if we could do something we could look at the calendar and see what we had planned before over-committing ourselves. For me, having something on the calendar is one of the best ways to make sure something happens. If it’s on my calendar it’s 10 times more likely to get done and it only takes about 30 minutes to block all your favorite activities for the holidays on your calendar. One tip: do it now before things get too crazy!
Wrapping & Giving
I was just talking to a friend the other day about how the last few days before Christmas she is running around trying to get the gifts wrapped instead of enjoying the time with her kids. If I am being honest I do the same thing most years. 2 years ago I actually got ahead in my wrapping by setting up a gift wrapping station. I just put up a table in our guest room where I normally keep the gifts and each night as I would take the boxes that came in the mail upstairs, I would go ahead and wrap and label the gifts! I cannot tell you how AMAZING it was to wake up on Christmas Eve morning without any wrapping to do! It was so nice to be able to enjoy the day with my kids and I’m planning on bringing this system back again this year.
The trick to this system is to get ahead by setting up your wrapping station early with wrapping paper, tape, scissors, and gift labels! Also, having everything in one place that was out of the way make it really quick and easy to just wrap the one or two items that arrived that day rather than spending several hours all at once wrapping gifts!
What are your best tips and tricks for getting ahead during the holiday season? Leave a comment below and let us know!