I am one of those that absolutely loves Christmas. It is the most fun time of year and I love all the hustle and bustle that goes with it, but I don’t like being crazy stressed.
Gift Giving: I always start a little early and try to find a few presents as the year unfolds that I think people will like. That is all well and good, but if I buy things too early then I forget where I put them, or I wind up with a mess like I have here in the corner of my guest bedroom.
At this time of year I like to get everything out of the bags and pull them all out of the closets and see what I have. Time to take inventory and see what else I need to buy. I lay everything out on the the bed in the guest bedroom, so I can see it all. (This is where I can close the door and keep it all a secret)
For guys, I have some shirts that I put in a sack by size, so I know what I have for each person.
Now for the girls –
A super stylish Belt Wallet –
An assortment of placemats and chargers for ladies on my list and I love adding napkins to go with these, so that will go on my shopping list. I also need one more set of placemats.
An assortment of candles, candle holders, memo pads for stocking stuffers. I also have a really pretty silver tray and a wood and marble chopping board. You can see another really cute peacock belt wallet and a really fun mink ball key chain. I think I have the girls just about taken care of.
For that hard to buy for man on my list, I found a gorgeous silver and ebony duck hanger and shoe horn. I always feel good when I get the hardest person on my list taken care of.
Now that I know what I have left to buy for everyone on my list, I can concentrate on just those few things and have all my shopping done before Thanksgiving. Just a few things to add for the adults and then I can have fun shopping for toys for the grands.
Recycle What You Can – I have a lot of paper left over from previous years, so I think I will use these same ones and do a gold, black and white theme. I also have a few black and white gift boxes, so those could be added to the mix if I just coordinate all my ribbons. Maybe shop for some black, gold and white pretty grosgrain ribbon.
Plenty of pretty tissue and gift bags here too. So I need to use some of this up before I buy anything else. I think a trip to the $1 store for some boxes for shirts and pants will get me started.
I hate to wrap gifts, so getting that done early is a real plus for me. We have a really large landing at the top of the stairs, so I put a small 4ft. work table at the top of the stairs so I could set up a wrapping station. There is plenty of room to walk around it so it isn’t in the way and I can wrap a few presents at a time and then have that chore all done. The table is big enough to hold all my assorted tissues, ribbons, tape and scissors. I have a variety of paper on the floor underneath and boxes and a bag for trash on the side. Perfect.
Since the loft is right beside the table, perfect place to stash the presents that I have wrapped.
They’re not in the way and part of this dreaded chore is done. With the papers I had on hand and the gift bags I already had, I was able to stick to a gold-black and white theme.
I had some polka dot ribbon, so I used it as a contrast with this black and white dot paper. Try to make them fun. (Guys – this is called fancy and creative for me) haha
TIP: Take a look at previous Christmas pictures to remember how you decorated in the past. Then use those same items in a totally different arrangement this year. Or if you are really pressed for time, just do the same thing again, it will only create fond memories of the past and you won’t have to recreate the wheel.
Let The Baking Begin It is time to get a ton of baking done before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Make a bazillion cookies, breads and candies now and put them all in the freezer. You will be thrilled when all you have to do is place them on a pretty tray.
Since we have one week after Thanksgiving until the lst of December, I know most of us are really going to be in a pinch to get all the decorating up in a hurry. Maybe some of your decorating can begin before Thanksgiving, then put up the tree and go all out when Thanksgiving is over. So plan now while you have a little free time and then just sit back and enjoy.
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