Quest: a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something.
This year my Mom and I wanted to obtain something, something different,
something fun! We wanted to obtain a Christmas season with no rush, no running
here getting this or that, no last minute gift buying or Christmas Countdown
planning. We want to find that laid-back, relaxed Christmas season we know
exists!
So the quest this year: Let's get all of our Christmas stuff done before
December 1st! That includes gifts purchased, Christmas Countdown planned,
purchased and ready to go, Christmas cards printed and ready to mail, paper
goods, food (as much as possible), goodies (as much as possible), stockings . .
. you get the picture. Basically, everything that can be done by that day,
let's get it done!
As we began working on our quest several people jumped on board and told
us they wanted to do it too! Several have asked us how and what we have done.
So here are some of ideas and accomplishments that we wanted to share with you;
to help make this possible for you. This is in no way a post to brag or try to
get a pat on the back, honestly we don't care what you do, just do what makes
you happy, but if you want our tips and experience thus far, read on! Now, I am
going to be honest, we started a few things in October and yes, December 1st is
only 12 days away (with a holiday in the middle) but hopefully these ideas will
help you to some extent this year and then some you can remember for next year.
PLAN
As Mom and I were talking about this post we decided the thing that has
helped us the most has been to PLAN. We both spent several hours planning and
making lists. Now, we are both in two different phases of life. Our planning
was a lot different, she has several more gifts, kids and grandchildren than I
do so her gift planning was more in-depth than mine. Her activity planning was
also different based on the large age range of people she plans for. I have two
little kids that I like to do a "Christmas Countdown" (an activity my
mom started with us when I was a kid, fun traditions. I will do a separate post on this soon) that I wanted to plan out
and have ready to go by December 1st. My gift buying is on a different scale as
well. So my point, plan on your own based on your wants and needs. If you are
like our family and draw names, I encourage you to draw them early so you know
who you are buying for and can get a list started for them. We usually do it on
Thanksgiving but this year we just did it at a random family event to get a
head start. Here are a few planning tips that helped us:
1. Make Lists - As many lists as you need. Use different colored pens,
highlighters, whatever you need to make it fun and organized to you. Here are a
few of our "Lists"
- A gift list of each person you are buying for, the budget and ideas
- Make a list of Christmas activities you are planning to do (whether it is for a Christmas Countdown, play dates, parties, get-togethers, etc.)
- Based on the Christmas activities you are doing make a list of supplies you need for each.
- A list of all the places you need to go on your shopping day. Order the list based on the store location so you are not going all over town and back
- Go through all your Christmas wrapping and make a list of the wrapping supplies you need. For those of you that don't know my Mother, she is one of the most organized and creative people I know! She makes things so neat and orderly, I long to have just a little bit of that gift! She took a sample what wrapping paper she had and taped it to her list and then made a list of what she needed to go with it...brilliant and it worked great!!
2. Plan ahead as much as possible. We have found that planning ahead can
save you tons of money and stress.
•
Christmas cards - Choose or design your card and if you plan on
doing family photos schedule them for the fall so you will have plenty of
pictures to throw into your Christmas cards. There are several places that
start offering Christmas card discounts in October. I got my cards half price
during a pre-holiday sale. You buy the card and then have 45 days to get the
photos uploaded. My mom got her cards during the Tulsa Care Card promotion that
provides several discounts to stores in the Tulsa area
(http://www.fcsok.org/contribute/care-card/). Keep your Christmas card list
updated and go ahead and get them stamped and addressed and ready to mail out
in December whenever you choose.
•
Buy stamps early! There are super cute holiday stamps available but
if you were like us last year, if you wait too long the cute stamps are sold
out. The postal service starts selling the stamps early so just go ahead and
get them. Or do like my mom and order them online.
•
Plan what stores you have to go to or BUY ONLINE as early as you
want. Several places offer great discounts online with free shipping. Use
Amazon, it offers almost everything for the same or lower price. If you are a
Prime member you get 2 day shipping for free! If not, no worries, sign up for a
free 30 day trial and use it to do your Christmas shopping. Always google
coupons for the store you are buying from, discount codes are almost always
available.
•
Plan a shopping day! Plan it early (before Thanksgiving, if
possible), do as much online shopping as you like before your shopping day and
make sure you have all your lists before you head out! It makes the process
much easier and your time more productive!
• Plan the activities you will do for a
Countdown, Elf on the Shelf, family gatherings, parties, etc. I took a calendar
and planned out our month (as much as possible) and wrote the activities down
so I could at least have 25 things we were doing even if it wasn't on the exact
day. Based on that I made a list of all the supplies I would need to purchase
to make all those activities happen.
Conquer
Once most of your planning and list-making are done set a day to
conquer these lists! We chose a day in the middle of the week and started in
the morning. We suggest you go as early as possible and on a weekday to avoid
crowds and all the craziness of millions of people. I'll be honest, we were out
running errands with one brief lunch break for 13 hours. We were tired but it
was finished (or really close)! If you have young kids, leave them behind! Get
a sitter, use a friend or family member, see if your husband can take off work,
whatever works but I promise you get so much done a lot faster! Next, make
another list of the items you didn’t find in stores that day and look online!
Regroup
Once you have done your planning and conquering take a moment (or a
couple of days) to regroup. Make piles of gifts, sort them by person, sort all
the stockings by person and put them in a bag and pack away, set all the crafts
aside in a pile, double check your list, pack away paper goods, etc. Once you
have all the gifts sorted, go ahead and wrap them before you put them away. Why
not? That way when you put your tree up after Thanksgiving you can just bring
all your gifts out put them under your tree and enjoy!
Finish Up
Spend the next few days making the crafts you need, writing out or
wrapping
up countdown projects, making teacher gifts, sorting activities, or
whatever else you can think of!
ENJOY
December 1st rolls around and you can wake up, make a cup of
Christmas Cheer, put your feet up and enjoy! Plan play dates, throw those
Christmas cards in the mail whenever you choose, take a trip to relax, go to a
movie, stay home, enjoy each day with your kids, do whatever your heart desires
because EVERYTHING IS DONE! No need to rush or cram one more thing into your
day. Drive around and give those stressed angry drivers a friendly honk and
thumbs up...spread some cheer! After all, don't you think Christmas was meant
to be a time of celebrating spreading joy and peace?
So here’s to a different holiday season, a slower paced, more relaxed
holiday that we can truly enjoy and celebrate that precious little Boy that was
born on Christmas day that would Save us from all of our sins and allow us have
life and have it abundantly!
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