The Elf Blog

Christmas Countdown -- Five Weeks

With Thanksgiving only one week away, this week will mostly be about those preparations.  You need to do the shopping, baking, cooking, and table setting -- or you need to travel.

However, you can do a few tasks to keep things moving:

• Keep working on your cards.  Ideally, by the time Thanksgiving weekend is over, you'll have them all addressed and at least a third written.
• Keep working on your crafting.
• Exchange Christmas gift lists with your loved ones.
• If you are hosting a Christmas or New Year's party, you need to get the invitations out so people can get you on the calendar.

Other than that, focus on Thanksgiving and we'll check in again next week.

Christmas Countdown-Six Weks

Christmas Eve is only six weeks away!  Scary, isn't it?

· You should do some serious work on your cards this week.  Try to finish addressing them and, if possible, start writing messages in them.  If you haven’t done so yet, buy your Christmas stamps.

· Keep up with your crafting.

· Try to do a few hours of shopping this week, either in stores or online.

· If you are traveling over Christmas or New Year’s, finalize your travel plans.

· If you are planning a Christmas party, finalize your guest list.

· Buy all the non-perishables you need for Thanksgiving.

 

Keep plugging along.  Remember, it will all be worth it when you can relax on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Countdown -- 7 Weeks!

Christmas Eve is only seven weeks away and Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!  That means it's time to kick the preparations into high gear.

Here are this week's tasks:

• Begin developing your task schedule for the holiday season.  Put it right on your master calendar.  Write in dates for baking, decorating, writing cards, shopping, cooking, wrapping, crafting, etc.  Keep in mind that some tasks may need to be spread over several days.  For example, some doughs need time to rise, crafts need time to dry, etc.
• Identify areas in your house for various holiday activities: wrapping, gift storage, baking supplies, Thanksgiving staging, card writing.  If possible, keep these areas set until the task is completed.  If everything you need to work on cards is easily at hand, you can take 5 or 10 minutes to write a few notes, address some cards, etc. 
• If you have any presents that must ship overseas, you needs to buy them this week so they can ship before November 15th.

If you are hosting Thanksgiving, here are your tasks:

• Finalize your menu.
• Begin staging the dinner, getting china, serving pieces, table linens, etc. ready and gathered in a single accessible place.
• Create a detailed schedule for your preparation.  Place everything as early in the schedule as possible to reduce stress.  You can shop for non-perishables as early as this weekend.  You can polish silver and iron table linens now.  You can set the table the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Only leave to Thanksgiving morning those things that cannot be done in advance.  The best thing you can bring to the table is yourself, relaxed.
• If you like fresh turkeys, order yours now for pickup during Thanksgiving week.  If you use a frozen turkey, you can buy it when you'd like.  Also get a large plastic bucket and make room in the fridge so you can brine it.

From here on out, we'll be working hard to prepare.  Remember the goal: To look up on Christmas Eve and realize that everything is prepared and you have nothing to do except enjoy.

The Benefit of Crafting

I have a tendency to carry my crafts with me when I travel and to take them out whenever I have blocs of time.

I had a business trip last weekend, so I took some projects to work on.  I didn't only make excellent progress, I also confirmed an impression.

If you are crafting, you become immediately accessible.  Complete strangers walk up to you to ask questions, offer advice, and share experience.  This has happened to me in a variety of settings and in more than one country.  Something about crafting breaks down the barriers that divide and invite people to approach you.

Just a little Elfin magic. 

Christmas Countdown -- Three Months To Go

Christmas Eve is three months from today.  That means it's time to kick the Christmas countdown into high gear. 

Within the next month, you need to complete the following tasks:

• Make your holiday travel arrangements.
• If you are throwing a party, let folks know to save the date.
• Update your Christmas card address list.
• Build your Christmas gift list.  You don't have to start shopping yet, but you should at least decide who you'll be shopping for.
• If you plan to make gifts or decorations, purchase all craft supplies and start work, if possible.
• Pull out your holiday recipe file and start narrowing down the ones you want to try.
• Make room in the cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer for the holiday surplus.
• Finalize your holiday budget and make sure you know where the money is coming from.  If you don't have enough saved, you need to reduce the budget.
• Stop buying things you don't absolutely need.  Put them on your Christmas list instead.

the sooner you start, the higher the chances that three months from today, you'll be cosily esconced in a chair, drinking hot cocoa, eating homemade cookies, and watching a Christmas movie -- not making a mad dash through the mall only to come home to defrost the turkey with a hair dryer before pulling an all-nighter to finish crafts and wrapping.

The Countdown Begins!

Christmas Eve is six months from today!  How is your planning going?

No need to stress quite yet, but here are a few things to think about:

Now is the perfect time to establish your holiday budget.  I like to plan everything from Halloween on (since I spend a lot on Halloween candy).  If you host Thanksgiving, that should be in the mix.  Same if you host a New Year's Open House or an Epiphany party.  The budget should include everything:  gifts, cards, postage, special clothes, wrapping paper, decorations, party costs, holiday meals, travel, etc. It's not a bad idea to add a 10% contingency, just in case. 

After you have established the budget, make sure it's realistic.  Can you actually save that much money?  Spreading the saving over several months certainly helps, but in the current economic situation it may not be feasible or wise.  So, look at ways to economize.  Talk with family and friends about setting limits on gifts.  Perhaps you can give a family gift rather than separate gifts to each member.  A group of friends can substitute a shared experience for a batch of gifts.  You can agree to make gifts or even (you'd better sit down for this) not give gifts at all.  If you striggle every year to buy a gift for someone, they may be happy to agree to a joint cessation of gift-giving.  You can send fewer cards.  You can decorate or entertain less elaborately. 

Look at what you'll need to do and plan accordingly.  The one thing you must not do (especially in this economy) is to rely on credit for your holiday budget.  If you don't have it, you don't spend it.  Simple as that.

Other things it's handy to think about now:

1) As summer weddings and moves (new graduates, moving when the kids get out of school, etc.) happen, update your card address list.  That way you don't spend half of December trying to remember if she changed her last name and if you can find the change of address card he sent.

2)  If you can decide your travel now, you can buy your tickets with maximum choice of seats and at great prices.  Some sites (like Orbitz) even offer price assurance, so if someone else gets the same flight cheaper, they'll refund the difference to you.  If the costs are high, consider travel insurance -- just in case.

3) If you plan to make some gifts (apart from baking), start planning now.  The lazy days of summer may be the best time to knit that sweater, make the jewelry, or compile the scrapbook.  Some things can only be done in the summer.  Take advantage of seasonal produce to make jam and pickles or can peaches and tomatoes.  A basket filled with your home preserves makes a lovely gift and brings the summer alive in the depths of winter.

4) Cleaning out closets and drawers is always a good occupation.  More storage space and a tidier living environment make the holidays easier.

5) If you are vacationing this summer, keep your eye out for gifts. 

What are you doing to prepare for the holiday?

Taking Time for the Little Things

Summer schedules are often a bit slower, leaving you with extra little pockets of time.  It's important to use those pockets of time to lay the groundwork to take care of the little things:

• Update your address book and calendar so that you won't miss birthdays, anniversaries, and the like.
• Stock up on stationery and cards so that you'll have supplies on hand to celebrate with or comfort those you love.
• You know those people you've been meaning to call or visit?  Use the slower summer days to do it.
• If you craft, make a few extra presents so you'll have things on hand.
• Make a stack of the books you've been meaning to read or the movies you've been meaning to watch.  Read the books on your hammock and watch the movies on rainy days.
• Take advantage of summer festivals, outdoor concerts, and the like.

Most of all, enjoy!

Winter Nights

We are in the second half of winter now.  The holidays are a distant memory and spring is not close.  It's cold and windy and snow has lost its appeal. The days are getting longer, but night still comes early.

So, what do you do to get through the remaining days of winter.  Here are some of my favories:

• Use the longer evenings to try out all those recipes you saw during the holidays.  It's an especially good time to make soups and stews and casseroles.
• Take the time to do some of the crafts you've been meaning to do or to learn a new one.  You can even get ahead on making ornaments, cards, and gifts for next Christmas.
• Winter weekends(or snow days) are great times to tackle bigger household chores, like cleaning closets or reorganizing cabinets.
• Use this pre-tax time to sort through your paperwork, filing what needs to be filed, shredding what needs to be shredded, and recycling everything else. 
• Attack some of your big projects.  Put photos in albums.  Read the stack of magazines.  Write some letters.
• Invite your friends over to do crafts or to at the soups, stews, etc. you've made.
• Have a family game or movie night.

Enjoy your winter!

Christmas Countdown -- 3 Weeks

Now is about the point where panic sets in.  Christmas Eve is only 3 weeks away.  Take a deep breath.  you'll make it.

Here are this week's tasks:

• Any gifts that need to be shipped have to go this week.  If they are going outside the US, you're already pushing it.
• Finish up your cards so you can get them in the mail next week. 
• Continue shopping.  Try to complete all online shopping.
• If you are making gifts, most crafting should be done this week.
• Begin wrapping the presents you've bought.  I enjoy wrapping while watching a Christmas movie with a mug of mulled cider at my side.
• If you are hosting a party, you may need to confirm attendance and shop, cook, and bake.
• Take a few hours to do a good clean of the house.  Try to minimize clutter in the public rooms.  Christmas brings its own clutter, so it's good to start with as little as possible.
• Decide what you will wear for your Christmas party, for Christmas Day, and for New Year's Eve.  Drop off any necessary dry cleaning.  Make necessary purchases.  Even plan your accessories.  It's not a bad idea to put everything in plastic bags and tuck it away.  That way, you can be ready to go quickly.

Christmas Countdown - 7 Weeks

Christmas Eve is seven weeks from today.  That means it's time to pick up the opace of preparation.

• You should do some serious work on your cards this week.  You should finish addressing them and start writing messages in them.  The USPS has its Christmas stamps for sale, so the next time you're near a post office, pick up what you need.
• Try to schedule at least a few hours of shopping, either online or in stores.
• If you are making gifts, you should be doing several hours of crafting each week.
• Begin to sort through your holiday recipes so that you can plan menus. Divide the recipes into 3 groups: holiday dinners, party food, easy dinners and casseroles you can freeze (for busy nights of school programs or errands).

Remember, if you follow this schedule, by the time Christmas rolls around, you'll be relaxed and ready to celebrate.