There is no hiding it, I am a huge fan of Christmas. It is my favourite time of the year from the magical build up to the amazing food and the kids face over the whole festive season.
Now I know many of you are probably still thinking but its November still Paula, it’s too early for Christmas! It is never too early to get organised, that is for sure.
I’m not one of these people that are organised enough to have brought in the January sales and stashed away ready for this time of the year, however around the summer time we start out planning in a few simple steps. This way by the time November/December comes round I am ready to enjoy the festive season without a lot of stress.
- Write a list – No you are not Santa, however, knowing who you need to buy for is always handy! We make sure we list everyone, a suggested gift idea and a budget. This way we are able to budget plan. This is something I start around the summertime, just to give myself time to get organised!
- Order your Christmas food – If you order in a fresh turkey, for example, get ready to get it ordered when it goes live, I’ve ordered ours already so I know all I need to get is the veg nearer the time.
- Get ready with your cards and wrapping – I think this one is even more important if you have relatives that you need to post gifts and cards to before the Christmas rush. I always make sure we are ready for the rush with this in November. So make sure those relatives you may not be able to spend Christmas with know how much they mean to you with a beautiful card especially for them.
- Buy your advent and tree chocolates early – A few years back I left it to the last minute to buy our candy canes and everywhere had sold out… Now It wasn’t a big problem for me as I don’t eat them but a disaster for everyone else! Get them early and put them somewhere out of reach till nearer the time.
This is just some of the steps I take when planning our Christmas however it isn’t a stressful time at all, take it at your own pace, give yourself plenty of time to get organised. Plus turn on the festive music, crack open the tin of chocolates and enjoy the magic that is about to unfold!
This is a collaborative post with Card Factory.