The early deadline is indeed fast approaching. I have a few more tips to share about making the whole process a little smoother.

Wrapping…

Take ALL of the presents out of wherever they are hidden. If you have a lot of people that you are buying presents for then write down a list of the names and add the present for that person beside their name. (Remember, do it in your phone to keep the list handy!) Now that you see all of your presents and know who they are all going to, you know easily if you need to buy anymore or if you have any extra; I can’t possibly be the only one who buys before I even start organizing it all!

Now that all the presents are spread out, pull off or scrape off or rip off any and ALL price tags. Trust me, this will save you headaches! How often have you wrapped something just to wonder later if you had removed the tag or the price. OR how many times have you had someone open a present to see the tag staring right back at your face! Sometimes I even put Christmas stickers on the item’s packaging to hide the sticker or label.

In the past I would also have my Goo Gone handy for pulling off the stickers, not anymore! Pro tip: use the sticker to pull off the last bits of its own stickiness. Simply pull off the sticker, then re-stick the sticker on the left over bits over and over. If you have never done this before, I am telling you, its the most magical thing to see!

Baking…

Got the baking blues? Don’t feel like baking…for yourself? Why not mix things up and get a little competitive?

My husband and I have been trying to have date nights twice per month, we take turns planning the date nights so that we are each in charge of a date night for the other. Last weekend my husband suggested a bake off. We had so much fun with it! You could always challenge a neighbour, or friend or other family member instead.

We discussed some rules we wanted to follow: we had to make sure that it would be a platter type treat, no cakes etc. We decided that we needed to be able to prep, bake, cool and cut our baking after the kids went down for bed, so we had a fixed amount of time. We also decided who would be our taste testing judges, which helped determine how many treats we each needed to make.

Delivering the treats the following day to the judges and having the votes come in was almost more fun than the date night itself! Check out our treats:

Cooking…

Picking and planning the meals in advance can be tricky. I always resort to Pinterest and do some random searches like “make ahead Christmas meals”, “freezer friendly holiday meals” or “easiest Christmas snacks”. I always come up with at least a few good things to try making. Of course then you need to go into the store and make sure you have the ingredients that you need.

How amazing is it going to feel to not have to go into any store during that last week before Christmas? That week when everyone is stressed and not on their best behaviour! That week where its hard to find a parking spot! That week when lines are even longer! For this year, that week where there are lines to get into the store thanks to COVID. Say no thanks to that! December 15! Ten days before Christmas! Then RELAX!

Good luck on your holiday prep! What other tricks do you do to make the holiday season less stressful?

Thanks for coming home!