#6 - May: Gift Wrap, and Thwarting Snoopers

Is it too early to think about gift wrap? Not if 1) you already have gifts hidden, and 2) you want to do theme gift wrap or at least have something special under the tree this time around!

If you already have some gifts stashed away for Christmas, wrapping them now can save time in December when you might otherwise be up in the wee hours of Christmas morning, tears of exhaustion trailing down your cheeks as you continue to wrap, wrap, wrap, or stuff, stuff, stuff (into gift bags because you ran out of wrapping time and/or patience). Trust me, it’s hard to re-claim your Christmas joy after a night like that.

Even if you haven't started making or purchasing Christmas gifts yet (What are you waiting for? Christmas???), you can plan your gift wrap. What strikes your fancy for this year? Metallic wrap? White wrap with colorful ribbons? Newspaper wrap adorned with stamps/stencils/stickers? Homemade painted paper? Do you want all your gifts to look different, do you want them all wrapped in one kind of paper, or do you choose a paper for each family member and wrap all gifts to that person in that paper? (Btw, if you do this, please don't choose the ugliest paper for your least favorite relative. That's not in the spirit of the season. And if you can't imagine anyone doing that, trust me. I had an in-law who wrapped all gifts to me in paper with a black background - every year. I don't know how she did it, but she found the ugliest Christmas wrap on the face of this planet and saved it just for me! Every year!) I may have a lifetime supply of clearance Christmas wrap in my closet, but I don’t always feel like using it. One year our gift wrap was giant sheets of butcher paper that I let my kids cover with sponge-painted red, green, and gold stars. One year I wrapped everything in white tissue paper and plaid ribbons. Another year I went for silver and red shiny paper. Since my trees look much the same from year to year, I enjoy creating different looks for the gifts placed beneath them.

If you begin wrapping now, you will want a master sheet of all gifts acquired and who they are for. You will need to tag the gifts so that you don’t accidentally gift the deluxe strawberry bath set to big, hairy Uncle Hank. Rather than putting names on the gifts (tempting any snoopers to sneak a peak in gifts bearing their names), you might assign each person a number and tag the gifts with the correct number. You must keep a master list of the names and numbers, maybe in a secret place in your wallet. On Christmas Eve, you can replace the numbered tags with name tags so that there is no confusion on the big day.

Be sneaky when it comes to your master sheets. My mom kept hers in her jewelry box, but she had a darling daughter who liked to admire the rings and things it held. This daughter found a folded piece of paper in the jewelry box and opened it. She read a list of every gift she was going to get! (Have I mentioned that I am my mother’s only daughter?) She discovered that a lot of the fun of Christmas involved anticipating surprises. Knowing what’s coming just sucks the fun of opening presents right out of the day!

As you wrap your gifts, keep those snoopers in mind. You don’t want them to spoil their surprises! You can foil snoopers who find their gifts (or those who like to squeeze and shake the boxes under the tree) with a few tricks. My mom got me really good one year. I was about 16, and she was tired of my ability to guess what was in wrapped gifts. That year she put all my gifts inside puzzle boxes! I was outraged when I shook those boxes. One thing I didn’t want for Christmas was puzzles! Then as I opened my gifts and saw that the puzzle boxes were old ones we’d already put together, I was confused. My mom told me to look inside, and that’s when I found the real gifts of Avon jewelry. Mom sure tricked me with those puzzles!

As an adult, I still had the ability to accurately guess the contents of wrapped packages. “That’s a dress, that’s a sweater, that’s a bathrobe, that’s chocolate-covered cherries, that’s a box of Andes mints!” I thought I was funny, but the gift-giver’s joy had been spoiled. Therefore, he went out and bought one last gift and had it “canned.” That’s right, I found a gift in a sealed tin can under the tree, and it was for me. It sounded like it had a rock in it. I couldn’t snoop! I was thwarted! (Not really.) The rest of the story: I thought it was a joke gift, and I didn’t want to be laughed at on Christmas. Therefore, when no one was around, I got a can opener and went to work on that can. Imagine my horror when I discovered a necklace wrapped in paper inside the can, along with a marble! It was a real gift, not a joke, and I had just spoiled the surprise! You know what? You can’t hide the evidence of an opened can, even if you put it back under the tree upside down. I learned my lesson that year. No more snooping for me! (Hopefully most snoopers won’t go as far as I did.)

Let’s wrap this up. (Pun intended. Hehehe!) You can thwart snoopers by putting the real gift inside a puzzle box with puzzle pieces still inside. You can put the gift in unexpected containers, like a small gift in a large box. You can include sound-makers – marbles, rocks, jingle bells – to mask the sound the real gift makes when shaken. You can wrap the gift in bubble wrap and make it seem like an item of clothing when squeezed, when it’s really a book or CD. And of course, you can keep the gifts hidden and/or locked up where the snoops in your family will never think to look.

A note about gift bags: Gift bags are pretty and easy. They have cute little handles too! But they are an invitation to snoop. Only use them if the recipient won't be tempted to sneak an early peak, which may be because you are going to deliver the gift and expect the recipient to open it right away.

Use these tips if you’re going to start wrapping gifts now. Remember these tips if you’re going to wrap your gifts later.

Do you have any creative ideas for gift wrap or thwarting snoopers? Post them in the comments section!

#5 - April: Your Christmas Stash and Items to Stock Up On

This month I want to focus on your Christmas “hiding place” and the things you can start filling it with. Do you have a place where you stash the gifts you make or buy throughout the year? Do you need a place to store materials for gift ideas? Without such a place, you probably hide things and then forget where you put them. One year it was two months AFTER Christmas when I found a big gift I’d gotten for my son. I’d hidden it behind a chair that sat behind my bedroom closet door that always remained open. He never looked there — but neither did I after I chose that as my hiding place!

Now I have an old, black metal, two-door supply cabinet with three shelves inside. It sits in my home office, where I spend most of my day. That’s where I stash gifts. My kids are old enough not to care what’s in there (or maybe they’ve never figured out what I keep in there besides old coloring books and boxes that once held office software), so I don’t lock it. If you have junior detectives in your house, you may want something that you can lock. Do you have a closet, cabinet, or shelf that you can use (and even disguise) as your Christmas storage? A solid color (not clear) plastic storage bin with alid is better than playing hide and seek for your gift stash. Having everything in the same place will save time later.

Now let’s turn our attention to items we can stock in our storage place. Gifts already bought or made are a given; any sewing supplies related to your gifts could be placed there, as well as any recipes that you’ve gathered for making a family cookbook. Maybe you are gathering supplies for making pretty soaps or candles. What else? This month we enjoyed the Easter holiday. What does that have to do with Christmas? Baskets are for sale now at clearance prices! If you want to make gift baskets for Christmas, stock up now. Easter grass is also on clearance and would make nifty packaging material in gift bags or boxes in place of tissue paper. You can also use the grass in clear plastic ornaments - hiding a small gift in the middle. What a pretty and unexpected surprise!

Some items may be readily available now but hard to find in the fall. Canning jars are such an item. One year I wanted to bake jar cakes as Christmas gifts, but I couldn’t find wide-mouth jars for sale anywhere in November! If you want to can homemade food items as gifts or make mix-in-a-jar gifts, now is a good time to pick up a supply of jars and stash them where you can find them. Don’t forget small jars to fill with bath salts or other homemade bath supplies as well.

Do you have a special place where you store your Christmas gifts and craft items? Share it here! This blog is set to post all comments, so feel free to comment, offer advice, or ask questions of your own.

#4 - March: Work on Handmade Gifts or Start a Gift Notebook

I am two weeks later than planned, but better late than never, right? I’m sorry; life has been dribbling me like a basketball in a championship game.

The goal for the month of March is simple. For us, March is Make Gifts Month. The weather is still kind of chilly and damp, keeping us indoors most of the time. For those who are able to knit, crochet, embroider, or sew, this month offers time for those kinds of projects. If you are crafty, put your hobby to good use this month.

If you are like me, you intend to make some of your Christmas gifts either because you love the personal touch or you’re frugal, but time slips away before you know it. Suddenly you are facing the holiday whirlwind with no time left for quiet projects! Then you have to wander the store aisles trying to find gifts within your budget. That's why we need a plan for starting early.

If making gifts doesn’t appeal to you, you can still use this month to create a gift notebook, a place to jot down not only ideas for gifts or gifts that have been made or bought and tucked away, but also sizes, favorite colors, styles, and motifs, etc. After all, you can ask questions without anyone suspecting that you are preparing for Christmas! You can casually mention possible gift items and gauge your loved one’s reaction. Come Christmas, your questions and conversations will have been forgotten, and your gifts will truly be a welcome surprise!

Please participate in the February Poll! (NOTE: Now closed)

[NOTE: the poll - now closed - has been removed.] Hello, friends! February is at its end. Did you try any new recipes this month? Have you found new treats for Christmas? I did! I discovered a better sausage ball recipe, and my daughter and I created red hot peanut brittle that we think rocks! What about you? What new recipes are you excited about? Tell us about them, and don't forget to take the poll!

#3 - February: Experiment with New Recipes

The worst time for attempting new holiday recipes is during Christmas when we're already strapped for time. If you're like me, you found some recipes that made your mouth water, but you never found the time to make them. Whether you needed to make treats for a party, your family, or gift-giving, you didn't have time to experiment with new recipes. You fell back on the old reliables that you've been making for years.

Let's pull out a few of those untried recipes and make them now. I'm a bit late with this suggestion, which I intended to make well before Valentine's Day (another holiday when sweets and treats are expected), but there are still a couple of weeks left to surprise someone you love.

Today I tried a new recipe for sausage balls, and I'm pleased to report that they are the best I've ever made! I have a recipe for spiced pecans that I didn't get to make in December but plan to make this month. My daughter loves to experiment with peanut brittle recipes; she's got an idea for making red hot peanut brittle that we'll try this month as well. If it's a success, it will go on her list of Christmas treats to make and give as gifts!

I'll post a poll near the end of the month to find out how you did with your holiday recipes this month, so please visit again!

P.S. The above photo is of our traditional Christmas morning monkey bread. I don't think I'll ever replace it as our family holiday breakfast!

Please participate in the Poll! (Note: Now closed)

[NOTE: the poll - now closed - has been removed .] I'm hoping that my readers who aren't members of Blogger and can't post comments can still vote in a poll. Those of you who can post a comment, feel free to tell me what you've done so far to prepare for Christmas. In 10 months we'll be pulling out our decorations and supplies and gearing up for a wonderful holiday season!

#2 - More on Cards: Don’t Misplace Them!

One question has come up about buying cards early. How does one remember where she has stashed those boxes of January-bought Christmas cards when the Christmas season arrives?

Over the years I’ve stashed many things away in clever places only to forget where those places were. What a nuisance! However, I haven’t misplaced my cards in a long time. You know those holiday popcorn tins? We’ve given and received many as gifts over the years. I chose one of the larger ones we had received (after it had been emptied, of course) and rinsed it out. In it I stashed my Christmas cards as well as a copy of past Christmas newsletters.

Because it’s a Christmas-themed tin, I recognize it each time I see it. I don’t keep the tin in my Christmas storage closet/room; I might forget it or lose it under boxes of decorations. Instead, it’s stashed in my office closet. Before moving to this house and gaining an office, I kept my card tin in my living room coat closet.

Since you may want to get to your cards before you start decorating for the holidays, keeping them with the decorations is a bad idea You should keep your cards stored in a more visible place where they won’t become lost and forgotten. Using a decorative container like the holiday popcorn tins for storing your card supplies will increase your chances of finding them quickly when you want them. Keeping the container in a place you visit often makes it even more likely that you won’t lose them.

If you haven’t made a habit of sending Christmas cards in the past, maybe this will be the year. Finding a colorful Christmas card in the mailbox always brightens my mood. Think of how delighted your friends or family members will be to find an envelope full of holiday cheer from you! Better yet, they may return the favor!

#1 - January 2010!

From the Festival of Trees

Welcome to Christmas All Year Long—where getting ready for your favorite holiday is a year-long project!

What happens to you each December? Are you caught off guard by the many activities available? Do you participate in a mad scramble to make Christmas happen at your house—by baking and decorating and shopping and wrapping and caroling and partying and spinning in circles till you pass out? Do some of your plans turn to dust and blow away due to neglect? Then this is the place for you, my dear. We’re going to surprise everyone come December 1 by being prepared for the holiday season and having the time to enjoy it!

The idea is to focus on a holiday project each month. It won’t be time-consuming, and I’m pretty sure it will be fun. We will take one topic a month and see if we can’t make a better Christmas for ourselves, our families, and our friends.

Let’s kick off January with a two-part project. The first part is simple. Make a list of all the Christmas activities/projects you completed, and then list the things you wanted to do but ran out of time and energy for.

For example, this year I wrote a Christmas newsletter (at the last minute) and mailed out cards (at the last minute) and shopping for gifts (at the last minute). That’s not the way I like to do things, but that’s how it went. I also decorated the inside of my house, and I put up a few things outside, but I ran out of time and energy for putting out strings of lights. I made my traditional double-decker peanut butter fudge and the edible holly candy, but I ran out of time for cookies! I listened to lots of Christmas music, and I sang in my church’s Christmas choir. I went to one Christmas party thrown by the local Writers Guild at a restaurant, but I did not get to have friends over to my house as I’d hoped to do. I missed going to a live nativity, but I did take my family to the Festival of Trees for our yearly photo safari. We drove through one professional lights display, but we didn’t have time for the other, bigger one. I wanted to take my neighbors plates of Christmas goodies, but I didn’t get them made! I wanted to make some Christmas ornaments, but I haven’t had time to do that in several years, and the kits are getting quite dusty!

I didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I wanted to. But I also have to work at my job, get my allergy shots, and do my regular chores and errands as a single parent, plus help my teenager daughter with her school schedule and homework.

The only way I’m going to get all those things accomplished is to create a plan and follow it. So that’s what we’re going to do together! We’ll plan and work our way through the year so that our next Christmas will be the one we’ve always dreamed of! Make your lists now.

Part two: If you haven’t yet, take advantage of the after-Christmas clearance sales. You can get fabulous bargains at this time of year. Plus, it helps you plan in advance for next Christmas. As you stand in front of the wrapping paper, you can decide on a color scheme or theme for next year if the idea pleases you. Do you want to go with all metallic paper? Papers with penguins? Stripes, plaids, polka dots? All white paper with colored ribbon to accent the packages? Buy now, and you’ll have that chore out of the way. Get Christmas cards at 50-75% off the retail price. Plastic storage boxes are on sale at this time as well, so if you don’t have a place to store and protect your Christmas supplies, you can pick something up at a discount. I’ve already got my cards for next year, as well as some ribbons and small gift boxes, and I’m watching the sales for some outdoor decorations at bargain prices.

Future topics will include party planning, Christmas newsletters and photos, choosing and testing new recipes for Christmas goodies, music for the Big Day, decorating both indoors and out, shopping and/or making gifts, family fun activities, and more. Feel free to leave a comment with ideas for future topics.

Let’s keep the Spirit of Christmas alive all year long!