The Easiest Ways to Prepare for Christmas this Fall

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Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday! Something I try to do every year is to plan ahead to ensure I can fully enjoy my holiday. Some of the easiest ways to prepare for Christmas this Fall is to split up the tasks/commitments you need to complete in order to get yourself ready to celebrate. You can enjoy a holiday stress-free simply by getting a headstart on your Christmas planning.

My family makes fun of me because I could easily listen to Christmas music 365 days a year and have no regrets! One thing I don’t love about Christmas – the stress! My son’s first Christmas I drove myself insane because I felt like I had to do it all since I only had one shot to make it magical. Over the years I’ve been able to cut my stress in half to the point where it’s almost non-existent. Yes, I’m here to tell you that a stress-free Christmas is possible and the trick is simple – preparation! You can easily prepare for Christmas in the Fall with simple and easy tasks designed to help make your holiday season a breeze.

The easiest ways to prepare for Christmas this Fall is with a month by month breakdown of the tasks you wish to complete in order to ensure a stress-free holiday season.

The Easiest Ways to Prepare for Christmas This Fall

Wait, why do you start planning for Christmas for nearly four months in advance? The answer is simple – I want to enjoy the holidays with my family.  Plus, there are tons of advantages to planning early including:

BALANCE: Prepping for anything in life helps to relieve stress and Christmas is no exception. Having a proper plan in place that I can easily execute allows me to balance my responsibilities while remaining stress-free.

TIME: Do you ever feel rushed during the holiday season? In years past I could hardly enjoy my holidays because I had a million and one things to accomplish before Santa came down the chimney. Parties, baking, shopping …. OH MY! The list went on and on! Once December hits I can focus my attention on making lasting memories with my family.

MONEY: Over the course of the year’s sales are popping up earlier and earlier! By shopping early you can save a ton of money. Fun fact: I’m more than 50% done with my Christmas shopping for this year and Summer isn’t even over! Thankfully, I have a place to store it all before the big reveal.

Do you know what you want for Christmas yet? Let me know in the comments!

Ok, now on to the important stuff!

Here’s a monthly checklist of the things I’ll do to help me prepare for Christmas this Fall.

Learn Exactly How to Prepare for Christmas This Fall

Starting Getting Ready for Christmas in September

My children go back to school in September which means to back to our daily routines. In our home, we thrive off of a solid routine so Back to School season is our time to shine – ha! All joking aside, it’s the time of year I get myself organized to finish out the year with a bang and that includes getting ready for Christmas. Some of the things I do in September to help me prepare for Christmas include:

1. Make a List and Check it Twice: September is the perfect time to write a list. What people are on your shopping list this year? Kids? Husband? Wife? Parents? Neighbors? Teachers? Jot down who you need to buy a gift for and some ideas you think they might like to receive. Nothing is worse than waiting until the last minute to buy a gift for someone on your list. Last Christmas I drove myself insane trying to find the perfect gift for my son’s coach. This year he’s at the top of my non-family list!
2. Take Care of You: Sure it’s better to give than receive but if your family is anything like mine you will be hounded for gift ideas for yourself as the holidays draw near. This year I took the liberty of preparing a small list to help those in my life narrow down what to get me. At this point in my life, I’m all about functional gifts that help make life easier. What’s on your list this year?
3. Show me the Money: Easily the most important part of planning for Christmas early is your budget. How much do you want to spend this year in total? How much of that is going to be spent on each person? By creating a budget early on in the planning process you will be able to spend less and save more this holiday season.

RELATED POST: Preparing for Christmas During the Summer

 

What To Do To Prep For Christmas in October

October might be all about Halloween, but it’s also the key month to getting prepared for Christmas. Out of all the Fall months, October is when I get the bulk of my major Christmas projects done. You know my family loves Halloween so I make sure my focus remains on all things spooky yet still find time to get things checked off my Christmas to-do list.  Some of the things I do in October to help me prepare for Christmas include:

1. PINTEREST: As you are all well aware Pinterest is my greatest source of holiday inspiration. By early October you will get a good idea of this year’s Christmas trends. This is when you should decide how you plan to decorate, what handmade gifts you are going to create and any new Christmas traditions you want to include for the upcoming holiday.
2. Get Your Craft On: October is the perfect time to start working on any non-perishable handmade gifts you want to make. One thing that can ruin any holiday is waiting until the last minute to work on any craft projects you want to complete for the big day. Get started early and watch your crafting stress disappear. If it’s not fun then it’s not worth doing {in my opinion}.
3. Research: You might not be ready to shop while there are still pumpkins on the shelves but now is the best time to start researching what gifts you are going to buy this year. Last year many of the must-have items were already on sale during the month of October so if you have the means now might be the best time to start your shopping

RELATED: Christmas Traditions for Your Family

Easy Things to Do in November to Get Ready For Christmas

Gobble Gobble! Thanksgiving is almost here! Mmm, I can almost taste the food. In our home, Thanksgiving is a huge deal since it’s my husband’s birthday weekend and for good measure, we are die-hard football fans. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday quickly approaching and by planning early you will be able to take advantage of some of the best deals of the season.

1. Game Plan: Early November is the perfect time to create a holiday shopping game plan. By now you created your list, planned a budget, researched gift ideas but now its time to shop. By preparing early you can take full advantage of the biggest shopping days of the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
2. Elf on the Shelf:  If you are an Elf on the Shelf family NOW is the time to start preparing for that little bugger’s arrival. Print out an Elf Calendar and brainstorm some ideas. Your elf can cause huge stress on your holiday season if you have to think of ideas on the fly but if you prepare yourself now you can help make it even more magical for everyone involved.
3. Christmas Baking Team Assemble: November is when the three generations of gals – me, Mom and my daughter started prepping our doughs for the holiday season. We are lucky enough to have a big freezer in our garage so we take one day to prep all the dough so when it comes time to baking in December we simply defrost, shape and bake. So much easier and way more fun.
4. Schedule your Traditions: Spontantiety has to be put on hold this time of year. There are far too many family, school and work commitments to leave things to chance instead make a solid plan of all the things you wish to do this December to get your family excited for Christmas. Things my family plans in advance include:
   1. 1. 1. 1. Christmas Movie Night for all Friday nights in December
            2. Our Annual Gingerbread Decorating Party
            3. Christmas Game Night
            4. Cookie Exchange Party
            5. Ugly Sweater Party
            6. What day we are going to see the lights

RELATED: Christmas Bucket List Ideas

How to Minimize Your Stress In December

You made it! It’s December and you have a solid plan in place to help ensure you have a stress free holiday season, but that doesn’t mean everything is complete. Once December rolls around there are still plenty of things to do in order to get yourself ready to celebrate Christmas and the include:

1. Rock Around the Christmas Tree: It’s time to decorate if you haven’t started already. The best way to get into the Christmas spirit is with a beautifully decorated home.
2. Countdown to Christmas: It’s advent calendar time! There are so many fun advent calendars now including character-themed, handmade and candy-filled. No matter what you decide counting down to Christmas is a wonderful tradition to get any family pumped for Christmas.
3. Get your Bake On: Time to take the dough out of the freezer and into the oven.
4. Wrap It Up: Easily my personal favorite part of the holiday season is wrapping gifts. Everyone in my immediate family gets their own, distinct wrapping paper. When it’s time for me to wrap gifts I lock myself in my office, pump up for the Christmas tunes and get to work. Usually, there are Christmas cookies involved but I always remind myself calories don’t count at Christmas.
5. Have Fun: December is the time to put those fun activities you planned for your family to use. Christmas movie night, game nights, holiday concerts – it’s time to make the most of the holiday season.
6. RELAX: You planned for this moment for months it’s now time to sit back and relax as you enjoy your holidays with your family. You earned it!

Prepping for Christmas in the Fall can alleviate so much of the last-minute stress that’s often associated with the holiday season. Christmas should be a time to enjoy spending time as a family and be having a good plan in place you can do just that. Here’s to a wonderful holiday season for you and your family!