Are you a planner? Or are you a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants Holiday person?
I love the holidays so much that I love to get some stuff done early.
I thought writing about seven things you can do right now (hello, mid-November!) to prepare for the holidays might be helpful.
By doing these items early, you will hopefully experience more fun, excitement, a sense of accomplishment, and less holiday stress! Read on and see if you agree.
In this post...
Item #1 (to Prepare for the Holidays): Christmas Pajamas
/ J Crew Pajamas /
Order your Christmas pajamas NOW if your family wears them for Christmas Eve. Our family wears pajamas for family photos and sometimes for Christmas Eve. Some years (like this one), the photo is on Thanksgiving weekend. Other years, it’s on my December birthday. Whatever time you pick, it’s NEVER TOO SOON to purchase them, as the early bird gets the size selection.
We are going with J Crew’s fabulous forest green collection this year. The mom and grandma are wearing this green pajama set with white piping. The set is $56.50 and comes in four other colors. I bought a medium. The pants were long. Since the set is 93% cotton, I washed the pants hot and dried them on high. Now, they are the perfect length for my 5’4″ frame. The sleeves are a little long (so I should have bought the set in a small), so I put these elastic bands on my arms to pull them up while still allowing the piping to show. These bands are helpful when I want to push up my sleeves on my blazers, as they stay up all day.
The dads and grandpa are wearing cream henley (43% off) and forest green joggers (currently 39% off).
The four grandsons will wear these darling Christmas tree-themed pajama sets (45% off). They are 100% cotton, so I sized them up. They come in six different patterns if you prefer a different color. There are even two Peanuts Christmas patterns.
/ Kids’ Pajamas /
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Item #2 (to Prepare for the Holidays): Set Up a Wrapping Station for Gifts
/ Do Not Disturb Sign for Santa’s Workshop (similar, here) /
I love wrapping packages and have some straightforward tricks to share. I set up a wrapping station with everything I need so that when I feel inspired, I don’t have to get frustrated finding tape, scissors, etc.
/ Scissors, Tape, Tags, Adhesive Tags /
/ Bows, Red and Green Tissue Paper /
My easiest trick to prepare for the holidays is ordering a big box of brown bags with handles in two sizes. These two boxes of bags have lasted for multiple years because we keep reusing them! Most of my gifts are quickly wrapped by putting the item in a bag and then adding several pieces of red and green tissue paper. I tie on tags or apply the adhesive tags to the handle. At the end of the gift opening, my family tosses out the tissue paper, but they fold the bags and put them all in one or two of the most oversized bags to reuse next year. I store these in the attic until next November/December.
/ Bows and Wrapping Paper /
I typically wrap the toys for the kids and one gift for the adults in traditional paper and an adhesive bow. That way, some packages still take time to open under the tree.
Here’s my list of wrapping supplies:
- small brown bags
- larger brown bags
- tie on gift tags
- adhesive gift tags
- scotch tape (3 rolls, as I usually misplace one)
- scissors (2 pairs, as I typically misplace one)
- a bag of adhesive bows (mostly red as it’s my favorite Christmas color)
- red tissue paper
- green tissue paper
- wrapping paper
Item #3 (to Prepare for the Holidays): Organize Your Calendar and Bucket List
This is my favorite item on my list of ways to prepare for the holidays! I love seeing my friends for lunches, holiday teas, and Botanic Garden walks. But the holiday hubbub can crowd out these things. I have found that the best way to have the most fun is to arrange your calendar as early as possible with the things that matter to your family and you.
For example, if you want to get your nails done before Christmas, make that appointment now! The same goes for hair highlights. Please put it on your calendar! If you love holiday tea, call your favorite restaurant and set that up. I love the Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest, Illinois. Their current reservation policy is that you can make a reservation 90 days before the event. That means you can’t make a reservation for this holiday season, but put it on your calendar for next September. Also, a great tip is that the DeerPath gets cancellations every day. Call at 9:00 AM and take your chances with a last-minute reservation.
When life intervenes, and you must cancel due to a conflict or illness, take a moment and move that get-together to a specific date in January. That way, you will also have fun things to look forward to.
Going to the Holiday Lightscape at the Botanic Gardens is an enjoyable activity. It’s a gorgeous, refreshing 45-minute walk with thousands of lights. Another delightful activity is Holiday Magic at the Brookfield Zoo. Mr. G.Q. and I are taking our older kids and four grandsons to this year’s event on December 6. First, we’ll have a reindeer pancake supper at our home. Then, we will pile in the cars and head to the zoo for this light show.
Item #4 (to Prepare for the Holidays): Order the Gingerbread Houses
/ Pre-built Gingerbread House /
Now is the time to order your pre-built gingerbread holiday house kits. The pre-built ones run out quickly!
I made homemade gingerbread houses in the olden days (when my kids were little)! It took a whole week. I would NOT recommend this to anyone! Instead, I am now a proponent of purchasing pre-made gingerbread pre-built holiday house kits! Here is the one I have used last year and the one I am using this year.
My daughter, Becky, has already ordered them and had to pick them up at the store. It’s REALLY IMPORTANT that you pay attention to the label. Most stores sell pre-built houses as well as ones you need to assemble. Take it from me! You want it pre-assembled!
This kit also contains candy and extra icing to decorate the house. I buy a house for each grandson. They are all coming over at once. We will play Christmas music and have a blast! Stay tuned!
Item #5 (to Prepare for the Holidays): Decorate Your Front Porch
The most incredible and easiest trick to decorate your front porch is to get these pre-lit artificial flocked trees. I bought mine three years ago, and they are still going strong! I toss my now dead fall mums in my front pots and swap in these gorgeous trees. I plug them in. And voila! My containers are done!
Next, I swap out my regular fall doormat for a fun holiday one such as this one, or this one.
/ Red Welcome Mat with Christmas Tree /
Then, I add a wreath to the door like this one, this one, or this one.
/ Flocked Wreath /
/ Lit Wreath /
Item #6 (to Prepare for the Holidays): Order The Stockings and Personalized Ornaments
Personalized stockings, ornaments, and other gifts require time for monogramming. The sooner you order, the better your chances of getting your items on time. As you can see in the photo above, we have quite a few stockings hung by our chimney with care. This Halloween, we had our newest family addition, Mia Noelle. I am ordering her personalized stocking tomorrow. Another cute stocking is this series by Lands End.
Ornament shopping is another item on my list of things to prepare for the holidays. I love to purchase ornaments for each of the grandchildren. Sometimes, I find them at kiosks in shopping malls; other years, I see them on Amazon. I frequently get them ornaments based on their Halloween costumes or recent activities. Here are a few examples: here and here.
/ Golfer Ornament /
/ Truck Ornament /
Item #7 (to Prepare for the Holidays): Start Your Gift Shopping
As my grandkids are little, I ask their parents to text me links to any items they think the boys would like. As they are all under six, they mostly want toys. My usual plan is to get them a fun toy they can open early during the gift opening on Christmas Eve. If the personalized ornaments arrive on time, I give them to the boys at my birthday celebration (December 9). This way, they don’t get lost in the Christmas Eve craziness, and they can bring them home for their tree.
Lastly, I love to buy books for the kids. I ask the parents about any special interests, and then I head to the local bookstore. I speak with the child book specialist, and they help me select one or two gems for each child. They wrap up each book and place a post-it note with the child’s name on each. Done and done! My favorite bookstore is the Lake Forest Bookstore. This lovely shop, with terrific, helpful staff, has been open since 1949!
For gift shopping for my adult kids, I ask them to help me prepare for the holidays by texting me items they might like or going shopping with me and getting them then.
Which of These Items Will You Try to Prepare for The Holidays This Year?
What do you think of my list? Do you have any suggestions for preparing for the holidays that I could try? I love helpful tips and tricks any time of the year. Please share your thoughts below in the comments below or DM me @drjuliemarshall.
Below, find clickable photos of all the images in this post to make your early holiday preparation even more effortless!
Happy Holiday Planning! I hope this post will help you prepare for the holidays so you can have more fun!
XO,
Dr. Julie
PS
Here are a few more posts for you to enjoy:
6 Casual Thanksgiving Outfits – Dr. Julie’s Fun Life
Chicago Christmas Decorations in the Home – Dr. Julie’s Fun Life
Homey Christmas Decorations in My California Home – Dr. Julie’s Fun Life
Christmas Dinner Checklist and a GORGEOUS Christmas Tablescape! – Dr. Julie’s Fun Life
Setting up a wrapping station is so helpful when you have many presents to give. Seeing your mantle with all the stockings almost makes me wish I had 10 kids (but I did say almost)!
Joanie,
That’s exactly how I feel! Especially when I open the room and see all the unopened boxes to open, organize, and wrap!