December 7, 2015

8 Ways to Simplify the Holiday Season

Time flies and when we’re busy it really flies. If you’re like me and long for a little slow down come December you know that it probably won’t happen with all that quickly appears on that December calendar. Instead of wasting time complaining about it I’ve decided to figure out a handful of ways to simplify the holiday season. Simple ideas and simpler ways of completing them. I hope that it’s helpful for you too!

1. CLEAR THE SCHEDULE – Say no more than yes and definitely don’t say maybe because as my kids say, maybe means yes 🙂
2. MAKE A LIST or TWO –  Putting those to-do’s on paper is essential when it feels like there’s so much to do. Keep the list(s) where you’ll see them and don’t be afraid to not finish something or toss that list out when needed. Need a good to do list? Check out my free printables page!
3. START A TRADITION or DECIDE WHICH TRADITIONS YOU’LL KEEP – decide on a couple things that you will do every single year and do those. Keep the traditions simple and memorable. Our favorites? Decorating the tree and house (yes, that’s a tradition), decorating pre-made gingerbread houses, reading Christmas books, making cookies, going on a Christmas house tour, sending Christmas cards, driving through the neighborhood looking at lights….
   
4. FOCUS ON SOMEONE ELSE –  Choose at least one thing to do for someone else and include the whole family so your kids know how it feels to give someone else a random act of kindness. If you need ideas, you should get my friend Mique’s book (from the blog 30 Handmade Days), Make & Share Random Acts of Kindness  – it’s full of ideas AND tear out pages to make it oh-so-simple.
   
5. MAKE AN ORNAMENT or DECORATION – This year the kids had the idea to make snow globes – I gave them each a jar, a little plastic snow, and the boys put in Lego guys and my daughter hand crafted snow people. Simple and sweet! We’ve made garland from old Christmas cards, painted the inside of glass ball ornaments and painted on the outside of them, and make ice decorations. My kids love a good project so I try to have a couple simple ones ready for them through the month. I’m not talking Pinterest perfect projects, just simple handmade ornaments and decorations that have meaning for us. That’s what’s important!
   
6. PLAY GAMES and WATCH CHRISTMAS MOVIES – We DVR movies all month long and love cuddling up on the couch to watch a good holiday movie. I also make sure we have games accessible to whip up a batch of hot chocolate and play a little board game.
   
7. SHOP ONLINE – We live near a small outdoor mall and I will do some specialty shopping there but for the most part it’s Amazon Prime for me. It keeps it simple, I keep a running shopping cart and keep an eye on prices and make sure I have the shopping done no later than December 15th.
8. DON’T OVERSHOP – Just a couple meaningful presents go a lot further than a huge pile of stuff. I like to shop with this in mind – something to wear, something to read, something to do. Come January you’ll thank yourself for keeping it easy.

Need some more ideas for how to simplify the season? Check out this round-up!