Three ideas to make Christmas less stressful

I LOVE Christmas but it can be stressful. I'm sharing three ideas to make Christmas less stressful that are quick and easy.

Three ideas to make Christmas less stressful

Christmas is meant to be a joyful and exciting time of year right?

I LOVE Christmas but, as a mum, it can be, ok it usually is, pretty stressful!

Over the years, I’ve come up with quite a few ways to make it less stressful and more enjoyable and I’m going to share three of them.

Three ideas to make Christmas less stressful

GENERIC GIFTS

Make a stack of generic gifts.

By generic gifts I mean a present that great for a whole lot of different people.

They’re perfect for if you forget someone, don’t know what to give someone or as a hostess gift.

You might want to check 10 steps to a Less Stressful Holiday.

My favourite of course is food.

Is there anyone who doesn’t like to be gifted something delicious?

You can of course buy some fancy food goodies.

Either be super sneaky and repackage to make them look a little more Christmassy or 'homemade' or just give them as is.

I like to make them because I really enjoy it.

I have a collection of Christmas gift ideas in jars that might give you some ideas.

Three ideas to make Christmas less stressful

Here are some ideas for homemade:

The key rules for generic homemade gifts are:

Make sure they are items that will keep for a while so you can have them on hand from early December.
Make sure items don’t need refrigeration.
Make sure they’re things that YOU like in case you’re left with some after Christmas.

Gift wrap ideas to make Christmas less stressful

ONE TYPE OF WRAPPING

Using just one type of wrapping for Christmas presents makes gift giving and wrapping so much easier.

My super tip is to use one plain type of paper all year round and then dress it up for the occasion.

I use a giant roll of craft paper for all my gift wrapping.

For Christmas, I mix it up with a themed ribbon (usually something that can be used for other occasions too though) and gift tag (which I usually make) and voila!

Here are 15 ideas for Christmas wrapping with brown paper.

I love this for a few reasons:

No running out of Christmas wrapping and having to battle the crowds at the last minute.
I’m not left with Christmas wrapping after Christmas. I’m not one to use the same wrapping theme two years running so this is a no no for me. Yes I theme my wrapping each year.

Here are some ideas for gift tags that I’ve made in the past:

STOCK THE FREEZER

My final tip is to stock the freezer with a few emergency meals.

In the lead up to Christmas, you want to be able to say yes to spontaneous invitations and doing fun things with the family and not have to worry about dinner.

Plus, it’s rather nice to have a few nights off cooking at this time of year too.

Whether you make a few meals in bulk and pop them in the freezer or buy some freezer-friendly meals, the key is picking thing that just need to be whacked in the microwave or oven.

The slow cooker is my best friend when it come to making freezer meals in bulk.

You can grab a copy of my free slow cooker eBook here.

Here’s to a stress-free Christmas!

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