I understand that Christmastime/the Holidays are a sad time for some people. For those people I send light and say prayers, but for those of you who love to let the joy of the Holidays in, I have some things I want to share. It occurred to me as I was doing some things that what I was doing made my Holidays super fun. It made me think that, perhaps all that silly stuff is part of why I love the Holidays so much. You want more fun? You wanna squeeze even more joy out of or into your Holidays. Maybe some of these things will add more to your Holidays, maybe you will think they are a waste of time or they won’t work for you, fine. But they make me happy. So here is MY list of things I do to give my Holidays more sparkle.
>>>>>>>Cleaning before decorating is awesome.
A few years in a row I was trying to clean at the same time I was decorating and that just really bugged me. With the house all clean beforehand I can run from room to room putting up the decorations wherever I want. I don’t have to clean one table or shelf and decorate as I go. I know this sounds weird to some people, but putting my sparkly decorations on a dusty shelf next to some dingy dusty shelf item just doesn’t work for me.
>>>>>>>Shop all year round.
So this is one thing that does a lot of things for me. I am listing them in no particular order.
–Shopping all year round helps spread the cost of Christmas out over the year. The Holidays can be expensive so if I can spread out the bill that helps.
–When I see something and it makes me think of someone who I shop for then I might as well get it so I don’t have the stress of trying to find something for them when it is Christmastime.
–It is really fun looking at the stuff at Christmastime (when you go to wrap it) that you bought earlier in the year. If you are like me, you don’t remember all that bought, so it is so fun discovering it again.
>>>>>>>IF you shop all year round keep a gift log (in one spot) of what you bought for who AND where you stashed it.
I don’t know if you have ever bought a gift for someone then forgot about it or just forgot where you put it only to discover it later. Well, I keep a list of who, what, and where! That way if I see something I want to buy someone I bought for I can refer to the list instead of opening bags. Having a list also helps keep me from “over-buying” for someone. So there are a few reasons to keep a list.
>>>>>>>Consider decorations and ornaments gifts. Enjoy the walk down memory lane. To me opening my ornaments and all my decorations is like getting hundreds of gifts every year. I love decorating and I love all my sparkly and glittery ornaments so unwrapping them or pulling them out of the boxes is super fun. My mom gave me a lot of my ornaments!
>>>>>>>Saving beautiful cards. I’ve posted before about saving Christmas cards we receive and using them as decorations. Well, this year, I was in a rush and I wasn’t going to hang up the previous years’ cards. But I decided it would just take a minute or two. So as I was putting them up I was glancing inside at who they were from and that just made me happy.
>>>>>>>I let go of my desire for a perfect tree. Not sure if I have mentioned this in a previous post, but I used to insist on buying one that was perfect. Ya know, like on a Christmas card. Well, as you know, those don’t exist and we don’t need a perfect one anyway. We do better with one that is kinda flat on one side and then slopes nicely on the other side. The flat side goes toward the window and allows us to have enough room to walk by the tree. If it is “perfectly” shaped it has to stick out into the walkway and just doesn’t work. Plus by the time we get home and decorate whatever tree we buy it is “perfect”. Yup, just like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree!
Ok, again, I know that the Holidays are a struggle for some people. I hope those of you that struggle make it through. I know that you will not be helped by a clean shelf or unwrapping a beloved ornament. You are in my thoughts and prayers, these ideas are for people who enjoy the holidays. And perhaps want to eek out more. Perhaps cause less stress and create a little more sparkle and shine.
Merry Christmas. (It’s almost here!)
What do YOU do to get more joy out or your Holidays?
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