Christmas 2017 was the first time that I had to "do Christmas" - you know, get presents, put everyone up, feed everyone, keep them entertained/inebriated, and look like it's no trouble whatsoever... This required some planning. Cue Excel spreadsheets, OneNote and a myriad of other "productivity" apps - I even tried a cooking timer app, which gave me timely reminders for the next step for whichever recipe I was following. That one lasted about 10 minutes, and was accompanied by a soundtrack of swearing.
Whether or not you have to pull a glittery, cinnamon-scented rabbit out of a (Santa) hat, or get mostly the right presents for sort-of the right people sometime before New Year, I have put together some "Christmas Planning" resources to make your life a little easier. The first is a Christmas Gift Organiser - you can either print them off and fill them in by hand, or save the pdfs and fill in the editable boxes.
In the "main gifts" section, I've left you enough room to write down both the gift that you have in mind, and also a link to that gift if purchasing online, or the name of the shop you plan to get it from. You could also add any notes such as "order by 1st December" if there is a deadline for this item (don't forget to transfer these dates to your calendar/diary).
If you need some ideas for stocking fillers, I suggest:
old classics such as satsumas, walnuts, chocolate money and a Terry's chocolate orange
some sort of puzzle e.g. Rubik's cube (staves off the boredom between the Queen's Speech and the next mince pie)
silly socks (and underpants if appropriate/brave)
toiletries
small toys if buying for children
inexpensive "joke" presents - you get the idea!
For friends and colleagues, you are unlikely to be getting more than one present, so there's a smaller space, and of course you can use it for more distant family members. With the perennial popularity of Secret Santa, it seemed wise to include this. Under "Birthdays", you can make a note of any inconsiderate people who decided to have a birthday so close to Christmas and make you think of at least two decent presents for them in the space of a month, or any other noteworthy celebration that requires some thought (cough, Wedding Anniversary, cough).
To download your editable pdf versions, please go to my downloads area. You will have to save the pdfs to your computer before you can edit them - this at least means you're more likely to save all your brilliant ideas! You might also want to consider password protecting the pdfs (or the folder they're in) on your computer if it is the family or shared work machine.
I'd love to know how you get on with this, and if it works for you. Alternatively, if you have any suggestions/improvements, I'd also like to know - just comment on this post, or head on over to Facebook.
Good luck!
Kate xxx
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