Christmas Wrapped

I am so not a planner by nature. Not by a longshot. But after I had my fourth child and realized my life would never again be a calm, serene, non–chaotic place, I realized very quickly that I’d better get organized about a few key areas in my life…or things could quickly spiral downhill.

Christmas shopping is one category on which I’ve successfully maintained a tight rein over the past years––unlike my laundry situation and my kitchen junk drawers, which I’ve about determined are hopeless. I’m not sure why getting control of Christmas was so important to me; I’m sure it’s partly because I really want the focus of the holiday season to be family, friends, nostalgia, tradition, and the meaning of the holiday itself–––not freaking out and running to the mall every couple of days because OH MY GOSH, I forgot to get Aunt Sally’s mikman’s present! Christmas is RUINED! I want my kids to enjoy Christmas, to remember it fondly, and not associate the holiday with a frenzied mother whose hair looks like she stuck her finger in a socket.

It’s also important to me that Christmas not be about consumerism and materialism, even though it’s pretty hard not to spiral into that trap without trying. Growing up, I had a friend who would call me and complain every Christmas afternoon that “her parents didn’t get her anything good.” And later, when I examined her stash, my mouth would fall open–––watches, designer purses, clothes. It made an impression, even then. I knew that wasn’t what Christmas should be about.

Except for the designer purse. I’d never turn down one of those.

So now, I begin Christmas shopping in October, which is two months earlier than I ever thought about preparing for Christmas when I was single and without kids. Starting early, for me, ensures that I won’t be scurrying around like a maniac at the last minute, AND that I won’t put myself in a position to spend way more on gifts than I would otherwise, which invariably happens if I wait ‘til the week of Christmas to shop.

Most everyone on my list, with the exception of my kids, gets one gift, so knocking out the individual gifts is pretty simple. But when it comes to the kids’ Christmas presents, I had to come up with some framework, some organized approach, or the number of presents quickly mushroomed into a random mish–mash of grotesque material excess.

Here’s what I came up with.
I have three categories of gifts for my kids:

• Something they want
• Something they need
• A book

My self–imposed rule is this: I have to get something from all three categories before starting over and repeating the process. So, say I decided to get each of my kids three gifts this year. I’d have to get one gift from each of the three categories. If I decided to get them six gifts each, I’d have to have two from each category, etc.

I’ll use my oldest daughter to demonstrate how this list might translate to real–life gifts:

• Something she wants: A locket. Don’t ask me why. She must’ve read about one in a book somewhere.
• Something she needs: A new pair of spurs. She’s outgrown hers, and I have my eye on a new pair with turquoise stones.
• A book: I found an incredible Dorling–Kindersley reference book about birds, which is full of thousands of gorgeous photos. She’s into birds these days.

So there we go! A piece of jewelry, a pair of spurs, and a thick reference book about birds. I feel good about that combo. The jewelry is something that’ll make her happy–––it’s a memorable gift. The spurs are something we would have had to buy anyway, so to conceal it as a Christmas gift kills two birds with one stone. And the book, while educational, is colorful and substantial.
I generally repeat the 3–category revolution once again, resulting in six (or so) gifts for each kid: a couple of “exciting” things they’ll like, a couple of things they need, and a couple of new books.

It results in a nice Christmas. It’s not necessarily the kind of Christmas that’ll bust any records in terms of lavish goods. But it’s the kind of Christmas I always feel good about.

I hate public speaking. I love throwing parties. I have a friend who would speak in front of a crowd of angry cougars happily and she’d win them over, but she hates throwing parties. The thing these have in common is the only way either one gets easier is doing it a bunch of times.

Each year my neighborhood hosts a Progressive Dinner at the holidays. A Progressive Dinner is a nice way to celebrate the holidays with your neighbors without putting the job of having a neighborhood party on one host. Some people sign up to host a course of the meal: appetizers, soup, salad, main dish and dessert. The rest of the people volunteer to bring the food, except for the main dish, that is most easily made at the host’s house. Last year my husband and I offered our house up for the main dish and dessert part of the meal.

 

Decide what you want the party to look like.

The nicest thing about planning a holiday party is that we always want our house to be decorated for the holidays anyway. This means we don’t have to go above and beyond what our house would normally look like for the holiday to get it ready for the party, we also don’t have the hassle of putting up decorations for just one night.

 

Be Flexible About Space

My house is laid out with a large kitchen and dining area that are open to each other. For 6-8 people it’s plenty of room for dining, but for 24 people it wouldn’t work. Unless we were hosting a pie eating contest and no one needed to use their hands at the table.

Next to our dining room is a larger living room where we don’t have a lot of furniture, we moved last year from a much smaller space, making it easy to transform the room into a dining room.

With borrowed long banquet tables we were able to create a long dining table with our Christmas tree, a crackling fire and decorated mantel as a back drop for the meal. For no extra money.

We moved our living room sofa into the dining area of our kitchen, creating a great lounge area for chatting and mingling, since guest always congregate in the kitchen anyway.

 

To Save Money, Aim For ‘Simply Elegant’

To decorate I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on extra decorations and the best way I know to do this, and make it look beautiful, is to keep everything very simple.

I borrowed three long white tablecloths from a neighbor and purchased four low glass vases to put on the tables.

Then, while out getting food for the party, I found white hydrangeas. In December! I would’ve rather had a bright color bloom, but they were $10 for 2 stems with 4 big bunches of blooms. I ended up buying two packs, each pack filled two of my vases.

So, to add color, while still paying the price that made sense for this party, I added cranberries to the water in the vases. This added color and was more than cheap because I’d bought these cranberries at Thanksgiving and didn’t use them all. Even if you don’t think ahead, a pack of cranberries is around $1.75 at the market during the fall/winter season.

We rented plates and flatware in white and the result, even with the cranberries was still a little, well, white.

I also found a roll of red ribbon with my christmas stuff I’d bought on clearance the year before. I used it to create a thin runner down the all white table. On top of the runner we used all the votive holders, around 20, we had left from our wedding reception 10 years ago.

We ended up with a great looking table for around $25.

This is the table all set for the party with the rest of our holiday decorations. You should definitely move here.

The best way to throw a party is to remember everything doesn’t have to be perfect. Nothing kills a party faster than a stressed out host. My mantra is “Whatever gets done is what gets done.” After that? A cocktail and enjoy the night. 

 

Last year, I planned and hosted a New Year’s Eve party with a friend. I had strep during the holidays and recovered just in time to host the party and then pick up Satan, our second dog. New Year’s resolution: have a hangover free New Year’s Day next year.

I did DIY gift labels last year as well as DIY invites for the New Year’s party. If there’s one thing I learned last year: I’m not doing DIY this year. Also, no one even looked at the gift tags.

I’m not quite sure that we’ll do a full–on party this year, but we plan on hosting people for dinners and we plan on attending the 17 to 30 family parties that happen between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

I’ve always been a last–minute planner and gift giver. Sure, there are 364 days before Christmas. Sure, it happens on the same day EVERY YEAR. But I don’t work in terms of days or weeks. Usually on December 23rd I’ll sneak out in a panic and shop for everybody on my list. Which explains why Jon gets socks. Or a package of white T–shirts. This is why we’ve gone to approved item lists. Jon sends me his list, with links to where I can buy his list, and I tell him to visit Etsy.com.

Leta is a little older this year, so this holiday season we’re doing more that involves her. She’s been curious as to where exactly Christmas falls on the calendar, but since she’s still fuzzy on the concept of dates I’ve told her that it’s after both Halloween and a day called Thanksgiving when we eat food she wouldn’t touch with a ten–foot stick.

This year Jon and I probably won’t exchange gifts. Leta will still receive a somewhat smaller haul, but given the state of things we might not need some of the things we’d likely get for each other. Like another gadget (with cables) or another hippo figurine. Even though I’m thinking about a third dog, I doubt this is the year that is going to happen.

When it comes to holiday entertainment, you’re either a planner … or a procrastinator. I tend to fall in to the latter category, but this year I’m determined to remedy that, and a few fun visuals and tools are just the kind of inspiration I need to get me motivated.  I’ve broken the party planning into four categories and pulled a few ideas for each. Feel free to leave your own ideas in the comments section.

Save the Date!
It’s not too early to get a date for your party on your and your friends’ calendars. In the next few months, weekends fill quickly with office parties, family engagements and holiday preparation. If you want all your friends to be able to make your shindig, let them know now when the party will be. This way your party is at the top of their lists and you won’t be left alone with the chips and dip when party night comes along.

Keep Track!

I’m not a naturally organized kind of person, and it helps to have something fun and unique to keep me interested in an organizational tool. It also helps to have all my information in one central location so there is no scrambling around. This Christmas Planner from Marcia Ramsland looks like the perfect place to keep every detail in one place, and can be reused from year to year.

Eat Well!

Extend the holiday spirit to the dinner table with festive plates and bowls. These dishes are called “Snowflake” but their fresh, modern design could easily be used throughout the year. Plus, you can take inspiration from the colors and shapes in the dinnerware designs and use them to create decorations for your party!

Look Fab!

Snowflake Necklace

Maybe you’ve found the perfect party outfit, but you can’t come up with a fun accessory that captures the holiday spirit without being overly obvious. I love what Gina of doe-c-doe did with a simple plastic doilie she found at a thrift store. A few simple cuts, and she’s created a beautiful, unique necklace that I can’t help but admit … reminds me of a snowflake.

 

So this is where you come in. There was one area of my holiday planning thoughts for which I could never quite find what I wanted: party entertainment. Drinks and munchies will only take a party so far. Your guests want to have fun, cut loose and leave with some fond memories. What ideas do you have for some simple, unique, fun things to do at the party (games/favors/interaction) that you can share with us? Leave them in the comments!

We’ve all had the occasional nothing-to-wear nightmare. Tearing through your closet in a sartorial panic– it’s your wedding day, prom night, interview morning — and everything you own is useless.

This season, get yourself some girl armor, the perfect little black dress. As usual, Target has your back with lots of great options for under $40.

Maybe you need two.

Sateen Pencil Dress

$39.99

Embroidered Lace Dress

$39.99

Ponte Tab-Waist Dress

$24.99

Neck Pleat Dress

$24.99

Flocked Strapless Dress

$39.99

Ruffle Sleeve Sweater Dress

$27.99

Cap-Sleeve Ponte Dress

$39.99

One Shoulder Special Occasion Dress

$39.99

Flared Sweater Dress

$34.99

Pleat Scoop Neck Ponte Dress

$17.49