Planning For The Perfect Christmas – 17 Weeks To Go!

30 Aug 2012 2 Comments

by Nikki in Fabulous Food, Harmonious Home Tags: , , , ,

Storage and Stocking Up

Last week’s post was all about lists, (if you havn’t made yours yet, you can start here), the all time saviours of Christmas! With lists you don’t forget things, you have everything at your finger tips and when the Christmas is approaching fast you know what you have done and what is left, a very comforting feeling! 🙂

This week is all about making space and filling it with Christmas cheer!

I have cleared a shelf in my linen closet, funny thing is that I seem to be the only one that ever ventures into that zone at our house, so is a great place to hide goodies that prying eyes and nimble fingers won’t go near.

If you have not already done so, go and find a spot where you can safely store your santa stash. Get one or two large plastic storage containers or some cardboard boxes from the supermarket. A quick glance in the cupboard won’t give away the goodies hiding in boring looking boxes. The fun thing is that you are creating your own Christmas Hampers with exactly what you like in them!

This gorgeous hamper is from www.bestchristmashampers.com

For the last few weeks I noticed that fruit mince pies have been available for purchase. This week things have started to ramp up, with Woolworths stores now having a full display of Chrismas baked goodies. Fruit cakes, puddings, gingerbread and mince pies are now sitting on the shelf ready for you to pick the ones you like best and hide them away for the big day.

Everytime you go grocery shopping add an item or two or three and put these away. So many products have very long use-by dates and the budget won’t blow out if you slowly start stocking up now! When items you like are on special that is the best time to add them to your hamper.

FILLING YOUR HAMPER 

  • Baking supplies – flour, sugar, brown sugar, icing sugar, colourings, sprinkles, essences.
  • Soft drink, juice, cordial.
  • Biscuits – sweet, savoury, shortbread.
  • Chocolate – blocks to be melted, chocolate chips, chocolate drops.
  • Alcohol
  • Frozen foods – turkey, ham, chickens, pork, whole beef fillets, berries – it’s great to have these more expensive items safely stashed in the freezer.
  • Sauces, condiments, olives, spices, oil, gravy, stock, pasta, dried herbs and vinegar.
  • Tins – fruit, condensed milk, soup and tomatoes.
  • Baking trays, tins, storage containers, cling wrap, baking paper, aluminium foil, matches, bbq supplies and candles.

For a few years, I used to participate in the Chrisco Hamper Club, and it really was a fun day when box after box after box got delivered, but no hamper was perfect, there were always some items my family just did not eat, and custom designing your own with only the goddies you like, and making use of supermarket specials, is way more cost effective.

If you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your mailbox, I would strongly suggest you cover that up soon or remove it completely, and let all that glorious Christmas planning help be delivered right to your door. Brimming with bargains and inspiration, you can plan your purchases and hide them away until it is time to start wrapping. This is so much easier than walking around stores for hours looking for suitable gifts or supplies. Many stores will allow you to purchase on-line, that is making things super easy.

That is enough for this week, what are the first goodies you are going to grab when you hit the shops this week?

Planning For The Perfect Christmas – 18 Weeks To Go!

23 Aug 2012 2 Comments

by Nikki in Fabulous Food, Harmonious Home, JoyFULL Tags: , , , , , ,

I love Christmas! Everything about it fills me with joy!

BUT it can be hard work, especially if you leave everything till the last minute. I love being organised and at Christmas time the more planning and preperation you get done in the lead up, the most relaxing and stress-free your special day will be.

Many of you will shudder at the thought of even ‘thinking’ about Christmas in August, but each week I will help you with simple steps, and each bite size piece will see your ‘to do’ list shrink away!

So the COUNT DOWN is on…………..let’s get to it!

18 WEEKS to go – LISTS, LISTS AND MORE LISTS!

This weeks task is to simply grab yourself a notebook (I prefer the paper variety as they are not subject to crashes, power failures or attack from killer viruses) and start making lists, lot’s of lists, lists of everything you need to do, buy, book or plan, so that nothing gets forgotten! Here is a few idea’s to get the ball rolling…..

PRESENTS – Who do you have to buy gifts for? Don’t forget teachers, carers, work mates, children’s friends, anyone that you want to share the Christmas spirit with. If you are out shopping or at home reading your junk mail, if you see something that would make a perfect gift for someone special, write it down. If a friend mentions something that she likes or needs, jot it down. Don’t rely on the memory bank, that will become totally overloaded during the festive season.

MAKE IT – If you are the crafty type, what can you make and what supplies do you need to stock up on?

BAKE IT – If you like to bake yummy Christmas treats, list them and the ingredients you will need. What treats can be baked in advance and stored in the freezer?

TRAVEL – Are you leaving home for Christmas this year? What travel arrangements do you need to make?

VISITORS – If it is your turn to host Christmas, who is coming to stay, do you need to organise extra bedding, do you need to hire chairs and tables, do you need to buy more towels, plates, cups, glasses or can you borrow what you need?

THEME – If you like to theme your decorations, what colours appeal to you? Will you need to purchase new decorations or linen?

SUPPLIES – Check your stock of wrap, cards, gift tags, tinsel and bon bon’s, I always buy mine at the post Christmas sales at super cheap bargain prices, but if you have not done this you will need to add them to your list.

ALCOHOL – Drink supplies, mixers, juice. bottled water, anything drinkable to help with the Christmas cheers needs to go on this list.

BUDGET – How much do you want to spend, set a limit and work with it! When you plan well, you get to make good financial choices instead of throwing the budget out of the window with last minute excessive shopping.

DELEGATE – Who can you get to help you with everything that needs to be done, so that you can all enjoy Christmas? Let people know in advance what you would love help with.

TRADITIONS – Do you have traditions that are always kept at this special time of the year, or could your festivities do with some refreshing? Start the ball rolling by suggesting alterations now, not the week before Christmas Day! Would you like to start a new tradition just with your own family, what could it be?

STORAGE – As the supplies start to roll in, do you have somewhere to safely store things. Could you use some large storage containers or even some nice sturdy cardboard boxes to keep all the goodies safe and sound.

ENTERTAINING – Will you be hosting any parties at your place? Who is going to be on your invite list and what will you be serving them?

ACCEPTING INVITATIONS – How many parties do you want to attend? Will you need new outfits for these?

SHARING JOY – Who do you know that could use a little help over the holidays. Could you bake them a batch of cookies, a small Christmas cake, look after their kids for a couple of hours so they can go and do some shopping or enjoy a party child free?

Simply spend this week planning on paper. Everytime you think of something, jot it down.

Next week, we will start springing into action!

Happy list making!

Do you always plan your Christmas, or do rush around madly as the day draws closer?