Make yourself useful and...prep yourself before you wreck yourself

I know that it's been quite a while since I've done a "Make Yourself Useful" feature. Frankly, in my current condition, it's been a while since I've done too much that could be considered even remotely useful. So I figured I'd make this one count, and also make you really hate me if you don't already. You ready? Good, cuz it's time to gird up your loins and prepare for Christmas! 

You know, Christmas is only like, 92 days away, right? RIGHT? That's like, 3 months, and if you like to do holidays in a big way, you need to get yourself in gear.
 (You really hate me now, don't you?)

What that means is that some serious planning is in order. With a new baby on the way sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving (in all probability), I'll lose about a month and a half of planning, shopping, wrapping, and prepping in general. That means that I need to be on the ball, or at least somewhere near the ball. Here are some ways that you can get ready too:

1. Start planning who to buy gifts for, and what to buy for whom. Make a list of everyone you bought for last year and amend it as needed. Any new additions to the family, like babies, boyfriends/girlfriends, new spouses, anything like that? Anyone eliminated (ouch)? Try to be sure that everyone is accounted for before you start assigning girfts, otherwise you're liable to forget about them altogether.
2. Start saving money for presents and activities. What's that you say? You've been saving all along? Well that's good for you, honey, but we humans spend our money on things like groceries and Netflix and pumpkin scented candles and can't be bogged down by things like setting aside a few bucks a week. Here's how this works in my house: each of us has a piggy bank that we contribute to and then dump twice yearly, once before our summer vacation, and once before Christmas shopping. Then we supplement with what we can use out of our budget (generally one chunk of cash comes out of the bank for Black Friday and another for the other day I Christmas shop...yes I only shop 2 days, more on that later). There are a number of other ways to do this. If your bank offers the option, sign up for a Christmas Club or separate savings account just for the holidays. It likely won't do you much good this year, but next year when this time rolls around, you'll be good and ready with a nice chunk of change. Also you could try the envelope budgeting system for the next few weeks, putting $20 (or $5 or $50 or whatever you can) in an envelope each week and saving it for when you've finished planning and started shopping. Do whatever works, but don't rely on credit cards to get you through the holiday season. You'll only be sorry come January.  
3. Decide if you want to make anything. The Modern Mrs. Darcy had a great post last year on what to buy vs. what to make. There's a flowchart, and I'm a sucker for charts. Basically it boils down to: make it if it's easy enough and you have the skills to do it, or if it will make it more special. If you don't have the skills or time and/or you won't enjoy the process, go the consumer route. One side of my family makes things for all of the other adults (there are like, a bagillion of us) for the sake of cost-effectiveness. I like this strategy, because everyone gets the same thing, and you don't have to go elaborate or spend a ton. I've made truffles, flavored butters, family cookbooks, dulce de leche, and all kinds of other food-related goodies over the years (everyone loves consumables). Take into consideration that somethings can be made way ahead of time, while others (like baked goods) need to be completed last-minute. PLAN FOR THIS! You don't want to run out of time on Christmas Eve.
4. Make a plan for when you want to buy things. Electronics are generally better buys on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and some stores will start leaking their ads for these "holidays" in the beginning of October. And as I mentioned above in #3, I only shop on two days, taking in a full day during the big Black Friday sales, and another full day at a huge mall some distance from my house. This includes all wrapping paper, supplies, gifts, etc. If I really need something I can't get on either of those days, I order online. So in general once my list is made, I can plan out all of the stops on one of my two days. The rest of the season is family time.  
5. Shop. Do some research and shopping online if you can. Right now is a good time for stocking stuffers since a lot of back-to-school necessities are clearanced out and you can get them for pennies on the dollar. But don't limit yourself to one type of item. My favorite stocking stuffers? Travel-sized toiletries (then I never need to buy them for a trip), small candles and food items, and lottery tickets. My husband never expects anything in his stocking but chocolate. You'll know what works best for your family. Stockings can be done for under $10 if you plan well! One more shopping-related tip: Wrap and label presents as you buy them, so there's no mad dash to do this all a few days before Christmas. Keep the presents in piles or large bags by family, and then organize by when you'll see them. This makes it super-easy to grab a bag of wrapped presents if you know you'll be seeing someone at a party, and you won't have to worry about it last minute
6. Plan your yuletide activities too. If you go carolling or sledding, when? Make sure it's on everyone's calendar now. The holidays get pretty crazy, and you'll need to know what days are available in advance. Within the next few days, I'll be opening my cookie exchange facebook group to search for a day that works for all of our crazy schedules, just so that with all of the commotion, our yearly tradition doesn't get lost in the shuffle. (*An aside: organizing group activities on facebook is so much easier than playing phone tag, and almost everyone has facebook. Give it a try this year. It has simplified my party planning like woah. Still send out invitations and whatnot, but use this to get a feel for invite lists and dates and whatnot.) Remember not to over-schedule; you want to have time to relax as a family and just enjoy the season too. 

When you've had enough, sit back, drink some hot cocoa and reflect on how awesome you are and how you've helped your family have the best Christmas ever.

If you get a chance, head over to Pinterest and check out my board, Jingle Belling, for easy DIY gifts, decoration ideas, holiday food inspiration, and lists to help you organize. Don't say I never gave you anything!

An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Homemade Gifts

I like to make some of my presents each year. Half of this is because I'm poor/cheap. The other half is because I do like doing a little creative activity to balance all of the craziness of the season. Also, it's a nice old-fashioned thing to do. Years ago, most presents were homemade, and though I'm not a knitter and I'm hardly what you might call "handy," I can still do a few things myself. On my mom's side of the family, she has 7 brothers and sisters, and they all have a slew of kids and grandkids. So, the kids get the "real" presents, you know, the store-bought stuff. But all of us "grown-ups" make things for each family. So we each have to make about 10 of the same gift. This year, we did white-chocolate-covered pretzels, which were easy and came out cute and yummy.

Keep reading for some more of my present-making adventures this year!

This here below is what we call "process" at my house. You know how art teachers are always telling students that it's as much about the process as it is about the product? I feel like while that may be true for life lessons, it does not apply to Christmas presents. Below, see my process:

And here, as I'm making a coupon book for hubs and a pinterest-inspired picture to hang in Stenni's room:

A few lonely white-chocolate-and-sprinkle-covered pretzels that didn't make it into bags (we made about 60 pretzels last night!):

Our finished pretzel bags to give to all of my mom's family tonight:

A cookie tray for my brother-in-law's Christmas Eve get-together:

Hubby's mystery gift Christmas ornament. It's been hanging on the tree for like a week, and he only noticed it today when I pointed it out!:

Stenni's finished pinterest-inspired wall art. I sing her this song all the time! She won't let me wrap it and is super-excited about her sunshine picture:

Hubs' coupon book. I included a few romance-type things, and a few free time things, because he doesn't have any of that. The man is practically a saint. I would go into details but I won't in case he reads this today at work!

 

Have you made any gifts this year? Is there anyone who makes all of their gifts? Let me know!

 

An old-fashioned Christmas: Family Baking Time

We had to make 7+ dozen cookies for the cookie exchange the other day. Here's how we did it: multi-generational family baking time. This worked out well because my mom needed to use my mixer for her yummy red velvet cookies and I needed to use her baby-wrangling skills while I made my pfefferneusse. Stenni helped us both, and, with Christmas carols playing in the background, we got to share some pre-Christmas quality time.

Does this mean my baking is done? Not a chance! But this was super fun!

An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Activities

The one thing that I love most about Christmas is the slew of fun activities that we get to do. Like carolling. And making gingerbread houses. And decorating (though our decorations are not totally old-fashioned...hubs and Stenni love their fiber optic tree and LED lights). And driving around to see all of the Christmas lights. And watching old Christmas movies together.

I love to go caroling. I have gone with friends and family since I was in Daisies. I only recently stopped going, but now that Stenni can sing I think it's time we start it up again. I am currently in the midst of trying to teach Stenni Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and Deck the Halls, which is a tall order for a 2 year old. We will either go tonight or Sunday, but either way I can't wait? Never gone caroling? That's ok! Just try to remember all of your favorite Christmas songs, and then get bundled up and show up on the doorstop or your favorite friend or relative, or just someone you know is in need of some Christmas cheer. Begging for hot chocolate is optional.

Gingerbread house making, friends, is an activity that I believe should not be confined to the Christmas season, but that's ok. I like to buy the house kits with pre-made gingerbread, wait until everyone at my Chrismukkah party gets a little toasted, and let them have at it. It's kind of fun to see a crowd of half-in-the-bag adults put one of those suckers together! We got two kits this year, one for party time and one for family time. 

Decorating...eh, I almost didn't put this on the list. We decorate the tree in our house the day after Thanksgiving. We put some Christmas music on Pandora and light up the whole inside of the house with lights. I prefer the simple, rustic accoutrements made of things like actual wood and pine and fir and popcorn and cranberries and whatnot, but I have been overruled this year. Stenni said all she wanted for Christmas was Christmas lights, so that's what she got! We lit up the house like the 4th of July and she loves it, and that's the important part. (Remember between grumbles that Christmas is for the children.)

We also like to drive around to see all of the lights and decorations as a family. Lots of surrounding towns put up snowflake lights and holiday displays, and I took Stenni just the other day to see the Nativity, Christmas trees, and menorah outside the library while we were there to pick out a Christmas book. Then at night we drive around to the same houses that my parents took my sister and I to see as children, which still have elaborate outdoor decorations now! Oh, and also, if you're in the Northern New Jersey area, you need to take your kids to the Ice Caverns. Like, yesterday. It is this awesome Christmas display that is lit up and animated and kids love it and who am I fooling, I love it too. The only downside is that it costs a nominal fee these days (it used to be free years ago). But I think it's totally worth the $2.50 a person to see Stenni's eyes light up when she sees Snow White or Santa Claus or baby Jesus in the manger.

My last, most favorite activity, is one we started last night, kicking things off with The Muppet Christmas Carol. I love love love Christmas movies! We usually watch Emmit Otter's Jugband Christmas at my folks' house (if you haven't seen it, do. It's like Gift of the Magi, but with poor singing muppets). I do like musical movies with muppets in them...! But I'm also a fool for the old animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph, Miracle on 34th Street (hubs has never seen it...this will be the year!), and Little House on the Prairie's The Christmas They Never Forgot.

What other Christmas activities do you like to do to get into the groove for the season?

An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Snow Ice Cream

I love it when it snows, but I loathe the snow itself. I usually don't even step one toe out the door if I don't have to. My driveway and stairs to the lake turn into icy death slopes and my road doesn't ever get plowed. It's not only dangerous, it's terrifying. The idea of winter sports is completely unappealing to me. Personally, I like to snuggle inside by the fire with a good book and comfy socks and a heavy sweater and a cup of tea. Or scotch. Whatever.

But toddlers like snow. Ugh.

So that means I need to dig into my mom bag of tricks and do my thing to make it special for Stenni and not completely ruin the fun snow time that she deserves.

I tried sledding. We go every time it snows, and she loves it. And I get an extra workout. But really, it doesn't do it for me. But she likes it. We make snow angels. We made a snowman but by the time I went to get his accessories and Stenni's sled, she had already spear-tackled him to the ground. Good stuff.

But Stenni's number one fun time thing to do in the the snow? Eat it. Yeah, really. She loves to eat snow off of all available surfaces in our yard. I don't get it, but I figured I could work with it.

If you haven't already made snow ice cream, you are not living. Its worth stepping out your front door to scoop up some snow even if you're winter-phobic like me.

You really only need a few things:

• a big bowl
• a big spoon
•  a lot of snow
•  a can of sweetened condensed milk
•  some vanilla extract

Scoop up the snow into the bowl. Pack it down a little. I use my huge babka-making aluminum bowl, but just use the biggest one in your kitchen. A soup pot wouldn't be a bad idea. 
Then mix in the sweetened condensed milk. I usually use between 1/2 to just shy of a full can. Use enough vanilla for flavor but not enough to melt everything. Stir very well. Like, very well. You don't want to eat a chunk of pure vanilla extract ice. Not cool. Use a mixer if you want. It's prob a good idea to make it nice and smooth like actual ice cream.

Then eat it all up. Share it if you have to. Easy as pie. Plus, you get to stay inside all nice and toasty, which is a huge plus!

Round up the usual suspects and use your hugest bowl.

Remember to mix very well! Yours should look better than mine!