Redefine Christmas

Simple Ways To Redefine Christmas This Year

Last Christmas

What did you do last Christmas? Were you snowed in and had to spend the holiday locked indoors? Did someone break up with you and you spent the holiday depressed? Were you too broke to fly home for Christmas? Did you feel like you could have done more volunteering work? Well, that was last year and you can start planning how to spend Christmas this year now. Here are a few ways you can redefine your holiday and feel better about it come next year.

Next Christmas

1. Set A Budget – You need to start creating a budget early enough. If you are planning to travel home, buy gifts for the less needy, buy gifts for your loved ones or do anything else that costs money, you need to know beforehand how much you will spend. That way, you can start saving early enough in preparation for the big holiday. No matter how skint you are, get a jar or a tub, put a few coins or notes in it and don’t spend them. Next pay day, add a few more.

2. Release Your Expectations And Keep Things Simple – If you don’t want to feel disappointed this holiday season, don’t overschedule. Yes, there may be so much to do and you may feel that if you don’t achieve it, you will end up overwhelmed and depressed. However, if you release some of your expectations, you will feel better. Simplify. You don’t have to do what others do. Be open to change and you can adapt to whatever the season brings you.

3. Create New Traditions – If all the past holidays have been spent aimlessly, try creating a new tradition and find a way to sustain it every year. Traditions will help you feel connected with yourself and you will feel comfortable and enjoy a sense of certainty. If you recently had a child, you can start a new tradition with your new family. If your parents recently passed, you can start a tradition of meeting your siblings every Christmas to remember your deceased loved ones. As you get older, help the younger ones make their own Christmas traditions. A tradition can be anything, as long as it makes you feel connected and not alone during the holiday season.

4. Try Volunteering Or Helping The Needy – The Christmas holiday is the best time to start giving back to the less fortunate. Of course, some soup kitchens are overflowing with volunteers but if you plan early enough, you will be lucky enough to find somewhere to volunteer. On the other hand, you can bring gifts to a children’s home or any other group home where it will be appreciated. You will feel better for doing it and bring some cheer to anyone who receives your gifts.

5. Start Organizing Early – Don’t wait until the last minute to start doing anything during the holiday season. Are you planning to give to the less fortunate? Start planning early enough for what to buy and the date to hand out your gifts. Are you traveling home to meet your parents? Make sure you have bought the tickets early enough. If you are planning to spend the holiday indoors, have everything you need ready in hand to avoid any last minute hassles.

With these tips, you can turn around your Christmas holiday celebration immediately and redefine Christmas to something that will make YOU feel happy!

How Many Days Until Christmas

This page contains affiliate links
<a style="background-color:black;color:white;text-decoration:none;padding:4px 6px;font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.2;display:inline-block;border-radius:3px;" href="https://unsplash.com/@frostroomhead?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=photographer-credit&utm_content=creditBadge" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" title="Download free do whatever you want high-resolution photos from Rodion Kutsaev"><span style="display:inline-block;padding:2px 3px;"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" style="height:12px;width:auto;position:relative;vertical-align:middle;top:-1px;fill:white;" viewBox="0 0 32 32"><title></title><path d="M20.8 18.1c0 2.7-2.2 4.8-4.8 4.8s-4.8-2.1-4.8-4.8c0-2.7 2.2-4.8 4.8-4.8 2.7.1 4.8 2.2 4.8 4.8zm11.2-7.4v14.9c0 2.3-1.9 4.3-4.3 4.3h-23.4c-2.4 0-4.3-1.9-4.3-4.3v-15c0-2.3 1.9-4.3 4.3-4.3h3.7l.8-2.3c.4-1.1 1.7-2 2.9-2h8.6c1.2 0 2.5.9 2.9 2l.8 2.4h3.7c2.4 0 4.3 1.9 4.3 4.3zm-8.6 7.5c0-4.1-3.3-7.5-7.5-7.5-4.1 0-7.5 3.4-7.5 7.5s3.3 7.5 7.5 7.5c4.2-.1 7.5-3.4 7.5-7.5z"></path></svg></span><span style="display:inline-block;padding:2px 3px;">Rodion Kutsaev</span></a>
Rodion Kutsaev

How Many Days Til Christmas?

Christmas Is Coming. It’s now nearly the end of September 2017 and only 93 sleeps to Christmas Day 2017. Check up on the top right of this post to see a Christmas Countdown Clock.

It’s HOW many days til Christmas? Yes, you read that right – only 93, and it will be fewer by the time you read this.

What are you doing to Prepare?

Do you know where you will be? Will you be having guests? How many? What about your budget? If you want a stress free Christmas, then start your Christmas planning early, ESPECIALLY budgeting. It saves that terrifying sinking feeling in January, when you look at your credit card bill.

Fun At Christmas

If you start planning early enough and your budget allows, you could get Christmas pajamas for all the family or Christmas sweaters. Some offices hold an “ugly Christmas sweater” competition each year. Start early for more fun and less stress.

You may also be able to plan a Secret Santa stash or discuss with your family that if budgets are tight all round, everyone gets a secret Santa gift, so you all can enjoy Christmas without worrying about purchasing expensive gifts you can’t afford. Some shops may have sales on now or shortly and you may be able to make some purchases early, to spread the cost.

Christmas Crafts can be very inexpensive, great fun and an easy way to keep children occupied for ages before Christmas. Many schools will help children from kindergarten on up to create decorations that they will want to display proudly at home. You can also make your own creations well ahead of time. The pine trees near me have been shedding cones all year round and I have a small box of them sitting nearby in a small wooden box that I got for free from a local shop, long with a large glass jar that had held pickled eggs. The wooden box already has red and green paper on it and the glass jar has had the label soaked off. One will make a good display and the other can hold pine cones soaked in a Christmas pot pourri fragrance, to make the whole house smell like Christmas for a very low cost.

What Sort Of Christmas Do You Want?

Whether you want a Bah Humbug! type Christmas, or a vacation away from it all or will have the whole family descending on you from far afield, start planning now and whatever your Christmas preferences, you will be able to enjoy them stress free!

35 Weeks To Christmas Day 2017

Christmas 2017

Christmas Day 2017 is on a Monday and there are 35 Sundays to go before we reach Christmas. It doesn’t sound so long until we get there, huh? Maybe now is the time to start planning if you want a stress free Very Merry Christmas this year.

Spring

It’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere at the moment (April) and conifers are dropping any extra pine cones. The earlier ones are small, the later ones are larger. If you want pine cones for your decorations, then now is the time to collect them. It’s easy enough to carry a plastic bag with you if you are walking anywhere near pine trees or even put a few in your pocket each time you are out. Store them in an open bowl to make sure they are dry and you will then have your own pine cones to add to a pot pourri with cinnamon for a Christmassy smell nearer the time or you can get gold paint or craft glue and gold glitter and decorate them ready for use around the house. Both ways of using cones are useful, they don’t cost much and you can use them as a children’s craft if you want to keep the kids busy on some weekend or just enjoy the decorating yourself!

Watch a Pine cone decorating Video

Some people are highly creative and there are a great many ideas for using pine cones in the video below!

Ugly Christmas Jumper

If you are a keen knitter and like the idea of creating your own Ugly Christmas Sweater, then now is the time to start collecting ideas for a pattern and costing out the wool. If you are not a knitter and can’t persuade anyone to knit for you, then you will be able to find Ugly Christmas Sweaters on line to buy nearer the time. It would be good to start saving for it now, if budgeting might be a problem.