This is the fifth post in a year-long series all about taking baby steps to prepare for a stress-free Christmas next year. Here’s what to do in May to prepare for next Christmas!
Here we are in May already! This is one of those months where in years past you maybe would have put absolutely no thought into Christmas at all. May is really the opposite of Christmas. Instead of preparing for cold weather, coziness, and gifts, you’re thinking about fun in the sun and carefree summer days. Like I’ve said in past months though, this is the perfect time to think about just a few, teeny tiny Christmas tasks so that you’re all set for a stress-free holiday when the time comes. Of course, where we live here in Ontario, we’re in near-full lockdown currently, so it definitely makes sense to spend some of our time planning for happier times ahead. Even if you don’t have quite as much time to fill as we do here, I think you’ll find this month’s tasks to be super simple, but effective at taking a bite out of your future November/December to-do lists.
How This Works
Every month, I’ll share a short list of three to five actionable items. These will be little baby steps that you can take care of to get some of the tasks you might normally find yourself doing in December done well ahead of time. The goal here is to free you up to actually enjoy the holiday season as much as possible and to leave some time for things like spontaneous baking, winter walks with the family, fun decor projects, and things like that without making you feel stressed out about all the stuff you’re putting off doing, because all of the “have to do” stuff will already be done!
How I Did in April
I loved April’s list. I just didn’t do much of it. Ha!
Actually I did get some of it done, but last month’s list was a great one for really making a big leap forward in terms of getting things ready for Christmas with organization and with stocking up on gift-able items and I didn’t get quite as much done as I was hoping to. These ongoing lockdowns here are really taking a bite out of my productivity in some areas, and this is definitely one of those areas. The important thing to remember though, is that anything that we can get done is better than nothing and puts us miles ahead of where we were at this time last year as far as Christmas preparations go. So here’s how I did with our different items:
Set Aside Extra Stuff From Easter Baskets to Save for Christmas
The Easter Bunny brings all of our gifts and treats at Easter time in our house, but let’s just say that if I would have been the one who put together Easter baskets, I also would have over-purchased and definitely would have had a few extra little things that would make sense to save for Christmas. 🙂
Organize Ornament/Decor Storage
I’m going to say that this one is ongoing. We reorganized our whole basement a few weeks ago to improve traffic and airflow and so the Christmas decor area is definitely tidy, but there are a few things that I was hoping to do that I still need to tackle this month. So I’m still working on it, but that’s OK!
Buy Cozy Blankets
Cozy blankets make amazing gifts. They’re comforting and warm, and they make great decor too if you buy a beautiful one. I love giving blankets and I love receiving them as gifts too. And I didn’t buy a single one. I don’t really have an online source for blankets that I feel is great 100% of the time yet, so I usually like to buy them in person. And all of our stores are closed. So that’s that! Let me know all your favourite online cozy blanket sources and maybe I can get to this one still!
Buy Wines and Liqueurs for Gifts and Hosting
We haven’t been into any liquor stores much at all in months, but I did manage to get a few decent bottles of wine at our little local market near our house and I put them aside to save for Christmas. So that’s a little bit of progress at least!
What to do in May to Prepare for Next Christmas
Buy Games for Christmas Gatherings
A new game or two can really add to the fun of a get-together and bring family and friends of all different age groups together. Some of our recent favourites that everyone seems to love are Blockus, Trouble, Moustache Smash, What do you Meme (family version), and Battleship. This is a great excuse to add a classic game to your collection too, one that maybe the younger generation has never seen. Something like Risk or Clue would be great.
Prepare for an Epic Hot Chocolate Station
This one is for me. What’s a more iconic Christmas experience than coming in from playing out in the cold to a nice mug of hot cocoa? I always find that this moment is one that sneaks up on me and I’m always rummaging in the back of my cupboard for hot chocolate mix and all the fixings on that first perfect hot cocoa day of the holiday season. So this year, I’m stocking up on enough hot chocolate supplies now for the whole season, and setting them aside, so if nothing else, my hot chocolate game will be strong this year. 🙂 I’m thinking about three tins of different hot chocolate mixes, two bags of mini marshmallows, and 1 bag of mini chocolate chips should do it. If you want to get really fancy, you can even start thinking about finding some cute jars to display everything in once the season rolls around.
Prepare for Overnight Guests
Depending on where you live, preparing for overnight guests might sound a little far-fetched right now, with this whole pandemic thing that’s been happening, but by the holidays, there’s a good chance that vaccination rates will be high enough everywhere that traveling to visit friends and family will become normal again. I love the idea of organizing your towels, extra pillows, sheets, blankets, and air mattresses in anticipation of having people come to stay the night right now. For one, it will ensure you’re ready when that time actually comes, of course. But also it’s kind of a fun, hope-filled thing to do right now, isn’t it? It could be so fun to stock up on a few new things too. This is definitely a fun one. 🙂
And that’s our list for this month! Have you been doing any little things to get ready early for the holidays this year? How has it been going?
MORE IDEAS LIKE THIS
- What to do in March to Prepare for Next Christmas
- What to do in February to Prepare for Next Christmas
- 5 Semi-Sneaky Secrets of People who are Really Good at Christmas
- The Monthly Christmas Countdown Archives
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.