Creating Your Christmas Lists
Save Time, Money and Sanity Mine is a family of list-makers. Christmas lists are our specialty! If it weren't for this habit, nothing would ever get done around here! Since we already have our list of Christmas wishes, its time to create the rest of the lists we'll need specifically for the holiday. Let's get the boring stuff out of the way first, so that we can get quickly and smoothly into all of the fun and festive Christmas lists!
Chores and Christmas Cleaning ListsThe very first lists on the agenda are the chores and cleaning lists. We're going to organize the house cleaning activities, to make sure that everyone in the family takes part, and to get it all done quickly.
In order to do this, several individual lists will need to be made so that everyone knows what part they play and what is expected of them. The Christmas cleaning list is your master list. It will be worked just like a spring cleaning list - a thorough once-over to get the house ready for the holidays. The earlier this is done, the better. The chores lists should be done by person and by the day. Everyone will have a part in keeping the house clean once the main cleaning has been done.
Dusting one room each day of the week takes less time and effort than dusting the entire house on a single day. By breaking up the chores into daily to-do lists, cleaning stays manageable, and is done quickly and easily.
Christmas Card ListsThe next list on our agenda is the Christmas card list. Again, this list should be done as early as possible. You will want to put as much information onto this list as possible. We've all used the Christmas Card Books you can get at the store. If you are like me, writing that small and then trying to read it when finished is nearly impossible.I suggest re-creating the Christmas card list in a larger size. Put all of the information you need here, including:
Special Note: Put special marks next to each name as personal notes. Do you have any friends or relatives that celebrate Hannukah instead of Christmas? What about Yule or Kwanzaa? Be sure to include on this list anyone you know that celebrates other holidays at this time of year.
Put a special notation or some mark by their names so that you are sure to single these folks out with cards for the holiday they happen to celebrate.
I usually just put a capital letter (H, Y, or K respectively) to the left of the person's name. Special Note: You might also want to add a category to explain the relationship of each person to the family. When my Mother died, I added her Christmas card list to my own for a couple years. There were family members that I'd never known were related, people from work, and friends that I'd never met. This prompted me to create a category both on my card list as well as in my index files for everyday contacts to explain who people were that my children might never have met!
Christmas Gift ListsThese are the most fun of the Christmas lists to make. There will be several of these, so have your Christmas notebook ready!First, we are going to create a master gift list. Here is where you will gather all of the information you can think of for every person on the list. Get sneaky, and get together as much information on each person as you can. Here is a list to get you started -
Take your time with this list - it will be an aid to every member of the family. Be as detailed as time and ingenuity permit! Special Note: Ladies - if you want to be really sneaky, include ring sizes and shoe sizes! You can even go so far as to include favorite flowers for several women on the list... Make it easy for dear hubby this year!
Family Christmas ListsThere are two Christmas lists that each family member will have to make for themselves. Everyone needs a list of what they are giving, as well as a list what they would like to get. They will be checking the Master Gift List often as they make their decisions.Everyone needs to make a list of at least 10 items they would like to receive for Christmas. When they are completed, make several copies of each one. You will, of course, keep one for yourself. With several copies of each - it will be incredibly easy to answer that age-old question we all hear about a million times each year... And - you'll be able to answer it about every member of your family!! Making lists of what we wanted was a lot easier when we were kids... All the major department stores put out huge, glossy, "wish books" every year, and we could thumb through them for days! Oh how I miss doing that! But I digress... Each family member also needs to create a list of who they need gifts for, and what each person should get. They will really appreciate the time you spent on that Master Gift list!! Special Note: If there are younger children in the family who 'buy' gifts, it might also be good to set a dollar limit and put this on the list as well.
Christmas Crafts ListIf you or another member of the family are the creative type, you will also want a couple of these. You can create a single list for crafts to be used as decorations and crafts for gifts. I prefer to create two lists. That way, we are sure our hand-crafted gifts are finished, and the decorations can get done as time permits.Special Note: Whether you create one or two Christmas lists here, there will be an additional part to each. You will want to list the craft projects on one sheet of paper, and you'll want to list all of the materials you need on a separate shopping list. This way, you can be sure everything is at hand before anyone begins a project. It will save countless trips to the store, and many headaches along the way! If there are certain decorations you wish to purchase this year, make yet another Christmas list for those. Get as detailed as you wish, you can always go to the After Christmas Sales to get items you didn't budget for - at half price!!
Christmas Baking and Cooking ListsThis topic can be broken up into as many lists as you wish. Does your family always do a few batches of Christmas cookies? Do you intend to host any holiday parties? What are you doing for Christmas Dinner? Each of these topics can be its own separate Christmas list.Special Note: When you make cooking and baking Christmas lists, attach a copy of each recipe, and create a special shopping list to go with each. This is one more step toward an organized Christmas! All the information you need is handy, and the recipe is right where you need it when you are ready to turn on the stove. If you intend on trying to be completely organized throughout the season, you can create menues by the day or week, and do the same thing with these - get the recipes together, and create the shopping lists.
Just remember to copy and paste all these small shopping lists into one master list, or you will be getting duplicate items, not to mention - very confused! Special Note: Take this one step further, and compile that master shopping list by dividing it based on the store(s) you need to shop at! You will most definately cut down on both the time and the money spent on grocery shopping if you create a few of these special Christmas lists and combine everything into one trip. There are several sections of the site where you will find more information about these topics. Be sure to check them out! For everything from creating daily menus to hosting the holiday party of the year, we have it covered.
Other Christmas ListsYou might also want to create some daily Christmas lists for those especially hectic times. Include the information that's on the Christmas calendar, and all the other errands and appointments you have to keep on those days.
I know... it sounds like I want you to spend days just creating your Christmas lists. I assure you that a little time spent now on creating all these special lists will save you many hours and tons of cash which are better spent on actually enjoying the holidays this year!!
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