Don’t even let that Holiday Stress start! Every year it wants to creep in and zap the joy out of the holidays. Here are a few tips to help you plan ahead for the holidays and keep your spirits up!
1. Keep it simple! It’s easier said than done, but try to keep your house decorations and parties on the relaxed side…simple decorations look great anyway! And do you really need to try 6 new recipes all at once?
2. Write it all down! When you write everything down in a holiday planner you’ll be able to see that it’s not reasonable to be three places at the same time! Don’t say “YES” to everything! And don’t forget to allow time to fill your orders.
3. Keep the spirit of Giving! {Just don’t keep the spirit of giving too much!} You don’t have to give something to everyone you’ve ever met…just sayin’!
4. Don’t overwhelm yourself with pushing for more sales if you can’t really handle more. Life’s not as much fun if you’re too busy.
5. Mail your orders on certain days of the week to keep for packaging up orders daily. This will save you time at the post office, and you won’t have to bring out all your wrapping supplies as often.
6. Handmade doesn’t have to be a quilt! Keep your gifts small and thoughtful. You don’t have to spend hours and hours on a gift for it to be special. Custom cards, monogrammed items, and ornaments make great gifts!
7. Stock up on all your craft supplies now to save yourself trips to the store during the busiest season of the year. If you order online you’ll save even more trouble!
8. Time out! Take time to enjoy the little things. Make cookies with the kids, have a friend over for hot chocolate, sit by the fireplace and read…enjoy the holidays!
I know you all have lots of tips…what do you do to keep the holiday stress from taking over???
~Kim
Haha! Oh Kim, if only you could have seen the inside of my house today. I have like 1 zillion projects going on, half orders, half projects for my blog. It is a wreck. I’m so tired! So thank you for your affirmation to not push myself so hard because like you said, it is NOT fun when you are too busy.
Thanks Kim for the great tips and reminders. I’m hoping to launch my etsy site after the new year so thinking of all the crafty tasks I have to build inventory plus the desire to be crafty with personal gifts, the stress has already begun. Your ideas were simple and I’ll be adopting many of them as I prepare for the holiday season.
In line with Heidi, don’t look inside my front door. My house is FULL of projects. LOL!
It’s funny you wrote that about the “it doesn’t have to be a quilt” tip. Because today, I just started thinking I would my each of my kids a quilt for X-mas… but wait, it’s November, and wait I have 4 kids! Maybe they’ll like potholders! And pretty much, I just let the stress take over. I’m stocked and ready to go… kind of!
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I know the tips I just can’t seem to implement them efficiently. I need a tip for that. There’s no question that I do it to myself!
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Great tips! I am definitely feeling the ‘life’s not fun if you’re too busy’! So I take time everyday to just sit outside in the fresh air, feel the breeze and breathe a little. I spend so much time either in my studio or on the computer that outdoor time is replenish time! And a little libation doesn’t hurt either, lol!
.-= Cat´s last blog ..Treasure Lover- An Etsy Team that Loooooves To Create Treasuries! =-.
Great tips!!! I wouldn’t mind being a little overwhelmed at least with holiday sales though, lol.
I have already organized my gift wrapping for all of my jewelry and gift tags at least.
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Thank you Kim, I needed to read this! I have fallen out of the loop of things this past week… everyone in the house has been sick with either a cold &/or the flu, but none at the same time. Never-ending sicknesses here, lol.
Now, I am feeling icky, but so ready to get back into the swing of things. Your read has inspired me!
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