Step 1: Thank the people who have given you gifts
When we were kids, things like adding a picture to a thank you note were way more work than it was worth. Still, I quite remember sitting on my living room floor writing out thank you notes to all of my relatives. These days, it's super easy! For your family and close friends, I still think a handwritten note is the best avenue but here are some ideas for thanking everyone else. As a bonus, share a picture with your thank you of the gift or of you with the gift!
- Make a Facebook shout out post. Remember to tag your friend!
- Share on Instagram or snapchat.
- Send an email if you prefer things private
- Make a YouTube video
So you don't even have to make handcrafted thank you notes (unless you want to). These thank yous will take all of two minutes, so go do it!
Step 2: Shop the Christmas clearance sales
Start stocking up for Christmas 2019. If you're into decorating, get discount garlands and lights. If you like card making, get a bunch of discount cards and envelopes for inspiration or to implement into your own cards. Got a sweet tooth? Discount candy, baby! Here's my shopping list:
- Discount cards and envelopes. I look for textures, images, and even sentiments on the inside of the card that I like. Around this time of year, they go for about ten cents each at Dollar General.
- Stickers, also for cards.
- Tinsel garlands and small home decor items that will come in handy for either home decorating or office decorating next year.
- Trinkets and toys to put in my prize box at work.
- Candy!
- Baking items like sprinkles or candy molds, or every day home items like Ziploc bags and Tupperware.
Step 3: Start thinking about tiers
Think of tiers like your own personal Naughty and Nice list. It's helpful to have when you're planning out how many cards to make or making a budget for gifts. Tier 1 people are the people I would go to the moon for. My mother, sister, and mentor make this list. Tier 2 people are people that I like but don't really have a deep relationship with. Most of my coworkers fall here. Tier 3s are people that I gift to because I'm nice like that, or people who have to receive a generic gift from me because a personal one would put me in iffy waters with HR. The people on the team I supervise fall here, as well as teachers from my daughter's daycare (okay...and one of my bosses. shh!) So what does this mean for Christmas?
- Tier 1: The best of the best. The card they receive is handmade, and lights up. I think this year I'll experiment with detailed popups or musical cards, and these will go to Tier 1 as well. When budgeting the present, they traditionally land somewhere in the low hundreds, or in terms of time I prepare for a DIY that may take anywhere from ten to fifty hours to complete.
- Tier 2: I like these people. They were nice to me last year, or gave me a thoughtful gift. But it's not like we're really besties. We probably don't hang out at all after work, or even follow each other online. This may even be a family member that married into the family that I don't talk to. I'm still giving a handmade card, but it probably won't light up. It definitely won't sing, and any popups will be quick and easy to make. Gifts usually don't cost more than 30 dollars or any more than 5 hours to make.
- Tier 3: Think bulk. Usually the people on this list receive a store-bought Christmas card, maybe with a thoughtful message inside. Gifts range from a simple box of baked goods (homemade, I'm not a monster) to a small box filled with trinkets or candy. I'm not spending a whole lot of time on these gifts, so if I do DIY something $20 might get supplies for 5-10 people and putting the gifts together takes less than an hour.
So go, grab your Christmas notebook or open your Christmas Excel sheet and start writing down names and sorting people out!
