Simple Christmas 2020 - Update #1

We are ten long months away from Christmas and I'm totally okay with that!  Believe me, I am in no rush, LOL.  Nonetheless I have done a handful of things around here in preparation of the holidays.  I do find that preparing ahead and working on Christmas works much better for me.  Last year I was really more lackadaisical about it and that didn't bode well for me at all.  We weren't planning to exchange gifts initially and then at the last minute we decided we were going to after all and I wasn't prepared.  Not one bit.  I don't want any repeats of that this year.

So far I have tucked away $20 into our Christmas fund and haven't touched it.  In January we used grocery funds to purchase several containers of sprinkles, some decorating items and two packages of candy coating that was on markdown after Christmas.  Our baking bin is already well on its way to getting restocked for holiday baking.

I made more cards to add to my stash

In January I updated my Christmas card list and in the past two months have made almost two dozen Christmas cards to send out.  All of the cards were made with items I already had on hand in my crafting center.  Oh my gosh, do I ever love having all my craft supplies organized and stored on one space.  Makes card making a dream.  I used some of my card making scraps to make a half dozen more gift tags and added them to our gift wrap organizer.  Right now I have plenty of cards and gift tags for this year.  I plan to pick up a book of Christmas themed postage stamps sometime in November and that is all I will need to buy as far as sending Christmas cards goes.  Once again I have plenty of pretty paper to print out our annual letter on so that is covered as well.

My daughter found more fun sprinkles to add to our baking supplies

I started a preliminary gift list and jotted down some ideas I have.  Once again we will be doing food gifts for our extended family, friends and my co-workers.  I'm hoping to incorporate the supplies we need for those into our regular grocery budget so I free up the Christmas fund for stamps and gifts for my girls.  Also, I've started collecting all my freebie finds in a bag.  Several items are my Friday Freebies from Fred Meyer.  I think they will make for some fun and quirky stocking stuffers this year.

We found this decorating kit on markdown in January

We really did enjoy our modest Christmas last year.  Having a very slim budget meant we had to really think about what we bought each other and that made the gifts much more meaningful and appreciated.  I think, honestly, last Christmas was one of our better Christmases, especially because of the gifts.  It was really neat.

Food gifts are the best in my opinion

Have you done any Christmas planning or preparing yet or do you prefer to wait?