Christmas All Year Long – Gift List

I have mentioned before that I work on Christmas all year long.  For me it is not only a matter of staying on a budget but something I really enjoy doing.  I like to have all my gifts finished, wrapped and ready to give before Thanksgiving Day so I can spend the holidays focused on the actual holiday.  Not spent in the stores swept up in all that madness and chaos at risk of spending too much money and getting stressed out.  Our holidays are quite relaxing and enjoyable. 

In January I made gift bags with my daughters one Saturday.  We recycled our Christmas cards on this project.  In February we made gift tags and we sorted and re-organized the gift wrap bin. 

In March I went through all of our leftover Christmas cards and decided which ones to use and then I updated our card list.  In April I went through our Christmas ornaments and did a little more purging. 

Now it is May and this is when I typically write up my gift list because in June I start my Christmas shopping.  I brainstorm and decide what I want to give my children, my parents and close friends and then I come up with a list of friends and neighbors to give smaller homemade items to.  I also decide on a standard item to give to my children’s teachers. 

Before long I have a pretty long list and a resulting “To Do” list to go along with it.  No problem because I have plenty of time to work on it and a lot of fun projects ahead.  I will keep you posted along the way. 

When do you begin to prepare for Christmas?