You've now got all of your Christmas cards addressed, right? Yeah. Neither do I. I'm one step closer to being ready, though. My lists are made and I now have a more solid idea of what I'm giving to each person. I've made a list of what I need to buy and what I already have.

Next?

Start planning what you're going to do when you get your gifts.

My favorite thing to do? Wrap them as soon as they get in the home! I will write the name of the recipient in pen or pencil in a bottom/underside corner of the gift. I mainly do that so it's not quite so obvious who it's for. (You know...for snooping kids? Not that I have any of those, mind you.  Ahem.)  Except they read this blog.  Perhaps telling you guys wasn't the wisest idea.

I already have my wrapping paper because I bought it on clearance last January.  I also have scotch tape from a deal a couple months ago.  What I do now is make sure they're all in one place (with scissors, of course) ready for me to use when gifts come in.  I also select a couple of bins in which to hide the wrapped gifts. 

This not only keeps the gifts well hidden from snooping children, but it takes you one step closer to being ready for Christmas without a ton of extra work in an already busy season!

Miss parts 1 and 2?  Check them out here:

*Christmas in July, Part 1
*Christmas in July, Part 2

Why Christmas in July?  So you can enter the holiday season debt-free and with little (if any) stress.  How awesome would THAT be?

If you haven't yet, make a list of who you need to purchase gifts for.  If you made a list earlier in the year, update it.  Make sure you any new family members are added and gifts already purchased are recorded (including their storage location if need be!).

Update your Christmas card list (or make one if you don't have one yet).  Add new friends or family members, delete those who made you mad (just kidding), ensure addresses you have are current, and gather needed addresses.

If you already have your Christmas cards, start addressing them now.  Make a goal to do a couple a day.  Before you know it, they'll be done.  You can even put stamps on them now so that come the first of December, they'll be ready for you to mail.  Wouldn't you love that?


If you do picture cards for Christmas, you can take them and have them printed now (or within the next couple of months) so you can have them addressed, stamped, and ready to mail come December.  Why wait until the last minute when everyone else is trying to schedule pics and get them printed in time for Christmas?


If you do a Christmas letter, you can start that now too.  Get the stationary, address and stamp the envelopes just like you would "regular" cards.  Write updates through now and add a little each month until it's time to print and mail them.  You might even buy an extra ink cartridge to ensure effortless printing when the time comes.

Next Tuesday, we'll have part 3. 

Be sure to check out previous posts in this series:

Christmas in July, Part 1