Organising an Awesome Family Christmas Part 17 To-Do Jobs Around the Home Minimum maintenance. Encourage family members to pitch in and share the work. Delegate, delegate, delegate! Christmas Prep Checklist Recycle wrapping paper.  Write family thank-you notes. Plan low-cost, no-cost activities for kids. Whether it’s camping out under the Christmas tree or a drive to see Christmas lights, some mid-week ...

Fail-Safe Christmas Hacks We Have To Talk About How To Always Win At Christmas Crackers If you never get your hands on that covetable fortune fish, here’s what to do. Hold your end of the cracker lower, so it tilts towards you, and go for a slow, controlled pull, with minimum twisting. Be sure to mop up your opponents tears ...

Organising an Awesome Family Christmas Part 10 To-Do Jobs Around the Home Clean out the refrigerator. Make space for Christmas cooking by tossing expired bottles and jars. Clean out the freezer. Make room for Christmas baking and the results of a freezer cooking session. Clean out the pantry. Clean shelves and organize the survivors for efficient holiday cooking. Christmas Prep ...

Organising an Awesome Family Christmas Part 9 To-Do Jobs Around the Home It’s time for your home preparedness check. Household safety and preparedness is paramount, as we prepare to move into colder weather. Time to test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, assess the household’s stock of cold and flu supplies, and review the household emergency plan. A kitchen deep clean. ...

Organising an Awesome Family Christmas Part 8 To-Do Jobs Around the Home Clean and organise the public space in your home. This Christmas time, your household’s living room or public space will be very much on display. Remove all clutter from the living room, then deep-clean the room. Move furniture pieces and vacuum beneath them, polish fine woods and silver, ...

Organising an Awesome Family Christmas Part 6 To-Do Jobs Around the Home From the master bathroom to the small downstairs loo off the hall, this is the week to focus on the household’s bathrooms. Clear away clutter in each bathroom, deep-clean fixtures, floors and walls. Organise personal care storage and prepare for entertaining guests. Clean out the linen closet. Return ...

To-Do Jobs Around the Home Seasonal sorting of wardrobes. Eek! It’s time to make room for your sparkly dresses and Christmas sweater collection.First things first, and that’s to understand exactly what clothes you have, what you love/hate/don’t wear and make sense of everything – and that’s where a good clear out comes into play.I advise firstly getting all your clothes ...

Wow, you’re still with me? Okay, here’s our organising an awesome Family Christmas part 2 checklist for this week. This probably sounds like a nightmare before Christmas, but for me it’s a simple equation: maximum sparkle for minimum stress. By mid-December, with all the dull stuff ticked off,  you can have some relaxing me time. Cue baking, a lovely roaring ...

Christmas in August – Starting to plan in August or even earlier, for Christmas can seem a bit extreme. However, planning ahead and doing a little bit at a time leaves a lot more time to enjoy the season and makes it a lot easier. You also can save money by shopping all year. As a self-confessed Christmas-a-holic, my festive ...

As August is starting to feel Autumnal and my central heating has just clicked on, we look forward to September. The month will bring crisp mornings, leaves falling, back-to-school and Christmas prep? Well, yes. Summer’s end is the perfect time to think ahead to Christmas; start Christmas planning now, and you’ll reap all of the benefits come December. I have ...