Nobody enjoys Christmas season stress of the last week before Christmas, right? To avoid running around looking for last minute gifts follow the tips below and have a Merry Christmas without too much stress.

5 Tips for Getting Ready for the Upcoming Christmas

1. Gifts

If you’re planning to buy gifts start drafting your gift list way before Christmas. I often list my ideas throughout the year but it’s never too late. Anyhow, the earlier you do this the more time you have for planning.

Personally, I prefer getting everything planned by the end of November. That’s because a) You can shop some of the gifts from Black Friday sales and b) You still have plenty of time to order things or get them from other cities without horrible traffic jams.

If you don’t know what to give, get some inspiration from my previous posts!

2. Cards

If you do Christmas cards start gathering ideas whenever they pop into your mind. When you have a great idea that you will use, shop the materials or order the cards as soon as possible.

We just ordered our cars yesterday and I’m super happy that we did. We don’t have to stress if they made their way to us before Christmas and we have plenty of time to write and send them.

If you need photos for your or your company’s cards or materials, you can shop my Christmas related photos from different sites:

Btw – soon you can see my photos also in couple of Finnish photo stocks – so, if you’re Finnish reader who would like to purchase my stock photos from national sites, stay tuned!

3. Tree and Decorations

Set all the decorations you can during the early December. That way you can share some of the stress to earlier parts of the month. Also, if you need to shop some extra decor, try to do that before the last week.

4. Food

Obviously some of the food need to be done just before the big day. However, you can probably shop some ingredients earlier like chocolates, spices, tea, etc. Additionally, you should try to start preparing the food before last minute if you can.

Moreover, it can be a good idea to share responsibility with your family and relatives. For example, everyone can bring a little something so that someone won’t cook alone for days.

5. Mood & Inspiration

Don’t you yet have the Christmas mood? Check out Pinterest for some Christmas inspiration! Start your own Christmas inspiration board there and gather the best decor, food, gift and card ideas there to get inspired. This will help you to get things done early.

You can also find the Christmas spirit from Christmas related stores, music and posts. In past I have also shared 5 reasons to love Christmas – I hope this post helps you to find the mood. 🙂

You can start your Christmas board by Pinning this post using the photos below: