When visions of sugarplums and handmade gifts & cards start dancing in your head, it's easy to get carried away and find yourself drowning in projects and pompoms mid-December. I am determined to avoid tears & tantrums this year...
- Stock up on entertainment. Whether you watch shows via Hulu, Netflix streaming, or on an actual television, now's the time to stockpile your favorite wintry movies and episodes. My craft-time lineup includes the holiday episodes of NewsRadio (S3E10), Arrested Development (S1E8, S2E6), 30Rock (S2E9, S3E6, S4E8), and Will & Grace (S4E12 featuring Parker Posey!), "A Colbert Christmas", "The Ballet Shoes", and "Save The Last Dance" for its accurate portrayal of Chicago's brutal winters.
- Compartmentalize. I'm trying to give each project (cards, snow bottles, party crackers) its own box or tray so the supplies for each project are grouped together, rather than mixed up and multiplying before my very eyes.
- Be realistic. It's so tempting to think, "I'll be done in an hour!", but try to estimate how long each project will actually take. If you're making 30 cards, and they each take 5 minutes to make, 5 minutes to write in, and 1 minute to address & stamp, you're looking at 5 1/2 hours of work. Pace yourself accordingly.
- Make it festive. Crafting is so much more pleasant if your home is (reasonably) straightened and brightened up with festive sparkly lights or bowls of winter fruits.
- When in doubt, mull. Keeping a pot of spiced cider warmed on the stove will make your house smell lovely and you feel cozy. Once the projects are done for the day, a mug of hot spiked cider can be an excellent reward.
Image: Tess Wilson
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More favorite holiday movie recommendations from our house: Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang (Hollywood holiday noir with Robert Downey Jr) and The Lion in Winter (12th century dysfunctional royal family Christmas with Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole).
The Christmas episode from the first season of Mary Tyler Moore is always a great one.
I love that you included a Christmas TV list! I definitely do that when I'm crafting - create the perfect playlist of shows to watch.
This Christmas, mine would be:
Charlie Brown Christmas Special
Babes in Toyland (the Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore one - so bad.)
How I Met Your Mother (S2E11, S4E11, S4E13)
Scrubs (S1E11)
all the Boy Meets World Christmas episodes
...and I'll agree with Save the Last Dance, too. That movie's certainly a guilty pleasure of mine!
This year I decided to paint pinecones for my store window. I, too, thought it would take an hour. Three hours later and pink paint on the white webbing of one of our dining chair, I was done. The pinecones look great but I will NOT be doing that again!
Let me emphasize: Be REALISTIC! (Best single tip in the list!)
I now limit my ambitions for crafting to no more than 20 (identical) hand-made cards (surprise cards from people not on my list get commercial cards in return.)
And small handmade gifts (I work in polymer clay, so jewelry or covered pens or desk accessories, usually) for the boss and my team at work (4-5 people, total.) That's it.
Unless you count decorating and baking, and I DO count those for time investments which is why I don't count them (or anything more) for crafting. "Tis the season to be jolly," not stressed!
Although, now that I think of it, I'd better get cracking on those "small handmade gifts!!"
I think the trick is to start making things well before Christmas. During the summer if possible. Avoid last minute anything. Enjoy yourself.
I think the trick is to skip the hand-crafted crap, unless it's edible. Little kids can make stuff at daycare or school, and the rest of us can admire their handiwork.
Ooh, thanks for this. I have to create crafts for some projects I have to do and am finding it hard to focus. I'm all over the map but the first 2 ideas will help me sort it.