A Simpler Christmas: Mission Possible!

Are your Christmas memories sprinkled with frustration after a season of too much stress and too much spending?

Do you remember wading through the post-Christmas mess and thinking, "Next year we're doing this differently!"?

Have you looked at a mountain of Christmas gifts under the tree and thought, "This is just too much!"

Do your good intentions of sending homemade Christmas cards, baking hundreds of picture perfect cookies, and hosting glorious holiday parties dissolve amid the realities of everyday life?

But...when next Christmas approaches, it's the same old story despite your best intentions. It seems as if the phrase, "a simple Christmas" is an oxymoron. The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas can take on a life of their own.

In fact, the entire holiday season seems to defy your efforts to simplify!

Although Christmas may be months away, planning ahead can help simplify the season and reduce stress. Be open to adjusting a few of your traditions when the holiday season rolls around.

Start now!

Simplified Baking

Develop a few "specialty" items that you make each year, rather than trying to make hundreds of cookies of all varieties. Your specialty might be as simple as a classic peanut butter fudge or stained glass candy, packaged in decorative cellophane bags and tied with a ribbon. Perhaps your family loves rich butter cookies made with a cookie press. Choose one or two recipes that you will enjoy making, giving, and serving. Your specialties will become traditions that your friends will look forward to for years to come. Resolve now to skip the "made from scratch" buche de noel with handmade marzipan adornments.

Simplified Christmas Cards

Purchase cards on clearance, at a half-off card shop or discount chain. Maybe you have cards left from last year - you know, the ones that you didn't have time to address or mail. They are right where you left them when last January rolled around, stacked on the storage shelf. You'll get them done this year.

Go to the computer today and print a set of address labels from your contacts list. In early December, most addresses will remain the same; at most, you will have to address a handful of cards. Resist the temptation to refine your calligraphy skills as you address your cards for this year. Labels will do the trick, and you can certainly select a decorative font or add a holiday themed graphic.

No need to script an expansive Christmas letter detailing the year's events. Remember - a picture is worth a thousand words, and can easily replace the traditional letter. And don't worry about lining the kids up for a formal photo shoot. Instead, snap candid shots of the kids playing in the pool or back yard and order copies online from Snapfish or the Costco photo center. Your friends and relatives will get a kick out of sharing in those spontaneous moments! Candid photos invite them into the real joys of everyday life, and become keepsakes in and of themselves.

When Thanksgiving weekend rolls around, assemble your labels, photos, and cards, and add signatures to each one. You'll be done in quick order and your cards will be among the first to arrive.

You may wish to trim your Christmas card list by sending online greetings to friends who appreciate a "greener" tech-savvy approach. Check out www.jacquilawson.com for options that are sure to bring a smile!

Simplified Decorating

Remember that sometimes "less is more." Gather those boxes of Christmas decorations and make careful selections of what you will use this year. Display the decorative items that mean the most to you, and tuck the rest away. Perhaps the extra items can be donated to charity or sold at your next garage sale before next Christmas rolls around.

Indoors, dress up the dining room with festive placemats or a Christmas tablecloth. Display your favorite crèche on the coffee table or mantle. Decorate the tree with your most treasured ornaments. Welcome guests with a lush wreath on the front door. Light a scented candle to give your home a hint of holiday fragrance.

Remember that every shrub does not need to be decked out in flashing lights. Every table does not need a centerpiece. Every chair does not need a holiday-themed cushion or throw. Every room does not need a themed holiday tree of its own.

Simplified Shopping

If you shop for members of your extended family, consider giving a family gift or couples' gift instead of shopping for each person individually. A Cuisinart ice cream maker, a game or puzzle, or a few classic DVD's promote family time and simplify shopping. All are easily ordered online if you want to steer clear of holiday crowds at the mall.

Of course, a Visa gift card is a great family gift - it can cover a night out for dinner and a movie or a new game for the family's Wii game system.

One busy professional in Connecticut developed a strategy for simplified shopping. For family members and close friends, she selects one common gift for all the men on the list, and one common gift for all the women on the list. Men's gifts might include a classic duffel bag, a jumbo travel mug for coffee, or a sweater ordered from L.L. Bean. Women's gift ideas include a classic necklace or charm bracelet, an assortment of body care items, a copy of your favorite cookbook, or a pashmina. Snap up enough items to cover your list and you're all set!

Of course, individual gift cards can be tailored to the recipients' interests, whether for a sporting goods store, craft store, or a favorite clothing store.

Discuss gift giving with your spouse ahead of time. Perhaps you will decide to exchange one personal gift, and then agree on a special date night or weekend getaway to round out your holiday celebration as a couple.

What about those "little gifts" that add up so quickly? Remembrances for neighbors, your clergyman, colleagues at work, and service providers can be difficult to choose. Here again, making the decision to simplify by giving the same gift to each person will save headaches. Baked goods are always welcome - pass along a bag of your "signature" items. A bag of specialty coffee or an assortment of herbal teas might fill the bill nicely. Your hairdresser or manicurist may prefer a more generous tip, eliminating the need to purchase an additional gift.

But What About The Kids?

Children's gifts can follow a common theme as well. The type of children's gifts you select can be adjusted according to the amount you wish to spend and the age of each child. You might wish to start a tradition of buying books, a game, or a puzzle for all the children on your list. An assortment of art supplies, a box of Wikki Stix, or building toys stimulate the imagination and give excellent play value.

Talk with extended family members about the potential of eliminating gift giving among adults. Buying only for the children on your list will preserve much of the "fun" of the holiday, save money, and simplify the task of gift shopping. However, be forewarned that longstanding traditions die hard, and you may meet with resistance if your suggestion significantly bucks the trend in your family.

It's fine for Mom and Dad to ask Santa to cooperate in their desire to simplify gift giving to the kids. Some families adopt a four gift limit for each child, quoting the philosophy,"

Something you want,

Something you need,

Something to wear,

Something to read.

Add a few stocking stuffers, and Christmas shopping for the kids will be complete. If your children are a bit older, you will want to discuss the changes in gift giving traditions with them. Assure them that fewer gifts do not mean that someone has "been bad." Instead, emphasize that Santa wanted to be sure that every child received gifts this year. You may also want to decide as a family that receiving fewer gifts can be supplemented by giving specially selected items to Toys for Tots or a local charity.

Simplified Gift Wrap

The ultimate simple gift wrap tradition? Purchase your gifts at a department store that offers free gift wrapping! Yes, they are still out there. But plan ahead - lines for complimentary gift wrapping can be long at the height of Christmas shopping season.

If you are wrapping gifts at home, gift bags offer a simple option for wrapping. Tuck in a bit of extra tissue paper to peek out of the top of the bag, and no bow is necessary.

You may prefer to wrap gifts in a more traditional way, and even then you can simplify the process. Purchase jumbo rolls of gift wrap, large packs of gift tissue, and spools of wired ribbon. Running out of supplies wastes time and energy. As you purchase gifts, ask for complimentary gift boxes. Once at home, wrap all your gifts in matching paper. Tie with a simple bow using wired ribbon. Consider using solid color wrap. This simple approach can be beautiful and elegant; imagine your gifts in glossy white paper with red bows, for example.

Either way, designate one evening or weekend for gift wrapping. While you may not get everything done on a single day, the remaining task will require minimal time.

Ease into it

While every strategy for a simpler Christmas may not fit your holiday plans, consider whether you can take two or three steps to begin the process this year. Small adjustments to your family traditions can pave the way to a simpler, more joyous holiday. It is, indeed, possible to simplify Christmas!