Three Things to Do in October to Prepare for Christmas

Can you believe we are already through 19 days of October? Christmas is a little over two months away. Yikes! How has this fall been for you? It's been busy around here.

If you've been following along with our monthly to-do lists, you should be less stressed about Christmas preparations. If you haven't had the chance to keep up, or if you are just discovering this blog, check out the monthly lists and see what you can manage:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

Here are three things you can do in October to prepare for Christmas.

Order Christmas Cards

Photo credit: alicia_mb on Freepik

Back in May, you took some fun family photos. Now, pick one of your favorites and order your Christmas cards. I rarely ever sent photo Christmas cards to family and friends, but as I go through our yearly keepsakes, it's neat to see people change through the years. Hallmark often sends coupons if you have ordered cards from them in the past.

Plan Your Outside Decorations

Photo credit: Freepik

Now is the time to figure out how you want to decorate the outside of your home. While we often reuse the same lights and decorations each year, the last couple of seasons, I've switched how the lights were hung, changed the groupings of items, or added a live plant or two. Check Pinterest for inspiration. 

Plan Your Holiday Meal

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it's good to plan your meal ahead. Magazines have tons of new recipes for main dishes and sides, so there might be something new you want to try. Here are three places to look for recipes:

Town and Country

Delish

Good Housekeeping

Enjoy getting ready for the holidays!

Three Things to Do in October to Prepare for Christmas

 

We have entered the last quarter of 2024. Isn't that crazy? Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales are only eight weeks away. There are only 12 Fridays until Christmas! 

How are your holiday preparations going? I still don't have fall decorations inside the house if that gives you any clue how things are here. That's okay, it always comes together. 

To help you prepare for the holidays, here are three tasks to tackle in October.

Look for early Christmas Sales

If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can already shop early deals. Prime Big Deal Days official days are October 8 and 9. Target is also running their Before Christmas sale.

Plan your decorating theme

Honestly, I don't alter mine much, but styles change from year to year, and I like to add one or two new pieces every year. Our trees our themed: snowman, collectibles, blue and silver, and then our family tree has our homemade ornaments and special ones we have collected through the years. The girls theme their trees by color--one purple and one pink. 

Order your Christmas cards

Between sending cards to clients, family, and friends, the only way I've made this task easier is by ordering cards early. Cards that go to clients have my name pre-printed on them and envelopes with a pre-printed return address. I write a letter around Thanksgiving to go inside the cards to friends and family so that I can--hopefully--get them in the mail by December 1.

Enjoy your holiday preparations!