CC 2012 - Gift and Giving Week

[HouseElf]

Welcome to Gifts and Giving Week! It's the time we focus on gift lists, gift buying and gift wrapping.



To Do This Week

• Observe Time Change Sunday with a seasonal home safety checklist. Check smoke detectors, change lightbulbs, review readiness for cold and flu season and assess your household's emergency plan.
• Divide entries on the master gift list into five groups. Continue shopping for Christmas gifts, and try to buy one-fifth of the gifts this week.
• Start a stocking stuffers list. Tip: slip shopping bags over a coat hanger to store stuffers by recipient.
• Divide the Christmas card list into five groups. Write and address the second group this week.
• Review and renegotiate adult gift giving. Can you simplify your family's "unwritten rules? Draw names and set a price limit for a gift exchange. Could your family dispense with adult gifts in favor of gifts to charity or family service project?
• When making gift lists for loved ones, make life easier the rest of the year by adding a birthday/anniversary calendar to your Christmas planner.
• To ensure delivery, finish all catalog and online shopping. Print our catalog / Internet order tracker to keep on top of catalog purchases.
• Use a three-hole punch to add a large manila envelope to the Christmas planner notebook. Place all receipts in the envelope to track purchases, provide for returns.
• Mailing deadlines ahead! Set up a wrap and mail center to ease holiday mailing chores. You'll speed gift wrapping and parcel mailing with supplies all in one place.
• Swapping with friends is a great way to share holiday gifts, crafts and decor. Will you swap with other members of online communities? Track swaps with free printable swaps directory and swaps tracker forms for your Christmas planner.
• List all gifts to make, and inventory them on a gifts to make list. Be stern! Make your list and cut it in half--there's less time than you think. List needed materials and add them to the master shopping list.
• Begin working on "to make" gifts this week. You must make one-fourth of your gifts each week.
• Plan Thanksgiving Dinner using the holiday menu planner.
• Order the turkey.
• Schedule family service projects, or sign up for church charity efforts.
• Complete holiday scheduling. Reserve baby-sitters for December's nights out.
• Keep tight tabs on the holiday budget. Add gift purchases and other expenditures as you make them

.

To Buy This Week:

• Continue Christmas gift shopping. Divide the master gift list into five sections. Purchase gifts for one-fifth of the list entries. Wrap gifts as they are purchased. Keep a running total of gift expenditures.
• Buy materials and supplies for all "to make" gifts.
• Gift wrap, wrap and mailing supplies

 

[luludou]

To do this week
Observe Time Change Sunday with a seasonal home safety checklist. Check smoke detectors, change lightbulbs, review readiness for cold and flu season and assess your household's emergency plan. Done for the cold & flu season checklist + emergency plan- dh has to change the batteries in the smoke detector
Divide entries on the master gift list into five groups. Continue shopping for Christmas gifts, and try to buy one-fifth of the gifts this week. no gift buying will get done this week but list is all done
Start a stocking stuffers list. Tip: slip shopping bags over a coat hanger to store stuffers by recipient. I have 2 plastic totes for the kids with gifts in them & list is done... need to buy perishables & gc later on
Divide the Christmas card list into five groups. Write and address the second group this week. Got the cards out today. Will address them this week
Review and renegotiate adult gift giving. Can you simplify your family's "unwritten rules? Draw names and set a price limit for a gift exchange. Could your family dispense with adult gifts in favor of gifts to charity or family service project? still waiting for my sister to draw the names.
When making gift lists for loved ones, make life easier the rest of the year by adding a birthday/anniversary calendar to your Christmas planner. I have a liste for all-year round birthday gifts
To ensure delivery, finish all catalog and online shopping. Print our catalog / Internet order tracker to keep on top of catalog purchases. not much to be ordered online
Use a three-hole punch to add a large manila envelope to the Christmas planner notebook. Place all receipts in the envelope to track purchases, provide for returns. I do keep all reciepts in an enveloppe as I go
Mailing deadlines ahead! Set up a wrap and mail center to ease holiday mailing chores.]no gifts to mail
Swapping with friends is a great way to share holiday gifts, crafts and decor. Will you swap with other members of online communities? Track swaps with free printable swaps directory and swaps tracker forms for your Christmas planner. No swapping
List all gifts to make, and inventory them on a gifts to make list. Be stern! Make your list and cut it in half--there's less time than you think. List needed materials and add them to the master shopping list. I have my gifts to make list and at this late date if the ones that are left don't get done it's ok, they'll be done for next year
Begin working on "to make" gifts this week. You must make one-fourth of your gifts each week. all gifts are done - the other crafts I have to do are extras
Plan Thanksgiving Dinner using the holiday menu planner. Thanksgiving is done here in Canada
Order the turkey. N/A
Schedule family service projects, or sign up for church charity efforts. none
Complete holiday scheduling. Reserve baby-sitters for December's nights out. still scheduling
Keep tight tabs on the holiday budget. Add gift purchases and other expenditures as you make them work in progress
.
To Buy This Week:
Continue Christmas gift shopping. Divide the master gift list into five sections. Purchase gifts for one-fifth of the list entries. Wrap gifts as they are purchased. Keep a running total of gift expenditures.
Buy materials and supplies for all "to make" gifts.
Gift wrap, wrap and mailing supplies
Gift-wrapping & card adressing are next on my to-do list

 

[AuntJamelle]

TO DO THIS WEEK:

[X] Observe Time Change Sunday

DONE

[ ] Buy 1/5th of Gifts

Have to wait for next round of paychecks at the end of this week; Will plan for online purchases and be ready to order when the time comes

[ ] Start a stocking stuffers list

Will work on this; Already have quite a few things put by, each person has their own little paper shopping bag on a shelf in the spare room. But I do need to work out what else I plan to get.

[ ] Write/Address 1/5th of Cards

Plan to purchase envelopes this week so I can get started on this task!

[ ] Review adult gift giving

DH's family is fairly inflexible and DH is tired of trying to discuss it with them; I guess we will just go with the flow this year.

[ ] Birthday/Anniversary Calendar

DONE

[ ] Finish all catalog/online shopping

Good goal, but I will probably plan to finish online shopping around the end of November, allowing me to possibly take advantage of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals.

[ ] Add a large manila envelope to the Christmas planner notebook for receipts

DONE

[ ] Set up a wrap and mail center

Struggle with this one because I don't have any spare real estate for this purpose. Maybe I can clean up the spare room and setup the card table in there, actually...

[ ] List all gifts to make, then list needed materials and add them to the master shopping list.

Will review list, take stock of where I am and see what I need to buy to finish planned projects. And then update shopping list. I'll have to wait until payday to buy supplies, but at least it will get done.

I've been trying to wait and watch for sales/coupons and slowly accumulate supplies. But I think that the time has come to just get what I need and get moving!

[/] Complete 1/4th Gifts to Make

In progress!

[ ] Plan for Thanksgiving Dinner

Will call MIL later today to discuss

[ ] Schedule family service projects, or sign up for church charity efforts.

Will discuss with DH this week

[ ] Complete holiday scheduling. Reserve baby-sitters for December's nights out.

Will discuss with DH this week

[ ] Keep tight tabs on the holiday budget

SO important! Will review and update my budget spreadsheet this week!