Are you overwhelmed with the thought of yet another holiday season? Do you desire a peaceful holiday season and yet purposefully Christ centered? How can you begin now to pray and plan how God might have you and your family invest in making this a profitable and God-glorifying time of the year?
It might seem a little early to start thinking of the upcoming holidays, but what better way to keep the holidays simple but through a little planning and foresight! I am looking forward to sharing a few ideas that I have been blessed with over the next few weeks in our Simple Living Series, but for now, I would like to kick it off with a little giveaway!
The 12 Week Holiday Planner for Christian Families by Sheri Graham (mother of five) is a great tool for any family desiring to keep the Christ-centered focus in the holidays without being overwhelmed. Filled with practical and useful charts, planner pages, the Jesse Tree Devotional and other useful information, you will be equipped to keep your light shining this season!
Sheri says, “My desire in putting together this eBook is to provide a tangible way for you to plan out your holidays so they are enjoyable, less stressful, and more filled with the things that really matter.”
This 146 page e-book includes:
*Weekly plans for the 12 weeks prior to Christmas
*”Sheri’s Tips”- tips to make your holidays meaningful, shared throughout the ebook
*Thanksgiving Ideas
*Christmas Craft, Gift, Decorations and Menu Ideas
*Memory Making Ideas for the Family
*Ideas for Baked Items to Share/Give Away
*Ideas for Meals to Freeze for Use during the busy weeks
*Supplies to stock up on ahead of time or when on sale
*Ideas for a Holiday Baking Schedule
*Kids’ Gift Idea List
PLUS!!! “The Glorious Coming: A Jesse Tree Celebration of Advent” – Jesse Tree devotionals which include devotionals, ornaments, and instructions to make your own Jesse Tree!
I am so thrilled to share this resource with you all and am finding it very helpful already as I start taking simple steps with the use of these materials for planning our purposeful Christ-centered holidays!
Click here to view more details!
To join in on the giveaway, please leave a comment below and feel free to share one idea you have found helpful for simplifying the holidays.
Giveaway ends: Tuesday, October 14th 5:00pm PST. Winner will be randomly draw Tuesday evening and announced next Wednesday.
Thanks for offering the giveaway. Our family celebrates Advent, to keep our heart and minds in tune with the purpose of this special season.
What a great giveaway. Instead of running around like crazy on Christmas Eve, we take advantage of our local zoo’s free admission day and go there as a family. It’s relaxing and fun and a break from all the frenzy of both the world and the church activities that accumulate in December.
To simplify gift giving between adults, my family and I chose to only give tree ornaments. We set a monetary limit on this. This simplified gift giving and also created good memories as we each decorated our tree the following year.
For my children, my husband and I try to simplify the focus of Christmas. The first “gift” my children unwrap is a baby Jesus from one of our nativity sets. We use that to tell them, again, that Jesus was the best gift because without Him we could not receive the Holy Ghost.
I would love this book. I don’t have many ideas to simplify Christmas, because every year I plan to go all out and then become buried under half finished ideas, last minute shopping and good intentions.
I don’t have any tips and it’s just us here. But I wanted to say that, although it may sound trite, it is so important to remember the reason for the season. It used to make me crazy that two local radio stations would begin their 24/7 holiday music on the first Monday in November. Now, it just lifts me up to hear “O Holy Night” in the middle of a weekday on a secular station.
I cannot say the same for the retail stores that began setting up their Christmas displays at the end of September.
Thanks for a great give-away! My tip is to Christmas shop ahead of time. I’m usually done shopping by July or August (because most of what I buy is from garage sales). I give acquaintances homemade jelly, and always have lots of that on hand for new friends, etc.
Looks like a great book!
My best tip for simplifying the holidays involves wrapping paper and a notebook. I do gift buying almost all year, and buy stuff on sale and clearance. I’ve got a notebook with everybody that I have to buy for, including hubby and kids. When I buy something I write down what I purchased for them in the notebook with a number beside it. I then wrap it up right away and put a gift tag on it. On the lower right hand corner of the gift tag I write the number that corresponds to the number in the notebook, which I keep with all the wrapping paper. That way I can look at the notebook in november and see who I still need to buy for, and normally I’m just about done by that point, and not only done but wrapped and ready to go, so that my busy december isnt’ spent gift wrapping
what a great giveaway! i could definitley use this. i learned from the chef at the seminary how to have a whole meal prepared, get yourself ready, be able to greet the guests as they come in,and serve the meal still steaming warm!!! cook everything 3-4 hours in advance, put it in a cooler (the more items you have in there, teh longer the heat will last) and your’e good to go!
Please add me to the drawing. I am new to simplifying, so I don’t know that I have any ideas of my own to share…but I am excited for your upcoming series on simplifying the holidays! Thanks!
One thing we’ve done is take the month of December off of school. That give us plenty of time to do all of those things that are supposed to be fun like baking, making gifts, visiting neighbors…etc, but often become a burden when too many things are competing for our attention. We want this season to really be a calm and joyful celebration and that won’t happen unless we’re intentional about it.
Please enter me to win. To save on money this year, I hosted a Premiere Jewelry show. I was able to get over $500 in FREE jewelry!!! That took care of all the ladies for Christmas.
This sounds like a great book! I have really been convicted about keeping Christ at the center of Christmas rather than as just a part of it, so this year we are doing very minimal gifts to keep it simple.
Thanks for this great giveaway. I love christmas but probably won’t decorate as much as i usually do. We moved into a new house a few months ago which we are renovating. We also moved 3 to 4 hours away from our families so there will be traveling this year. None-the-less, I would like to make it special for my now 18 month old.
Thanks again!
melodius20@hotmail.com
This seems like a wonderful resource. I really need some help with the simplifying, so I hope I win!
This book looks great! One way we’ve simplified is to get the kids (2 of them) very little in the way of gifts. We try to make a lot of at-home memories and take our time opening what we have. We don’t make plans to go anywhere and we enjoy each other all day.
Over the last four Christmases since my husband and I have been married, we have established a few traditions that I absolutely love. We have decided Christmas Eve and Christmas day are days strictly at our home. My folks often come into town, but we do no traveling except to Christmas Eve Worship and Christmas Morning Communion at church. We have made a very intentional effort to focus our children on the real meaning of Christmas, which automatically reduces any stress about trying to find the perfect gifts for them, as well as the associated financial stress. I make baked goods which can be frozen, well in advance of the busy season, and my oldest, Anna, helps me make gifts. For most of our family (grandparents and great-grandparents) we give framed pictures of the girls (I am a photographer), and homemade gifts (ie crayon masterpieces, sticker collages, etc.) They are not “perfect” by any means, but my family loves them more than anything. Otherwise, I often work on artsy gifts like crocheting afghans or making small scrapbooks, all through the year as I have time. This year I am planning on making cloth napkins and casserole carriers. Anna will be helping me make apple-cinnamon tree ornament picture frames. All these traditions let me truly adore my family and revel in God’s perfect plan of salvation all during these weeks which can be, for some, the most dreaded of the year.
May everyone’s upcoming Christmas season, be “simply” blessed!
I wish I had a good tip to share. This will only be our second Christmas as a married couple and last year I went way overboard with baking and making crafts and decorating… and ended up so sick that I spent all Christmas eve and day on the couch eating crackers. I really want to do better this year and just enjoy the time with my family and appreciating the wonderful gift God gave us for Christmas – I just don’t know how.
Ooh! Pick me! I need all the help I can get this year. I am pregnant with my 4th baby, due December 30th.
Something I did last year that really helped keep things simple, was that I made Christmas breakfast the night before and just baked it while we were opening presents in the morning. Then when everything settled down I put chili in the crockpot for that night. My father-in-law thought we were having money problems because we were eating chili for our Christmas dinner, but it’s what we wanted! And it made the day a lot less stressful for me.
Last year my parents asked us to give to the church instead of spending money on presents for them. We did, but I hated showing up to Christmas empty handed. I decided to make coupons personally designed on Publisher and printed on nice cardstock and wrapped up with a large candy bar for each family member. My father got an evening of watching the kids while he whisks away my mother on a date, my mother got a meal cooked at her house or mine, and my little brothers got a special lunch alone with my husband and I. Each event was planned with care and enjoyed by all. In our busy lives time is sometimes the most precious thing and because we were able to give them the coupons AT Christmas, we were able to spread the giving throughout the year. My mother has asked for us to do it again this year!
Thanks for the ebook give away. I’ve looked at a lot of these organizers online, but without a Christian perspective, they just fall flat. I could definitely use the help keeping things simple and focused!
My tips are these:
Give one big present to each kid. {“Big” is defined differently in each family)
Also give something the kids didn’t know they’d like.
Give teens/young adults gift VISA gift cards. They’ll love you.
Keep track of what you gave the great-aunts, grandmas etc to avoid repeating yourself.
Save the receipts for everything!!
We have a very large family who loves to give presents. We take the children’s Christmas lists and parcel it out to each family group. We also give baked goods and handmade good to everyone except a select few people. This is made easier by my owning a craft business. Other than that, we limit the amount of gifts we give the children ourselves. One big gift, three Christian books, and maybe a movie. This year’s big gift is going to be split between the children.
The book looks very informative. I love to hear about ways to incorporate mor of Christ into Christmas.
We do lots of fun things to simplify the holidays. One is that only immediate family (spouses, kids, siblings, and parents) get “real” presents. The rest get make-it-or-bake-it gifts, such as homemade breads or cookies along with a homemade card and pictures of the kids. Another is that I do my best to shop all year ’round to get things I know people will love and to save on that giant November/December shopping bill. We also started trading off holiday houses because one Christmas we went to four different houses. It was ridiculous. Now we do some on days other than Christmas, and some every other year or on Thanksgiving instead. Some that are not necessarily simplifying but go back to the right roots are reading the Christmas story from Luke before we open presents to remember why we’re doing it, baking a birthday cake for Jesus, and buying a present to give to a needy child. This book looks great; thanks!
We have continued the tradition that my family has in that we give big gifts for birthdays and only a small gift at Christmas. My mother’s gift to my sisters and I is assorted cards (usually blank inside but with a wide assortment of messages or pictures on the outside) that she has collected throughout the year. The one year she didn’t do that, we all complained, as that has become our favorite gift.
As my husband’s family lives on another continent, we don’t have to worry much about running from place to place. One tradition we have started is to invite people from our church who are far from home to spend Christmas dinner with us. We both were the recipitents of such invitations in the past and it was really meaningful for us to be part of a family instead of being far from home, alone, and being homesick.
In the past we basically spoiled our little one with toys that got shoved a way a month later.
(Not to smart of us but like most we got caught up in consumerism!)
This year we thought we just keep it simple by having a gift bag with 24 little things like craft supplies to count down to Christmas. And on Christmas four gifts. One for fun(What he would like to have). One for something he needs(This year I’ll be making him pajamas.) One for educational purpose. And the last for something we all can enjoy. I know it stills seems like alot. But it is a lot less than usual and most will be low cost.
When I was little mom got us one big special gift, something we needed, and something she made. We made each others gifts too.
what a great book idea and a generous giveaway!
one thing we’ve done with our family has been to spend christmas day with just us, no going to grandparents’ homes or having guests over or anything. because of my husband’s job we’ve had to celebrate christmas on a day other than december 25 because he might have to work that day, but whatever day we choose is strictly our family. it simplifies things and makes it really special for us.
thanks!
I would love to be entered for this give away. Thank you so much for hosting it. I look forward to seeing what new info you have for us each day. Keep up the good work.
That book sounds wonderful! It always feels like a battle to balance family and holiday traditions with truly celebrating Jesus. I’m trying to spend at least one day around Christmas in service to homeless people with my daughter.
In preparation for my in-laws staying with us for a few days and Christmas dinner itself, I put together a detailed menu plan and grocery lists way ahead of time. I put them in a binder and included a copy of every recipe I planned to use. That way, I didn’t have to leaf through my cookbooks, favorite blogs, and recipe sites in the midst of all the hubbub. Everything was together. I also planned a Christmas dinner countdown that mapped out what needed to be done 2 days ahead, 1 day ahead, the morning of, 3 hours before, 2 hours before, etc. It helped SO much. I’ll definitely be doing it again. What I wish I had planned better: gift buying and wrapping. I’d love to see what other useful tools are in this ebook!
Thank you for this! What a great idea! We start baking goodies soon after we’re done canning so we can pull them out and use them during the holiday season. We also shop throughout the year–this helps with keeping in budget too!
Heather
How we love our Jesse Tree book! This one would be a lovely addition to our holidays, especially with a little one due in 3 weeks- thanks for the giveaway!
What a fun book
I think one big part of simplifying(like many of the comments have already shared) is getting the right perspective. . . remembering what the purpose of Christmas is in your family and with those who you can minister to. If the purpose is to glorify our Lord by celebrating the salvation he gave through His Son, then all our “to-do’s” should revolve around this. I often have such high expectations for what I want to ‘get done’ that if I don’t apply this principle what would have been a joy (baking cookies for neighbors, decorating the house for family gatherings, etc.) turn into a burden that are just things I’m doing rather than ways I’m glorifying God. Some things might have to go because my heart is turning an opportunity for worship into a way of worry.
Sounds great…I’d love to win this book.
We try to keep things simple with the gifts we give our kids. Usually just three gifts each…1 reasonably priced thing they’ve been wishing for, 1 thing they need (like slippers or pjs, a shirt, etc…), and either a good book or educational toy, or for our older one sometimes a good movie…like Amazing Grace.)
If your family is up for the challenge, do a secret santa gift exchange. That way you don’t have to buy tons of gifts, you can just spend your time and money considering one very well thought out gift.
One thing that has helped us prepare for the holiday season is to start saving money from January 1st onward which will be spent during Thanksgiving and Christmas (we set aside a bit each month so we will have enough to pay for all travel, gift, and food expenses). Since this has been in our budget savings plan all year long, I feel very prepared to go into this holiday season. This savings plan simplifies the holiday by taking out the biggest stress of them all – money! If you haven’t been doing this already, mark it on your January 2009 calendar and begin next year with a great head-start for the holiday season!
What a wonderful way to organize the season around Christ!
I have found that my son’s favorite gifts are ones that have already been well-loved by his cousins. As he grows we’ll be encouraging him to select a special item of his own to give away as a gift. Sort of a way to share the joy he’s gotten from an item and rather than giving a cold piece of plastic from the store he’s giving a gift that is truly personal.
What a great resource! Last Christmas I was due with my second little girl (due date was January 1st!), and I worked really hard to do things ahead of time in case the baby came early, or I was just really, really pregnant! I made lots of cookies in November and froze lots of meals too. We always have a lasagna on Christmas Eve, so I was able to pull that and a chicken pot pie out to serve for my family of three. (Elise waited until January 3 to show up)
Looks like a great book. One thing we do each year is buy a pork roast for Christmas day. Before I go to bed Christmas eve, I season it, wrap it in foil and stick it in the oven at 225. By lunchtime Christmas day it is ready – all I have to do is bring out the buns, shred the pork, set out the BBQ sauce and a few sides and lunch for the extended family is served!
My biggest simplifying strategy: starting early! I like to have as much as I can done before Advent begins so that I can prepare spiritually during that time. We also save our Christmas celebrating for AFTER Christmas Day–the Twelve Days of Christmas. It helps to celebrate each set of holy days at its appropriate time so it’s not all just thrown in there in December. We have a new little one on the way in January too, so starting early is my mantra this year!
Please add me to the drawing. Thank you!
I love this idea. My husband and I were talking not that long ago about the need to stress to our children what Christmas is all about. I love the idea of homemade gifts from the heart. My tip is so that Christmas morning is not so stressful, to Make a dish the night before that can go straight to the oven when you get up….I love baked french toast that you soak overnight!
I was just listening to a pod cast on that book and the jesse tree one two days ago. As far as what we do to simplify? I read about a “wow factor” in The Complete Tightwad Gazette. If you over do things with children, you loose the “WOW” and tend to overspend. and so we simplify to keep the “wow” fun. In a supersized economy, people end up being miserable and in debt while chasing the “wow”.
I also agree with the trouble of starting our own family’s traditions when we are running around to extended families. We have decided to meet with our ext. famlies on different days then Cmas Day. Starting about now I like to have the children bake some goodies and freeze them. lisa
One way I simplify Christmas is to gift shop through the whole year. I pick things up throughout the year at sales and then when Christmas comes I am usually all set for gifts. My husband has a large family so this method makes it so much easier and simpler to be able to share in gift giving. I also shop at thrift stores and this allows me adequate time to find gifts for everyone.
Please enter me to win. It sounds fabulous! Each year, I try to simplify more and more. This year I am going to try to make more gifts and spend less time shopping. I am going to be looking for creative ways to bring Jesus to the focal point of our Christmas activities and decorating.
This year I told my children that I was going to give them something used or something homemade as a Christmas theme. This will help keep us out of the stores to find the “perfect gift”. Their response: They were so excited to do this with their gift giving as well and are anxious to see which sibling they will be giving to in their exchange gifts. When my mother heard about this, she joined in as well. She is trying to label items in her house for the grandchildren for an inheritance and she decided to give each of my children one of her Bibles for Christmas. We had so much fun choosing which one fit each grandchild!
This sounds like a great book. I so want my girls to see Christ as the center of Christmas, which is difficult in the world around them. (And grandparents who spoil them) At Christmas, we make an extra effort to teach our kids about giving to others, especially those who don’t have things, at Christmas. Now that the girls are toddlers we are wanting to find even more ways to make Christ centered traditions. I love everything about Christmas, the weather, the songs, the decorations, but I want our family to remember Him more than anything. The more great ideas and help to do this, the better — especially with planning as things can get so busy and Christmas and come and go before you know it. Like Danielle said in the above comment, we have to simplify things with our family. My family is in town, but we have told them, that we are going to get up, have our nice relaxing time together as a family, and then if my parents want they are welcome to come up for breakfast, but we’re not going to rush and miss out on the time together as a family building traditions and celebrating Christ’s birth.
Sounds like a great book! Thanks for the giveaway:)
We finalize our calendar for December in November after deciding what is important for us to do. After that, we decline activities.
one thing my family has done to simplify Christmas eve is to make a winter chili in the crockpot that cooks while we’re at church, along with homemade bread in the bread machine. when we come home, there’s no need to fuss with dinner, and we can enjoy a dinner together!
What a great idea for a book! Seems like very year we get to busy or to stressed. The one thing we have had to do is tell our families (mine and my husbands live in town) that we can only see them every other year. While it cuts down on time we get to spend with them, it’s great for our own little family since we don’t spend the entire Christmas day running all over trying to see everyone and have dinners at both homes. It used to be a whole day event for us and by the time we got home, we had no time to start any traditions of our own.