Today marks the two month mark to Christmas! Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas specifically, the other winter holidays are also quickly approaching. I like to take this time to do as much in advance of the craziness as possible. This means starting to figure out what gifts I want to give my loved ones. Doing this early lets me shop before the crowds are busiest (and loudest) and lets me save money on shipping when I choose the slower methods. If you plan on making hand-made gifts starting now gives you extra time to collect your supplies and pace yourself while working on them.

Although I’m not a huge fan of stores having their holiday aisles up months before a holiday or even preceding the holiday before the holiday, there are some perks. If you’ll be needing wrapping paper, holiday cards, etc… now is a great time to get them. It’s one less thing to have to do later. You can start addressing and stamping your holiday cards now, which is half the process. That also means collecting addresses from people who have moved or new friends you want to send a card to. I’ve written before about how my all-time favorite time to buy Christmas cards is during the post-Christmas sales though. Then I usually can get them 50-75% off and have them to start working on whenever I get the time for the next year. Although I hand write messages in all my cards, I do use sticker return address labels to free my hands from some of the writing. I create these labels at home on my printer, so they’re still a little more personalized.

The upcoming holidays also mean the weather will be getting colder. Make sure you have the essentials for keeping warm and start gathering them if you don’t. When I write that I’m thinking coats, hats, mittens/gloves, scarves. Nobody wants to be stuck in really cold weather with a coat that no longer zips or only one glove. If it has been more than three months since you last changed your air filters, remember to do that before you start running your heater on a daily basis. This will help keep your indoor air quality better and hopefully help any allergies you have.

What holiday preparations are you getting ready to make?

I’m excited to get my Christmas cards out and start working on them*

*Image Credit: from www.flickr.com by tengrrl.