We’re all familiar with equating Christmas and the phrase “hustle and bustle.”
It seems every year things get just a smidge more hectic and it gets increasingly difficult to fight the urge to be swept up in stress.
Well, do I have some answers for you today!!!
I have rounded up some of the greatest tips and tricks to help make this holiday season a little bit easier for you!
I know you are going to find some gems here that will solve all kinds of Christmas madness in your Happy Home. 🙂
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First up – how many of you drag out a giant brown Hefty in the middle of Christmas morning gift-opening in order to catch all of the wrapping paper and toy trash?
What an unsightly thing to have lurking in the background of your precious Christmas photos.
Chica and Jo have the solution – wrap the sides of a giant box with Christmas wrapping paper, leaving the top of the box open. That way, it can function as a trash can AND still look nice for photos.
What a brilliant way to manage the morning mess!
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Ever wonder how you can hang a pretty Christmas wreath from your kitchen cabinets?
Timmons Family Lemonade bought a few of those 3M Scotch Hooks, turned them upside down, and stuck them to the inside of her kitchen cabinet.
Simply loop the top of the wreath’s ribbon through the hook, close the cabinet and admire how beautiful it looks.
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Wondering how to store all of your wrapping paper?
I am not even kidding when I tell you that I would rather go buy new wrapping paper than try to wrestle the box down where I store all of my other rolls.
Above find your new wrapping paper solution from Practically Martha. A hanging garment bag!
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Do you find that many of your ornaments are broken each year as a result of poor storing?
A quick fix idea from Mom’s Party Cafe – hot glue some cups to a piece of cardboard and layer to fit in plastic bins. Ornaments will fit snugly in each cup.
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This next tip goes against everything I believe in.
At our Happy Home, if glitter gets on the floor, I am the first one to dive down and roll around in it.
We don’t EVER clean up glitter. We embrace it.
BUT, if your Happy Hubby isn’t as glitter-patient as mine (poor guy once led worship at our church with a huge sparkle on his cheek because I had given him a pre-service smooch), then this lint-roller idea from Real Simple is just right for you.
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Growing up I remember the hours and hours that my dad and brothers would spend trying to unwrap the tangled web of Christmas lights each year.
I think everyone needed some counseling by the time the job was done.
If only we had known to wrap them around cardboard for neat stacking in bins! Thanks, Martha Stewart, for this great tip!
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Bake at 350 has the perfect solution for easy cookie decorating with Happy Buddies…
Simply grab a few ketchup squeeze bottles from the Dollar Store and fill up with your choice of colored icing.
No more messy clipped-corner-plastic-bags.
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And, finally, this is my favorite tip of all!
When I was teaching 2nd grade, I used to invite the girls in my class over with their moms for a morning of gingerbread house decorating.
It was so much fun – until the end when everyone’s graham cracker structures came crashing down.
Here is the BEST WAY to solve poor gingerbread house architecture…
The Macs suggest hot gluing the graham cracker houses together the night before.
Definitely not edible, but definitely sturdy!
Feel free to leave a comment telling me how one of these tips has lightened your load this Christmas.
🙂
Merry Christmas Tips and Tricks-ing!
those are some awesome ideas! love the wrapping paper garmet bag idea. never seen that one before, genius!
Wow, these are great ideas! I especially like the wrapping paper box for Christmas trash…Cool!
Great ideas! thank you
I loved reading these! Thanks for the great tips!
The lights could also be wrapped around an old wrapping paper tube and stashed with the wrapping paper in the garment bag. My kindergarteners also “glue” graham crackers onto milk cartons with frosting for decorating a gingerbread house. 🙂
We put together our houses with sugar–melted granulated sugar. You just put a cup of two of regular sugar in a skillet on low (my stove, it’s about 3) and stir until it melts into a caramel colored syrup. Next you dip one end of a graham cracker in it and then stick and hold for 30 to 60 seconds to the other graham cracker. (I let all but my 5 year old do this, it is hot–so be careful.) It hardens and wha laa it is stuck–amazing. I am putting together the small ones using 3 full sized graham crackers each for my 2 year old Sunday School kids. All they will have to do is stick candy on them. The best part–it’s edible!
This could be a tip for Christmas or any time of the year… We have an amazon account and so we have wishlists on there for everyone in our family (including extended family) and whenever we see something we think they might like, we add it to the list online. That way, we aren’t just buying something to buy something for Christmas or a birthday… we’re getting something they actually need. 🙂
oh my goodness these are GREAT tips! my favorite are the red cups for ornaments. oh digging my ornaments out and unsnagging them and finding the hooks and such is a real mess and this would be so helpful.
I do the lights wrapped around the cardboard thing, and have for years. In addition to that, I write the date when I last knew the string was working properly. Maybe it’s overkill, but as you said, we don’t need counseling afterward, 🙂
For the gingerbread houses, my sons class made them last year. But his teacher used those little tiny milk cartons (like the ones they get at school) and glued graham crackers to the sides, then stapled a folded piece of paper to the top flap to form a roof (I’m sure you could use more graham crackers here too). It turned out so cute!
Royal icing made with powdered egg whites (found in the baking section) just as strong as hot glue (but doesn’t burn!!)
Glue with royal icing the night before and they will be edible.
Royal icing made with powdered egg whites is safe to keep at room temperature.