Real Simple Gifts: Ways to Prepare for the Holidays

1. Buy gifts in bulk
Yes, of course you want your gifts to be personal, but only for the people you really know personally. For the rest, shop at the supermarket. Choose your favorite gourmet food item—such as festively packaged Terra Medi Extra Virgin Olive Oil (opposite; $10 at gourmet stores or www.crateandbarrel.com)—and buy enough of it to last you through this season’s parade of parties and visits.


If You Have 5 Minutes
2. Plan your seating chart. Head off heated political debates this holiday season by working out a dinner seating chart ahead of time. Make sure Uncle Buck, the ex-marine, doesn’t sit next to draft-dodging cousin Terry, who’s been living in Canada since the 70s. “I always seat my best friend next to me and, when it’s warranted, the person I like least at the other end of the table,” says Donata Maggipinto, author of Christmas Family Gatherings (www.amazon.com, $23). “I also place talkers next to nontalkers.” While many families separate grown-ups from kids, Ann Hodgman, author of the new holiday handbook I Saw Mommy Kicking Santa Claus (www.amazon.com, $20), recommends mixing young and old, and giving kids pads and pens to keep them occupied throughout dinner. “Hangman and tic-tac-toe are multigenerational activities,” says Hodgman.

3. Order stamps. Waiting your turn at the post office during the holiday rush is about as much fun as a trip to the DMV. Instead, order your stamps online this year — whenever you like and with the click of a button — at shop. usps.com. New holiday stamps are on sale now.

4. Book beauty appointments. Schedule your December haircut and manicures now (especially if you’ll need a Saturday appointment), before you’re shut out.

5. Plant emergency cleaning supplies. Place disinfecting wipes in every bathroom. (Look for Clorox Disinfecting Wipes or the more indulgent Method Lavender All Purpose Wipes, available at Target, www.target.com.) That way, if something should get in the way of cleaning before guests arrive—you know, like cooking, shopping, dressing your two-year-old—you’ll be able to do a quick strategic wipe-down of all the important surfaces.

6. Make it a bill-free holiday. If your budget allows, pay projected November and December phone, utility, and cable bills when you’re knocking off October’s. It will be one less thing to think about—just file away the next couple of credit-balance statements when they arrive and you’re done.

7. Save the date. Saturday nights in December get booked up fast. If you’re planning a gathering, stake your claim now with a quick e-mail to friends, and follow up later with real invitations. Note: Don’t discount Sunday afternoon as a time slot. Often you’ll have less competition and a less formal (read: less stressful) event.

8. Prepare to take daywear into evening. Fill a tote with a few festive pieces—a pair of heels, an evening bag, sparkly earrings—and stash it in the car or under your desk at work so you’re always ready for a party without having to stop at home first.

9. Organize your table linens.
# Arrange napkins by count (sets of 6, 8, or 12) and tablecloths by shape (oblong, oval, square) so you don’t have to turn the entire stack upside down when looking for the set that matches your head count.

# If you don’t have enough of one color or pattern, don’t run around town trying to fill in the blanks. Try alternating complementary colors, then strategically select the floral arrangement. “Flowers can bring all the errant colors together,” says Serena Bass, author of Serena, Food & Stories (www.amazon.com, $32.50). “People ask, ‘How did you get all these napkins to match your flowers?’”


10. Start a holiday binder. It sounds like something a Brownie troop leader would create, but “once you train yourself to do it, it makes life a lot easier,” says Hodgman. Find a binder with tabbed dividers that makes you happy in that back-to-school kind of way. Things to keep track of: recipes you make each year and new ones clipped from magazines (which are currently sliding down the refrigerator door); gift lists, so next year you won’t give the neighbors that same Santa candle; catalog pages with gift ideas; receipts and printouts of online orders (otherwise it’s your word against theirs, and how do you return that fabulous garden gnome that somehow failed to please Aunt Margie?).


Written by Pilar Guzman and Jenny Rosenstrach, November 2004;
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/0,21770,714289,00.html