ByYvonne Pratt
It’s almost Christmas! If you need a bit of joy and lightness right now in your life, here are 10 ways to help you get in the Christma spirit!
Sometimes, we get so busy with all the preparation and bustle of Christmas that we forget our Ho Ho Ho! It’s more like Ho Ho Humbug!Christmas can be a stressful time, and that’s such a shame!
I’m sharing 10 ways to put a little jingle back into your step and Christmas joy in your heart! Even if you are the happiest of Christmas elves, these ideas will help you celebrate this special season!
I’m sure these suggestions will get you singing Christmas carols in no time!
Listen To Christmas Music
Listen to your favorite Christmas music! When I’m cleaning or decorating a room or a tree I like to listen to peppy, fun Christmas music. When I cook, I listen to Michael Buble or Christmas standards and when I’m working and need to concentrate without a whole lot of foot tapping. I listen to my Pandora station: Peaceful Christmas Music!
PANDORA has the most wonderful Christmas stations!
Christmas music is such a special treat and most of us only listen to it this time of year! Get in as much Christmas music listening as you can! It’s a real mood lifter!
Fill Your Home With Christmas Scents
Oh, joy!! Aromas create and trigger strong memories. Fill your home with scents of peppermint, cinnamon and cloves, evergreen,vanilla, and other delicious Christmas scents. My favorite way to do this is by diffusing essential oils.
Another way to add a Christmas scent to a room is to make your own Scented Pinecones. They are so easy to make and can be stored and refreshed from year to year.
Cut Down On Your To-Do List
Okay, just do it! You know you should. A little bit of holiday tough love, friend. Most of us have a pretty busy holiday schedule.
If you are like me, you tend to keep piling those chores, parties, responsibilities, etc on. Don’t do it! The object of getting to Christmas day is to have a prepared heart, not a prepared everything else in the universe!
That leaves our spiritual and emotional tanks empty and our bodies exhausted with hot glued fingertips, glitter in our hair, and bags under our eyes! I took a serious look at all I did a few years back and cut it down.
Did I really need to make 15 different kinds of Christmas cookies? NO! So if I make them, I only make a few of our very favorites. This is so freeing Do I really need three Christmas trees decking the halls at the Tanglewood house? It’s much better to have one that is carefully and joyfully decorated! Please hear me… Do what is important to you and your family. That’s it! You will be so much happier, and your family will love you for it too.
Christmas can be Christmas without all the extras. Charlie Brown was right!
Enjoying The Week Before Christmas has a few ideas that will make your week much more peaceful!
Ask For Help
This is huge!
My grandmother lived with her mother-in-law, my great-aunt lived down the street and Nani’s next-door neighbors felt like family. They worked together. Many hands make light work. The old adage is true. We can learn a lot about working together from our grandmothers.
If you love cookie baking, barter cookies for a Christmas chore you don’t like as much. If you are a decorating elf but cleaning/organizing is just not your gift, let it be known that you are ready to trade jobs.
Because of my busy job, I need help. My friend also works for me and will help me put away my Christmas decorations this year. I can’t even begin to tell you the giant Christmas tree-size weight that will be lifted off of me!
I usually move right into January’s blogging schedule the day after Christmas and don’t have time to de-decorate except between the hours of 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM the week right after New Year. And that is already scheduled for much-needed sleep. My friend Katie is a godsent in my life!
Delegate. You should not do all the Christmas work. If another person lives in your home, share the work and enjoy the fun together.
I’m hosting Christmas this year, but I have grown children, and they really pitch in. And I don’t wash a dish. My sweet Bobby is in charge of the sink. What a joy to work together.
Do things that make your life and the Christmas season easier and more enjoyable. Ask for help. Seriously, do it!
Decorate Something For 20-Minutes
Decorating our homes at Christmastime can be daunting. How fun would it be to pour yourself into a Christmas decoration that only took 20 minutes to do?
Most of us can find 20 minutes in our day to make something beautiful. Making an effort to concentrate on only that one thing for 20 minutes will give our minds a much-needed timeout and get us into the Christmas spirit.
There are so many easy-to-do Christmas arrangements on the blog that take less than 20 minutes to create. 9 Easy Last-Minute Christmas Decorating Ideas is full of beautiful last-minute Christmas decorating ideas. These are my favorites.
Read The Real Christmas Story
If you are not feeling very Christmassy, give yourself a break! It’s okay.
To tell you the truth, how we celebrate Christmas is a far cry from the real-deal first Christmas. If you want to really get the true meaning of Christmas, read about it in the Bible, Luke 2:1-20. Or read about it HERE.
The REAL Christmas is a post with all the tinsel and elves stripped from the Christmas scene and all the raw sights, smells, emotions, and meaning added back in! This is one of my most popular posts.
Christmas is really not about the decorations and tinsel. It’s about how God came to us with His plan of salvation! Oh, now that is something to celebrate, my friend.
Even if you are the jolliest of Christmas lovers or the grumpiest Grinch, you should make time to read the true Christmas story! It’s so good for your soul.
Christmas Spirit is real and should be cherished!
Read A Christmas Book
Take time to read a few Christmas books! The ones on the list below are simple and yet so poignant!
Just saying “The Best Christmas Pagent Ever” makes me giggle… every time!
- THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
- UNWRAPPING THE GREATEST GIFT
- THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER (I read this every year)
- THE LITTLEST ANGEL (this one, too, and cry buckets)
- THE CHRISTMAS WISH
- AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS
Watch A Christmas Movie
Grab a bowl of popcorn, some candy canes, and the family and watch a Christmas movie together!
We had a family tradition that continues to this day. Every Friday night is movie night. Now, my children who have young families do the same.
We just watched Elf (fast-forwarding through a few parts), and our little boys howled!
See The Christmas Decorations And Lights By Car
This is a big favorite of mine!
Last night, on the way home from a family birthday dinner, Bobby and I were making a mental note of what homes we wanted to visit on our Christmas lights tours. The good, the bad, and the oh,-what-were-you-thinking ugly! I must admit I LOVE a good train wreck of a display as much as I love a one-of-a-kind Christmas beauty!
There is something magical about Christmas lights! Make sure to turn on the Christmas tunes and take a thermos or traveler of hot chocolate and maybe a cookie or two!
Make it a family event!
Paint Your Nails Red
Get a manicure and paint your nails Christmas red. And if you are daring, add sparkles.Enough said!
Go For A Walk
Don’t forget to exercise during the holidays. We tend to drop our exercise routines when we get busy. But exercise will help your mental outlook, and you will feel better, too! I swim, and it’s such good medicine!
Spend time in the fresh air. Get outside. Even if it is cold.
Oops! I think that was 11 ways to get into the Christmas spirit! Here are a few other things that might put a little jingle bell in your step!
- stay away from the mall (Only go to see Santa. The rest can be life-sucking at Christmas!)
- order online
- visit local shops
- buy a small real evergreen tree (If you have a big artificial tree get a small tree or at least a bunch of real greens right before Christmas)
- send Christmas cards and write them yourself
- drink hot chocolate ( Here’s an easy slow cooker peppermint hot chocolate I love)
- give to your favorite charity- Christmas is about joy, hope, love, and peace
- go to church
- volunteer if you can
- find out what local events are happening in your area and go
- wrap gifts as you get them
- eat lots of cookies (and make sure you follow the last tip- get those walking shoes on!)
- make gifts/cookies for friends and drop them off at their front door
- hang a wreath on your front door with a big bow
See how to make this super easy SNOWY Christmas Wreath HERE.
FAQ About Christmas Spirit
The best way to do a Christmas activity is with a friend who loves Christmas. Also, volunteer during Christmas! Giving to others will make you feel good!
Listen to Christmas music, decorate a tree, make cookies and watch a Christmas movie.
Be intentional about doing something to celebrate Christmas every day. Read the Christmas story and other related scripture to keep the true meaning of Christmas.
Favorite
Christmas Posts
- Christmas Decorating- Where To Start, What To Do
- The Ultimate Guide To Christmas
- How To Choose The Perfect Christmas Color Palette
- Decorating With Pinecones At Christmas
Click To View More Christmas Inspiration
How do you get in the Christmas spirit! Please share.
Here’s hoping you have the merriest Christmas ever!
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