December is in full swing and I bet your calendar is getting pretty full too!
As Christmas Day gets nearer, we can feel like there are SO many things to do.
Let’s ditch a few of them to make things a little easier this year! I promise, no one will mind - they’re too busy thinking about all the things they’re doing for Christmas too 
Here are 3 things you can ditch for a simpler Christmas this year:
Christmas Cards.
Do you expect them anymore?
More and more families are happy to do without sending and receiving Christmas cards each year because of the increase in postage prices and all the paper clutter and recycling it creates, especially this year when recycling programs across the world are failing and more and more paper recycling is just being sent to landfill.
An easy alternative to sending Christmas cards is Paperless Post.
Prepping & cooking all of Christmas lunch or dinner by yourself.
If you’re hosting Christmas lunch or dinner this year and love doing it all yourself, go for it! It’s an amazing gift to give to your family :)
But if the idea of putting on Christmas lunch or dinner by yourself feels really overwhelming, let’s change it up a little and ask guests to bring something! You can do the main part of the meal and ask your guests to bring the rest.
Most guests love to contribute and it can be as simple as jotting down the names of everyone coming to your house for Christmas and popping an item next to it that you can ask them to bring, for example:
- Guest 1: Soft drinks
- Guest 2: Wine
- Guest 3: Snacks (chips or nuts)
- Guest 4: Snacks (lollies or chocolates)
- Guest 5: Dessert (Christmas pudding or pavlova or ice cream)
- Guest 6: Breads or crackers
- Guest 7: A side or salad
- Guest 8: A side or salad
- Guest 9: A side or salad
- Guest 10: Christmas bonbons and plates / napkins for the table
Gift wrapping.
If you’re shopping in person, ask at the store if they can gift wrap your purchase, or check your shopping centre's information desk to see if there’s a charity based gift wrapping station available. For a few dollars, you can have your gifts wrapped for you and support a local charity at the same time!
If you have gifts at home that need wrapping, switch to gift bags for a quicker, easier option that can be reused the following year and reduce waste.
For the kid’s gifts from Santa, they don’t all need to be wrapped individually. Santa can just put the gifts in one big Santa sack and save himself (and the elves) all that time and wrapping paper! Or if you think your kids will be devastated at not having anything to unwrap, maybe just wrap the bigger (easier) gifts and leave the others unwrapped.
When you go to a Christmas get together and bring a gift for the host, a tin of biscuits with a bow on it or a bottle of wine with a ribbon on it are cute options that don't require wrapping!
I hope you found these tips helpful! If you’re ready for next steps on simplifying Christmas, you might like to check out my Make Christmas Easy planner. It’s a set of simple prints that help you get organised for Christmas without stress or overwhelm, so you can relax and enjoy the holiday season too!
Check out the Make Christmas Easy planner here >>
x Marissa
