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Prepare to relax and enjoy a stress-free Christmas this year thanks to the Mums Make Lists ultimate guide to Christmas planning.
Here you will find absolutely everything you need to prepare for Christmas, from planning and organising tips, to printable to lists, checklists and planners through to mouthwatering Christmas food and treats recipes, ideas for your Christmas day menu, decorations and gift guides. Its. All. Here.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED: CHRISTMAS PLANNING GUIDE 2022

CHRISTMAS PLANNING AND ORGANISATION
THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS TO DO LIST 2022 (PLUS FREE PRINTABLE)
Use this epic Christmas to do list to plan out your Christmas preparations.
THE ULTIMATE LIST OF 100+ CHRISTMAS PLANNING TIPS 2022
This list of Christmas tips will help you avoid all the usual stresses of planning Christmas
FREE CHRISTMAS GIFT PLANNER 2022 [FREE GOOGLE SHEET DOWNLOAD INCLUDING BUDGET TRACKER]
Make sure you get your Christmas gift shopping done in good time and stay on track with your budget with this free google sheet planner
Christmas planner PDF PRINTABLES: christmas decor bundle
Use this free printable Christmas decor planning bundle to organise your Christmas home decor.
10 Ways to do a last-minute pre-Christmas declutter
A pre-Christmas declutter will help you feel much more prepared for the onslaught of Christmas guests and new stuff arriving in your home!
CHRISTMAS FOOD SHOPPING LIST TEMPLATE: CHRISTMAS MEAL CHECKLIST & FREE PRINTABLE MEAL PLANNER & GROCERY LIST
Print this Christmas food planner for stress-free Christmas food planning and prep this year.
CHRISTMAS FOOD INSPIRATION
18 CHRISTMAS CAKE DECORATING IDEAS
All the inspiration you need to decorate your own cake - or find one to buy that looks like one of these!!
EASY CHRISTMAS DINNER MENU
Keep it simple and easy to prepare... but utterly delicious with this Christmas dinner menu.
60 CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATES RECIPES AND CHRISTMAS CANDY RECIPES
Dive into this big list of 60 chocolates and candy recipes that are all perfect for making DIY Christmas candy gifts to give this festive season.
8 EASY MOCKTAIL RECIPES
Just as delicious as the alcoholic variety and great for tweens and teens.
HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS CANDY IDEAS
Want to make delicious homemade gifts? This lot i mouthwateringly good!s
TRADITIONAL BRANDY BUTTER RECIPE
This is a recipe for a traditional brandy butter. It's the perfect accompaniment to Christmas pudding and mince pies on Christmas day.
EASY MINCE PIES RECIPE
This mincemeat recipe is a family recipe that has been handed down from my grandma, it's perfect for making mince pies.
CHRISTMAS CROCKPOT DRINKS RECIPES
Perfect for making batch quantities of steaming hot, delicious drinks for Christmas eve!
EASY CHRISTMAS BAKING TREATS FOR KIDS
Christmas baking is a great way to keep excited kids occupied in the run-up to Christmas
TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE
This recipe is a family favouite, it's rich and moist and mouthwateringly good.
SMOKED MACKEREL PATE RECIPE
A simple but delicious smoked mackerel pâté recipe perfect for serving as a Christmas appetiser.
CHRISTMAS DECOR
Christmas Tree decoration ideas and themes
How will you style your tree this year? Use this roundup of Christmas tree decor for inspiration.
How to make an easy but beautiful DIY Christmas wreath
Fancy making your own wreath? Here are some gorgeous wreath ideas.
Brilliantly simple Christmas wreath video tutorials
These videos will help you make a gorgeous Christmas wreath step-by-step
35 WONDERFUL IDEAS FOR EASY TO MAKE HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
It's a lovely tradition to make a decoration each year to add to the collection.
UNIQUE PERSONALIZED TREE ORNAMENTS for baby's first christmas
Special ornaments for a very special first Christmas.
10 Dollar Store Christmas DIY Decorations that are super easy
Dollar-store or Poundshop decorations can be absolutely fabulous!
10 Ways to make your home smell like Christmas
These scents will instantly transport you to a Christmas winter wonderland!
Eco-friendly Christmas decorations
It's always great to build eco-friendliness into everything you do!
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
CHRISTMAS CRAFTS FOR KIDS
FUN CHRISTMAS CRAFT IDEAS FOR KIDS
The thought of Christmas is super exciting for kids (of all ages!). But sometimes the wait for Christmas, particulary in the final days and weeks can be unbearable if you're a child. So here are some really fun Christmas craft ideas for kids that they can make in the run up to Christmas to keep them occupied and feeling like Christmas really is on its way.
CHRISTMAS CARD IDEAS FOR KIDS TO CRAFT AND MAKE
This is a big list of Christmas card ideas for kids to craft and make, either with parents helping toddlers and preschoolers or for older kids, tweens and teens to craft by themselves or with a little parental guidance.
The list of ideas for homemade Christmas cards focuses on Christmas card designs and templates that are easy to make, all of the idea, how-to-guides and templates are free. Some of the tutorials also feature step-by-step tutorial videos to make life super easy.
WASHI TAPE CHRISTMAS CRAFT IDEAS
Washi Tape is great for crafting and creating with. Teens and tweens love it. So here is a bunch of really lovely Christmas craft ideas using Washi Tape to inspire your tweens and teens to do some Christmas creating.
EASY MARSHMALLOW CRAFT RECIPES
What kid doesn't love marshmallows? And what kid doesn't love Christmas?! So why not combine the two and give the kids an easy marshmallow craft recipe to make in the run up to Christmas.
20 EASY CHRISTMAS BAKING TREATS RECIPES FOR KIDS
Baking with kids is a great way to get them excited and involved in helping to prepare for Christmas. Choose from this list of 20 easy Christmas baking treats recipes that are perfect for kids to bake.
THE ADVANTAGES OF PLANNING AHEAD FOR CHRISTMAS AND HOW TO DO IT
The business of getting ready for a family Christmas is a big job.
If you are also working, parenting and running the household at the same time, planning and preparing for Christmas can be really stressful.
Where are you supposed to suddenly magic up all the extra time – not to mention money – to get everything ready?
GET AHEAD GET ORGANISED
This is why I believe it pays to be super organised, even if you really don’t feel like it weeks ahead of Christmas.
The reality is, it’s your best chance to arrive at the 25th December ready to enjoy Christmas day rather than in a stressed out heap.
I learned this the hard way.
By slumping into Christmas day an exhausted, strung-out wreck.
Albeit a wreck with a fabulous outfit and a smile plastered across my face.
But a wreck all the same.
That all changed three years ago when I took a step back and looked at how exhausted I was on Christmas day and how quickly the day flashed by.
HAVE A SIMPLE PLAN AND STICK TO IT
Ahead of the next Christmas I sat down and looked at all the different things that need taking care of in the run up to Christmas and put together a simple plan.
A plan I thought I had a good chance of sticking to.
I found it worked.
Still need convincing that a a bit of pre-organisation is better than winging it?
Here’s some reasons to help convince you…
Download my Christmas to do list printable and use it to plan your Christmas
CHRISTMAS PLANNING CAN SAVE YOU TIME AND MONEY
Make time to do some Christmas planning and you will invariably find there is a whole list of benefits.
1. SAVE YOURSELF TIME
We are all time-starved in a world that is increasingly fast-paced.
Planning ahead for Christmas and breaking your tasks down week by week and then day by day towards the 25th December means you will be ready and equipped to handle each task.
Ready and equipped means it will take you less time.
What’s not to love about saving time getting ready for Christmas?
2. DRAW UP A BUDGET AND YOU WILL SAVE MONEY
If you set yourself a budget you are far less likely to overspend.
Especially if you set it up far enough in advance to avoid panic buying at the last minute.
You are also more likely to pick up better deals.
Checking for Black Friday and other shopping events and discounts can save you lots of money.
If you go so far as to plan your budget at the start of the year, you can set aside money each month towards Christmas.
That way you don’t end up feeling broke the second Christmas is over.
I’ve put together a free Christmas gift shopping planner document you can use to plan your gift shopping with.
There are columns for each gift budget, the actual cost of each gift and a running balance to help you stay on track.
Visit the Christmas gift shopping planner post to grab your planner.
Plus I’ve put together a list of 100 ideas for cheap stocking stuffers that kids will actually love and use, rather than discard by Boxing Day.
3. MAKE IT STRESS-FREE
There is no getting away from it.
The run-up to Christmas can be stressful.
But the more time you spend on your Christmas planning, the more likely you are to keep stress levels at bay.
The lower your stress levels, the more likely you are to actually enjoy Christmas when it arrives.
You’ll also have more time to plan for the lovely little details, like making your house smell like Christmas with one of these gorgeous ideas.
4. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BE MORE CREATIVE
There’s nothing worse than panic buying or making Christmas gifts at the last minute.
Put a gift list together as part of your planning to give yourself time and space to get really creative with your gifts.
It’ll also allow you to get more creative with your Christmas decorations – you’ll have time to make some!
Check out the Homemade Christmas decorations post for some super easy ideas.
Plus the Dollar store Christmas DIY decorations post for ideas that are both super easy and cheap to make.
5. GET THE CHORES DONE AHEAD OF CHRISTMAS
There’s nothing worse than finishing off Christmas preparations at a minute to midnight on Christmas Eve.
Not to mention the misery of last-minute present buying missions.
Sticking to a plan means that you can plan to get all the chores done in plenty of time.
Which means you can spend Christmas Eve getting into the Christmas spirit with your family and friends.
READY TO GET GOING WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS PLANNING?
So where do you start with planning Christmas?
Start by drawing up a list of everything you need to do.
Base this list on what you’re doing for Christmas this year.
In fact, deciding what you’re doing for Christmas is a good start to the planning process.
Everything else on the list will revolve around what you need to do to arrive at stress-free at Christmas Day.
Use my week-by-week Christmas to do list to plot out your Christmas preparation. You can grab your copy of the planner here.
I’ve tried to break every task down into manageable chunks to tackle each week.
The planner starts from the first week of October.
Because I think October is an ideal time to start planning.
Especially if you want to avoid thinking about Christmas over the summer!
Discovered the planner later than 1 October?
Simply adjust the timings and still follow the basic principles of it.
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Hello, I’m Luci, founder of Mums Make Lists (Est. 2011). Over the last decade or so, I have combined my experience as a mum, journalist and shopping editor to create useful guides and lists of ideas and inspiration to make it easier for busy parents to plan and host kids’ parties and find great gifts. Read more.