A daily dose of inspiration & motivation for the busy holiday season.
Warmest wishes for a family-filled Christmas day. May you enjoy good food and lots of fun.
Thank you for participating in 100 Days to Christmas! It has been a pleasure working together to make this the best Christmas yet. I hope you will be back next year, on September 16, 2012, to once again begin the journey of 100 Days to Christmas. Until then, check in at the 100 Days to Christmas community page now and again to read timely reminders of upcoming holidays. Merry Christmas!
We started at 100 and have counted our way down to the very day before Christmas. Today is the final day to do what needs to be done, but above all, to enjoy the beautiful and meaningful moments of this holiday.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to sit around the Christmas tree as a family and read your favorite Christmas story, whether that be the story from Luke about the birth of baby Jesus or “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”. Feel the magic of Christmas. Absorb it. Commit it to memory. And finally, don’t forget to leave out cookies and milk for Santa (and a carrot for Rudolph, too)!
Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and let us know how you have done on this journey of 100 days. Was there something that wasn’t covered that you feel should have been covered? Your feedback is invaluable to how we organize our 100 days for 2012.
If you’re planning for your Christmas Eve or Christmas day dinner and have pie or bread on the menu, locate your recipes and break out the flour because today is a great day for baking.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to finish the task of baking so that tomorrow can be saved for the busyness that accompanies the day before Christmas. Do whatever can be done today. For a little extra fun, camp out under your Christmas tree tonight in your sleeping bags. Savor the tree and its beautiful decorations and soak up the chance to create new Christmas traditions for your family.
Christmas dinner, whether enjoyed on Christmas Eve or on Christmas day, is a time to gather together as family and friends to put aside all of the distractions of the holidays and concentrate on what is truly important. Good food happens to be an excellent way to do just that.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to begin preparations of the side dishes in order to save time on the day of the dinner. Chop all of the vegetables that you will need. Prepare your cranberry salad today and allow it to properly set up. Assemble that favorite casserole and then refrigerate it until it is time to start cooking dinner.
Once again, we have reached a crucial cleaning time of the season. Christmas is officially THIS WEEK and there is still much to do to be ready for any Christmas festivities you may be having in your home. This week we will be focusing on cleaning different areas, beginning from the top.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to plan your cleaning schedule using your calendar or ListPlanIt’s Week of Christmas*. Pencil in the remainder of your Christmas obligations to coincide with dinner preparations, houseguests, end-of-school
happenings, and everything else that takes place during the last week before Christmas. While it’s not necessary to spring clean, some tasks to include are dusting, cleaning bathroom(s), vacuuming, mopping, changing sheets for guests, and cleaning out your refrigerator to make room for make-ahead dishes and holiday leftovers. Are visions of a clean house for Christmas dancing through your head?
* Available as a download in the 100 Days to Christmas 2011 eBook. Members to ListPlanIt.com can print or download a Week of Christmas worksheet in Holidays & Occasions.
How do you build in cleaning to your busy holiday schedule? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and let us know.
One week from today is Christmas day! After a long week of down-to-the-wire Christmas preparations, it is time to have a holiday evening off with the family.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to tell your family to get in their warm and cozy jammies. While they are doing that, fill a thermos with some hot chocolate. Pack your thermos and enough mugs for everyone and head out to drive around and check out the Christmas lights. Sing Christmas carols, sip hot chocolate (but not too hot), and enjoy the sights of the season.
Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and tell us about your favorite outdoor Christmas decorations. Do they involve synchronized blinking lights set to music? Ours do.
Popcorn strings are a traditional decoration that links your family’s Christmas tree to a simpler time.
Today’s Countdown to Christmas Challenge is to pop a giant bowl of popcorn. This can be cheap and easy by adding a quarter cup of popcorn kernels to a brown paper lunch bag. Fold the top of the bag over two or three times and then microwave for about two minutes. Using a quilting needle and a heavy-duty string, begin to thread kernels one by one onto the string. I would suggest putting one person on each end of the string to finish faster. Keep popping until you can string enough to make a nice garland for your tree. Pop extra for your family’s movie night and add the topping of your choice.
Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and tell us what you and/or your family are watching tonight. Which Christmas movies are your favorites?
In my house, presents are not placed under the tree until Christmas Eve. I fill the empty space with a new stuffed Christmas creature each year and some empty decorative storage boxes. When I used to place presents under the tree throughout December, I grew tired of my children picking up the wrapped packages and asking me how many days until they could open them. That does not mean that I don’t wrap as early as possible. Once they are covered by paper, I can relax a little more.
Today’s Countdown to Christmas Challenge is to lock yourself in a bedroom or private space and get as much wrapping done as possible. For some added fun, call some of the girls over and make it a Gift Wrap Party! Some can wrap and some can accessorize. Be sure to label each present.
How do you handle presents under the tree? When do you begin wrapping presents? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and weigh in.
Gingerbread has long been associated as a winter treat, especially at Christmas-time. European bakers have produced scores of varieties including everything from a hard gingery cookie to a soft gingerbread or ginger cake. People have been using gingerbread to create sweet, elaborate, miniature dwellings since it first arrived in Europe in the 11th century.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to renew your appreciation for gingerbread. Whether you bake a batch of gingerbread cookies (try this Butterscotch Gingerbread Cookie recipe from AllRecipes.com), a moist gingerbread cake, or the walls and roof of a gingerbread house, have fun with this delicious activity.
Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and tell us about your family’s favorite gingerbread recipe. Post a photo of this year’s gingerbread house.
Angel Trees from Prison Fellowship, the red buckets and bell-ringers from The Salvation Army, and Toys for Tots by the Marine Corps are all recognizable symbols of Christmas generosity. The need for kindness and aid to those less fortunate, especially this year, is great.
Today’s Countdown to Christmas Challenge is to take part in helping your neighbors. Become a force for good this Christmas. Search out ways to help others. Demonstrate to your children all the ways that Christmas is about giving instead of only getting. The impact of people helping people is for the good of all. Spread the Christmas spirit!
How are you showing kindness this holiday season? What are your favorite charitable organizations? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and join the conversation.
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