A daily dose of inspiration & motivation for the busy holiday season.
This is a day to be filled with family, food, and fun! It is my fondest wish and hope that you will have a wonderful day.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to enjoy your Thanksgiving! Don’t think about your to do list. Just do what you need to do to prepare your meal and spend time with family. And don’t forget to count your blessings! Christmas is still about four weeks from today, but we are ahead of the game.
Pie, glorious pie. I love a Thanksgiving meal, but I dream of the pie that follows. Have you decided what type of pie(s) to make for Thanksgiving?
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to bake your pie(s). You will have plenty to do for tomorrow, so get the pies done today. I make both a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie each with my own butter crust. Don’t forget real whipped cream! (But this should be made tomorrow.)
Come on. Make my mouth water. What pies show up to your family’s Thanksgiving meal? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and let us know.
Thanksgiving will be a day filled with family and laughter. It will be a day to create memories. Don’t spend more time than you have to in the kitchen that day. Get a head start today.
Today’s Countdown to Christmas Challenge is to decide what can be cooked or prepared today and get it done. Need vegetables cut for the stuffing? Do all of your chopping today. Can you prepare and refrigerate the casserole today so that it is ready to go in the oven on Thursday? Does the cranberry sauce need time to set up? Go beyond opening a can of cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving. Native Americans introduced the Pilgrims to the taste and benefits of cranberries long ago. My Aunt Vicki has always made Cranberry Salad for my extended family’s get-together and though I tried hard to find a unique recipe for our family’s traditional meal, nothing was as good to me as Aunt Vicki’s.
What on your Thanksgiving menu can you make ahead of time? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and tell us about it.
This week will be all about getting ready for the Thanksgiving meal. Each day will be an opportunity to prepare for the feast that lies ahead. Start early, take it slow, and enjoy the season! Thanksgiving memories tend to be centered around a table. It is easy to imagine family, lots of food, and lots of laughter. The table is usually as much a part of the equation as the turkey! It is a good idea to plan ahead in order to make it as warm and inviting as your fondest memories.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to take out your best table linens and check them for stains or wrinkles. Give them a good ironing, if possible. Begin to think about your table settings. Do you have enough plates, glasses, and silverware for your crowd? If not, borrow from a friend or relative for the big day. And last but not least, plan to have some type of centerpiece. It could be as simple as candles, a bowl of fruit, or your handmade Thankful Tree. A personal touch adds so much to a holiday table.
See ListPlanIt’s Thanksgiving Board on Pinterest.
Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and tell us about your favorite Thanksgiving table touches.
Family Fun Magazine had a wonderful family project that is perfect for Thanksgiving. It is a great way to encourage family members and even guests to think about what makes them thankful.
Today’s Countdown to Christmas Challenge is to take a look at Family Fun Magazine’s instructions for making your own Thankful Tree. Gather the materials and then sit down with your family to discuss what makes each member thankful. It makes a lovely decoration for your Thanksgiving celebration. Have extra materials ready for guests to add their own leaves of thankfulness to your tree.
Still working from top to bottom, nothing makes a house feel clean like clean bathrooms. You may need to spread this one out if you have two or more bathrooms in your home.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to give your bathroom a good deep cleaning! Clean the surfaces you haven’t thought of in a while. Because this challenge comes a week before Thanksgiving, you may need to touch up closer to the day, but this will save you from having to bake pies the same day you are scrubbing your toilets. Eww!
When cleaning, the most efficient method is from top to bottom. That way, any particles that float down will not land on a clean surface. So, without further adieu, today’s cleaning assignment is DUSTING!
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to dust (or vacuum) ceiling and window corners, all furniture, knick-knacks, and shelves. This would make a GREAT after-school activity for the kids, as well. Give them some socks to cover their hands, a little dusting spray, and some instructions. All you would need to do is follow up on their progress.
Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page to dish about holiday cleaning.
Unfortunately, cleaning is unavoidable this close to a major holiday. This week, we will focus on one major task a day. If we can accomplish each task this week, we will be all the more prepared to host Thanksgiving and leave time next week for food preparation.
The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is simply to prepare yourself for a mindset to clean. Even if you are not hosting Thanksgiving, it is a great way to prepare your home for the start of the Christmas season. Come back each day to commit yourself to the task at hand. Let us know how you are keeping up (or not).
What is your holiday cleaning strategy? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and share your tips.
Today is just two weeks away from Thanksgiving. Do you know why you are thankful? For what will you give thanks this holiday season? Thanksgiving is more than a chance to commemorate a period of history; it is an opportunity to take stock of our lives and be grateful!
Today’s Countdown to Christmas Challenge is to take a moment of gratitude. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving is upon you. The meaning of the holiday will be completely lost in dinner preparations and houseguests. Tonight at dinner, go around the table with your immediate family and ask them what they are thankful for in their lives. Use their answers as a way of building upon the holiday. Put it in your Christmas cards. Do whatever it takes to recognize all of the blessings and good fortune you truly have!
What are you thankful for? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and tell us.
Thanksgiving is just over three weeks away! It is a good idea to start thinking now about what recipes have worked for your Thanksgiving dinners in the past and what recipes are such parts of your tradition that you wouldn’t even think of having Thanksgiving without them.
Today’s Countdown to Christmas Challenge is to start looking through your recipes to locate favorites and keep them together in a convenient spot. If you have a copier at home, copy several of your favorite holiday recipes onto a few pages, then add these to your holiday planner under a new tabbed divider called Thanksgiving. Then, replace your recipes back to their original location for safe-keeping.
What are your sources for Thanksgiving recipes: family, cookbooks, the internet? Visit the 100 Days to Christmas Facebook page and join the conversation.
Planning a menu and grocery list can save you lots of money and time, not only through the holidays but also throughout the year. This week, ListPlanIt.com is away 5 Magnetic Grocery List Notepads. Simply hang it on your refrigerator and be ready with a completed meal planner and grocery list within minutes.
You have several ways to enter to win:
1) leave a comment here and tell us why you would like a magnetic grocery list notepad,
2) tell your friends & followers about 100 Days to Christmas on Twitter (it’s easy to do with our share buttons below) and leave a comment here linking to your Twitter handle (be sure to follow @100Days on Twitter, too),
3) subscribe to 100 Days to Christmas‘ RSS feed using a reader or by email (and get our daily posts delivered straight to your inbox) and leave a comment here,
4) blog about 100 Days to Christmas, then leave a comment here linking to your post.
5) follow our page on Facebook and tell our entire community that you are going to participate in this week’s giveaway by leaving the following message on our Facebook wall, “I’m entering to win a magnetic grocery list notepad from ListPlanIt.com at 100 Days to Christmas!”
One of each of these per day please. You have until Friday, November 4 at 6 pm EST to enter.
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