Artline Monday - Christmas planning countdown

Eeeeek there's only five weeks left until Christmas!  Have you started getting ready for the holidays yet?  If not don't worry, I can to help you with my handy Christmas countdown.

My Christmas countdown created with Artline pens

This is my Christmas bullet journal, I set it up last year and I use it for planning, lists and memory keeping.  You can find my previous post about it here if you would like to see how I use it for recording our holiday memories.  

This year I have planned out my timetable for getting everything ready using my Artline Stix pens and fineliners.  It starts today and has a checklist of things I need to do each week in the run up to Christmas. 

My checklist for weeks four and five

You might have already completed some of these steps or you might find it easier to do them in a different order so if you make your own list think about how to make it work for you.  I like to do as much as I can early so it is out of the way and then I can get on with enjoying the season so I might complete some of these steps before they are due but I have added them to the week I want to get them done by at the latest giving me some wriggle room.

Week five

This week I want to think about gift ideas (for the people I haven't already brought for), making sure I have all the postal addresses I need for cards and presents, checking when I need to order my Christmas turkey by and the date I can prebook my online food shop delivery and finally buy Christmas cards so I can get ready to start writing them.

Week four

I'm going to put my tree up and look for the best prices for the presents I want to buy.  I will get everything I need to wrap the gifts including paper, ribbon, sticky tape, bows and tags and I'll also work out how many stamps I need for my cards and buy those too.

Three weeks and counting

Week three

By this week I want to finish buying the presents and get them all wrapped and posted for the people I won't be seeing before Christmas. I will also get my cards into the post so they arrive in plenty of time for the holidays.  The last couple of things I want to do is start buying (and hiding!) the Christmas snacks and treats and look around for the best deals on the drinks we like too.

Week two

This week is the perfect time to visit friends and family as it is close to the holidays but not when everyone is crazy busy getting ready for the big day.  It is also when I will finalise my Christmas Dinner menu and before I buy half of the supermarket I want to make some extra room in the fridge and freezer.  At some point this week I'll want to do the BIG Christmas food shop so I will have everything we need apart from the fresh items that I will buy the following week.  There's one more thing to do, sort out some entertainment for while we are all home like DVDs and board games we can play together.

Week one 

Okay, for the last week before Christmas I just have a few things left to do.  They are do any food prep I can get out of the way early, collect my turkey and buy any fresh ingredients that I couldn't get before.  The finale thing I have on my checklist is to relax and enjoy the holiday, which I have to say is my favourite step!

I hope this helps you with your Christmas planning!