Now You Too Can Have a stressless holiday!

Are you always putting off getting your holiday preparations done until the last moment? This year, you can just work along with me to get things done early! This is the second installment of my "get ready for the holidays" series here on my blog. You can still go and read last weeks installment right here. This week: The Dudes on your list.

Mens Foaming Shower Scrub
by opheliasapothecary

Hello there,
I'm sitting here all cuddled up in my blanket and I feel halfway human again after taking some cough medicine and a paracetamol, so I'll tell you what I've been up to :-)
My husband is currently in germany, visiting THE largest european games fair and I get to stay home sick with two sick little kids. Yay! Luckily, he didn't get sick - one of us has to go and buy all those fantastic new games that come out there...
So, I'm using the time alone (or at least, without him) to get started on my husbands Christmas present. I'm not telling you  what it is - sorry hun, no peeking!
I don't know about you, but presents for guys are the hardest ones every year, especially for my husband. So I decided that this week, we'll focus on the guys.  I found yome nice things on etsy, but I'm sure you can come up with more! But lets keep this organized:

Step two (do this NOW):

Add to your list
You probably remembered some more people that need to go on there during the last week. Add them.

split your list

The Dude Scarf, by iWunder

now, go over your list again and split it into people that will get actual presents and those that will just get a little something.

Mark your list
Mark all the Guys on the "Presents" list. How many guys do you have on there? How many of those will get something you have to make? In my casee, that is only my husband. We still have time to make something biggish, especially if there are only one or two guys on there. Here are some things you could make or buy for a dude:

• Food gifts: Spicy chilli oil, BBQ spice mixes, a mountain of cupcakes, spiced rum
• Crafted gifts: Scarves, hats, gloves, cuddly socks, Quilted blanket (maybe sports themed?)
• Bought gifts: Adventure vouchers - rafting, bungee jump - Board games,
  
  

I stay away from books and DVDs - we end up giving those to eachother ALL THE TIME. If you see no danger of that happening, here are my top three books to give to a guy at the moment: Anything written by Terry Pratchett, A Game of Thrones by GRR Martin and Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss They are all fantasy books, but all three authors stand out as especially awesome :-D start crafting something that your husband/dad/best friend will get. Don't start baking yet, that might be a bit too soon ;-)

Custom Cufflinks by jubilantwares

Extra credit

Are your christmas cards designed yet? If you had fun with this, why don't you make a calendar? The girls over at Weeds and  Wildflowers are having a fun calendar design challenge where you design one page and get everyone elses page, too!

What if...

you and your partner decided not to give eachother anything for the holidays?  Make something anyway. Don't spend a lot of money on it, but maybe make a bunch of his favourite cookies and wrap them up nicely.

Budget

I'm not going to tell you how much you can spend on presents and materials, but you should definately take a look at your finances to see how much you can afford to spend. If money is tight, go over your crafting supplies to see what you could make that will not cost you anything that might still make a nice gift. I will give you ideas for your "little something" list in one of the next installments that will not cost you much.

So, what's next?

Next week, we will focus on presents for kids and teens - fun to shop for! You're doing great! Keep up - we'll get it right this time!

Keep creating,
Vee

And did you know...

that my dolls are now available with wool stuffing? I use 100% clean carded sheeps wool from germany