Isn’t it just the most wonderful time of the year? The first snows of the season, the twinkling lights, the music, the parties. Amidst everything to enjoy, it can sometimes be hard to squeeze in the shopping and planning that needs to be done!
While we all love the idea of the festive season, the reality of this time of year is that it can be stressful, tiring, and yes, downright expensive. Between planning, cooking, shopping and the other million-and-one things to do, Christmas time can get crazy. These tasks can, unfortunately, ruin the season for us. We want to be able to enjoy the dusting of snow sparkling on our lawn and the hot cocoa while watching Frosty on TV – but we are often interrupted by the craziness of gift giving, planning, and the other million-and-one things on our plates.
During this holiday season, we encourage you not to let the logistics and planning ruin your holiday spirit and cheer. Turn it into an organized process, one that happens early on, so that you don’t have to worry at the last minute. Finding a way to make it methodical and fun will help you stay organized. In turn, this means you will have less to stress about when it gets down to crunch time (a few days before Christmas and everything closes). Luckily, we’ve got some tips for making gift giving easy.
Santa Claus was on to something when he made a list and checked it twice. It’s always smart to start your gift-giving process by making a list. Write down everyone you need a gift for, a couple options of gifts for each person, where those gifts can be purchased, and your goal purchase date. Double check the list with your spouse to make sure you haven’t forgotten anyone, or that you don’t have someone on there that you don’t really need to buy a gift for. Starting this early can also help with doing research on sales: you might find that a certain item is on sale for a limited time – hop on that right away!
Once you have all your information on a list, you can decide the order of your shopping. Some gifts need to be purchased earlier than others, such as gifts for your kids’ teachers, your boss or secretary, or friends’ holiday parties. Make sure you purchase your gifts in order of when you will need to distribute them. This way, you will keep your brain ‘in order’ and help make sure that you actually give your gift on time.
Another way to make sure you stick to your list is to organize your shopping based on the locations of different stores. If you notice that many of the stores you are buying gifts from are at your local mall or in the same area, try and get all of those presents on the same day – that way you don’t have to make the trip back and forth. Everyone knows malls are busy and crowded at this time of year, they run out of merchandise, and don’t even get us started on the parking lots! Avoid going back at all costs!
And, if you notice that you will have to go to a special store or distant location for a gift, make sure you do this shopping earlier rather than later. This helps you to avoid last minute stress like traffic or running out of stock.
The gift purchasing process is never complete until the gift is wrapped, labelled and ready to go! So, while you may have purchased all your gifts on time, or even early, make sure you don’t leave all your wrapping and decorations until the last minute. This process can actually take some time to do properly.
One way to meet all of your gift-giving needs is to order holiday gift baskets in Toronto. Once you’ve made your list, especially for friends, colleagues, or loved ones that live far from you, you will most likely see that their wish lists can be satisfied by one of our baskets from our wide selection! If you’ve got a foodie friend, we’ve got baskets with cheeses, tapenades and gourmet crackers that are sure to impress and hit the spot. For coworkers with a sweet tooth, one of our chocolate towers is sure to please! For friends or even clients with kids, our holiday-themed baskets are youthful and fun, leaving a lasting impression.
The best part about buying gift baskets for your Christmas presents is that you eliminate having to go to the store, running around to a million places, doing the wrapping, and delivering yourself. When you order a basket from us, whether it is a special Christmas basket or one of our year-round custom gift baskets in Toronto, we will decorate and wrap it in Christmas theme for you. And, we’ll make sure to deliver it promptly and professionally to your recipient, leaving yet another less thing for you to do! Help yourself out and make your gift giving process that much easier. Make your list, check it twice, and order a basket from Nutcracker Sweet for your loved ones!
