Christmas Planning in July

Every year I tell myself that I am going to get started on Christmas planning really early. The goal is to have as little stress as possible during the holiday season. This year, being on an especially tight budget, I've decided to actually follow through. I started my gift shopping in June and have to say I'm already done shopping for a couple of people.

I know, I miss all the great Black Friday sales. Sorry - I was never one for those sales. I'm not that crazy. On Thanksgiving I put a higher value on spending time with my family than prepping for all night shopping. Don't get me wrong, I still hit the sales - Memorial Day, Back to School and 4th of July are all good times to shop. And if you know what you want to get some one, you can bargain shop year round.

At any rate, to get myself ready for the holiday season, I've already made my Christmas cards. I even got the envelopes addressed and ready to go. One less thing for me to worry about later.

I found some really cute papers at my local Joann's (and on sale!), the gems I found at Walmart for $1 a pack (and I needed 2), and then the holidays just beg for glitter so I added a little glitter glue accents to the ornaments. I love the shimmer of glitter but hate how it goes everywhere! As a result, I am a strong advocate for glitter glue. You get the shimmer, but it actually stays where you want it!

Speaking of glitter, the red and white circles are textured, glittery paper. I just couldn't seem to get a good picture. :(

The cards went together relatively easily. I spent one afternoon was spent cutting out all the shapes and strips and finalizing what I wanted the cards to look like. The next afternoon was spent piecing everything together. I set up a little assembly line method. Now to just sign them and set them aside until it's time to mail them.