Planning your crafts for Christmas!

Is it okay to start feeling excited about Christmas ye!t? John Lewis says so. This delicious gingerbread latte suggests so...well whether or not it seems a little early to start putting up the tree and drinking nog, if your planning on making any gifts this year, it is at least time to start planning.
The big day is only 6 weeks away, and if you work full time or have a big family (both of which I do) then this could potentially mean only a few weekends worth of Christmas crafting! So I've started my Christmas prep in the usual way- a big ass spreadsheet. Here's how I manage to get it all done. 

Christmas Crafts Plan 
You will need either Microsoft excel, or a great free alternative I use is Google Docs spreadsheets.

Step 1. Name 5 columns (from left to right):
Column 1: Name
Column 2: Gift
Column 3: Instructions
Column 4: Duration
Column 5:  Date

Step 2. In Column 1, List everyone you want to make a gift for.

Step 3.  Do some research and decide what you will be making for people and then list what you decide in Column 2. Good online sources for gift ideas are Pinterest and Martha Stewart- there’s also some great books like Handmade Gifts.

Tip: Double up- make more than 1 of things that are edible or can be made in larger quantities easily- like soaps, bath bombs, and candy- you can give them out to more than one person, especially if the people receiving the same gift do not know each other.

Step 4. Find the instructions, patterns, recipes for all the items and put a link or reference to them in column 3.

Step 5. Once it’s all filled in, you've got your basic plan, now you need to work out how and when you have time to execute it. Lets start with the How- Create a mini table underneath with 3 sections- “To Buy”, “To Bake” and “To Make”. Going through all the instructions and recipes, deconstruct all the materials and ingredients you don’t have already and put them in these columns. When its all laid out like that, I think it looks much more acheivable. The first thing you’ll need to do is buy all the materials you need (except perishables like fresh ingredients- you’ll just have to pick that up on the day you bake).

Tip: Do this as soon as you can afford it, and as quickly as possible- having everything at home in advance is soooo helpful- I get most of my stuff off ebay.

Step 6. You’re then going to use the "To Make" and "To Bake" columns to help plan and fill in Column 5 the Date to make your items. Firstly, estimate how long you think each project will take e.g. 2 hours, 1 whole evening etc. And write this in column 4.

Tip: Overestimate so you don’t stress yourself out with unnecessarily tight deadlines, make time for a cup of tea or a break if it’s an all evening project.

Step 7: Look at your diary and find free weekends you can devote to the projects (or evenings if you have the energy- I usually don’t so have only planned for weekends).  If possible, plan and write down a date (or dates if it will take several sessions) you are going to make the gift. Though some projects like crochet or cross stitch are best done in front of the telly in the evening, so just start those ASAP. Also remember that if you are making Christmas cards- you should allocate an evening soon and make them ready to send on December 1^st.

Tip: Remember to consider with edible gifts how long they are going to keep for- E.g. something like fudge will keep for a month if in airtight container, but you want your loved one to be able to keep it for at least a couple weeks before it goes stale- therefore you should try and find some time about 2 weeks before Christmas to make it. 

Step 8. You now have a completed plan for Christmas-celebrate! Woohoo! Yay! You are super organised. 

You can choose to use the filter function on your columns and sort the gifts by the date you plan to make them if you like- I find it helps. It could also be a good idea to make a note in your diary of what your making and when- so you don’t double book or forget. 
It may sound a little complicated, but once it’s all laid out, for me,  it makes things so much simpler to execute.I will not be sharing my actual Christmas plan- as my loved ones may see it and know what I’m making- but I've made a mock one for your reference gentle readers: Christmas Craft Plan Example.doc

Enjoy and Happy Crafting! 
Hayley xxx