A creative mind never sleeps | Holiday Preparations

Christmas feels far away for some people

But I know that every single time I fall for the trap of thinking it's still so far away, I regret it during December. It's almost halfway through October now and I should really start prepping everything that I wish to do this year as for some reason the last three months of the year always fly by much faster than the rest of the year. We now finally have a nice place to call home again, as in the inside is great space-wise and we have room for a big Christmas tree this year! We are really aiming at finding one that's affordable because that was the problem a few years ago as well when we temporarily lived in this apartment during the holidays as well.

Hard to find things to our liking and within budget

It's just not that nice when you want to make it look cozy with holiday decoration, but then you find out that everything is so expensive while it's nowhere near the quality, or designs that you actually desire. This year, I've started to up my creativity again and I'm determined (one way or the other) to make our apartment look nice and cozy this year. Sometimes my inspiration and flow can take a while to arrive, so I'm forcing myself to start today with the preparations.

Hunting for gifts every week from now on

Not only will I try to find gifts every week, but I will also try to create as many personal things as possible. Of course, I know that I will not buy a gift every week, as it depends on what I find while doing my regular shopping, but I'm at least trying to keep an eye out for nice gifts while not every store is flooded with Christmas items only. I find it more difficult to find something once that's the case. It will limit the options to chose items that are on sale especially for this period, and often those are sold out quickly. I try to stay ahead of that to limit the last-minute stress to find something. Another reason to spread the shopping is simply that I won't notice it as much in the budget compared to when I buy it all in December.

This year our daughter really earned to feel special

We are so damn proud of her that she managed to do so well while having to change schools. She now goes full days since September, and honestly, it's been good for her and although her dad finds it very exhausting having to travel 30 extra minutes as well in the morning as in the afternoon, he takes this upon him like a champ. We see that this school is much better for her than the previous one so that motivates a lot. Whenever her dad is free from work, I'm traveling to and from school so that he doesn't have to leave the house. Next week he will be on holiday, so then it's me and her traveling for a few days. During the holidays we are planning on rewarding her a bit more than we already do currently, she has earned it, and we will make sure she knows that.

Her eating habits have improved significantly

We never thought it was going to happen (so it felt haha) but thankfully, she started to try new things not long after she started this school. Not only there, but also at home she suddenly was open to trying the vegetables, finally! And even more important, she likes them! It's not that we don't have issues anymore with her eating habits, but this is a huge step forward compared to the time before she went back to school. It was very frustrating for all of us, and I'm glad we finally broke through these habits and she's finally acknowledging that veggies can be really tasteful. #victory!

I plan on creating some decoration as well

Not only because I love to add a personal touch to the decorations but also because I know our daughter will love it. I have already planned to craft some Christmas cards together with her as well. I want to make sure she has some cards to hand out at school for at least her teachers and her friends. This way we will have nice plans for a rainy Sunday :)
On top of that, I will hunt for some tree decoration that I can pimp myself with paint or other things. I hope this way I can find some good deals that I can upcycle to our taste.

Writing about it already made me super excited, I can't wait to share the first creations with everyone. Of course, I will have to keep the posts closed whenever the little one is around :)

Are you someone that decorates the house a bit for the holidays? When do you usually start? Last-minute or do you prep it early, like I'm doing now? And what about gifts, are you collecting them for a longer period, or waiting until you find something last-minute?

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