25 Genius Ways to Hack the Holidays

The Christmas season has definitely arrived. That means more stuff to do in the form of holiday shopping and merry-making at the same time. To help make things a little bit easier for everyone, while still enjoying the Christmas spirit, here are 25 awesome ways to hack through the holidays:

25. Make a Christmas playlist

We’re talking about an honest to goodness playlist that includes Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls and Frosty the Snowman. Besides, what’s the holidays without happy Christmas music, right?

24. Use a clear bag for storage

A clear, garment bag helps you keep your Christmas and other craft stuff in order. You can hang them in your closet until the next holiday season and keep your home clutter-free!

23. Make gift tags out of old or free paint chips

You know those paint or color palettes you can get from hardware stores? Why not use them as colorful gift tags this Christmas? Cut ’em up, punch a hole and attach a ribbon to it and you got yourself some DIY gift tags.

22. Prep the ingredients ahead of time

It ain’t the holiday season if there isn’t any scrumptious home-made holiday meal. To save yourself from hassle, prepare and cut the ingredients much earlier so you’re not feeling stressed about getting things done by the time everyone is already at your door.

21. Make mulled wine for taste and smell

Put together some wine, sugar, some spices (cinnamon included of course!) and some oranges in a pot. Give it a simmer and you’ve got yourself some mulled wine that should taste and smell absolutely amazing!

20. Get your presents wrapped

If you’re pressed for time and still have a lot on your to-do list before Christmas day, you might want to get your presents wrapped upon purchase. There are some stores that offer free wrapping service, so you might want to take advantage of that.

19. Use the 30-minute rule if you’re having guests over

The 30-minute rule is pretty simple: don’t do any preparing or cleaning of your house that would take more than half an hour. Besides, your guests are there to see you and not how spiffy clean your kitchen or living room is.

18. Decide whether to continue or give up Christmas traditions

If family members are doing things because “It’s tradition”, you might want to take a step back and re-evaluate if it is still worth doing at all. Especially if this family tradition is something time-consuming, stressful, or just straight up too expensive.

17. Send guests to a hotel

Unless you happen to be single and have enough space at home, then it may be possible to have your out of town guests over for a night or two during the holidays. But if it’s quite a large group, it might be a good idea to send them to a nice but cheap hotel that will fit everyone and give you less stress.

16. Make a shopping game plan

There’s nothing crazier about Christmas than going to the mall along with everyone else, shopping for the perfect gifts. To help make things better, come up with a list of people and the respective gifts you want to give them. This way, it will be easier to find the best shop while at the mall. Oh, and try to do your shopping on weekdays when there’s less people.

15. Make fancy party ice

Include cranberries or lemons in the ice trays for cool party ice. If you’re into flavored water, this is a cool way to add oomph to it.

14. Prepare anything ahead of time

If you have a few hours to spare and it’s enough to make the cookie dough, do it. This will definitely save you stress on the day of the event.

13. Share hosting with a friend

Partying can take its toll on you physically and mentally. If you can combine some parties together, it would surely be great or at least share the hosting duties with a friend.