Holiday Hacks to Keep You Sane!
Some of us have a love/hate relationship with the holidays. It’s the most wonderful time of the year and it can be the most stressful because of all the shopping, cooking, and prepping for guest meals and sleepovers. So, we collected the best holiday hacks of 2018 to keep you sane and stress-free this year so you can enjoy your time with family and friends!
Shopping Hacks for the Holidays
You know the old adage, “it’s better to give than to receive”? Holiday generosity does make you feel good, but it can create anxiety as you confront the Christmas crowds, fight the urge to buy the best, and all while avoiding major budget deficits!
Did you know there’s a shopping app for the holidays that can keep you on budget and manage gift ideas for everyone on your list? It’s called Santa’s Bag and it will help you make sure you remember everybody important — and that you don’t over-spend this season! Available for iOS devices.
Try using an app like Honey to automatically apply discount codes to online shopping excursions. You can also use apps from your favorite stores to get special rewards and coupons to get what you want for a better price.
Wrapping Paper and Bows
Tim Holtz, the entertaining crafty vlogger on YouTube shows you how to make super simple gift tags – tons of them – and offers shortcuts and secrets to creating customized tags for the holidays.
Wrapping paper can turn your otherwise organized home into a disorganized clutter castle. Try this hack from Pop Sugar. For less than $10 at your local Walmart (133 Sam Walton Lane in Castle Rock) you can snag a clear, hanging garment bag and store your rolls of paper inside. Not only does it organize the wrapping paper for you, it’s easy to see and access what you want. Boom!
Better yet is Craft and Home Idea’s crafty closet where paper rolls are stored on dowels so all you have to do is pull and snip enough paper to wrap a present!
Cutefetti suggests using holiday Duck® tape to make a bow or wrap a present. The holiday designs range from penguins and candy canes to snowmen and ribbons, and all you have to do is follow the tutorial! Pop Sugar also has post-holiday hacks to help you stay sane, like keeping your strings of mini-lights and garlands untangled by wrapping them around a piece of cut-out cardboard or storing them in an empty plastic water bottle.
Super Simple Appetizers
Whether your aim is quick, healthy, holiday-themed or just easy and delicious, Woman’s Day has put together something for everyone to try this season. From a roasted tomato-garlic tart and cranberry-brie bites to quick crackers slathered with ricotta and prosciutto, your dinner or party guests will snarf up these treats in record time.
Easy Holiday Cocktails
If you’re having people over for the holidays, borrow a page from this Food and Wine collection of make-ahead cocktails for entertaining – whether it’s pre-Christmas, Christmas, or New Year’s Eve. You’ll find three ways to spike your apple cider, and lots of party punches, like a part-sweet, part-tart sparkling pomegranate punch and a totally tart combo of Irish whiskey and gin to a champagne-laced mojito. Plus, plenty of hot toddy-type drinks from mulled wines and alcohol-infused chocolates to traditional but warm, eggnogs. Perfect for wintry holiday weather!
And don’t miss the holiday hacks from Red Tricycle that cover kids, adults and everybody in between. From crafts for the entire family (hot glue snowflakes painted with glitter polish) to quick and easy wrapped candle centerpieces – you’ll find at least one hack you can use, today!
The Best of Crystal Valley
Gift-giving for the holidays has everyone in Crystal Valley – especially the wee ones – excited to celebrate their first or another Christmas in their new homes. The master-planned community is ideally located dear historic downtown and all that Castle Rock offers. Explore the nine models from D.R. Horton, Kauffman Homes and Richmond American Homes and find out why our community is among the top five fastest-growing in the state with new homes priced from the $300s.
