I love the holiday season and I’m sure you can relate there is always so much to do! I don’t want to miss any of it! So over time, I’ve come to adopt some of these fun, time saving tips with friends and family.  Helps us really enjoy the most out of the season.

Heidi’s Holiday Hack # 1 Girls Night/Cookie Exchange
So we like to get together with the girls for a night in, to laugh and enjoy the stories of what’s been happening in our lives. This year, I invited the girls for a night in early December, and added an optional cookie exchange! Everyone that wanted to participate in the cookie exchange arrived that night with adorable little different Christmas packages with a dozen cookies in each package - for each person participating. Then, at the end of the night after laughs and great friendship, we each exchanged dozens of cookies, and voila, great holiday girls night and Christmas baking is done!

Heidi’s Holiday Hack # 2 Easy Holiday Decor
I love my front porch planters, and a couple of years ago I decided to test my abilities and try it on my own, and signed up with for a local workshop at Gallery greenhouse with a friend. We we able to learn the techniques, it’s actually easier than it looks, I even wrote how to at my blog here https://heidibrownhomes.ca/holiday-planter/
This year that same amazing friend took it upon herself and made my beautiful planters for me! How easy was that? Holiday decor for a fraction of the time and cost, and still time to admire them with my friend over coffee and holiday cookies.
P.S. Another time saving hack is to buy a standard small planter at Costco or the grocery store, put it in a larger planter and some extra twigs, fresh greens and white birch around it and it then looks like a huge custom planter.

Heidi’s Holiday Hack #3 Secret Santa Family Gift Exchange
Many of you may be familiar with this type of game played around the office - some people call it Secret Santa or White elephant. You know the game where everyone brings a wrapped gift of a certain value and one by one everyone has a chance to pick a gift or steal in the gift exchange.

Well when my nephew from New Zealand surprised us with a holiday visit a new tradition was created for us. Rather than all of us run out to the crowded mall for a small yet personal gift for him so close to Christmas (remember he had to haul it back to NZ), we decided to adopt this Secret Santa style office game for our family.

We decided on a dollar value, and each of us bought and wrapped a type of gift that could be enjoyed by anyone (gift cards, chocolates, cozy blanket, wine, that kind of thing). Each one of us arrived Christmas morning with one gift each, and put them all together. From there we devised a system for people going one by one (by pulling numbers from a hat, oldest to youngest, that kind of thing) and opening or stealing a gift from someone else. We had so much fun that year, it has become an annual event. So, no more stressing about what to buy everyone in the family, one small gift and one giant good time and really enjoying the true spirit of Christmas.

I hope you have found this helpful, if you have any great holiday hacks I would love to hear about them!