Hello!

Here we have the first of Life of Lia’s Christmas posts and I have to say I am very excited about it. Before you roll your eyes and do the inevitable “ugh, not another one!” and “you’re ruining Christmas by starting it this early”, hear me out. I may be a Christmas elf and adore the festivities, but I know that not everyone does, and unfortunately for those people from mid-September onwards you cannot escape it, so on Life of Lia we are going to embrace it!

This post is going to focus on the benefits of starting Christmas early, so get your Christmas playlist on, a hot chocolate and let’s get ready for Christmas.

Spread the Cost

As a student I find it beneficial to start shopping for Christmas presents as early as possible, and the elf in me just gets a little too excited about selecting gifts for people. By starting a few months before Christmas, it gives you time to get presents here and there and it isn’t one big cost in December.

If you see something on sale that you think “Ahh, so and so would love that!” but it’s only August, buy it and hide it. The odds are it will still be okay for Christmas and you will have saved yourself some money.

Christmas tip!

Sit down with a cup of tea, or something stronger if desired, around this time of year and write out your “get ready for Christmas” list. Do a brain dump of everything you can think of relating to Christmas preparations, including: setting a budget, making a list of gift recipients, any food you want to do around the festive season, if you have any handmade gifts you’d like to make – what do you need for them? How long will it take? Have you seen any events advertised that you’d like to go to, write out your Christmas card list…anything you think relates to Christmas then list it! It will help organise your mind and see what’s what.

Support Local and Independent

In the past couple of years, I’ve really gained an understanding into the importance of shopping local and supporting the smaller businesses in the world. As I’ve seen many posts say, a big company doesn’t do a little jig when they make a sale, but an independent business owner does. Buying from small business means a more personal gift, which means it will take longer to make your item so it’s better to be earlier with your orders. I’ve made a pledge this year to buy at least one item per gift recipient from a small business and I think that where you can, you should too.

I’m particularly lucky because I live on the last Sunday of each month there’s a gorgeous artisan market in the town centre. It’s full of bespoke gifts and sweet treats and it’s just a lovely place to go. Even if you don’t have a lot to spend it is still a lovely place to go for a wander and to get some ideas.

Saves Time

I’ve covered on this before, but by spending time organising gifts and the materialistic side of Christmas now then over the festive period you have more time to spending relaxing and enjoying going to Christmas lights switch on, and that one time screening of the Christmas film that is decades old, and seeing your Auntie who is in town for one day only and you can make new memories with people.

I think by doing the activities that some people would class as tedious like the gift buying etc. now then by the time Christmas comes around you can enjoy the more magical side of things.

Although I love putting loads of though into gifts and selecting presents which I think the recipient will adore, my favourite part of Christmas is that everything is more magical and it’s the time where people make more of an effort to see each other (which should continue all year round but life does get in the way). It’s a wonderful time to spend with those you care about and truly treasure each moment.

I’m not going to go overboard with the Christmas yet, so I’ll leave it at that. But let’s get going with the festive plans!

All my love,

Lia x