25 Days of Christmas: A Sanity-Saving (Fun!) Printable

If the elf hasn’t already made an appearance in your home, now’s a good time to think through some wholesome elf ideas.

Before things get too crazy, think through how you’re going to delegate during the holidays. Especially this year, it’s critical to plan ahead in terms of gift selection / wrapping / delivery, meals, cards and cleaning.

Take time to sit down and explain family Christmas traditions to your kids. This is a great time to pull out some photos from previous years and stick them on a bulletin board, if your family does that sort of thing. You may want to explain any traditions that will be changing due to differences between previous years and now, and think about which traditions you want to revive from the past!

Our Handprint Calendar is the BEST gift for the grandparents! With our free printable, you can check another name off the list.

Shop till you drop. We really like to get all of our Christmas shopping done early, and our constantly-updated list of 50+ Gift Ideas for Families who Have Everything is a surefire way to wrap up any loose ends on your list.

Time to decorate! Amp up your home's cozy vibe for the holidays with a home decor refresh, updating things like pillows, tablecloths, throw blankets and more.

Make the easiest, best cookies for the season.

Phew, we could probably use a break right about now. Stream some Christmas movies!

With your own holiday vibe sorted out, go ahead and hand the kids some tinsel so go nuts in their own room or playroom. Letting the kids decorate for the holidays is one of our favorite traditions!

Get cozy and do a Christmas pajama photoshoot.

Go ahead and plan your quick and easy Christmas dinner.

After yesterday’s festive food frenzy, we’re ready to take a little break. Set out a bunch of ingredients and let the kids have a blast making Holiday Pizzas. Pizza parties are our go-to for no-fuss fun with minimal clean-up!

Send out the very best Christmas cards.

Turn to your local area for inspiration, and see what crafty things you can make with natural resources in your region. This is a great way to help kids learn to be creative! When we lived in California, we loved this Palm Frond Rudolph that Nate’s grandma came up with.

Get your Christmas tablescape ready now! It’s fun to look at all season long, and if you don’t have a formal dining room and are worried about messing it up at the kitchen table, a lot of these items can be used for a Christmas mantle in the meantime.

Why not make your own Christmas Tea Towels? We made these to celebrate our move to Idaho, but you could totally customize your own to mark anything special about the year: trends, new unions, anything worth inking to start a seasonal collection!

Print out some coloring sheets to keep the kids busy for a bit. Our Christmas Nativity Coloring pages are a great way to teach them about the reason for the season.

Make Homemade Christmas Ornaments for the tree! Our favorite are our Melted Snowman Ornaments to give out to friends and family. We like to tie these onto packages for our neighbors!

Stock up on Christmas candy and make a Candy Christmas Tree.

Time for a healthy treat! These Merry Mandarins are a cute and simple way to spruce up kids’ lunches.

I’d say we’re ready for Christmas handprint crafts! We love to make seasonal handprint crafts with the kids as a way of preserving these sweet moments in time when they’re so little. We make Santa handprint crafts, Santa sleigh craft footprints, Handprint Reindeer and others.

Make our favorite hot cocktails (and paleo hot chocolate!) to keep warm.

Put together a DIY Gingerbread House Kit for a fun activity that will keep little hands busy!

Make these cute Chocolate Reindeer to add to Santa’s cookie plate!

Make these adorable Christmas crafts together with the whole family for memories they'll cherish for years to come.