How is the preparation for the new year. How to prepare for the new year without haste, fuss and do everything. What to give your husband for Christmas
Preparing for the New Year is not always a joyful process. Indeed, in addition to buying gifts for people dear to our hearts and updating the festive decor, it also includes the whole range of housework - from cleaning and washing to ironing, putting dishes in order and cooking. So that the preparation for your favorite holiday does not turn into a continuous stress and does not take too much strength and energy, try to start it as early as possible. The pre-holiday preparation, stretched for the whole of December, is considered the best option: it allows you to distribute work more evenly and avoid feeling of routine and fatigue.
Start planning your holidays from December 1st or the end of November. To do this, you need to decide where and how you are going to celebrate the New Year, in which company, whether you plan to organize a feast, create a menu, calculate what purchases you will have to make (both gifts and accessories, decor, Christmas tree decorations, products, holiday attire), think about how you will decorate your interior this year and how long it will take you.
Start with the menu, then think of the outfits, then refer to the space and finish with the gifts, writing down all the necessary purchases, cleaning and decorating components in the master plan. But do not rush and do not make the entire work schedule in one day, otherwise this process will take you long hours. Stretch the planning for a whole week, following step by step.
First week: making a schedule
On the first day of the month of preparation for the holiday, decide on the main thing - cleaning, make a schedule of work in each specific room, and then, distributing them according to the amount of time that you and your loved ones spend in a particular room, evenly scatter them over all days of work so that instead of one big cleaning, you have a series of small, but daily procedures that will help bring the house into perfect order.
Then, during the week, decide and break down the celebration directly into specific points of the work schedule; the need for table setting and location of guests; menu (shopping and cooking lines); present; planned purchases for the home (household items, dishes, textiles, decor, Christmas decorations, accessories).
Second week: start shopping
In the second week, think about what spirits you will need and immediately purchase them: a couple of weeks before the holidays, you can not only buy the elite drinks you want, avoiding the rush, but also free yourself from the need to go shopping in the last days. If you are planning a party or a children's holiday, then it's time to think over the script, costumes and purchases necessary for competitions. As the New Year approaches, there will be less and less time for these preparations, so it’s best to plan and prepare in advance.
It is two or three weeks before the holiday that it is also better to make all the big purchases - from clothes to gifts. Earlier in the stores you may not find an assortment of the latest collections and the best pre-holiday deals, and later shopping will be accompanied by pandemonium and excitement. And the prices, the less time left for the holiday, the more they “bite”, and the choice becomes smaller and smaller. And if you can’t find everything, you will still have enough time to order.
Until it's time to decorate your home and cook, you still have a minute or two to do needlework. Try to make exclusive decorations for the Christmas tree with your family, make compositions for the table or Christmas wreaths, embroider new napkins, sew festive pillow covers. There is still time for a hobby, as well as for a festive outfit - in the second week of preparation, it should already be in your wardrobe, thought out to the smallest detail.
In mid-December, go on your first grocery shopping - buy foods that are kept frozen or do not spoil, for example, take care of canned food, spices, tea, coffee, rice and other non-perishable products.
Third week: planning a holiday
With about two weeks left until the New Year, write out the script for the holiday, select contests and make sure you have everything you need for your idea. Think about family leisure for the whole weekend - buy or place your favorite films that you will watch closer, prepare holiday music, get family albums and video archives that you can enjoy during the holidays, when the forces for an active and noisy celebration run out.
Do not forget to take care of toasts, and postcards, and letters to relatives in time - electronic or in the old fashioned way, prepare poems for holiday SMS, calls. If you have everything ready in advance, you will only need to press the desired button. Think over New Year's wishes to your loved ones, and what you expect from the next year - so that later, as they say, do not dig into your memory to the sound of chimes.
This week, buy all sparklers, firecrackers or fireworks, candles, if you are going to use them, be sure to contact specialized and certified stores.
Last week: decorating the Christmas tree, getting ready for New Year's Eve
You need to get the Christmas tree no later than the 23rd day - after all, the beauty still needs to straighten out in order to shine in all its splendor. If you plan to buy a live Christmas tree, then go for it between the 23rd and 27th: the prices will not bite yet, and you will be able to buy the “freshest” and lush beauty, which you can support on the balcony until installation and decoration. If desired, and with sufficient courage, the Christmas tree can also be replaced with an original design in a minimalist style.
The transformation of the interior and the decoration of rooms always begin with the Christmas tree, and only after it is ready they are taken to the decor and accessories that fill the house with a special atmosphere. Move from walls to floor compositions, from large ensembles to small details. The tables and the kitchen are the last to decorate. As soon as the decor of the rooms is finished, and your house is transformed, take care of the aromatization of the air with the help of aromatic mixtures, sachets, aroma lamps.
In the last days of the outgoing year, you need to think about post-holiday worries: you should not deny yourself the pleasure of starting the year with a trip to the cinema, to a concert or to the theater, be sure to buy tickets in advance. Three or four days before the New Year, arrange an evening of beauty treatments with masks and aroma baths.
If you have refused general cleaning, December 29th walk around the rooms and put the finishing touches - wipe the dust, check if everything is in order. If you prefer to take on the entire load of cleaning for one day, then devote the whole day to it.
Everything that you didn't have time to buy in advance, buy in addition December 30th, on the same day, without forgetting to purchase both products for the festive feast and the missing decor items. On December 30, you need to set the table, without leaving this process for the last day of the year, check with the schedule and plan, seeing if you have forgotten important details.
Dec. 31 except for cooking, nothing should occupy you: the entire “entourage” for the holiday should already be ready, and only pleasant chores in the kitchen and taking care of yourself, your beloved, should separate you from the long-awaited celebration!
Photo: George Tsartsianidis/Rusmediabank.ru
There are not so many days left before the New Year, and, on the contrary, there are countless cases. How to quickly prepare for the holiday without worrying? How not to forget important little things? A clear plan will help.Making a plan
First of all, you must. Each area of training must be described.Most often, you need to prepare a New Year's table, gifts, decorate the house, come up with a festive program, prepare an outfit and put yourself in order.
So, make a menu for the New Year's table in advance. This will help not to fuss a couple of days before the holiday. Purchase the necessary products in advance. For the last days, leave only what quickly deteriorates. And, be sure to make a shopping plan.
- a separate item of expenditure and the subject of much thought. It is better to ask family members and friends in advance about what they would like to receive as a gift. If it doesn’t work out, just think about what your husband or child will be happy about. And friends and colleagues can simply buy funny souvenirs.
It is also better to decorate the house in advance, preferably with the children. It will bring joy to them, and it will help you to cope with the task faster.
The same goes for the holiday program - connect family members and friends. Let everyone who will celebrate the New Year with you come up with an interesting contest or game.
An important point is to put yourself in order and look great on New Year's Eve. Start a week before the holiday. Then you will definitely have time to become fresher, lose a couple of kilograms and relax.
Festive table
Now consider the plan point by point. The first item is the New Year's table.If you have already made a menu, everything is very simple. Get everything that is stored for a long time a couple of weeks before the celebration. For example, frozen and canned foods: beans, peas, corn, seafood, fish.
Meat, vegetables, fruits should be purchased immediately before the holiday. Because they don't last long.
If you can cook a dish the day before the holiday, you should take this opportunity. This will save time. For example, on December 30, you can bake a cake or make a meatloaf, which must be cooled in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. The same can be said about aspic, cheese roll, salads, which should be infused. On the evening of December 30, you can do some of the work on preparing the New Year's table. And on the morning or afternoon of December 31, do the rest.
What gifts to buy?
Of course, if you know what your spouse, daughter or mother dreams of, then the problem of gifts disappears. The main thing is to buy gifts in advance and hide them well. But if you do not know how to please loved ones, you should think about it in advance.
Best gifts:
something for a hobby - paints for drawing, knitting threads, a fishing rod and so on;
various gadgets - flash drive, phone, headphones (always useful);
certificates - to the store, to the spa, to the pool (where you really would like to go).
There are also universal gifts that are appropriate in any case. These are sweets (for example, figured chocolate or a gingerbread house), souvenirs (funny figurines - a symbol of the year, a pen stand, fragrant candles), books (an encyclopedia, a cookbook).
We decorate the house
This is a very easy and pleasant point of the plan. it is possible both three days before the holiday, and three weeks before. Everything depends on your desire. How exactly to decorate the house, only you and your family members also choose. If you want to do something original and unusual, create New Year's compositions (from candles and balls, for example), or make a cardboard fireplace, or New Year's wreaths on the door. Lots of options. But you have to tinker and make these decorations in advance.
If you're short on time and want to quickly decorate your home, choose the easy option. You can just hang tinsel everywhere, cut out snowflakes (entrust this to the children) and spread or hang them around.
Festive program: what to come up with?
If you don’t want to bother, you can limit yourself to dancing, watching New Year’s programs on TV and funny stories at the table. You can also go to the city New Year's festivities, which are held in every district of the city.If you want to come up with something interesting yourself, do it in advance. You can come up with various contests: sing, tell a poem on the New Year theme. You can arrange a quest: who will quickly find a New Year's toy or a sweet gift. And you can arrange a fun fortune-telling - what awaits in the new year. For example, write wishes on pieces of paper and then pull them out in turn. Of course, desires must be good.
Invite all family members or friends to celebrate with you.
Getting ourselves in order
Of course, do not forget about yourself. makeup isn't everything. You need to make sure that you look 100%.This means that before the holiday it is worth including more vegetables, fruits and various cereals in the menu. Arrange unloading - lose a couple of kilograms. In addition, do not forget about the skin, as well as hair.
A week before the New Year, start making face masks. Suitable fruit, dairy, vegetable masks. They will help to refresh and moisturize the skin, remove small wrinkles. The same applies to hair. Rinse your hair three times a week with decoctions of nettle or birch leaves. This will help make your hair fluffy and shiny.
Try to distribute everything evenly and strictly follow the plan. Then on New Year's Eve you will be rested and in a good mood.
The first month of preparation for the New Year is over. There is not much left before the magical night. December is a month of active pre-holiday fuss, pleasant chores, gifts and long-awaited rest. Let's make a plan for preparing for the New Year in December.
We give gifts and greeting cards. The list of those whom you are going to congratulate on the New Year and to whom you want to give a New Year's gift has long been compiled, the gifts have been bought. It remains the case for small - to please their loved ones. The timing of congratulations depends on the location of your addressee and varies between December 1 and 31. Last but not least, congratulations to those with whom we plan to spend this New Year's Eve.
Try to congratulate the rest in order of priority: first, those who are in another country and congratulations are supposed to be in the form of a letter or parcel. Further those who live in other cities. And so on... In the last days of December, you can congratulate close relatives and friends from social networks, whose message will reach you instantly. The main thing is not to forget anyone and not offend anyone with attention, but you already have a list ready, right?
General cleaning before the holiday. We always try to prepare thoroughly for the New Year. From compiling a list of gifts to preparing a holiday menu. New Year is always a kind of symbol for us, personifying rebirth. No wonder there is an opinion - the New Year is a new life, so let's meet it cleanly. Two or three weeks before the holiday, it is worth starting a general cleaning of the entire house. Why so early? 
In a few days we have to decorate the Christmas tree and bring New Year's beauty in the apartment - I would like everything to sparkle and sparkle with cleanliness. You can superficially clean up even a few days before the celebration, and during the general cleaning it is necessary to put things in order in all cabinets, drawers - i.e. where we rarely look during the year. Wash the curtains, clean the chandeliers. This usually takes about three to four days.
We are experimenting with the New Year's menu. There is still plenty of time before the main holiday of the year, so if you are not sure about a particular dish, it’s time to rehearse it. So you will take into account all the nuances of your menu and appear before the guests as a born culinary specialist. If you are not celebrating the New Year at home, you will still want to please yourself and your family with delicious treats - after all, the New Year holidays are still ahead ...
Decorating the house for the holidays. The sooner we start active preparations for the New Year, the longer the atmosphere of celebration and magic will accompany us. Start decorating your home a little earlier than usual, let the fairy tale in and feel like a child again. If, as a result of the November check, you find that you do not have enough Christmas tree decorations, be sure to buy the necessary ones.
Decorate your apartment with a garland and Christmas tree tinsel. On the front door you can hang a decoration that came to us from the west - wreath of fir branches. If you prefer a live artificial Christmas tree, it's time to get the forest beauty out of the bins. Decorate the Christmas tree with unusual Christmas balls, colorful tinsel and tangerines. How to dress up - lay out the gifts prepared for the household and guests of the New Year's Eve under it.
We buy a Christmas tree. Without which we cannot imagine more than one New Year? Of course, without our main forest beauty - the Christmas tree. If you can’t imagine a holiday without the aroma of live spruce, it’s time to go to the Christmas tree market. not many people know, there are simple rules that will help you decide on a fluffy beauty and keep her as long as possible.
We buy necessary products by the list - "buy in 10 days". Obviously, the most crucial period in preparation for the New Year has come - the purchase of products for the gala dinner. To make it more fun, take your husband, children with you, if you celebrate the New Year with friends - call everyone. At this time, usually all the shops are already decorated for the holiday, so let shopping bring you not only profitable purchases, you will feel the New Year's atmosphere to the fullest.
We clean the feathers.
Time to take care of your beloved - masks, scrubs, peels, waxing, manicures, pedicures, haircuts - in general, everything that brings you pleasure and makes you look a little better.
We are starting to make blanks for the New Year's table. It is very good if your festive menu contains dishes that can be prepared long before the festive dinner. What exactly?
● Snacks in Korean. Korean salads are always recommended to be made a few days before dinner. Vegetables must be carefully marinated, and this sometimes takes more than one day.
● Foods suitable for freezing: dumplings, dumplings, manti, cabbage rolls. We take it out at the right time - cook, fry, heat - and voila, you have a ready-made hot second course.
● In advance, you can boil meat for appetizers, salads and cold cuts.
● Cook sauces which are stored in the refrigerator for a long time.
● Cook compote, fruit drink, etc. 
Not bad if it is possible to cook, if not the whole dish, at least make a preparation for it. This applies to:
○ semi-finished products that can be frozen: dough for pies and pies, for pizza, etc.
○ semi-finished products that are baked: baskets for salads or sweet dishes, etc.
In general, act according to the principle - everything that can be prepared in advance - we cook.
Do you remember your past New Year? Yes, I'm sure you remember. An elegant Christmas tree immediately comes to mind, a bunch of gifts, guests, dances, a chic table ... How fun and great everything was!
And now let's go down a little from heaven to earth and remember the preparation for the holiday. Yeah, a completely different picture: running around in a fur coat through stuffy shops in search of gifts, endless lines at the cash registers and to the lady processing gifts ... general cleaning until late at night, hours of standing at the stove, and, in the end, hectic showers, curlers and make-up half an hour before the guests arrive.
Preparing for the New Year is a serious and responsible business. If you want to save your nerve cells (which, as you know, cannot be restored), then you need to start preparing for the New Year in advance. Moreover, if you start preparing for the holiday in advance, you will not only not overwork, but on the contrary, enjoy all the New Year's fuss.
If plans suddenly change, and you need to change your mind or adjust something, you will have plenty of time for this!
Let's create together a complete four-week plan to prepare for the new year without stress!
Week 1 December.
30 days left before the new year.
Guests . In the first week of December, you need to decide on the number of guests with whom you will count the chimes together. Be sure to ask the invitees to give you an answer whether they will be able to attend your holiday or not.
Budget.
Everyone wants everything at once. And a good table, and expensive gifts, and a new dress, and also shoes, a hairstyle, makeup especially for New Year's Eve. With today's abundance, it is not difficult to satisfy even the craziest needs.
The only question is the budget. Determine for yourself the maximum amount that you are willing to spend on gifts, on the table, on decorating the Christmas tree, on your own outfit. And stick to your plan. You should not enter New Year with debts acquired from an overly lavish launch party. If only because, in addition to the headache from the stormy meeting of the New Year, there will be added excitement about how to repay these debts. In addition, leaving debts for the next year is a bad omen.
Present.
Write a list of people for whom you need to buy gifts. Opposite each name is a list of ideas, possible gifts and the approximate amount you are going to spend. Buying gifts should start as early as possible. By the holiday itself, the tension of consumers and sellers reaches its climax, and then you will not escape stress. No idea how to please loved ones? It doesn’t matter, you can see gift ideas in the article “” and DIY gifts!
Don't forget the fancy wrapping paper and bows, opening a gift when you don't know what awaits you is much more interesting!
Appearance. Do you want to meet New Year beauty - it's time to sign up for a hairdresser, a facial cleansing and a manicure. Closer to the holiday, it will be completely impossible to get to beauty specialists.
December 7th.
There are 23 days left until the New Year.
New Year's outfit.
If you decide to celebrate the new year in a new thing, then now is the time to start looking for it. Before you go on the hunt for the perfect dress, it is advisable to decide what exactly you want to buy: will this outfit be exclusively solemn or do you want to buy something suitable for every day. Or maybe you want to coincide with the holiday purchase of what you have long dreamed of? Perhaps someone would like to meet New Year in, . You may want to freshen up something you already have in your wardrobe with new accessories. Then you can limit yourself to a new decoration, smart shoes, a beautiful belt or a spectacular scarf.
Costumes for children. Do you have small children? Then it's time to think about a New Year's costume for a matinee in kindergarten or for a city Christmas tree. Although buying a New Year's costume is not a problem now, think about what you can make yourself for your baby. There is no limit to the imagination of parents! In addition, making a costume with mom and dad is another joyful and magical adventure for your child in all the New Year's fuss.
Beauty saloon . It is better to make a visit to the beautician for facial cleansing 2-3 weeks before the celebration. Then by the holiday the skin will calm down and look its best.
New Year's decor.
If we have a plan and time, why don't we decorate the house for the New Year? But what if you put elegant New Year's pillowcases on the sofa cushions, make touching ones with the children?
We offer 40 ways to prepare for the New Year celebrations - and are guaranteed to create a magical mood for the whole family!
1. Congratulate relatives and friends with homemade cards.
Let it be a children's drawing, appliqué or collage. Another idea is a family photo instead of a postcard: decorate it beautifully, for example, place it in a passe-partout frame, add funny New Year stickers, write congratulations and wishes for loved ones. And especially for posting on social networks and for sending by e-mail, you can create a musical presentation card! Pick up 10-15 photos illustrating the best events of the year, appropriate musical accompaniment, add captions in a special program and ... collect well-deserved "likes"!
2. Play the Secret Santa game.
The essence of the game is an anonymous gift exchange: each participant first pulls out a piece of paper with the name of the addressee from the hat, comes up with a gift, and then all the surprises will only be taken out of the big bag and given away. Gifts are not forbidden to change!
3. Design beautiful gift wrapping.
You can use not only colorful wrapping paper, but also fabric, mesh, old newspapers or craft paper, children's drawings, wallpaper pieces or other most unusual materials.
4. Think over the format of the New Year's table.
If you are going to celebrate the New Year in the family circle, it may not be worth planning a feast by the mountain and a large festive menu with salads, hot dishes and desserts. Put on the table a couple of the most favorite dishes for each family member and complement with something that can be eaten by the whole company, such as cheese or chocolate fondue.
5. Let delicious food be not only on the holiday table.
Plan unusual and interesting meals for each day of the holidays. Conduct a household survey and make a list of their top culinary preferences. Great if some dishes have to cook all together!
6. Bake shaped cookies to decorate the Christmas tree.
Shortcrust or gingerbread dough will work - just remember to make a hole in each cookie for the twine.
7. Participate in postcrossing.
This is an international postcard exchange project. Everyone can participate in it, regardless of age: the rules of the project and the list of addressees can be found, for example, on the website www. postcrossing.com. Postcards received from all over the world can be beautifully placed on the stand.
8. Choose an unusual style for decorating your Christmas tree.
Maybe this year her “outfit” will be Star Wars-themed, or in a strict British style, or will you create a ballet-themed tree with bows and lace? Fantasize together!
9. Haven't bought gifts yet?
Go shopping on weekday mornings, before 12 noon, so there will be fewer people in stores. You can also split up “according to interests”, for example, mom and daughter, dad and son: a great excuse to sit in a cafe and chat! Well, relatives with whom you will see only during the holidays, you can buy gifts after the New Year, for example, on January 2-3.
10. Put on a family play.
Or arrange a small thematic performance. Come up with your own plot or adapt a well-known one, write a script, make sure that there is a role for everyone. The action, of course, must be filmed!
30 more ways
11. In addition to gifts for relatives and friends, prepare a few small souvenirs.
It can be chocolate, beautifully packaged soap or candles - "courtesy gifts" will come in handy to congratulate the concierge or the postman on the holiday.
12. Create an "untouchable" stock of prepared food.
During the month before the New Year holidays, prepare a few “in reserve” dishes and put them in the freezer. It is possible that you do not really want to spend evenings at the stove, so everyone will be happy with ready-made dinners.
13. Come up with a family gift.
Gifts to each of the bag of Santa Claus is an obligatory part of the program. Also choose one common gift for the whole family - it can be a board game, a camping tent for family outings, similar clothes or pajamas in "family style" or, say, a camera. Give a gift to each other in the evening, without waiting for the chiming clock, or on the morning of January 1.
14. Organize a family quest - search for surprises.
Hide gifts in the apartment, draw a map and come up with tasks or questions for each adult and child. For example, for each correctly completed item, you can give out a letter, and from the collected letters you can make a word indicating a “gift” cache!
15. Make a Christmas calendar.
You will need a rug with 30 pockets numbered by day of the month or a box with drawers. Arrange small gifts or sweets in the cells, and every morning unpack a new surprise: it will be easier for children (and adults) to wait for the holiday.
16. Film, film, film!
Choose a dozen films for a real family viewing. Consider the tastes of everyone - do not forget about romantic comedies, "killer" blockbusters, cartoons and sagas. Prepare cozy seats for the audience and “harmful” treats - popcorn and soda. Happy viewing!
17. Throughout December, read aloud in the evenings, before going to bed.
Keep the holiday spirit going by choosing winter-themed stories or novels, such as Gogol, Dickens, or Tove Jansson.
18. Declare one of the weekends as a themed one.
For example, host a Video Game Day. Prepare your favorite discs, read reviews and recommendations, and buy a couple of new games, go one-on-one or have a team competition. Today, the time at the computer is not regulated!
19. Examine the poster.
Think about what to do on vacation, make a schedule that takes into account the interests of all household members. Visit no more than one place a day - otherwise the children will get tired and will not do without whims.
20. Schedule a "cultural event" for the morning of December 31st.
Maybe it will be a performance, a performance or a visit to a museum with an interesting tour. Firstly, it will create a mood for the whole day, and secondly, you will get a little tired - just in order to take a nap after dinner with pleasure and gain strength for New Year's Eve.
20 more ideas
21. Start a general project on the topic: "What I remember this year."
You can do it in the form of a diary-questionnaire with entries from all family members or conduct small video interviews, adhering to the planned list of topics and questions. In a few years, you will be reviewing this archive with great interest - to see how children grow up, how their handwriting changes and their reasoning “grows”.
22. Buy a new Christmas decoration every year.
And not simple, but “with meaning”, symbolizing some kind of family event. For example, a Christmas decoration in the form of a medal will remind you of children's victories in competitions, a compass - of a family trip.
23. Organize your photo archive.
Can't find time to sort out family photos? Make a photo book at the end of the year: select the best photos, sign them and order an album from the photo lab. Of course, it is better to show the book right on the eve of the holiday.
24. Make a Christmas cupcake.
This delicacy needs 3-4 weeks to "ripen", but patience will be rewarded - it's beautiful and tasty!
25. Give your loved ones an unusual gift.
For example, a “scratch card” is a ticket to various pleasures. Let it be something valuable, but intangible: an hour of playing with mom, going to the cinema, the opportunity to go to bed later or take dad’s favorite chair for one evening. On a cardboard card you need describe the “gift”, rub the surface with wax or hygienic lipstick and apply one layer of acrylic paint over the text.
26. Start decorating the apartment on the first day of winter.
This will create a festive mood: hang one garland or a couple of balls every day. Well, after the New Year, do not remove all the decorations at once - maybe a beautiful wreath will delight you until the end of February.
27. Prepare New Year's "noise makers".
And together with the chimes, loudly announce the coming of the New Year! Suitable, for example, tambourines, toy pipes and vuvuzelas, plastic jars with "fillers" - beans or peas.
28. Make a garland of photos from the outgoing year.
Using paper clips or clips, attach the photo to a long ribbon, alternating them with postcards or wishes written on a piece of paper, and hang, for example, in a doorway.
29. Come up with your own New Year's ritual.
Agree on something that your family will do together every New Year's Eve. Maybe you all together, holding hands, blow out a candle, making a wish, or go out into the yard and make a funny New Year's snowman?
30. Home video of past years.
At the gala dinner of the outgoing year, revisit past years' home videos. Very funny!
10 additional ideas
31. Choose 3-4 songs of the month.
December working mornings will begin with them - and improve everyone's mood! Choose a playlist depending on family tastes.
32. Perform a farewell ritualwithlast year.
For example, write on small pieces of paper what didn’t work out or upset you, tear the “mistakes” and “failures” to shreds and burn them on a candle!
33. Prepare small gifts.
They are needed to make it easier for children to wait for the New Year. You can hand them every hour, on a timer, or pack them in opaque bags and write: “Open at 9 o'clock”, “At 10 o'clock”.
34. Wow, how scary!
Organize a night in the style of a pioneer camp. Spread sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets on the living room floor, make yourself comfortable, and tell scary and funny stories to each other all night long. Crazy but fun!
35. From January 1, start keeping the Book of the Year.
In a folder with transparent pockets every month, collect all sorts of little things that remind you of family leisure: movie and theater tickets, programs, photos and notes. Next December it will be interesting to revisit the details of the past year!
36. Make an unusual souvenir:
Save some New Year's snow in the freezer (put it in a bag and sign the date).
37. Give up tedious general cleaning on the eve of the holiday.
Instead, during December, clean up the apartment by zones, adopting the principles of the “fly lady”. By the way, a great reason to get rid of trash and unnecessary things!
38. Explore the world's cultural traditions for celebrating New Year's and Christmas with your children, from Greenland to China.
Find out what traditional dishes are served on the table, what songs and carols they sing, what lucky omens they believe in.
39. Take part in some charity project.
For example, buy gifts for underprivileged children or help an animal shelter.
40. Make fancy candle holders.
From halves of an orange, from ice, from foil, from glass jars painted with acrylics. Arrange them on the windowsill and light candles in the evenings.