An easy DIY #stressfreechristmas skin saver

When I get stressed it often shows on my skin with spots and dry patches. I swear by this homemade toner that costs about 20 cents a pop – spray it on in the morning before moisturiser, let it soak in and you’re good to go.

Creating a work/life balance #stressfreechristmas

The irony of today’s blog post is that I was going to write it on Tuesday but was too tired. I took a nap instead.

Image via Pinterest – click for link

A while back to wrote a post about my work/life balance and it’s something I often revisit. I know lots of people think I solely work on Emma Makes (I have a full time job too) and the internet can make everything seem so easy. Therefore today I thought I’d talk a bit about making things work and how I do that.

I find having good systems in place before busy periods (like Christmas) really helps.

My top tips for creating a work/life balance

Decide what makes you happy and content and do that. Most days I rate myself a 9 or 10/10 on the happiness scale and it’s not because I have the tidiest house, the best-paying job, the greatest fame or have slept as much as I’d like to.
Decide what’s important to you and do that. A friend recently said to me that I never go out to the pub when she invites me. I told her my craft label doesn’t run itself. For me, what’s important on a Saturday night is making things for Emma Makes and watching SVU.
Change your mindset from “I’m too busy” to “that’s not a priority for me” – although perhaps don’t say that to other people when you’re telling them why you can’t meet them for lunch.
Prioritise – at our house (for me) Tom, my husband, is always more important than craft, craft is almost always more important than housework. Sometimes it’s good to remind yourself of the hierarchy.
Try not to compare yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy – I’ll admit this one is pretty hard!
Know how to get out of a rut. For me getting out of a rut often involves a detailed list, a good clean of the house and a bunch of flowers.
Under promise, over deliver.
Plan time for resting.
Plan time for the important people in your life. Sometimes if I’ve spent too many weekends sewing in the studio I plan for Tom and I to go out for a day (like to the beach). Going for a short walk together is also good (and free).
Eliminate negativity – I jealously guard my mind space, which can be hard when you spend a lot of time online and naturally over-think. I unfollow people on Twitter, hide Facebook friends that only whine and stop reading blogs I no longer care about.
Delegate stuff. You can’t be the best at everything so pay (or swap) with people that are. It’ll save hours of frustration – believe me.
Practice saying no.
Write down your best work/life balance so that you can refer back to it when you’re busy, tired or feeling overwhelmed.

What you do when you shop local #stressfresschristmas

I’m a passionate advocate for shopping local and think it’s particularly important at Christmas when you get to shop a lot.

Shopping local doesn’t mean just handmade it means knowing where things come from – supporting local businesses who then send their money back through your community. Shopping local means you can draw on shopkeepers’ expertise, shop close by and support other people trying to do good things.

When you’re shopping online know where your products are coming from. It’s easy to get hooked into Amazon or big corporates because they’re cheap and easy but those places often don’t have great staff practices, which means someone else is suffering for your purchase. Also, do the maths – if you’re buying a t-shirt for $5 then the shop probably bought it for $2.50 wholesale. It probably cost $1 to make so how much is the person who made it being paid?

There’s a great article in this month’s Good magazine about just that issue – it focuses on kids toys.

Here’s what you do when you shop local.

Shopping local is about choice, not money. Above all just do the best you can.

The art of writing Christmas cards #stressfreechristmas

Today I wrote my Christmas card list because of all the Christmas tasks this is often the one I leave till last. I blame my mother who used to get me to write the family Christmas cards at home because she was always so busy.

I really appreciate getting snail mail so like to also send Christmas messages. However, I go for quality over quantity – I like to write a decent note rather than just sign my name in a card, which means I probably send to fewer people than you do.

Here’s the genius idea I’ve hatched this year to get the job done
I’m going to write a couple of cards each week and then wait until closer to Christmas to post them. Realistically, Christmas cards are pretty general so writing early won’t matter – I just need to remember to keep all the written ones in one place so I don’t lose them.

Here’s some tips about things you could write about:

A highlight of the year
Something you’re grateful for
Include a favourite Christmas recipe (maybe just a copy of that to save your handwriting hand)
Write about a nice memory from the year that you shared with your card recipient
A short, heartfelt wish for a merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Many of my cards are likely to be Emma Makes native bird cards – not Christmasy but I think they’re nice and summery.

IMAGE: (Clockwise from left) Christmas cards from Emma Makes (available in my studio shop), berry decoration from Magnolia, Wellington, Emma Makes native birds card s, Christmas tags from The Dowse, Emma Makes pencils,

An attitude adjustment to give you a #stressfreechristmas

Call it old age but these days Christmas doesn’t stress me out. Sure, there’s heaps to do and the end of the year is a bit manic but today I’m going to outline why I don’t stress out anymore, why my plan works and hopefully give you some ideas of things you can do yourself.

People will judge you by how much money you spend
No they won’t – but you’d be forgiven for thinking they will. Shops are already decked out in Christmas finery and it’s much shinier and more elaborate that you can realistically achieve at home, which often lets feelings of inadequacy set it.

Shops are geared up at Christmas to hype people up – other shoppers are stressed out – and before you know it you’ve bought into the idea that you need to overspend to have a good time.

Make a list. Stick to it. Set a budget. Stick to it.

Whatever you do – never put your purchases on a card that you can pay off until June. Because who wants to be paying for things they’ve forgotten about in June?

Be purposeful
I recently told you to make a list for Christmas of all the presents you’ll give and all the cards you’ll write. Have you done it yet? It’s one of the most important keys to a stress free Christmas because it means you can be purposeful in your giving.

Once I have written things down I can target my thinking to focus just on what kind of gift I’m giving each person and have a plan before I hit the shops. By having a list developed you’ll not have to make decisions while shopping, you’ll get what you need and won’t be tempted to over spend or “just buy a few extras just in case.”

This weekend I’m going to write my list of Christmas card recipients – I’ll cover Christmas cards in a separate blog post.

Surprise stressers
Plan for surprises that could stress you out. For me, that’s birthdays – I have mentally charted out upcoming birthdays and have bought gifts that I have at home ready to give. That means I don’t need to make a last-minute dash to the shop, can save money by not panic buying and won’t miss my friend’s special days.

Be prepared
Make a list for everything. I usually have a list of decorations, things I want to make, the menu for Christmas day… everything. It may seem over the top but it helps to keep things sensible.

And remember – the world won’t end if you don’t finish the list.

Think of others
Just like every other day of the year there are others less fortunate than you. Support local charities and foodbanks where you can – or give charity gifts for Christmas instead of traditional gifts.

Shop online
I started shopping online a few years ago after a particularly bad end of year. I was feeling fragile and didn’t want to make chit-chat about how I was feeling, and found the crowds in shops overwhelming and stressful.

Now I almost always do the Christmas shopping online at small New Zealand businesses or at local Featherston shops. Shopping online you can consider colours and styles of products without the pressure to buy, you can make the most of discount codes and often get free gift wrapping. And what you spend on shipping you would have spent on parking and lunch anyway.

I recommend:

www.emmamakes.com (of course) – I wrap everything for free if you ask for it at checkout and will happily give you ideas for difficult people to buy for if you email me at emma.mccleary@gmail.com

www.felt.co.nz is full of great handmade products and they always do a good gift guide.

www.ecostore.co.nz I love these products and it’s nice to get something useful.

Don’t be afraid if you’re spending a lot of money ($100+) with one store to email and ask for a free shipping deal.

Start early
Start now on your preparations and things won’t get stressful.

The tree
One of the easiest ways I’ve found to decorate our tree is to make a theme. For example, one year the theme was birds so I cut out a whole lot of bird shapes from white card and tied them to the tree with white ribbon. The total cost was about $5.

This year I’m thinking ribbon could be good – lots of bows of ribbon tied onto branches.

Decorating your home
You really don’t need to go mad at Christmas – I usually go for a real tree if I’m at home, a wreath for the door and maybe a special garland. I’ll cover ideas for wreaths and garlands in a later post. Another good idea is to put things in priority order – it’s important to me to have a real tree but if we were pinching pennies I’d be happy with a few pine branches in a big vase.

Do less
You don’t have to have the turkey AND the ham AND the pavlova AND the trifle and everything else. Make a simple but delicious menu – you’ll enjoy cooking more and people will love it. I’ll share three Christmas menus in upcoming blog posts that have worked well for me.

Make a memory
I’ve had 36 Christmases in my life and can really only remember three presents (and not the most expensive ones). What I do remember is the good times I had with family, lazing about in the sun, running around with cousins. I don’t remember that I failed to cook something or didn’t make everything that I’d planned to or didn’t give big presents that one year…

And others won’t either. Make a good time, which you can do by being stress free and having fun.

All the images in this post are from Digital NZ – click on them to go to the source.

Easy gifts for women #stressfreechristmas

Here’s some easy gifts for the women in your life that all use a purse as the foundation of your gift:

Purse ($22) + vintage beads – you can almost always find great vintage beads at the op-shop if you start looking now. Total cost $22.

Purse ($22) + handmade soap $5. This soap is from Littlehouse in Longbush (look them up on Facebook). Total cost $27.

Purse ($22) + book. Your local bookshop will have a huge range of Penguin Classics and they’re just $14 each. I recommend The Great Gatsby – a brilliant read. Total cost $36.

Purse $22. This is a great present alone too. Or for stressed out mothers add a voucher for a free night’s babysitting.

All these purses are from Emma Makes and are super limited – there’s a maximum of three of any kind. Find them here.

>> Save money: ask for gift-wrapping at checkout

>> All orders under $25 ship free in New Zealand at www.emmamakes.com

First, take one notebook #stressfreeChristmas

Yesterday I told you that to have a stress free Christmas you’d need a notebook and pencil. Here’s why…

It seems like a good idea at the time to use a receipt or a piece of spare paper for a list but trust me, it’ll get lost. A notebook won’t be chucked out, it can easily be thrown in a bag without ripping and is easier to find again.
Your notebook will let you plan and while it’s not rocket science, this will be the start of a stress free Christmas.

Emma Makes Hopes & Dreams notebook, $12

And here’s what you write in your notebook tomorrow. Don’t do it sometime next week or ‘soon’ – take 10 minutes and do it tomorrow while it’s a long weekend and you have an extra day to do things.

Write a list of everyone you buy gifts for – in detail. I like to break the list up into groups – family (Mum, Dad, siblings, their partners), friends, workmates – each individual should have a separate line in the notebook. Be specific – don’t just write things like, “teachers”, write: Mrs Apple, Mr Banana etc.
In another area of the notebook write everyone you want to send a Christmas card or note to. Again, be specific – I like to keep this list quite broad because it’s nice to send notes at Christmas and if you start early then it’s also achievable. On this list I include people that aren’t getting a present but that I want to thank for a good year e.g. stockists, friends.
Make another note of regular activities you do at Christmas such as parties you always go to in another part of the notebook.

Over the next few days you’ll probably think of people who you’ve forgotten to add. As soon as you remember them add them to the list.

In the lead up to Christmas I’ll help you write your Christmas cards on time and use these lists to shop for gifts that save you money. Think of this task as a good foundation to a stress free Christmas.