Holiday Shopping Tips

Holiday shopping is pretty stressful around here. Between combining both mine and Bub's families we have over 25 people to shop for. It gets a little out of control trying to find thee most perfect gift for 25 individual people. Here are some of my tactics I use to try to make the shopping a little less stressful so you don't get stuck duking it out for the last pair of tube socks in walmart on December 23rd.

• Purchase gifts throughout the year. If you see something someone might like just get it! It's easier to buy thee most perfect gift when its presented to you and not later on when you're driving to 34 stores trying to find it again.

• Sign up for newsletters. Yeah, they can get a little annoying, but that's why you make another email account exclusively for newsletter subscription. It'll keep your day-to-day inbox less cluttered and then when you're finally in the mindset to "shop" you can log on to your other account and click through the deals and sales. Most newsletters come with a coupon code or a deal of some sort.

• Pick "a theme" to exchange with some friends or family members. For some of our family members Bub and I are doing an ornament exchange with them. It'll be a nice tradition to start since Bub and I just recently got a home and our poor christmas tree is super bare with extremely cheesy dollar store ornaments to fill up the space. It's great because we get to give each other a sentimental gift and not drive ourselves crazy. I have also done "Pajama Pants" exchanges and "Handmade" exchanges.

Speaking of handmade exchanges: If you own a small business and are interested in swapping items from my shop with your shop please contact me! I am still looking for holiday gifts for my family members and would love to give them unique handmade items. It's a win/win for both of us if you think your family or friends would love something from my shop as well :)