Stress Free Holidays Part 6
More Steps For Planning Thanksgiving Day

Here are some more steps to take as part of planning Thanksgiving day to make it a stress free, enjoyable time for you and your family.

As part of the Stress Free Holidays series we are still mainly in the mode of planning for Thanksgiving, although we will also deal with a little Christmas preparations too this week.

If you've done your tasks from last week, your Halloween decorations are completely put away. Remember, if you have candy left from Halloween it is getting time to throw that away too. Your kids (and you) don't need to be eating it daily for too much longer. (This is a reminder I need myself, because I am bad for sneaking a piece of their candy!)

Thanksgiving Preparations For The Week - Decorating Your Home And Table For Thanksgiving

Photo by s13610

This week as part of planning Thanksgiving day, you should slowly begin decorating your home for Thanksgiving.

You don't need to get out all your decorations at once, but instead I suggest doing it slowly throughout the week.

Of course, many of the fall decorations you have around your house, even from Halloween, may also work for this time of year so it may not be too much trouble for you.

Just as with your Halloween decorations, do yourself a favor and give away or throw away any decorations you know you won't use anymore. If you don't use them they are just clutter and should leave your home.

Prepare Your Table Decorations And Embellishments Ahead Of Time

This is also the week to think about the decorations and embellishments for your Thanksgiving table.

Do you use your fine table linens, and your best china and silverware, for example? Do you like to fold your napkins in a pretty shape for the table?

If so, now is the time to begin getting this stuff ready, so you are not in a mad dash trying to wash the china, iron the tablecloth, fold your napkins, and clean and polish the silver while trying to cook the Thanksgiving feast and entertain your out of town guests.

Think through what needs to be readied for the big day and write notes on your calendar about when you will prepare all these things. I suggest doing it all at least a week before the big day if you have a place to keep it out for a little while, so you can focus during the week of Thanksgiving on the food preparations and entertaining, only.

Here are some resources on this site that may help you:

Homemade Silver Cleaner Recipe
Homemade Silver Polish Recipe
How To Fold A Napkin Several Fancy Ways (with multiple video instructions)
How To Fold A Rectangular And A Round Tablecloth (with videos)

Make Sure You Have Enough Chairs, Glasses, Plates, Etc. For Everyone Coming On Thanksgiving Day

Also, this is the week to think about whether you have all the place settings you need, chairs, glasses, and other things you may need for Thanksgiving day. If not, make arrangements to rent or borrow this stuff now, or have friends or family bring some folding chairs or other items with them that you can use on the day of Thanksgiving.

These little planning Thanksgiving sessions this week can make a real difference in lowering your stress level and raising your enjoyment level later on.

Christmas Preparations For The Week - Order Your Christmas Cards

One of the most difficult things to do, without getting stressed out, is to actually take all the small steps needed throughout the holiday season to get your Christmas cards out on time.

That's why even though our big focus this week in on planning Thanksgiving day, we are also going to tackle this big step for planning Christmas -- actually ordering your Christmas cards.

You can just go to a store and buy some generic cards, and send those out if you like. However, with today's technology and fast printers, like Tiny Prints, who specialize in personalized Christmas cards, there really is no need.

Plus, if you order now you don't have to pay for rush orders or extra fast shipping, meaning it is not much more expensive to get the personalized cards than the generic ones.

But, to make sure that you get them back in time to lesiurely fill them all out, and address and stamp them, you need to order now so you can take the next step regarding your Christmas cards as part of this Stress Free Holidays series when it rolls around.

Good luck with planning Thanksgiving day this week, along with just a little bit of Christmas preparations thrown in there too! Remember, I'm doing all these things right along with you!

How Is Planning Thanksgiving Going So Far? Tell Me In The Comments

I would love to know how you're doing on this week's challenge. You can share your successes and your setbacks below in the comments and maybe I or another reader can help you, or cheer you on with motivation and support!

Previous Parts Of The Stress Free Holiday Series

If you missed the previous parts of this series, you can still jump in. There is always time to start.

Here is the previous challenges:

If You're Reporting On Your Progress For This Challenge On Your Own Blog Grab This Button!

If you have your own blog, and report on your experience or success with planning Thanksgiving day and other tasks this week I would love it if you grabbed my button to place on your posts so everyone can participate!