Countdown to Christmas – four weeks to go

This week we share supermarket shopping and Christmas wrapping tips and short cuts in our festive countdown to Christmas.

Four weeks to go until Christmas, and if you haven’t start planning and organising yet, don’t worry. Every week until the big day, Nerissa Buckell from online gifts, homewares and accessories website Crimson Tiger is sharing her tips for a stress-free festive season.

This week she shares a handy tip to secure your precious supermarket Christmas delivery slot (even if you don’t know what you want to buy yet!) and wrapping ideas for people who love to wrap Christmas gifts – and those who hate it.

Book your supermarket delivery slot this week!

Supermarkets should be releasing their Christmas delivery dates this week for those who are not signed up to their loyalty schemes where you pay monthly.

As soon as you see the dates appear, book one and fill your online basket up with anything that will take you up to the minimum delivery then check out. You can remove those items and replace them with ones you really want once you have done your food planning – and keep your precious delivery slot.

Ready to start wrapping yet?

Hopefully by now you have started your Christmas shopping and are hiding it all over the house from nosy eyes! if so, it’s time to start the gift wrapping session.

Some of you will love this bit and others will not want to spend too long doing something that will end up in the recycling bin within five minutes of being opened, so I have split this section into two!

1) What to do if you hate wrapping Christmas presents

There’s nothing worse than being handed a badly wrapped gift. Part of the pleasure is seeing time and effort being put into what you have received.

Every year I get handed a couple of supermarket plastic long life bags with our family gifts in from my father, which does tarnish what he has given us. Don’t be that person!

If you hate wrapping (or are really bad at it) bulk buy some paper carrier bags. Companies like Carrier Bag Shop sell a range of Christmas and plain coloured bags in packs of 25. You can also get matching tissue paper.

It is easy to pop your presents in a bag with tissue paper on top, a tab of sticky tape between the handles to stop the peeking, and a tag or a label. And voila, you have ‘wrapped’ a Christmas gift. See? No excuse!

2) What to do if you LOVE going the extra mile when wrapping

If you love the opportunity to unleash your creative side when wapping gifts then Pinterest is your new best friend. It’s full of endless ideas, and instructions on everything from how to dry an orange, to tying bows and sewing wrap (yes it does work!).

If you have a couple of rolls of brown paper you can wrap a present for anyone, for any occasion. Just do yourself a favour and pop everything you may need into one big zip up bag along with the double sided tape (makes everything so much neater than sticky tape), scissors, tags and ribbons.

It is also a good time to go through your costume jewellery and see if there is anything you no longer want – odd earrings, beaded necklaces, etc can easily be used to decorate the outside of a gift. A gift can also wrap a gift. I recently gave a bottle of wine wrapped in a football scarf. Just have some fun!

Don’t stick on labels with tape!

Just one warning, however you wrap your gifts: don’t stick your gift tag onto a gift with sticky tape. It can easily come off and it becomes a great game in our house of Who Would Buy a Gift Like This. Instead tie it on or use sticky labels.

Looking for Christmas gift inspiration? You’ll find plenty of good ideas at Crimson Tiger.