10 Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday Season

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gallo Family Vineyards for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

We are only a few days from Christmas, can you believe it?? Have you made Christmas cookies yet? I made these delicious sugar cookies to take to a cookie exchange and they were a hit. Making Christmas cookies can be a fun tradition, but it can be time consuming and messy. Just like baking cookies from scratch, the holidays can be stressful and they shouldn’t be. Christmas should be a time that we can enjoy with our families and not worry about cookies or presents or entertaining perfectly. Because of this, I came up with 10 tips to help this week be stress-free sponsored by Gallo Family Vineyards. Go visit the Gallo Family Vineyards Facebook!

10 Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday Season

Store-bought is OK! If you don’t have time to make homemade Christmas cookies, it’s OK! If you’d like an easy no-bake cookie recipe, try my No Bake Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies
The perfect wine. Gallo Family Vineyard Wines is a family owned company who makes a variety of delicious wines. Pick up a 1.5L for your holiday entertaining at major stores (find where to buy). If you are feeling fancy, try this Christmas Sangria!
Cooking is optional. If the meal planning and cooking is bringing you stress, go for catering! Some grocery stores offer holiday dinners and party platters. Check now!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Are you hosting a holiday party? Don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family to bring a dish to lighten the load.
Last minute gifts. Don’t stress. You can get your last minute gifts done right now with a bottle of Gallo Family wines and a cute printable Christmas wine gift tag!
It’s o.k. to say no. Maybe you’ve been invited to several holiday and New Year parties and are overwhelmed. It’s o.k. to regretfully decline and have a much-needed night in with family. You won’t regret it. Do you still feel like you need to make an appearance? It’s perfectly fine to leave early!
Simple wrapping. One year I decided to hand letter everyone’s name on each package real fancy. It was unnecessary. There’s no need for wrapping to be perfect and gift bags work just as well!
Live in the moment. Take a minute to breathe, remember what’s important and reassure yourself that everything doesn’t need to be perfect.
Lower your expectations. Sometimes we imagine the holidays like a Hallmark movie and that’s not realistic! Enjoy the imperfections of your holiday and make memories.
Give back. Spreading holiday cheer makes you feel good inside. Pay for someone behind you in line or drop a hot chocolate off to someone standing at the cold bus stop.