Easiest holiday hacks to try all year!

Although there is always plenty of preparation and effort put forth for the Christmas season, which is also my mother’s birthday, inevitably some of the best ideas come from last minute solutions. That’s why I am calling out these holiday hacks for their unexpected results. They were way better than what I could have planned for ahead.

Let’s start with present wrapping!

I have a daughter who now LOVES wrapping presents during the holidays. This year she hot glued pine branches and pine cones to some of the boxes. They were adorable. I felt the need to do something note worthy for her gifts but I was really out of ideas until I came across the box of leftover paper straws I had ordered for the summer party.

I did my usual method of tying ribbon around the boxes and then before I curled the ends I knotted each straw in to the tails of the bow. They are all tied separately so they could be fanned out how they are shown.

I had already wrapped her gifts up in this pastel paper so I was pleased that all the straw colors really complemented it. That’s why this was a hack for me. It was easy, I already had the straws and they have a fun candy cane effect on the packages!

…Move on to gift giving!

Now that we are a culture that is never without a camera-photo books really are the easiest and most sentimental gift you can add to the holidays. I take a lot of photos as a hobby so the hack for me was focusing on a subject matter and making one beautiful book of photos. Keep it super simple by doing a same day pick-up, stopping when you get the minimal book full- around 20 pages (so pull 30 pictures you want to use), and if you are using Walgreens Photo you can likely apply a coupon for 40 or 50% off, making the average purchase price on this gift $25.00.

I like choosing the studio theme and keeping the picture layout mostly the same. Less is more. This made the book I called “Woods and Field” feel like a high end photographer’s portfolio. If you are doing family pictures keep them one per page- let them be big! That’s what makes them more special then looking at them on a phone.

…And finish with dessert!

Christmas day is my mom’s birthday and we do traditionally enjoy tiramisu as the dessert. However, we never get to have that real birthday cake feel with candles to blow out. This year I decided to make a stop at a grocery store for a $15.00 round cake. I lucked out by nabbing the very last white one which happened to have this simple frosting design on top with gold sprinkles. I thought that would do it, along with my “Happy Happy Birthday” candle holder. But just as I was walking out the door of my house I spotted a bag of miniature Christmas trees I had dug out for making snow globes.

I sprinkled a trail through the top with cocoa powder I had on hand from the tiramisu and started sticking on trees. This was a total last minute idea that turned out a cake better looking than anything pre-made at the bakery. Cheap and effortless. How do I know it’s a really good hack? It would have been just as cute without the candle holder.

And there you have it! My easiest hacks from the holidays that surprised even me. For ideas that were easy, inexpensive and meaningful these really took the cake (pun intended)!