Using social media to cut through Christmas chaos.
This time of year is all about tradition. Pulling out your heirloom ornaments and tree. Making batch after batch of your mom's beloved Christmas cookies or your grandmother's famous potato peirogis.
And let's not forget the traditional poring over your to-do list or standing in line at the post office. The menu-making and scheduling, the decorating, angsting about gift choices, and baking.
Of course, part of what's magic about this time of year is the old-fashioned, high-effort "homemadeness" of it all. So, if you and all your forbears have always made (and chilled and rolled and cut) your own sugar cookie dough, by all means, do it again this year.
But when it comes to some of your other tasks, using social media can help you break with tradition -- and give yourself a break with some (classy) hoilday helpers.
The first that leaps to mind comes from one of our clients, The HoneyBaked Ham Company. Being the youngest of three, I've never actually had to host my own holiday dinner, or make my own ham, but why would I? HoneyBaked is a win-win timesaver. Not only is the ham made for you, it's a venerable brand that has become its own tradition. So you can serve it without a twinge of guilt (and send your husband to pick it up!)
What's another high-maintenance holiday staple? The gingerbread house. That's a lot of candy-gathering, baking, and building for something you're not even going to eat. But buying a pre-fab kit can feel a little lame.
The solution? Google your local cooking schools for a house-making class like this one. You get all the fun of building the house with your child and bringing it home, while the instructors assemble the supplies and clean up the mess afterwards!
Finally, there's the shopping. By now, we're all weary of both the shops, the parking lots and the endless internet. (Do I really need 1,130 choices to buy my sister a nice clutch purse?)
That's why I've begun to let the internet do the shopping for me. In addition to Pinterest which we've mentioned here before, there are a growing number of websites that not only curate a small collection of high-end gift chocies for you, they also offer deals. Here are just a few of my favorites:
And by the way, if all this inspires you to ditch those DIY sugar cookies, I've got just the thing for you -- pre-baked and ready for a photo-op-worthy decorating session.
Have you found online routes to cutting corners without cutting the class this season? Share your intel in the comments!
Comments
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