Holidays

As the most romantic time of the year approaches you will be thinking of how you can show your loved one how much you care. These five ideas cover all budgets to ensure the special person in your life feels the love this Valentine’s Day.

A Home-Made Card

Get creative and make a card for your loved one this Valentine’s Day. The time and effort you have put in will be sure to be appreciated and a handmade card will be treasured for years rather than consigned to the recycling bin on February 15^th. If you’re short on ideas, check out sites such as Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration.

Say It with Flowers

There’s a reason flowers are the classic way to show your love – not only do they look and smell beautiful, but sending flowers is a truly romantic gesture. For a Valentine’s Day flower delivery in Bristol, be sure to book in advance. Valentine’s flowers are a timeless gift and are sure to make your special someone feel fantastic.

Whisk Them Away

A romantic night away is a perfect way to show how much you cherish your loved one. Choose from a quirky treehouse getaway or a glamorous five-star hotel, a night camping under the stars and toasting marshmallows on the campfire, or glamping in a yurt – there are options available to suit all price ranges. If you are traveling a longer distance, why not consider a long weekend to really make the most of your time together?

Love, Sweet Love

Food is the ultimate way to show your love – after all, the gift of food is the gift of nourishment and life. Romantic foods such as chocolates, strawberries, and aphrodisiacs like oysters are always popular on Valentine’s Day, but a cake is possibly the sweetest present you can give your loved one on February 14th. Shop-bought options are easy to buy with many supermarkets having a Valentine’s Day range, but there’s something special about baking your own. 

Simple fairy cakes are easy to make even for a novice baker and can be personalized with decorations that are special to you as a couple. As well as traditional hearts, why not look at other symbols that have a special meaning to you both or spell out a message by icing letters on each bun? If you are proposing, you could place the ring on top of one of the cakes!

Love Letters Straight from Your Heart

Sometimes it can be hard to put your emotions into words but a heartfelt love letter is an ideal way to show your love this Valentine’s Day. You could write a poem or talk about your favorite memories of times spent together or, if you have a special song as a couple, why not write out the lyrics? You don’t need to be a wordsmith – you could draw a picture or make a collage of photos of your favorite moments. Get creative!

However, if you choose to celebrate this Valentine’s Day, have a wonderful time with the one you love.

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From good music to comfort food to feeling closer to your loved ones, a cozy party is a great way to see off one year and head into the next. If you want to celebrate this latest change in your life, it’s no surprise you might be planning a get-together with your nearest and dearest. Of course, the days (and nights) of wild parties are long gone, but a cozy event is still just as enjoyable. 

Give Guests the Right Time 

No one likes waiting around for guests to arrive, but some guests also don’t want to be the first ones there. Still, you’re not as young as you once were, so you can’t waste time since the party will go well into the night anyway. Giving guests the right time, or at least a window means they can arrive at the perfect time. Some may feel like helping you set up, whereas others may have commitments before the party, so this should prevent everyone from arriving at once. 

Designate Who’s Doing What 

Potlucks are a great way to give everyone something to do and make the meal or other activities more exciting. A few weeks before the party, you can get in touch with everyone to see what they could bring. You may not even need to prepare a main dish, and if you have too much to do to cook, you can use services like Barrio Queen catering to supply something hearty and delicious. Other options include bringing booze, games, or just showing up at all. 

Make Your Home Welcoming 

A welcoming home will always set the mood for the rest of the evening, so cleaning up before the guests arrive is essential. You can also make sure you have the evening planned, including when to eat and when to start holiday party games that will keep the laughs (and drinks) flowing well into the night. You can also set up blankets and other cozy accessories for anyone who feels a little chilly as the night wears on while giving them slippers can also be a great way to make everyone feel welcome. 

Give Guests the Option to Stay 

If the drinks have come thick and fast, your guests may not be in optimal condition to drive home. While they can always get a taxi, you may feel more comfortable if they stay the night, especially if they drove beforehand. Setting up extra beds will give them a spot to crash and sleep off a little too much drink. If you want to be the perfect host, you can run to the store first thing in the morning to pick up breakfast food so they have something in their stomachs before heading home.

Getting Together 

Considering you don’t see your closest friends and family as often as you used to, a cozy get-together is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to catch up, have fun, and unwind while bringing the year to a close. With these tips, you’ll be able to see the new year with those you love more than anything and you can look forward to whatever’s still to come. 

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The holidays are quickly approaching and what this means is that people will want to get together to celebrate. One option to ensure that you see friends and family this season is to host a party at your house.

You may be hesitant or feel worried about doing so if you don’t tend to host very often at your home. However, there’s nothing to worry about when you plan ahead and take care of the details in advance. It’s also wise to review six tips for hosting a holiday party at your home so that a great time is had by all and you feel happy with the outcome.

Plan & Get the Word Out Early

The best course of action you can take when hosting a holiday party at your home is to plan and get started mapping out the to-dos and a timeline early. Make lists and checklists that will help you stay on track so you are ready to go when the event rolls around. Also, create your guest list and send out invitations and announce your party date and time as soon as possible. Send invites early so that guests can mark their calendars and you know how many people to expect on the day of the party. The earlier you do so the better in your case.

Spend Time on the Menu

The food will be a vital part of how well your party goes over in the end. When hosting a holiday party at your home you should spend plenty of time on the menu. You’ll not only want to have a delicious main dish to serve but also make some appetizers to pass such as these Bisquick sausage balls. Confirm you have a variety of drinks including non-alcoholic options and a dessert or two to serve at the end of the evening. You want your guests to leave feeling full and satisfied. Cook ahead so that you can just throw items in the oven as the evening plays out.

Prepare Your Home & Décor

Another tip for hosting a holiday party at your home is to prepare your space and the décor ahead of time. The theme should be pretty easy depending on the holiday and time of year so you can order or shop for items that will help bring it to life in your home. Also, make sure that you perform a deep cleaning of your property and pay special attention to cleaning up the areas where your guests will be mingling. You may also want to spend time sprucing up the guest bathroom in particular.

Create an Inviting Ambiance

You’ll also want to take the time to plan out and create an inviting ambiance in your home. It’s all about the environment you choose to produce and the type of way you want your guests to feel walking into and spending time in your home. A holiday party should always be fun and festive so set the right tone by having attractive table settings, the proper lighting, and making a holiday playlist of songs you can have on in the background. Aim for creating a cozy and welcoming atmosphere where guests feel relaxed and ready to have a good time. You may want to remove any breakables just in case.

Introduce Guests & Be A Good Host

Depending on your guest list, some people may not know one another. As the host, it’s your responsibility and job to ensure that your guests feel comfortable in your home. Therefore, make it a point to introduce guests who don’t know each other. Be a good host by greeting each person who enters your house when they arrive and making sure everyone knows where they can get food and drinks and where your bathroom is located. Put yourself in the shoes of your guests and think like them to help you be the best host possible and make your guests feel at home.

Save the Cleanup

You should also plan on cleaning up later when guests leave or in the morning. When hosting a holiday party at your house you want to be present and engaged in the evening. Avoid being too busy and cleaning up while your guests are in your home trying to enjoy the party. Instead, focus on interacting and conversing with your visitors and make sure everyone is having a nice time. It may be a good idea to have large trash cans that you can put all the garbage in so it’s out of the way and you can clear it as you go. 

There is always a reason and always a season for gift giving. If the mere thought of seeing someone you love open a gift you have put thought and care into brings happiness to your soul, you will appreciate these warm-hearted gift ideas.

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Jewelry

You cannot go wrong with jewelry. It is one of the best gifts. Whether you are looking for a ring, bracelet, or necklace, check out the unique selection at JCunicorn. You will find everything you are looking for and maybe a few items for yourself!

Match your recipient’s metal of choice with silver or gold. Or go for contrast by mixing it up with different metals. There are paperclip bracelets and stacking rings – anything you want. And, it will all make a great gift.

Plants

If your giftee has a passion for greenery, a beautiful plant might be the perfect gift. With the unbelievable variety of plants available, you can find almost anything.

A coffee plant with gorgeous, shiny green leaves will be a great choice for the coffee lover in your life. While they may never become small-batch roasters after raising their plant, they will still appreciate the beauty of the plant itself while sipping their morning brew.

Snake plants tend to be very forgiving and thrive in many indoor environments, regardless of whether they receive full or low light throughout the day. In addition, snake plants help improve air quality.

If you know that the person you are shopping for prefers a certain type of plant, go with that. To add a twist, find a plant that is closely related to their favorite plant and gift that instead to give them a little variety.

No matter what type of plant you select, it will be helpful to include a card with information about the plant. Note the plant’s USDA growing zone, the type of soil that it will thrive in, watering and fertilizer instructions, and any other pertinent information.

A Service

Sometimes the very best gifts are ones that people truly need. If your friend or family member can use extra help at home, perhaps gifting them a service call is something they will appreciate. When life gets busy and small items begin to fall into disrepair, they can add up and become overwhelming. If this is the case, hire a couple of hours with a professional handy person for your friend.

Perhaps cleaning or yard work is either not enjoyable for the person you are shopping for or they do not have the time to accomplish the tasks themselves. When that happens, consider paying for a professional whole house deep cleaning or needed lawn maintenance. Either of these will take a burden off of your loved one.

Once you have your gift, you will need to wrap it. Regardless of what you choose to give, you can still present it beautifully. Watch this video to learn a simple yet timeless wrapping method.

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No matter what gift you choose to give your favorite people, they will know you are giving it with love. You have spent time and effort finding the best gift for them, and it will show.

As enjoyable as Christmas is for most people, it takes a lot of work to make sure that everything goes smoothly. With many restrictions still in place because of COVID-19, that’s become much more complicated.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t adjust and still have an enjoyable holiday. Instead, there are multiple COVID-19 Christmas ideas you can take advantage of. While you’ll need to make sure you stay safe, you can enjoy the festive season as much as you did before the pandemic.

A decent amount of planning will be needed, especially if you want to stay cozy, but that shouldn’t be too large of an issue. You should focus on several things when you’re planning things out.

Top COVID-19 Christmas Ideas

Stay Inspired

It can be easy to feel somewhat negative leading up to the holiday season. It isn’t the first during the COVID-19 era, after all. Staying inspired by all of the good things happening in the world can be the easiest way to stay motivated and inspired.

Even looking online can give you things to smile about. These can be relatively small things, such as some funny videos, or something larger. Regardless of what this is, it can be an effective way of getting into the holiday spirit.

Treat Yourself

With all that you might have to manage during the holiday season, it can be easy to forget about yourself. One of the top COVID-19 Christmas ideas you can take advantage of is to look after yourself. You can do this in more ways than you might expect.

It could be as simple as learning a new bread pudding recipe for the big day to take dinner to another level. Alternatively, you could plan on spending time with your feet up and relaxing. Whatever way you think you can treat yourself over the holidays will be more than worth it.

Celebrate Online

Many people would prefer not to celebrate in person with many of their friends and family. The reasoning behind this can be understandable. That doesn’t mean that you’ll have to enjoy Christmas without them, however.

You can take advantage of multiple tools and technology to stay connected with them. While you might be in different homes, or even different countries, you can feel as close as ever with each other.

Zoom and other video conferencing software can be more than recommended for this. Though it might take a bit of effort to plan this out properly, that’ll be more than worth it. It’ll feel like your loved ones are right next to you throughout the day.

Wrapping Up

It’s worth making sure that you adapt your COVID-19 Christmas ideas to you and your family. Everyone’s different and will have specific wants and desires during the festive period. Making sure that everyone will have an enjoyable time hasn’t changed from previous holidays.

While this year could be a little different, it doesn’t mean that you and your loved ones won’t have a great time. Trying the above can make sure that that happens. What’s stopping you from enjoying your Christmas?

Christmas is arguably one of the best times of the year, where you can enjoy hot drinks and board games, and most people will be in good spirits. For some, it is one of the best things about winter, which is otherwise pretty dreary and grey. Many of us prefer the warmer seasons since you don’t feel like you are constantly chilly and struggling to get warm. While it is true that it is easier to regulate your temperatures when the weather is nice, there is no reason why you can’t stay cozy in winter. Step one to doing this is to make your home nice and warm, which will provide a distraction from the frost outside. Here’s how you can do just that.

Having a Working Fireplace 

Nothing beats a roaring fire when it is raining or snowing outside. There is something super comforting about knowing you are safe indoors whilst the weather isn’t so great. One great idea for making your house really cozy this winter is to install a fireplace if you do not already have one, or to do up an old one to make it more visually attractive. Having a fire is one of the most efficient ways to heat up your home and you can easily buy or collect logs to keep it topped up. For instant warmth, this is much more effective than switching the heating on, which can take a while to heat everything up properly. Go for the old-fashioned method and look through the gorgeous fireplaces and stoves over at stonewoods.co.uk to browse their traditional and modern ranges. 

Buying Some Warm Blankets

Warm blankets are a lifesaver when it comes to wintertime. These can be used both in bed or on the sofa when you are cuddled up watching a Christmas film. Blankets are usually available at most homeware stores and aren’t hugely expensive to buy, but the payoff is great. This will make you want to spend more time in your living room rather than sneaking off to bed at every given opportunity because you can pretty much make your sofa into a bed. 

Being able to read a book or relax in a communal area whilst staying warm is great and this will ensure that you are more sociable around your home. Additionally, guests will really appreciate the cozy comfort when they come to visit. 

Keeping Your Home Insulated

Keeping your home insulated will have really big benefits to keeping it warm, as well as ensuring that you are being more environmentally friendly. Without simple insulation such as draught excluders or double glazing, pretty much all of that expensive heating that you are using on your home will go to complete waste. Some insulation methods such as loft insulation or double glazing can initially be a bit pricey, but the money that you will save through heating bills will certainly outweigh the initial cost. 

Winter doesn’t have to be something to dread and having a cozy home will get you into the Christmas spirit almost immediately. The benefits of having a cozy home will also extend until after the festive period and this is something that you will be able to cherish for a long time. 

Celebrating Christmas is an age-old tradition. Many families worldwide are always looking forward to sharing gifts and Christmas dinner while catching up with their loved ones. But this year’s festive season, like everything else, will be very different. With a highly infectious virus ravaging communities and families, the winter holidays will be the strangest in our lifetime. From restrictions on social gatherings to stretched finances and a contagious virus ominously hanging in the air, our hands will be full this Christmas.

Christmas shopping this year will come with an added sense of oddity. The finances are stretched, with millions of people unemployed. The malls and stores have restrictive protocols, while traveling is discouraged. However, shopping will add a sense of merry to your festive season despite the doom and gloom. The following tips will help you steer these unprecedented times and get the best gifts and food for your loved ones:

Work with a Realistic Budget

With stretched finances, it would be unwise to go Christmas shopping without a budget. Draw a flexible budget that reflects your financial situation. Rank items on your shopping list based on priority. Whether you opt for online or in-store shopping, carry the list with you. It would be prudent to stick to the list and tick every item once you purchase it. A pragmatic budget will ensure that you don’t run the risk of struggling because you spent all your money during the festive winter season.

Get all the Help you Need

This Christmas is not ideal for putting on an invincibility cloak. Get everyone on board and let them help you out wherever possible. Let the little siblings, partner, or loved ones contribute, morally and financially, to add to the Christmas cheer. Always seek professional help whenever possible to ease your worries and enjoy the holidays. Call a top-rated personal injury lawyer in case of accidents or injuries.

Shop Around for the Best Deals

Christmas season is incomplete without those enticing deals, coupons, and discounts offered by grocery stores and shopping malls. Avoid the impulse of buying items from the first online or grocery store you visit. If you are online shopping, you have the added advantage of going through thousands of items from the comfort of your home before making the purchase. Compare the prices and quality and ask for discounts and special deals. Use those coupons and save some extra dollars.

Shop Whenever Possible

The risk of coronavirus cannot be entirely be eliminated. We have to find a way of going around our daily activities, including Christmas shopping, despite the threat of infection. Online shopping offers you the opportunity to get the best gifts and items for the festive season with little health risk. However, order early to avoid the last-minute rush and the danger of receiving your items in January.

Consider Cash Payments

Paying with cash reduces the risk of impulse buying. Credit cards give a sense of financial security even though your bank account does not back up such confidence.

Christmas shopping is an integral part of the winter holiday celebrations. Find ways to save money by buying discounted items and realistic budgeting. Use coupons to save more money as you enjoy the Christmas cheer.