Christmas Planning Resources: A Guide

There are quite a few Christmas planning websites out there. Which plan is right for you? Check out my Christmas Planning Guide to find out!

iOS Apps

Looking for an iOS app to help you keep track of your Christmas shopping? Check out my comparison guide!

Recipes and Entertaining

Whether you're hosting a dinner for 12 or a breakfast for four, find recipes and ideas here to help make it special!

Christmas Decorating

Ideas and Inspiration for your home

Christmas Binders-- Inspiration and Downloads for Your Own!

8:00 AM by Christmas RappingNo comments

Last year we took our first family trip to Disney World, and we had a ball.  While I was doing research and planning our trip, I discovered an amazing website called WDW Prep School.  If you're planning a trip to Walt Disney World, I would HIGHLY recommend you visit her site.  One of my favorite things on her site is a post about her Disney World Binder, which also has links to tons of downloads that you can use to make your own Disney Binder.  So being a binder fan, I started my own Disney Binder and revisited that post many times to help find what I needed to plan our trip.  I loved the post so much that it started me thinking that I would love to be able to offer a resource like that for Christmas Binders.  Which brings us here!

I have long been a fan of Christmas Binders.  Whether your Christmas preparations are on a grand scale or a simple one, a Christmas Binder can help you keep track of everything.  The beauty of the Christmas Binder is that they are totally customizable to every situation.  Maybe you just need a place to keep track of your gift giving, Christmas card lists, and recipes.  Or maybe you want a place to keep all those magazine clippings and printed out photos from the Internet to help inspire your decorating.  Whatever it is that you want to keep track of, a Christmas binder is a great way to do it.

I started my own Christmas Binder several years ago, and I use it every year.  My binder has up until recently been divided into the following sections:
I've decided that it is high time I replaced my sad old plain Christmas binder with a new fancy one.  I've spent a lot of time looking at the binders on Zazzle-- there are thousands-- and so far, these are the ones I like the most.







TWO binders, you say?  Have you gone off the deep end?

Maybe.

But I can tell you that I would love having a binder dedicated to holiday recipes.  I plan to use it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas (which is why it's called Holiday Recipes, and not Christmas Recipes).  I am dividing the recipes into sections like a cookbook-- appetizers, breakfast, main course, sides, desserts, etc.  And I have made an agreement with myself only to include the recipes that are tried and true family favorites.  This is not the place to keep those clipped, untried recipes out of a magazine.  Just the favorites.

Now I can expand the information in my other binder to include more planning and decorating information.  This is important, especially because I tend to forget from one year to the next what I did that worked and what I did that didn't work.  Having a place to keep photos and notes from year to year saves lots of trouble.

If you want to start your own Christmas binder, or even if you already have one started, then I hope you'll find something useful in this list of downloads.  My main criteria for choosing which links to include was that they be free, and that they be useful.  Most of them are variations on a theme, but hopefully you can find one in each section with a design you like.  Be sure to check out the links in the Planning Page Collections section, because they each have multiple downloads.  Happy planning!

Planning Page Collections:
(These are links to sites that have created sets of planning pages for you to download.  Most of these include recipe/meal planning pages, gift lists, Christmas card lists, and calendars.)  
Decorations and Decorating:
Gifts:
Budget:
Christmas Cards/Newsletters:
Other helpful planning pages:
Advent:
Thanksgiving:
See more Christmas themed binders at Zazzle.com

Browse other gifts from Zazzle.
(Note: If you use my referral link Zazzle will pay me a referral fee.)


Freezer Meals for Small Freezers

8:00 AM by Christmas RappingNo comments
I live in the South (the American South, for those of you who are tuning in from around the world) and in the South it is somewhat commonplace to have a deep freezer.  It might be in the garage or on the back terrace, or maybe in the utility room-- but it's rarely in the house.  If you are getting ready to Google "deep freezer" because you don't know what I'm talking about, it's a separate freezer unit that gets much colder than the freezer in a typical refrigerator/freezer combo does.  This allows frozen foods to keep much longer.

However, I didn't have my own deep freezer until a couple years ago.  Up until then, all I had was the rather small freezer attached to my refrigerator.  The problem that I ran into a lot was that many of the "freezer cooking" guides that I saw online required a lot more freezer space than I had.  Once a month cooking?  Not gonna happen.

So I had to get a little creative in order to utilize the space more effectively.  If you're in the same situation, you may find it difficult to follow along if your Christmas Planning Guide requires doing a lot of cooking ahead and freezing.  Here are a few tips on maximizing your freezer space that I've gathered and learned throughout the years.

Freeze Prepped Ingredients

Keep an eye on the sales at the grocery store, especially on meat.  I like to buy bone-in chicken, poach it, shred it, and freeze it in two-cup amounts (two cups is usually what my recipes call for-- you may want to do more or less).  When you need it, you can thaw out the amount you need and assemble a recipe much quicker.  The same goes for ground beef-- you can brown it before you freeze it and use it later for tacos, casseroles, soup, or whatever.   And the good news is that they won't take up much space, because you can freeze them in bags and lay them flat. 

I've seen a ton of recipes on Pinterest for putting meat and vegetables together in a gallon bag that you can freeze and later throw together in the crockpot.  I can't personally vouch for any of those because I've never tried them.  I would probably try the recipe once first to see if it was something my family liked, rather than invest a lot of time and money into untried recipes.  But you're welcome to do whatever makes you happy.

Freeze Fillings, Sauces and Soups

If you have a favorite recipe for a casserole, enchiladas, or quesadillas (to name a few), the next time you cook it, make twice the filling amount and freeze half for later.  For instance, I might make enough chicken pot pie filling to make two pies, but it doesn't really freeze well with the crust on.  Plus a casserole takes up a lot of space in a small freezer.  So instead, freeze the extra filling in a quart or gallon bag.  Then you can thaw the filling, put it in a casserole dish, make the crust, and voila-- super easy and fast dinner. 

Quesadillas are even easier, because you can thaw the filling, slap it in between a couple tortillas, toast it in a frying pan and call it dinner.  Enchiladas take a little more work to assemble, but having the filling prepped and ready is still a huge time saver.

My husband hails from an Italian family and he makes a fantastic marinara sauce.  Whenever he makes it, he makes a ton so that we can freeze several containers of it.  We used to use glass jars, but we had a few accidents with not leaving enough "breathing room" in the jar for the sauce to expand as it froze.  And nobody wants shards of glass in their spaghetti.  Then I found some plastic containers by Ball that are specifically for freezing.  They even have the measurements printed on the outside of the container so you know exactly how much is in each one.  Now whenever we want a quick and easy dinner, we just thaw a jar, boil some pasta, and dinner is done.  Make a green salad to go with it if you're feeling extra industrious.

Most soups freeze well, as long as they don't contain pasta.  If they do contain pasta, make the soup base and freeze it without the pasta, then add it later when reheating.  I usually do this even if I'm not freezing it, because if you want it for leftovers the next day, the pasta will suck up the moisture in the soup overnight.  That's no fun. 

Freeze in Foil

If you do want to freeze a whole casserole, instead of freezing in disposable aluminum pans, line a casserole dish with heavy-duty aluminum foil.  Make sure you leave enough extra on the sides to wrap up around the top of the casserole.  Assemble your casserole on top of the aluminum foil, then put the whole thing in the freezer for a couple of hours.  You can then pull the casserole out of the dish by the aluminum foil and wrap the foil around it to protect it from freezer burn.  You may even want to add a layer of Saran Wrap around the outside.  When you're ready to cook it, take the frozen casserole (remove the plastic wrap first) and put it back in the dish you froze it in.  Then you can thaw it and cook it right in the aluminum foil.  (Easier clean up, too!)

I like this method because a.) aluminum foil is less expensive than individual aluminum pans, and b.) the individually frozen casseroles stack more neatly in a small freezer, whereas casseroles in aluminum pans might collapse on top of each other.

Lastly, here are a few common-sense tips for freezer cooking:
  • Label everything with the contents, date frozen, amounts (if you're freezing ingredients), and any cooking instructions.  You'll thank yourself later.
  • Organize your freezer shelf-by-shelf so that you can find things more easily later.  Put vegetables on one shelf, meats on another, breakfast items together, etc.  Do it however it makes the most sense to you.
  • If you're freezing ingredients, keep everything you need for each recipe together.
  • Cheese freezes well as long as it's already shredded.  Whole blocks of cheese will crumble when they thaw.
What are your favorite freezer cooking tips?

In Search of the Best Christmas List iOS App

11:41 AM by Christmas RappingNo comments

This year I joined the masses and got an iPhone and an iPad.  That's right folks, up until this year my cell phone only made calls and sent texts.  Can you imagine?  How did I survive?

Well actually, I've had an iPod Touch for the last few years which accomplished the things that my basic cell phone didn't.  But it is a lot more convenient to not have to carry two devices around.

The last couple of years I've used an app called Santa's Bag to keep track of my Christmas gift lists.  And I was pleased with it, although they did a big update last year that changed the way the interface looked and I didn't love it as much.  It was more cluttered looking to me.

So this year I decided to try out several different Christmas list apps and see which one I liked best.  I tried six new apps, that range in price from free to $1.99.  Since I have an iPad, I was also interested in seeing which ones work on both platforms. Here's how they shake out!



Cost: Free
Compatible with: iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
My rating: 1 out of 5

Features:
  • Create a list for each recipient
  • List the name of each gift you plan to buy and the price.
  • Cross off the items as they're bought.
Features Unique to this App:
  • None
Drawbacks:
  • Very little functionality
  • Lots of annoying ads
  • No password option
Summary:

This is basically a list making app with a Christmas tree on it.  The description on iTunes promises that there's a big update coming with a lot of new features.  I may update this review once that's released, but as of now I don't recommend downloading this app, even for free.

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Cost: $0.99
Compatible with: iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
My rating: 2 out of 5
Features:
  • Enter gift information along with the recipient's name and their relationship to you.
  • Set individual budgets for each person on your list.
  • Keep information on each gift including a description, price, and store.
  • Mark each gift with a checkmark as it is bought.
  • Sort gifts by store.
  • Create an account and manually sync information across devices.
  • Password protected
Features Unique to this App:
  • Also includes a calendar function so that you can enter events, dates, times, locations and description.
Drawbacks:
  • Does not have the ability to upload pictures of your recipients or of gifts.
  • There is no group function as is common with other gift apps.  This means every recipient on your list is grouped together alphabetically, which makes it more difficult to navigate.
  • No archive function
  • Can't assign gifts to multiple recipients
  • No way to edit recipients' names, and the app comes loaded with several "example" names that you can only get rid of if you mass delete everything.
Summary:

This is such a basic app that I really believe it should be free.  It would make more sense to offer this level of functionality in a free app, with the option to upgrade to a pro version for more features.  However, I do like the inclusion of a calendar function.

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Better Christmas List
Cost: $1.99
Compatible with: iPhone and iPod Touch
My rating: 3 out of 5

Features:
  • Countdown at the top of the screen tells you how many days left until Christmas
  • Enter a photo for each recipient, and assign them to custom groups
  • You can set budgets either by group or by individual recipient
  • Enter a photo for each gift, the price, and the store where you plan to (or already have) purchased it
  • A progress bar on each gift allows you to select an empty shopping cart to signify "need to buy," a full shopping cart for "bought," a gift for "wrapped," and a package for "shipped."
  • Password protected
  • Archive and export data
Features Unique to this App:
  • A stocking next to each recipient "fills up" as you purchase gifts, which is cute.
Drawbacks:
  • You can't assign the same gift to multiple people
  • Views are very basic compared to other paid apps
Summary:

This app is basically good, but lacks the kind of features you would expect for a paid app.  The other $1.99 app that I reviewed (see below) is a much better bang for the buck.


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Cost: $0.99
Compatible with: iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
My rating: 4 out of 5

Features: 
  • Personalize everyone on your list with their picture and their birthday.
  • Set individual budgets for each person on your list.
  • Keep information on each gift including a description, price, store, notes, and a picture.
  • Keep track of the status of each gift under the recipient's profile- you can file them under "need," "purchased," "wrapped," and "shipped."
  • You can also keep an idea file for each recipient and archive gifts once the year is over.
  • Sync data to iCloud and it will transfer your information across your devices instantly.
  • Password protected
Features Unique to this App:
  • You can create events to keep track of gift giving year-round-- birthdays, anniversaries, and other holidays.
Drawbacks:
  • Interface is clean and functional, but not very festive.
  • You can't assign the same gift to multiple people.  So basically, if you are buying the same item for several teachers on your list, you will have to enter that information multiple times.
Summary:

While this app is functional, it didn't really wow me.  The interface is so plain that it makes it less fun to enter all my gift information.  However, I do like that you can sync your information across devices so that you can access it from both your phone and iPad.

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* Best Free App *





No More Socks: The Christmas List Genius
Cost: Free, or $2.99 to upgrade to add-free
Compatible with: iPhone and iPod Touch
My rating: 4 out of 5

Features: 
  • Personalize everyone on your list with their picture and their birthday.
  • Set individual budgets for each person on your list.
  • Keep information on each gift including a description, price, store, notes, and a picture.
  • Keep track of the status of each gift under the recipient's profile-- put a checkmark next to "purchased."
  • You can also keep an idea file for each recipient and a general idea file.
  • Password protected
Features Unique to this App:
  • You can actually search stores from inside the app to find the best prices and bookmark each site.  This is an incredibly helpful feature!
Drawbacks:
  • You can't assign recipients to groups, although you can accomplish the same thing by creating different "events" for each group of recipients.
  • This is an app that is meant to be used year-round, so it's not really Christmas-y looking.
Summary:

For a free app, this has a great deal of functionality.  I love the search-within-the-app feature.  I wish it had a Christmas-y color scheme, but it's free so I can't complain. 

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* Best Paid App *



The Christmas List
Cost: $1.99
Compatible with: iPhone and iPod Touch
My rating: 5 out of 5

Features: 
  • Enter a photo and budget for each recipient, and assign them to custom groups
  • See each group's total budget and number of gifts bought/to buy
  • Enter gifts one at a time or quick add many gifts at once
  • Enter a photo and the cost of each gift, along with the store where you plan to buy it-- the app comes already loaded with many popular stores to choose from, or you can enter your own
  • Email your lists directly from the app
  • Keep track of the status of each gift by marking it "to do," "purchased," "wrapped," "shipped," or "received."
  • Assign a gift to multiple recipients (great for teacher gifts or when you buy the same thing for multiple people!)
  • Archive data after Christmas is over
  • Password protected
Features Unique to this App:
  • Quick add feature lets you enter many gifts at once
  • Assign an importance to each gift by selecting "maybe," "definitely wants," or "must have"
  • View gifts to be purchased by store for easier shopping
  • See your progress at a glance (with a pie chart!) 
  • You can select the background from a variety of options
Drawbacks:
  • The iTunes store says it is compatible with iPad, but it would not download on mine.  I would love to have this on my iPad!
Summary:

This app has pretty much everything I could ask for in a Christmas gift app.  It has amazing functionality, especially for budgeting.  The app itself is visually appealing and easy to navigate.  When I started trying out all the apps, I entered the same information into each app so that I could get a feel for each one.  It was so easy to use this app that almost before I even realized what was happening I started using it almost exclusively.  I highly recommend this app if you're looking for an easy and effective way to keep track of your gift-giving this Christmas season!


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