Christmas is fast approaching, the countdown is on. It’s magical, it’s exciting, it’s stressful. Do you know what we’re constantly also being told it is?… It’s cuffing season. “Top 10 things to do this Winter for you and your boo”. Ew. Don’t get me wrong I love love. But the expectation to “get cuffed”, to find your special person around Christmas is so silly. Being in a relationship for the holidays is great but being single is also great. What isn’t great is getting bogged down in wishing your relationship situation was different.
So, whether you’re ‘cuffed’ or not, date yourself this holiday season. I guarantee you, you deserve the extra attention and love.
Here are some of my ideas for making this Christmas extra special for yourself…
Go pottery painting
Do you know what screams “wholesome” to me? Pottery…and painting. The world is your oyster and that mug is your canvas. Whether you’re creative or not you’ll never spend a better hour than painting a cute festive design on a piece of pottery.
I may sound sarcastic, but I promise I’m not. Go to that pottery painting place. Take a friend. Order a hot drink. Choose out your pottery and paints and have the cutest time. You can bring your finished piece home and show it off to every guest you have come around. Sip out of your painted Christmas tree mug and feel a sense of pride you haven’t experienced since junior school.
Do some festive baking
Channel your inner Prue Leith (yes Prue, not Mary Berry- let’s be boozier and quirkier for this one) and get some flour on your face. My go-to festive bake is always sugar cookies. The recipe is easily googled and quite simple to make. Listen to some Christmas tunes or have that cheesy Hallmark movie on in the background – the one that makes your toes curl in cringe, and you would never admit to enjoying with a gun to your head, but that you secretly love. And try not to set the smoke alarm off!
The fun comes with decorating. Turn those mediocre, leaving-the-Bake-Off-tent-in-week-one cookies into “ooh-that’s-so-cute”-worthy snowmen, reindeer, Santas, trees, and snowflakes. Again, here we have another opportunity to feel better about yourself…yes, I see you, there’s a little person in all of us who thrives on external validation. So, spread the Christmas joy by dropping some cookies off at a friend’s or a family member’s, and then bask in the gratitude and praise. A bonus Christmas treat for yourself.
Watch a Christmas Flick
I seem to mention movie nights a lot but that’s because they’re really that good. Guaranteed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, a Christmas movie is the epitome of wholesome.
If you’re in need of that daily dose of festive feel-good then why not make yourself an advent calendar of Christmas flicks? Watch a film each day of December in the countdown to the 25th…there’s definitely enough to fill up the days. If you only want to watch a few then let it be from my ‘Best Festive Films List’: Nativity!, The Grinch, Love Actually, Last Christmas, The Santa Clause, Polar Express, and Miracle on 34th Street. (I know, I didn’t include Home Alone, arrest me).
Visit a Christmas Market
Christmas markets are like stepping into little villages of festive cheer. The lights, the stalls, the smell of roasted chestnuts and Bratwursts, it’s all there to add a little magic to your day. So transport yourself to a snowy Germanic town and go and visit that local Christmas market.
Support your local community, sip on some overpriced yet completely justified-in-buying mulled wine, and maybe find a cute gift for a loved one. Your festive spirit is assured to be boosted.
Go Ice Skating
If you’re like me and laugh at people falling over, this festive activity is sure to put you in a good mood. If you’re the person that tends to fall, then go despite your fears and give your friends some good entertainment. Plan out that adorable skating fit, wrap up warm, and prepare to feel like you’re learning to walk all over again. Grabbing onto your friends’ arms, waving your hands in the air, and clinging onto the sides for dear life is all a part of the package.
Whatever your skill level, I promise you you’ll have fun and your cheeks will hurt from grinning (or frostbite). It’s a certified merry time for all.
Take Yourself on a Festive Day Out
Plan a whole day for yourself or take a friend, family member, or significant other. Whoever the company, a day of festivities is my prescription for you. Go bookstore browsing, thrift shopping, and find a cosy independent cafĂ© to hide out in from the Christmas bustle on the streets. Make headway in that Christmas shopping and delight in the holiday displays and decorations. Wander the city and admire the Christmas lights until your senses are overwhelmed and you lose feeling in your toes. It’s what the holiday season is all about!
Give Back
Now, in my opinion, this is what Christmas is all about. Seeing your loved ones’ faces light up as they open your gift on Christmas morning does things to your heart that no other Christmas experience can accomplish. So if you love that feeling, and want to give more holiday happiness to others this winter, then here are some ideas…
Send out Christmas cards; the art of handwritten letters and cards is slowly dying out, so be a part of keeping it alive. Show someone you care and are thinking about them this holiday and send them a card to proudly display on their mantle. Support your local community and charities; drop off any tins or excess cupboard food at a food bank, donate those untouched clothes that are taking up space at the back of your wardrobe to your local Oxfam, volunteer at a shelter, donate money to a charity, spend time with an elderly relative or neighbour…whatever it is you choose to do, spread that Christmas cheer and warmth to those who need it most.