December Newsletter
Happy December! With Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve keeping us busy this month, we thought we'd share with you some tips for managing that all-too-common holiday stress. You'll also find some great DIY gift ideas, a winter home maintenance checklist, and an update on the national housing market.
Wishing you a happy holiday season!
5 Tips for Managing Holiday Stress
One of the best parts of the holiday season is continuing the traditions. For some families, that means baking cookies and delivering them to neighbors. For others, it means volunteering time at a food bank or nursing home. And for some of us (most of us), there’s also the tradition of STRESSING OUT. Because there are gifts to buy and gifting budgets to set and parties to host and pies to bake and a holiday feast to prepare and gifts to wrap and the relentless elves on shelves that require way too much of our mental energy.
But there’s always room for a new tradition. So this year, try these tips from VeryWellMind to cut the holiday stress and begin a new, more peaceful era of holiday celebration.
1. Prioritize holiday activities. Too much of a good thing can be overwhelming, so make sure you don’t try to cram in too many activities. Choose your top 5 favorite holiday activities, spread them out over the next few weeks, and focus on really enjoying just those.
2. Take shortcuts. If you really want to send out holiday cards but you’re a little short on time, cut down your list to just those people you actually speak to on a regular basis. If you want to deliver baked goods to your neighbors, you could get them from the delicious local bakery instead of making them yourself. Try to find ways to simplify holiday tasks.
3. Be mindful of holiday eating. It can be difficult to maintain healthy eating during the holidays. In addition to the constant temptation of sweets, there’s also the risk of stress-induced emotional eating. “This year,” writes Elizabeth Scott, PhD, “plan ahead by being aware of your triggers, do what you can to have some healthy food at hand for each meal, be aware of your intake, and practice mindful eating.”
4. Rethink “togetherness.” For most people, spending time with friends and family is an important part of the holidays. But before you invite your parents and siblings to spend a week at your home, think back to years past. Did you all end up driving each other nuts after too many days together? Make sure you set limits so your time together is still joyous.
On the flip side, if you know you’ll be experiencing loneliness this holiday season, consider volunteering to help those less fortunate. You’ll get to gather with other volunteers and spread cheer to those who need it most. “Many people report these experiences to be extremely fulfilling, and your focus will be on what you have rather than what you lack,” writes Scott.
5. Take a walk outside each day, if possible. The exercise and sunlight will help eliminate symptoms brought on by seasonal affective disorder (SAD). And a walk is always a great time to clear your head and take some deep, calming breaths.
When you take the time to identify and eliminate your biggest holiday stressors, you'll be better able to enjoy the season.
6 Easy DIY Gifts Your Friends and Family Will Love
If you're looking for something unique and meaningful to gift this holiday season, look no further than this list of useful, beautiful, tasty, and just plain fun DIY gifts!
1. Bacon Salt + printable gift tags by Taryn Williford: For the carnivores in your life, this bacon salt is easy to whip up in just 30 minutes. It's delicious sprinkled on top of eggs, steak, potatoes—even chocolate chip cookies! Package the salt in lidded glass jars, tie on a gift tag with some festive baker's twine, and your little gifts are ready to go!
2. DIY Marbled Votives by HGTV: Transform dollar store glass votives into beautifully marbled masterpieces with just a little nail polish. This is a fun craft for kids, too!
3. "Enjoy-Later" Cinnamon Rolls by Sally's Baking Addiction: Your friends and family will be drowning in sweets this month, so they'll appreciate a gift that they don't have to consume right away. Bake up some cinnamon rolls and deliver them in a freezer-safe container. This way, they can freeze the rolls and pop one in the microwave sometime in February when it’s cold outside and they need a warm treat. Any cinnamon bun recipe will do, but you can't go wrong with Sally's Baking Addiction.
4. Infused Olive Oil by Aimee Mars: Making your own infused olive oil is an easy gift that can be packaged beautifully and tastes delicious! Gift it along with a delicious crusty baguette from your favorite bakery (and be sure to tell the recipient that it should be used within 1-2 weeks).
5. No-Sew Superhero Capes by Mas & Pas: For the kiddos in your life, these DIY superhero capes are sure to be a hit! They're made out of T-shirts, and you can decorate and personalize them however you'd like.
6. Stencil-Painted Matching Sweatshirts by Sarah Hearts: For any dynamic duo in your life (You and your BFF? Your neighbor and her son? Your mom and her dog?) these DIY matching sweatshirts are a lot of fun and look really nice. It's also a great way to DIY your own matching family pajamas if you couldn't find any at the store.
Your Winter Home Maintenance Checklist
The days are getting shorter and chillier, which means it’s time for some winter home maintenance! Prepare your home for the cold months ahead by marking these tasks off your checklist:
Seal up leaks and drafts. Your energy company might provide a home energy audit, but if not, you can do it yourself! Feel around doors and windows for cool air entering your home. Anywhere you feel a draft, seal it up with caulk, foam, or weatherstripping.
Keep the heat in. For windows you won’t be using (perhaps a basement window), you can cover them with bubble wrap or a window insulator kit. Cover mail slots and pet doors with heavy towels or insulation. Open your blackout curtains during the day to let sunlight in, and close them at night to keep the heat inside.
Other ways to improve the insulation of your home: If it’s in your budget, consider adding a storm door at your main entrance, installing insulation in the attic, and replacing wood doors with Energy Star-rated doors.
Have your chimney inspected and cleaned. This is important for preventing chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. While you’re at it, use this time to check that your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working!
Have your furnace inspected. You don’t want to be surprised by a broken furnace halfway through January.
Cover bare floors with rugs to prevent heat loss. Or, if you’ve been wanting to install carpet, winter is a great time to do it!
Flip the switch to reverse your ceiling fan blades so they are rotating clockwise, and run them on low. This will push warm air down from the ceiling.
Prepare for snow, ice, and freezing temperatures. Insulate exposed pipes in your attic and basement to prevent them from freezing and bursting. Clean your gutters so they don’t fill with frozen rain, which can cause them to pull down and damage the roof. Be prepared with an alternative heat source or a generator in case you lose power during a winter storm.
Inspect tree branches. Remove dead tree limbs or any branches that could cause damage if they fell during a snowstorm.
Take the steps to prepare your home now, and you’ll be cozy and warm all winter long! For even more winter maintenance tasks, check out CNET's winter home safety checklist.
Housing Market Update
Here is a summary of the recent housing market updates provided by Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com:
Inventory of homes actively for sale is still low. There has been the occasional good week—the week of November 6, 2021, for instance, showed an uptick in new listings (up 5% over last year) for the first time in eight weeks. But total active inventory is still low (down 23% from a year ago). “With fewer than half as many homes actively for sale now compared to 2 years ago," writes Hale, "availability of for-sale homes is a pain-point for buyers, and it’s going to take more than one good week to make up the gap.”
A growing number of homeowners plan to sell. Twenty six percent of homeowners surveyed by Realtor.com in September and October said they plan to sell their home in the next 12 months.
Mortgage rates remain low. After slight increases in late summer and early fall, the week of November 6 saw the Freddie Mac fixed rate for a 30-year loan drop below 3% once again. This is good news for homebuyers struggling to navigate the high prices of the current housing market.
Homes continue to sell quickly. “In fact,” writes Hale, “the speed has improved so much that every week since mid-March has had a lower time on market than the fastest-selling week in any year before this one.” Time on market has slowed slightly during the fall months, but buyers still need to be prepared to act quickly.