Stop stressing and have fun

If a cheery “All set for Christmas?” has you wanting to stuff the enquirer rather than the turkey (that you haven’t bought yet anyway) you may be suffering from a bit of festive stress.

It can all feel a bit overwhelming when you haven’t sent a card, decked the halls, got the sprouts peeled or bought any presents, let alone wrapped them, and Christmas Eve is looming.

But, as with all things in life, it’s a matter of attitude and with a little adjustment you can learn to love the chaos.

Some people are well prepared for the festive season with gifts purchased, neatly labelled and under the tastefully decorated tree by the beginning of December Well, where’s the fun in that?

Look on the positive side of leaving things until the last minute.

For a start everything is cheaper.

Bar a few of the big retailers, the January sales pretty much start the week before Christmas... especially for seasonal items.

Unless this year is significantly different from the past few, come Monday you should be able to pick up a host of items – wrapping paper, cards, crackers and gift sets – in Oxford’s stores at seriously reduced prices.

Christmas tree prices will also be chopped (sorry, couldn’t resist it) as it gets closer to the big day and if you can hold your nerve – and be prepared to make a change to the menu if they are all sold out! – you may be able to pick up a turkey at a big discount before the supermarkets shut on Christmas Eve.

No time for hitting the city centre shops? Combine your trip to the supermarket with gift buying: many will have present selections but, at worst, a bottle of something, chocolates and/or a plant will be available and unlikely to go amiss.

And there’s still time to sit back with a cuppa, or something stronger, and do some online shopping (although check the site’s last ordering for Christmas delivery dates before you get started).

When it comes to Christmas day itself, don’t knock yourself out trying to make things perfect.

Cut corners and relax. Unless your idea of fun is getting up at 6am to put little crosses in the bases of Brussel sprouts, buy them ready-prepared or even frozen.

All but the most demanding of family and friends (and you’ll never please those anyway) would rather have a happy gathering than Michelin star quality food and an exhausted host.

So follow our tips for a bit slapdash but very merry Christmas.

WRAPPING

The year I found myself sobbing over a mountain of presents that I was still wrapping at 2am on Christmas day – knowing full well the paper would be ripped off by the children just hours later – was when I vowed “never again”.

And it’s one resolution I’ve stuck with, factoring in a few hours at least a couple of days before they are due to be opened to tackle the bulk of the pressies.

The discovery of pre-cut sticky tape and paper cutters have been a revelation. It makes wrapping so easy. Really. I’m evangelical about it. The Scotch Pop-Up Tape Handband Dispenser costs £2.69 with refills packs at £2.89. The time and frustration saved are priceless.

Here are a few more tips from Arona Khan, the world’s first wrapping consultant.

* Make sure you choose the right kinds of wrapping paper. If the item you are wrapping is an awkward shape, then thick wrapping paper isn't always the right choice. Flexible materials, like cellophane and tissue paper, are perfect for awkward shapes.

* When using a roll of gift wrap, first take a length of curling ribbon around the gift to measure how much paper you need.

* Don’t tape the paper to the present. It doesn’t help, may damage the gift and causes problems if the recipient wants to exchange it.

* Trim off excessive wrap: you want to wrap the present, not mummify it!

POSTING

You’ve missed the last day of posting for UK second-class, that was yesterday, but the good news is you’ve got until tomorrow for first-class and Tuesday, December 23, for Special Delivery.

My personal philosophy is that anything sent up to and including Christmas Eve counts as a triumph... after all it could have got stuck in the post. I do (usually) try to make sure elderly relatives get a card in the post before the big day – it seems to be important to them.

But if you’ve left it too late, there’s always facebook and you can use the Christmas break to send new year messages to distant friends. This approach means you’re likely to be struck off a few people’s Christmas card lists but who wants to be friends with those who only send to receive.

ALL THE TRIMMINGS

If your home’s still a festive-free zone, or despite your best efforts, still hasn’t got top-of-the-tree style, there’s no need to panic.

A beautifully decorated home is within reach; all that’s needed is a little imagination, a willingness to get handy with some scissors, glue and paper, and a small outlay on a few well-chosen Christmas accessories.

Follow our guide to stunning last-minute touches for Santa-ready rooms.

* If you haven’t the space for a large, bushy tree, or don’t want to make that sort of statement, embrace the trend for slimmed-down trees, with slender trunks and bare branches. If you’re having a minimalist twig thing, then put very small, very delicate decorations on it. Scandinavian decorations look so beautiful because they’re so understated.

* Set baubles free from the tree and you’ll be amazed at their power to bring razzle-dazzle to rooms. Buy invisible wire thread, or fishing line, and attach to a window frame so you can hang baubles from it. Or use brightly coloured satin and velvet ribbon, cut to different lengths, and hang them from chandeliers and curtain rails.

* Ensure visitors’ first impression is a festive one by dressing the stairs with a garland on a banister rail, or hang cards on a string down its length.

* Bring seasonal magic to plain walls with festive images which will instantly conjure a winter wonderland. If you don’t like cards cluttering surfaces, simply cut out a large paper template of a Christmas tree and then mark out the outline on a wall. Stick cards inside it to match its shape for a colourful feature. Alternatively, use lengths of ribbon to delineate a tree outline, and pop a star on the top for a 3D effect.

* Making decorations is one of the traditional rituals of Christmas, and with the current revival for all things craft, they can be right on trend and keep the children busy at the same time.

GO CRACKERS

There are some great crackers on the market this year.

Pick the right ones and you’ve got the party game covered as well.

My very favourite is the racing elf crackers (£19.99 for six, Lakeland, which has branches in Bicester and Witney). You get a wind-up toy in each and the box comes with a race track and stick on elf names.

Just what you need for some post-nosh silliness.

There’s a joke, quiz question and rather natty gold or silver crown in each too.

CHRISTMAS DINNER

While not quite child’s play, Christmas dinner doesn’t have to be that much of a big deal.

It’s just a gussied up Sunday roast, prepared with minimum fuss and no sense of panic in kitchens throughout the land EVERY Sunday.

To prove it could be done with the minimum fuss and effort, I challenged my 19-year-old son Tom (whose cooking repertoire extends to frying steak, making instant noodles and... erm, that’s it) to prepare the traditional fare.

With a festive range of ready-prepared and/or frozen products from Aldi (there’s a branch on Botley Road, Oxford) he set to “work” on a four-course meal of salmon terrine (475g, £7.99) starter; main of four-bird roast (1.58kg, £9.99), frozen sprouts (1kg, 99p), roast potatoes in goose fat (800g, £1.99), bacon wrapped sausages (220g, £2.49), gravy granules (75p) and cranberry sauce with port (99p); dessert of mince pies (79p for six) with Cointreau cream (250ml, £1.79) and a cheese board (ready selected packs start at £3.49 for 430g).

Apart from a few idiot questions (“What do I cook Brussel sprouts in? The picture on the bag looks like a frying pan.”) he just “did what it said on the back of the packs” and found it “pretty simple really”.

As the terrine only had to be thawed and the mince pies and cheese opened, there wasn’t a huge amount of cooking to do... but that was the point of the exercise: to see if you could have a decent meal for minimum effort. Turns out you can. “It was genuinely really nice,” said my partner, who is a bit of a foodie. I wouldn’t be disappointed to have it on Christmas day. Great spuds and roast, the instant gravy [with meat juices added] was surprisingly good and the pigs in blankets were excellent.”

• Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.