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Did Someone Say -Ber Months? Here Are Ways To Start Building The Christmas Spirit At Home

‘Tis the season!

You’ve seen the Jose Mari Chan memes and you opened up a new month in your calendar so you probably know that it’s officially –ber month season—Christmas season here in the Philippines. But with the pandemic still present and the mall displays only viewable for short periods (because we hope you’re only seeing them in passing for essential errands), it might be hard to feel the Christmas spirit.

But just because we can’t see our friends and family or the Christmas lights as often as we’d like to doesn’t mean that you can’t build that Christmas spirit at home. Below, a few ways to help you (and your family):

Start decorating!

Start unboxing those boxes filled with Christmas lights, branches of your tree and glittered decorations—and don’t do it in a rush. With the routine of putting the same things up every year, this task can get pretty tedious and boring. But now might just be the year to mix things up.

Find new places to display your wreath, your Christmas village and your tinsel. Find new ways to use them. Maybe paint some cotton balls for a snowy effect or go for a completely new color scheme. The possibilities are endless and now is the time to get your creative juices flowing—and if you have kids, let them help out for that fresh perspective.

Enter: Christmas movies and songs

At this point, no one is a stranger to movie nights at home, but maybe start substituting those action films and chick-flicks for something with a little more red and green. There are so many options out there and adding in Home Alone and The Princess Switch might just be what you need to lift your Christmas spirits.

If you want to take the next step, you can even include some Christmas songs into your daily Spotify playlist. Throw in the Jose Mari Chan classics or some Mariah Carey, even Ariana Grande to mix things up. Before you know it, you’ll be singing them without even noticing.

Personalize your wrapping paper

You can always buy wrapping paper (or order them online), but if you have the extra time, you might want to explore the option of personalizing your wrapping paper instead. For the less crafty of us, this task can get pretty daunting but it doesn’t have to be!

You can go all out with the glitter, the patterns and all the other scrapbook essentials—or you can simply put crayons or paint on a blank piece of cartolina and go as crazy as you want. The best thing about this might also be that you can personalize the paper depending on who will be receiving the gift.

Piece of advice: Include this project in your weekly routine (you might need the time to create as many as the people on your Christmas list!).

Take it a step further: DIY gifts!

In case making the personalized wrapping paper inspires you and gets your creativity on deck, you can also explore the idea of making DIY gifts. There are so many options out there, from personalized mugs to a decorated canvas bag and a planner with little notes on special dates for the following year.

Start perfecting those Christmas recipes

Another way to get the Christmas spirit at home is to start on the Christmas dishes. Some might argue that this makes the actual day’s feast a little less special, but consider making them early for some practice. Whatever it is your family loves to chow down on come Noche Buena and Christmas day, why not start on them already? Do a dish once every week and maybe a dessert on the weekends.

It’s officially September and officially Christmas season in the Philippines. And while it’s still safer for us all to stay home right now and we’re waiting for better news, that doesn’t mean we need to keep the Christmas spirit at bay.

In fact, invite it in.