Free Printable Holiday Gift Planner to Put the Joy Back Into Gifting

A four-week printable holiday gift planner to help make your gifts meaningful, stick to your budget, and enjoy the process.

I've been meaning to get this new holiday gift planner printable to you for awhile and finally had to just put other things aside and buckle down to get this out while there's still time to make a difference for your holidays. If you, like me, often feel the joy just suck right out of you at the thought of buying Christmas gifts, then I think you will LOVE this simple little gift plan.

I have found through the years - and our emphasis on handmade gifts - that simpler is better and the thought really is the thing that counts. Not stressing as much about gifts means being able to concentrate on other holiday activities. It sets a good example for our kids. It saves money - and worry over money.

But here's the thing: it takes planning. If we just let the days go by thinking we'll "get to it eventually" then we may find ourselves elbowing through the crowds and spending more at the last minute for things that really may not be good matches for the recipients.

A few years ago I ran a handmade gift challenge through email for a group of readers that signed up to make something through the month of October. I realized I had created a number of handouts for that challenge that are actually pretty useful for gift planning.

So I gathered them up, created a 4-week timeline that can be used anytime, and brought them all together with a user's guide to help you find the joy in gifting again.

Holiday Gift Planner

The holiday gift planner includes 5 pages plus the User Guide with tips and notes on how to best use the pages. In the packet you'll find:

• 2-page User Guide
• 4-Week Christmas Gift Plan Checklist
• Christmas Gift Record
• Handmade Gift Creation To-Do List
• Thankful and Handmade for You Sticker Labels template
• Gift Shopping Plan

You can use just a couple or use them all, printing out just what you need when you need it. The User Guide gives you a starting point and helps you to plan your process using the checklist. It's basically me in your head giving you hints about priorities, sticking to a budget, and having fun with the gift-giving process!

While I am a bit biased towards handmade gifts, I like any gift where it's obvious that some thought and caring went into the selection. Sometimes "handmade" gifts are store-bought but put together in some kind of container that's geared toward the recipient's likes. That's handmade in my book - you can't find that exact gift anywhere in a store, right? If someone buys me a book or magazine they know I'd love, that is thoughtful, too.

The holiday gift planner will help you with all different types of gifts for all the people on your list. It will help you be a bit more strategic in your thinking and plan out your gifts, keeping in mind your time, money, and ability.

Like most of AOC's printables, this is free for subscribers to the weekly newsletter. All newsletter subscribers will find this new printable in the VIP Library along with the other printable planners, recipes, and decor. Simple fill out or click on any of the images on the page to sign up, confirm your address, and then receive the password to the library to download the gift planner - and anything else in the library you'd like!

Through this planner I'm hoping to encourage us all to remember the reason for the season is to LOVE and not just give for giving's sake. Let's use the opportunity to show our friends and family love through our gifts, whether they be homemade or not, or even if they are simply the gift of our time.

Let me know what you think about this gift planner and how you use it!