That’s a wrap Could these festive ‘hacks’ save your sanity?
Rosa Silverman shares a selection of shortcuts to reduce your stress levels…
Deck the halls with boughs of holly: tick. Be jolly: working on it. If your Christmas to-do list has sent you hunting for the diazepam in the back of your bathroom cabinet, fear not. Preparing for the festive season needn’t be quite the nerve-shredding experience you are braced for.
There are (whisper it) shortcuts you can take without notably impacting on anyone else’s enjoyment. They might even enhance your own. (We said “might”. Don’t complain to us if it all goes wrong.)
If you’re following Waterstones on Twitter – and why wouldn’t you be? – you’ll be aware that this week they rewrote the rules on Christmas wrapping. No longer will a too-small piece of shiny paper be capable of inducing a panic attack at 7pm on Christmas Eve, when the big day looks on the verge of ruin because Uncle Gareth’s gift won’t fit, and the roll is bare.
“This is a public service announcement,” read a message on the bookshop’s social media feed, above a video of a gift placed diagonally on the too-small wrapping paper, which then miraculously becomes the right size.
Honestly, try it; it will change your life – unless you worked this trick out for yourself years ago, because actually it is fairly obvious.
But did you know about sticking a paper clip at the end of the Sellotape to stop you losing your place, and your fingernails, and your will to live?
See. Told you this could completely change your Christmas. And while you consider where in your house the paper clips are stored, why not give some of these Christmas hacks a go too?
Seasonal warmth
Apparently you can cook salmon in your dishwasher. Well, forget about that, it sounds frankly revolting, but what you can do more usefully is warm your plates in the machine. Some dishwashers have a special plate-warming setting. If yours does not, simply turn on the drying setting and hey presto, no need to waste precious oven space.
Tree trompe l’oeil
Ever get the feeling your Christmas tree is lacking a certain something? Like, enough foliage, perhaps? That’s what green tinsel was invented for! OK, it wasn’t, but it can come in very handy when you want to make your tree look more plush. Simply wrap some around it and hey presto, you have a tree that doesn’t look like it is withering from malnutrition by Boxing Day. Another top tree hack is to place it away from the radiator to minimise the needle drop situation. Which is fine if you have enough space for that to be an option.
Bird is the word
Overcooking the white meat on your turkey to ensure the brown meat doesn’t give all your guests salmonella is a classic pitfall of Christmas. Luckily, there’s a way to avoid it: roast your bird upside down. You heard us. Flip-reversing your fowl will help it cook evenly throughout. Start it upside down to give the darker meat a head-start, then turn it over to thoroughly heat through the rest.
Double up
Not because you have an alcohol problem, though by this stage in the season it’s possible. Rather, we’re talking about achieving the desired effect when setting that Christmas pudding alight. Put vodka in your brandy and the flame looks bigger, better, bolder this way. It will truly be a Christmas to remember. Or it will burn your house down.
Put on a festive front
You might well have omitted to buy, let alone make, a wreath for your front door this year, too afraid it would encourage those pesky canvassers. Well, now the election is out of the way, it’s not too late to create some festive front-of-house vibes: how about tying a red ribbon around your door knocker to welcome your Christmas guests? No risk of the colour being interpreted as your political allegiance anymore.
Be (wrapping) box clever
If the sight of your tidy sitting room transforming into a bomb site within the first 30 seconds of gift unwrapping makes you want to claw the paper crowns from every guest’s head and cancel Christmas altogether, read on. The dispiriting sight of the mess can be avoided if you take a few minutes the night before to wrap some festive paper around a large cardboard box and use it as an attractive receptacle for rubbish. Just don’t let Auntie Mary see you sticking the cardigan she gave you in it, too.
Mull it over
You can do this in the slow cooker. Have it turned down low and when you get home from church, or from your walk with the new dog that is not just for Christmas, your mulled wine is ready and waiting to go.