Four tips for successful homemade holidays (BPT)

The holiday season is here, which means it’s time to start planning gifts, dinners and more. If you want to add more personal touches to your celebrations, embrace the spirit of homemade holidays.

Making personal dishes, gifts and mementos offers a unique opportunity to connect with friends and family. Mopria wants to help you win at homemade holidays this season by offering the following four tips.

1. Get organized

Stress less and enjoy the holidays more by planning ahead. Stay organized by making lists so you can see everything you need to do and buy as the holiday celebrations approach. With your phone in hand and your printer nearby, you can easily make lists and print them off to keep a hard copy wherever you go.

For example, if you’re preparing a large meal or hosting many guests, print off the recipes you need – or scan them from books and family recipe cards – and make a master shopping list. This way, you can keep track of all the necessary ingredients, even if you have to go to multiple stores along the way. The same idea applies to keeping track of all the gifts you intend to buy for friends and family!

2. Preserve special memories

Honor and preserve cherished moments by creating scrapbooks. The great thing about scrapbooks is that they’re infinitely customizable. Start by choosing a theme. For example, you can create a scrapbook of someone’s wedding and include photos, handwritten notes and quotes to mark the occasion. Or, if you have a traveler in your family, you can create a scrapbook of maps of the places they’ve visited to add more context to their trip photos.

There are plenty of scrapbook designs online and cutouts that you can print, cut and shape to decorate the borders of these special memories. Whether a beginner or a pro, there’s no better way than a scrapbook to honor your memories and let your creativity flow.

You don’t even have to go to your local print shop to get started. Simply download the Mopria Print Service app in Google Play for your Android Device, and don’t forget Mopria Scan on Google Play so you can upload and print non-digitized photos.

3. Create holiday gift tags

Do you like to make homemade jams, bath salts, body scrubs, candles and cookies for friends and family? Personalize and elevate your homemade gifts by creating holiday gift tags.

Gift tags can take a plain Mason jar and turn it into a specialty jam gift someone may find in a boutique shop. Not only will they make your gifts look more professional, but they also add a touch of personality.

Create tags and labels with seasonal or meaningful designs. You can even include a special note with well wishes and suggestions on using your homemade food or beauty care product. Add the recipient’s name, date and even the ingredients so you can track who the gift is for, when it was made, and what it contains so you don’t have to guess when handing out presents.

4. Greeting cards

Whether it’s your first year sending one out or an established holiday tradition, sending out holiday greeting cards is a great way to mark the season. Instead of using a printing service, you can design and print your own holiday greeting cards in the comfort of your own home.

By printing your own cards, you’ll have more options for personalization. You can easily find free or affordable greeting card designs and templates online that you can customize to fit your style and message. Print and send the perfect card to your loved ones near and far to let them know you’re thinking about them this holiday season.

Homemade holidays have never been easier. Using these four tips, your holiday shopping, gift-making and gift-giving will be a breeze so that you can spend more time with your loved ones this season.