The holiday season is fast approaching which means it is time to create some new memories with family and friends. Mixed with the fun is the stressful part of the holidays if you do not start preparing ahead of time. In this blog post, Gerstad Builders will give some tips on holiday prepping before the festivities so you can enjoy the holiday season and relieve some of the stress.

Cleaning:

The first holiday prepping step for your home is to do a deep clean. Every homeowner has areas in the home that get neglected during their weekly cleaning. If you start early enough by the time the holidays roll around, the extensive cleaning items will be complete.

Examples include:

• Professionally clean the carpets
• Wash windows
• Deep clean the kitchen and bathrooms

Prep your kitchen:

Since your Gerstad kitchen is the heart of your home, taking the time to organize and clean will make the kitchen sparkle. Start by going through your refrigerator and purging any food that is past the expiration date. You will need to have room for all the dishes brought by guests and leftovers. Next, clean out drawers and remove any utensils not needed and place drawer organizers. Having the drawers organized will make it easy to quickly grab what you need without taking the time to search.

Another tip to making your kitchen holiday-ready is stocking it with particular items. Such items include; coffee filters, aluminum foil, dish soap, napkins, and kitchen trash bags.

Prepare the table:

Setting a festive table can be fun and get the whole family involved if you are hosting the holidays. Start early by crafting table decorations. Take a walk through the fall colors and gather different leaves and pine cones. Get a glue gun and glue everything together to create a beautiful centerpiece. Another tip for setting the table is to make place cards for the seating arrangement. You can also try personalizing napkins. Take an old sponge, cut out a festive shape, dip it into paint, and use the sponge as a stamp to create designs on the napkins.

Prepare cookies:

Who doesn’t like fresh, out of the oven cookies? Having all your family around is the perfect time to bake cookies and decorate them for the holidays. If you don’t have time to make the dough on the same day, there are many recipes for making dough in advance. Check out this fantastic recipe! Have all the cookie decorations in the house and set up stations in the kitchen, so everyone has space to make their own cookie designs.

Food preparation:

Now that all the other preparation is complete, it is time to start gathering the food that will be served at the holiday dinner. There is a lot of talk about some food shortages that people will be experiencing this holiday season, which means that families need to prepare ahead of time. For instance, pumpkins. Even though there are a lot of pumpkin spices on the shelves, actually pumpkins are low in supply. You might need to rethink serving pumpkin pie for dessert and swap it out for apple pie or cherry pie.

Another food shortage that will affect dinners are turkeys. Currently farmers are struggling to find workers who can gather up the turkeys. There is also a shortage of smaller turkeys since family gatherings have less people due to the pandemic. If you are unable to find a turkey, there are other options available. Hello Fresh is offering a Turkey & Sides Box that serves up to 10 people. Even Omaha Steaks has a bundled option for an 8 lb whole turkey with side dishes to add. Both of these options can be delivered right to your door.

The holidays are a special time for families and holiday prepping early gives you time to enjoy your family and create lasting memories.

If you are ready to start the home buying process, stop by the Gerstad Builders Sales Center Office/ Design Center in McHenry. Someone will meet with you and help you find the home that will meet you and your families needs. Click here to fill out the contact form or call (815) 385-4495.