Love, Em

It's December, and after a long year, it's time to have a little bit of fun. To kick off Blogmas, I've decided to do a Christmas bucket list post. There are so many things to do within the next month, it can be hard to keep track of it all. Even with social distancing measures in place, Christmas can still be filled with lots of fun. From snow angels to Christmas baking, here are all the things you should do this month to make your Christmas the best one yet.

Why You Should Have A Christmas Bucket List

Christmas is a busy month. There is lots to do at work, lots of people to see and lots of festive things to sort out. I wanted to create a bucket list, so you remember to add a little fun to your busy lifestyle. Whether you've got 10 minutes to spare or a whole weekend, you will be able to fit in one of these tasks. I also wanted to remind you of all the exciting things you could be doing over the next few weeks! You should use this list or make your own. It's important to add a little bit of festive joy to your life. It also allows you to tick off the things as you go, so you can complete everything this December!

The Ultimate Christmas Bucket List

Classic Christmassy Things To Do

Have a Christmas movie marathon
Open an advent calendar every day until Christmas
Make snow angels in the snow
Have a snowball fight
Decorate the Christmas tree with a star or angel on top
Watch a Christmas light switch on
Wrap Christmas gifts while watching elf
Send Christmas cards to your loved ones
Dance around to Christmas songs
Start writing your new years resolutions
Read The Night Before Christmas book on Christmas Eve
Get matching PJs with your family
Kiss under the mistletoe
Get an ugly Christmas jumper
Leave a mince pie and milk out for Santa
Have a cookie decorating competition
Go Christmas shopping with your other half
Decorate your whole house with decorations and lights
Hang stockings or put out a Santa sack
Write a letter to Santa

Going Out And About

Watch a Christmas light switch-on
Buy a real-life Christmas tree to decorate
Go ice-skating
Catch a Christmas movie at the cinema
Christmas shop at a large mall or shopping centre
Visit a Christmas market
Go to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park
Meet Santa in his grotto
Go on a Christmas train
Go to Church for Midnight Mass or Christingle
Watch a firework show on New Years Eve
Go sledging (either indoors or on a snowy slope!)
Join in at the work Christmas party
Watch the Nutcracker at a theatre
Watch a nativity play
Spend a bomb in the Boxing Day sales
Sing Christmas carols with the choir
Go on a Christmas drink/snack crawl (try all the festive coffee shop treats)
Go to a Christmas craft workshop
Have a mini Christmas getaway

Ideas For The Food Lovers

Decorate a gingerbread house with the people you love
Drink eggnog, or make your own!
Make your own Yule log
Bake gingerbread men and decorate them as elves
Drink a peppermint hot chocolate
Get the latest Starbucks festive drink
Cook a massive Christmas dinner for the family
Create reindeer food to feed Rudolf and his friends
Make and enjoy some mulled wine
Have a mince-pie taste test and rank each supermarket/brand
Make your own Christmas pudding
Make your own smores on a firepit
Eat a brussel sprout, even if it is just one!
Drink some Baileys with ice - Or try M&S's mince pie version!
Make a deluxe hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows
Bake a delicious Christmas cake
Create a Christmas menu for your guests
Have a work Christmas lunch or a meal out
Eat Lebkuchen or other Christmas cultural treat
Try one of these festive Christmas recipes!

Christmas DIYs and Crafts To Make

Make your own Christmas cards
Create some ornaments for your tree
Design paper snowflakes to hand around the house
Try making your own decorations
Create a DIY gift hamper
Make a Christmas eve box for your loved ones
Put popcorn on a string to make garlands
Design your own Christmas jumpers
Cut old cards and make them into gift tags
Make your dream Christmas table spread
Make your own scented candles
Use brown paper and make your own wrapping paper with stamps and stickers
Create table placements for your guests
Get creative with desserts and make them Christmassy
Make some reindeer food to feed the reindeer with
Infuse your own vodka
Take some wood, engrave it and make your own cheeseboard
Make your own DIY Christmas gifts
Try some Pinterest DIYs
Make all of your Christmas food from scratch

Giving Back To The Community

Do 5 random acts of kindness for strangers
Donate some money to a charity close to your heart
Volunteer At A Charity Shop or Soup Kitchen
Donate To Food Banks In Need
Gift Toys To The Giving Tree
Pack A Show Box For The Samaritan's Purse
Support small businesses
Create care packages for the homeless
Do a charity Santa fun run
Host an elderly person for Christmas dinner

There are so many fun things to do at Christmas. I am so excited for Christmas. Hopefully, it'll be a lot better than the rest of the year. It's my favourite time of the year, and I am ready for all the festive joy. I've tried to include a range of things for everyone to try, that way this bucket list appeals to everyone. These are my favourite things to do at Christmas, but everyone has their own traditions. What things would you add to this bucket list? I'd love to know your favourite holiday activities are, and what makes Christmas for you!

7 comments

The holiday periods are prime time for increasing your small business sales. No matter what you're selling, if you're using the right strategies, you can double your sales in the run-up to Christmas. People are willing to spend more at Christmas, especially on small businesses. Coronavirus has affected so many small businesses, so Christmas is a great time to recover some of the loss. Here's how you can increase your sales this Christmas and be able to support yourself in the January lull.

Start Christmas Preparation Early

If you want to make the most of Christmas, you need to start preparing early. Supermarkets start planning their Christmas adverts midway through the year. I'm not saying you need to start in February, but having ideas in your head around July/August time will help you in the long run. It will also allow you to spread the cost of stock, advertising and packaging, so you don't have to shell out at your busiest time of year.

I'd recommend planning and experimenting with new ideas around July time as it gives you a chance to perfect things. You may find that packaging and other stock you require will go out of stock around November time. If you plan early, you can order more items before you can't get hold of it. Planning is the key to any success!

Make Sure You Have Enough Stock

While having limited items is great and creates hype, you could be hindering yourself. You don't want to run out of your star Christmas items in the middle of November as you'll be losing sales. Increasing your stock and being prepared for an increase in sales is the key to thriving at Christmas. You want to find a balance between having too much stock and not enough stock, which is easier said than done. In my experience, it's better to but 10 more items than needed than 10 less, as you can always include those extras in a January sale.

Create Holiday Bundles

Everyone loves a gift set or a bundle of fun things. If you're looking to increase your sales at Christmas, offer giftable bundles. People love the ease, and if you've curated the perfect premade gift set, you'll be helping a lot of people out. You can pair your top-selling items with a few Christmas themed treats and charge a premium for it! Gift sets are fun and a lot easier to gift than a few little bits and bobs. It also means that you can get your lesser-known products noticed, which can increase your repeat sales in the future!

Hold A Sale or Give Discounts

Everyone loves a sale, so make sure you make use of UK sales like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the Boxing Day sales. People love to snap up a bargain, and sales draw them to your website. You may find it leads to repeat sales further down the line! Another way you could attract sales is by offering a discount for signing up to a newsletter. That way, you can build your mailing list and continue to drive customers to your website! Don't feel pressured to put sales on your website. As a small business or start-up, you might not be able to afford to hold a sale, especially ones as big as competitors.

Release Seasonal Stock

While customers will still want to purchase your typical stock, it's worth having a few Christmas pieces in your store. I love purchasing Christmas scented candles and body washes. Even chocolate bars have snowflakes put on them for Christmas! Adding these new items don't have to cost you the world. Choose your most popular pieces, and add some festive flair to them. Get creative with how you make your stock seasonal. There are so many ways to take advantage of the holiday season, and Christmas themed stock is one of the most popular. Pinterest is full of inspiration for things people are looking for this year, so make sure you do your research!

Create A Special Seasonal Event

If you're like me, then you love to be involved in the latest things. At Christmas, boots do special weekly star buys which attract lots of customers. Some brands will do 12 days of Christmas, with a new release, freebie or discount leading up to Christmas. Make something special, and you can attract social media hits as well as an increase in sales. Whether you create a Christmas hashtag or team up with another small business, there are lots of little events that you can do to attract people. When creating these events, make sure it's personal to your business. If it trends, you want people to think of and be sent to your brand. There's no point releasing a technology gift guide if you're selling candles, for example.

Use Social Media To Your Advantage

I've done a whole blog post on social media marketing for small businesses. Social media is great for attracting crowds to your products with minimal costs to your business. Make sure you're sharing Christmas, business updates and of course, your Christmas products. Social media is such a big tool. It reaches most demographics, and the possibilities for its uses are endless. Make sure you're posting regularly and engaging with your audience. You can attract a lot of traffic through social media. You can also showcase your products by doing a gift guide on your social media, which can attract more clicks to your site too!

Add Festive Touches To Your Deliveries

Adding a mini Christmas card instead of your regular thank you card is a cute addition to any Christmas orders. Adding festive touches makes people excited. Don't you just love when snowflakes are falling down a website, or your order comes in candy cane tissue paper. There are lots of little touches you can make to your business and orders to embrace the Christmas spirit, ones that won't go unnoticed. Here are some things I've noticed brands doing, and ones you can do yourself:

Changing your mailing bags to Christmas colours

Adding a Christmas hat to your logo

Putting Christmassy things on your website e.g. snowflakes falling or tinsel

Wrapping parcels in festive tissue paper

Putting Christmas cards in packages

Adding Christmas confetti into the bottom of parcels

There are lots of ways to take advantage of Christmas to help your small business. If you're not a small business, try to support them where possible. There are so many amazing businesses out there that would appreciate your money more than big franchises. I'm releasing a small business gift guide in the next few weeks to give you inspiration for what to buy people! What things have helped you to increase sales this festive season? I'd love to hear what Christmas themed treats your small business has bought out this year!

1 comments

AD - This post is sponsored, but all opinions are my own

Dating can be hard, especially when restrictions are switching up the way we typically would spend date night. The holidays are filled with so much love and watching Christmas films capture that perfectly. If you're star struck by Christmas romances, there are some ways you can fall in love over the holidays! Think social distances dates in the snow and hot cocoa dates! Here are my top tips and tricks for finding love during the holidays, even if we are still in lockdown!

Use A Dating Site To Find A Match

There are so many dating sites out there, so you can filter through to find your match. For example, Nottingham is going into tier 3. But, you can still find a date with the help of a local Nottinghamshire dating site! No matter who you decide to date or what you're into, there are niche dating sites that can help you to find a date this Christmas. These apps allow you to talk to people too, so you don't have to break any rules by meeting up. If your local lockdown is more lenient, I have some fun date ideas further into the post!

Go For Social Distanced Date Nights

Date nights add a fun spark to any relationships. If you're looking for love this Christmas, make sure you make time for date nights. Dates can be in person or virtually, depending on your restrictions. Use your outdoor areas to a maximum. For example, a date in Nottinghamshire could be a self-guided treasure hunt, while in Cambridge, you could go punting! If you're struggling to come up with ideas of what to do with your other half this Christmas, here are a few fun things you could try from a distance!

Go ice skating at a local rink

Watch the sunset or sunrise at the beach

Go for a long walk and picnic at your favourite woodland or park

Find a drive-in movie theatre and what a Christmas film

Pick a Christmas tree together

Stargaze and find your favourite constellations

Take a weekend away somewhere nice

Have a game night over a console

Dine together over facetime

Dressing The Part

While it is fun to wear an ugly Christmas jumper, avoid wearing it on your first date. Think cute winter clothes and boots, rather than trackies and a hoodie. It may be cold, but it doesn't mean you can't look great. Black Friday has meant there are some amazing winter deals on clothing and shoes, so you can pick out a stylish outfit for your date. There is nothing wrong with loungewear, but if you're like me, then you've been living in it for the last year. Switching it up and dressing the part can help to build up the night and make you excited. How many times have you been out lately? First impressions count, so make sure you look the part for a winter date!

Decide How You're Going To Spend Christmas

One of the biggest things at Christmas is family. This year, there is a limit on how many families you can see and when. If you want your relationship to thrive this Christmas, you need to sit down and talk about a few things. Here are some important questions you need to discuss to make sure Christmas runs smoothly, no matter what dating stage you're at. The answers will vary based on where you are in your relationship.

Who are you going to be seeing this Christmas?

Will you be spending Christmas together or apart?

Are you purchasing presents for each other and what's the budget?

Will you be gifting each other's families?

Don't Expect Everything To Be A Fairy-tale

If this year has taught me anything, it's to not hold out massive hope that things will be perfect. I left school and started an apprenticeship, something that I thought would change my life and instantly make me happy. Nothing went the way that was planned, and it certainly wasn't like the films. If you're looking for a Christmas romance or even a long term lover, don't use the movies for advice. It's easy to have high hopes around Christmas with snow falling as you go in for that first kiss. But don't expect it to be perfect. Set reasonable standards, and account for the fact you probably can't even hold hands as you ice-skate. This year, dating is going to be a little different. I did a whole post on how to date with social distancing measures with even more date ideas!

Embrace Being Single

It may seem counterproductive, but if you're desperate to find love, you'll never find the one for you. It's great knowing that you'd like to be in a relationship, but don't feel pressured to couple up with someone over the holidays. It's important to appreciate yourself and embrace being single. It's better to take time than to rush into a relationship that you're not happy with. Make sure you're listening to your heart and mind leading up to Christmas. It can be difficult if you're the only one without a relationship, but listening to yourself can help to avoid a lot of heartbreak! Self-care and looking after your wellbeing should be high on your list this season.

The holidays are a magical time, and it is nice when you're able to spend it with someone. There are lots of dating sites out there with social distancing date ideas and tips to help you in this tough time. Don't feel pressured to start a relationship and have fun with your dating life. Who knows, maybe you'll find "the one" this year! That would make for a great end to a horrible year. What tips do you swear by when dating around Christmas? Or do you choose to avoid dating at this time of year? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

No comments

Have you thought about starting a blog? If you’ve read all the tutorials and tips out there, you’re already on the path to success. You know that blogging success will take time, and you’re ready to get into the long game of devotion, writing, and digital marketing. But have you considered the legal side of it? Congrats, and welcome to the blogging world, where one link may result in losing a social media profile or a $50,000 lawsuit! Here are all the legal steps to follow for safe blogging, and how you can ensure you're complying with rules and regulations!

Privacy Policies & Terms and Conditions

Did you know you need to have a Privacy Policy on your blog? For example, if you want to share your views, or use affiliate programs, you’re obligated to create a Privacy Policy. Collecting any type of data will require a policy, so your audience knows what will happen to their data. A Privacy Policy is your legal statement on how you collect, handle, process, and remove visitors’ data. It explains whether you keep it or share it with third parties. You should read up this legal statement as it is likely to be required by law, regardless of your domain extension, or your place of residence. To make things clearer, these are considered personal data:

Name

Address

Phone number

Marital status

Race

Nationality

Religion

Do you have a Contact me form? You’re collecting data.
Do you have a Cookie banner? You’re collecting data.
Asking for a sign-up? That’s right – email is personal.

If you aim at a global audience, make sure you spend some time reading on how to best implement Privacy Policy on your blog to avoid hefty fines.

When it comes to Terms and Conditions, these serve multiple purposes. For one, ToC explains what is allowed and prohibited on your website. Combined with your Privacy Policy, it serves to protect you if any legal action is taken against you. You should reach out to a solicitor to create these, especially if you’re looking to make money from blogging.

Affiliate Disclosure vs. Disclaimers

Are you mistaking a disclosure for a disclaimer? You’re not alone. If you’re already in any affiliate network, you probably heard of FTC. FTC is an abbreviation of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is a government agency of the US, with the mission to protect its consumers. With this in mind, the FTC created many rules regarding affiliate disclosures, some of which are:

Everyone must disclose

All payments/compensations must be disclosed

If you're receiving compensation must be disclosed

You must disclose your gifts/ADs every time, for every post

The disclosure must be clearly stated and visible

It must be placed before any affiliate links

Some of the examples of acceptable affiliate disclaimers are:

When you purchase something using the retail links in our blog posts, we may earn a small commission.

I get commissions for purchases made through the links in this post.

You may also link to a complete Affiliate disclosure page within the disclosure sentence. Don’t forget to follow proper SEO rules regarding interlinking.

You are now wondering what a disclaimer is. The disclaimer is a statement to limit your liability and let others know that you can’t be held liable for the information on your blog. It can find its place on the Terms and Conditions page, footer, sidebar, or you can create a separate page where you’ll explain everything in detail.

But why do you need it? As for anything else in life, nobody can guarantee that some visitors won’t try to come at you because of something you wrote that they took for literal truth or advice. People read what they want, see what they want, and do what they want. You can’t affect that, but your disclaimer can save you.

Copyright Notice Is a Great Idea

Whatever you write remains online, but that doesn’t mean that it belongs to everyone. That’s why you may want to secure your content. Clearly state that the content is yours by using copyright + your name in the footer of your blog. If you don’t want anyone copying your content, you can install the copyright protection plugin (WordPress). It disables the copy/paste feature, so no one can use what you wrote. If you’re on Wix, you can use the Right Click Protection app. For Blogspot, you’ll want to go to Add Gadget, choose Text, and type your copyright notice. Bonus point for registering your copyright with the US Copyright Office, and using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. These will help get your content off of websites that steal it.

Be Careful With Personal Data

Another thing you might share without even knowing is your personal data. Since the online world is a crazy place, you should want to pay extra attention to what you share about yourself. Writing a blog post may discover more about you than you wanted, even if you’re writing under an alias. Mistakes happen, but luckily, you can secure your data by:

Using different passwords for different platforms/changing them occasionally
Backup your blog regularly
Use domain privacy
Be mindful of what you blog about

Royalty-Free Images and Licenses

Many bloggers end up paying for their ignorance when it comes to image use. Did you know that even if you credit the artist, you may still get sued? Yes, even with an official credit, you’re still violating their copyright if you didn’t get their approval. If you want to use another person's image, always reach out to them first. After all, a simple question won’t hurt anyone. You may get more audience or build meaningful connections. If they decline, you can always move on to another creator. This is also a great moment to discuss license types.

Rights managed license

In a nutshell, this license is very restrictive. It specifies the placement of the image, how long you’ll use it, size, industry, etc. It also excludes the possibility of a competitor using the same image.

Editorial use license

This license lets you use an image in a newsworthy story, not in any commercial way.

Royalty-free license

Royalty-free is a more flexible type of license, usually used for stock images. Nevertheless, it still has some limitations, for example, you’re not allowed to use it to create other products that will contain the image.

Royalty-free extended

Remember how royalty-free license won't let you use an image you purchased on products? With this license, you’re free to do so.

Creative commons license

Images with a creative commons license will need to be properly credited. They are also not available for commercial use.

Public domain

Finally, you have a public domain. Just like the name says, the creator gives up their rights and lets the public use the image in any way.

Cookies and Consent

Cookies are another aspect of safe blogging that you must consider, and these confuse a lot of people. What they do is collect information about every visitor that comes to your website. While cookies are handy for shopping carts or logging in, they can get you in trouble with various legal entities. You guessed it – it’s all about the compliances.

The privacy of users’ data must be respected at all times. In the US, you’ll have regulations on state and federal levels. In the EU, you’ll have few compliances to learn about. Back to the Disclosures – the compliances force you to explain to your visitors how you use the data your cookies collected and ask for their consent. What you must inform them on:

What data is collected

Their rights in regards to data

Notification process for policy changes

The effective date of your policy

Third-party access (widgets, social buttons, etc)

The current most important compliances you’ll want to know about are:

GDPR in EU

CCPA in California

PIPEDA in Canada

Are You Blogging For A Company?

In case you got hired to run a blog for a company, these are the things you’ll need to pay attention to:

Identify that the views written in the blog post are your own

Never share confidential information

Have a written consent to use your company’s logo/trademark

Speak respectfully about the company, employees, competitors, and partners

Remain professional, accurate, and knowledgeable

Remember that you’re legally liable for everything you state online

Social Media And Safe Blogging

The best advice you probably read so far is to have a separate, completely official social media account for your blog. That’s how you’ll avoid sharing something personal with your audience. If by any chance you decide to keep it all under one profile, you’ll have to pay close attention to what you post and adjust your privacy settings.

As always, don’t use the same passwords for multiple accounts. With this in mind, keep your eyes open for possible scammers. Social media is filled with fake profiles, and the least they can do is spam. The worst – steal your info and wreak havoc on your life.

Remember the affiliate disclosure? If you’re sharing any affiliate link on social media, you’re obligated to say that it's an affiliate. If you keep it on your profile, the rules are the same. Read the rules for each social media platform and you’ll know how to disclose your links. Stay in the know when it comes to social media rules and guidelines. Learn how to make your accounts private if necessary. Don’t accept every request, and don’t click suspicious links. One mistake can cost you a lot.

While blogging is a fun activity that can be made into a business, it’s not always easy to pay attention to every aspect of it. SEO takes a lot of your focus, but the legal part is what you must pay attention to enjoy safe blogging. Start with creating a Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Then move on to learn more about cookies, affiliates, copyright, and compliances. For sure, there’s a lot to cover, but hey, blogging takes time anyway. Be careful when you use social media. The platforms may seem safe, but in reality, they hide many threats. Avoid sharing your private information in your posts, and engage only with people you believe are legit. And remember – once online, always online.

About The Guest Writer:

With many years of experience in freelance writing, Mileva can proudly say that she can craft an article on any topic, starting from travel, over medical all the way to the cryptocurrency niche. Her current focus is her blog, Inspiration Wise, where she talks about personal experiences as well as marketing, blogging, writing and motivation. She’s also a published author in Serbia, working on expanding to foreign publishing markets with her novels and poetry. You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

1 comments

Love, Em

Why You Should Have A Christmas Bucket List

The Ultimate Christmas Bucket List

Classic Christmassy Things To Do

Going Out And About

Ideas For The Food Lovers

Christmas DIYs and Crafts To Make

Giving Back To The Community

Start Christmas Preparation Early

Make Sure You Have Enough Stock

Create Holiday Bundles

Hold A Sale or Give Discounts

Release Seasonal Stock

Create A Special Seasonal Event

Use Social Media To Your Advantage

Add Festive Touches To Your Deliveries

Use A Dating Site To Find A Match

Go For Social Distanced Date Nights

Dressing The Part

Decide How You're Going To Spend Christmas

Don't Expect Everything To Be A Fairy-tale

Embrace Being Single

Privacy Policies & Terms and Conditions

Affiliate Disclosure vs. Disclaimers

Copyright Notice Is a Great Idea

Be Careful With Personal Data

Royalty-Free Images and Licenses

Rights managed license

Editorial use license

Royalty-free license

Royalty-free extended

Creative commons license

Public domain

Cookies and Consent

Are You Blogging For A Company?

Social Media And Safe Blogging

About me

Follow Us

recent posts

Contact form

Love, Em

Why You Should Have A Christmas Bucket List

The Ultimate Christmas Bucket List

Classic Christmassy Things To Do

Going Out And About

Ideas For The Food Lovers

Christmas DIYs and Crafts To Make

Giving Back To The Community

Start Christmas Preparation Early

Make Sure You Have Enough Stock

Create Holiday Bundles

Hold A Sale or Give Discounts

Release Seasonal Stock

Create A Special Seasonal Event

Use Social Media To Your Advantage

Add Festive Touches To Your Deliveries

Use A Dating Site To Find A Match

Go For Social Distanced Date Nights

Dressing The Part

Decide How You're Going To Spend Christmas

Don't Expect Everything To Be A Fairy-tale

Embrace Being Single

Privacy Policies & Terms and Conditions

Affiliate Disclosure vs. Disclaimers

Copyright Notice Is a Great Idea

Be Careful With Personal Data

Royalty-Free Images and Licenses

Rights managed license

Editorial use license

Royalty-free license

Royalty-free extended

Creative commons license

Public domain

Cookies and Consent

Are You Blogging For A Company?

Social Media And Safe Blogging

About me

Subscribe For Updates!

Follow Us

recent posts

Contact form

Pages