6 WAYS TO MAKE THE HOLIDAYS AT HOME A LITTLE MORE WONDERFUL

Raise your hand if you’re more than ready to activate your ‘out of office’ and kick-start the holiday season? Same here. When December rolls around, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate—whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year, summer and more.

If we’ve learnt anything these past few years, it’s to keep flexible with the holidays, because they could look a little different for everyone. But there’s one thing we do know, there are more than a few ways to make a holiday at home a little bit more wonderful. Break out the festive tunes, here’s our guide to sprinkling a dash of joy into your home this season.

Get Crafty At Home
Fact; the festive decor is just good for our serotonin levels. And we’re not talking about extravagant Kardashian-level Christmas trees. Honestly, a simple red and green cushion will do the trick. Adding simple touches of celebration throughout your home will make this time feel special and memorable. Plus, if you’re a little bit crafty, you could try DIY decor like upcycled Christmas ornaments, a unique menorah, or a personalised New Year’s Eve garland.

Give A Gift With Meaning
After spending a decent amount of time at home lately, most of us realise we have A LOT of stuff. If you’re stuck on present ideas, give a gift with meaning to the person who has it all. This might be supporting their favourite charity, ‘adopting’ an endangered animal on their behalf, or helping someone in need. For us, we’ll be backing all of the wonderful things the amazing team over at Starship is doing. It gives us warm fuzzies knowing our coin is keeping families together during hard times, or helping cheer up the little superheroes. Mercury customers can donate on their bill here or drop a one-off donation over here.

Explore Your Backyard
We might be biased, but using a bit of human energy to explore your own backyard is a slam-dunk for upping the fun factor over the holidays. Whether it’s remote rural tracks or serene coastal walks, there are plenty of ways to get your steps in. And yes, a stroll to the ice cream shop totally counts. Don’t forget to download our app and put your steps to good use, because we’ve got some epic prizes up for grabs right now.

Create Memories With Food
If there’s one thing Kiwis know how to nail, it’s festive food. Traditional favourites include a show-stopping ham, colourful salads, and of course, a picture-perfect pavlova. If you’re spending more time at home as of late, it might just be the perfect excuse to switch up the routine and try something new this holiday season. We’ll be working our way through these 50 decadent pavlova toppings—yum. Before you crack on, take note of four ways to cook up a storm without wasting energy.

Keep It Low-Key And Stress-Free
A stressful Christmas, holiday get-together, or event is just so 2019. We’re all about smart, savvy tricks to keep it chill this summer. Top of the list is doing our food shopping online, or even keeping it super simple by ordering a festive meal kit. When it comes to last-minute gifts, the answer is, just don’t. Instead, keep a stack of creative cards at the ready, and write your loved one a heartfelt message alongside an I Owe You for coffee, a movie date, or a weekend away.

Go Smart With Lighting
If you know what to look for, your festive lighting set-up can bring all of the joy without the costly power bill. You’ll want to choose LED or solar lights to start with, as they’re much more energy-efficient than those retro incandescent fairy lights. Bonus points if they come with a switch timer, helping you to cut the costs overnight. And while flashing lights can sure be fancy, they actually use up to twice as much power as the bog-standard ones. We’ll keep it simple thanks.


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The information provided in this article is of a general nature and not intended to be a substitute for personalised, professional advice. Mercury recommends that you always seek appropriate advice from a qualified professional to suit your individual circumstances. Links to external, non-Mercury websites are provided as a reference only, and do not imply a partnership or endorsement of their content.