Holiday Checklist for Your Handmade Business 2022

The weather is turning colder (at least here in the Northeast), and the holiday commercials have already started. We are SO CLOSE to the official holiday season. It’s time to finalize your holiday checklist (and check it twice!).

I know that you’ve got a LOT of making to do! I’m going to keep this short and sweet by sharing a holiday checklist of suggested jumping off points.  If you are in that, “I have so much to do but I don’t know where to start” mode – I got you!

Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Shipping ✓

The USPS has suggested the following dates as shipping cutoff deadlines for packages to be received by Christmas.

These dates are for the contiguous 48 states only. Military, International, Alaska and Hawaii have different dates and are all earlier than these dates listed below.

• USPS retail ground: 2 to 5 business days, ship by Saturday, December 17th
• First-class Mail: 1-5 days, ship by Saturday, December 17th
• Priority Mail: 1-3 days, ship by Monday, December 19th
• USPS Priority Mail Express: Next day to 2 days, ship by Friday, December 23rd

Please note: I strongly recommend that you add at least 5 business days to these shipping times when estimating your order cutoff dates, and don’t forget to account for making/processing time.

In another post I talked about everything you will need for your holiday shipping. If you want to review it, you can see that post here. 

Email Marketing ✓

You should be sending at least ONE email out to your list by the middle of November, to let them know what your holiday offerings are. (You can read more about holiday email marketing here.) At the VERY least, wish them a happy holiday.

Here are some quick ideas:

• Create a quick gift guide featuring your work. Add in a few of your favorite small businesses too if they have complimentary items! Send it to your subscribers.
• Send them a coupon code or a gift with purchase offer when they shop with you.
• Send them well wishes for a safe and healthy Thanksgiving. To boost engagement, ask them to reply to your email with their favorite holiday tradition.

If you haven’t started yet with email marketing, there’s no time like the present! I’ve got a great email marketing tips post that you will find helpful.  

Social Media ✓

Now is the time to really entertain your audience. 

If you don’t have time to post live every day, I highly recommend scheduling out some posts. I personally use and love the Later app to schedule on multiple platforms, which has a great free version! Allow yourself a few minutes a day to go in and respond to comments on those posts.

Of course you need to have scroll-stopping content to grab your audience’s attention, and Canva is my favorite resource for quick and easy graphic design.

Give yourself an hour or two to batch-create graphics for Facebook and Instagram. You will have your content created (and your audience entertained!) while you are busy creating your gorgeous goodies. 

Now if Canva seems like a rabbit hole of graphic creation, I’ve got a GREAT resource for you. I custom-created these Canva templates especially for handmade business owners. For only $27 (!!!) you get access to over 150 templates that are ready for you to quickly customize and use.

Take some time for self-care ✓

My last and possibly most important point:

PLEASE don’t forget that you deserve rest and relaxation too. 

You cannot pour from an empty cup. During the holiday rush it is just too easy to forget our own needs.

Here are some tips for self-care during the holidays:

• Set office hours. Do NOT check your email first thing in the morning! Schedule time to check email and respond to customers. Stop working at a scheduled time each day, too.
• Enlist help. If you get overwhelmed, ask friends and family to give you a hand. Give them whatever tasks you can teach them to do quickly. 
• Try to give yourself some days off. This can be hard to do, but it will make a world of difference. Even just one day a week will work.
• Enjoy the holidays for yourself! Take a walk and feel the crisp air. Take a tour of the holiday lights in your neighborhood. Make some cookies and have some hot cocoa. 
• Remember, stress during the holidays happens. I don’t condone nasty customers, but try not to take it personally if someone is less than polite. 

Holiday Checklist for Your Handmade Business 2022

I hope your holiday season goes as smoothly as possible. I hope you make money and also get to enjoy the holidays! By taking some time to do last-minute prepping with this holiday checklist, you can make that happen.