6:00a.m. 6th December 2008

Christmas is close and, as it does every year, the countdown flies by. Here, we have compiled a list of things you can do to make this year special, ease the burden or to help someone else out in the lead-up to Christmas.

1. Decide on a theme for Christmas Day and stick to it - pavlova pudding for something Australian or spray the windows in white Christmas “snow” for a European Christmas, for example.

2. Go to the Christmas Shop in Eumundi and take the kids along so they can choose their own special decorations this year.

3. Buy bauble tree decorations that can screw open (you can find them at the Christmas shop in Eumundi, also), write a wish on a piece of paper, and open it next year to see if it came true.

4. Support a family for Christmas. Check out the Sunshine Coast Daily for the list of families you can adopt and give them a very special Christmas this year.

5. Surprise your neighbours with a delivery of home-made cookies on Christmas morning.

6. Find out if any of your friends or relatives wil be alone on Christmas Day and invite them.

7. Buy a small gift for someone who will least expect it from you, like your boss!

8. If you need to buy something for someone who has everything, sponsor a child in that person's name.

9. Lose three kilos, so you can eat like crazy and end up the same weight as before you started.

10. If you have an office shredder, take home the shredded paper to decorate the tree.

11. Buy a few rolls of crepe paper and some sticky tape and get the children to create their own Christmas decorations.

12. Find a group of friends and go caroling. Use any money you make to donate to a good cause (such as to the hearing impaired who couldn't hear your renditions).

13. Buy a couple of small, cheap gifts and give them to your children to give to other children they don't know and bump into while out shopping.

14. Organise a garage sale in your street and donate the money to a charity that makes someone else's Christmas special.

15. Dust off those old primary school piano books, gather the family around, and stumble your way through a rendition of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

16. Have a Christmas street party with everyone in your street. Each neighbour must set up a table outside their house with some Christmas food to share.

17. Grab some hangover pills so you can enjoy the Christmas spirit(s).

18. Buy a Santa Claus suit to give the kids a real surprise on Christmas morning.

19. Make some Christmas cards and then, on Christmas morning, deliver them to people in hospital.

20. Take time on Christmas Eve to read one of your favourite childhood Christmas stories.

Want to know more?

Christmas on the Sunshine Coast 2008

Christmas in Toowoomba 2008

Toowoomba Christmas Wonderland 2008

Christmas lunch on the Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast Christmas lights competition

Toowoomba Christmas Tree Festival