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51 Life-Saving Holiday Hacks That Are Borderline Genius

Take your holiday season from CRISIS to CHRISTMAS with these easy tips and tricks.

1. This super handy chart will keep you from buying excess tree decorations.

2. Use shiny green tinsel to make your Christmas tree look fuller.

Be sure to layer the tinsel on the inner branches to fill out the tree.

3. String lights in the center of the tree so that your tree looks like it's lit from within.

4. Use plastic cups to neatly store your ornaments.

5. Use egg cartons to store your smaller ornaments.

6. Command hooks and popsicle sticks make easy decorations that you can hang anywhere.

7. You can also use Command hooks to hang wreaths seamlessly over a door.

8. Give last year's boring ornaments a makeover with glitter and Pledge furniture polish.

9. Hang ornaments from a light fixture to transform it into a Christmas chandelier.

10. Wrap Christmas lights around a hanger to keep them from getting tangled.

11. Making gingerbread cookies? Turn them into ornaments that will last for years with three coats of varnish.

They won't rot! Get the recipe for gingerbread cookie ornaments here.

Or poke holes in them and string them as a garland.

12. Use hot glue to hang lights on brick.

13. The kids will love this:

14. With just a little tape, you've got an easy Christmas manicure.

15. Put your Christmas cards to good use by using them as the contact photos in your phone.

16. Dip grape stems in chocolate to make realistic trees for a gingerbread house.

17. Freeze whipped cream on a cookie sheet and use a cookie cutter to make hot chocolate hearts.

18. Store your ice cream in a plastic bag to keep it soft and ready to serve.

19. Turn regular cookie cutters into epically cool Star Wars cookies.

20. Reuse your leftover Halloween pumpkins to make snowmen.

21. Use a board over your mantel to make decorating a little easier and a little more lush.

22. Turn an old bulletin board into a pin-the-nose-on-the-reindeer game for the kids' table.

Directions here.

23. Master the Christmas tree napkin fold and you won't need to buy any special holiday napkins or napkin rings.

24. Insert wires into the limbs of your Elf on the Shelf to make him bendable.

25. Make adorable "elf" donuts out of Cheerios.

26. Pretzel rings, Fruit Roll-Ups, and frosting are an easy way to make delicious snowman cookies.

27. Old saran wrap or aluminum foil containers make great boxes for gifting cookies.

28. Keep the kids busy with three-ingredient snow slime.

You need Elmer's glue, borax, and iridescent glitter. Add blue food coloring to make it Frozen. Get the recipe here.

29. Pulverize candy canes and add this magic to EVERYTHING.

30. Use a cardboard box wrapped in gift paper as your garbage receptable on Christmas morning.

31. Cut branches from your Christmas tree to make easy table decor.

32. Decorating with tree clippings is an easy way to make everything festive, but use this little trick to make them last longer.

Wrap the cut stems with wet paper towels and stuff into a plastic baggie.

33. Add a little festivity to your kids' lunches by drawing snowmen on their string cheese with marker.

34. Glue two candy canes together to make easy place card holders.

35. Load your icing into condiment bottles for an easy cookie decorating party.

36. Attach rope to your presents to make a handle.

37. Just a simple burlap garland will spruce up any front porch Christmas tree.

38. Use cookie cutters to make festive shapes out of your fudge and brownies.

39. Green food coloring and M&Ms turn Rice Krispie treats into a Christmas dessert.

40. For the adults: one made out of JELLO SHOTS.

41. Put your crockpot to good use when making food for the whole family.

You can make hot chocolate and Christmas morning vanilla bean French toast, all in your crockpot (albeit not at the same time!).

42. Make an awesomely gigantic garland with balloons, plastic cups, and ribbon.

43. Serve guacamole the festive way with pita bread and pretzel sticks.

44. Reuse a wastebasket or a wine crate to corral your wrapping paper.

45. Green sherbet and Sprite make fun Grinch-inspired drinks for the kids.

46. Use double-sided tape for a more professional looking wrapping job.

47. Hang your wrapping paper on hooks using curtain rings.

48. Got an ugly Christmas sweater party to go to? Hot glue tinsel and gift bows to make something spectacularly tacky.

49. Use (clean) chip bags to wrap gifts by turning them inside out.

50. Use fortune cookies for garnish on New Year's Eve.

51. Or string cranberries onto drink stirrers and freeze them.

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