How to | Make a Could-Do List Happen

Apparently only one in ten of us sticks to our New Year’s Resolutions, although here at The Simple Things, we favour Could-Do Lists rather than strict rules and ideas that work at any time of year, rather than piling the pressure on all on one day.

These tips will improve your odds of making your could-do list happen… whenever you choose to do so…

1 Resolve to make a change that you want. Success is more likely when driven by internal, rather than external forces.
2 Focus on one thing. Scientists have shown that willpower requires energy. Channel it well.
3 Be specific about what you want to achieve, when and how. You’re more likely to succeed than if starting with a vague plan.
4 Tell those around you. In a study, more than 70% who sent weekly updates on their goal to a friend reported success (compared to 35% of those striving alone).
 

And here are a few ideas for things you might want to add to your 2025 Could-Do List…

• Mix a great martini 

• Book a trip somewhere on your bucket list

• Read a book by an author you’re unfamiliar with

• Spend a day wildlife-watching… birds, badgers.. it’s up to you

• Have a small party for no reason at all

• Spend time outdoors every day

• Learn a new craft

• Get a penfriend or strike up a correspondence with an old friend

• Go on a ‘pilgrimage’ to somewhere meaningful for you

• Use local ingredients to make a local recipe

• Watch a film in the open air or at a drive-through

• Keep a diary for a month and keep the habit if you enjoy it

This blog was first published in December 2018. You’ll find a Could-Do list in every issue of The Simple Things. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

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More how-to posts…

Christmas | Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?

This is still a matter for Christmas debate – up there with what is the best/worst Quality Street.

Some link it to the Norse tale of the goddess of love, Frigge: mistletoe’s berries are said to be the tears she cried for her son; others say it’s a symbol of fertility, thanks to its seasonal rigour.

Either way, kissing under it seems to have started in the 18th century in Britain, reached mass popularity in the 19th and has provided fodder for sitcom and soap storylines for as long as there has been Christmas TV.

This blog was first published in the December 2017 issue of The Simple Things.

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

More from the December 2022 issue…

More Winter wonders…

Christmas hacks | Style up shop-bought stuffing

Style up shop-bought stuffing for an extra special side dish this Christmas

1. Heat a couple of tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan.
2. Add a chopped onion and stir until softened.
3. Add stock and bring to the boil (you’ll need roughly three-quarters stock to stuffing mix quantity).
4. Take off heat and add to stuffing mix.
5. Stir in a few tablespoons of herbs of your choice, such as parsley or rosemary.
6. Spoon out the mixture into a shallow tin and cook for 20 mins with foil on, and another 10 without it.

The December issue features a cracker of a Miscellany Christmas special (page 99), packed with puzzles, games, stocking fillers, bad jokes, amazing facts and forgotten wisdom, including:

• Mix a great martini 

• Secret Santa gifts

• Make sweet frumenty 

• Christmas i-spy

• How to carve turkey 

• Fizzy amaretto sours 

• Make invisible ink

• Froebel stars

• Wrapping awkward gifts 

• Beat the family at games

• The Simple Things’ sprouts & crackers board game

• Identifier: Bestseller toys 

• Bah humbug word search

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

More from the December issue:

More Christmas food:

Christmas | How to make a great martini

Glamour distilled. Best served with the inevitable Bond on the telly

1 Add a measure of dry vermouth into a martini glass, swooshing it around so the glass is coated. Then pour into a cocktail shaker, swirl before chucking out anything remaining.
2 Add a measure of gin into the shaker along with a couple of ice cubes.
3 Shake gently, before popping it into the freezer.
4 Prep your glass, by wiping the rim with lemon zest. Then it goes in the freezer too.
5 Patiently wait for 30 minutes, then strain into a glass.
6 Garnish with an olive.

The December issue features a cracker of a Miscellany Christmas special (page 99), packed with puzzles, games, stocking fillers, bad jokes, amazing facts and forgotten wisdom, including:

• Mix a great martini 

• Secret Santa gifts

• Make sweet frumenty 

• Christmas i-spy

• How to carve turkey 

• Fizzy amaretto sours 

• Make invisible ink

• Froebel stars

• Wrapping awkward gifts 

• Beat the family at games

• The Simple Things’ sprouts & crackers board game

• Identifier: Bestseller toys 

• Bah humbug word search

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

More from the December issue:

More Christmas drinks:

Christmas | How to wrap awkward presents

This nifty gift wrap bag trick can be scaled up or down to fit your gift

1 Place the pressie in the middle of the paper, making sure you have enough paper to go around it.
2 Pop your present aside. Fold the paper edges to meet and overlap in the centre (ideally hiding ‘raw’ edges) and tape down the overlap.
3 Fold up the bottom of the paper. This will be your base, so make the fold at least as wide as your pressie.
4 Unfold and bring each open ‘side’ towards the centre: you’re creating two triangles that touch to create a diamond shape. Tape.
5 Take the top and bottom points of the diamond and fold them onto each other and tape into place to make a secure base.
6 The pressie goes inside the newly formed bag. Fold the top over to hide raw edges for a pro finish.

The December issue features a cracker of a Miscellany Christmas special (page 99), packed with puzzles, games, stocking fillers, bad jokes, amazing facts and forgotten wisdom, including:

• Mix a great martini 

• Secret Santa gifts

• Make sweet frumenty 

• Christmas i-spy

• How to carve turkey 

• Fizzy amaretto sours 

• Make invisible ink

• Froebel stars

• Wrapping awkward gifts 

• Beat the family at games

• The Simple Things’ sprouts & crackers board game

• Identifier: Bestseller toys 

• Bah humbug word search

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

More from the December issue:

More Christmas posts:

Childhood craft | Make invisible ink

Snaffle an onion from the stuffing for TOP SECRET purposes

You will need:
1 onion
Bowl
Small, empty jar
Old-fashioned (empty) ink pen
Writing paper

1 Cut your onion in half and shed a few tears for your lost youth as you squeeze its juice into the bowl.
2 Pour this watery liquid into the jar.
3 Then decant this liquid into your pen, as if it’s ink.
4 Write your TOP SECRET message onto the paper and leave it to dry.
5 When the time comes to reveal your secret to the world, hold it up to heat and your message should magically appear.

*The Simple Things bears no responsibility for any secrets revealed and reputations ruined during this process (IDST – if destroyed still true).*

The December issue features a cracker of a Miscellany Christmas special (page 99), packed with puzzles, games, stocking fillers, bad jokes, amazing facts and forgotten wisdom, including:

• Mix a great martini 

• Secret Santa gifts

• Make sweet frumenty 

• Christmas i-spy

• How to carve turkey 

• Fizzy amaretto sours 

• Make invisible ink

• Froebel stars

• Wrapping awkward gifts 

• Beat the family at games

• The Simple Things’ sprouts & crackers board game

• Identifier: Bestseller toys 

• Bah humbug word search

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

More from the December issue:

More Christmas posts: