Christmas Countdown - Dec 4: Organized Christmas

Here is a photo of Shayla and her buddy Hank trying on Santa hats!
Aren't they too cute!!!???

Cards, Gifts and Baking – oh my! Sometimes it seems like the road to Christmas is paved with all the have to dos and it is hard to sit back, relax and enjoy the holiday season. I try my best to simplify my holidays and try to be well organized so that I can have time to enjoy the simple joys of the season. This year I am a bit behind (5 months of morning sickness will do that to you), so it is a little more hectic than normal, but I know that some of the preparedness I do for this month helps a lot! Feel free to add any of your favorite organizing tips in my comments!

GIFTS: One of the things I try to do is have all my Christmas gifts purchased by November 1. I also hate holiday crowds, lines and hopping in stores, so try to avoid that too! I like to shop all year and it is great when I find something that I know fits the person I want to shop for without rushing out and buying last minute gifts that don’t have as much meaning. This year some of my gifts are homemade food gifts that have to be made close to Christmas, but other than that I am pretty much done! Also, in regards to gift giving, I keep an excel file of everyone I give gifts to and have a tab for each year and each year has 4 columns – person’s name, gift ideas, things bought during the year (so I remember) and final gift given (so I do not duplicate gifts).

CARDS: For faster Christmas cards, I use my Outlook contact list and change addresses as they change throughout the year, so when it comes time to address my cards (which I do NOT do by hand!) I can print out all my updated addresses on labels, slap them on the envelopes and be ready to go!

BAKING: I start the first week of December with Christmas baking to be used for activities right away or to freeze for later in the month – best for freezing includes: cookies, fudge, soups/chilis, etc.

RESOURCES: There are some awesome tools out there to help you with each step of planning – from gift giving to cleaning house to baking. One of my favorites is the “Holiday Control Journal” by Fly Lady – Click on Holiday Control Journal on the tree for a free copy - http://www.flylady.net/pages/holidaycruising1.asp.

Also, another great site is Organized Christmas at http://christmas.organizedhome.com/. It also has lots of great resources!

So I posted this ORGANIZING Christmas blog early in the month but most of the tips have you shopping and baking early, but you can still take advantage of most of the tips! Have fun, relax, and enjoy the holiday season!!!