Get in Order for Christmas, Part 7

Part 7, It’s a Wrap!

The big day is quickly approaching. Are you ready? Are you in the Christmas spirit?

It’s time to wrap up your preparations and your gifts!

Consider setting up a wrapping station where you can keep all of your wrapping supplies and gifts in the same area. Make it fun and festive by setting up your wrapping station near a TV. Then you can wrap and organize, while watching old Christmas classics or listen to Christmas music.

When you pull out last year’s wrapping paper, take the time to discard any wrinkled, outdated or damaged paper and supplies.

Get the kids involved!

• Give the job completely to an older teen

• Have younger children help by stamping, painting or decorating butcher paper to use as gift wrap

Wrap gifts soon after you purchase them to avoid the last minute rush. Be sure to clearly label each gift and cross the gift off your list.

Remember, don’t be afraid to cross off some tasks from your list! Your friends and family would rather have a joyful you with store bought cookies and than a stressed out, frazzled you with homemade treasures.

May you have joy in the journey!

If you missed them, check out Part 1: Take Time to Make Time, Part 2:  Budget and Gift Giving Guide, Part 3: Cleaning, Part 4: Meal Planning , Part 5: Decorating, and  Part 6: Shopping and Gift Giving.

Have a Blessed and Organized Holiday!

Cheryl

Get in Order for Christmas, Part 6

Part 6, Shopping and Gift Giving

If you haven’t completed your Christmas shopping, don’t feel bad. Surprisingly, your in the majority with 66% of the

Still Shopping.........

country right there with you! In fact, according to the the latest American Express Spending and Saving Tracker, one in five consumers (21 percent) will still be shopping for gifts the week before Christmas, with 4 percent expecting to shop on Christmas Eve (men??). I’m right there with the majority, still shopping away. Once upon a time, when the kids were little, and I could actually pick their clothes and their gifts, I shopped all year, created “theme” gifts, and finishing up nice and early. Times have changed and so have my kids. Actually, they are no longer “kids”. They are young adults and adults. I have learned that times and life change quickly at their stage of life.  I have also learned that their gifts are much more expensive. Consequently, they receive fewer gifts, making my job of shopper much easier.Case in point, the only gift my college age daughter asked for was money toward a reunion trip to be held over the New Year Holiday, out of state. She told me just last night that her plans may be changing, and she may not be going on her trip. I might need to get shopping!

Are you of the “Black Friday” mindset, where shopping becomes a challenge and a competition? Have at it and have fun! I’m of the opposite mindset, which we can call “White Tuesday”. I try to shop early in the morning and early in the week, avoiding the crowds (as much as they can be avoided at this time of year!).

Be sure to shop with an organized list. Jot down EVERYTHING you are looking for, including ideas and price range. Use the list you created in week 2, and you will avoid purchasing duplicates, overspending, and save time.

Don’t clutter up the lives of your friends and family. Consider some of the following gift-giving options:

• Consumable gifts, including lotions, candles, great wine and foods

• Cool experiences, evenings out, tickets to a play or event

• Movie tickets along with popcorn and candy

• Passes to a museum or zoo for a family

• Classes for art, dance, golf or gourmet cooking

• For Teenagers, consider gift cards for gas, coffee, fast food or restaurants

• For teachers, consider gift cards for coffee, gas, fast food, restaurants, office supply stores or educational supply stores

• Give of yourself; a car wash or lawn mow for an elderly neighbor, an evening of babysitting along with a gift certificate for a dinner out for young parents.

• Instead of a traditional gift, agree to spend a special evening together with friends

• Give a cow, a goat or chickens. Dig and stock a fish pond. Send a child to school. Provide life saving medicine, mosquito nets and emergency food. Purchase fruit trees, honey bees or a fishing boat. It’s never been easier to change the lives of those in need. Check out the World Vision Gift Catalog or the Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog, and share the true Spirit of Christmas, while changing the lives of children forever. They make it quick and easy to send any of the above, along with many other ideas, in all price ranges. Check it out!

If you make homemade gifts, become a specialist. Find one thing that you love, make it well, and make many of them.

Finally, keep several generic gifts available for the last minute need. Consider some of the consumable gifts mentioned earlier, such as great lotions, candles, gourmet foods and excellent wine. If you don’t have a need for them, you can treat yourself after the holidays.

Happy “White Tuesday” and Happy Shopping!

If you missed them, check out Part 1: Take Time to Make Time, Part 2:  Budget and Gift Giving Guide, Part 3: Cleaning, Part 4: Meal Planning and Part 5: Decorating.

Have a Blessed and Organized Holiday!

Cheryl

Get In Order for Christmas, Part 5

Part 5, Decorating

Our Little Tree

I’m sure most of you have started, if not completed your holiday decorating. I’m finishing up today. For the first time in many years, we purchased our tree from a store rather than cutting it down fresh . I’m hoping for more than sticks when we celebrate with one side of the family early in the year!

When is the best time to put up and then take down the Christmas tree? When I pulled out my Christmas boxes, I was joyed to find a long lost, ultra (not!) spiritual book about Christmas celebrations that gave me a clue. In her book, A Purse-Driven Christmas (So, What did you get me?), author, comedian and singer, Anita Renfroe, writes:

“We can’t find any guidance from the official etiquette dames regarding the question of the right time to remove the Christmas decorations. When is the optimum time to take them down? I have seen (only in movies) that there are some people who don’t even put their trees up until Christmas Eve. Who are these people? Don’t they know that the joy of having a tree is its being up at least a couple of weeks prior so they can enjoy the lights and watch the presents and pine needles stack up around the bottom? These are the same people who take the tree down the day after Christmas. They obviously don’t do quite as much decorating as we do, because if we waited until Christmas to do all that we do and then took it down immediately afterward, we would miss Christmas altogether. I believe that these people are secretly Christmas haters and just want to have the least amount of Christmas environment allowable by law. Their mantra is, ‘It’s not Christmas yet, not yet, not yet, not yet –now it is — great, it’s over already — get the stuff outta hear!’”

It’s a funny, lighthearted read, described as “The happiest accessory for the holiday season”!

For those of you that haven’t started your decorating yet, most of the us who are in the midst of it, and the few who actually wait until Christmas Eve, keep these tips in mind.

• If you do a lot of decorating, don’t try to get it done in a day (OK, this one doesn’t apply to the Christmas Eve folks!)

• Make a schedule, delegate and work as a family

• Make it a part of your celebration and remember to have joy in the journey

• Before you begin pulling out the holiday decorations, be sure the house is clean and straight

As you pull out your holiday decorations

• Take the opportunity to purge any items you no longer use or love

• Pack up your regular season decorating accessories into your holiday boxes (it will save you from searching for them after Christmas!)

Happy Decorating!

Have a Blessed and Organized Holiday!

Cheryl

Get In Order for Christmas, Part 4

Part 4, Meal Planning

We tend to cook more and entertain more during the holidays. There is much that you can do prepare for this busy time so that you can truly enjoy your celebrations.

First, ask yourself who, what, when and where? When you have your answers to these questions, you have the backbone of your plans.

Take time to prepare for the weeks ahead by doing some (or all!) of the following:

• Organize, purge and clean your pantry, refrigerator and freezer

• Do a quick inventory of dinnerware, glasses, silverware, linens and serving pieces. If there is a need, there is certainly a sale!

• Prepare a flexible menu for the weeks ahead

• Each week, make a shopping list from your menus and try to shop only 1 time a week. Go on off peak times of day—early in the day and early in the week, if possible

• Take advantage of sales to stock up on non perishables that you will need for your holiday preparations

• Prepare dishes, breads, cookies and desserts that can be frozen

• Keep basics and easy to prepare foods on hand

• Share the responsibility and joy of cooking for others—when your guest asks if they can bring something, say YES, and cross something off your list!

• Consider pot-luck dinners for large celebrations

Remember your goal this holiday season! Look back at your “Holiday Mission Statement” that you created back in week one. How is your mission going? Are you joyful in the journey of your preparations? If not, it might be time to cross a few more things off that list of yours, regroup and move forward.

Have a blessed and organized holiday!

Check out Part 1, Take Time to Make Time, Part 2, Budget and Gift Giving Guide and Part 3, Cleaning.

Cheryl

Get In Order for Christmas, Part 3

Part 3, Cleaning

This is the time of year when your doors are open, friends are in and out, and company is on the way!
Make it easy on yourself, and get your house in order early, so that you can enjoy!This is NOT the time of year for major home repairs or projects – save those for the slower times of year………

Decide out what needs to be done. Then decide on a realistic schedule to get those jobs accomplished.

Begin with jobs that won’t get undone:

• De-clutter and purge – make room for the holidays!
• Clean carpets if needed
• Clean silver
• Do the Great Exchange: Switch out spring/summer for fall/winter linens, platters and dishes, beach towels and chairs for gloves/hats and sleds and clothes
• Purge and organize your pantry – prepare for the holiday cooking and baking
• Clean out the oven, refrigerator and freezer

Next, Get caught up on basic cleaning each week.If you are overwhelmed with your cleaning list, consider some of the following options:

• Use a timer and set it for 15 minutes several times a day – it is amazing what you can accomplish in 15 minutes of focused time!
• Eliminate some of the jobs in your list
• Delegate! Get your family members involved
• Hire help, if possible (this is a great gift for you and your family!)

Have a blessed and organized holiday!

Check out Part 1, Take Time to Make Time, and Part 2, Budget and Gift Giving Guide.

Cheryl

Get in Order for Christmas, Part 2

Part 2: Budget and Gift Giving Guide

Create a budget for your holiday. Be sure to include gifts, decorations, travel, meals and entertainment.

Next, create a gift list with each person’s name that you plan to purchase a gift for, along with gift ideas and the dollar amount that you plan to spend.

As you purchase gifts, fill in the gift purchased and the dollar amount spent.  This will help to organize your shopping, avoid purchasing doubles, and keep to your budget.

If you happen to like forms and planners, check out the website, Organized Christmas. They have a form or planner for any aspect of Christmas that you can image (and many that you can’t imagine!). Personally, I use a lined piece of notebook paper in my home notebook. It works. Use whatever is easiest for you and whatever you will actually use!

It is too tempting to overspend during the holidays—don’t allow your good intentions and good will to be an excuse for irresponsibility.

“About the time we think we can make end meet, someone moves the ends.” Herbert Hoover

Don’t be that someone!

Check back often for parts 3-9 of the “Get in Order for Christmas” Series, which will give you tips and ideas for cleaning, meal planning, decorating, shopping and gift giving, wrapping and reflecting back on your holiday season.

Have a Blessed and Organized Holiday!

Check out Part1, “Take Time to Make Time”.

Cheryl

Get In Order for Christmas! Part 1

Part 1: Take Time to Make Time

The countdown is on. It is The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Celebrating Jesus.  Come to earth as a baby for me and you! Over the years, our celebration has come to include SO MANY things….. family and friends, meals out, gift giving, evenings in, shopping, cleaning, decorating, baking, cooking……….. and the list goes on…….In the midst of it all, life doesn’t stop. So, HOW Do we fit it all in.

Plan first. Do second.

You have heard it all before. Make your list. Check it twice. I would like to add a third step. Cross off your list (before you DO it!).

Most of us shop too much, bake too much, cook too much, eat way too much, plan too much, and generally wear ourselves out. At a time when we want to slow down and appreciate what Christmas really means and enjoy those around us, we so easily clutter our minds and our time with so much busyness.

Truly, this bit of advice, to cross off some things on your list, will save you time and energy, and help make time for all those things and people in life this are most important to you.

As you are making your plans this year, take a few minutes to really consider what is important to you and your family.Take a few minutes to, in essence, create a mission statement for your holiday season. A good mission statement will succinctly define what you and your family are trying to accomplish and what you value. It will provide you with a vision as you are planning.

As you think through your own mission statement, simply ask yourself what you really want for the holiday season (and what you don’t want!).
Personally, I want:

To draw closer to God and understand the meaning of Christmas
To have sweet time with my family
To be able to give and serve more to those in need
To slow down and put aside my “To Do” list
To catch up with old friends
To enjoy and appreciate the simple pleasures of the days

I don’t want:

To get caught up in the shopping frenzy
To spend $ we don’t have
To be too busy and over-scheduled

Take a few minutes to create your own “holiday mission statement” and use it as you are planning for the weeks to come.

As you are making plans, think through what traditions you have and why. Make a list of them. From decorating to Christmas caroling, from serving to gift giving, from spiritual life to family gatherings.
Keep those traditions that you love, and be willing to let go of those you don’t love or have outgrown. Families and people change! We tend to begin new traditions as our families grow. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of feeling like you need to continue every tradition that you ever started.

Next, Include Your Family. Share your list with your family. Ask what is important to them. You may be surprised!

Now it’s time to look ahead and come up with a plan that is both realistic and simplified. Take time to make time for those things and people in your life that are most important to you.

Have a blessed and organized holiday!