We have reached the end of my blog series on creating a “Holiday Planner.” I really hope this has been helpful and that along the way, you have been able to find additional ways to add to your planner and make it something that works for you. I also hope this planner becomes something you turn to every year and one day pass down onto your children. Holidays are such a wonderful time of the year to capture sweet memories and your planner can help do this. So in this final blog we are going to talk about your holiday … Continue reading →

As I continue this blog series on creating a “Holiday Planner,” we are going to look at how planning your holiday decorating and baking is beneficial. Once again you are going to utilize your blank calendar, which should already have filled in the date you are going to decorate and bake. You might have penciled in the day after Thanksgiving to put up the tree and the following weekend to decorate the rest of the house. You might have the first weekend in November set aside to do outdoor decorations. Spreading it all out can relieve some of the stress … Continue reading →

We are continuing to look at how you can put together a “Holiday Planner,” which will help make planning and preparing for the holidays easier. In my last blog I talked about tackling the first thing on your list and used gift giving as an example. In this blog we are going to talk about your Christmas card list. Ever run into the problem, similar to gift giving, in trying to remember who you sent cards to the previous year? Put together a permanent list that you can refer back to in your planner You can create a table through … Continue reading →

In my last blog I talked about organizing and planning the holidays with your own “Holiday Planner,” created out of a 3-ring binder that you can either decorate or buy in a fun color or design. I also talked about writing a list of all the things you hope to accomplish for the holidays, then setting it aside and going back to cross off anything that isn’t doable or realistic. From there you write down a date next to each item you want to accomplish, which helps you put things in order of priority. I would recommend then printing off … Continue reading →

There are so many preparations that have to be made in the home with the upcoming holidays. There is baking to be done, rooms to decorate, parties and get-togethers to plan, presents to buy…all of it can quickly start to feel very overwhelming. Several years ago I designed a “Holiday Planner,” which was a great way to lay out everything that needed to be done. It helped me to prioritize, plan and prepare. It also enabled me to schedule when I would get it all done. Without a plan, you often find yourself trying to accomplish things last minute or … Continue reading →

When my kids were little, my Christmas decorating was what I would call “eclectic.” This was mostly because a lot of what I had in the way of decorations were hand-me-downs. So I made due with what I had. One of my favorite things to decorate was the Christmas tree. There were the “special” ornaments that went up every year…baby’s first Christmas ornaments, our wedding ornament and then all the homemade ones from my children. At some point, my Christmas decorating began to change. Suddenly I wanted things to match. I wanted my tree to have the same colors as … Continue reading →

An old song is swimming in my head, “It’s the final countdown…” Yes, the final countdown until Thanksgiving. Instead of spending the weekend planning and preparing, I enjoyed it…which wouldn’t have been so bad except that as soon as Monday hit, I realized how far behind I was. Of course, I didn’t find out until Friday that I would be hosting Thanksgiving anyway. Every year we switch off with family, the other side does Thanksgiving and we do Christmas. But I guess this year we somehow ended up with both. That’s another story… At any rate, I sit here at … Continue reading →