Week 1 – All About Getting Organized

There were a few issues with this post not working yesterday but it should all be fixed now...so check it out!



So today is technically Halloween but I always start my Christmas organizing on the Monday closest to the start of November (if that makes sense).  So there are 2 posts for today since I did a Halloween post as well…could you tell that I am not huge into Halloween but I am going to try harder as my boys are getting older and are starting to understand it.

So this week is all about getting yourself organized and ready to hit the gifts, baking, cooking and decorating hard so you can get it done before December really gets going and all the fun starts.  I have a few printables that you use, I tried to make them files that you can work with but I am new at this so I hope that they work…
So here is the list of things to do this week -

• Update your calendar with all your Christmas parties, kid events, and normal everyday stuff
• Start by making lists, some examples are ;
• Gift List (don’t forget your baby-sitter(s), co-workers, hostess gifts), a home-made gift list, and stocking stuffers list (if your family does that).  The gift list also helps record if you bought on-line or not and if you have received it.
• Christmas Card list, use my excel file (or make one the same) and I will have a tutorial on how to mail merge onto labels which makes sending lots of cards SSSOOOO easy!  (Don’t forget to have at least 10 extra cards for those families you forgot!)
• Holiday cleaning list, get your house, pantries and freezers ready for all the extra guests and food.
• Party planning list (includes menu plan, grocery list, and guest list)
• Plan your Christmas Card - Whether you are going to use a layout available from a photo shop, or make your own card, you have to pick out or take the pictures that you want for them.
• Check that you and your family all have the wardrobe that you want for pictures and parties.  Are there some things in your wardrobe that you can fix up for the season to save money?  There are so many ideas out there in blogland so start looking now!
• Check your gift wrapping supplies and stock back up.  (Stay tuned for some great eco-friendly gift wrapping options during All About Gifts week)

So I guess I basically spend my first week making a ton of lists, talking with my husband and family about gifts and making more lists!  But if you keep those lists in an easy to get at place (like your purse or a command center in your home) you will find that you are able to shop more efficiently and get things done much more quickly.
(Now get those card mailing lists done up and ready for a mailing merge tutorial tomorrow!  If you don’t already know how to do this you will wonder why you never figured it out sooner!!!)