Organizing for the Holidays

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Most of us have already seen the Halloween, Thanksgiving and even Christmas items in stores. While it may cause you to moan and groan when you’re reminded the holidays are right around the corner, don’t procrastinate! Perhaps holiday items are in stores right now for a reason. Begin organizing your holidays now with these top ten tips:

 Save money

The holidays are expensive enough without spending extra cash on items you already own or that were damaged due to poor planning.

• Store lights properly so you don’t need to re-buy every year.
• Take inventory of wrapping supplies, linens and pantry supply before heading out to the store to prevent duplicate purchases.
• Avoid storing candles that can melt in a warm storage location.
• Be mindful of storing items that have food attached like children’s artwork as those little pieces can attract critters that love to nestle in and damage your holiday treasures.

 Don’t lose your favorite decorations

Sometimes a specific holiday tote can get mixed in with the wrong crowd. It can be very disappointing when you’ve pulled out what you thought were all of your Halloween totes to realize that your favorite spooky witch is missing. You know it was in that one tote that you can’t find anywhere! Create a constantly rotating system where summer goes away into fall boxes when fall comes out, etc.

 Don’t make the same mistake twice

Take 15 minutes to write down what was successful and unsuccessful about previous holidays. Note goals and traditions you’d like to uphold or begin. If you were unhappy that you missed the neighborhood holiday party last year, make sure you block out time this year. If your Mac & Cheese was a hit, find the recipe so you can make it again!

 Out with the old, in with the new

Each holiday keep handy a box for donation so you can toss as you decorate. If you replaced a tablecloth to match the plates you inherited last year than make sure you let the old linens go.

 Gifts galore

Create a temporary wrapping and gift station on a foldable table in the corner of a little used room. You can collect purchased gifts and wrap them as they arrive. Often a gift goes missing before we had the opportunity to present it to the recipient. To avoid an all day gift wrapping marathon wrap gifts as they come in and store them under the table along with the wrapping supplies.

 Calendar your events

This time of year brings the added stress of overfilled schedules. School assemblies, volunteering, shopping, cooking and worship services all increase dramatically making it impossible to keep track. Even if you don’t keep a calendar the rest of the year it will prove vital during the holiday months.

 Don’t overcomplicate

While it would be wonderful to participate in every event the holidays offer it often isn’t realistic. Create a list of items you’d like to get done.

• Start with items that are required or essential
• Then add items that the entire family enjoys
• Finally,  add items only you or one other family member enjoy
• Avoid adding any items that don’t fall into the previous three categories

 Remember what you did

It’s incredibly frustrating to pull all your decorations out and then forget how you had them set up last year. You can prevent hours of walking items around the house by storing specific areas together in the same tote and taking photos of the way you set it up.

 Plan your meals

Save plenty of time before the holidays to plan your holiday menu. Shop for your menu items well in advance and prep any items you can freeze ahead of time.  It may be helpful to plan a few freezer dinners for the busiest nights during your holiday bustling that you may not have time to cook.

 When the holidays are over

We inevitably forget to put away a few errant holiday pieces. It can be a pain to pull out the tubs of decorations after you’ve already put everything away for one. single. tree bulb! And then find another a week later and have to do it all over again. Instead, create a place where you can collect miscellaneous holiday items together and schedule a day once per quarter to put items away in their correct boxes.