Organizing Holiday Clean-up

Some tips to make holiday clean-up orderly:

• Only save what you love, use and have room to store.  Pass on, sell or donate the rest.
• Make sure all items are clean and in good repair before storing.
• Use specialty containers to protect breakable items or those difficult to store. 
• Label all containers so they can be easily located next year.
• Consider color coding containers for holiday and seasonal items. 
• Hang bows in bags on hooks rather than stacked in boxes to preserve their shape.
• Plan a clean-up time when others can help you and consider making it part of the holiday traditions.
• Add food, music, games, etc. to make the task more pleasant.
• Resist the urge to buy more holiday items just because they are on sale. 

Enjoy the Holidays

This week is not the time to worry about things or stuff.  It is the time to concentrate on people and relationships.  In the matter of a few days, all of the tinsel and lights will be gone but hopefully our friends and family will still be with us.  It is important that we make the most of our time with them and not allow the strappings of the holidays to get in the way.

Why not spend some time sharing good memories, fun times you had together, common interests and loft goals?  Reflect on what has made the relationships special and build on that.  Take photos that you can enjoy for years to come and share a story or two that can be passed down to your children.

Next week we can take care of things, but this week we should go with the flow and make the most of our time together with those we care about and love.

Organizing Holiday Cards

December usually brings greeting cards to our homes with messages, pictures and newsletters from friends and family far and near.  You can enjoy them for days or weeks by keeping them nearby during the holidays.  Decorated open baskets, bins or boxes can hold them in convenient places.  They can be opened and propped up on mantels, buffets or tables, or they can be strung across windows, walls or doorways much like clothing on a clothes line (for those of us old enough to know what a clothes line is). 

After the holidays, resist trying to keep all of them as they will create a source of clutter in a few years.  Save the photos only if you will honor them by displaying in an album, frame, scrapbook or photo box.  If cards or letters contain messages you want to save, clip those and donate the fronts of cards to nursing homes, daycares, or other places that hold craft classes or create crafting projects.  Keep a check list or data base for current addresses and other notes about the sender and update it each year.

Make decisions now so that when the holiday clean up begins, you will have a plan for those cards.

Holiday Decorating Tips

It is very easy to accumulate many holiday decorations over the years. All of these take lots of storage space not to mention the time to unpack and repack year after year.

If you choose not to have door decorations all year, consider changing from wreaths to door swags for the holidays. It is easier and less expensive to find storage containers for those. Try to find decorative elements for them that will pack without damage so it can be hung each year without a lot of fuss.

Ribbons can give a basic theme in your decorating. Purchase one large roll of ribbon that can be tied around candle bases, lamps, door knobs, greenery, etc. This makes decorating simple and effective. If you purchase the rolls on sale after the holidays, you need not save the used ribbon. It is difficult to store tied ribbons so they look fresh again next year.

Purge holiday items that are not your favorites, which you have not used lately, that have no sentimental attachments or that are not in good repair. They take up space in your home and head (remembering you have them and where to use them). Save only those you like or your children will want when you are gone.

Organizing Holiday Cooking

Starting early is certainly one way to make holiday cooking an easier task.  There are certain foods our families have come to expect this time of the year, but often we want to add something new to the celebrations.  This does not mean you need to buy another cookbook.  My guess is that you already have more than you actually use.

A clutter free way to find new ideas and recipes is to go online.  One year I tasted a chocolate dip at an event and decided I wanted to find out how to make it.  I went to Google, typed in chocolate chip dip and the web sites popped right up.  On the allrecipes.com site there were several recipes to choose and I picked the one with the ingredients I normally have.  I printed the recipe, but I could have saved it in a recipe folder on the computer and had it available there, too.

So if you want to add something new to the menu this holiday you need not spend extra money and take up extra space with more cookbooks.  In fact, this might be a good time to purge some of those you have never or rarely use and open up some space in your kitchen.  Food for thought.

Organizing Thanksgiving Week

Here are two good tips to keep Thanksgiving Week an orderly and peaceful event.
1) Use a detailed schedule to plan the activities for the week. Work backwards from the time of the big event (Thanksgiving Dinner is usually it)and schedule the activities in minutes and hours. Be flexible with the amount of time you allow for meal preparation, decorations, clean up, etc. You should do as much ahead of the big day as possible.

2) Do not leave home for Black Friday sales unless you are prepared. Use whatever media you have to decide where you should go, when you should get there and what you will buy. Make a list and stick to it. Being surrounded by great deals on so many items will tempt you to buy items you really don’t need but hate to pass up. This can be a great budget buster as well as a clutter creator. Retailers are counting on getting you in with the super sale only to have you lured into buying the other wonderful items not on your list.

Consider staying home for a peaceful end to the week and shop online if you must make purchases. Many outlets have the same sales online with free shipping this time of the year. With no parking problems, traffic jams or lines at checkout, you can have even more to be thankful for this week.

Organizing Tips for Thanksgiving

This is the week to make final plans for Thanksgiving.  Next week begins the preparation.  As you get ready for the big day there are some good organizing tips to remember.
1.  Keep good records of your planning.  This is especially important if you are entertaining at your house.  If you use a computer, you can keep a folder just for this holiday and include files regarding guest list, menu, recipes, grocery list, decorations, time schedules,etc.  If you prefer paper files, create a master folder or notebook and have a section devoted to each of these items.
2.  Make notes as you prepare your house and meal.  I print out my menu, grocery list and recipes and make notes directly on them as I proceed throughout Thanksgiving week.  If I forgot something that should have been on the list, I write it in.  If I should have invited someone that I left off, I make a note of that, etc.
3.  After the celebration, I update my files to include my evaluation of what happened.  If I had too much turkey but not enough dressing, I make a note of it.  If I didn't allow enough time for the ham to cook, I note that on my time schedule.  Anything I can think of improving or changing is recorded on the files so that I won't make the same mistakes again.

Keeping good records, notes and updates now can save you time, money and energy the next time you have your Thanksgiving feast.