It's That Time of Year!

Well, it's time to start thinking about Christmas! In fact, I am getting a later start than usual this year. I plan to begin preparing for the holidays this week, just trying to accomplish a few things each week. I will post each week's assignment.

Holiday Task #1

Locate your Christmas binder. Dust it off. Spend a little bit of time reading your past year's plans and lists. Create the dividers or add the paper you will need for this year. Remember, having the Christmas binder will save you much stress! It is so nice to look back and remind yourself of what gifts you gave people in the past (so you don't give them the same thing again this year!), what foods you served at various parties, what homemade goodies you prepared, what handmade gifts you created, etc.

If you don't have a Christmas binder, now is the time to make one. Begin with a three ring binder, and make a cover for it. It doesn't have to be fancy, my cover is just a piece of Christmas paper with the words Christmas Binder printed on it. I made the following dividers by printing the title and then laminating the pages: Gifts, Addresses, Parties, Food

Each year I add new pages behind each divider, and I make sure I write the year at the top of each new page. Some of my lists and menus are hand written on notebook paper, and some of them are typed and printed out. I just do whatever is convenient at the time.

Holiday Task #2

Look through your gift closet, gift box, gift shelf, or wherever you have been storing gifts that you have been buying all year. You have been doing that haven't you? Whenever you see something that you know someone in your family needs or would like, and especially if it is on sale, buy it. It really helps your budget to shop for the holiday season year round. I try to keep my eyes open for educational-type gifts and games year round.

Take inventory of what gifts you have in your gift storage area. Make a list in your Christmas binder of what you have bought and who it is for. I add to these lists as I Christmas shop, and then I check off each item as I wrap it.

Holiday Task #3

If you are really ambitious, and you have already purchased a few gifts, wrap three gifts this week! If you want to wait until later to make the bows, that is fine, but you can go ahead and wrap three gifts, and then store them in your gift storage area. Don't forget to check them off your gift list when you wrap them, or you may forget!

Holiday Task #4

Speaking of wrapping gifts, take inventory of your gift wrapping supplies. Make a list of what you need: tape, wrapping paper, tissue, boxes, ribbon, gift tags. Hopefully, you bought most of this last January when it was 75% off, but if you are still lacking some items, make a list and begin looking for stores to put these needed items on sale. As soon as Hobby Lobby puts their Christmas wrapping paper on sale, I plan to stock up. The Hobby Lobby gift wrap is my all-time favorite.

I'll share more tasks next week. Please leave me a comment and share how your preparations are coming along!