Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 11: Get Your Recipes Together

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 11: Get Your Recipes Together

by | Dec 1, 2017 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 0 comments

get your recipes together

Recipes

That favorite fudge recipe you always make, that delicious marinated carrot recipe your mom used to concoct, and Aunt Edna’s pumpkin pie recipe are yearly Christmas treats. The problem is every year you have to search to find them. Wouldn’t it be great to have your recipes together in one place?

Assignment: Gather your holiday recipes and organize them.

Now is the time to gather all of your favorite holiday recipes in one place! Print, copy, scan (whatever is easiest for you), all of the recipes you use and love each year. Get them into page protectors in your binder. You will be blown away by how helpful this will be to you!

This is also the time to discard any recipes you never use.

get your recipes together

If you have a few free minutes, you can go through your recipes and jot down ingredients you will need when you go to the store.

Another great way to save time this holiday season is by making a couple extra copies of each recipe. Keep the extra copies in the same page protector as the original. This way, anytime someone asks you for your recipe, you will have an extra copy ready to pull out and give them on the spot.

For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 72

Excellent instructions on how to organize your recipes in the binder are located in the book.

Supplies: 1) Page protectors 2) Your favorite recipes

Share Your Thoughts:

How many recipes did you include? Any tips for organizing your recipes? How does it feel to have all your recipes in one place before you need them? Did you throw away any recipes, and how did that make you feel?

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Don’t try to do everything or to be all things to all people. Do what God offers uniquely through you.

And join us over on the Clutter Free Academy Facebook group where we encourage one another and stay accountable as we become Clutter Free!

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 10: Gather Your Elf Supplies

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 10: Gather Your Elf Supplies

by | Nov 30, 2017 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 0 comments

elf supplies

Originally, this project was going to be “buy your stuff,” but I know that all of us probably have enough gift wrap, tags and ribbon to supply Santa’s workshop. Problem is, most of us find it December 26th.

Elf Supplies

So dig through your basement, garage, spare closet or under the bed and gather together:

  • wrapping paperelf supplies
  • ribbon
  • tissue paper
  • tags, etc.
  • Scotch tape
  • scissors

Assignment: Elf supplies

Once everything is rounded up in one place, put it into a container to keep it together. If you can keep it out for a week or two do so, this will allow you to wrap a few gifts at a time. If this is not possible, wrap them up as soon as possible and get them under the tree. This will keep the clutter at bay. This is also the time to purchase anything that you are short on. (I end up buying tape every single year.) Organize your supplies with these fun labels.

Another fun idea is to have a wrapping party with your friends so you can wrap, chat and be merry (see what I did there).

The idea is to think outside of the box and give something new a try. You never know if something else works better if you don’t ever try something different!

For more details: Get Your Christmas Organized – Page 69

Share Your Thoughts:

What is the most stressful part for you about wrapping gifts? Do you feel stressed for time? Is it the space it takes up? How about the idea of wrapping with friends or family? Could you host a wrapping party and make it more enjoyable?

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Be sure to ask for help before you need rescue. And remember – what overwhelms you invigorates someone else.

And join us over on the Clutter Free Academy Facebook group where we encourage one another and stay accountable as we become Clutter Free!

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 9: Gifts for Out-of-Town Friends and Family

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 9: Gifts for Out-of-Town Friends and Family

by | Nov 29, 2017 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 0 comments

gifts for out-of-town family

Plan ahead for gifts for out-of-town family and friends

Refer back to your gift giving list to identify anyone who will require their gift to be shipped, as these gifts for out-of-town family/friends can take extra thought. Now think of the least stressful ways to make this happen. A gift card to their favorite store or restaurant is a great gift and extremely easy to ship.

You can also ship gifts directly to people from whichever website you are ordering from. You know I am a fan of Amazon, and if you aren’t a prime member, order all of your gifts at one time so you have an order of $35 for free shipping.

Assignment: Plan you gifts for out–of-town friends and family.

Think about what you are going to get for whom and by what day you need to have it in the mail. Put the dates on your calendar and plan purchases accordingly.

Consider e-gifts or something that is easy to mail.

Be sure to check out the mailable gift ideas in the book.

For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 65

Supplies: 1) Your gift list 2) calendar and 3) ideas.

 

Share Your Thoughts:

Share ideas for gifts for out-of-town family and friends? Any tips on mailing gifts? How many gifts do you usually mail?

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Dreading the lines at the post office? Listen to “feel good” music through your headphones. Or better yet, set a goal to make the line more fun for everyone by seeing how many people you can get to smile. Remember — when we pre-decide our reactions, we get to be grateful instead of bitter.

And join us over on the Clutter Free Academy Facebook group where we encourage one another and stay accountable as we become Clutter Free!

Episode #280 – Creating a Clutter Free Christmas- Part 2

Episode #280 – Creating a Clutter Free Christmas- Part 2

by | Nov 28, 2017 | Christmas, Clutter Free, Podcast, tips and ideas | 0 comments

It just won’t be Christmas unless . . . you listen in to these tips from Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo. Have less clutter and more living at Christmas without the mandatory expectations that wear everyone out. Listen in for tips 8 through 14 in this second installment on the Clutter-Free Christmas series on how to have a Clutter-Free Christmas.

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas – Simple Steps to Enjoying The Season

Have you lost your Christmas joy? Does the thought of jam-packed malls, maxed-out credit cards, overcrowded supermarkets, and endless to-do lists give you the feeling that maybe Scrooge was on to something?

In Get Yourself Organized for Christmas, Kathi Lipp provides easy-to-follow steps to reduce the stress of the holiday season, including tactics for how to

  • put together a holiday binder you’ll use year after year
  • determine a budget that won’t break the bank
  • gather your elf supplies
  • get your gift list together (including ideas for various ages and relationships)
  • collect your recipes and prep your kitchen
  •  

By putting into practice Kathi’s tricks and tips, you’ll finally be able to fully enjoy this most wonderful time of the year.

Meet Our Guest

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo

Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A speaker and writer, Tonya makes her home in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit her at www.tonyakubo.com.

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 8: Catch-Up Day (and a Bonus Project for Extra Credit)

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 8: Catch-Up Day (and a Bonus Project for Extra Credit)

by | Nov 28, 2017 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 1 comment

organized for Christmas

Organized for Christmas doesn’t mean you can’t rest.

Time to catch up on anything you haven’t been able to finish thus far. Check your binder. Take a breath. You’ve got this!organized for Christmas

If you are not sure of the last time you took a breath, it has been too long! Your next step is to slow down and breathe deeply. Did you know that you think much more clearly when you get a good amount of oxygen to your brain? Or that by filling your brain with more oxygen you are opening receptors to help you react faster, think more clearly and get more done? This is scientific fact, so if you are feeling busy or stressed, it’s time for a nice walk. 20 minutes at a good pace should do all of us some good.

For extra credit, do something to bless your spouse and get him in the holiday spirit. This can be another form of getting oxygen to the brain! Go ahead – have fun with this.

 

Share your thoughts:

Chat with us and tell us what YOU did on your Catch up Day.

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Be sure to listen to your body throughout the holiday season. It “talks” to us for a reason. What is your body telling you? That it needs to go to bed? Stretch? To eat? Or stop eating?

And join us over on the Clutter Free Academy Facebook group where we encourage one another and stay accountable as we become Clutter Free!

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 7: What’s Your Christmas Budget?

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Project 7: What’s Your Christmas Budget?

by | Nov 27, 2017 | Blog, Christmas, Overwhelmed | 0 comments

Christmas budget

Do you know how much you actually spend on Christmas? It can be a real eye-opener to look at your Christmas budget. A few dollars here for eggnog, a couple dollars there for the boss’s gift, $5 for the new set of lights because the old ones don’t work or you can’t find them, $20 for the ingredients for the cookies and before you know it you have spent over $100 you hadn’t planned on spending.

It Isn’t Just Money

It isn’t just money, sometimes it is activities. You say yes to too many Christmas parties, too many shopping trips, or too many volunteer requests. For some reason at Christmas our houses have to be cleaner than normal, we cook and bake more than usual, we have presents to wrap, gifts to make, extra church services to attend and the list goes on. Sometimes we need to put our activities on a Christmas budget so we can enjoy the season.

Take some time today to identify anything you can cross off your list whether it is something causing you stress or unnecessary spending.

If you’re looking to save money this year, throw a budgeting party with friends or family. Exchange gift giving ideas and your favorite coupons or ways to save. You could also bake goodies to gift, work on crafts to give, or order items together to save on shipping or buying in bulk. You’ll get some of your gift giving taken care of, save money, and have fun while doing it!

Assignment: Plan Your Budget for the Holidays (Expenditures of both money and time!)

Use the budget sheet to outline where you anticipate spending money. It is a big holiday and often a huge part of our fall and winter expenses. Planning now will save on surprise expenses and impulse spending more later.

Also, use your calendar and carve out a few evenings or a Saturday when you don’t have outside activities. Keep that time free for you to do the things that matter to you.

For More Details:Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 56

Supplies: 1) a budgeting sheet 2) calendar

Share Your Thoughts:

How does it feel to have a budget in advance? Will this project change how you spend money during the holiday season? How about putting free time on your calendar — did that give you a sense of relief? Did you eliminate an activity?

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Not sure what to eliminate from your budget or your schedule? Don’t forget to pray-cess (process through prayer).

Join Us!

And join us over on the Clutter Free Academy Facebook group where we encourage one another and stay accountable as we become Clutter Free!