by kathilipp | Dec 1, 2011 | Christmas, Home, Uncategorized |
You have a tab in your Holiday Binder for your family favorite recipes. Now is the time to fill up that tab with the traditional recipes your family love.
Each of our kids has a favorite food that they confirm in advance will be prepared by me or my hubby. Here is just a partial list of what is on the must list:
- cranberry no-bake cheesecake
- pumpkin no-bake cheesecake
- artichoke dip
- bruchetta
- broccoli casserole
- ratatouille
- drunken turkey (turkey brined in white wine and spices)
In year’s past I’ve spent a lot of time and energy going through various cookbooks, computer searches and junk drawer layers looking for all these recipes – but no more! This year they were all sitting in the Holiday binder just where they were supposed to be.
The other wonderful thing about having all your recipes together is that when your kids start to want to bring your family recipes to their future in-law’s homes, you can copy everything at once.
OK -now it’s your turn. Tell me what is the one recipe your family would boycott Christmas without. (I love to hear other people’s favorite foods, especially if they’re weird.)
by kathilipp | Nov 29, 2011 | Christmas, Home, Uncategorized |
Hey girls – can you believe that you are ten days in? If no one else is saying it, I’m really, really proud of you. I love that so many of you are posting the benefits that you are already enjoying:
- Feeling ahead for this year
- Feeling ahead for next year
- Knowing what you are going to get each person on your list
- A feeling of accomplishment
Here are just a few of the comments that I’m hearing:
“Thanks for helping me keep it simple, Kathi. Doing photo Christmas cards for the first time ever and they are done and ready to go. I am smiling and ready to start sending…:)” Catha
“It’s so fun to get out of bed this week and see what I get to do today to get ready for Christmas!” Renee
Y’all have made my season – I love that you are encouraging me, as I try to encourage you. I am way ahead this year and a LOT of it is due to you.
OK – enough of the love in. Time to get to today’s project. Simple: Gather your stuff.
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.
So dig through your basement, garage, spare closet or under the bed and gather together:
- wrapping paper
- ribbon
- tissue paper
- tags, etc.
- Scotch tape
- scissors
Get all this stuff in one place so that when you have to go into elf mode you’re not running all over the house.
This would be the time to also purchase anything that you are short on (I end up buying tape every single year.)
I would love to see what you do to make your wrapping special or how you save money on wrapping for Christmas. Send me a picture of your how you make your packages special, and if I feature your pic on the blog, I will send you one of my books as a thank you! Send the pics to info@kathilipp.com
by kathilipp | Nov 28, 2011 | Christmas, Home, Uncategorized |
My life was so simple. Then I married Roger.
You see, my whole family lives within a two hour drive of my home. We get together for holidays and exchange gifts like the Norman Rockwell painting says we are supposed to do.
Then I had to marry a southern boy.
When Roger was looking for his first grown-up job, as a senior at Purdue University, he told God his requirements. “God, I will go anywhere except California.” Yeah. That’s a good idea. Tell God what you won’t do.
So twenty-five years ago Roger got a job in Cupertino with HP and he has been a California boy ever since.
The only problem is that he left a whole family who all live in Georgia, and who all celebrate Christmas. And somehow, each year I forget that their gifts require an extra step or two.
So today, your project is to get your plan together for any out of town gifts. There are three approaches you can take:
- Order all your gifts online and have them shipped from the company.
- Buy gifts and ship them out from home.
- Make sure you’ve married a local boy or stop talking to out of state relatives and friends.
Let me know what approach you subscribe to, as well as any tips you have for gift giving for out of towners. I would love some fresh thoughts about what to do for my mother-in-law.
Later in the projects, my daughter, Kimberly, will be sharing all of her mailing tips for getting those gifts to Grandmother’s house.
by kathilipp | Nov 26, 2011 | Christmas, Home, Uncategorized |
Yes- the reality of the holidays. It’s a big holiday and for most of us, a huge part of our fall budget. So I want you to spend a little time budgeting what you are going to spend. Here are some areas that you may want to consider:
- Food
- Gifts
- Donations
- Decorations
- Clothes
- Cards
- Shipping
So many ways for us to spend money. So here is what I want you to do: Help me write this post. Tell me one of your best tips on how you save money this season. One of you brilliant commenters will randomly win a $10 Amazon Gift Card to help with your Christmas shopping.
So tell me your secret strategies for stretching a dollar this season!
by kathilipp | Nov 24, 2011 | Christmas, Home, Uncategorized |
OK – now that you are recovering from all things tukey, it’s now time to kick the Christmas plans into hh gear. Spend 15 minutes scheduling out all your commitments for the next few weeks on a blank calendar.
It’s so easy to have great ideas (“Let’s go look at Christmas lights!” “Let’s curl up and watch Elf one night this week!”) and with the craziness of the season, let them all slip through your fingers because of your schedule. So along with all the chores of the season, let’s schedule in some fun!
Head on over to my Facebook Author page and download printable blank calendars for November and December to fill out. Put it up on your fridge so everyone knows the holiday plans.
Here are some things you may want to consider with your schedule.
- Kid’s school calendar
- Work events
- Church events
- Parties and other fun
Once you have filled in all the scheduled activities, set aside some pockets of time to work prepping for Christmas. Here are some things you may want to schedule some time for:
- get tree
- cookie baking
- decorating
- project nights (for wrapping, card addressing, ordering gifts online)
- a night to go look at Christmas lights
- a night to watch It’s a Wonderful Life
I’m not saying you should do all of those things (in fact, I don’t think you should…) but if you want to do any of these or any other family/friend activities, put them on your calendar so you can plan the rest of your month. (And make sure the rest of your family and friends can see the schedule as well.)
When you’re snuggled up on the couch with you family eating fresh baked cookies while watching It’s a Wondereful Life, you’ll thank me.
by kathilipp | Nov 21, 2011 | Christmas, Home, Uncategorized |
Project #2 Put Together Your Christmas Binder
1 Corinthians 14:40
“Put all things in order.”
Today I want you to create a safe place to keep all of your Christmas “stuff”.
If you’re like most people, you have your recipes in various cookbooks, a bunch of envelopes from last year’s Christmas cards stuffed into a kitchen drawer, and your Christmas stamps are tacked to your fridge with a magnet waiting to be used.
Stop the madness.
I want you to grab a binder (yes, you can go buy a pretty one at Target, or you can scavenge one from your kid’s room,) and start pulling all your loose papers, Christmas labels, lists and recipes and any other holiday-related paraphernalia into one place.
Here is what you will need:
- Binder
- Binder tabs
- Sheet protectors
- Three hole punch
- Permanent marker
If you don’t have all these items laying around the house, no worries. The important thing is to gather all your holiday-related papers into one place. Even if you just have a folder lying around, that will do for now.
If you do have the binder and the tabs, here are some sections of the binder you may want to consider (you don’t have to use them all, in fact, the simpler the better.)
- Calendar
- Christmas Cards
- Recipes
- Hiding Places
- Christmas Gift Lists
- Menus
- Receipts (use a page protector to store these in that section)
- Budget
- To Do List
Start putting all your gathered papers into the sections. it’s going to make it a lot easier when it comes to finding your favorite pumpkin custard recipe or the receipt for the Barbie Toothbrush that your daughter just said, “is for babies…”
Over the next few days, I will be posting some form for you to help keep track of those different areas, but for now, just gather up what you have.
Oh, and if you want a fun cover for your binder like mine, you can download it over at my Facebook Author Page
The Binder Cover
You have a tab in your Holiday Binder for your family favorite recipes. Now is the time to fill up that tab with the traditional recipes your family love.
