by kathilipp | Nov 28, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
That favorite fudge recipe you always make, that delicious marinated carrot recipe your mom used to make, 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 them all 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.
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, any time 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 for 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 on organizing your recipes? How does it feel to have them all your recipes in one place before you need them? Did you throw any recipes away and how did that make you feel?
FROM OUR PARTNER EVITE:
Evite helps you plan, enjoy and re-live events this holiday season – from everyday to extraordinary, small groups or large.
Exclusive Offer: Stay clutter-free with digital holiday invitations from Evite. Send a premium invitation to up to 15 guests for FREE!
Use promo code CLUTTERFREE15 at check out. www.evite.com Expires12/6/15
by kathilipp | Nov 27, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
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
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 would be the time to also 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 me 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?
Host a wrapping party with Kathi’s special Evite designs created with you and your friends in mind. Happy wrapping!
by kathilipp | Nov 25, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
Refer back to your gift giving list to identify anyone who will require their gift to be shipped. 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 Your Out–of-Town Friends and Family Gifts.
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 and over on Evite.
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?
by kathilipp | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
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!
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? Did you know 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.
FROM OUR PARTNER EVITE:
Evite helps you plan, enjoy and re-live events this holiday season – from everyday to extraordinary, small groups or large.
Exclusive Offer: Stay clutter-free with digital holiday invitations from Evite. Send a premium invitation to up to 15 guests for FREE!
Use promo code CLUTTERFREE15 at check out. www.evite.com Expires12/6/15
by kathilipp | Nov 21, 2015 | Blog, Christmas, Clutter Free |
If you don’t plan your time, someone else will. During the holidays it is especially important to plan in advance so you have the time to do the things that are truly important to you.
I schedule downtime. Life can get very stressful over the holidays and I schedule time just to relax and wrap gifts with music playing or to kick back and read a book. The time leading up to Christmas shouldn’t be so rushed and stressful that you are totally exhausted and can’t enjoy the holiday. I schedule mini-breaks or downtime throughout the season. This is especially important if you have small children and their schedules are being disrupted.
The downtime is every bit as important as the parties and other social activities during the holiday season. I review calendars and make sure we find time to attend church, candlelight services, and other events that matter to us, I schedule downtime, and then everything else is worked into the time that is left or we choose not to do it. Go back to your Christmas mission statement and make sure everything you schedule fits into your mission. If it doesn’t, you can skip it this year. There’s always next year!
Do what gives you joy and don’t feel guilty for saying NO to everything else.
Assignment: Schedule Your Time for the Holidays
Gather all your calendars and spend fifteen minutes scheduling your commitments (personal, family, church, school, etc.). Now it is time to schedule in some fun! You may want to ask your family what they would like to do this year. Consider dropping things that no longer bring you or your family joy. You may also want to set aside some special time for just you and your spouse.
Once you have completed your calendar, be sure to hang it where everyone has access to it.
For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 44
Supplies:
1) a blank calendar for November and December (or download printable blank calendars for November and December here.)
2) School, church, work and personal calendars.
Share Your Thoughts:
How does it feel to have things scheduled out in advance? Did you eliminate some activities? What activities will you keep no matter what? When you think about the holiday season do you feel overwhelmed, relaxed, confident or frustrated?
Bonus Idea:
Do you love having a ton of different cookies for Christmas but don’t have time to shop and prepare for a more than one type of cookie? Have a cookie exchange party and invite your favorite people (and the best bakers)! Invite them with a Kathi Lipp inspired Evite. Check it and other fun Clutter Free Christmas party ideas here.
