Whether you have been getting ready for the holiday season for several weeks or you are just joining us today  - you will be happy you are on board the get ready early train!  My overall plan was to be ready by now but I have learned that it is just not possible - focusing on the end of November is more realistic and I have modified my plans to correspond with my old goal date.   Of course my week is the same, I just have a few more to get what I need to do done so why not join me….

Mondays - this is my wrapping day and I hope it will be your wrapping day too.  Most of us have time on the weekend to shop so Monday is a good day to regroup and get what you have purchased - wrapped and put away.  If you are just getting going you should check to see what you have in the way of wrapping supplies.  If you need anything and can afford the purchase and the time - go out and pick up what you need so you can steal away a little time tonight after the kids are in bed.  If you have been saving gifts for awhile and have a stack - pick a really great movie and spend the evening wrapping. Wrapping in November is so much nicer than wrapping on Christmas eve!   Get it done - if you have a gift in your house WRAP IT!!!!

One thing I would like to say for anyone who has missed it or is just joining us - track your gifts.  DO NOT sign a gift with a special name if you think there is a chance that someone might see it - I remember finding a gift and I was heart broken!  Instead, leave those gifts and you can quickly go through them on Christmas eve when you pull out your bags of gifts.  When you track the gifts you should have a master list of who you are buying for, what you have bought or will buy and something that tells you if the purchase has been made and if the gift is wrapped.  I like to use stickers to identify specific gifts - sometimes I want the kids to open something first or last and the sticker helps me when I get to the putting the gifts under the tree stage.  Just make a note of what the sticker looks like and make sure you don’t double the sticker!  Do not use stickie notes - they can fall off and leave you wondering what is what.

One other thing to note - keep an envelope for all gift receipts and make a note on the actual receipt so you can easily find it if you need to return or exchange after Christmas.  Keep the envelope somewhere safe - I like to keep mine in a pocket of my gift wrapping centre.  For those of you who missed it, this is a photo of what I use.  It is just a garmet bag (thanks to flylady for her advice several years ago) and the pockets help me to organize the things I use: tape, scissors, tags, bows and ribbons and the tall rolls or paper, tissue and bags.

Good luck with your wrapping - you will be really glad you got it done - so do it tonight and post your success to inspire others!

It’s Monday and technically the last week of my countdown! I am still trying to get the majority done by the end of this week but I think my goal was somewhat unrealistic, which may be why I usually try to have things done by Dec 1st - just too much going on to get it all done. So, if you are joining us don’t feel behind - anything done in advance is great.

So - if you want to follow me today is all about wrapping gifts. If you have made or purchased a gift get out your wrapping supplies and get things wrapped today or tonight. I have to wait until the kids are in bed but look forward to getting some stuff wrapped. My mother-in-law and I were away shopping this past weekend so I have a stack of things to wrap. I am going to put a movie on and take advantage of the time alone! If you haven’t purchased anything be sure to make a list of the supplies you will need and if you can get out, pick some up so they are in the house. If you have older kids you can ask them to help with the wrapping!

WRAPPING “BAG”

My Christmas wrapping paper station bag was inspired by the flylady some years ago. I like that I can take the garmet bag anywhere in the house and then put it away quickly too. It holds everything I need to wrap gifts including tape, scissors and the tags (in the smaller pockets) - and the usual, tissue, bags, and paper. I took this idea and transfered it into my daily wrapping so I have to of these bags for easy gift wrapping. Both hang in my storage area when I am not using them.

It’s week two already! If you are just joining us don’t worry - the point to my countdown is to get things done early - not to be perfect or put pressure on yourself!

Today is Wrapping Day. If you have purchased any gifts today is the day to wrap things up so you are not left with a pile of gifts to wrap on Christmas eve! I know - we have all been there and wish we had planned ahead - now is the time! If you do not have a gift to wrap you might want to use the time to work on your gift list if you didn’t get to it last Thursday (my planning day). Think about your budget, who you have to buy for and make a note of each person. If you are a computer savvy person you might want to make a small spreadsheet so you can check off or cross of items as you purchase them.

Another task worth jumping into today is making sure you have wrapping supplies ( we did this last week but you might have got busy and put it on the list…. tackle it today!) Think about what you need and add these items to your shopping list. Cloth bags are becoming more popular as are paper gift bags. Both items can be reused so they are good choices. I also like the big gift bags that can wrap a BIG gift for a child. The bags can be put away each year. Don’t forget tape, gift tags, bows and ribbons if you use them, and tissue if you like to put it into gift bags.

Have fun!

Helen

The weekends are usually pretty busy as I am sure they are for all of you - so I keep weekend pretty simple during my Christmas prep time.  Saturdays is dedicated to baking because it is the day where I have the potential to be at home for longer than an hour.  Each year we bake cookies and jarred cake for gifts and I like to have them all done early - leaving me time to enjoy baking new recipes with the kids.  This year I will be visiting my Mom and Dad mid November so I am going to do all of my shortbread that weekend so I can do my moms at the same time (she is busy taking care of my father and it will be a huge help to her - and when you are making dozens of cookies what is another 10 dozen!)  My recipe freezes well so they can all go into the freezer!    So…. if you have baking to do and your recipe can freeze then I encourage you to carve out a day when you can jump in and get it done - the mess will be put away and you can try one of those recipes you have been wanting to try!

Sundays - well I usually do my grocery shopping between hockey games so I am adding a few things to my list from my master list and will do a little gift shopping on this day as well. I know people who do their shopping in one day each year, go away for a weekend or do like I do - whatever works for you is what you should do.  Just try to do as much as you can early so you are not running through stores and standing in lines at the last minute.

TIP: I keep an envelope for all of my Christmas receipts so returns and exchanges are really easy.  Be sure to write what the item is, at the top of the receipt, so you can find it easily when/if  you need to.

Have fun!

It’s Family Day at our house! We are actually getting ready for a yard sale so the evening may not include a lot of family fun but we are making room for some new holiday gifts by getting rid of things the kids have outgrown or no longer need or use.

Part of the holiday season - the one we are working towards is the time we spend together with our own families and with extended family and friends. So today lets think about what we WANT to do when we have all the MUST DO stuff done. Maybe you want to host a christmas party this year? How about inviting some of your kids friends over to make cookies - just for the fun of it! Maybe you want to have a neighbourhood gingerbread contest or one within your family or group of friends? If you work at getting things ready by the middle of November, you will have time for all of these fun things.

Grab the family and make a list of what you want to do. You might want to try this idea from Cara and I from the summer - it is easily tranferred into December. All you need is a short brain-storming session and some paper and pens. When you show the kids how much fun you can have in December - they will all want to work together to make it a reality! Click here to watch the summer fun project and then make it a December fun project tonight!

Here are a few things we have done in the past or want to do this year.

Christmas Lights Drive

We make some hot chocolate and put it into car friendly cups. We all jump into the car and drive around looking at the lights. We stop at the main display in our town and get out and enjoy the light display.

Christmas Stories

We read two everyday during the month of December. I have a crate of books and the kids pick one each and we cuddle up on our bed to enjoy the stories. They have favourites and we pick up a few new ones each year. Watch the CPO Great Finds Blog for some new holiday titles to add to your collection this year!

Countdown

We love to countdown to Christmas with an advent calendar. We use a cloth one that I put treats into and sometimes I surprise the kids with a note instead of a chocolate. The note may be a clue to a little surprise in the house or something we may be doing as a family. Ice skating at a big outdoor rink, a family movie night with all-holiday movies or “invite a friend” may be included.

Christmas Movie

In addition to the DVDs we like to go to the movie theatre during the holiday season, where there is a Christmas movie playing. I am not sure if there is anything coming out this year but a good replacement would be a movie night at home where you can invite a bunch of friends or your kids friends to enjoy an old favourite. Serve up some popcorn and candy like they would get at the theatre!

Our “Wish List” for this year: Make our own candy canes!

I would love to hear what others do during the holiday season - or things you WISH you did but haven’t got to - but will this year, because you will be ready!

Have fun planning your holiday fun activity list!

Helen

Begins Monday! Yes, I know I am crazy but I just like to have the stuff I HAVE to do done so I have time for the stuff I WANT to do! So, if you are looking to get ready early this year - join me beginning monday when I share my 15-Minute mom approach to getting ready for the holiday season! Anyone who has it all figured out…. well drop by and post your tips so we can all benefit!

Sneak peak… if your holiday decorations and wrapping paper are behind a big pile of STUFF you have to go through… take a few minutes this weekend to clear a path because on Monday you’ll want to make your way to that area of your storage space!

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend with your family!

Helen

This is what arrived at my door yesterday! How cool is that! I actually won something! The set of 3 Holiday Mini Scrapbooks by Colorbök will soon be turned into a keepsake for each of my kids. Emmy has claimed one of the kits as I only need two for what I have planned…. Oh, and if you are wondering where I won this cool little prize, Lisa Bearnson had a little giveaway on her blog and I was one of the lucky winners!

So what do I have planned? Well, like many of you, I have bought ornaments for my kids since they were born. I try to find something that captures who they are at that very moment in time - of course as time goes by the stories are harder to remember so I am going to use these kits to make a booklet for each to go with their box of ornaments. That way when they get older they will be able to see a photo of the ornament and a little story about how it came to be part of their collection. I think I will have to add some paper to the kit but I can easily trace some of my holiday scrapbooking paper - so it should be easy to add to each year.

For those of you who want more info on this project, watch CPO’s Memory Making section for details on the project.

OK, so for more on Christmas… I know that Halloween is still around the corner but a few years ago I decided that I didn’t want to spend my entire holiday season getting ready. That is how my October planning started and this year I will share it with those of you who might want to get ready before the big day - leaving more time for family, friends and fun. My goal is to be ready for the holiday season by Global TV’s Santa Claus Parade which is near the end of November. Even if you are not interested in getting ready that early - you can still join me in getting organized and post comments and ideas to help me and other families improve on their holiday organization plans!

So come back beginning Monday for a daily task and together we will be decorating our trees with Santa and our favourite annual parade!