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!

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!