the busy mom’s christmas organizer

The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer

Keep it all together

this holiday season

by Theresa Fiorani

Cold Toast Press

2222 The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer

Copyright ©2005 by Cold Toast Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any

form, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-

copying, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer

is published by

Cold Toast Press

2460 Canoe Circle Drive

Lake Orion, MI 48360

www.coldtoastpress.com

ISBN 0-9744017-2-2

Printed in the United States

Third Edition

Reorders & Feedback

We hope you enjoy The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer and find it to be a useful tool in making your holiday season less stressful and more organized. To order your copy of this Organizer for next year, visit us at www.coldtoastpress.com. Or, send a check for $12.95 plus sales tax (Michigan residents only) and $2.50 for shipping and han-dling to: Cold Toast Press, 2460 Canoe Circle Drive, Lake Orion, MI 48360. We welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions about The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer, too. Please e-mail us at [email protected].

The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer 3333

We wish you a Merry Christmas

Forward “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puz-zling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

-From How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

W hat is it about the Christmas season that makes it such a spe-cial time of year? Of course, the religious aspect of the holi-day is obvious; Christmas is one of two significant events

that form the Christian faith. As we know, Jesus is the reason for the season. It has evolved, however, into a

massive, commercialized, secular sea-son unto itself, beginning in the mid-dle of summer, when the stores pull out holiday wrapping paper and cards, through to the January clear-ance sales. Even radio stations are protracting the season by playing Christmas music in July! Some might argue that there are only two seasons now: Christmas and the rest of the year.

As busy women who want to make the holidays special for our families, we have taken on a huge, and mostly self-imposed burden of trying to do it all. From the beautifully decorated home to the stunning ar-ray of gifts to the must-attend party, we often try to recreate those artifi-cial but vivid images of the picture-perfect holiday. All the while, we are still juggling the usual demands of daily life.

If you step away from all the hype of Christmas, what remains, in my mind, is a feeling of connection. Christmas makes us cognizant of our con-nection to family, to friends and acquaintances, to our faith, to a long and

Despite their smiles, my family wasn’t happy about me staging the Christmas photo on the porch during a snowstorm.


rich tradition, to being part of something bigger than ourselves. It is a time to reach out to others, to recall special bonds formed throughout the year, and to give thanks for all the blessings we have.

I created The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer to help foster that sense of connection. Sure, this is just a book to help you keep track of gifts and cards and parties. But the end goal of all that tracking and organizing is that you handled the busywork of the season. And you still maintained enough sanity to focus on the true connections that make the holiday meaningful.

Peace, calm, tranquility, serenity, reflection: these should be the result of staying organizing for Christmas. So I offer you this book as my way of bringing order to a sometimes hectic time of year. I hope that you reach that goal and enjoy your connections this season.

Theresa Fiorani

Cold Toast Press

About the Author Theresa Fiorani is a Professional Organizer who operates AnitaPlann Profes-

sional Organizing Solutions in Lake Orion, Michigan. Theresa is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and the NAPO-Southeast Michigan chapter. In addition, Cold Toast Press is her creative outlet for her desktop publishing skills, which she has been crafting for 25-plus years. Three years ago, Theresa decided to meld her passions of desktop publishing and

organizing to create "The Busy Mom's Christmas Organizer." Now in it's third in-carnation, the book continues to provide a growing number of busy women with some semblance of order during the hectic holiday season. Theresa grew up in Wyandotte, Michigan, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in

Written Communications from Eastern Michigan University. She spent 19 years as an insurance claims analyst. Her computer-savvy husband, Doug, helps her venture by designing her website. Children Natalie, Megan and Brendan provide plenty of fuel to spark her creative energy. The family lives in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my loving and supportive family, who is proud of me no matter

what I accomplish and no matter how much I attempt to organize their lives and possessions.


O, come, all ye faithful How to use this book

T he Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer requires no special skills to use. Are you organized? The book will keep you organized with its many lists and logs. Are you disorganized? The book will give

you the tools to help you better manage your holidays. There is no system to follow, no process to learn, no lengthy text to read, and no quiz after-ward. The pages are designed so you can customize them to fit your own organizing style.

The power of the Organizer, we feel, is that it is portable and it offers you the chance to keep all your holiday information in one handy spot. When you’re shopping, it’s with you. When you’re driving along and your mind is wandering, it’s nearby (be careful about jotting notes and keeping your eyes on the road, however!). Whether you’re assembling your gifts, addressing your Christmas cards, planning your holiday gathering or writ-ing your thank you notes, your Organizer is within reach to help you track those many aspects of the season.

The additional benefit of The Busy Mom’s Christmas Organizer is that it gives you a tangible record of your holiday. Next year, start fresh with a new copy of our Organizer. But you have this book to refer back to when you can’t remember what you gave Aunt Ethel and what dish you brought to Grandma’s for the get-together. How much did you spend on gifts in 2005? You’ll have a record of it for years to come. All that information, as you know, is useful when planning future holidays.

Here are some added suggestions on how to make this organizing tool more useful: • Use tape flags or post-it notes to mark often-referred to pages; • Use the vinyl pockets for receipts, recipes, catalog clippings, stamps,

labels, craft ideas, coupons or rebates; • Keep a separate file folder or envelope for receipts. As they accumulate,

they become too unwieldy to carry en masse in this book; • If you must rely on post-it notes to keep you on task, post them in the

book and not on your mirror, your dashboard, your computer monitor or wherever else they are likely to stray from their surface and thus, your memory. We’d love to hear how you use your Organizer. Feel free to e-mail us

at [email protected].


Table of Contents Deck the Halls

Preparing for the holidays Holiday organizing tips, planning calendars, holiday budget, decorating

& craft needs lists, task list, note page

Page 7

I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas Let the shopping begin

Holiday organizing tips, shopping lists, task lists, gift logs, gift bank, charitable donations log, task list, note page

Page 25

Over the River & Through the Woods Cards and gatherings keep us connected

Holiday organizing tips, Christmas cards, tasks list, pot luck and party planners

Page 55

Silent Night Wrap up the holidays

Holiday organizer tips, thank you notes, memory page, holiday wrap-up, task list

Page 83

Auld Lang Syne Appendix

New Year’s Resolution page, great on-line resources, contributors, fundraising program

Page 93


Deck the Halls Preparing for the holidays

H ow soon should you start prepar-ing for the Christmas season? How about right now! The sooner

you begin the process of planning for Christmas, the easier the job will become.

The following pages contain calendars to help you book some of your dates and keep track of your upcoming activities and commit-ments. Mark off the dates early to avoid over scheduling yourself.

This section also includes a Holiday Budget spreadsheet to help you plan out your expected expenses, Tasks Lists to give you a place to start writing down all those little “to do” items that may get forgotten or lost on less-than-sticky post-it notes. Decorations and Craft pages to help you prepare your home decorating and crafting plans and needs. A task list and a notes page offer more space to jot down important information.

Be sure to check out the many holiday organizing tips from Professional Organizers.

He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.

-Sunshine Magazine


Holiday Organizing Tips These tips were submitted by Professional Organizers from around

the US. You can find more contact information about each Organizer on page 96.

Scheduling & Budgeting I have a spiral bound calendar all with blank dates. I fill one out each year for December and leave it in the book and use it as my plan for that year. I keep accumulating them this way. I can look back on the previous years and see what I did on what dates and see that since I survived the other years – this year it will doable too!

-Donna Jaroslawski, Liberty Organizing

Say NO...to overextending yourself. Holidays become holi-daze and feel too rushed and exhausting. Plan your time and energy with great care!

-Liz Canavan, Alchemy of Order

Plan specific times to do some basic holiday preparation: decorating the tree, gift wrapping, addressing Christmas cards. Mark this time off on your calendar. If you’ve blocked off time to commit to doing these projects, you have a better chance of completing them.

-Author

Consider scheduling some activities for the quieter days or weekends in January, after the holidays. People are less stressed and more available after the hustle and bustle of the November-December rush.

-Author

Create Christmas Savings. Contact your bank about special holiday savings accounts. Plan to put aside a small amount each month to use for gifts and promise yourself not to spend more than you have in your account. Stick with your budget to avoid debt.

-Kristin White del Rosso, Pea Organizing Services

Tasks Beware the temptation to be perfect. The beautiful greeting card and televisions images are not real life. Do not be seduced into comparing your home, family and circumstances with the touched-up image of the small screen.


Prioritize your tasks and tackle the most difficult or most time-consuming ones early in the holiday season. It is easy to stress out about seemingly big jobs as Christmas draws closer. If you’ve accomplished those ahead of time, it will make the smaller jobs more pleasant.

-Author


Before you simply put your routine tasks on your list, ask yourself if the task is worth your time, energy and money before you embark on it. Often we do things out of habit, only to realize later that it is not worth the effort we put into it.

-Author

Decorating I have what I’ve labeled an Early Box. In that box we pack the Advent Calendar, books, CDs, DVDs, List of Items I Need for This Year and several other things I like to take out before I actually bring out all the decorations. It is the last box we put in the attic so it is easiest to find and take down early.


I create a separate box for each decorating area—one from the mantle, one from the baker’s rack, one from the bedrooms—so that as I open each box, I can decorate without having to remember what I put where. I can still change it up but it makes the initial decorating much quicker.


Take photos of how you decorated your home and store with your Christmas items so you can remember exactly how to decorate the house for the next year.

-Deborah Zechini, Order In The House!

Take photos of your holiday decorations after you put them up. After that, decorating will go much faster because you won't have to remember where and how you made your arrangements.

-Andrea Swetish, Professional Organizer

Put your outdoor Christmas lights up while you are decorating for Halloween in October. Two tasks completed while it's still warm!

-Karen Koedding, A Little Elf LLC

Check your Christmas lights before hanging them. Plug them in individually to make sure they work, and inspect the wires to ensure that they are not damaged. This extra step won't take long but could protect your family from a fire.


Place your opened tree disposal bag under the tree skirt and stand. When it's time to remove the tree, lift it up, remove the stand and skirt, place it down and it will be in the center of the bag. Then pull the bag up over the tree with ease.


Other Preparation Create a List of Items I Need for This Year. Column One has items that I may/may not need this year and then I create columns for each year and put yes or no at the end of each year so I know what I need to shop for the next year. Column One has items such as tinsel, thank you money holder cards, wrapping paper, bows, tissue paper, holiday paper goods. Some years I do not need many of the things as I buy in bulk when the price is right.



When traveling, limit wardrobe colors to three: preferably neutral colors like gray, brown, or navy for bottoms and jackets. Pack only three pair of shoes; ultra comfortable, water-resistant-business, dressy/evening (if necessary) or sandal (if appropriate) and finally wear your chunkiest pair on the plane as your fourth pair. Wear your bulkiest items on board rather than packing them. Bringing a dress means bringing along a slip and pantyhose; try to dress up a pant and jacket with sparkling earrings, a small evening bag and dressy sandals/shoes; they take up less room. When possible, bring along double-duty items—an oversized shirt works for bed time or beach time. A wrap keeps you warm on the plane and looks dressy as a shawl in the evening. It also works as a splash of color when worn with a jacket. Toiletries –pack lightly! Bring the minimum number of cosmetics and hair products; they weigh a ton and can get messy if they aren’t in a plastic bag. Don’t forget essentials such as your phone charger and a battery back up or charger for your laptop, an umbrella, and a magnifying miniature make-up mirror.

-Geralin Thomas, Metropolitan Organizing

Crafts Buy Christmas material to make your own gift bags. It just takes a couple straight seams with a sewing machine and some pretty ribbon. You can make all sizes. The person who gets this bag can use it next year.


Don’t know what to do with all the photos you receive in Christmas cards? Create a scrapbook with one page for each family who normally sends you a card with a photo. It will be fun to see how the kids grow over the years!

-Carolyn J. Anderson-Fermann, Simply Organized Life

Rather than saving all those lovely Christmas cards—and the temptation surely is there—just pick out a few of the prettier ones. Write on the back the words Also received cards from… and fill in the names of the rest. Another possibility would be to keep several cards and put them into inexpensive frames which you can place around or hang as decorations. You can also keep your nicer cards, line them up next to each other, glue or scotch tape them together along the edges, and create a tablecloth or wall hanging. Use laminate or a large plastic cover to accomplish this.

Rita Wilhelm, Cluttergone LLC

Reuse your old Christmas cards. Cut your old cards in half. If nothing is written on the back of the front page, use them as gift tags. Another way to use them is to cut the cards in half, glue two fronts together which are the same size, back to back, and use a nice ribbon to string many of these together, making a pretty card banner.



Gather the kids around the kitchen table and make a supply of gift tags with stamps, stencils, stickers, rub-on transfers, scrapbook papers, fancy scissors and markers. The tags can be purchased at a craft store and can be tied to the gift with a pretty ribbon. It makes for a fun family activity and gives a personalized touch to each gift you give.

-Author

So that my boys can feel a part of the giving season, I have them make gifts for all their aunts and uncles to give them on Christmas to reciprocate for the spoiling they get. We make one for each family ; it is usually a Christmas decoration. My sister sets up a little display of all the things they have made over the years in her holiday decorating and the kids love to see that.


Have your child draw a picture related to the season (use a black marker for best results). Copy it onto holiday-colored card stock and add your greeting on the inside. Be sure to have your child sign his artwork! You now have an original card and a special memory.

-Betsy Tookmanian, b.organized, inc.

Consider time, not just money. Make sure your planned projects are both inexpensive and quick to produce. You’ll have to get over the idea of hand-embroidered ornaments, hand decorated cookies or elaborate multi-step fruitcakes.


Traditions Teach children the value of one or two gifts. Start a new tradition this year with your kids and let them know that the real value of the holidays is to be together with the people you love, and not how many boxes you unwrap.

-Betty Huotari, Logical Placement

Create holiday traditions. Promote a few fun family activities to the status of tradition. How do you create a tradition? Simple: you do it every year and you all enjoy it together. Keep things simple, and there's no need to spend money to create a cherished tradition. Drive out to see the lights in the most decorated neighborhood in town. Volunteer as a family at the Food Bank. Prepare holiday cards and wrapping together.


We always create uninterrupted family time by wrapping 24 holiday books (old books will do). We label each book with a number 1 through 24 and place them in order in a fireplace hearth basket. Beginning December 1st, my daughters open one a day, and we sit together, reading the holiday story!

-Lisa Lelas, Lifestyling


All I Need To Know I Learned From Santa Encourage people to believe in you. Always remember who's naughty and who's nice. Don't pout. It's as much fun to give as it is to receive. Some days it's ok to feel a little chubby. Make your presents known. Always ask for a little bit more than what you really want. Bright red can make anyone look good. Wear a wide belt and no one will notice how many pounds you’ve gained. If you only show up once a year, everyone will think you're very important. Whenever you're at a loss for words, say "HO, HO, HO!"

-Source unknown

Each year I give my children a beautifully illustrated hard cover Christmas story book like The Night Before Christmas or one of the Robert Sabuda pop-up books. When they are older, they will have a nice collection of special holiday books to hopefully read to their children some day, and reflect back on their own childhood Christmas memories.

-Author

To organize and preserve cultural holiday food recipes, create a binder with page protector pockets, each labeled with categories of the types of cultural foods (or customs), like Breads & Pastries, Main Dishes, Holiday Menus, etc. Add new recipes/customs as created. Binder creates basis for passing on through the generations.

-Mary Anne Lessley, Creative Organizing


October 2005 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

November 2005 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13

6 weeks

14 15 16 17 18 19

20

5 weeks

21 22 23 24 25 26

27

4 weeks

28 29 30


Sun Mon Tue Wed

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. -Mary Ellen Chase

4

3 weeks

5 6 7

11

2 weeks

12 13 14

18

1 week

19 20 21

25 26 27 28

December 2005


Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

8 9 10

15 16 17

22 23 24

29 30 31

Notes


2006

S MMMM TTTT WWWW TTTT FFFF SSSS

1111 2222 3333 4444 5555 6666 7777

8888 9999 10101010 11111111 12121212 13131313 14141414

15151515 16161616 17171717 18181818 19191919 20202020 21212121

22222222 23232323 24242424 25252525 26262626 27272727 28282828

29292929 30303030 31313131

JanuaryJanuaryJanuaryJanuary

SSSS MMMM TTTT WWWW TTTT FFFF SSSS

1111 2222 3333 4444

5555 6666 7777 8888 9999 10101010 11111111

12121212 13131313 14141414 15151515 16161616 17171717 18181818

19191919 20202020 21212121 22222222 23232323 24242424 25252525

26262626 27272727 28282828

FebruaryFebruaryFebruaryFebruary


1111

2222 3333 4444 5555 6666 7777 8888

9999 10101010 11111111 12121212 13131313 14141414 15151515

16161616 17171717 18181818 19191919 20202020 21212121 22222222

23232323 24242424 25252525 26262626 27272727 28282828 29292929

AprilAprilAprilApril

30303030


1111 2222 3333 4444 5555 6666

7777 8888 9999 10101010 11111111 12121212 13131313

14141414 15151515 16161616 17171717 18181818 19191919 20202020

21212121 22222222 23232323 24242424 25252525 26262626 27272727

28282828 29292929 30303030 31313131

MayMayMayMay


1111 2222 3333

4444 5555 6666 7777 8888 9999 10101010

11111111 12121212 13131313 14141414 15151515 16161616 17171717

18181818 19191919 20202020 21212121 22222222 23232323 24242424

25252525 26262626 27272727 28282828 29292929 30303030

JuneJuneJuneJune


1111

2222 3333 4444 5555 6666 7777 8888

9999 10101010 11111111 12121212 13131313 14141414 15151515

16161616 17171717 18181818 19191919 20202020 21212121 22222222

23232323 24242424 25252525 26262626 27272727 28282828 29292929

JulyJulyJulyJuly

30303030 31313131


1111 2222 3333 4444 5555

6666 7777 8888 9999 10101010 11111111 12121212

13131313 14141414 15151515 16161616 17171717 18181818 19191919

20202020 21212121 22222222 23232323 24242424 25252525 26262626

27272727 28282828 29292929 30303030 31313131

AugustAugustAugustAugust


1111 2222

3333 4444 5555 6666 7777 8888 9999

10101010 11111111 12121212 13131313 14141414 15151515 16161616

17171717 18181818 19191919 20202020 21212121 22222222 23232323

24242424 25252525 26262626 27272727 28282828 29292929 30303030

SeptemberSeptemberSeptemberSeptember


1111 2222 3333 4444

5555 6666 7777 8888 9999 10101010 11111111

12121212 13131313 14141414 15151515 16161616 17171717 18181818

19191919 20202020 21212121 22222222 23232323 24242424 25252525

26262626 27272727 28282828 29292929 30303030 31313131

MarchMarchMarchMarch


November 2006 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13

6 weeks

14 15 16 17 18

19 20

5 weeks

21 22 23 24 25

26 27

4 weeks

28 29 30

October 2006 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31


Sun Mon Tue Wed

3 4

3 weeks

5 6

10 11

2 weeks

12 13

17 18

1 week

19 20

24 25 26 27

31

December 2006


Thu Fri Sat

1 2

7 8 9

14 15 16

21 22 23

28 29 30

Notes


Items Budget Actual

Christmas Cards & Stamps

Decorations

Donations/Food Baskets

Gifts

Holiday Clothing

Paper & Trim

Parties & Entertainment

Travel

Other

Holiday Budget

Total Holiday Budget

the busy mom’s christmas organizer

Documents