Every year I spend hours searching the internet for great Christmas ideas. And every year I vow to myself that this Christmas will be the one where I don't feel overwhelmed and stressed by the end of the day. This is the third year I have used a Christmas binder, and while I have still ended the last two years feeling overwhelmed and vowing that "next year we eat out", this year I'm hoping it's actually the year I come close to getting the balance right!
That's where my binder is going to come in super-handy this year. It is going to become my holiday season brain - a place to list every random idea, plan out school holiday activities, keep track of parties and gifts and recipes and life!
The first section of my binder is a calendar. I've created a word document with three columns - life, craft, blog - and I've started writing everything down. And school holidays have just started today, so I've used this free printable from The Organised Housewife to loosely plan some stuff for the kids (lots of trips to the park, baking and Christmas craft!)
Other sections include a blog calendar (as seen above), card addresses and planning sheet (unless otherwise noted, I use printables from Life... Your Way), gift lists, handmade gifts & crafts, baking & recipes, traditions, journal, and ideas. I've printed out the 100 Days to Christmas ebook and put it in the ideas section (maybe I should change that to resources?). I also have a notebook and scratch paper for keeping my written lists in one place. Pinterest is also helping - I often remember seeing something and check my boards to refresh my memory.
For more organising inspiration, check out Organized Christmas and 100 Days to Christmas.
How do you plan the holiday season?
In my head mainly! Mind you, that's not as easy as it once was lol I might have to have a list or two this year.
ReplyDeleteI definately have lists- but they're usually on random bits of paper all over the place...I should probably think about a binder too
ReplyDeleteAlison xx