Polkadotplum

The Sunday Post: Organzing your Holiday

I hope everyone is feeling relaxed after digesting all that turkey, and spending time with your loved ones.  I have had a very restful weekend (well aside from crazy Black Friday Shopping).  That means one thing though…it’s really time to start getting ready for the Holidays.

I have blogged about doing Ali Edwards’ December Daily before, and I think this is a great project.  Just like last year, however, here comes the beginning of December, and my pages aren’t near done.  This brings up a constant struggle I think many of us memory keepers deal with: How can we prepare for the holidays, and still find time to preserve our memories, and have fun while it’s all going on around us.

Some of you may know that I am a sucker for lists…lots and lots of lists.  Over the summer, I blogged about my time management strategies and my use of lists.  If you want to check out those posts:

• The Time Management Series, Part 1
• The Time Management Series, Part 2
• The Time Management Series, Part 3

However, The Holiday Season is a whole different ballgame.  I find it to be the one time of the year when all the rules get thrown aside and caution is thrown to the wind.  As I sit here now, I am thinking about making a new To Do List….but I know that that list may not be the most effective for getting through the next month or so.  Here are some sites that I have checked out for ideas on how to balance keeping my life in order, making memories, and preserving those memories.

SimpleMom – 7 Weeks Until Christmas:  I know, I know…it’s crunch time, and this would have been great a few weeks ago.  I still think there are some great things that can be put into motion right now.  If you click around the site, you will find some other great posts about organizing your Christmas.  All of these ideas will not only fit Christmas, but whatever Holiday you choose to celebrate.
Organizing your Way – Organizing your Way to a Simple Christmas: This is another post about getting your life in order for Christmas.  It focuses on 12 topics, all of which are linked up on this starter post.  My favorite to check out: Decluttering the Toy Room.  Again, these ideas are applicable to the entire Holiday Season.
Journal Your Christmas by Shimelle: Journal your Christmas is a class you can sign up for and it walks you through the memory keeping involved in the Holiday Season.  I have heard many scrapbookers, digi and paper alike, who swear by this class.  I haven’t taken it yet, but it looks absolutely amazing.
Capture the Season at Simple Scrapper: The Capture the Season series at Simple Scrapper just came up this past week.  Similar to the ideas behind the December Daily Album, Capture the Season is a set of prompts to help you capture and organize your holiday memories.  There is even a FREE workbook to download and work along in.  I will be looking into this class further in the next few days.
Universal Wish List Button from Amazon.com at Lifehacker: One of my favorite blogs to follow, Lifehacker, recently posted a list of Wishlist tools, and the Universal Wish List at Amazon.com is among them.  Basically, it’s a button that you drag onto your toolbar that you then can use to add items to your Amazon Wish List from ANY online store.  See a sweater at Gap that you like? Click the button and you’ll be prompted to enter a title for the item, as well as the price.  After that, it will be listed on your Wish List with a link to the item.  So great for putting together a public Wish List.
Sale Mail from Shop it To Me: Ok, so Shop it To Me has changed my life.  I am not going to lie – it’s a lifesaver.  When you sign up, you pick from a series of lists the types of items you are interested in, and which retailers you would shop from.  From that point, Shop It To Me will send you a Sale Mail twice a week, detailing all the new items that have gone on sale in your preferred categories.
Scrapping Big Events at The Daily Digi: This is actually a post from yesterday about how to document big events with multiple pictures on one layout.  It has many uses beyond just Christmas, but there are some great ideas as to how to get your Christmas pictures scrapped.
December Daily by Ali Edwards: I know, I know…I have talked about this before.  It’s beginning to borderline on an obsession…but I would be remiss to not mention December Daily in this list.  In theory, it’s a great idea….it’s just a matter of getting it done.
Holiday Ideas from Katie the Scrapbook Lady: Katie seriously is amazing.  The things that she blogs about and the contributions she makes to the digi community are immeasurable.  This post quickly highlights a few of her holiday ideas and posts from last year.  Check it out.  For even more inspiration and tips from Katie, follow her on Twitter.
Organized Christmas by Organized Home: This site has some great free printable worksheets to help you get your affairs in order for the holiday season.

So these are just some of the things that I am looking into to help organize my holiday.  With my little girls, I want to spend as little time as possible doing the “task” type things of the holiday season, and spend more time enjoying the season with my family and starting our own traditions.

What are you doing to help manage the craziness of the holiday season?

Image: Darren Robertson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net