Thanksgiving is only days away and soon the work of Christmas begins.  You might have plans for major shopping this weekend with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.  But for me, I am going to spend the weekend setting the stage for the season to come.  And you can too as I share my 5 tips for getting ready for the holidays.

Although there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas, take some time in the beginning to get organized.  The whole process will go smoother and you just might have time for an eggnog latte while relaxing in front of the fire.  Here is my annual game plan for getting the ‘work’ of the holiday’s taken care of so there is more time for relaxing and doing fun things.

5 Tips For Getting Ready For The Holidays…

Take the Time to Plan

It seems a little counter-intuitive to sit and plan when you have so much to do. These thoughts are all whirling around in your head; I’ve got to go here, be there, buy this, wrap that.  Stop!  Before you take one step out the door, take some time to develop a plan of action.  Grab a tablet, calendar,  and your favorite beverage.  Turn on some holiday music.  Now think through everything that you will need to do. Then organize it into manageable pieces.  Follow these steps:

• Make a list of all your holiday activities and get-togethers.  For each activity, jot down what you will need for it.  You need a plate of cookies for your grandchild’s school program.  A present for the office Christmas party.  Or a thoughtful hostess gift for your annual luncheon.  Now get those activities on your calendar so they aren’t forgotten.
• Next, create Master lists for each of these categories:  Groceries to Purchase, Presents to Buy, Crafts to Make and Chores to be Done.  I love a good list.  Everything is right there on paper for you to see.  And isn’t it great to be able to cross things off that list as you accomplish something?  So transfer anything that you need to buy, to make or to do, onto one of these lists.  Don’t forget to take these lists with you when you go out the door.
• Next, plan your holiday menu.  Whether you are hosting the event or bringing food to your Sister-in-Laws house, make sure that you know what you need to bring.  And get those supplies on your grocery list.  Be sure to add in some supplies for unscheduled get-togethers.  I always keep supplies on hand in case company drops by…a few special kinds of cheese, crackers, kalamata olives and raw veggies for a quick appetizer tray.
• Finally, schedule time on your calendar for shopping, decorating, card writing and baking.  Choose a few days to specifically focus on these tasks.  If you know that this is the weekend to decorate then don’t schedule anything else.  Just focus on this one task.  And if you know that you only have 4 hours to shop for presents then don’t run other errands on your way to the store.

Planning is your first crucial step to getting organized for the chaotic season.  I created a Holiday Planner to help you track all of these items.  Sign up below to get your free copy of the planner.

Decorate Your Home in Stages

Decorating the house for Christmas is a major undertaking for most of us.  Over the years, I have tried a lot of techniques to streamline the process.   I find that decorating in stages works well.  Rather than tear the whole house apart, just decorate one room at a time.  Follow these steps for nearly effortless decorating.

• First, clear your surfaces to make room for your holiday decorations.  Stack these items to the side for now.  Then give the room a quick cleaning.  Although you could skip this step why not freshen things up first.
• One way to minimize the work of decorating is to use your regular decor with your holiday decor.  Here’s an example.  I store vintage soup tureens in my dining room hutch.  I never tire of those beautiful white vessels.  So instead of removing them for the holidays, I will fill them with holiday accents such as vintage ornaments and evergreen branches.  This not only saves time but it creates one of a kind holiday decorating that is yours alone.
• Second, begin layering in your holiday decor into the room.  Start with large items such as garlands, Christmas signs, and holiday pieces.  Then bring in the smaller items that will contribute to your vignettes.  And don’t forget to add in cozy holiday blankets and pillows.
• Finally, use the boxes that you emptied to store your regular room decorations.  When you’re ready to put the holiday decorations away, everything will be in one place to redecorate.  Now, move onto your next room until your whole house is totally festive for the season.
• One final tip…at the end of the season, box each room up together.  This will make the decorating process so much easier.  Then just label that box with its respective room such as dining room, living room or kitchen.

Related:  Easy Ways to Decorate for Any Season

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Set Up a Wrapping Station

This is my favorite suggestion.  I love having a wrapping station.  I use to hide all of the presents I bought. Then the day or 2 before Christmas I did a massive wrap.  Not only was it exhausting but those few days before Christmas are generally packed with other activities.  I can’t count how many seasons I was up at 2 am wrapping the last of the presents.  Not any more.

Now, I set up a table in an out-of-the-way place (currently my office).  I leave all the wrapping material setting out and as I purchase a present I get it wrapped.  I can then put it under the tree but instead I choose to “hide” the presents and put them out early on Christmas morning.  My grown children still enjoy the surprise.  Here are the things you need to set up a wrapping station:

• A clear surface
• Bags and boxes
• Wrapping paper and tissue
• Scissors and tape
• Ribbons, bows and gift tags
• Treats such as candy canes to use as tie ons
• A source of Christmas music is a must while wrapping

Plan a Baking Day

Although I don’t bake as much these days as I did when my kids were little, I still create a variety of cookies each holiday season.  Over the years I have found that the easiest way to bake for the holidays is in stages.

• Stage 1- pick a day and make all of your cookie doughs.  Then bag each dough into manageable chunks and freeze it.  Be sure to label the packages.  Start with the plainly flavored doughs such as sugar cookie dough and then work up to the stronger flavored doughs.  That way you won’t have to wash your mixing bowl after you make each variety.
• Stage 2-choose a baking day.  On this day bake all of the cookies.  Start with the simplest first, such as your drop cookies.  Then move on to the ones you have to roll out or shape.  Allow your cookies to cool completely and then freeze them in containers or ziploc bags.
• Stage 3-add any finishing touches to your cookies such as frosting, glaze or drizzle.  Again store the finished cookies in your freezer.  Always keep your cookies stored by type so that they don’t spread flavors.  You don’t want your sugar cookies tasting like peppermint drops.  There are 2 reasons to keep your cookies in the freezer… first so that you won’t just keep eating them and second so that no one else will eat them all up before you plan on using them.

Rethink your Holiday Season

My last tip cycles back to my first tip.  Rethink the whole thing.  As you move through the season are you totally overwhelmed and overloaded?  Then go back to your original plan and see if there’s anything that you can take off your list.  Is there an activity or 2 or 3 that you can cut out?  Could you bake fewer cookies or maybe this is the year to purchase your pies and a cookie tray from the local bakery.  Could you cut back on your shopping or maybe do a little more online shopping while you sit in front of the fire.  If you’re struggling to decorate your home like the latest magazine, maybe rethink how much decorating you really need.  You don’t have to decorate every bedroom, office or garden shed.  Stick with a few rooms that your company will see and forgo the rest.

For many of us, the holiday season is the busiest time of the year.  It’s totally chaotic and draining.  But we enjoy the opportunity to be with our loved ones and we want to make it special for them.  Start by setting your priorities and planning for the season to make it more organized.  Then you will be able to relax and spend more time with your friends and family.

To help you get organized, I created a Holiday Planner that you can use to track your schedule.  Just sign up below for my email to get the free Holiday Planner and get started organizing today.