Christmas Notebook

It’s almost September! In this household, that means our Christmas prep is underway. I’ve pulled out my Christmas Notebook, the Room Pages binder, the party planner, and miscellaneous storage binders full of Christmas ideas. This year, I’ve also added Pinterest to my bag of Christmas prep tools. Being visually oriented, Pinterest is a great way for me to bookmark links to online Christmas inspiration.

My sister Genny comes on weekends in October and November every year to help us put up Christmas decorations. Could NOT do it without her! Thanks, Genny!! This year, we’ve had a lot of fun on the phone, while looking at my Pinterest boards, and discussing what we may want to try this year. Spoiler…there may be a snowman in my bathtub for Open House!

Getting ready early is fun, really. 🙂 My binders (see below) make it easy.

The red one is one of three binders that contain ideas I pull from magazines. I used to be unable to tear apart magazines, but I got over that four or five years ago, pulled out the pages I wanted, and stored them in page protectors in these binders. I think looking at six feet of shelving, brimming over with Christmas magazines, finally did it…it’s so much easier to review that pertinent material condensed into a binder! Or three.

Every year, I add to the storage binders with new magazine ideas. I look through them each year before planning Christmas decorating, entertaining, etc. They give me a lot of inspiration. New ideas pop into my head when I look through the pictures in these binders. Sometimes the ideas have nothing to do with the actual picture, but the inspiration is there.

“Room Pages” holds pages that list all the ways I decorate each room of our home, with new ideas I may want to implement this year filed behind each Room Page.

The Christmas Party Planner binder holds the information I need for the planning of each large event we host during the holidays…our annual Open House, the Christmas House Concert, and the Library Dinner. It also has tabs for smaller events we host, though these are not on the calendar every year.

The Christmas Notebook is the backbone of our holiday prep. My Weekly Plan Pages (and a lot of other stuff!) are in there. Each WPP (Sept. 1 through Jan. 6) has a list of the things that need to be completed during that week to be ready for Christmas. Lets me have the Christmas I want with a lot less stress.

This shot shows one of the TO DO pages. I have one for each room, and jot down the things I decide I may want to add this year. From here, those items will either be accomplished in the next few weeks or transferred to my Weekly Plan Pages for sometime in the next few months.

I keep a running shopping list in my Christmas Notebook, where I can list the things that need to be purchased or otherwise acquired. Each year, Genny scours thrift shops looking for items we may need and that helps with the budget, not to mention inspiration when she finds something particularly fun!

Without these helps, we wouldn’t be able to pull together the holiday celebrations that we enjoy so much. But an organized plan keeps all the details in place. Step by step, they are easy to accomplish. The hardest part is the self discipline to JUST DO IT. 🙂

~~Rhonda