Our first challenge begins now. For background and rules, see here.
We've just wrapped up the holiday season, so now's the time to get that holiday stuff organized and ready for December, 2009. Yeah, I know, you don't even want to look at another Christmas box right now, and some of you may have already taken down your stuff and packed it away, but wait – you're not done yet. Let's suck it up and make this coming December easier than last.
Your tasks (and prize package) are below:
This month, you have four tasks (feel free to substitute "Holiday" for "Christmas").
If you're like me, you don't send a holiday card to everyone in your address book or contact list. Addresses constantly change because many of your friends are in the military and some have moved since last Christmas. Plus, you meet new people and make new friends. So, now's the time to update your Christmas card list. I keep my list on the computer even though I sometimes address my cards by hand. If you don't have a Christmas card list that is separate from your all-purpose address book, create one. If you do have a separate list, go through it and make any necessary additions or changes.
I have lots of ornaments and Christmas decorations. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I go all out on the decorating. I've rarely bought anything that wasn't discounted at least 50%. Over many years, I've accumulated quite a bit of Christmas stuff, most of which I acquired by shopping at after-Christmas sales when the merchandise is at least 50% off, and, in some cases, 90% off. In fact, I just bought my party invites for next year's Christmas party, for – are you ready – .74 cents per package! That's because they were 75% off (at Target). Aren't they cute?
If you need some holiday items, better get out and get them now while they're dirt cheap (and before they disappear).
There are a few problems with having a lot of Christmas stuff, though. For one, I tend to hold onto ornaments and items that I bought years ago and thought I would use, but which never seem to make it out of the box because I didn't think it through when I bought them, or I just prefer to use other items. I've even – gasp – left broken ornaments in boxes out of sheer laziness. And, we move all the time. Some houses have been bigger than others and I tend to buy more when I'm living in a larger space, but when I move to a smaller one, I can't use all the items. It's time to weed the boxes of unwanted/unused items. It will be painful, but it must be done. And hey, it should make the moving process a little easier next time around…
I used to have several boxes marked "Christmas," and I would throw items that don't necessarily go together in the same boxes. That meant that ornaments for the main tree and decorations for various other parts of the house could find themselves in the same box. This makes decorating for Christmas a challenge, especially when I think I'm done with one area only to open the next box and find something that goes in the space I thought I had just finished.
Go through your Christmas boxes and make sure all items in the same box have some relation to one another. If not, segregate them out in a manner which makes sense and works for you. If you move into a smaller house and only have space for one or two displays, all you need to do is pull the right boxes out. Those of you who have more than one tree can pull the ornament boxes for each particular tree and decorate as you go, knowing that you won't find more decorations for a tree that you've already decorated in another box. If you don't have your Christmas boxes or bins labeled properly (main X-mas tree, lawn display, kitchen decorations, bathroom towels, etc.), label them. Knowing what you have, and where to find it, will save you time and money.
Finally, get a 2009 Christmas gift list going. Some of you shop year-round (smart) and if you don't keep track of what you bought, for whom and where it's located, you could end up spending a lot of money during the Christmas crunch. This is where organization really pays off. I use a little notebook to record gifts I buy throughout the year (something I don't do enough of) and pull it out each Christmas to avoid overbuying. However, in the past, I've not logged where the items are located and that's caused a problem, so it may be a good idea to not only organize your boxes and bins, but create one box for items you purchase throughout the year so that they're all located in the same spot.
So, the January Challenge is as follows:
- Create or prune your holiday card list
- Weed your boxes of unused/unwanted items
- Carefully label your Christmas bins or boxes so that you know exactly where to find the items you want
- Start a record of gifts purchased for 2009
- Take photos of one, or all, of the tasks once they have been completed and send them in via email. Be creative here…
January's prize package consists of a Christmas Card registry book, a wreath storage unit and a gift wrapping station.
The card register is awesome because it allows you not only to keep track of who you've sent cards to, but also who you've received cards from. If you don't want to hand-write the addresses, just print them out on small labels and stick them in the registry. I love the wreath storage unit (I bought one for myself). It's large enough to accommodate two standard-sized wreaths and the wreath hangers, plus it hangs neatly from a hook or nail, or tucks away nicely in a closet. The wrapping station keeps your gift wrapping items stored neatly in one place.
Time to get to work. The challenge ends January 20.
About Andi
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Hmm…we "deconstructed Christmas" yesterday and the bins (yes, fully weeded out, segregated, and organized) are up in the attic. We have 4 bins – 2 for decorations, 1 for lights, and one for the fake tree and other garland that we have. Oooh! I have an idea how to get a picture of it all! :)
As for the card list, I've not yet managed to get my cards out yet so I can still tackle the card list. Woohoo!
And I start my Christmas shopping for the coming year on December 26th so no problemo there!
Wow, the only thing I have to do is take a picture and send it and work on Christmas shopping for 2009.
Yeah!!!! Me!
Just got back from Wal-Mart with 2 more bins for stuff and I weaded out what I don't need before I even went!
2 bins for tree, 1 for outside, 1 for inside, 1 with wreaths and 1 with garland.
Christmas card list I update as I get cards back (either from USPS for wrong address or a card from that person).
I already staring shopping, took down the decorations, already have them in bins as I live in a fifth wheel so have to be organized. Do need to label the bins and organize card list. So I'm half way there. Yay!
Our tree is already in the storage unit, the 2 (small! hehe) boxes of ornaments have been packed, I need to organize in a nice place all of our addresses and the lights are coming down before Dh leaves.. So I'm on my way!
We moved to AK from the lower 48 last December, so I did most of the "weeding" and organizing then. We thinned out a lot of everything because it was our first move after the last kid left for college, but there's still room for improvement. I have great plans for some of my decorations–I'm sending them to my son and his wife, who are still young newlyweds without a lot of their own. It'll give them something to weed out in a few years! :)
Kacie above me, I am so green with envy. We moved here to DC from AK and we miss it terribly. We're going home for a month this year and I can't wait..
Now, onto the Challenge, this is timely for me: we take down Christmas tomorrow. And I am so ashamed that I handmade ALL of my cards and didn't mail a single one. Do I get points off for that?
HF6 – I haven't sent out my cards yet either, so maybe it will happen this month. Or not…
I'm so excited!
Suzanne, it's gorgeous, isn't it? We're originally from a small mountain town in Colorado, so it's a lot like home for us. We bought a house, and we'll definitely be back after dh retires!
This was a nice way to take my mind off the day! I sent pictures! Can't wait to see what is next months.
Decorations are down, neatly put away in their (red and green!) bins, I weeded the Christmas Card list as I wrote out the cards, I have started a list for next year's gifts as well.
Now, to get dh to take a picture of all of it……
I took Christmas decor down early this year as we put it up before thanksgiving because my inlaw was here and wanted to see thekids decorate. I have a bin for the ornaments one for the oversized large ornaments, one for all the misc. indoor items and one large box for the carosel inflatable. and 2 boxes for the fake tree because those trees NEVER fit back into that tiny box..lol then i have a few large wooden decor items that i hand made that wont fit into any storage containers. I did xmas cards and as people sent them to me i updated their addresses(in pencil as always). So not to much more on my list of to does.
Step the First sure was easy–this Jewish gal doesn't send Christmas (or "holiday," for that matter) cards. ;-) Good luck to all of you who have much more complicated Decembers than we do–even though it's not my holiday, I appreciate the hard work and care you put into making the month so cheery and festive for your families.
If I were to choose an address list to update and prune, it would be the list of people to whom we send change-of-address cards. For our move last summer, I had some spiffy postcards printed up with some of my own photos. The hardest part was figuring out where everyone to whom we wanted to send one currently lived. Since we could be moving again as soon as June, it wouldn't be a bad idea at all to whip that list into shape.
This year's Christmas is a wrap. All interior decor is re-boxed (and surprisingly I myself condensed and cleared up those bins as well!?)and put back into the garage. This year though, in addition to the 8 bins of decorations and extra tree, we had STUFF to sort through. Sg's grandmother passed just a few days before the holiday and since I am a crafty one, much of her 80+ years of yarn, needlepoint, cross-stich, fabric and crocheting came to me just a few days after the holiday. Despite wanting to just flop on the sofa and stare at it all in wonder, I managed to sort through those 16 boxes and bags, send some my sister in law's way and get the rest into totes and stored as well. The battle of the living room has been won and I found my carpet! Accomplishment at last! :o)
I'm all packed up–and one full bin lighter!–and I have the other tasks finished, as well. I just have to get my digital camera back from dh, who took it to work to take pics of the promotion ceremony and never brought it home again…sigh. ;)
Great Challenge! Somehow my christmas decorations multiplied and I have 6 grocery bags of this and that waiting to find a suitable box to store them in. It may be time to purge…
Homefront 6 – I'm happy to see I'm not the only one sending "new years" cards…
My Heavens, you are a Christmas genious! I have been postponing taking down the Christmas decorations and now I know why!?!?!?! I've been waiting to organize myself! I'm inspired by the ideas to do a better job of it this year than I have in the past….feel somewhat like Scrooge on Christmas morning with renewed energy!
Like so many others, I didn't send out Christmas cards this year (Mea Culpa!). So I'm writing a year-end summary for everyone and then writing notes to all the people who sent us a card. That way I can comment on their Christmas letters and things going on they would be most interested in hearing about!
Off to organize!
I'm in! I am a newlywed (12/13/08) and we live with his parents until he returns from his upcoming deployment, so this challenge will be relatively easy for me. We don't have many Christmas decorations, so there's not much to label. Good luck to everyone! :)
I bought an organizer with different compartments for all the ribbons, gift bags, bows and wrapping paper and got it all put together. I also bought a large stand up container for my larger rolls of gift wrap. I did label the large container. The other is self explanatory. Along with the wrapping I put the ornaments I sorted through, decorations and light strings in the large plastic container. Both my card list and gift record are electronic so I can't show them but did send pics of the storage items. I have purchased 3 gifts for next year and recorded them already. I added some names to the card record that I hadn't thought of and updated some addresses so thank you for doing this challenge.
Still haven't mailed out cards…urg. The last box will go in the attic tomorrow so I'll snap a pic of it then.
Kacie ~ we did 3 years in Fairbanks and miss it terribly. Where in CO are you from? Dh and I went to CSU and that is where we plan to retire (northern CO). I miss Beau Jo's like crazy too.
Sittin this one out….DH will be home on Monday and we'll have Christmas at our house next Saturday. Well after the deadline, but its ok….I'll still do the work, just not til Feb!
Bought new Christmas bins and got it all organized and put away. Got rid of stuff we never use that wouldn't fit in the new bins anyway. Working on the Christmas list. No luck with the shopping; 'friad that will always be last minute.
I'm only doing the Christmas card list one, as that's the only one that really applies to me … we don't have a bunch of Christmas junk to organize.
But I figure we'd better start sending out Christmas cards every year, so I made a list. Had to hunt down some addresses … my mother was exceedingly helpful with that.
But it is all finished and I am sending it in … yes at the last minute … forgive me, I am a college student 0:)
Bought new Christmas bins and got it all organized and put away. Got rid of stuff we never use that wouldn’t fit in the new bins anyway. Working on the Christmas list. No luck with the shopping; ‘friad that will always be last minute.
I finally got my boxes organized and put away. Thanks for the challenge! I blogged about it, and i'll send in photos.
Oh no I just learned about this today and even though it is still January it is too late to participate.
Where do we find out who won each month?