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Holiday organizing tips to make your holiday jingle!
All I want for Christmas
…is to have holiday organizing tips and strategies so I actually have a happy holiday.
I love Christmas. However, if you are like me, you hate the stress, feeling overwhelmed, overbooked and blue from unrealistic expectations.
The month of December feels set to speed dating time. Eight minutes to the next must do.
Ding! Ding! Dress and makeup for a holiday party! Ding! Race to pick up wine for said party. Ding! Get this blog post written and posted. Ding! Happy New Year’s…
All I want for Christmas is to make your holiday less stressful and more fun, so keep a look in my post here for a FREEBIE Holiday Cookie Recipe!
Confession time
With so many holiday happenings clouding my mind and so much to set up, I confess there is one thing I have forgotten…every year.
We have an Italian Fontanini Nativity Scene. It’s a small one. Every piece counts.
The entire Nativity scene, rather ornate and beautiful, with depiction of the stable complete with doting Mary (she looks way older than 12 or 13), and an apparently open-minded Joseph, (forgive my irreverence, it is meant in cheeky fun).
Three cherubim gaily ringing bells lay aloft the rooftop. Finishing out this tableau is Baby Jesus and a manger for Him to lay in.
But not until his birthday, December 25.
Several years of hiding baby Jesus behind the nativity stable, with the intention of retrieving him to lay him in the manager, on Christmas morning, would end in the discovery of the empty manger in January of the new year when I was packing away Christmas.
Baby Jesus just never seemed to make it for Christmas in our house.
It was a wee matter of my forgetting to rescue the baby from oblivion in his hiding place to lay Him in the manger, born the morning of December 25.
My aha holiday organizing tip this year
At our home, this year, Baby Jesus’s birthday is November 29. Yep, he’s already laying in that manger so he can be there in time for Christmas.
Our priest told us that Jesus was born in March or April anyway. So I think my taking organizing to the next level will be forgiven.
Moral of the story…
Tip # 1: Think out of the “manger!” Make any holiday activity easier.
Harried holiday mishap
By now you may have discerned that in our home, Christmas decorations are possibly a wee bit over the top. You’re right; we adorn the entire downstairs.
So many holiday decorations require holiday organizing extraordinaire to avoid holiday humbug.
One of our first Christmases in our home, our very full, heavy 7 foot Christmas tree – complete with fragile ornaments on the top and non-breakables on the bottom for our toddler’s pleasure – crashed over.
Tip # 2: Invest in a majorly sturdy tree stand. Ours is cast iron with no tree mishaps since.
Tip # 3: To make any decoration on a shelf or wall secure, use double stick photo mounting tape.
Collectibles
I collect Santa figures, which have their once a year place atop the fireplace mantle.
It’s a Santa Mantle!
The boys have their Department 56 Snowbaby collection, displayed adorably on the foyer built-ins shelves along with…oh yeah, my other collection…snow globes.
Tip # 4: Box and label (by room) all collectibles together for ease of unpacking and storing.
Tip # 5: Allow yourself to say “No.” Do less, enjoy more.
Try forgoing Christmas cards this year. Bow out of one holiday party. Leave baking cookies to someone else.
Tip # 6: Decorate early. Actually take time to enjoy decorating and the finished décor.
Plus this gives you the excuse to perfunctorily dust surfaces with a feather duster because delicate ornaments are in occupation.
Tip # 7: Make it fun! Engage others to help.
Create a holiday jar with single tasks broken into small doable steps on paper that each helper draws to do his or her part.
“Bring all boxes marked “Living Room” into the living room. “Unwrap all living room boxes”. “Arrange Snow globe shelf.”
And bake cookies with your kiddos or a friend!
Savvy Storing
Tip # 8: Holiday Organizing strategy: Store user friendly. Consider storing lights, in these.
Tip # 9: Go vertical. Hanging in this instance will save you.
I lied. All I want for Christmas are comments below.
Tip # 10: Be Generous…bring me some holiday cheer! Leave a comment!
What’s your holiday humbug? Did you figure out a solution? Or ask for ideas and ye will receive creative suggestions.
Wishing you happy holidays full of blessings and laughter! And here’s a special gift from me to you and your family. This cookie recipe is a holiday tradition in our home — Enjoy!
Hey there, I’m Jul’s Arthur, author of the book 25 Days of Holiday Organizing! I help women professionals & entrepreneurs STOP endlessly spinning their wheels stuck in anxiety and overwhelm with the chaos and clutter in their home, instead START simplifying, so everything has a place, they gain FREEDOM, CLARITY and easily manifest their DREAM LIFE. Let me help you go from chaos to FREEDOM.
That is hilarious about the nativity scene! Living in corporate housing, I’ve gone so minimalist this year I am down to some Christmas tunes on spotify and a spicey-spruce blend in my oil diffuser. I have to go out to get my fill of decorations and would love to get to visit someone’s home that is as nicely decorated as yours 🙂
Lol…I am so glad my humor came through! I have to admit, I sort of smile myself every time I pass our nativity scene on my way up or downstairs seeing Baby Jesus greeting me from the manger…and it’s only December 15 here. Love your choice of minimalism…I think I could adopt that for all but Christmas and Easter at this point. Thank you for the compliment…we love Christmas time!
wonderful wonderful tips, jul’s. i especially love #3. so simple, but i’ve NEVER thought of doing this before – thanks! 🙂 and i am definitely living #5 this year. we just moved to another country and, though our shipment arrived yesterday and we’ve already located our christmas boxes, it will be a very simple affair this year. my husband, my 2 sons who will be flying in to celebrate the holiday with us, and a few special traditions.
Sooo much good advice here! It is always such a busy time and someone asked me yesterday one of those kind of what do you wish for questions.. my answer was more time.. I am sure considering these will really help!
Thanks so much for gifting me your time to read my post and your comment. I am glad my tips will help make your holiday more enjoyable 🙂
For the past few years, I felt the hurry of the Christmas season. Ding!!!! This year, after an injury requires me to truly organize to get things done and get help from lots of family, I realized that Christmas is much more about that than the items on the to do list. By the way, I loved that you changed baby Jesus’ birthday. 🙂
Lol…I think He has a sense of humor about it…So true, Melanie, Christmas and any holiday, make that every day is more than about our To Do List! Sorry you’ve had an injury and so glad you are getting lots of help from family…happy holiday healing!
Great list of Christmas tips Jul’s! I love your tips about decorating early. We always put the tree up on 1st December to get plenty of time to enjoy it. But I admit that some of the other decorations aren’t up yet, I must do them today. This year I’ll make sure I store those decorations by room as you suggested, to make it easier for me next year.
Hey Angela, they say “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and I had to get organized with my holiday decorations or we’d never get to enjoy them! My organizing style works for me, and is not the only way, but I admit many of my customers have adopted my tips and feel they make life easier. Holidays are for enjoying!
Thank you so much Lovely Angela! I get all happy seeing the holiday spirit decorated all about our home. My goal is to bring more joy and ease into your life, especially during holiday season!
There are so many times I feel like Bah Humbug this time of year. Thank you for your great tips. I am still not sure I will decorate (we are traveling for a week and having Christmas Day at someone else’s house), but if I do I will keep your advice in mind.
I understand Beth, and thank you for your comment. Decorating or not, I suggest taking things slower and enjoying the holiday for what it really is about…being with family and friends. Practicing gratitude and not getting caught up in the commercialism and comparisonitis of the holiday season also helps keep humbug away. Have a most wonderful Christmas decorating or no.
Great tips! A less stressful Christmas is a gift everybody can use!
So glad you found my tips helpful! Happy less stress Christmas to you! Jul’s
I LOVE this Jul’s! I totally agree with so much of what you are saying. December can feel like one big chore instead of making loving memories. Thanks so much for sharing sweet lady <3
Why thanks so much Melissa! My hope is to give us all a chance to enjoy what will be loving memories and leave the chores for the elves.
Ding! Ding! I so relate! Running around here to there… I’m definitely forgoing Christmas cards this year – after all, that’s what facebook is for these days, right?
Hiya Lynn,
Thanks for your comment. A Christmas greeting via Facebook is a great solution! Post your own post and forget about the post and postage.