Get organised this holiday season

I was pretty organised last year, lets hope it will be the same this year

Christmas can feel like a blur as you rush to gather all the presents, decorations and food required to make the build up to and day itself special, so it’s a good idea to get organised as soon as possible. 

We’ve got some great ideas on how to prepare for the holiday season, from organising your card making supplies to which projects you should make a start on early.

Make a start on:

Christmas pudding - Traditionally Christmas puddings should be made around five weeks before Christmas (or earlier), so if you want to kick start your festive organisation then get in the kitchen early and throw together your rich, gooey dessert creation that everyone will no doubt struggle to finish.

Christmas cards - If you prefer to create greetings cards with a personal touch then it’s worthwhile making your own. There are plenty of craft kits out there to get you started or you can get creative with buttons and ribbon and anything else you can get your hands on.

I really enjoyed making Christmas tags last year

Keep your card supplies organised by placing paper in labelled drawer files, depending on colour or style, and storing embellishments and ribbon in shallow dishes, in the top drawer of your office desk. Pillboxes are also great for storing tiny sequins and diamantes. Pens and scissors can all be displayed in pretty glassware, along the back of the table, for easy access.

Checklists - Lists can be lifesavers when it comes to Christmas. Make a checklist of what you need to sort or buy for the month ahead and keep it close to hand at all times. Set deadlines for completing tasks and try your best to meet these. Most of us work better when we know what we need to do and in what time, so planning ahead will help and can also aid when budgeting for the festive season.

Prioritise - what you want to make and create over the Christmas period - with so many ideas and options it can be overwhelming and you end up only half doing a project if your not careful - we love to make some homemade decorations so we also have a list of the ones that are most important to us and are child friendly - but having it clearly written down we are more likely to tick them off.

We love making homemade decorations

Top tip - keep hold of those toilet roll tubes and cut open, to wrap around used wrapping paper to keep it from unrolling.

Address book - At Christmas we spend a horrifying amount of money on stamps and overseas postage costs but what can be even more scary is that moment when you’re filling out those cards and don’t have an address for one or more of the many recipients.

We made some dried and slice orange decorations last year - simple and cheap

For the perfectionists amongst us who like to get a task done to a high standard and with no setbacks this can be very frustrating, as you set aside those envelopes, which are blank except for the person’s name. Don’t do it to yourself this year, send out a mass email or give those long distance relatives a call to check their addresses are still correct. It’s also a chance to catch up and have a chat before Christmas.

With these tips in mind, you can be one of those people who walk around calm and cool, inwardly pitying those running around in a panic on Christmas Eve.

This is a collaborated post