Christmas Decorations: In Progress.

First, it was a joy on Thanksgiving night to assemble our small Christmas tree  in all of 5 seconds. There is something to be said for a pre-lit tree!

But on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we ventured to pick up the real live tree for our living room. I love the smell of a live tree!

My three year old was so excited about putting up the tree and making crafts!









Shopping Tips:
1. Don't forget to start Christmas shopping at the Labor Day sales, which has saved me a lot of money.
2. Pick up small items when you see them on sale. Thank you CVS for the free stocking stuffers! ( I have also been picking up various Thirty-one presents as gifts along the way.)
3. Make a budget with your spouse and stick to it!
4. Buy big ticket electronics online on Black Friday.
5. Pick up small items like video games and DVD's in-stores on Black Friday/Thanksgiving.
6. Buy toys about 2 weeks before Christmas.

Things that made life fun:
1. We are having a family party on the Sunday before Christmas with all the cousins and siblings from one side fo the family. We had the cousins draw names for presents. The adults are doing a Christmas Gift Game Exchange.
2. I made a few quick triangle potato stamps, and let the kids decorate some plain wrapping paper.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for the many blessings in my life. I was especially grateful this morning that I had already cooked the two items that I was taking for Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's house.

This morning I reheated the collard greens in the oven, then popped the casserole dish gently down into my double thermal organizer, which was inside a large utility tote.  Then I used my single thermal organizer to store the icecream. Since the casserole only took up the bottom part of the double thermal organizer, I was able to fold it down a little, then put an additional thermal picnic tote to hold my chilled homemade cranberry sauce.

I put the top-a-tote on, and everything was ready to go!

It was very nice to arrive with a dish that was hot, plus still frozen icecream, and chilled homemade cranberry sauce in their respective containers.



31 Upcycling Shower Ring Ideas

Thanks for all the ladies who came out to my organizing workshop last night. For those of you who couldn't make it here are five of my "31" ideas!

1. Keep hair ties together in a bathroom drawer.
2. Use to hang/store gift bags in your hall closet or pantry.
3. Use shower curtain rings to hang your collection of baseball hats from a hanger.
4. Hang tools from wire shelving (like a hammer) with shower curtain rings.
5. Hang large kitchen utensils in your kitchen cabinets using shower curtain rings and a tension rod.

Update:
I have used shower rings for two new purposes this week!
32. Use a shower ring to hang hula hoops from a rail in a utility closet or from wire shelving.
33. Fill long gift bags with all your stocking stuffers then hang the gift bags at the back of your closet using a shower ring. When Santa arrives, all he has to do is empty the gift bag contents into the stocking!

Thirty-one Black Friday Ad

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Pantries


Organizing at Christmas

Christmas can busy time, so be sure to stay organized in order to reduce stress and increase Holiday joy!

Here are my recommendations for a family focused and Christ centered Christmas! 
1. Contact local family members around Thanksgiving to arrange family get togethers for Christmas. Try to balace going to other family member's home with events in your own home.

2. If you are dealing with blended and complex families, arrange events in the days before and after Christmas. Don't stress if you can't eat a meal with every family member, you may just need to arrange a time to drop off presents and catch-up.

Be sure to suggest that meal events are pot lucks - the food will be better, and everyone's stress level will be lower!

Also, you may want to hire a cleaning service for a visit just before the holidays to cut down on your own stress level! It would be a worthwhile investment.

3. If both you and your spouses parents are divorced, try getting together with both your Mom and Mother-in-Law (with their spouses) on one night, then your Dad and Father-In-Law (and their spouses) on another night.

Another idea is to invite family to a Church Christmas presentation featuring your children, or simply attend a church service together as an extended family.

4. To reduce the amount of presents you are buying, make arrangements with work friends and cousins to draw names for presents.

Or Spice Up a Family Event with a "White Elephant Gift" party where people each bring one gift and draw numbers for them (Later numbers can take an already unwrapped gift from someone).

5. Consider volunteering with your extended family at a soup kitchen or clothes pantry.

6. Be sure to start your Christmas shopping no later than November and aim to have it all done by mid-December. Buy a few generic presents, in case you need a last-minte gift.

7. If you want to send photo cards or photo gifts, be sure to get your pictures taken in November.

8. To save money, create gift baskets for friends, teachers, and cousins in either baskets from DollarTree or Thirty-One's Little Carry All Caddies. See ideas below for teen gift baskets.

9. Arrange your gifts in totes by parties and family get togethers.  For example, put all your gifts for a 12/22 tree trimming party in one tote under your tree, then put all your gifts for a Christmas Eve party in another tote.

10. Don't forget to schedule down time when you and your kids can just enjoy spending some together at home!



Closet Tips!

Medicine Cabinet Organizing

Medicine cabinets can quickly get out of control as family members toss items in and dig through the cabinet.
1. Create a "boo boo" kit for quick access to hydrogen peroxide, bandaids, and other first aid items.
2. Group similar over the counter medicines together such as colds, allergies, and stomach.
3. Use small drawers to hold over the counter medicine and label each drawer.
4. Use 7-day pill organizers for each family members daily medicine, then store bottles in a top cabinet.