Organizing Your Way to a Simple Christmas

By Mandi Ehman • October 27, 2009

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source: scottfeldstein

There are 8 weeks until Christmas!

Whether that thought sends you into a panic attack or gets you excited, I hope you’ll join me as we spend the next two weeks talking about organizing and simplifying Christmas. Getting organized is half the battle when it comes to enjoying the holiday season, and simplifying is the other half!

Each day, I’ll have printables and other resources to help you take another step toward organizing and simplifying so that at the end of these two weeks (which will put us at exactly two months until Christmas!), you’ll feel better prepared to jump into the holiday season and truly enjoy it.

Here’s what we’ll be talking about:

:: Making — and sticking to — a budget

:: Planning your holiday calendar

:: Making a master gift list

:: Homemade gifts from the heart

:: Stress-free gift shopping

:: Creating family traditions and memories

:: Preparing your Christmas cards now

:: Decorating for the holidays

:: Holiday baking you enjoy

:: Decluttering the toy room

:: Charity and volunteering

:: Other resources for a simple holiday

I love everything about Christmas, and although I’ll admit that I’m a little bit worried about what this Christmas season is going to look like with a high-maintenance newborn and a week-long vacation smack in the middle of it, I’m excited to start planning and getting things written down on paper so that I don’t miss a minute of it. I hope you’ll join me!

Have you already started organizing your Christmas plans?

Categories: Christmas

About the Author

Mandi Ehman

Hi. My name is Mandi and I’m an organizing junkie. I’m also a wife, and Momma to four little girls (5, 3.5, 2 and a new baby!). I've worked at home since our oldest was a baby, and like a lot of other moms, my life is a constant balancing act of caring for my family and my home, meeting my obligations and finding time for hobbies in there somewhere. Oh, yeah, in the interest of full disclosure, I’m somewhat of a kitchen dunce and I only like to pretend that I’m crafty. Read more here!

26 Responses to “ Organizing Your Way to a Simple Christmas ”

Nicki at Domestic Cents Oct 11th, 2009 at 8:06 am

Good stuff Mandi. I’m all for ENJOYING the holiday season with as little stress as possible
Nicki at Domestic Cents´s last blog ..Good Reads: A Cooking Fraud

[Reply]
Catie Oct 11th, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Can’t wait hear your Christmas time organizing solutions! Keep ‘em comin!

[Reply]
Catie Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Can’t wait TO hear… sorry!

[Reply]
Kelly B Oct 11th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

I am definitely looking forward to organizing my way to a simple holiday. Budget is the main thing I really need to figure out. Looking forward to your posts.

Kelly
Kelly B´s last blog ..A Great Batch Of Giveaways!

[Reply]
Dolli-Mama Oct 11th, 2009 at 8:49 pm

I am excited that you are starting this series now. I have already started my holiday lists and budgets, and I could use a little help!
Dolli-Mama
Dolli-Mama´s last blog ..On Vacation

[Reply]
Edda at Kid Craft Project Oct 13th, 2009 at 1:14 am

I’m glad I found this post! I’m relieved that I’m not the only one who’s already thinking about and preparing for Christmas. I just started a series of posts on Christmas crafts on my own blog. Looking forward to the “Homemade gifts from the heart” post!
Edda at Kid Craft Project´s last blog ..Eyeglass Cases (or Sunglasses Case) Craft Project: Part 1 of Christmas Crafts to Make

[Reply]
Rebecca Oct 13th, 2009 at 5:20 am

I really think these are great planning tools. Thanks for posting them. I have a lot of thinking to do to make this a nice holiday within the budget.
I love Christmas, but can get a little crazy without a budget.

[Reply]
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Kim Oct 20th, 2009 at 8:19 pm

I love Christmas.. Im not crazy about the gifting part of it, but I love decorating and I love the food & comaraderie..
I’ve gotten to the place where I dont add much new if anything anymore, otherwise Im gonna have to buy a bigger house to hold it all.
Loving your articles!
Kim

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Chris Grasse Nov 22nd, 2009 at 5:18 pm

Holiday Greetings from South Portland, Maine to everyone!

Websites like this are always such an upper. Shared responsibilities; shared joys. To be able to organize Christmas and not overdo everything, to have gratitude and simplicity instead of debt and chaos is quite an accomplishment.

It was never about spending. It was about love and blessings. We apparently added the shopping mall, the music starting in September and a host of other distractions. It is such a pleasure to find a website like this one which harkens back, which draws us back, to the real meaning behind it all and puts Christmas where it should be. Not in our pocketbooks, but in our hearts.

I start early in our home right about now before Thanksgiving to remind myself to simplify everything, even the Christmas card list, so when I sit down and realize it is all over for another year, I will have good memories and not regret poor decisions.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy New Year 2010, from Chris Grasse in South Portland, Maine, U.S.A. (Posted: 22 November 2009)

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