Holiday Grand Plan - List Week

The Holiday Grand Plan is a combination of holiday prep, home organization and cleaning.

Really, it is fun and you can do it!

Spread over 18 weeks, starting today, the end result will be a calm holiday celebration - in a clean, organized and well prepared home! Think about that for a moment... not running around the day before Christmas Eve desperately trying to find stocking stuffers or searching for the last can of something you need for Christmas dinner or realizing you forgot to thaw your 30 lb turkey and the in-laws are knocking on your door... {shudder}

Not again! This year we will be calm... we will be prepared... and we will do it all in an organized and clean home - honest! All we need to do is follow the plan!

The tasks for the Holiday Grand Plan are broken down into weekly assignments, complete with printable calendars and forms. The first week is : List week - my favorite! I am a big paper planner, the key for me is to move from the planning stage to the doing stage!

With the holiday Grand Plan - we can do it!

The area worked on for cleaning and organizing this week is the front porch. This is the first impression of your home - what does mine say about me? Well, I would say it states: this lady is a great paper planner, but someone is grasshoppering from project to project!

We have worked a great deal on the front and side porches over the year. From what we thought would be a repair, to a complete redo on the side porch; then the front enclosed porch needed a whole new support system (it was sinking) and a new roof... along with new siding, painting, and trying to find a balance between function and honouring period features. The weather does not look like it will cooperate with working on the outside of the porches, so I will try to keep busy with my never ending, and added-to, to do list!

To do:

1. sew curtains for enclosed porch
2. reupholster porch chairs (paint chairs/table/ sideboard? Have not decided on this yet!)
3. paint
4. install new coach lite
5. fall urn
6. find new area rug for under table/chairs

For holiday prep this week I have printed the HGP pages, and started my new notebook! Did I mention I really like the Nutcracker used to decorate the HGP pages? An excellent choice for an Edwardian home.

I have made the following lists:

• Gifts to be given
  
• Christmas card list - still working on this, need to update and transfer to new computer
  
• Visits to make - have even added the dates to my calendar!
  
• Parties/ Entertaining - for us this is hosting 7, attending 2 - from Thanksgiving till 12th Night
  
• Menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas Tea, Winter Solstice, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day Brunch, New Years Eve Fondue Party, New Years Day Skating Party and 12th Night.
  
• Goodies for sharing and giving - divided in batches between now and December 1.
  
• Family meals to freeze for the busy holiday season
  
• Long-term shopping list - divided into nonperishable, perishables by menu, seasonal flowers, linens and dishes, decorations...
  
• Advent to Epiphany Worship

Enjoy your day!

August Rudolph Club

Ah, the last lazy days of summer... sitting on a dock with my dog, working on my UFO (unfinished objects) - in this case a hobo patch throw for my youngest son.

The holiday season is so far away it seems; however, as advised by CEO it is the perfect time to complete last years UFO's and do a craft cleanup. A good dose of a 'reality check' is usually in order for me - as I will often try to make my to-do list longer then my time available ... great intentions do not make a quilt!

It helps my logical brain by doing this 'reality check math':

It will take me 'x' amount of time to crochet a square or piece a block

+ I need to complete the project by 'x'

/ so that leaves me 'x' amount of days

* number of squares divided by days*

= Is this realistic?

After I assess what can be saved in my little UFO pile, I put the list into my planner! Now take the rest and donate it! Clutter, even the crafty kind, will take up valuable real estate in your home and mind. Now I know the excuses, 'but I paid so much for this kit/ material' - 'but I plan on getting to that as soon as...' - whatever, cut your losses and think of the time you will save, and the space you acquire by not having the needle point you started 6 years ago still sitting on your nightstand! Yes, I am the crafty Rambo.

Making gifts in a jar? 'Poop' gifts? Altered jars or notepads? If some crafts survived your reality check to make it into the planner, this is a great time to look for bargains you will need during the holidays. While back to school items are being dicounted to make room for fall decor - search for needed holiday items: such as card stock, papers, pens, journals, jars and binders!

I took some time away today to enjoy a little book I found hidden amongst piles and papers, an Agatha Christie story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding".

Enjoy your day!