Almost Ready for Christmas!

Well, it's September - nearly the end of September, to be exact. So...am I prepared for Christmas yet? My goal was to have everything Christmas-related done by the end of Oct. With just one month left, am I on schedule? Hmm...

I have been ahead of the game on birthdays all year and do have several Christmas gifts in reserve - my buying frenzy last winter has really paid off! Plus, not only have I decreased my stress level this fall, I also saved a ton of money. Buying things online that were super on sale is definitely the way to go! But with some items, I still have to figure out exactly who gets what. I've got lots of kids on my list and bought a dozen or so games and just need to allocate them by age/interest, but that won't be too hard.

I also need to decide whether I'm making fudge for Christmas gifts this year, and if so, I need to do it soon. I discovered years ago that I can make it ahead of time and then freeze it with great results, which saves all the last-minute stress of giving a homemade treat. I just cut it to size, double wrap it in plastic food wrap and pop it in the freezer where it won't get buried or dinged up. When it comes time to wrap it, I pull out what I need and pop it in the appropriate box and voila! Instant gift!


So...are YOU almost ready for Christmas?

Kapoosh and July Christmas Prep Report

We're only five months away from the big day! How did that happen? Well, things are moving along nicely on the Christmas prep front although I think I'm going to have to pick up the pace come September if I plan to be done with my Christmas shopping by October 31. But it's summer... And the grandkids are coming for a week... Do you suppose my procrastination and excuses is what got me in trouble before?

Anyway...

I've discovered the coolest thing! It's a Kapoosh. Yes, that's really the name. And in case you couldn't tell, it's a counter top knife holder. No more trying to figure out what silly slot to put each knife in. With the Kapoosh, you just stick them anywhere you want. It's got plastic 'Freedom Rods' that separate to allow room for the blades and keep them securely in place. And yes, I tried to find replacement rods or something similar so I could make my own but no luck - so I'll have to buy one already made. And if I can find them on sale, guess what a couple of folks on my list are getting for Christmas?

Homemade Christmas Cards & June Christmas Prep Report

Homemade Christmas cards & matching envelopes.

Unless you get them on sale after Christmas, buying Christmas cards can be unnecessarily costly. You can save money by making your own at home. Either opt for a simple letter-style greeting on colored paper or get more elaborate with stickers or iron-on fabric motifs.

More homemade Christmas cards.

I used heat-n-bond, a widely-available fusible web, to adhere fabric motifs to folded card stock that I had cut to fit envelopes I bought in bulk at a thrift store. Then I used a permanent marker to create a dashed outline around the shapes. Add a personal greeting inside and you're done - inexpensive, custom Christmas cards! And I decorated the envelopes, as well. How cute and clever (and simple!) is that?

As for the June Christmas Prep Report - besides getting a jump-start on cards, it's basically the same old, same old. I did have a few gift-giving occasions over the past month and it was so nice to be prepared!

Batman and May Christmas Prep Report

Cool Batman blankie

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Need I say more?

Well, maybe I don't need to, but I will anyway...

We've got a budding superhero with a particular love of Batman. So it was a Batman-themed birthday this month, which gave me the opportunity to pair this oh-so-cool Batman panel with flannel from an orphaned top sheet (the bottom finally wore beyond repair but the top was fine) to create a blankie that is cool on at least two levels:

• First, it's Batman - hello! You can't get much cooler than that.
• Second, our little man sleeps hot and told me months ago (that's right - in the middle of winter) that he needed a "cold" blanket. So I didn't put anything between the layers.

Good job on the Batman cake, mama!

I was so pleased the easiness and results that I posted directions for this super simple lightweight blankie over at Quilting and Sewing with Kids.

And you certainly can't have a birthday without a cake...

Didn't his mama do a great job?

So...what does this have to do with Christmas Prep? Well, remember that Christmas Prep for me includes all gift-giving occasions throughout the year and a birthday for a five-year-old is most certainly a gift-giving occasion!

Gift Idea and April Christmas Prep Report

Nothing new and exciting to report on Christmas Prep this month - just plugging away, dealing with gift-giving occasions as they arise. But it is so nice to be prepared!
 

OXO Good Grips Silicone Sink Strainer


 I do have a cool, affordable gift idea for Mother's Day, however, if anyone is interested. My SIL found this nifty kitchen sink strainer at our local grocery store and bought one for each of us. Talk about a dream come true! Ok - maybe a sink strainer can't be quite that good but...

The basket of the strainer is silicone and flexible. So you see the little handle in the center? Well, you can actually pull the thing inside out to dump it. Makes it easy to keep your drains and strainer clean!

Keep in mind that this is a strainer only, not a stopper! It seems the negative reviews on Amazon came from folks who thought it was a stopper, too, so don't make the mistake of thinking it will hold water - it won't. (There is a stopper by the same company that looks similar but I can't vouch for it.)

What? You say you don't consider a sink strainer a good Mother's Day present? Really? Well, not for some moms, I guess. But every mom I know would LOVE to have this - trust me. If you'd like to buy one of these nifty gadgets, check your local grocery store - that's where my SIL found ours and they were a couple dollars less than on Amazon. Now I'm off to clean the kitchen...

March Christmas Prep Report - Hanging in There...

More pillow covers for 2013 kidlet birthdays...

It's been an odd month and truthfully not a whole lot has gotten done. But I'm hanging in there with Christmas Prep 2013. Fortunately, I had the pillow covers for the grands with March and April birthdays already done (remember that Christmas Prep actually covers all gift-giving occasions during the year) so it was just a matter of putting them in the mail to stay caught up. Also, my excess of homemade potholders coupled with my pre-planning on new dishtowels for the adult women on my list came in handy during March, as well. Being prepared is so nice when life starts happening all over the place, stealing away time and derailing plans!

February Christmas Prep Report - Storage Snafu

I finally have all my Dec-Jan Christmas Prep purchases here at home - yay! But add all those to the things I've been making and I have a huge storage problem. I wrote about storing and tracking gifts before I had many gifts to store...but now I'm really being put to the test!

Here's a peek at what I just brought home:

Here's what I'd dedicated for gift storage:



Oops. Beings it's only Feb and I'm not even close to done with this project, I guess I'd better be finding more gift-storage space!

Are You Preparing for Christmas Yet?

I know, I know - it's mid-February and Christmas is still over 10 months away. But I'm dedicated to being ready by the end of October so...

Now remember, when I say Christmas, what I really mean is all the birthdays throughout the year and Mother's Day and Father's Day, as well. To that end, I've been ordering stuff since mid-December - mostly small stuff that will make nice but inexpensive gifts. Like last time I posted about this, I still haven't seen what I've ordered but I plan to make a trip to town this week so can take an inventory (and maybe even get it all home!).

Potholder sets = future gifts!

What I do know is that this will be the year of the kitchen spruce-up for many on my list. I've noticed how awful the dishtowels and potholders are most everywhere I visit so I'm going to do something about it. I started by ordering a bunch of nice on-sale dishtowels from Kohl's. Then I got into practicing free motion quilting, which quickly morphed into potholders. Of course, I can't stand to waste anything so I even made potholders from the potholder scraps.

This whole potholder project has really helped me with Project DO, as well. I finally found a use for all the batting scraps I've been saving. Most are in narrow strips but I basted those together (more free motion practice - yay!) and I even used up several binding and thread remnants left from previous quilt projects. Cleaning/decluttering AND making gifts - can't get much better than that!

So... Are YOU preparing for Christmas yet?

Combining Projects for a Quadruple Win!



I'm upgrading my kitchen with new potholders, too.


Do you realize the year is almost one-tenth over? That’s right – one-tenth. Beings there’s 365 days this year and January had 31 of them, by the time noon rolls around on February 5^th, we will officially be one-tenth through the year. 

So, what have I accomplished? Am I making progress on any goals at all? YES!!! And I’ll tell you how…

Combining projects takes multi-tasking to a whole new level

Two of my three main goals for 2013 are decluttering/organizing throughout the year and being completely ready for Christmas by the end of October. Also, for February, I joined a challenge to commit to quilt 20 minutes each day.

Coincidentally, I had also just signed up for two free motion quilting classes through Craftsy so I decided to spend my quilting time practicing free motion. Well, it seemed a waste to stitch such pretty designs and then throw them away so... I started making potholders.

Beings I already had denim rounds (recycled from jeans) cut years ago in anticipation of a potholder project, all I had to do was layer those with batting (I have plenty of scrap pieces) and backing (again, plenty of scrap pieces) and quilt away! Then I realized they’d make great gifts, so I’m making progress on 2013 Christmas Prep, too! And to top it off, I already had several remnants of bias binding left over from past quilts so I’m really decluttering my sewing room!



Made completely from leftovers from other projects!



That’s what I call a quadruple win! With this one enjoyable activity, I am:

• Meeting my 20 minute per day quilting challenge (ok – I’m way exceeding 20 minutes but it sure is fun!)
•     Vastly improving my free-motion quilting skill (and thanks to Leah Day's Craftsy class, I may even become a free-motion rock star!)
• Decluttering my sewing room (we're talking leftover fabric, batting, thread and bindings!)
• Making nice gifts that are useful, too (seriously, who couldn’t use new potholders?)

I'm going to be on the lookout for more way to combine projects. Whether I'll hit upon any more quadruple wins remains to be seen but I think it'll be pretty easy to hit on some double and triple wins. And now that I think about it, this one might actually be a quintuple win beings it was also fun...

So, how can you combine projects to meet your 2013 goals?

January Christmas Prep Report

It's been a month since Christmas - have I done anything to get ready for the next one? I'm happy to say that I have. Exactly what I've done is a little harder to pinpoint. I'm still snowed in so haven't seen anything I ordered online. I could go back through my email and look at the order confirmations but that seems a waste of time beings I really need the stuff here so that I can sort and store it. You see, when I say Christmas prep, I'm also talking birthdays and any other gift-giving occasion during the year, as well.

So, from memory, here's my January report:

• made personalized throw pillow covers for 4 early-year birthdays
• ordered super cute crocheted hats for the 2 newest DGDs
• ordered a bunch of stocking stuffer type games (like probably a dozen)
• ordered several sets of kitchen towels

Personalized throw pillow covers

I tested a quilt pattern a while back and didn't realize I wasn't going to be happy with the color combo until I had all 16 blocks done - oops. I've been trying to figure out what to do with them and finally settled on personalized throw pillow covers for kidlet birthdays during the year. Won't need all 16 but it's nice to have extras. So I finished four and they're ready to go in the mail, plus I have another two quilted and ready to sew together. I plan to quilt them all now and then do the embroidery and finish them up as each birthday approaches.

Crocheted hats

Yes, I crochet...and I have lots of yarn...and I've even made a lot of hats. So why did I order some? Because they were just too darn cute AND on sale, of course! I'm talking less than $7 each and that included the shipping.

Stocking stuffer type games

The Best of Charades, LIFE Adventures card game, Disney Princess dominoes, etc, etc, etc - at under $3 each, how could I resist? With 11 grands, these will be great filler gifts to round out the holidays!

Kitchen towels

Seems everywhere I go, the kitchen towels are pretty ratty. So I decided that women on my list would receive new ones for their birthday. At $2-$5 for a set of two or three, how could I go wrong? And they'll be easy and relatively cheap to ship for the ones that need to be mailed.

Well, that's it for now!

What have you already done to prepare for Christmas 2013?

2 Critical Components for Christmas Prep 2013

If you'd like to join me in prepping for Christmas throughout the coming year, the two most important things that you need right now are:

1. a way to track the 4 Ws (who, what, where and when)
2. a dedicated storage spot for your gifts

Let's take these one at at time, shall we?

Gift Tracking

Simple gift-tracking list.

To keep track of the 4 Ws and avoid duplicating your great ideas (how embarrassing), you need a way to track gifts that actually works for you. Over the years, I've tried many ways to track gifts but have settled on paper and pen. Yes, I tried a spreadsheet on my computer, one of those glitzy online gift-tracking sites, a cutesy little notebook, etc. But what actually works for me is a printout of a simple table with appropriate columns across the top and my gift recipients clustered by family down the left side. Now in my seventh year, I can say conclusively that this is the method for me!

If you'd like to try this basic way to track your gifts and you'd also like to track birthdays and Mother's/Father's Day like I do, I'd be happy to share my table with you if I could figure out how to upload it here. Beings I can't, I included an example. But you can easily create your own in your word processing program or by hand on a blank sheet of paper. I write in the year at the top and I like to start with Christmas beings it's the biggie, so my current list is actually 2012-13. If it works better for you to just stick with the calendar year, that's fine, too. Since not all of the columns apply to all recipients, I simply draw an X in the boxes that don't apply. Now, how simple is that?

Gift Storage

The other thing you need is a dedicated place to store your gifts. If you don't have enough space in one location, figure out a couple of spots but try to limit yourself or you may lose some gifts (experience talking here!). And if you buy gifts ahead for specific people, make a note where you stashed them right on your gift list. If you're in the habit of buying gifts and deciding on the recipient later, make doubly sure that you know where all your gifts are hidden! It is so easy to forget...


So, what are you doing to prepare ahead of time for Christmas?

New Year's Resolution - Be Better Prepared for Christmas Next Year

I really did it this year. Despite the best of intentions (I even read a great book on how to have a stress free Christmas), my finely tuned procrastination skills still got the better of me! There I was - 10 days away from Christmas and still so much left undone.

My Outback - see? I was right!



Now 10 days might sound like a lot to some folks. If you live in a town, for instance, 10 more days to shop seems like plenty. I live in the wilderness, however, and was racing home (after a 2-week out-of-state trip, I might add) to beat a snowstorm so that I didn't get snowed out. Once I got home, I figured I'd be snowed in. So you see why 10 days weren't going to be that helpful?

I do have to cut myself a little slack. Although I am totally responsible for the mess in which I found myself, the crisis was actually the result of a series of unrelated, unforeseen, unavoidable events that all conspired in perfect harmony against me. Well, actually, in perfect chaos is more accurate.


Even the truck and plow won't be going anywhere soon.

But Christmas came and went like it always does and it turned out fine (other than being completely snowed in and not being able to celebrate with any of the kids or grands, that is). But the stress of being unprepared has motivated me! So I've already begun prepping for Christmas next year. And when I say Christmas, I'm also talking about birthdays throughout 2013, as well.



And there's about five miles of this...

Anyway, I'm going to blog regularly about my ongoing prep and I plan to have nothing that is left undone by the end of October. That's right - I'm leaving myself nearly two full months to enjoy the upcoming holidays! No more frantic last-minute shopping online or making my DD spend her lunch hours in the week before Christmas shopping and mailing gifts for me. Nosireebobcattails - this coming year I WILL be ready!

How about you? Will you prepare for Christmas throughout the year?