What fun to keep track of all the little goodies you plan to give your loved ones! I love color! The more color there is, the more fun I'm having!
There are many other free great printables at I Heart Organizing including To Do Lists, Monthly Calendar, A Letter To Santa, Gift Tags, A Weekly Planner and so much more! Ohh! I especially love The Countdown to Christmas Labels! Take a look! See!
Visit I Heart Organizing to see all her other free printables, many more than I listed above. She also has an Etsy shop for more very very verrrry affordable downloads to help you stay organized and your holidays tame!
Good morning all my dearies! Now, I wanted to talk to you a little about planning for the holidays. You know its just right around the corner and its going to sneak right up on us before we know it! The best time to start is now...although Santa and I do take a little break in January, then start planning for next year's events shortly thereafter. What better month to plant seeds of love for the Christmas season than in February! But its not too late to start now!
I know. Summer isn't even officially here until June 21 but doing a little planning every month will make things so much easier for you AND for your family because you'll be getting things out of the way. You'll be reducing the stress that often can come from the hectic crazy season ahead of us and everyone will be able to enjoy Christmas for what its meant to be celebrated for...and that's not expensive presents. (Please remember money and gifts are not equated with love. Be conscientious of the lessons we teach our young ones so we don't foster attitudes of entitlement and spoil them. This will not serve them well at any time in their lives and will only set them up for a harder life, unrealistic expectations and lots of disappointment.)
Anyhoo, back to what we were talking about...there are lots of planners out there to choose from but the best I found are Erin Condren Life Planners.
What I love most about them is:
The days are separated into day, afternoon and evening sections. Makes it easy when quickly glancing.
You can change the covers!
You can personalize the covers by adding any name you want or create your own cover!
The bright colorful stickers fit perfectly in the monthly and daily slots!
The perpetual calendar is now sold separately and fits easily into the back pocket folder of the planner!
You can download pictures to make your own personalized stickers!
The coil clips are little tabs you can attach to the planner and adhere additional notes to it!
Who doesn't love the metallic elastic ribbon that comes with the planner for the final touch?!
The video above shows 2 examples of Erin's platinum and gold planners. (You Tube also offers great videos how other people are using them. They share ideas on where they found additional accessories and how they use them to keep everything organized. I must confess we use these little tips up here at the North Pole! It takes a lot of planning to get Santa, the elves, reindeer, woodland birds who decorate the trees, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, Rudy. and all our other helpers coordinated. Otherwise, Christmas would be late every year...or never come at all! Oh, my goodness! I feel the panic setting in. Breathe. Where's my tea?...sip...okay...)
Don't forget to look at Emergency Sanity Savers right here on Mrs. Santa's Blog for other planner ideas and checklists that you may not think of. I incorporate many of these into my own planner.
Room Planning - Scroll to the bottom of the page for a list of each room
To keep your planning supplies together, here are a couple of cases discussed in this video. Most notably is Target's Weekender Cosmetic Case which is all the talk on organizational blogs lately. Its big enough to hold a couple of planners, too.
Even if you get a regular binder, some colorful tabs, and print off templates to create your own planner, that's fine, too. I would suggest decorating the cover to make it fun to look at!
Whatever planning system you choose...it doesn't have to be this one...I chose Erin's because they are my absolute favorite to work with every year...what is important is to start planning now. A little at a time now will make a big difference for you and everyone else then!
Until next time!....ohhh, I think the cookies are burning.....
Well! Look what I found tucked away in my mom's tattered old recipe box. Well worn and loved. This was something she made all the time and many people loved it. It was a regularly requested recipe and no family function could pass without it. It is very old fashioned with few ingredients. (I must confess I do plan on "tweaking" it a bit myself to add in extra seasonings that I particularly love, like marjoram, rosemary, a dash of Italian seasoning. But I am a bit heavy handed and lean towards Irish cooking where everything goes in the pot but the kitchen sink. However, considering I have heard other Mrs. Santa's across the continents do the same thing, it just be the savvy thing to do to feed many mouths and satisfy many hungry bellies!) Recipe:
Put 2 cups flour, pepper, thyme, sage, poultry seasoning, etc in a bag and shake to mix.
Put about 6 pieces of cut-up, cleaned chicken in bag and shake to coat, at a time.
Melt 1 stick oleo in pan in oven until melted.
Add chicken pieces, cut up onion over it.
Bake at 425 for 1/2 hour, then turn pieces of chicken over and bake another 1/2 hour.
