Creating a Christmas Organizing Notebook

Your Christmas notebook is the foundation of your organization for the holiday season!  By creating a notebook, you will have everything at your fingertips and you can continuously reference it for reminders and direction concerning your holiday plans.  Most people do not have exactly identical lives, therefore, your notebook will be unique to you and your family.  There is not a one size fits all when it comes to creating your notebook—you must personalize it to your family’s special celebration style.  Think of your notebook as your road map to Christmas—holding all your dreams, desires, and special touches.

What should be in your notebook?  Well that is up to you!  No one can tell you the exactly what to put into your notebook because you must personalize your notebook to your family and create a holiday organizing road map to help you celebrate your own special holiday season. Some basic guidelines to create your notebook include:

A 3-ring binder—make sure this is large enough to contain all of your information.  You may wish to start out by using a smaller notebook and upgrade later to a larger notebook.  If you notice one area of your notebook, like crafts for example, getting too large, you may want to consider having a separate notebook for that particular section. 

The list below is a suggestion of items to have when working on your notebook.  You may want to add other items, as you need them. 

3 hole punch  

Index dividers for 3 ring binder

Slash pocket folders or page protectors for keeping loose items in (example: recipe or craft ideas from magazines, receipts from gifts you purchase, etc.)  

Notebook paper

Zippered pouch to hold pens, pencils and other loose items

Pages designed with photo pockets on them (usually 4 to a page) where you can put recipe cards and/or address cards

Creating Sections for Your Notebook

Using your notebook dividers, decide what areas are the most important to you and make those YOUR tabs.  It would be unfair of me to decide what your tabs are for you without your input.  Everyone’s notebook will be different because everyone has their own traditions and celebrations during the holiday season.  Think of all the things you do at Christmas and make a tab for each of them.  Personally, I have found that the more divisions I have, even within the category itself, the better I do because it looks like a smaller goal and not this "big project" making it easier to tackle. 

Here is an example from my notebook:

Christmas card list & addresses
Gifts (Gift Box, Gift List, Gifts from the Heart and General Gift Ideas)
Calendar (for all year)
Activities to do
Crafts
Baking/recipes
Cooking/recipes
DecoratingEntertaining
Cleaning

You can find forms to download for each area in the Candy Cane Club section of the website for even more help.