I had such a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. I enjoyed time with my besties in Austin, ate yummy meals with family, and had a sleepover with my sweet great niece. She loves to spend time with her “Aunt Mizmee and Uncle Doe!” I especially relished the bedtime snuggles and reading the Christmas Story to her.
And with Thanksgiving being a tiny bit earlier, it gives us a whole extra week to decorate and enjoy all the Christmas decorations. Mr. Bee put lights up outside and I decorated four Christmas trees! I know that sounds exhausting. Want to know my trick? A few years ago, my friend and personal organizer Elizabeth Jones from Nest & Transformation, worked with me to organize all my Christmas decor so I know exactly where everything is. I have an area set aside in my attic with all my storage bins and it has helped me to enjoy the holidays!
That’s my tip for this week: Take time to organize, sort and purge any decorations or ornaments you no longer use.
I stocked up on ornament storage boxes like these from The Container Store. Each box is $16.95, holds 75 ornaments and comes with cardboard inserts to keep each ornament safe and snug.
I organized and labeled ornaments by tree, so if I just want to decorate the family room tree one evening, I know which box to pull off the shelf.
She helped me to go through each of my ornaments and throw out broken ones and repair a few with glue. I only kept the ones that were meaningful to me. If they didn’t bring me joy then I placed them into the donate bin for someone else to treasure.
We created bins for each zone in the house like kitchen, powder room, mantel, entry way, Christmas pillows, books, party supplies, baking tins, etc… This helps again to simplify the process so it’s not so overwhelming if I just want to decorate a little at a time. If I am doing some baking, I know exactly which bin stores all my baking tins for gift-giving.
Now is the time to do this process so next year your decorating will be a breeze! It may take a little more effort this year, but I promise it will pay off when you’re getting it all ready for 2018.
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
