Ready Set Wrap It Wednesday Tip: BOX IT UP. Pre-box and label all of your gifts before you start wrapping. Gather the following items (this step took me two minutes): --Tissue Paper --Sharpie --Boxes & Box Fillers (air pillows, etc.) --Packing/Gift Wrap Tape --Sorted Gifts (Hopefully, as lingering packages arrive you are sorting your gifts into the baskets and bins for each person. If not, head back to last week's tip SORT.) Head to your box pile. I'll show you mine #sorryno

Ready Set Tell It Tuesday Tip: Recreate the past. Yep. Look back. Think of the traditions that mean the most to you this time of year. Is it heading to a holiday show? Going out for a fancy dinner and getting dressed up? Hosting a cocktail party with friends? You can do all of those things and more. I was inspired by our kitchen light. It looked like the perfect place to hang ornaments, which reminded me of our Christmas date in the bar at the Lake Elmo Inn. Without even sayi

Raise your hand if baking is the last thing you have time for? Not true. It's just not true! Did you know boiling noodles doesn't use the oven? So, plan your cookie project on a night when you're watching your noodle pot boil. Also, get out that mixer and have it handy all season long. No need to take it out and put it away. While you're taking out your ingredients for dinner, keep with that theme and take out the baking supplies. I started keeping my key ingredients in a bin

After many years of wanting to do this, I finally put together a treat basket for my delivery people. I've seen this done over the years, but I have been receiving more deliveries this year than ever before, and I thought it was about time. It's easier to do than you'd think. I went to the pantry and found an assortment of treats and drinks, and put them in an extra basket. If you don't have an extra basket, then take an Amazon box and fold the flaps into the box. Wrap it wit

Fun is not cancelled. Find the joy in the little moments and make it special by adding a December twist. A few weekends ago, we had a "Girls night." We put on our Christmas jammies, turned on a Hallmark Christmas movie and watched it in bed while drinking hot cocoa (and I didn't event make the cocoa!). It was a night I won't ever forget and it cost us nothing. Make a list of the things you (might) already do, and add a December twist for FUN. Breakfast + new Christmas jammies

Braindump? Yep, braindump. It's very different from a brainstorm. A brainstorm encourages a free flow of new ideas. A braindump promotes the organization of an abundance of thoughts (and sleep - writing your thoughts down will help you sleep at night for sure). Here's my process in four easy steps. I sit down with a beverage, a blank sheet of paper and a few colors of my favorite writing pens. In the center, I write the title of my braindump. Along the edges, I use action wor

Here's my Ready Set Wrap It Wednesday Tip of the Day: SORT your gifts. You can't wrap what you don't have. 🎁 Sort today. Now. Before bed. Honestly, take 20 minutes and gather all of your impulse buys and online purchases you made for the holidays up to this point. If you are like me, those gifts are tucked away here, there and everywhere. Find them and SORT. 🎁 My method? I assign a bin, a box or a basket for each person. Then I start sorting gifts and stocking stuffers i

Who's looking for ways to space out the holiday hubbub and preparations (me!!! *excitedly raising my hand!*) To use a food analogy, my eyes are always bigger than my stomach when it comes to preparing for Christmas. I'm going to plan and focus on one Christmas thing each day. I'll be blogging so if you want holiday tricks and tips, please follow along and join me! #readysetplanyourChristmas #somuchtodosolittletime