House & Holidays Plan and Other Christmas plans - 2025 edition

[trissie]

House & Holidays Plan Week 10: Cooking Space Week

https://organizedhome.com/christmas/hou ... space-week

This Week's Focus: Kitchen
- Even for families who don't do much in the way of cooking, the holiday season brings new emphasis on the kitchen. Will you be preparing holiday meals, baking treats, or making kitchen gifts?
- Time to clean up in the kitchen! Tackling holiday cooking is easier when the kitchen is clean, organized and clutter-free, so this week, we'll focus there.
- Sunday's extra hour of sleep gives us time for a quick home safety check. To round out this week, we'll begin preparing for Thanksgiving dinner by organizing recipes, planning menus and making a tabletop check.

This Week's Household Checklist
- Make a home preparedness check. An extra hour on Time Change Sunday gives a time bonus to check household safety and preparedness, as we prepare to move into colder weather. Make a preparedness check as you change the clocks, test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, assess the household's stock of cold and flu supplies, and review the household emergency plan.
- Get down and dirty with a kitchen clean-up! American Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners lie in our future and will put new emphasis on the household's kitchen. This week, we tackle kitchen clutter, cleaning and organization. Moving shelf by shelf, cupboard by cupboard, take on kitchen clutter this week. Using the STOP clutter method, bring food preparation workspaces to a lean, mean, efficient state. Once clutter is conquered, a kitchen clean-out is in order. Rout out the grime and corral the crumbs for a sparkling holiday kitchen. Don't worry about pantry, freezer or refrigerator just yet ... we'll turn to food storage areas next week.

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist
- Status Check! Review the progress of the House and Holidays Plan on the first day of the month. If you're falling behind, adjust goals to a more realistic level.
- Recycle trick-or-treat candy for holiday baking or decor items.
- Decorate for Thanksgiving. Remove Halloween decorations and replace them with Thanksgiving-themed items.
- Organize holiday recipes. It's November ... do you know where your seasonal recipes are? Dig out the recipes you use during the holiday season, and add them to the holiday recipes planner. Thanksgiving Day is too busy to waste time hunting for the Green Bean Casserole recipe.
- Plan Thanksgiving menus. If you're hosting the Thanksgiving feast, it's time to make a menu plan. Use a menu planner, and delegate, delegate, delegate!
- Order the Thanksgiving turkey. Your meat market will thank you for not waiting until the last minute!
- Plan holiday baking. With recipes out, make a list of baked goodies you'll make for the holidays. The holiday baking planner form is a good place to start.
- Buy containers for freezer meals, baked goods or kitchen gifts. Take stock of food storage bag and containers. Holiday-themed disposable containers and freezer bags are available now.
- Make a tabletop check. Inventory serving pieces, stemware, china and flatware; a printable tabletop inventory makes it quick. Check store flyers for sales. Will you be ready to set a pretty holiday table?
- Bake any fruitcakes or Christmas cakes which require mellowing. Now's the time to bake the Christmas cakes! You'll have eight weeks to mellow them before the season.

all the printables and more reading material can be found at the website linked above

[trissie]

Holiday Grand Plan Week 10: Family Room

https://holidaygrandplan.com/10-family-room-week/

HOLIDAY PREP
- Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
- Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
- Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
- Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes.
- Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
- Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
- Take down Halloween decorations. Put up Thanksgiving ones.
- Polish silver; clean glassware (baking soda & water). Put candleholders in freezer to help remove wax. Alcohol removes stains from candles.
- DO NOT shampoo carpet - partying people spill things.
- Clean/clear library/front hall closet so there will be room for guests' coats. Give unwanted coats to charity. Store other stuff in attic in empty luggage.

CLEANING/ORGANIZING AREA: FAMILY ROOM

all the printables and more reading material can be found at the website linked above.

[trissie]

Week 10 - kitchen
- clean door
- clean lights
- clean window
- wash tiles
- deep scrubbing of floor
- deep clean dishwasher
- scrub top of cabinets
- kitchen cabinets: under stove
- kitchen cabinets: above stove
- kitchen cabinets: drawer cabinet
- kitchen cabinets: miscellaneous cabinet above drawers
- kitchen cabinets: pots and pans
- kitchen cabinets: above cooker
- kitchen cabinets: plates
- kitchen cabinets: lower corner cabinet
- kitchen cabinets: upper corner cabinet
- kitchen cabinets: under sink
- kitchen cabinets: shelves around window
- kitchen cabinets: cleaning products cabinet
- kitchen cabinets: above fridge

[Kittykatt]

Christmas Preparations:
Decluttering and deep cleaning:
Declutter hall
Deep clean hall
Declutter stairs (there shouldn’t be anything on there apart from the bowl with toys for Matilda!)
Deep clean stairs
Declutter sitting room
Deep clean sitting room
Declutter landing book case
Deep clean landing bookcase
Declutter bathroom
Deep clean bathroom
Declutter bedroom WIP
Deep clean bedroom WIP
Declutter spare room/ office
Deep clean spare room/ office
Declutter kitchen
Deep clean kitchen

Prune roses 25 done, 1 to do.

Christmas List!
( I’m going to need to make amendments and additions, but it’s a start.)

Christmas prep:
Find my Christmas book!
Gifts:
DH birthday (and card) and Christmas(and card) WIP
DH stocking WIP
DF E
Dnextdoorneighbour C
DH’s family: A, DH will sort: R, S, L&G, B, L2, R2 & D, J
Give tubs of chocolates to: vet, hairdresser, anyone else who has been really good to us this year to say “thank you” – Ocado order for this last year - see if they give good value again?) This year I have bought the Big Mix tins of chocolates from M&S for everyone
List gifts I still need to buy
DH is supposed to be buying for his family
Wrap gifts
Cards:
Do I need to buy more?
Update card list
Check addresses and get DH to print out address labels
Write cards - after the fuss last year, I've designed our card and had it printed (Snapfish!) All DH will have to do is stuff it I .the envelope along with the newsletter (no writing required!!!) And worst comes to worst, I'll be able to quickly.do them for him (I'm not telling him this, as I really do think he should send cards to his relatives, but I don't want the elderly ones especially to miss out. So...)
Are we doing a newsletter this year?

Food:
Ring butcher and order Christmas meat
Delivery on 1/10 as they are closing for good the end of this week. Fortunately it should all fit in the freezer!)
Veg and fruit - are we having a veg box? Ordered for 23/12
Christmas “goodies” – cheeses, biscuits for cheese,(Jacobs crackers from Waitrose )sweet biscuits,(M&S for tins of shortbread, Waitrose for chocolate biscuits)chocolate...

Baking:
Mince pies
Gingerbread men
Christmas cake
Glaze Christmas cake
Fudge?
Truffles?

Christmas grocery order – Waitrose (KEEP CHECKING
FOR CHRISTMAS DELIVERY SLOTS FROM MID SEPTEMBER and put the basics in my trolley.) Just need to add any seasonal items, and be careful not to get carried away! Remember fruit for fruit salad, also parsnips, carrots and sprouts (unless I decide on a veg box)
Am I having a Christmas veg box? Yes !

Decorations:
Tree
Wreath for front door
Lights round porch
Lights on kitchen windowsill
Wooden Nativity scene (this depends on whether Matilda tries to chew it!) Not this year, Matilda has started jumping up onto the china display cabinet where I usually put the Nativity set!!!!
Church organ musical box, gingerbread house tin and Christmas tree tin (on top shelf of sitting room bookcase?)
Christmas card holders over kitchen door
Hang Christmas count down ornament? (Or will this make my life too stressful? )

Events:
Christmas shoebox for Moldova - check what suitable gifts I have already (I'm assuming our church is doing this again this year) I think we're doing something for the residents of the Y instead? I've signed up to do a shoebox (needs to be done and at church by 14/12)

2/12 Women’s group meditation - S and S are organising it.

4/12 Parish Christmas lunch. I'm organising this for the first time this year Booked for 04/12 at the back of the church. Need to book caterers soon? ( I'm keeping it really simple this year, so just a buffet). Caterers booked!
Find phone number for caterers (in the end I used their "Contact us" form, which was souch simpler)
Write everything down in a logical order :
Full address of the church, name and email address for the treasurer, Date: 4th December
Time, 11 am-12 pm (they have hourly slots)
Which menu I want to order with all the add-ons (simple buffet with bite sized cakes and fruit platter)
Order for 20 guests (Remember at least a couple need to be GF)
Explain that the treasurer has the "chequebook" for the church (she actually does everything online) and ask them to send the invoice there.
MD has suggested we make it a ticketed event, so liaise with D (parish administrator over design of tickets )
Ask D to print tickets and posters
Number tickets and keep a list of names!
Work out costs per head:
Also need tablecloths, crackers (DF PM has lots of Xmas napkins she will provide) fairy lights on font, paper chains? Chocolates on bowls on tables? MD has offered to make simple centre pieces for table
MD has also offered members of the social.committee to help set up /clear away
Remember we need a separate table for GF food
Tea and coffee from the urns, soft drinks? (No alcohol as we would need an Events Licence, and I'm not going down that route )
Bite sized mince pies?
How / when do we publicise it? Ask D to print poster advertising the event
Tickets and poster now printed!


Carol service at church? Am I reading? ( does the catering committee want me to do the mulled wine?)
Christmas services: are we having a Bethlehem Mass at 9 pm on Christmas Eve again? (It was a lot more popular that midnight mass, especially now people are getting older!!!), will I be asked to read? Bethlehem Mass again this year

Date to visit DBIL and family? (Probably early January)

To be continued...
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[Nancy]

In my writing yesterday it made me realize all the areas I've decluttered this summer that last round I did
was very effective and very helpful. Did the donations last year from holiday totes as I do less decorating and
less for the holidays as kids are older and have their own families.
It's been a time of transition and church family do not really understand that with the various places to be
and family to see how the scheduling can be so packed for them and conflicts arise as diff. ones move away from home.
I do not do stockings any more. Cash gifts and no more Christmas cards so the list is shorter.

[Nancy]

I de-cluttered Holiday totes items last year.
So this year I got some new to me items in a fun theme I wanted to go with.
Blue and white show man.
Got a hot pad, birdhouse painted in snow man theme and colors.
Tin for some of the things I'll get later on for prepper basket I'm doing for me.

Two new to me wire baskets for ? not sure yet but I luv baskets.
Got my planner for next year too.

[trissie]

House & Holidays Plan Week 11: Food Storage Week

https://organizedhome.com/christmas/hou ... orage-week

This Week's Focus: Food Storage Areas
Our homes hold an amazing bounty in pantry and freezer, and never more so than during the holiday season. This week, we turn to food storage areas in our home to prepare them for the coming weeks.
Whether your home includes a dedicated pantry and stand-alone freezer, or simply stockpiles food in cupboards and corners, it's time to clean and organize areas used to store food. Include the refrigerator in this week's activities, to bring order and make space for holiday goodies.
In holiday prep, we'll check equipment, supplies and ingredients so we're poised to prepare Thanksgiving dinner with ease.

This Week's Household Checklist
- Clean out the refrigerator. Time for a refrigerator clean-out. Make space for holiday cooking by tossing expired bottles and jars, and bring holiday sparkle to the Great White Whale with a top-to-toe cleaning session.
- Clean out the freezer. In the freezer? We'll cull the clutter, organize the contents, and make room for holiday baking and the fruits of a freezer cooking session.
- Clean out the pantry. Finally, dry storage areas deserve a shake-down, too. Toss stale or expired food items, clean shelves and organize the survivors for efficient holiday cooking.

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist
- Start a freezer inventory. Keep track of your frozen assets with a freezer inventory. Update your list as you add holiday goodies, side dishes and freezer meals in the coming weeks.
- Inventory the pantry. The year's best sales on staple foods lie just ahead. Know what you need - and make space to store it - with a pantry inventory form. Set aside foods you won't use to donate to holiday food drives.
- Give spices the sniff test. Soon holiday cooks will be reaching for the sage, cinnamon or nutmeg; how fresh are your spices? Give the spice rack a sniff test, and replace any stale or outdated spices before you cook.
- Review recipes and make a shopping list. This week sees the year's lowest prices at the supermarket, as grocers battle for your holiday food dollar. - Get ready to save: check holiday recipes and make a shopping list. Include all pantry or frozen items that you'll need for rest of the season, because these low prices won't last long!
- Eat from the freezer and pantry this week. To free up funds for holiday food shopping, rely on stored food to feed the family this week. It's a two-fer: you'll reserve cash for food bargains and make space in food storage areas!
- Stock up on seasonal staples. It's loss leader time at the supermarket, as merchants compete for your holiday food dollar. Take advantage of low prices and stock the pantry for holiday cooking ahead.
- Stockpile freezer meals. Whether you do an at-home freezer cooking session, try the new meal assembly franchises or simply cook some extra pots of chili or spaghetti sauce this, stow away a few pre-cooked freezer meals. In December, you'll appreciate the convenience of having dinner ready to go on busy nights.
- Check out cooking equipment. Do you have all the equipment you'll need to cook a holiday meal or complete holiday baking? Make a quick check of kitchen cupboards. If you need new equipment like a roaster, cookie sheets or a meat thermometer, add it to the shopping list. Kitchen equipment goes on sale soon!
- Plan potluck meals. If you're part of family, church or social groups that hold Advent potluck dinners, be ready. A printable potluck meal planner will help organize and delegate appetizers, entrees and desserts for community dinners.

all printables available at the website linked above

[trissie]

Holiday Grand Plan Week 11: Garage

https://holidaygrandplan.com/11-garage-storage-week/

HOLIDAY PREP
- Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
- Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
- Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
- Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes.
- Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
- Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
- Review and revise menus and other plans.
- Plan table setting.
- Plan centerpiece, make as much as possible now (or order it from florist).
- Reserve any items needed to be borrowed or rented.
- Get everyone's holiday clothes purchased/cleaned/pressed.

CLEANING/ORGANIZING AREA: GARAGE / STORAGE

all the printables and more reading material can be found at the website linked above.

[trissie]

Week 11 - food storage
- clean/declutter pantry
- clean/declutter kitchen fridge
- clean/declutter kitchen freezer
- clean/declutter garage fridge
- clean/declutter garage freezer
- clean/declutter food storage shelves in downstairs storage
- clean/declutter food storage shelves in garage

[L.Ann]

My hope was to get all of the cleaning done before my surgery in late November and then they moved the surgery to this week. I can’t drive for 2 weeks so since I will be spending more time at home I decided to wrap the gifts I have and figure out a Thanksgiving food list. I am not cooking for Thanksgiving itself but the Utah crew will be here for the long weekend if the airlines are working.

Cleaning October and November
-spare bedroom
-DD32’s room
-my room
-hall
-kitchen
-dining room done except for scrubbing the floor
-living room
-bathroom

Decorations
-tree
-bins from shed

Gifts
Christmas
Brother, sister in law, sister, brother in law
DD32(half done), DD39(half done), DD41
DD39’s DH, DD41’s DH
Little Bit, DGD12- Duolingo, DGD6, DGS6 BMX gear, DGS11 BMX gear
2gifts for gift exchange

Birthdays
DD38-handprint card w/flamingo, DD32 got her gift, two cards
DD41
DGD12
DGD6-DD32 got her gift and I got mine, got card
DGS6-DD32 got her gift and I got mine, got cars
DD32-12/19 hotel weekend w/ICE and Holidaze cirque tickets

Christmas cards, Christmas stamps, mail gifts, wrap gifts-cards and stamps bought, cards ready to mail
Christmas shopping plans
Christmas activities-Tuba Christmas@1 12/13, Little Bit overnight 12/13
Shutterfly thing-make card, DD32 2025 book, Little Bit 2024 book, calendar for DD38, Little Bit 2025 book, Little Bit 2024 school book
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