House & Holidays Plan and Other Christmas plans - 2025 edition

[Kittykatt]

That's really interesting, Harriet! I have my own list and own order of doing things, but I still like to join in, as it gives accountability and,it's importantly, we can encourage each other.

Good to see you, L.Ann!

We had a rainy Saturday afternoon so I decluttered and cleaned two of the drawers I Der the bed. And hoovered under there. At least that's a start in the bedroom.

[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 WIO
Deep clean bedroom WIP
Declutter spare room/ office
Deep clean spare room/ office
Declutter kitchen
Deep clean kitchen

Prune roses 2 done, 26 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)
DH stocking
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?)
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
Are we doing a newsletter this year?

Food:
Ring butcher and order Christmas meat
Veg and fruit
Christmas “goodies” – cheeses, biscuits for cheese, sweet 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?

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!)
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)

Women’s group meditation and meal (is this going ahead, as the lady who usually organises this is now extremely unwell.) I could offer to *help* organise it, but not do the whole thing. I know my limits, and I'm already doing parish Christmas lunch.

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).
Find phone number for caterers
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 a ticketed event, so liaise with D (parish administrator over design of tickets )
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? 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?


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?

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

To be continued...
[/quote]

[trissie]

trissie, you're brilliant

(but we already knew that)

We (well, I, at least) thought we lost access to much of this good information following the 2022 letter from Cynthia, which had said the sites would no longer be available/searchable, and soon our links here weren't working (still aren't). We linked to that full letter in the 2022 Holiday thread in The Creative Home forum here, yet it is gone now, too. By 2023's Holiday thread we were just encouraging those who still had the info in hard copy to refer to those.

So, you may not realize it, but this is a great "find" for some, and if it's okay with you, I'll link to your fun thread here from the annual one in The Creative Home this time. We've been blessed with blessed's (see what I did there) additional thread this year, of summer prep for holidays, since she wanted some early-bird sharing. But time for the regular Holiday Planning thread in Creative Home now.

I'm glad to be able to give back to the community that took us in so graciously when we needed a new home!

Would it be OK to have a Christmas picture on first page? That's what we always did and it looks kinda sad and bare and non-Christmasy

BTW should the site go down (the inter-links no longer work and it was down some weeks last year), I still have all the printables and am happy to share them by email!

[Harriet]

By all means! We have experienced times on this site when we had to go around and clear photos in order to add any more photos. This usually meant taking photos away from older posts - Arts, Crafts and Needlework, for instance - in order to post new photos of what folks were working on currently. We felt awful if we couldn't contact the original poster to do it rather than taking any down ourselves.

That made us very photo-skittish for daily threads, but less so for monthly, and certainly not for welcoming into seasonal sharing like this. I noticed you had a beautiful photo for the holiday one at SheForums to which you linked. It was larger (not larger than some I've wanted to post! Just larger than I have been able to post with limitations here, likely set years ago.), so I am unsure what limitations you may find, and interested.

Please experiment and see what you are able to "hang" on your front wall here. Perhaps I can do some experimenting, too, and also some clearing of out-of-date things found, to generally give some "space".

Very kind of you to offer email sharing of printables just in case.

[blessedw2]

I am so so happy that you all are here!!!

[Bama]

Thank you, trissie, for getting this started with a beautiful picture and thank you to Harriet and the shesorganized group for being so kind and gracious!

I’ll try to start in earnest tomorrow and make this Christmas a good, stress free time.

[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 WIO
Deep clean bedroom WIP
Declutter spare room/ office
Deep clean spare room/ office
Declutter kitchen
Deep clean kitchen

Prune roses 2 done, 26 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)
DH stocking
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?)
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
Are we doing a newsletter this year?

Food:
Ring butcher and order Christmas meat
Veg and fruit
Christmas “goodies” – cheeses, biscuits for cheese, sweet 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?

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!)
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)

Women’s group meditation and meal (is this going ahead, as the lady who usually organises this is now extremely unwell.) I could offer to *help* organise it, but not do the whole thing. I know my limits, and I'm already doing parish Christmas lunch.

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).
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
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? 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?


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?

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

To be continued...
[/quote]
[/quote]

[Kittykatt]

My butcher sent me a WhatsApp this morning to say they are retiring on 15th November (or earlier if they sell the shop!) so would I like to place an order for Christmas now, to be delivered early November??!!

So I've ordered our usual meat hamper and some of the sausage rolls that DH likes, for delivery on 5/11 (or earlier if they sell the shop before then). Now we need to eat enough from the freezer to store it all!

[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 WIO
Deep clean bedroom WIP
Declutter spare room/ office
Deep clean spare room/ office
Declutter kitchen
Deep clean kitchen

Prune roses 2 done, 26 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)
DH stocking
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?)
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
Are we doing a newsletter this year?

Food:
Ring butcher and order Christmas meat
Delivery on 5/11, or earlier if they sell the shop!
Veg and fruit - are we having a Christmas veg box?
Christmas “goodies” – cheeses, biscuits for cheese, sweet 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?

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!)
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)

Women’s group meditation and meal (is this going ahead, as the lady who usually organises this is now extremely unwell.) I could offer to *help* organise it, but not do the whole thing. I know my limits, and I'm already doing parish Christmas lunch.

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).
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
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? 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?


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?

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

To be continued...
[/quote]
[/quote]
[/quote]

[trissie]

House & Holidays Plan Week 2: Calendar and Creativity

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

This Week's Focus: Calendars and Creative Spaces
It takes time and effort to come up with a realistic plan for the weeks ahead, and to do so, the calendar is critical! This week, we chart the course of the holiday season, planning travel, guests and celebrations.
Beginning Christmas planning early grants a bonus: time for handmade holidays! Will you'll craft gifts, decorations or paper crafts this year? If so, you'll need a well-organized workspace, so this week, we'll declutter, clean and organize the areas of our home used for crafting, sewing, or paper crafting.

This Week's Household Checklist
- Declutter and clean creative spaces. Whether it's a corner of the kitchen table or a dedicated crafts room, what's the state of your creative space? Is it efficient and easy to use, or bulging and bloated? This week, take the STOP clutter method to areas where you wrap gifts, sew, work on scrapbooks or make crafts. When the clutter's conquered, clean your space for happy seasonal crafting.
- Assess stored crafts materials. Time to head to the stash--fabric, paper or crafts--to take a look at household supplies. Will you need to replace crafts basics like tape, glue, paper or scissors? This week's school supply sales are a great time to stock up in the crafts closet.

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist
- Create a seasonal calendar. Take control of your time with a simple family calendar for the holiday months ... or beyond! Whether you use a smartphone app or our printable calendars, start a holiday calendar to track events, celebrations and deadlines.
- Plan holiday travel. Start early to get the best--and cheapest--options for plane tickets, hotel reservations and event tickets.
- Hold a scheduling session. Little things mean a lot--and never more than during the holidays--so schedule furnace checks, carpet cleaning, a family photo session and chimney inspection now.
- Start a set of tear files. As you read holiday magazines or browse gift catalogs, tear our articles with recipes, decor ideas, gift suggestions or holiday traditions. Staple article pages together and place in labeled file folders ("Decor", "Holiday Recipes", "Gift Ideas") or page protectors in the Christmas planner.
- Start--and use--a shopping list. Tracking "to-buy" items in one place saves time all year, but is crucial during the busy run-up to the holidays. Get the list habit now!
- Review gift lists. How is the Master Gift List coming along? If you need more gift idea inspiration, add a Gift Ideas Planner page to your House and Holidays Planner. It'll help you track interests, sizes and preferences of loved ones.
- Inventory unfinished crafts projects. Remember the Crafter's Rule of Four: if you have more than four unfinished crafts projects, or if any single project is more than four years old, don't schedule any new crafts! Finish the old ones this year--you've already got a head start on the process and the price is right! Rout out projects you've begun, and take advantage of the time already invested in them for happy crafting.
Begin a "Gifts to Make" list. Christmas crafters benefit by starting early. Begin working on holiday gifts, decor items and crafts now, for a stress-free season.

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