Holiday Grand Plan: A Clean House for Christmas

Holiday Grand Plan 2020
   August 7, 2020 by Cynthia Ewer

You've decided: this is the year you'll celebrate the holiday season from a home that is clean, organized and ready for Christmas. You dream of holiday parties, overnight house guests, Christmas cookies, a decorated home and a calm and stress-free holiday season.

There's only one problem: right now, you're living in domestic chaos. How to create a clean home for the holidays?

Looking around your home, you don't know where to begin. Cluttered counters, crammed closets and out-of-place possessions pile up everywhere.    Read More >>

Holiday Grand Plan Calendar and Checklists

Holiday Grand Plan 2020
Free printable holiday planner for an organized Christmas

Ready to get organized for Christmas with the Holiday Grand Plan? Our whole-house Christmas organizing plan kicks off on Sunday, August 30!

Print these Holiday Grand Plan calendar pages to prepare for the holiday season with the Web's oldest Christmas organizing plan. Week by week the Holiday Grand Plan will take you closer to your goal: a clean and organized home for Christmas.    Read More >>

House & Holidays Plan: Get Organized for Christmas

House and Holidays Plan 2020
A Clean and Organized Home for the Holidays

Christmas is coming, and you're dreaming of a clean and organized home, decked out in holiday glory. Then you open your eyes to reality. Looking around the house, it's hard to imagine how to cut the clutter, manage fall cleaning and prepare for Christmas all at once.

How will you bring the current state of domestic chaos into holiday readiness: clean, organized, prepared? Try the House and Holidays Plan and make your house work ... for the holidays!    Read More >>

House & Holidays Plan Calendar and Checklists

House & Holidays Plan 2019
Week by Week to an Organized Christmas

Will you clean house, cut clutter and prepare for the holidays by following the House and Holidays Plan this year?

The 2020 House and Holidays Plan begins on Sunday, August 30! Join us to get ready to celebrate the holiday season in a clean and organized home.

First step: check in with the Plan calendar. In the weeks to come, you'll schedule STOP clutter and deep-cleaning sessions for each area of your home and set aside time for holiday planning and preparation.    Read More >>

Christmas Countdown: Get Organized for the Holiday Season

Christmas Countdown 2019
Six Weeks to an Organized Christmas

What do you really want for Christmas? More time, more joy, and less stress? Welcome to the Christmas Countdown! We're kicking off the 2020 Countdown on Sunday, October 25.

A calmer, more centered holiday celebration is easy when you simplify your holidays with the Christmas Countdown get organized plan.

The Christmas Countdown is a free six-week Christmas organizing workshop from Organized Christmas. Written by author and Web publisher Cynthia Ewer, the Countdown has been online since 1998. Tested by hundreds of thousands of families like yours, it's a tried-and-true road map for an organized Christmas.

Countdown assignments, spread over six weeks, simplify the job of getting ready for Christmas. By breaking down Christmas preparation into small, easy-to-take steps, the Countdown gives you a holiday headstart for a stress-free Christmas season. We'll cover gift lists, cooking, decorating and fun--and you'll be ready for Christmas with time to spare.

Ready? We're counting down to an organized Christmas, starting on Sunday, October 21!    Read More >>

Christmas Countdown Calendar and Checklists

Christmas Countdown 2020
Six Weeks to an Organized Christmas

Will you follow the Christmas Countdown this year? Beginning Sunday, October 25, we'll prepare for the holiday season with daily messages, weekly assignments, encouragement and fun. This six-week get-organized program will take you to the start of the holiday season, prepared and ready for Christmas.

Your road map begins with the Countdown calendar. Setting out each week's focus, it'll keep you motivated and on track to an organized Christmas as we work the Countdown together.    Read More >>

Cupid Poop: Valentines Day Gag Gift

Cupid Poop Poem
   February 6, 2020 by Cynthia Ewer

Valentine tricksters, take note ... it's Cupid Poop! Surprise your Valentine with this easy gag gift.

Making Cupid Poop is as easy as placing a handful of candy hearts, seasonal marshmallows, or red jelly beans in a small zipper food storage bag.

Seal and label with a free printable Cupid Poop gift tag or bag topper, or handwrite a tag using the poem below.    Read More >>

Seasonal Storage Tip: Holiday Stragglers Box

Holiday Stragglers Box
   December 29, 2019 by Cynthia Ewer

Christmas has come and gone ... or has it?

Lights are stored, the tree is down, and holiday decor rests in boxes in the storage area, waiting for next year.

Then you turn the corner and spot an overlooked Santa, shining on top of the piano.

In the refrigerator, the holiday butter dish hides the last remnants of a stick of butter. Holiday linens, napkins and kitchen towels pop up in the laundry area this week, next week and the week after.    Read More >>

Post-Holiday Debriefing: Get Organized for Next Christmas

   December 26, 2019 by Cynthia Ewer

It's over for another year!

Wild and woolly or sane and sedate, we've passed through the holiday season and into a new year. Breath caught, it's time to debrief.

You know debriefing, right? The astronauts do it, spies do it, pilots do it: a measured after-the fact evaluation of the mission or flight.

Smart holiday planners should do it, too--because taking time now to note what worked, what didn't will be a road map to a more organized Christmas next year.    Read More >>

Organized Christmas? Easy Tips to Get Ready For Next Year

   December 23, 2019 by Cynthia Ewer

Christmas is here ... but you're not ready? The e-mails in my inbox tell the story: "I wish I'd found this site earlier!"

During this time of year, I hear from scores of readers who came looking for holiday help at the height of the celebration-and faced with the reality of Christmas chaos.

Stumbling over our site, they see that it's possible to be organized--and joyous--during the holidays. They just wish they'd found us in time!

So say you're starting now, to think about next year. What's the secret to a stress-free season? Plan ahead!    Read More >>

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