Organization |

It’s October folks! While we’re certainly not trying to rush through fall to get to winter, we’re starting to think ahead to preparing for “the holidays.” A couple weeks ago, I posted a template for starting a Holiday Binder for your family to streamline your Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations. I also promised you a more detailed guide to preparing for Thanksgiving weeks in advance to avoid the last minute mayhem that can come with hosting Thanksgiving in your home. (I’ll also be posting a Christmas Prep Checklist early-mid November so stay tuned!)

Click here for our Sincerely Doris Jane Holiday Binder – For Post!

A few tips and suggestions before you get started:

I like to use plastic page sleeves for each page to protect pages while I’m cooking. This also allows you to check things off with a dry erase marker as you complete them and provides a pocket for handwritten recipe cards.
What is a “set-up space?” (see 6 weeks to go) Whether it’s holiday prep or preparing for a vacation, I like to designate a corner of a room, or a whole room to gathering all my supplies, checklists or any packing that needs to be done. I like to be able to put things in this space as I think of them and then shut the door behind me to keep my toddler away.
Give yourself an extra page sleeve to start holding your coupons as you find them.
Use extra pages to make notes and reminders for the following year as things come up.

So tell us, did I miss anything? Has this been helpful to you? Comment below and tell us how you stay organized during what can be a crazy time of year, but doesn’t have to be.

I’m a list maker. I always have been. Packing lists, cleaning lists, grocery lists, to do lists. You name it – it’s probably on a post it or in a notebook somewhere in my house. It’s truly the only way I keep my life in order. Without a list and my planner I’d be wandering around in circles in my kitchen asking myself what it was I came in there for. I have binders and folders and itineraries for just about everything we do.

At about this time every year I start thinking about preparation for the holidays. I know what you’re thinking – lady, it’s barely September. Hold your sleighbell-slingin’ horses…but we all know once the pools close and the kids go back to school it’ll be November before we have a chance to blink.

My husband and I entertain a lot around the holidays. Whether it’s having both of our families over for Thanksgiving every year or having friends over for Christmas parties we keep ourselves rather busy. However, with all that fun comes a good deal of preparation in the weeks prior. Lots of grocery shopping and coupon watching and trying to find specific recipes in the unsorted mess I call a recipe box.

So this year I decided to try to simplify things a bit and put everything into one place. Enter … the Holiday Binder. A place to put everything you need to keep yourself organized and make your holiday prep a piece of ~~cake~~ … pumpkin pie.

Click the link below for our printable table of contents page.

We’ll be posting our Thanksgiving section in a couple weeks.

Holiday Binder – Table of Contents Printable

What you’ll need:
– Sincerely, Doris Jane’s table of contents printable
– Dividers (we like the kind with a pocket for stashing original recipe cards)

– Recipes printed on 1 sheet (print them in a Word doc to make them easy to read)
– Sheet protectors (to keep those recipes clean)
– 1 2″ binder
– Sharpie
– Family recipes
– Calendar / Planner

The holidays don’t have to be hectic. Let us help you control the chaos and follow along as we build our holiday binder over the next couples months! We’re excited to hear how you’ve adjusted this to fit your family!

Organization

Holiday Binder: Thanksgiving Prep Checklist

Holiday Binder: Getting Started