Easy Christmas Organizing Ideas for Family Life

Calendar with red and green holiday ornaments on it.

Easy Christmas organizing ideas for family life. Sure, turkey leftovers may still be lingering in your fridge.

But there's no escaping the reality just about everywhere else in your home and beyond: It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Ready or not. Icicle lights have popped up on neighbors' rooftops seemingly overnight. Seasonal jingles and sentiments are suddenly everywhere.

t's enough to make the most festive of souls feel Grinch-like. After all, merrymaking of the Christmas sort takes heaps of work - and time. Or does it?

These easy Christmas organizing ideas are designed to make the weeks ahead a joy for you and yours. With the tipsy timetable, we can look forward to a stress-free and enjoyable holiday season.

Week-by-Week Easy Christmas Organizing Ideas

The challenge with the holidays is that they are too short.
This year, Thanksgiving falls late in the month, so we've only got just four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas to make all our family's holiday fantasies come true.

It's a race against time, and efficient planning is the key. And somehow still find time to savor the season. I've created a tipsy timetable with the oncoming seasonal onslaught in mind.

This week-by-week guide will help you get it all done before Santa arrives, leaving you with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Week 1: (Nov. 27 - Dec. 3)

Deck the halls. Make your home festive. Add a few holiday throw pillows; affix a strand or three of white lights up and down the interior banister; get down that box of decorations, and you're on your way.

Rearrange the living room to make room for the tree. Then, make plans for the family to pick and decorate the Christmas tree. Together. Consider a celebratory dinner following the Christmas creation.

Finish Christmas shopping. Plan to finish most of your Christmas shopping this week, so you'll have time to enjoy the holidays without rushing around - or paying last-minute gift prices.

Print the Christmas card list. Make additions, changes, and deletions as needed. If you don't have those addresses on a computer labeling program, this is the year to set aside time to do it.

Christmas Organizing Ideas for Week 2: (Dec. 4 - 10)

Take the kids' holiday pictures if you'll include a photo with your family card this year. Have them developed. Make copies on photo paper at home using your home inkjet printer. Trim with pinking shears, or create an unusual trim of your own.

Mail holiday cards. Be sure to create a place to display the holiday cards you receive.

Make sure party clothes are clean. And don't forget to clean or have cleaned the rest of the family's holiday best, too.

Wrap creatively. You'll both conserve and create a memorable, personal gift. Consider using the kids' artwork for wrapping paper or making make your wrapping paper from inexpensive butcher-type paper. Buy a few large holiday stamps, some red, green, gold and silver paint, and allow the kids to imprint on their decorations. Let dry overnight.

Finalize holiday travel plans.

Create a welcoming guest bedroom. If the gathering's at your home, ensure your guest bedroom is entertaining-ready. If the guest room is your office or your child's room, plan now which area you'll clear out to make room for guests' clothes.

Create a welcoming guest basket of creature comforts: clove or other scented seasonal soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, bath salts or bubbles, a travel alarm clock, and any other necessities your guests may need.

Christmas Organizing Ideas for Week 3: (Dec. 11 - 17)

Make your holiday baking list. Check it twice, then head to the store.

Set aside time for family crafts. This can be as simple as stringing popcorn to wrap around the tree or picking up a clear glass ornament at the local craft store and writing the family's sentiments about the season and the year in a gold or silver pen.