My Christmas Planner

It is only four months until Christmas!!  About this time last year, I decided to make myself a Christmas Planner to help me stay organised in the lead-up to and during the Christmas season.

I found the amazing Organised Christmas website, and immediately decided that I would use their planner page templates to create my planner.  They are all free downloads!

First, I printed off all of the pages that I thought I would need.  Then I labeled two sets of plastic A4 dividers using logical categories that are relevant to my Christmas, along with the titles that are on the free printable title pages.

The link for the dividers is here.   They are great because they each have a pocket, which is handy to slip in invitations, menus, etcetera.

Next, I sorted the planner pages into the categories behind the dividers.  I printed off multiple copies of templates such as 'party planners and guest lists', so that I could seperate ones for the different events that we had planned.

I then used my scrapbooking supplies to create a pretty cover, and then I took the entire pack to Officeworks and had it comb bound, with a cardboard backing and plastic cover.  I decided to bind it, rather than put it into a folder with plastic sleeves, as I wanted to be able to write directly onto the pages, and not have to pull each piece of paper out of the sleeve when I wanted to write something or check something off.

And finally, I was able to complete the pages that helped me to have a super organised Christmas!

Read about my JOY frames here.

I have to admit that there were lots of pages in my planner that I didn't use, so now I am in the process of taking out the pages that were not really relevant to me, and replenishing the pages that I did use with new templates, so that my planner is more user-friendly this year.  To do this, I am flagging the pages that I don't need plus the ones that I did use last year that aren't relevant for this year (eg - 2011 calendar pages & planning for the family Christmas party, which I am not hosting this year) and sliding in the new templates, which I will take back to Officeworks and get them to remove the unwanted pages and add in the new pages.  There are pages that I did last year, that can just stay in there for coming years, such as our Christmas card list, family traditions, family member's favourites page, etcetera, which is a great timesaver now that it is my second time around!

I think my favourite part of the planner was not the fact that it kept me organised (which you know I love!), but the values and traditions pages are so special, as they make you reflect on what it is about Christmas that you love and want to continue.  It puts special meaning behind all of the gifts and decorations, and takes Christmas back to the core purpose of sharing special times with loved ones.  That is what I really loved about this planner.  It reminded me to appreciate the true spirit of Christmas.

I also made a Christmas planner for my mum and my sister!  This is what theirs looked like:

If you want an organised Christmas this year, try making yourself a planner!  It's easy!