Organize your Christmas {Free Printables}

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Christmas time is officially upon us! I adore the holidays! I love being with family, the decorations, the yummy food, the music, and the LISTS! Oh, the lists! I am such a list person, so I use any excuse I can to make one, or two... or a binder full! Last week I shared this first printable on my guest post at Over the Big Moon, and I promised the rest of it soon, and here it is!

The first printable is Santa's Survey!

I had been wanting to do a page like this for a few years now, for my husband mostly! It is SO hard to just come out and ask him what he wants! This way you are able to have your spouse write everything down, or have your kids fill it out for you, and there's no more guess work! You will always have everything you need to know at your fingertips! I also filled it out for my little boy, so that whenever I get an idea of something to get him for Christmas, I can jot it down. I keep mine all together in a binder, so I can just grab it whenever I go out Christmas shopping and I have all my ideas right there!

Santa's Survey Download

Next up... A fun December calendar! I know you all probably have a calendar on your wall, but I'm using this one for all things HOLIDAY! what days I'm going to make Neighbor treats, what nights we're going to pass them out, things like that!

December Calendar Download

Next up... FOOD list! I love food. This list keeps you reminded on what neighbors you are giving treats to, and what food you agreed to bring to what party!

Christmas Food Download

This next one will replace your 50 cent notebook that has random gift ideas for your family scribbled all over it. Just fill in the name, and whenever you get a genius gift idea for your grandma, jot it down and it will be with you when you go out shopping!

Christmas Gift List Download

And what would a download list be without a cover!?

download cover

 Merry Christmas and Happy Planning!

Organizing Keepsakes {Free Download}

I am a keeper. My dear sweet husband likes to refer to it as hoarding, but that's a bit harsh! I just can't bring myself to throw aways sentimental objects! But as I started accumulating things after my little boy was born, I realized that if I didn't nip this in the butt, it was going to be a big mess before too long! So I went into 'organizer' mode and came up with this little system!

First, I printed a page of labels, nothing fancy, but they get the job done! (I added a less 'personalized' version for you to download at the end of this post)  Then I gathered my keepsakes into categories:Baby Shower (cards, the invite, etc.) Hospital (newborn hat, his eye mask for the billi lights, hospital bracelets, etc.) 1st Birthday (bday cards, the '1' on his cake, invitation, cupcake topper, the birthday banner, etc.) My baby just turned 1, so those are the big milestones I needed so far, but I'll also someday add things like each year of school, each birthday, baptism, and things like that.

 Then I just separated them into gallon Ziploc baggies, wrote on a label, and put it inside the front! There were a few things that didn't fit in the bags, but I just put them in a folder in the bottom. You could also use manila folders, but I just wanted to be able to see inside. I think when he starts school I will add a school folder for each year to keep things like report cards, handwriting samples etc.

 I took a large, flat storage container and placed the bags inside. I keep my boxes like this under my bed, so the short container fits perfect, but you could use any size you have available.

 Here's a less persoal version of the labels! Since I know not everyone names their babies Blake :)

Download 8.5x11 sheet

I hope this gets your keepsakes a little more organized!

Spare Change Jar

So I know this I am not the first person ever to have a spare change jar ;) But I just have to tell you where to get the BEST change jar. The bulk pickle jar at walmart is wonderful! I seriously would pay the $3 JUST to get the jar again! It doesn't look that big in the photo, but trust me, it is! Here's how it goes at our house... The jar sits in our laundry room, since that's where most of the change collecting happens, and it slowly fills. We also have a few cups throughout the house (by the bed, and on our dresser, that I will gather up every once in a while and empty into the big one. Anyways, we usually empty it once every year for our family vacation and that is contributed to our "fun money" for the trip! Most years we will have about $100 in there! Granted, my husband usually buys a pop at the gas station everyday and we use cash quite a bit, but even if you just put in a little bit every once in a while, you'll be surprised at how fast it fills!

If you don't have a spare change jar at your house, get one! Preferably a pickle bearing one ;)

Oh, and some vinyl never hurt!

Stocking Your Pantry {and a peek into mine!}

Let me start out by saying that I do NOT have a large pantry! In fact, I have 2 rather small ones. I split them into 2 categories, My "opened" pantry is in my kitchen, it has all of the opened boxes, cookies, crackers, cereal, things we are in the process of eating. The second pantry is in our laundry room, and it had my "stock pile" in it. I thought I'd give you a peek into that pantry to see what our family likes to stock up on. I love seeing other people food storage to get new ideas, so hopefully I can give you a few!

I don't keep a lot of your average food storage items, I don't have wheat, oats, powdered milk, things like that. Mostly because I have no idea what to do with that kind of stuff!! Okay I lied, I have powdered milk because I use it in my rolls. But for the most part, I stock up on things that my family eats everyday, and that will keep for long periods of time. Here's a few examples...

  Rice, Pasta and Boxed Dinners: I got all of this for SUPER cheap, and thats why I started stocking up on it. The Rice a Roni I got for like .50 a box, the pasta was .25 a box. All these things keep for a fairly long time, so I knew it wouldnt go to waste. I use the rice often for a side dish, or add chicken and veggies for a super fast dinner.

 Cans: I just have one stock up tip on cans. When you buy one, buy another. You'll be amazed at how fast your pile grows if you just buy one or two extra everytime!

 Condiments: These are my FAVORITE pantry item! they come on sale for really cheap and I get as many as I can! I think I payed like .40 for the mustard, .50 for the hot sauce, and .42 for the soy sauce. Other than that, I always try and remember when I take the 'spare' out of the pantry, to write it on my grocery list, so I always have 1 or 2 extra.

 Bottling: I've just gotten into bottling, and when I say just, I mean last week! My father in law has an AMAZING garden, and was kind enough to stock me up with tomatoes! Between that and our garden... My mom and I went to town the other day and ended up with all this! This weekend will be homemade relish, peaches, pie filling and peach jam! This is a cost efficient way to get veggies! I know that the church farms here is southern utah sell peaches for really cheap, and I'm sure everyone has a neighbor or two with extra produce!

Beverages: Normally, I'm a water kinda gal, but sometimes you need a little something else! We have a lot of koolaid, mostly because it's inexpensive and quick to make. I dont buy a ton of pop, but I will usually pick up 2 or 3 when they go on sale for .69 cents. I use lemonade to BBQs and parties with friends, I will make a big pitcher and add frozen mixed berries, and that's it!

Laundry Soap: Laundry products are another good item to stock up on! These come on sale fairly often for like $1.50 a bottle. I usually stock up like this once or twice a year, and then I never have to worry about running out!

I hope this gives you some new ideas, or at least a little inspiration to start stocking your panty!

I'll leave you with my stocking motto...

"I'd rather but 20 at a time at 1/2 price, than 1 at time for full price"

Recipe Binder

When I was in High School, I started a recipe binder for when I got married. It started with a 1/2 inch binder, which slowly, but surely, evolved into a huge 3 inch binder, FILLED with every single recipe that I ever came across! Ones from magazines, from online, handwritten, typed, you name it, it was in there! It got old taking out that heavy binder and thumbing through hundreds of recipes I had never even tried just to get to the few that I made often. SO I downsized! I got a 1/2 inch binder, and filled it with only the BEST of the best recipes! The ones I use over and over, family favorites, only the greats! It has been so nice to be able to find a recipe quickly! You can see that the recipes are a little 'loved' to put it nicely, but the sheet protectors help a lot! TRY IT! You'll use your recipes a lot more if you don't have to search!

Notice this list on the back cover!