Holiday Organization - How to get yourself set up for storing and organizing holiday photos, memorabilia and more.

The Holiday season is always stressful. Often times during the holiday season things that should be fun become overwhelming and the joy disappears. Minimize your holiday stress where scrapbooking is concerned by getting ready for the holiday season today.

Step 1
Designate a Place for Holiday Stuff.
Having a designated place to accumulate holiday materials is key. If you don’t own a TravelPack Plus, now is a good time to purchase one. You’ll also need some storage pages in a variety of designs (SuperSized Singles, Double X-Long, Fabulous Four, Perfect Six and some 8 ½ x 11 page protectors from the office supply store).
If you’re already using a TravelPack Plus, and you’ve got an empty Spinder that will work too. You can also use an empty Spinder on your ScrapRack. If you need a couple of extra Spinders you can buy a 2 Pack of Spinders and have one for your TravelPack and one for your ScrapRack base unit.
Put all of the pages on your Spinder and put it into your TravelPack Plus. Find a convenient place for the TravelPack. Remember, being able to get to it easily is one of the keys to actually use a good organization system. If you’re using a Spinder on your base unit add the empty pages to the Spinder.

Step 2
Create a Calendar for the weeks to come.
Use the templates in Microsoft Word on your computer to choose a weekly calendar blank that you can keep with your TravelPack Plus or with your ScrapRack. I prefer/recommend the type that have lots of space to write, rather than the type that have small cubes.
Print out one weekly calendar for each week, from the first of November through the second week of January.
Add any notes you already have for holiday activities or events. Be sure to write small, you’re going to be adding notes to most things as the events happen.
3 hole punch the Calendar, add some hole reinforcements to it if you’ve got them and put the calendar in front of all the pages in your TravelPack Plus or on your ScrapRack.

Step 3
Holiday Gift/Shopping List
Create a list on your computer of all the people you will give gifts to this season. Group them by type of gift or reason, i.e., your Postman, Milkman, Paperboy, Kids Teachers, etc. may all be getting a small gift or a card with a check or gratuity, they are one group. Your ScrapPals may have a gift exchange or you may want to give them each just a little something (Basic Grey’s Rub On Roller Tool or Precision Sanding Set could be perfect for these friends). There are neighbors who may be getting cookie plates, extended family and of course your immediate family. Print this list out and put it in your TravelPack Plus or on your ScrapRack. Use this section as a place to jot down notes and ideas for these people. You can remove the list when you head out for Christmas shopping. It’s generally easier to actually write down a note than it is to login to the computer find the document and add to it. If you like to keep things tidy, you could jot down the notes and then once a week or so you could add them to initial computer list.

Step 4
Accumulating Holiday “stuff”
As holiday “stuff” starts to arrive; Invitations, Community Events, School Events, Church Events, etc., Add the dates and times of the events to your calendar. Then file the flyers, invitations, etc. into the storage pages. Again, remember to write small, as you’ll probably be adding information later. Use this system to store anything that’s relevant, even notes to yourself. This is a great place to store recipes you see in magazines or online. If you see a special recipe for the cookie exchange or for a holiday meal, add it to a pocket page in your TravelPack plus. When you are ready to write shopping lists or plan for holiday baking, all of the things you need will be in one place.

Step 5
Attending Holiday Events
Once holiday events get underway, you’ll be accumulating pictures, memorabilia and hopefully some good stories to journal about. With a TravelPack set up, you can easily add memorabilia and journaling notes right into the pocket pages. This is where the space on your calendar becomes important. On the calendar make a note that you have memorabilia, journaling and photos next to the event. If you use a traditional camera and are having pictures printed, you can add a note about the pictures and where and when you dropped them for developing. If you are using digital, put a note about how you coded or labeled the pictures on your computer and what file you stored them in. Finally, use the remaining space to make notes about the event; who was there?, how much you enjoyed it? etc. . You can even put a reminder to yourself to send a “Thank-You” with a picture or two to the event host. Use the Perfect Six Storage Pages to sort, store and organize pictures that you’ve had printed.

Step 6
Will you be visiting a Scrapbook Store during the Holiday Season?
If you have a chance to get to the Scrapbook Store during the Holiday Season take your TravelPack Plus with you. You’ll have all of your memorabilia, journaling notes, and photos together in one place. This will allow you to choose Scrapbooking products that easily coordinate with things you have to “scrap about.” Put these special purchases right in with the Photos, Memorabilia, and Journaling notes. A SuperSized Single Pocket page works great for this as it will accommodate even 12x12 items.

Step 7
When you have time to Scrap
When the hectic pace of the holidays slows down and you have time to scrap about them you’ll be ready with everything in one place. You won’t have to worry about missing memorabilia, or exact dates, or knowing who was where, etc. You’ll have everything grouped together in one tidy little bundle. Whether your slow down comes in January or you have to wait for a year from January, it won’t matter because everything you need will be right there waiting for you!

One Final Tip - Capitalizing on Christmas Cards
Christmas Cards begin arriving slowly and then start to pour in. Even with the best intentions it’s sometimes hard to remember to add people to your Christmas Card List and/or return cards to them. To help with this, save each of the envelopes from Christmas Cards in one pocket page. Make a note on the envelope indicating that you’ve already sent a card or that you need to send a card. You can send the card out quickly, and then add the name to your permanent Christmas Card List after the holidays using the return address on the envelope. Also, saving all of the envelopes can help you create a really fun Scrapbook Page. Simply tear or cut all the return addresses from the envelopes and use them to create either a full page, or embellishments on a page about reconnecting with friends and family over the holiday season. Not only will you have a great page, you’ll have saved all the mailing address for your good friends.