Showing posts with label organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organization. Show all posts

Monday, October 19, 2015

Simply Organized: Christmas in October 2015


 
 
Disclaimer: I posted the exact same writing last year around this time in this post, (different outfit, of course) and it had received positive feedback, so I decided to re-post this year. I will try to come up with something different for next year, but this year, this should suffice. Better repost post than none at all. Haha!
 
Christmas in October? Are you kidding me? October is for Halloween!

Well, think again. It's only nine weeks and a half before Christmas, and time flies really fast. And I mean really fast. Don't you remember what happened last Christmas?

You forgot to buy present for an auntie who, on the previous Christmas, gave you a super expensive, super pretty, Tiffany brooch.
You ended up buying your husband a very nice, expensive tie, when you know he nevers wear tie, because it was a last minute gift.
You ended up buying your coworkerd either too expensive, or too cheap (and cheap-looking) gifts for Christmas party.
You screamed at everyone at the top of your lung because you had twelve family members and friends coming over for Christmas dinner, you still have five more presents to buy, and you forgot to touch up your roots, so the thought of the hostess looked smashing for the event went out of the window. Ouch.

If you love celebrating Christmas like me, you must know that despite all the hassle and stress, you still want to celebrate it big time. There are so many things and preparations for Christmas. Not to mention that before Christmas, came Thanksgiving! So, let's start preparing now while it's still nine weeks away, shall we!

At least get one thing out of the way: the Christmas presents. Yup. So you can scratch that thing off your Christmas to-do-list. Then at least you can still busy cleaning, cooking, shopping, dancing with the turkey and cranberry, and trimming the tree, but at least you are sure that everybody on your list have already had their gifts bought or made and wrapped nicely, tucked safely inside the big cupboard in the garage.

So, I urge you to start now in the Christmas gift department and get it done in eight weeks. So you can dedicate the ninth week and beyond for other things.

Week 1: List all the names of recipients of your Christmas gift

You can always edit this along the way. Don't forget to list recipients who live out of town. Decide this week who is going to get gifts, how much the budget you would put aside for each, and who is going to get only cards. Jot down the gift ideas, as well.
 
Week 2-5: Make your gifts, hunt or shop for them!
 
Some ideas:

If you, and the recipients, are comfortable with the idea of regifting, search around the house for things that you don't want or need, but you know might bring delight to other person.
I'm not talking about junk, but nice things. For example, one time in college, a friend of mine received a black Esprit wallet from her boyfriend. She doesn't like huge wallet, I do. So she almost never used it, and once she broke up with the guy, she gave the slightly-used wallet to me. I didn't care it wasn't a bought present, I loved it and have used it up to now, nineteen years later.
Another example, last year I bought a book about the world of socialites, because I was curious. It was an interesting book, but I didn't care to keep it to my book collection. Some friends of mine wanted to read it, but didn't want to spend money to buy the book. Now the book had been regifted more than twice among friends. It's better than it sits in my corner collecting dust.
What about that huge picture frame with eighteen slots in it that you bought three years ago, but then you realized that you have nowhere to hang it? Give it to a friend who have three children who will love to hang it on her living room.
The coffemaker you received as a wedding present when you already had two of them already? Give it to your dear single friend who loves coffee but thinks that a coffeemaker is too much of a luxury buy for her.
The fancy embroidered dinner napkin set that you bought in a fleeting moment of Martha Steward, but then you realized that you didn't really care for fancy home entertaining, prefering casual BBQ instead? Give it to your friend who loves to hold dinner parties.

Get everyday items as stocking stuffers! Whenever you go grocery shopping, and you see a good deal or marked down on favorite items, buy something for some recipients on your list.
 
That way, you won't be "trapped" in buying all your gifts full price during last minute gift shopping just for stocking stuffer, or buy kitschy knick knacks that look cheap and not very useful! Small items on sale like stationeries, soaps, beauty kits, small sewing kits, nail polish, socks, toiletries, etc. are great as stocking stuffers.
 
If you see your husband's favorite aftershave on 'buy two get free razors' at Walmart, snatch a couple of those. Tie a pretty ribbon around one for stocking stuffer, and keep the rest, and the free razors for everyday use - with no ribbon.
If your and your sister's favorite lipgloss in on 'buy one get one free', get them. One for her stocking stuffer, one for yourself.
Everyday items are well appreciated as stocking stuffers, because people can actually make use of them. They are thoughtful gifts, also, because it shows that you really know what the recipients use on a daily basis.
Make the most of Black Friday shopping
Get the big-ticket items when they are marked down! That's pretty self-explanatory!

If you want to give small gifts to a lot of people, like for neighbors or coworkers, the most efficient way to go for it is to buy them in bulk then decorate them individually, or make them yourself.
 
Bake a big batch of cookies for everyone early, then freeze them. Later on, all you need to do is to wrap them for each recipient in plastic pouches and tie a ribbon.
Make colored bath salts or fancy vinegars. There are a lot of instructions and how to's on the internet on how to make these easy bulk presents.
Buy the gifts in bulk. It doesn't have to be expensive. The key is presentation. You can simply buy two dozen bars of soap with pretty packaging in Costco, then decorate them with ribbons. Yes, you can do a lot with ribbons! And trust me, I would love to receive fancy looking soap as a gift at my office Christmas party. It is certainly something I can use! What if I don't like the scent? Big deal. I can always use it as decoration, or use it to wash my hands in the kitchen. I mean, hello, who cannot use a bar of soap?
 
Week 6-7: Wrap them!
If you need to write Christmas cards, do it during these weeks, as well. Just do a little each day, within two weeks you will have finished wrapped lots of gifts and written lots of cards!
 
Week 8: Keep the gifts somewhere safe, or send them.
If the recipients live out of town, send the gifts now instead later. You don't want them to receive your gifts late. Who knows they might start their holiday early and leave the house for out-of-state trip days before Christmas? You would want them to receive your present before their holiday!
Now you can rest asure that all the present-related matters is done. Don't worry, you will still have plenty of things to fuss about for Christmas. Haha!




 


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Monday, September 7, 2015

Simply Organized: Purse Organizing

Hi, Friends!

How many times have you missed a phone call because you dig and dig in your purse and can't find your phone? Have you ever experienced standing in front of the door with a toddler who has to use the bathroom n-o-w and for some unexplainable reason the house keys just disappeared from your purse and you cannot find them though you have searched from top to bottom, left to right?

Well, fret no more! You can avoid all the fuss and the hassle without having to purchase a new purse with gazzilions pockets and compartments. I've been doing it for several years now and eventhough I'm a lover of big purses, I always, ALWAYS, know where everything is inside the huge space.

What is that?

Use small pouches inside your purse to compartmentalize your things. 


I divide things that I carry in my purse into four categories: 

Walking pharmacy/makeup bag 
(white with flowers)
Where I keep cosmetics like lipstick and mirror for touch ups throughout the day, as well as essentials such as tissues, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and vitamins. I also hang a portable astray on the pouch where I keep spare coins. (I'm not a smoker!)

Work pouch
(the pink pouch with Hello Kitty keychain)

This is what I carry with me at all times while I'm at the office. The small pink pouch contains my cell phones - which is a must from 9 to 5 -, a tinted lip balm for quick touch up in the office ladies room, a USB stick to keep important data, a pen, and my ID card.

My black wallet

Quite self explanatory. I like huge one so I can carry all my store loyalty cards at all times. You never know when you're going to need them and which one. It's very convenient to have a wallet that can contain everything financial related instead of several. separate ones. At least to me. Ow, and I've been carrying this wallet for nineteen years now. Nope, I'm not kidding. Nine-teen years... And still loving it!

"Miscellaneous" handbag organizer
(bigger pink bag)

Here I keep a small wallet to keep all my receipts that I haven't had the time to tally, a book to read when I happen to have lunch alone, my work notebook, my digital camera, feminine products, keys, snacks, water bottle, etc. This organizer comes very very handy. Let me explain.

The female coworkers who I have lunch with like to carry a small bag within their big bag with all their must-have essentials: wallet and cellphones. When they go out for lunch, they leave their heavy, bulky, big purses in the office and just carry the small bag. Well, I don't like that. I mean, the purse is part of my outfit and I put thought on which bag to carry for the week, so I want people to see me carrying the purses instead of tucking them under the work desk! So what I do is put all the miscellaneous in the pink bag organizer and when I need to go out and don't want to hurt my shoulder by carrying everything, I leave the bag organizer with all the miscellaneous, not-so-important things at the office instead of leaving my purse. 

Here's something to think about.

You buy a pretty, sometimes expensive, big purse because it can carry everything. Then you carry a smaller purse inside with your essentials, so when you are running errands, you can leave your big, heavy, expensive purse in your car, and only carry your small purse that might not very pretty or complementing your outfit.

What's the sense in buying the lovely, fashionable big purse, then?

Do what I do. Reverse the habit around. Keep everything not-so-essential in the smaller purse, and when you need to run around, leave the small purse in your car, and carry around your big purse as fashion statement, now not heavy anymore since the smaller purse with all other not-so-essentials is left in the car. You can get a pink purse organizer similar to mine here.


Now you see why I always know where everything is? When I need to grab my phone, I know it's in the pink pouch. When I need a dash of lipstick, I know it's int the flowery makeup bag. Housekey? Inside the bag organizer. Also, the pouch system makes changing bags extra easy and super quick! 

What do you think, Friends? How do you organize your purse? Please share! ^__^


I'm linking up to these wonderful Ladies:

Monday


Tuesday

Wednesday


Thursday


Friday

Saturday

Sunday
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