It’s Day 3 of our 3 Days to an Organized Christmas Challenge!

Let’s organize our stuff today.

A couple of years ago, I created my very first Christmas Wrapping Station. With $12 and a few hours, I had a very practical new system for storing gift bags and boxes, wrapping paper, and supplies that completely simplified my Christmas wrapping process.  It helped eliminate the stress of trying to hide all of my supplies and gifts in my closet as I had done in the past. It was one of the BEST ways that I have ever prepared for Christmas.

Whether or not you have space for a Christmas wrapping station, ask yourself today “Can I simplify my Christmas wrapping process?” You might want to consider stocking up on gift bags at the Dollar Store or even using pillowcases to wrap gifts like my Mom taught me to save time on Christmas wrapping. I also recommend checking out this post with Gift Wrap Storage ideas.

Or maybe you LOVE wrapping gifts and want to be even more creative this year. May I suggest taking a look at my Mom’s Gift Wrapping Ideas series? She is full of super fun and simple tips to add a little pizzazz to your gifts.

Either way, take today to check your supplies and make a list of any items you need to buy.

Supplies: 

-Scotch Tape

-Wrapping Paper

-Gift Bags

-Gift Boxes

-Tissue paper

-Gift Tags and Labels

-Ribbons

-Bows

-You might want to take time to consider any supplies you’ll need for handmade gifts this year as well.

As for me, my Christmas wrapping station needs a little TLC as it has collected a few random items since last Christmas. I’m going to tackle that today and get it gift-wrap ready. I’m excited!

Are you ready to wrap?

I’ll be sharing my gift wrap station progress via Instagram and The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page and I’d love for you to join me! I’ll be using the hashtag #MerryLittleChristmasProject if you’d like to do the same.

Here’s the rest of the series in case you missed it: 

3 Days to an Organized Christmas: Dreaming and Planning (Day 1)
3 Days to an Organized Christmas: Beautiful Budgets (Day 2)

It’s Day 2 of our 3 Days to an Organized Christmas Challenge!

If you are just joining us, you can find Day 1 of the Challenge here.

I suppose it’s possible that beautiful isn’t the word you would use to describe your budget – but let’s organize ours today anyway. 🙂

I’ve heard from SO many of you that you do NOT want Christmas to be about the “stuff” this year.

Me too!

Of course, Christmas IS about giving, so a budget is still important. But no matter how much or how little you have to spend, I encourage you to consider ways to simplify in this area this year.

{Psst…did I mention that my ebook The Merry Little Christmas Project – 5 Words that Will Transform Your Christmas is coming out SOON? In it, I share some very specific ways that I’ve learned to simplify Christmas and cut back on spending. Stay tuned…}

Most importantly, please don’t spend money that you don’t have. But even just as important is this – don’t let society tell you what you HAVE to give. That is a personal decision that each of us need to make.

To be quite honest, I’m not sure who decided that MORE is better at Christmastime, but I’m pretty sure more is just MORE.  Like the year we almost didn’t have a Christmas tree, my desire is to embrace the LESS this year and I invite you to join me.

To help me with my budgeting, I’ve created a Christmas Gift Budget Tracker that has worked wonders for me in tracking my gifts and budget each year.  If you’d like to use it, I’m giving it away free to all of my Christmas Deals Newsletter subscribers. If you already a subscriber, you should have received an email this morning with this and my Christmas Gift Pocket Planner printable as my gift to you.

If you aren’t a subscriber yet, click here to sign up. After you activate your email address, the goodies should arrive in your email box right away! Then be on the watch for one email a day from me with all the best Christmas deals that I’ve found – just one more way to stre-e-e-e-tch your dollars!

If you’d prefer to track your budget and gifts via an app, you can check out some of the apps that were suggested by our Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook community here. Let me know if you have any other favorites!

My challenge to you today? 

Take some time to look at your Christmas budget. Determine how much you want to spend and begin to track your spending via the planner that you choose.

Are you ready to start dreaming of a Merry Little Christmas (on a budget)?

I am!

I’m sitting down with my budget tracker, gift pocket planner and yes – a cup of coffee – in a bit and beginning to budget!  I’ll be sharing my progress via Instagram and The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page and I’d love for you to join me! I’ll be using the hashtag #MerryLittleChristmasProject if you’d like to do the same.

Click here to sign up to receive your free Christmas Budget planners!