I know for some of you the thought of decorating for Christmas can bring on enough stress and anxiety all on its own without the thought of decorating for a holiday like Halloween! I must admit as much as I enjoy holiday decorating it can be just “one more thing” to add to the already long list during a busy holiday season.
Years ago, eleven years to be exact, I found a trick that has help to take a lot of the stress and anxiety out of my holiday decorating and planning. In fact, it has made it quite pain free and mindless and dare I even say – FUN!!
My trick is my Things That Work Notebook!
I purchased this great little spiral bound notebook with blank pages from a wonderful Oregon artist – Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey. She even personalized it for me. Any notebook with blank pages will do but I figure if you have to have a notebook you mine as well have a pretty one!
In 1997 I began keeping track of certain things –
-the menus I served at parties and the guest list
– photos of the table setting from the party and sometimes even the guests! (And since I started blogging I now take pictures of the food!)
– the cookies and candy I made each holiday season and who I took plate of goodies to.
– and pictures of my holiday decorating
By taking pictures of how I decorate each year all I need to do the next year is pull out my Things That Work Notebook along with the holiday decorations. I don’t have to start from scratch each year wondering where I’m going to put everything and tying to remember what I did last year.
It works for party planning too -each year I just check my list from last year’s Holiday Brunch. If I am feeling pressed for time and uninspired I can just repeat the same menu or I can add in a few new recipes if I want.
With my decorating, some years I do it exactly the way I did it the year before but some years, like this year, I tweak things a bit. I added a few new Halloween decorations this year so I changed some things around but at least I had a starting point.
Do you have a trick of the trade that helps make your holiday decorating and party planning a little easier? Please share!!
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