Friday Favorites

How can it be Friday already and one third of the way through January?  Time is just flying.  I am busy trying to deChristmas - decluttering and inventorying as I go when I get home from work is taking forever but everything will be organized by the time I am done.  Rudolph Day's theme in January is "Tie Up Loose Ends", a time to make a sweep through the house to check for that odd holiday tea towel, or cards tucked into a drawer, or a stray piece of festive decor that didn't get packed away.  I hope to be all done by the 25th but if not, that day will be my final check.

Today's favorites are a couple of organizing tools and a fun item that really had an impact on our Christmas.

1

I love these Snapware ornament storage totes.  They come with cardboard inserts that make twelve spots for ornaments and the three layers snap together and stack beautifully.  I have the layers numbered so that I know which ornaments go back in which layer.  That will come in really handy because I think I'm going to do a My Favorite Ornaments feature for Christmas in July so I'll know right where to find them.  You can find these just about anywhere - I've bought them at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Michaels, and Joann as well as on Amazon.

2

My second organizing tool is a good old Excel spreadsheet.  Again, each tote is labeled and I have a list of what goes in each one.  Sorry it's a bit blurry, I thought a snip would be clearer than this.

3

A fun item that really made our trees pop - revolving stands.  They are super easy to set up and so handy because you can decorate the tree in sections.  Just pick a starting point, decorate from top to bottom, hit your on switch to rotate the tree a quarter turn, and you have a whole new section to work on.  The stands revolve slowly so you're not going to have to worry about them making you dizzy and it is so nice to be able to see all of your ornaments.  I bought one at Home Depot and we bought another one for our second tree on Amazon because they sell out at the DIY stores really quickly when the holiday decor hits the shelves.