How to Prep for the Holidays! -

I wrote this back in December, and I never got around to posting it. I did a lot of editing, and I thought this blog post would apply to Easter. Why not prep your home before Easter arrives?

It’s that time of year again! The holidays are around the corner! During the holidays, it can get a little hectic and crazy. Our homes can feel hectic and crazy, too! Mentally, we can feel stressed out! How do we prep in time for the holidays?

Well, I’ve come up with some ideas. With spring and Easter near, a little home refresh will hopefully help during this busy time of year.

Before we can start decorating our homes and putting up our Christmas tree, or in this case Easter decorations, it’s nice to know that our home doesn’t feel so out of sorts before adventuring off to wherever we’re headed. It’s also nice to know that we don’t feel so chaotic. Who wants to decorate a home for holidays when our home is a bit messy, clothes haven’t been put away, or there is clutter on our kitchen table? It’s also nice to know that we don’t feel so chaotic. Who wants to decorate a home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter when our home is a bit messy, clothes haven’t been put away, or there is clutter on our kitchen table? This year, I was inspired to prep my home early before the holidays approached. Whatever clutter I was holding onto, I felt it needed to be eliminated. I was inspired to create this blog post after watching a few veteran YouTubers. They were preparing their home for the new year. After seeing their videos, I was excited to tackle this little project in my own home. Natalie Bennette on YouTube was prepping and decluttering her home before the holidays approached. Then I was watching Raji Surendra on YouTube, reorganizing a closet in his apartment, and I felt like I wanted to do that in one of my closets in our condo, which bothered me. Watching those two YouTubers not only sparked an idea, but it also became the theme of this blog post.

How do we prep our homes for the holidays?

1. General Clutter: Ask yourself, “What are some of the things you need to do around your home?” “What are some things that are bothering you?”

a. Are there any unfinished projects that need to be tackled?

b. Are there things on surfaces that need to be put away?

c. Are there phone calls that you need to make?

d. Any mental clutter that you need to write down?

You might ask yourself, why would you need to do a mental declutter? When we store stuff in our brains, it takes up space. That space becomes wasted and only turns into stress. I believe that writing things down on paper, in a journal, can help elevate the mental clutter in your head. Before the holidays arrive, you want to feel less stressed out. Why bottle up in your brain a bunch of things that need to get done? Write them down on paper instead!

2. Surface Clutter: A lot of times, we end up with surface clutter. It’s the first place we chose to toss our items. Pick one main surface in your home and work on that area first. As the old saying goes, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” As you clear that one surface, ask yourself, “Where does this item go?” Take that one item in your hand and put it away. Don’t start organizing the area where the item goes! Continue working on the surface you started decluttering! Once the area is cleaned, you can move on to another surface in your home to clean up.

This dresser in the first photo holds all my fabric. The top of the dresser ends being a catch-all for random items when I don’t put them away!

Here is an example of some more surface clutter in the second photo. How am I supposed to sew or do an embroidery project if both machines are covered with stuff? Stuff can overtake your space if you allow it! Don’t allow your surfaces to look like this. If you have ever watched the YouTube channel “Space Maker Method,” April always talks about calming the chaos in your home. Surface clutter can be chaos. Allow yourself to calm that space so it feels light and airy.

Here is an example of some more surface clutter in the second photo. How am I supposed to sew or tackle an embroidery project if both machines are covered with stuff? Stuff can overtake your space if you allow it! Don’t allow your surfaces to look like this. If you have ever watched the YouTube channel “Space Maker Method,” April always talks about calming the chaos in your home. Surface clutter can be chaos. Allow yourself to calm that space so it feels light and airy.

3. Hidden Clutter:

Have you ever heard of the saying “out of sight, out of mind”? Have you ever opened your hall closet only to discover feeling overwhelmed by the clutter? Do you find yourself constantly shoving things into the closet? Do you ever find yourself having to always organize that clutter? When clutter is out of sight and out of mind, you tend to forget about it. It might be one of those projects you have put off for weeks at a time. We can probably attest to having this type of clutter in any one of our closets! For a closet with this type of clutter, I suggest working in stages. My closet in the hall had shelves that needed refreshing! If your closet has shelves, then work on one shelf at a time. In this situation, I didn’t choose to work on the top shelf first! I started with the problem child shelf, which you see in the photo, located in the middle. I started putting stuff away on that shelf. I was just doing a refresh, since I planned to give this closet a makeover.

This closet needed a refresh! Talk about a lot of hidden clutter! I ended up doing a closet makeover back in February. That will be a separate blog post!

4. To-Do-Clutter: Ask yourself if you have any to-do clutter? Do you have things in your head that you’re constantly trying to remember? Almost daily, I will say to myself, “I need to write this down!” Do you know how many times I have forgotten to do something when I don’t write it down? Add these things you need to get done to your to-do list!

Here are some examples:

a. Make an appointment to see the doctor.

b. Call the insurance company.

c. Go online and fill out a form.

Here are few of my to-do-list that I created back in Decemember…

5. Mental Clutter: Do you have things that are bothering you? Stuff that you might be holding onto? Feelings that are bugging you? Write down any mental clutter you might have in a journal, or you can write it down on paper and discard it. Journaling has been such a positive in my life. Doing this will help you to feel mentally clutter-free, and you might feel clearer going into the holidays. I know that writing down stuff in a journal has really helped me. Letting go of mental clutter has been a help in my life, especially as the holidays approach; I feel less stressed. When people triggered negative emotions in me, I like to write “Dear (insert person’s name),” and then I start writing how they make me feel. Maybe this person has sparked a negative emotion in you, or they’re toxic, and you can’t seem to get them out of your life. Write down your feelings! Let go of that clutter! You can do this in a journal or on paper and toss that paper away afterwards to let go of that emotion. This was advice given to me by a very special person in my life.

6. Plan Ahead: Start your holiday shopping early! Throughout the year, I find myself picking up gifts at unique places. It helps me feel less stressed because I have chosen to shop around as the year goes by. If it’s a gift I want to make for someone, I will start the project early. In the photo below are gifts that I had purchased throughout the year as Christmas Gifts. When I shop early, I feel less stressed! It takes the weight off my shoulders when I am able to buy some gifts in advance. Also, put all the gifts you buy for people in a large box. You can even label the gift by putting it in a separate bag. Corralling all your gifts and storing them in one place makes wrapping presents less stressful! Usually, all my gifts are stored in a crate in my closet. I had no more room to store the gifts, so I had to put them into a box that my neighbor gave me.

7. Plan Ahead: Outfit planning! Plan your holiday outfits in advance. I have been doing this for years! You will feel less stressed out knowing what you’re wearing during the holidays. The last thing you want to do is wait until the last minute to get yourself dressed. Who wants to deal with that type of stress? Here is what I plan to wear for Easter! My friend gave me this dress for my birthday last year. When planning your outfits in advance, choose jewelry and shoes to complete your outfit. You can also plan how you would like to style your hair or apply your makeup.

Do not let your home get out of sorts right before the holidays! Allow yourself ample time to tackle little projects you have sitting around your home. Each day, do a few things on that to-do list of yours! Then you can enjoy the holidays! If you’re reading this post until the end, I want to wish all of you here at A Handmade Story a Happy Easter!

YouTube videos that have inspired me to make this post:

Natalie Bennett

Rajiv Surendra

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Proverbs 24:27: “Put your outdoor work in order and

get your fields ready; after that, build your house.”

“If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” — Olin Miller