A new take on Christmas decor

Etsy, the enormous handmade craft online store, is a really great place to look for Christmas decor, if you're craving something a little different this year. Check out these gorgeous quilled paper snowflakes from Forever Filligree for $14.95. They'd be perfect for an all-white themed Christmas tree:



Going with the all-white theme, here is a wreath made out of the pages of paperback novels. Paper Pixie Craft is the genius behind these wreaths, which sell for $40.

These paper trees would look great in a minimalist setting. Find them at Jenny Lee Fowler for $12.

I'm in love with these tree-embellished throw pillows. Heck, they can stay out beyond the holidays, because they don't scream Christmas. Allisa Jacob, $40.

Finally, Helene Magnusson has come up with a new twist on the traditional string of Christmas lights. This is brilliant! $39.

Go check out Etsy's Holiday Guide for more great reinterpretations of the usual holiday decor. You might get inspired to make something yourself.

What you can do NOW to make Christmas decorating easier next year

If you celebrate Christmas and like to decorate your home for the holiday, then this is a busy time of year for you. You're pulling down the boxes of ornaments, testing the strings of lights, trying to figure out what you need to add to your decor and perhaps, wishing you had a better way to organize all the decorations. Here are three ideas to keep in mind while decorating this year:

1. After you've put up the decorations that you're going to use, take a good, hard look at what's left in the boxes. You're not using it this year, or you would have put it up by now. Did you use it last year? If not, then it's time to donate it or give it to someone else. This is the BEST time of year to get this kind of organizing done, so seize the moment! If you attend an annual ornament exchange or white elephant party, you may be able to put your unwanted items to use as gifts. If you decide to donate the items, please make sure they are something somebody else would actually want on their tree. Toss the broken, faded, torn, beat-up and just plain hideous decor.

2. If you like how your decor looks, take photos of your decorated space and place it in the appropriate box as a reminder of what goes where next year. No more trying to remember what you did to make your mantle elicit so many compliments.

3. Save the original packaging for any fragile new decor you buy. I'm not usually a fan of "saving the boxes," but in this case, when the item spends most of the year in storage, it's at its safest surrounded by that custom-cut Styrofoam block that it came in.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. As we get further into the Christmas season, I'll post more of my favorite holiday decorating and organizing tips.

Before and After: Organizing a Home Office

I have another organizing project that I want to share with you. This couple needed help with their home office. Like many home offices, it had to serve many functions. In this case, it served as the home's financial center as well as the library, photo/scrapbook storage center, coat closet, coupon-filing center and occasional children's playroom. Here is the before photo:

I worked with the couple over two sessions to get the office back in tip-top shape. We sorted through all the books in the bookshelf, keeping only the ones most likely to be read again. We corralled all the photos into a couple of boxes, placed them on a shelf and came up with a plan for eventually getting them into albums. We condensed the coats down from two full closets to one halfway-full closet. Coupons were placed back in the mini accordion file and sorted by type, and the children's toys found a new home in one of the unused coat closets. Whew! Here is the after photo:

Thanksgiving Day organizing tip

Here' s a quick organizing tip in honor of Thanksgiving: As you are getting your table set for the big day tomorrow, pay attention to what dishes, platters and serving plates you pull from your cupboards. Are these the items you use for every holiday dinner? Then, notice the dishes, platters and serving platters left behind in the cupboard. These are the items you probably pass over year after year because they don't match, they're chipped, they're not functional or you simply don't like them. Now is your golden opportunity to get rid of them.

Since all the "good stuff" is on the table, you can access the other stuff in the back of the cupboard. Just take an old box and pack up the stuff you don't like for charity. Not only will it give you an idea of what you need to replace for next year, it will also make putting the "good stuff" back after you've washed it much easier.

Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for being such a loyal reader.

The organizing book I wish I had written

If you like reading about organizing, but find that most organizing books ask a lot of your free time and seem to promise unrealistic expectations, then you will like the book Everything (Almost) In Its Place by Alicia Rockmore and Sarah Welch (2008).

This is the organizing book I wish I had written. The authors don't promise permanently immaculate spaces or encourage the adoption of perfectly color-coded, labeled shelves. Instead they focus on providing you with an organizing method that is flexible, easy and functional.

Changing some of your thoughts and behaviors is essential to getting organized, they say. The first change you need to make? Realizing that your space doesn't have to be perfect. "Because no one is perfect, your room can't be either," they write. That may sound depressing to some readers, but to the vast majority of the people I work with (and to me), that sounds liberating. No longer do you have to strive for a pristine space. Good enough is now, well, good enough.

The one downside to this book is it seems to be written for a female audience. Since when did organizing become "women's work?" But anyone can apply their principles, which are applicable to the workplace and time management as well.

I highly recommend this book for those who have trouble sticking with an organizing system or who feel overwhelmed by the thought of sorting and containing all their stuff. This book may be the motivation you've been looking for.

How to get your house under control when you have no time

Getting and keeping your house under control can be a challenge for most of us. Each room requires us to complete multiple tasks on a regular basis to keep it neat and tidy. To make matters worse, these tasks are usually quite boring, time-consuming and dirty. The trick is to determine your priorities and tackle those first.

My mother-in-law taught me a valuable lesson about determining your household priorities. "So long as you have dishes to eat off of and clothes to wear, your house will feel under control. Everything else can be done at a later time." I would add "mail sorted and dealt with" to that short list of essential household tasks. I can say from first-hand experience that she's absolutely right.

So now that we know what the essential tasks are, we have to find time to do them. Rarely will we have time to do the dishes, then the laundry and finally the mail sort from start to finish. My advice is to sneak in these activities in short bursts of energy.

For example, while you're browning the meat or waiting for the water to boil while making dinner, unload the dishwasher.

While you're returning a phone call, rinse the dishes and reload the dishwasher.

While you're microwaving something, sort through the mail.

While you're chatting to your kids about their school day or quizzing them on their spelling, fold laundry.

While you're watching TV, start a new load of laundry in the washing machine during the commercial breaks. (This is pretty much the only way I get my laundry done -- Thursday nights during commercial breaks of The Office and 30 Rock.)

And of course, fold all that laundry when the TV show comes back on.

Get your entire family to pitch in (because I KNOW they watch TV and talk on the phone as well). You'll feel more in control of your house, get more free time and get rid of the dirty-house guilt.

More uses for a cut-up Target sheet

Over the weekend, I finished the dust ruffle for the guest room bed. I have to say, I hate the term "dust ruffle" -- I try to avoid ruffles in my life at all costs -- but there is no other term to describe the fabric that covers your box springs mattress.

I took the rest of the Target sheet (read about the headboard I made when I first bought the sheet) and cut it into three long strips, then stitched those three strips together, forming one strip long enough to wrap around my entire bed. Then I used super cool stitch glue (my sewing machine is on the fritz again) to hem the bottom and top. Finally, I went to Joann's Fabric and bought them out of 3/4 inch Velcro, at a cost of about $30. I glued the loop side of the Velcro along the top hem of my fabric strip. I took straight pins and pinned the hook side of the Velcro along the mattress. You could also use hot glue, if you wanted something more permanent. Then I simply stuck the fabric strip to the mattress along the Velcro and I was done!


The photo shows the nuts-and-bolts of the ruffle where it meets the headboard. The beauty of making a Velcro dust ruffle is that you can easily remove it to launder it, unlike a store-bought dust ruffle that lays sandwiched between two mattresses, rendering it nearly impossible to remove.

This was a very simple, no-sew project that made a big difference in the appearance of the bed. I'll post a picture of the entire bed once I have a new bedspread for it. I'm still working on that piece!