Trading Spaces

My older girl is getting too old to share a room with her little sister. My son said he would move downstairs to his dad's old office. We cleaned it out and had him moved in before Thanksgiving. We took the chair rail down in his old room and painted the closet, the trim and the ceiling in a dark pink. The rest of the room will be done in light pink paint we were given from my sister-in-law. We have not spent one cent on this room in paint. So cool and she loves the colors. We will finish painting her room Monday after my husband gets home from work and then I will post finished pictures. She has a few "Princess" decorations we will put up after the paint has dried. For now, here's our work in progress.

When this is done, my 7 year old wants a purple and green "Tinkerbell" room. My husband thinks he can get it done before Christmas. I would love to have nice, neat clean, newly painted, organized room for Christmas. Well, at least they'll be newly painted.

Free Letters from Santa

Free customizable letters from Santa Claus for free http://www.freelettersfromsantaclaus.com/free_printable_letters_from_santa.asp
http://blog.christmaslettertips.com/2009/04/29/free-printable-santa-letters/
http://www.santas-workshop.ws/ This is where I got mine last year

Of course there are plenty more. All you have to do is google free letter from Santa
For special effect print a personalized Santa letter, place it in a stamped envelope addressed to the child you want to receive it.
Write "Santa, North Pole, Alaska" as the return address in the upper left corner of the envelope.
Then follow these instructions given by USPS. There are also instructions on how you can be one of Santa's helpers this year.

In case you couldn't link, these are the instructions directly from the USPS website:
The Postal Service is helping create holiday memories for children. Parents, guardians and other Santa’s helpers can craft a response from Santa and mail it in a second envelope to the Fairbanks, AK, Post Office. Postal elves at the nearby North Pole Post Office will open the envelopes, postmark Santa's reply letters and mail them back to the children they are addressed to.After writing Santa's response letter, place it in a stamped envelope addressed to the intended recipient. “Santa, North Pole, Alaska,” should be included as the return address in the upper left corner of the envelope. This envelope should then be placed into a larger, properly stamped First-Class Mail or Priority Mail envelope with your correct return address and mailed to:North Pole Christmas Cancellation Postmaster 5400 Mail Trail Fairbanks AK 99709-9998 North Pole postmark requests must arrive in Fairbanks, AK, before Dec. 15, 2007. Please mail your request by Dec. 10.
Customers interested in obtaining the North Pole Postmark on greeting cards should mail them to the address above, following the same directions. Please make sure that the stamped envelopes are sealed and contain cards or other inserts (empty envelopes can be damaged by high-speed sorting equipment)

When to Wrap

I always want to wrap the Christmas presents as soon as I buy them. However, I know, for me, that's not a good idea as I'll be unwrapping them to remember what I put in there. I would label them but then if the children find them they'll also know what's in there. I would try a numbering system but I'm constantly losing my list.
My gift wrap is in my craft room but I don't do my wrapping in there. I usually end up wrapping all my gifts on Christmas Eve. My children are allowed to open anything in their stockings in exchange, they are not to wake up mom or dad. I am usually up around 7 or 8am on Christmas morning so they really don't have to wait that long. They haven't complained yet.

Wrapping Center

In order to keep my sanity while getting things organized and ready for Christmas, I set up a small wrapping center. Its just a place to keep wrapping supplies together. I have one of the under-the-bed boxes. I put wrapping paper, tape, scissors, ribbon and curling ribbon in that box. Because that box isn't very big, I have other box in the same area where I put gift bags, gift boxes and tissue paper. I wish I had a dedicated spot like my mother-in-law. My father-in-law built her some cabinets in her laundry room. Under one of the cabinets he put a small counter. In it she has all her wrapping gear like what I have in mine but much better organized. How do you stay organized for the holiday season?

Christmas is Coming

And very quickly I might add. I was just over at I'm An Organizing Junkie where she had this post about her gift closet. I have a box for each child for Christmas. Its just a plain old apple box. I also have an extra one for my son because his birthday is very close to Christmas. Although Imay not be very good at it, I do love an organized house. All my presents for my children are currently in the half bath just off my bedroom. I would love to use that room again. I do not have a closet I can use. My husband no longer needs his home office so I was cleaning it out to use as my sewing room. It has a great closet. I was planning on banning my children from the room so I could work on and store their Christmas and birthday presents in the room.

My two girls share a room and its becoming more than their father and I can handle as they always seem to be arguing about everything. So, we asked our son if he would be willing to move downstairs. He said he would so when I can get the room cleaned out, he will have the old office. I don't mind losing the office to him but I wish my sewing room has a closet. Its a small room with little storage and no closet. I have put up shelves and have bins of fabric but really no room to move around and sew so I don't do much sewing. Wish I could right now. I have 3 children that I would like to have in matching pajamas for Christmas. Point was, I need a gift closet that I know the children will stay out of. I suppose they will stay in the half bath for now.