Rudolph Day
Preparing for Christmas Throughout the Year!

A couple years back the Magical Holiday Home ladies and I had quite a discussion about parties and having a party closet. It doesn’t acutally have to be a closet but a place to store party supplies so you have everything on hand and easy to get to during the holiday season!

I’ve taken to buying holiday plates, napkins, cups and plasticware AFTER holidays at a great clearance price and keeping them in my party cabinet so that I can throw together and impromptude party whenever the mood strikes!

I use some drawers in an old wash stand but you could use shelves in your pantry or closet like the blogger over at Mango and Ginger does.   So when you are doing some spring cleaning you might think about setting up a party closet, cabinet or drawer!

I have a love hate relationship with Christmas dishes…I love them…they are pretty, colorful, and festive….I hate them because I can never seem to find good storage solutions for them and sometimes I feel like they are a hodge podge of colors and patterns.

Collections of dishes spice up holiday parties and make December family meals so cheerful!  I love so many patterns, hence the hodge podge feeling. That is not all a bad thing…but here are a couple of ideas that might help you “coordinate” your dishes a bit.

The ALL WHITE approach….I know…sounds BORING….but it can be lovely. You can collect only white dishes. The plus to this is they are available all of the time and you can pick them up cheap at lfea markets and dollar stores. Not very Christmas-y …you say. TRUE but with the right accents your white dishes can take you from Christmas through Easter and into Halloween. All you do is add the right placemats, napkins, centerpiece, glasses, and other accent pieces…in the holiday theme!  Use pastels for Easter and black, orange, and purple for Halloween!

Here’s a white set with lovely blue accents ….see how the white makes everything else pop!  Even if you don’t decide to collect white…you might want at least one good set of white dishes!

Another appoach to Christmas dishes is to pick a theme but collect it in different patterns or place settings. For example perhaps you will choose Santas or Snowmen….you wouldn’t just do a “matching” set you would be on the lookout for any plates that feature Santa or Snowmen. The fun part of this is you can collect a few each year so your set is constantly “evolving”.  This idea is not a versatile as white because you would use it only at Christmas or during the winter months.

Picture from: Gather Round Our Table. 

As you can see when you use a theme….it’s nice to use a solid color as the accent….so with Santa you may pick a cheery red or with snowmen a lovely blue. If you carry your theme into your accents it can get a bit “busy”. So a solid color makes your theme icon…POP!

Snowmen picture from: Make It Delightful.

Now don’t throw out all the dishes you have and start over….look for ways to group them or coordinate them so that you can pull together lovely holiday tables.  Soliday color glasses and mugs can help coordinate the look but patterned ones can work also. More later on creating table settings!

It’s Christmas Dishes Month!  Do you have Christmas dishes, serving trays, and other items that are tucked here and there? Do you have trouble finding them when it’s time for a party or dinner? Well this is Christmas Dishes Month and it’s time to declutter and organize the Christmas dishes. Find a storage area. move your dishes there and inventory what you have. Later you may discover a random piece stuck here or there, when you do, add it to your Christmas Cupboard, so when the holiday season arrives, you’ll have everything at your fingertips!  This is also a good time to organize holiday linens

Christmas Magic: Do you do 24 Days of Christmas activities? Do you give the 12 Days of Christmas gifts? Or perhaps you do a little St Nicholas Day gift. If so, this is the month to plan the “magic”. Make a list, pick out some items, or just get your ideas into the notebook!

March is here! Time to talk Christmas books and movies. Throughout the month posts will be about organizing your media, book and movie reviews, and children’s books plus a craft idea.  So be sure and visit often and see what’s new here at Rudolph Day!  I’d love to hear your suggestions for great children’s books!

Check out the paint storage in the plastic baskets. You can see the color by the cap and they look so colorful and pretty. You can find baskets for a dollar at most dollar stores!  This idea from: Misty’s Art

Votive Candle Holders in a tray! Super cute. Shown at: Squidoo.

Storage containers from repurposing. These are vienna sauage tins but I think those little Pringles cans would work great!  The directions are available at: Tethered to Home.

So it’s STILL Crafty Kits Month….what are you waiting for….set up those craft kits and while you are at it organize your craft supplies!!

February is Crafty Kits Month! It’s time to get your 2012 holiday crafts organized and ready for crafting! Then on Rudolph Day or any day…you can grab them and spend some time crafting!  For details about setting up your kits for 2012 check out Magical Holiday Home!

To get you started here’s a clever and simple craft idea!  A felt garland idea from My Blessed Life.  You can use traditional Christmas colors for your garland or pick colors to go with your specific theme or color scheme.

During the month of February I’ll be sharing crafty tips and craft ideas all month long. So check back each week for more ideas!

Notebooks to inspire you…..

I thought I’d getting you thinking “notebooks” There are all kinds….This one is from: Scrappin Love.

 Or how about this one featured over at Christmas Planner.com

And then there’s always the nice three ring binder type:

This one is from: What’s Cooking America.

There are additional pictures and examples over at Magical Holiday Home.