Holiday Planning Binder

Yesterday, I opened up the pages of my new Holiday Planning Binder, and chatted a little about party planning.

Today.... I am going to share the rest of the binder.  And give you a handful of printables.  Because you asked for them, and I truly heart you.

That's right.  I have received many, many emails asking for holiday planning printables.  Creating them has been on my list for awhile now, however, I wasn't entirely sure that they were something I would personally love and use.  Boy was I wrong.  I am head over heals for this little binder of holiday cheer.  It is so full of inspiration and excitement and now I am even more giddy for Christmas and all that comes with the season.

So, I thought I would share a little more about how I use the binder, and give you a total of eight free printables!  Yeah, you read that right.  Eight.  I am also popping them up in my Etsy shop, but IHeart fans won't pay a dime here.

The purpose of the binder is to get me organized for the holidays.  It is a one stop place for me to find ideas I have torn from magazines or printed off from the Internet, make lists and plan events, keep track of my favorite holiday recipes and manage my Christmas card contact list.  Naturally, I added some gold foil lettering inside of the binder so it can welcome me with a smile {it was cut with my Silhouette}.

The first tab in the binder holds calendar pages for the months of November, December and January.  These months get really busy for us, everything from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years.  Not to mention the shopping dates, holiday activities, traveling and Christmas gatherings.

I also wrote in the activities hidden inside of our Christmas Countdown activity box {although they are a surprise for the kids, I of course, planned them down to the day based on our schedule}, and added a general Holiday To Do list tucked behind the calendar.

Next tab is all about the gifts.

I started by sticking a few pre-printed letters to Santa in the pocket, so the boys can sit down each year and fill out their wish lists and mail them off to the North Pole.  The pockets are also great for holding coupons and sales flyers.

The next page, is a gift tracking printable, which allows me to list off gift ideas I have for others, and manage our holiday spending budget.

I also added sheet protectors which I stuffed with tear-outs from catalogs and magazines, full of a variety of gift ideas.

Next up is the party planning section, which I shared with you yesterday.

But who do you invite to those parties?  And send your Christmas cards to?  And all of those Thank You cards?  All of those details are kept on the contact list.

I am always attempting to mix up our holiday decor without having to purchase all new items each year.  That means getting crafty, and rethinking about the items I already have on hand.  I like to tear out ideas and print ideas found online, and keep them in one holiday happy place.

Ditto when it comes to holiday recipes.  Especially ones that are special to me and stored in a cookbook or falling apart recipe card.  Now, I can keep them all neatly organized in this holiday binder.

We tend to travel a lot during the holidays, whether a quick sleepover at Grandma's house or sneaking away for a week while the kids are off of school.  To keep track of the things we need to do before heading out of town, along with reminders of what to pack, I tossed a few travel checklists into the binder as well.

Behind the final tab is blank lined paper for any notes or thoughts that come my way throughout the busiest months of the year, along with a pouch filled with thank you cards, stamps and cheerful embellishments.

And that my friends, is my holiday planner in a nutshell.  I mean, in a pretty gold dot binder.

And now for all of those freebies I promised you!

 { calendar / to do list / gift giving tracker / party planning checklist / contact list / travel checklist / recipe cards / notes }

Let's chat holiday binders.  Since I am a newbie, what other checklists and pages do you consider a must in your planner?  Who else has it on their list to whip one of these babies up this year?