Megan, my dear friend from Honey We're Home blog, is ahead of the holiday organizing game and well on her way to a very successful year. I am so excited to have her here today to inspire all of us to begin thinking of ways we can make the hustle and bustle of the holidays flow as smoothly as possible. Take it away Megan!
Happy almost holidays friends! Thanks for having me today Jen, I've been blown away lately with your bedroom reveal and all those wonderful DIY money-saving projects. So good! In light of the upcoming holidays, I've got Christmas cards on the brain (we are just ordering ours for this year now), and soon it will be time to address them and get them in the mail, off to our family and friends.
To make the addressing a little more fun (and convenient for moving around), I created a holiday card caddy tray stocked with everything we need to make our mail more festive. Well, everything except stamps. I was waiting to buy holiday-themed stamps and couldn't find any yet. They should be available soon though.
To make the addressing a little more fun (and convenient for moving around), I created a holiday card caddy tray stocked with everything we need to make our mail more festive. Well, everything except stamps. I was waiting to buy holiday-themed stamps and couldn't find any yet. They should be available soon though.
The holiday caddy is made from a bamboo silverware divider ($7.99 at Home Goods) and inexpensive gold handles ($2 from Lowe's). Instead of screwing the handle in (the screws were too long and I didn't know if this bamboo could handle being screwed into), so I used a hot glue gun to glue on the handles. On my first try, they didn't hold. The problem was I didn't put the handles onto the tray fast enough and press and hold long enough (holding very firmly right away for about 30 seconds did the trick).
Then, I used red snowflake packing tape and a festive "Merry Everything" sticker to embellish the tray and make it more holiday-ish. You could also paint it in different holiday colors; that would be cute too.
The fun part is adding all the decorative elements that I like to use to the tray. Makes sending out holiday cards and letters that much more fun.
Using holiday ink stamps is an easy way to decorate your envelopes. I got mine in a multi-pack, so there's lot of designs to choose from. Washi tape is another quick decorative touch I like adding.
Have your ordered or bought your holiday cards yet? My next contributor post won't be until 2015, so I wanted to THANK YOU for having me here at iHeart Organizing and wish y'all a very happy holiday season!
LOOOOOVE this. I want one!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stef! :)
DeleteFirst snowfall?!?! We're cold here in Houston too, but nowhere near that! Bundle up and stay cozy Jen. Thanks again for having me. Wishing you and your readers all the best!
ReplyDeleteVery cute and organized! I would love to try this, but then I wouldn't know where to store the whole tray when I'm done with it. Nevertheless, pinning it!
ReplyDeleteYou could remove the handles and use it as a drawer organizer. ;)
DeleteExcelent! Very nice! Thanks :o) Inka from Czech republic:o)
ReplyDeleteHello Inka! From Houston to Czech Republic!
DeleteHow fun! We just ordered our Christmas cards. I can't wait! I love Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThis looks so quick and fun! Love it-
ReplyDelete-Taylor
Perfect! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a happy tray! We actually have a bamboo silverware tray for silverware right now. I'll do my best not to steal it from the drawer. :) I'm ahead of things this year and just finished making our Christmas card, addressed the envelopes today and just need to order prints of our family picture to go inside each card. I still need to either make or buy gift tags. I normally make them but saw some extremely cute ones at Ikea. Thanks for the wonderful tray idea!
ReplyDeleteChristina! You're ahead of the game! :) Those gold gift tags are from Ikea!
DeleteThis is absolutely brilliant and so clever! My usual Christmas card routine is ziplock bag filled with the supplies. This caddy idea is a great way to get organized and a great way to get the job done! Thanks so much for sharing the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteLeslie @ House on the Way
Oh yeah, zip locks aren't as festive! ;)
DeleteGreat idea. I had a minor panic attack looking at the red sharpie on your ottoman. Even if I thought I was being careful, I'd find some way of marking up my ottoman. Glad your ottoman was not harmed in the sharing of this process :)
ReplyDeleteI know! Luckily no ottoman was harmed in this process!
DeleteLove it - what a great idea!!
ReplyDeletewant to hear a sad story? i am from south africa, and our postal service has been on strike for about three months now. so, we will not be posting anything this year, as it most certainly will not be delivered... but i love your idea though! regards amanda de swardt
ReplyDeleteThat is sad! I know that there is always the technology route, but there is nothing sweeter than a handwritten sentiment. Fingers crossed they get it all worked out soon!
DeleteOh no! I hope it resolves soon. I can't imagine what would happen if that happened here.
DeleteLove this idea! I have a metal, mesh silverware tray I knew I could use for something. Now I know how to put it back to work. TFS!!!
ReplyDeleteI know that kind, would be perfect for this!
DeleteOmg what happened to your blog?!?! Lol! Thought I got the wrong one for a moment! It looks great!! Perfect refresh, and just in time for the holiday season -- keep up the good work! :) As far as this tray, very inspiring! It seems I've kind of got things corralled, but they're corralled everywhere. (yikes) So I'm not sure how "well" that works. I might have to try this or something close to it. Very good ideas! I'd be curious for a breakdown of items in there, some look pretty self explanatory, others...just for an added "themie look"?? As always-- thanks much for the project shares!! And love the new look. :)
ReplyDeleteMegan has the sweetest family. I just want to be apart of it at 38 LOL
ReplyDeleteBig hug Camara!
DeleteSuch a great idea Megan! This would make me want to send handwritten notes to everyone I know.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jen! Happy holidays!!
DeleteHey Megan--what a lovely idea! I just wanted to let you know about the Holiday stamps...I purchased mine a couple months ago at www.USPS.com They have some for the different holidays that are celebrated in December. Plus they are Forever stamps, so in case you don't use all of them this year, you can use them next year!
ReplyDeleteBe Well--The Lady Kay
Thank you for letting me know! I had been peeking in different places but no luck!
DeleteOh my goodness, that is beautiful!! And what a fantastic idea, to use a drawer organizer. So easy to find, yet who would have thought! I'm in need of something similar, and will be borrowing your idea!! Your card is adorable as well :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'll tell my son you liked it! ;)
DeleteSUUUPER clever idea - LOVE this!
ReplyDeleteThanks Megan!
DeleteWhere can I purchase the red tape to border the box?
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing, such a brilliant idea! I'm just starting to pull together my Christmas gift wrap station and I'll definitely be trying to recreate this!!
ReplyDeleteSNOW! I am very jealous, all we have here in London is rain!
Love this!
ReplyDelete