Cooler weather makes it easy to check and organize the attic and storage areas during Week Twelve, Attic Week.
No attic? Use this week to work on undone tasks, or to tackle a bonus area in the home.
We continue to move toward Thanksgiving in holiday prep, preparing to set a pretty holiday table. Are you working on holiday gifts?
Ready? Let’s get organized with Attic Week in the Holiday Grand Plan!
Holiday Prep
- Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
- Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
- Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
- Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes.
- Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
- Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
- Make place cards.
- Make 3×5 card for each serving dish, list what goes in it, garnish, how much before dinner can it go in and serving silverware used with it; tape it to edge of dish.
- Be sure all dishes are clean!
- Borrow or buy any additional serving dishes needed.
- Buy reusable foil bakeware from party paper place.
- Are linens clean and ready? Unfold and verify that all spots can be hidden by centerpiece.
- Work on centerpiece.
Deep Cleaning/Organizing Area: Attic
/The attic works the same every other room does, except it’s probably got mostly stored boxed and old clothes. Remember what our motto has been? If you haven’t worn it in the last year, and you can’t figure when you’ll wear it in the next year, get rid of it! (Donate it somewhere, or throw it out if it’s not in good shape.) This can really make a big dent in the storage facilities.
And don’t get caught with “well, Johnny can wear this when he’s 14.” Let’s be honest, how many kids really want to wear hand-me-downs that are way out of style? We must swallow our pride (if my daughter doesn’t want to wear my wedding gown when she’s old enough, I guess I won’t get upset!) and get rid of what truly we won’t use, and will have no value later on (but not that wedding gown! I can’t part with that!). Everyone will have treasures that you can’t part with, and that is fine, but set a limit.
As for those boxes, bring a few downstairs and work on them in front of the TV, or at the bottom of the stairs. The old “can’t go to bed cause I can’t get past these boxes yet” works nicely here. Or do it while the kids are at school if you are able. Once again. ask yourself if you will really use the item again. If no, and it has no sentimental value worth passing to the next generation (and collecting dust!) then donate it to somewhere that might really appreciate it.