I'm Back, This Time With a (12 Month) Plan

Hi Everyone, and Welcome Back!

It feels really great to be posting again; after my holiday break I am refreshed and full of ideas for future posts.  This week, you can look forward to learning how to make the world's most  ridiculously easy craft (if you still have a champagne cork lying around from NYE, put it aside) as well as a "new" Retro Recipe.  Today, however, you are going to hear all about my 12 Month Plan for Holiday 2011.

Why, you ask, do I need a 12 month plan for Holiday 2011?  Good question, glad you asked!  I am a self-confessed Christmas nut, I love all things holiday and, as such, tend to bite off more than I can chew a little too late.  Try as I might to adopt the "what gets done, gets done" mentality, the truth is that I get bitterly disappointed when I don't achieve all my holiday goals.  This is what led me to be designing gnomes on December 22 for my Cookies & Gnomes kitchen tree.  Incidentally, the cookies never made it onto the tree.  Actually, they didn't even get made, and this bugged me all Christmas long.

You get the picture.  I am the queen of REALLY BIG IDEAS, and I am for the most part good at executing them.  It just seems at Christmas that these REALLY BIG IDEAS come fast and furious and with a huge sense of urgency, as if Santa's departure truly depended upon my successful completion of a COOKIES AND GNOME TREE!!!  Or perhaps HANDMADE MITTENS FOR ALL!!  Why not NEW STOCKINGS FOR HUMANS AND CANINES WITH MATCHING TREE SKIRT?  And let's not forget HAND DIPPED TRUFFLES, the very important HOMEMADE CRACKERS, and last but not least HONEST TO GOODNESS REAL PLUM PUDDING!!!!! Which doesn't contain a single plum; who knew?

So, here's the plan.  I'm making a list, and I'm checking it no, not twice, 12 times this year.  On (or around) the 25 of each month, I'll be updating you on my progress.  Oh, what's on the list you say?  The Twelve Goals of Christmas!  Projects, items to buy, plans to make, anything that I can potentially do throughout the year to prepare in advance for Christmas.  I'm also going to be preparing a Christmas Countdown To-Do List.  Oh yes I am.

But wait, there's more!  I'm not in this alone.  My cousin Ainsley from Pattycake Manners is going to be my partner in crime! Not just for the Twelve Goals of Christmas, either!  She's come up with a great idea where we are going to pick 12 handmade projects that we want to achieve by Christmas 2011.  We'll be sharing these with you and updating you in a series of shared posts.

I can't wait!  My first holiday update will be on January 26, so be sure and check back!  Oh, and just in case you thought Christmas 2010 was a mess in the Nest, it really wasn't.  It was lovely.  On the 26th, I'll be sharing some photos and memories of what I did achieve this holiday season.  Gnomes and all!

Have a wonderful week!  It's great to be back!