Planning Ideas and Resources For The New Year

Around here we're not big on resolutions, but now that the holidays are coming to a close and life is settling into a regular pace, we took a few hours yesterday to look over our l-o-n-g ongoing project list and began making a plan to start chipping away at it.  Rather than thinking big picture and planning out the whole year, we just focused on what seemed do-able for January, then towards the end of the month we'll revisit and see what we were able to accomplish.

Along with that, I  have my own list of ideas and projects that I'm mulling over, books I'd like to read, ideas for posts I want to share here with you, as well as making an earnest effort to get back to writing my book, which is something I barely touched this year. There are also a number of crafting projects I'd like to try my hand at. . . . if I'm honest, there are so-many-things that pique my interest, I have a hard time narrowing it all down. That's why I like to keep lists and plan things out, and while I do utilize my phone, at heart, I still prefer an old fashioned paper planner.

I've been putting together my own planner for awhile now, and it's something I look forward to about this time every year. That along my with my portable office cart is how I keep things organized and running smoothly. My planner has varied over the years, but at this point I've finally settled upon a system that is working well. I'll be sharing more about that in the coming days, but for today I thought I'd direct you to some of the free resources that I've used in the past, and some that I still do. Perhaps if you've shifted to your sights toward the new year and have your own list of to-do's, you might find some of these helpful.

2025 Yearly Calendar

This website offers a number of options for a one year page at a glance calendar. I keep one of these at the front of my planner as well as another on clipped to the front of my weekly files.

2025 Monthly Calendars

And at the same website, you'll find monthly calendars that you can print, as well. 

Weekly Calendars

This website offers a number of styles for weekly, day-to-day planners, and here is another one that looks nice. 

To-Do List

I've found a to-do list to be one of the best tools to help me keep things moving and achieving my goals. Something about writing it down and getting it out of my head and on to the paper. I'm much more likely to get it done if it's somewhere I can see it every day.

Suggested Home File Categories For Organizing Your Filing System

One of the things on my to-do list is go through and clean out and organize my files. These category suggestions might prove helpful.

From here you'll find a number of other ideas you could include to help you break down tasks and stay organized. 

- 12 Lists To Help You Organize Your Life

- Home Project Notebook - I really like some of the ideas I found here!

- Make A Yearly Meal Plan - I don't know about planning meals for an entire year, but she has some good ideas! My friend, Heather, breaks her meal plans down by season and that's something I plan to try to implement this year.

- Password Log in today's age, keeping up with ALL the passwords can be challenging. Having them logged in one place can be a huge timesaver.

- Subscription / Membership Tracker - this is something I'm going to be adding to my planner soon. It's just too easy to lose track of things you're paying for but never use!

- Monthly Re-set - 10 things to do at the beginning of each month. I LOVE this idea!

This should give you plenty of ideas and resources work with, and if you don't find what you need, just Google "Free Planning and Organization Forms" or visit Pinterest and you'll find more resources than you'll ever need. As for me, I like to take an idea and then create my own forms using fonts and colors that I like, so that's what I'll be doing with a few of the resources I linked above.  I also have other forms I've made, and I'll be sharing those here in the days and weeks to come. I'm going to begin the year with a series of posts about my homemaking routines, so if you like that sort of thing, be sure to come back and visit. I'll be sprinkling posts on other topics as well to keep things interesting and I hope you'll join me!

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Merry Christmas!

 Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

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The Twelve Days of Christmas - God With Us

Today I want to discuss the celebration of The Twelve Days of Christmas! Although it’s a foreign idea to most people in our culture, the Christmas season, or Christmastide, doesn’t actually begin until Christmas Day, and lasts for the next twelve days until the Feast of Epiphany or Three Kings Day on January 6. In these lingering days, we observe and celebrate the Incarnation: “God With Us”!

A bit of history, according to legend, each of the twelve days has an allegorical meaning pointing to different essential elements of the Christian faith. The legend says that it was used as a teaching tool to teach children the basics of the faith during the sixteenth century when Christmas was banned in England . Although in determining the accuracy of this claim I did come upon some argument that seems worth considering, as with so many of the observances during this season, our celebrations are what we choose to make of them. For me personally, attributing this meaning to the verses of this carol makes it rich with new meaning. I don't need for the "legend" to be true for anyone other than for me and my family.

However, the tradition of celebrating and observing the Twelve Days of Christmas was something our family did not discover until our daughter was a little older, and in our home that meant receiving twelve additional gifts after Christmas Day. They were all typically small in nature, or perhaps second hand. Some years I regifted items that belonged to me and held special meaning that I wanted to pass on to her, such as a special book from my library. But most days she found things such as candy, small toys from the dollar store, perhaps a new card game. A couple of years I even wrote out little clues on cards that were left on the breakfast table directing her to where she would find that days gift concealed and waiting. It was great fun.

My little girl is all grown up now, but I still carry the happy memories of those days. So I thought that if this is something new for you and your family that I might share some of the ideas and resources that we've used in the past, and even a few that I've discovered in researching this post that you can use to perhaps begin your own traditions. Even if like me, you don't have children in the home anymore, we can still seek the gift of each day that is always present, and some of the readings I'll be sharing will aide you in that.

Today in the days following Christmas,  I will be posting a small reading from some of the books and resources we've used over the years, and as I said, some that I've only just discovered, along with links to other fun resources that you can use either alone or with the littles in your life to add deeper meaning. I'l begin today by sharing some links to a few books that we have in our library and that I think would make beautiful additions to yours as well. I realize this post is a bit late in the season for you to acquire these books, if you don't already own them but I was able to find a link to a lovely reading of Jan Brett's edition which I've included below.

❊ THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by Laurel Long

This is my absolute favorite book depicting this beautiful carol. Laurel Long's images, in my opinion, by far surpass any other rendition I have come across.

❊ THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by Lara Hawthorne

I love this edition for is folksy, perhaps somewhat more modern day depiction of each of the twelve days. Definitely different than Laurel Long's, but a nice constrast to the more formal illustrations and fun for families.

❊ THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by Jan Brett

And then of course we have the edition by the beloved Jan Brett, and you can never go wrong with Jan!

You can find a lovely reading of this book, here.

I also found a link to some lovely coloring pages, and  if you're like me (just a kid at heart), you will never outgrow coloring, so no shame! The pages are lovely and definitely something even adults could enjoy! But I wanted to provide the link to them here today in the event that you want to have them pre-printed and ready to go. These pages do attest to the legend behind the song, so if that's not something you want to include, the second link below will take you  to a beautiful set that follows along with the traditional story behind the song.

THE LEGEND OF THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COLORING PAGES

TRADITIONAL COLORING PAGES

And just for further explanation, according to legend, the earthly suitor, referred to as the "true love" mentioned in the song refers to God himself. The "me" who receives the presents is symbolic of every baptized person. The "partridge in the pear tree" is Jesus Christ, symbolically presented as a mother partridge who feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings the meaning of the other symbols are as follows:

The 2 Turtle Doves are The Old and New Testaments
The 3 French hens are Faith, Hope, and Charity, the theological virtues.
The 4 Calling Birds are the four gospels and/or the four evangelists.
The 5 Golden Rings are the first five books of the Old Testament.
The 6 Geese A-laying are the six days of creation.
The 7 Swans A-swimming are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments.
The 8 Maids A-milking are the eight beatitudes.
The 9 Ladies Dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.
The 10 Lords A-leaping are the ten commandments.
The 11 Pipers Piping are the eleven faithful apostles.
The 12 Drummers Drumming are the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed.

So I hope you'll join me in lingering in these lovely days of Christmas, and perhaps find new meaning in an old song.

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Merry & Bright - Day 5

Good morning, my friends, and welcome to the fifth and final entry in our series, MERRY & BRIGHT! I hope you've enjoyed what you've found here so far!

What Are You Reading in 2025?

Have you compiled your list of books you want to read in 2025?

I have some pretty ambitious goals for the year, including one non-fiction and one fiction book per month, and sprinkled in along with that, some seasonal reading, as well.  I'll be sharing more on that next week, but for now I wanted to point you to a fun resource to inspire you in your reading;

2025 Book Lovers Reading Challenge

I probably won't participate in the challenge, because I like more freedom with my reading selections, but I already a book about book stores on my list, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore.  

I also like the idea of a book about Libraries and Librarians, and while not about a librarian, this book, Handwritten Recipes: A Booksellers Collection of Curious and Wonderful Recipes Forgotten Between The Pages, as well as Forgotten Bookmarks: A Booksellers Collection of Odd Things Lost Between The Pages, has been on my Amazon Wish List for probably more than a decade. The author is on Instragram, where he shares pictures of some of his finds. Looking up this author led me to this article, The Fascinating Things People Leave Behind in Library Books, which speaks to two librarians who collect the things they discover in returned books. 

Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags

If you've run out of gift tags for your Christmas gifts, I found several free printable options that might work for you, as well.

- Scandi Farmhouse Gift Tags

- Vintage Christmas Tags

and of course, loving pine trees as I do, I found these, especially nice!

Christmas Time In A 1950's Diner

Came across another fun playlist on You Tube with quaint pictures of old time diners. The scenes are festive, and so are the songs.

Classic Christmas Movies You May Have Forgotten

If you've been visiting here for awhile, then you know how much I love classic movies, and that is especially true at Christmas.  With that, I thought I'd share a few you may have forgotten or even never seen! I've included links where you can watch them for free, when I could find them. In some cases, you may need to make an account, but there is no charge to watch them. Maybe you'll find a new favorite!

Bachelor Mother

Ginger Rogers plays a lonely department-store salesgirl who finds a baby on a doorstep. But everybody seems to think the baby is hers, and before she knows it, the baby reels in a fiancé and potential father-in-law as well.

The Shop Around the Corner

Providing inspiration for future rom-coms like You've Got Mail, The Shop Around the Corner is about two coworkers who outwardly despise each other but don't realize that the pen pals they each write to and are in love with are … each other. The Christmas scenes in Budapest offer equal parts good cheer and romance.

The Man Who Came To Dinner

Monty Woolley plays a New York radio personality Sheridan Whiteside, who visits the home of one of his listeners, the Stanleys, for a publicity stunt. But in a real stunt, he slips on the ice and breaks his hip on the steps of their house. He insists on spending Christmas under their care and causes all manner of mayhem.

Christmas in Connecticut - My all time favorite classic Christmas movie!

Barbara Stanwyck is Elizabeth Lane, a woman who has made a living writing about cooking on her farm with her family in Connecticut — but she can't cook a lick, doesn't have a family of her own, and doesn't live in Connecticut! It becomes a problem when her boss invites himself to her abode for the Christmas season and she has to pull off a massive lie with the help of friends.

We're No Angels

Three convicts, including Humphrey Bogart, escape prison and end up hiding in a shop run by a small family. The criminals plan to rob the store — until the family invites them to Christmas dinner and they decide to help the nice family with their financial struggles instead.

- Enjoy

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