Organizing for Christmas~Project 1: Make A Fun Clipboard for Lists or Photos...

This week, I am writing a series about getting organized for Christmas.
I am featuring a few little ideas to help make Christmas organized and pretty for the CEO of Santa's workshop.....Mom.

As Halloween wraps up, I am moving on to getting organized for Christmas.

This week I will be putting all the Halloween decorations away.

I will start decorating for Christmas after November 12.

At our house, we respectfully observe Remembrance Day for Canadian Veterans on November 11.

A few years ago, Linda at Restyled Home wrote an amazing post about how November is about getting ready for Christmas and December is for enjoying Christmas.

I so agree with that theory!

So in November, my goals are:

Decorate for Christmas~except for the Christmas Tree.

Take our Christmas card photo.
Make homemade Christmas gifts such as clipboards for teachers.

Start & complete Christmas shopping.

Wrap & mail Christmas gifts.

Prepare the Christmas cards for mailing on December 1st.

Tackle some Christmas baking projects {put in freezer}.

When December arrives~ I aim to:

Spend lots of time with my family.

Decorate the Christmas Tree.

Sip hot chocolate with marshmallows.
Spend lots of evenings in flannel jammies and warm socks.
Take drives to admire Christmas lights throughout the city.

Read Christmas books in front of the fireplace with my sweeties.

Watch Christmas movies.

Have family friends over for dinner.

Bake Christmas goodies.

Enjoy Christmas mail.

In doing this, I hopefully avoid:

Not having time for my children because I am too 'busy'.

Busy stores.
Full parking lots.

Insane traffic.

Feelings of stress and pressure to get things 'done'.

Going out in bad weather.

Impulse shopping that wastes money.

So in the spirit of November,

Here is a fun project to you get into the mood for the season.

A Christmas-themed mini-clipboard for keeping lists, displaying photos or giving as gifts.

All you need is some clipboards~mini or regular size.

{I pick up mine at the dollar store.}

I have built so many of these clipboards that I have made a template to use for cutting out the

paper to go around the clip part of the board.

You will need  Mod Podge in matte, a brush and Christmas scrapbook paper.

I like using  Mod Podge because it is non-toxic.

{I don't like toxic glue sprays.}

Then make the project your own by choosing one or two papers to cover the clipboard.

I like using 2 papers....one for the top and one for the bottom for contrast.

{I don't cover the back of the clipboard, but you could if you wanted.}

Trace the paper and cut it to fit the board.

Coat the clipboard with Mod Podge and then press down the paper.

{And give the paper a really good rub down to avoid bubbles}

When dry, trim the edges around the clipboard for a better fit.

Cover with another coat of Mod Podge to give the scrapbook paper protection.

Embellish with stickers or whatever you wish!

Tie different coloured ribbons to the clip for a fun touch.

Here is a project in traditional colours:~ I plan to use this one for my ongoing list for November.

Here is a project in more modern colours:

I also love adding quotes to my clip-board projects....

I plan to use this one to display our 2010 Christmas card photo~

 Like this project with the kids' school photos:~

Last year I made 8 of these for Christmas gifts for my kids' teachers.
{We included the music teacher, the gym teacher, the librarian, etc.}
I added a monogram {a letter for their first name} and a quote about teaching.
We also made them in each teacher's favourite colour~ this made for some detective work for my son!

And here are some other clipboards that we made for a craft day~my Mom, my daughter & I~ in 2008 when the new Amy Bulter scrapbooking line came out at Micheals.

This is a super fun project to make~you can include the kids by getting them to help pick out papers and ribbons.
And the best part is~it's only November and there is lots of time to make projects like this!
I am making more again this year for my son's teachers for Christmas since he is going to a different school.
I hope you feel inspired to make something for someone special in your life!

If you liked this post, you may want to take a peek at these other Christmas craft posts here, here and here.

And these Pinterest boards:
Christmas Crafts To Love
Christmas Gift Ideas
Valentine's Inspiration
Easter Ideas
Birthday Parties & Ideas To Love