If you don't like mixing your holidays get organized now for the new year and put away the Christmas decorations! Heres a few quick tips on storing decorations. First take pictures of all the areas where you placed decorations and ornaments. Group items together like entertaining pieces, ornaments or display. Get even more detailed by labeling small pieces like silk flowers or garland with masking tape or label tape. Finally get rid of broken ornaments, non working lights and anything you didn't use this year. Happy organizing and Happy New Year!

Do your kids like playing with the box more than that new toy? My toy organizing tip for the day is to keep that box for the next 30 days or as long as the Toy store return policy runs out. Be sure to also keep the receipt. If your kids don't have any interest in playing with those toys, something breaks or pieces are missing take them back to the store. Unwanted toys that just hang around end up cluttering up your kids rooms and taking up space. Stay organized in the kids room and keep only the toys they like and actually use.

Trying to keep track of all your kids puzzle pieces? Now that is a challenge! Heres a quick tip. As soon as you open up a new puzzle, flip over the pieces and draw shape with a marker or use a stamp to mark the back of all of pieces. You could even write "50" for the total amount of pieces. This will help you when trying to figure out what pieces go to a particular puzzle and the total. You dont want to have to get rid of a puzzles because of so many mystery pieces or worse completing the puzzle but having the final piece missing.

As you brave this years extreme holiday shopping its important to be prepared for the experience. The crowds and long lines are just a few things you will encounter. If you want to achieve your shopping goals its important to get organized before you head out the door. Make a list of what you need and where you need to go. Be sure to have any additional details about what you need. Do you clothing or shoe sizes, favorite color or any other specifics details? Are you setting a table and need dimensions for the tablecloth? Gather everything before heading out so you don't have to make a 2ND trip for returns. And hopefully your recipient will not have to return your gift either.

Dont spend a lot of money on tissue paper to fill your holiday gift boxes. Instead use the unwanted shredded paper from your shredder basket. First you have to do some organizing with your home or office paperwork. Shred unwanted documents and reuse the shredded paper as you would tissue paper. If you want to get creative, toss a few sheets of colored paper in to brighten it up.

Baking during the holidays is a fun way to get into the spirit. But overbuying supplies can easily overcrowd your pantry wasting space and supplies. Be sure to only purchase only what you need. Baking items like yeast, flour and baking powder expire and loose their effectiveness. You dont want to spend the time and money working with other ingredients only to spoil the final product. Nobody likes a flat cake or bread that doesn't rise. Take inventory before shopping and be sure to label food storage containers with expiration dates.

Having bad cell phone reception doesn't work for anyone. I tried troubleshooting the problem and nothing seemed to work. My final attempt at solving my phone problem was to see if my I old phone worked. If it did, I would know that my new phone had a problem. But now I had a dilemma, I still had my old phone but not the charger. In order to test my phone idea out I needed power! I still had the USB that plugged into my computer so guess what? I plugged it in and voila! It charged perfectly, my old phone worked with great reception and I learned my new phone was not working properly. Having a USB connected to your computer is a great way to backup your phone but also a great way to charge your phone! I love it...less cords!

Keeping track of holiday spending can be a challenge, especially all those gift receipts. Its critical to keep this paperwork in a safe place. A folder, envelope or box will work as long as its easy for you to manage. You will need these receipts to check against your bank or credit card statements after the holidays. You will also want to keep a copy of the original receipt for any returns. Be sure to get gift receipts whenever possible or a duplicate receipt to include with gifts. And make a master list of all gifts and recipients.

Overwhelmed by junk mail, credit card offers and other mail? The best way to stay organized is to open then shred unwanted documents immediately. If you don't have time to shred, try the ID Guard Stamp from Container store. As soon as you open your unwanted mail stamp out your name, address and toss!

Another use for this little gadget is covering up those pesky price tags on your holiday gifts.