YES, The Holidays are Coming! Organizing News and Tips - Oct 2026

The Clutter Whisperers

3 hours ago

2 min read

YES, THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING!

The Clutter Whisperers/CW Organizing Solutions

October 2026

The image shows an organized holiday dinner table that is festive and cozy

Yes, the Holidays are Coming!

Is it October? Yes. Am I about to talk about the holidays? Also yes.

We can pretend December is miles away, or we can admit the truth: the holiday chaos is already plotting its arrival.

If your current strategy is "wing it and hope wine fixes the rest," grab the Ultimate Chaos-Free Holiday Planner from the Clutter Whisperer Etsy Store now and avoid that holiday panic!

Or check out these Mini Planners if you just need help in one area:

Ø Holiday Budgeting

Ø Gifting

Ø Party Planning

Ø Baking

Ø Menu Planning

Ø Travel

Ø Decorating

… and MUCH MORE!

“Christmas is such a carefree, low-pressure time—that’s one of the things I love about it.” — Stephen King

EXCERPT From the Ultimate Chaos Free Countdown to the Holidays Mini Planner

The holiday season is a time for joy, celebration, and creating lasting memories with those you love. But we know how quickly things can get overwhelming—the shopping, the cooking, the houseguests. Here's how to get ready!

Brainstorming Session. Sit down and do a brain dump of all the important dates you need to pay attention to. Put these on your Master Calendar.

Planning. For longer tasks, like making travel arrangements, decorating your space, mailing out cards, etc. use the Planners - put in deadlines for START DATE AND COMPLETION DATE.

Tech it Up - Here are some apps that can streamline this process:

Cozi: A family organizer app that includes shared calendars for holiday events, to-do lists, shopping, and built-in meal plans.

AnyList: Organize your personal recipes and add from other sources; auto create a shopping list from the recipe; plan for an entire week or month with the meal planning calendar.

Microsoft Outlook: Creates color-coded calendar for holiday itineraries and events; integrates with Microsoft Teams

Google Calendar: You can use Secondary Calendars; create color coding for each event.

BEWARE! The Halloween Clutter Monster

Halloween Clutter Monster Buster Tips:

Decorate with edibles. Utilize natural things like pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn, and greenery from outside. Then make pie from the pumpkin, and compost everything else.

Borrow or thrift costumes. Try a neighborhood costume swap- or shop at your local thrift store. And on November 1, donate them back!

Get treasures from the forest. Create a wreath from twigs and vines, colorful fall leaves, or put a tree branch in a vase and tie black ribbons to it, which ends up looking like bat wings.

Give out money instead of candy. Avoid the inevitable over-indulgence with post-holiday candy leftovers by giving out coins instead.

Multi-Purpose Your Holiday Decorations. Get a large glass bowl and pillar candle. Fill the bowl with seasonal items like candy corn for Halloween, cranberries for Thanksgiving, evergreen branches for Christmas.

Have a fun, slightly scary, and very safe Halloween!