**I was compensated for this Homemade Holiday Planner post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.** All opinions are my own.
This post really couldn't come at a better time! I have been married 25 years and have had a holiday planner at least the last 15 years or so. You can imagine it's pretty full with memories of Christmases past. The first Christmas with our son, the first Christmas with both of our boys. The recent holiday gatherings without our parents. Family, friends and memories have been made through the years.
This homemade holiday planner is made with items from Dollar Tree. I used a composition notebook, colored pencils, invisible tape, a greeting card, glue and holiday stickers. Now, my planner is for Thanksgiving and Christmas but you could certainly customize yours for all the holidays throughout the year. I spent $5 because I went a little sticker crazy. I also bought a box of greeting cards because I thought I could use them this year as well to send to family and friends. You could shave the cost by purchasing a single greeting card at 50¢ and fewer stickers.
I have sprinkled fun quotes on the first page of each section. You can find some of my favorites and inspiration on my Memorable Quotes Pinterest board. Quotes like "guaranteed happiness in every bite" and "cooking is love made edible" on my menu page. For my memories section I included "memories warm you up from the inside" and "the best thing about memories is making them". My boys know how important making memories is to me. It was important to my Mom too so I had a good teacher.
This planner is really simple to make, so simple you can make a few extras for gifts. To embellish the cover, cut the front off of a greeting card and glue to the cover. Make sure to center and straighten it. I made tabs along the side by writing my title and using invisible tape to reinforce it and tape it to the page, so the title is the tab. You could also print them from your computer. (See photo above) I used the titles Menu, Recipes, Guests, Gifts, Ideas, Memories and Baking but use whatever you feel works for you. You could add a favorite holiday music tab or travel tab if you go away for the holidays. Something like ski destinations if you're into skiing. The gift section is a great way to know what you've given to who so you don't duplicate in the future.
Because I've just made my new homemade holiday planner, it has very little in it since the holidays are just beginning. So far, I've taped clippings from magazines about a turkey timeline, how to brown butter, and a few recipes I'd like to try. A couple of recipes I'll be including are family favorites like Mom's classic pumpkin pie with vanilla whipped cream and cinnamon pecan swirl coffee cake. I expect in a few years I'll be making another one. It's a very budget friendly project and a great way to stay organized.
This homemade holiday planner is the second in a series of three posts in conjunction with Dollar Tree. Find my DIY Halloween Picture Frames here.
With everyone in one place and organized, you'll already have jumpstart on next year's holiday planning too.