Nothing says "Christmas!" like a beautifully decorated home. Fragrant greens, twinkling lights, holiday centerpieces all set the stage for a merry holiday season.

But at what cost? 

If you believe catalog vendors, department stores and florists, be prepared to lay down a bundle to create that holiday home. Each year sees a set of new colors, new images, new trends, all designed to part you from your holiday dollars.

Scanning a list of handmade craft gifts is something like reading a cookbook: it makes you hungry! 

Whether you wander the crafts store, settle in at the library's craft bookshelf, or browse online, visions of bright and beautiful gifts follow one after the other. Will this be the year you give hand-crafted gifts ... to everyone? 

Christmas is coming! Do you understand the unwritten rules of gift-giving?

Each of us carries within ourselves a set of rules about gift-giving. Seldom acknowledged and rarely discussed, these rules determine what we give, how much we give, and to whom we give. Despite living only in our minds and expectations, the unwritten rules of gift-giving govern everything from the office Secret Santa exchange to the family's morning under the Christmas tree.

We should all have a friend like my friend Joyce. No matter what the occasion, she comes up with the perfect gift--even at short notice. 

Her wrapped packages are lavish and lovely, her cards are sweet and well-chosen--and she does it on a budget and without last-minute dashes to the shopping mall. Her secret? 

A gift closet.

It's a concept we love here at Organized Christmas: a dedicated space in the household to store gift items, gift wrap and cards. A gift closet holds a stockpile of gift items and everything needed to wrap and present them.

For many families, the Christmas season causes more than usual chaos on the home front. 

Do you shove stacks of mail and magazines into dark closets to hide them from drop-in visitors? Does your dinnertime schedule fall off the rails when faced with multiple evening rehearsals? Does Mount Washmore raise itself to new heights in the laundry room, only to be scaled in panic an hour before the Nativity play?

Autumn's here and it's time to Fall Back: Time Change Sunday is coming! 

On the first Sunday in November, we come to the end of Daylight Saving Time in most of the United States. With an extra hour in the day--and winter on the way--it's a good time for a seasonal home preparedness check

As you circle the house, resetting clocks to Standard Time, make time for this short safety checklist. It'll see you into the winter from a safe--and organized--home:

When you think about Christmas from a few weeks away, there’s a luxurious feeling of “plenty of time”, but as December draws near, the season’s pace quickens exponentially. Where did the time go?  

Take major action against the seasonal time crunch with a pre-season scheduling session. The goal: to arrange for all those little appointments that slip the mind so easily.

With the Christmas calendar as a guide, consider scheduling these important pre-season tasks:

Once again, I mark the coming of autumn with a clothing closet declutter. 

I wade into the closet and find the boxes of out-of-season clothing. Try everything on, skin itching at the touch of wool when the temperature's 80 degrees. 

Sort the summer's keepers from items to donate. Look for "holes" and orphans in my autumn wardrobe. Count the upcoming dinners and holiday events, and divide them by the number of my party dresses. Try, for the 900th time, to locate some good transitional outfits: cool enough for warm autumn days, but not too summery or too bare.

Summer's in full swing--and baby, it's hot outside! Need a diversion? Late summer is the perfect time to look ahead to the holiday season! 

Start Christmas planning now, and you'll reap abundant benefits come December. But not everyone agrees. Citing "Christmas creep"--the tendency of retail stores to display holiday merchandise while it's still summer--many people resist the idea of starting early for an organized Christmas.

Homeschool families, like Tolstoy's happy ones, are all alike: drowning in a sea of clutter! 

Whatever the organization arena--time, space, money, computer access—-homeschool families have it worse. They have more stuff, less time, more distractions, less money, more chores and less space than just about anybody else. 

How do you get organized for homeschool? Don't despair, homeschoolers! Here at OrganizedHome.Com, we've assembled the best tips, ideas, resources and links to get your new school year off to an organized start.