While the holidays come every year, it still manages to sneak up on us quickly, leaving little time to create efficiencies in this happy madness.

This will be our fourth Christmas as parents and we are fortunate enough to have very thoughtful family members & friends who spoil our kids. This year, I will finally be prepared for the flying wrapping paper and the boxes that trap my children’s toys! 

Those retailers don’t always make it easy on us, so I stocked a small Christmas Canister with all the necessities we would need come unwrapping time.

In the Christmas Canister, I included the following items:

• 3 garbage bags
• 1 pair of scissors
• 2 Phillips head screwdrivers (large & small)
• 2 Flat head screwdrivers (large & small)
• Batteries! (AA, AAA, & C4)
• Ziploc bag for “small gadgets” to keep away from babies or NOT to lose!

In addition to the Christmas Canister, I set aside a notepad and Sharpie for “thank you” note tracking (if you so choose).

I also labeled a plastic-snapped envelope to hold any and all gift receipts, instruction manuals and cards we receive. These are all items that tend to get lost easily!

Lastly, it wouldn’t be Christmas if we didn’t GO GREEN! I designated one of our large boxes to recycle all merchandise boxes (i.e. Barbie boxes) that don’t compact well into the garbage bags. Just one more step to eliminate any “madness” during such an exciting time!

This project took me less than 5 minutes to put together (aside from the labeling – but I couldn’t resist!) and will be so worth it when I don’t have to worry about anything getting lost in the mess!