Christmas in September???

For those that know me well or even kind of know me, know I LOVE the holidays from Halloween thru Christmas. My husband and I share this love and enjoy shopping year round for Christmas. I don't like feeling overwhelmed when the holidays actually get here, so we make a point to start early. The challenge becomes where to store the gifts. They are usually just thrown in the top of our closet, and we cross our fingers that something doesn't get crushed or lost up there. In years past, I have purchased something and totally forgot about it. I would usually find it the next holiday. I can't be the only one?!?! Well, today I began working on a solution. My first step this year was to create an ongoing Christmas list on my computer. Every time I purchase something, I add it to the list with the name of the person and cost of the gift. I am curious to know how much we end up spending on Christmas every year. With a newborn in the house, we have lots of diaper boxes. I decided to use those to help with storage and organization. You can't beat free. In order to dress them up, I cut off the top flaps and wrapped them in wrapping paper. I then used some chalkboard clothespins I found in the dollar section at Michaels to label each box. I can easily see the labels even when they are in the top of my closet. So far, I have created one for kids that are not my own and one for the fabulous ladies in my life. I plan to make one for each of my boys and a family box for aunts, uncles and grandparents. Check out the finished product below. How do you organize Christmas?