December 2009 Keep-It-Together Checklist

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If you do only one thing this month…make your (gift) list and check it twice. Avoid mall madness and do your holiday shopping online. You’ll be less tempted by impulse buys and can arrange wrapping and shipping directly from the retailer.
Save money on decorations. Order holiday supplies from papermart.com, nashvillewraps.com, and save-on-crafts.com and you could save up to 50 percent. Or check out the gems for sale on shopgoodwill.com (the auction site of Goodwill stores).
Related: How to Save on Holiday Decorations
Get luminous skin. ’Tis the season for holiday parties—and the resulting day-after dull skin. Reduce puffiness, cover dark circles, and reduce blotchiness with new flaw-fixing products.
Related: Instant Improvements for Your Skin
Clean out your refrigerator. Make room for your holiday cooking by using smart storage options to create an efficient, well-organized space where you can find the capers every time.
Related: Before and After: Refrigerator Makeover
Take your vitamins. You may have outgrown the Flintstones version a long time ago, but you should still get a daily dose of vitamins. Find out the differences among multivitamin options and which is best for you.
Related: Are You Taking the Right Vitamin?
Prepare hors d’oeuvres before your guests arrive. Many appetizer recipes can be cooked in advance and reheated or assembled at the last minute. Even impressive small dishes can be prepared early in December and frozen until party time.
Related: Spiced Beef Empanadas With Lime Sour Cream
Open a clamshell package gracefully. Odds are you’ll receive at least one gift in the theft-deterring and hard-to-open packaging. Master the clamshell with this easy-to-open technique: Grab a standard rotary can opener. (Make sure it’s sharp.) Flip the package over so you’re looking at the back, clamp the can opener on the top-right edge of the package, then cut all the way around. Voila!