For me December is full of personal ritual: preparations for the New Year are made alongside the gathering of a little tiny collection of gifts I give to myself. Just as Janus, the God whom January is named after looked back and looked forward, I too spend the days before the New Year reflecting on the one gone by and planning a better one going forward…
Some of my New Year rituals are well documented here on
1. I have said Goodbye to 2012 and written a list of 100 things I want to do/be/happen/achieve in the New Year with the help of Leonie Dawson’s rather fabulous “Create Your Incredible Year Workbook + Planner“. As you know I very, very rarely promote other peoples work, but this is one download I would urge you to stuff into your stocking because the questions it poses really do make you think about what it is you want out of life in the year to come…
2. I have completely emptied one shelf and one drawer so the universe knows I have got space in my life for more of whatever little gifts it wants to bestow. My entire family laughs at my stoic belief in the universe but believe in it I do!
3. According to an obsession I caught off my Mother, I have bought more new bedding (more Kirstie Allsop – tis this one, bought for a song in TK Maxx again) so I can start the New Year in sumptuous fresh linen. I will launder it in lavender on New Years Eve and put it on the bed on New Years day: a gorgeous gift of sleep for January 1st 2013.
4. I have used a set of dividers and a new Martha Stewart ring binder to divide the months of my Year of
5. I have filled the freezer full of slow cooked sausage stew, chorizo and bean bakes, vegetable soup and lots and lots of our Liverpool favorite, Scouse… all just ready to be warmed and eaten on the cold dark nights of January. This then is my nod to hibernation!
6. I have taken a huuuuge haul of clothes, toys and books to the charity shop. In a re-imagining of the phrase “charity begins at home”, I have made space for the abundance of Christmas and the peace and quiet of a New Year by offering all that we truly don’t need to those who can turn into money for those that do.
7. I have printed out an all new copy of my Housekeepers Planner so that I can re-invent my routines and rituals according to the way the past twelve months has shaped them, now that I no longer have to do the morning school run. This is a valuable practice to undertake annually as housekeepers, because life changes and if we are to avoid being stuck in a domestic rut or feeling in a permanent spin, it serves us well to shake things up a bit…
8. I have brainstormed a new way forward for
9. I have ordered the much talked about Smash Folio so that I can get back to journalling properly without faf! Tuesday nights are still the nights I dedicate to cutting and pasting my life into various photo-albums and scrapbooks but this year I want to loosen things up a little bit and get back to the casual, less self-conscious way I used to
10. And finally I have decided to write a manifesto for myself rather than make the same old resolutions. So taking inspiration from the much lauded Holstee Manifesto I have started to sketch out a little something that will shape my tomorrows and when I am ready I will share it with you my gorgeous Brocanteers…
Here’s to a gorgeous New Year Housekeepers! Don’t forget to sign up to be a Superstar now will you? I’ve got so much loveliness planned for 2013…
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Autumn House
Hi Alison. If one month costs $10. How is it that paying quarterly ie 3 months it cost $33.00??
Am I missing something here? Sorry if I am.
Love all you do
Barbara x
OOOoooh Barbara, that doesn’t sound right! Let me look into it and see what chaos I have caused now… watch this space.x
Love this list! I am heading in the same direction. I purchased new bedding for the new year. I redid my planner with Martha Stewart, but thanks to your suggestion, I am going to modify it slightly for the Puttery Year Companion. Can’t wait for that! Love being a Superstar. I highly recommend it to all.
I have been clearing out all kinds of stuff for charity since November 1st to make way for all the blessings available to me in 2013. Finally, a big “Thank You” for the info on Leonie Dawson, and the Smash Folio. I think both of these will be adding much to my life in 2013.
I hope and pray that 2013 is a wonderful year for all.
This a interesting article.So many reasons and clarification of all the reasons.It is really very helpful.Thanks for sharing in such detailed manner.
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