Toy Organization

Today I am sharing my quest to conquer our Toy Organization. I have tried so many different types of storage and organization for toys and we FINALLY found what is working for us.

 We don't have a ton of extra space for toys in our current home, so they mostly reside in the kids closets. However, our toys were taking over our home! I thought that with the storage bins we had that they would be organized, but to be honest...it just wasn't working! We had to come up with a new system.

Back To School: Snack Organization

 It's crazy to think its back to school time already! Once school starts it seems like things just get crazy. With all those other things that come along with school that keep us busy we find it helpful to keep our snacks ready and organized to grab on the go.

I thought I'd share a little snack organization system that works really well for us. (This also helps when packing lunches.) I bought these bins at bed, bath, and beyond and they have been so helpful.

Project: Closet Organization {Scarves}

I think that my master bedroom closet is under constant organization revamps...I still haven't found the perfect system quite yet. One thing you should know about me is I love any type of accessory!
In my closet you will find many scarves, shoes, jewelry, etc...I love to put together fun complete outfits and find that the perfect accessory can really make your outfit pop. Not to mention that it increases the wearability in your wardrobe and helps you feel 'good'. That being said, my scarf organization has been lacking. I have been using hangers to house my scarves, but with my ever growing collection it was getting tricky. I think this method works great if you only have a few scarves, but with too many it is tedious and annoying to locate and get access to your scarves. Here is what my scarf organization has been:

You may think...that isn't very many scarves...well that's because I never put them away because it gets tedious!

Enter a gift from my sister in law. She's pretty darn smart. Not only did she give me 2 more adorable scarves to add to my collection (woo hoo) but she gave me this:

I think this is from Ikea, and I love it. Check out the difference!

Much better, and I still have lots of spots for more scarves (hooray!) Not to mention that it fits well in my closet without being too bulky and is easy to pull out and browse and grab scarves and easy to put them away. It also works with infinity scarves which is a plus. I am pretty excited about it if you couldn't tell. :)

Want updates and spoilers on projects and ideas?  Come like me on facebook and twitter to keep up on whats up next!

I'm join these fabulous link parties each week: Flamingo Toes,  I heart naptime, Under the table and dreaming, Not your ordinary Recipes, Not just a housewife, The Project Queen, Creating my way to success, Craft Couture, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,The Kurtz Corner,  Krafty Kat, Polly want a Crafter, Blue Cricket Design, Southern Lovely, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Women who do it all, Eisy Morgan, Laugh, Love, Craft,  Clean & Scentsible,  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Speckled Dog, Tatortots & Jello, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring, Just a Girl ,Someday Crafts, Reasons to skip the housework,  The Idea Room ,Between U and Me,   Home Saavy
Pocket full of pink,  For the love of cupcakes, Positively Splendid,  Raising 4 Princesses , One Stop Shoppe,Oopsey Daisy
 Its Overflowing, The D.I.Y. Dreamer ,Serendipity & Spice, Rae Gun Ramblings, ,Crafty blog stalker , CSI Project,
36th Avenue, Real housewives of Riverton ,The rustic pig    , Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Contact Sheet {Phone Numbers & Addresses} free printable

It's that time of year again when we are all ready to get organized for the upcoming year. This printable has been highly requested so enjoy! As with my other home organization printables, this address & Phone contact sheet coordinates with my other binder printables and the 2013 calendar.

 Go HERE to download this phone number and address contact printable.

Want to get organized? Check out my other home binder {free} printables.
 Our Week at a Glance
2013 Calendar
Daily Quick Clean
Weekly Cleaning 
Monthly Deep clean
Blogging Schedule
Important Dates
Family Traditions, Want lists, & Gift List Ideas
Binder Cover Sheets
Menu Planning Sheets

As always, personal use only. Please link back!

Want updates and spoilers on projects and ideas?  Come like me on facebook and twitter to keep up on whats up next!

2013 Calendar {Free Printable}

This post is month late. To be honest, things have just gotten crazy and I kept waiting for things to settle down...but I doubt they ever will! I am finally posting the new 2013 Calendar printables that coordinate with all my other organization {free} printables.

My Bathroom Closet...

 Let's just say this has closet has been in a sorry state of affairs for quite a while now. It seems that it was the go to 'throw it' place. I had a few organizing containers...just waiting for me to organize and I finally made myself sit down and tackle this closet! Yep, here she is in all her glory. Notice the cotton balls and qtips? Wrinkled piles of beach and bath towels. As you can see this was driving me nuts! One of my biggest complaints about organization and looking pretty is functionality. Yes, I could have made this a gorgeous closet with apothecary jars and more beautiful containers that would have hid this stuff better...but for what purpose? I would have loved the look...but my husband would have had stuff scattered all over our vanity because if it takes him more than a minute to get something out...chances are he is never going to put it back away. This equals more work for me in the long run. So in our house we have to find that balance of cuteness...and practicality. So after an hour of taking everything out of the closet and starting from scratch here is the final product.

Menu Planning Printables

I created these at the beginning of the year and have been using them and loving them all year...only problem is I thought I had shared these before but apparently had not!

Home Organizer Cover Page

I have really neglected my duties in regards to linking up my Home Organization/Family Planner binder pages. I will try and catch up! Here are 2 options for a 8.5x11 (jpeg) binder cover that you can print at home.

Family Traditions, gift list ideas, & wants list {free printables}

Here are 3 more printables to add to the Home Organizing Binder:
Wants, Needs, & Sizes: PDF, Excel worksheet
Birthday & Anniversary Gift Ideas: PDF, Excel worksheet
Family Traditions: PDF, Excel worksheet 

Did you miss out on the other free Home Binder Printables?
Our Week at a Glance
2012 Calendar
Daily Quick Clean
Weekly Cleaning 
Monthly Deep clean
Blogging Schedule
Important Dates

As always, personal use only. Please link back!

{Important Dates} free printable

I use this year after year as my family has grown to keep track of all those important dates! I just keep the pages in protective sheets back to back behind my yearly calendar in my binder.

To download a blank pdf go here.
To download the excel file go here.
Fonts used were: adobe fangsong and futura light

Just a heads up on the excel file, to make it easier to edit and navigate I created each page on a separate worksheet. Here is a pic to show you where to locate the tabs to each sheet, just click on the tab you want to edit. When you print, it will print all the sheets in workbook. :)

COMING UP: Family traditions sheet, Updated Wants, Needs, & Sizes sheet, & Birthday & Anniversary Gift Ideas.

 Did you miss out on the other free Home Binder Printables?
Our Week at a Glance
2012 Calendar
Daily Quick Clean
Weekly Cleaning 
Monthly Deep clean
Blogging Schedule

Medical and Prescription Info {Home Binder Printables}

Here are the latest pages in our Home Binders. I am offering pdf and Excel files. Just a reminder, these are for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Do not redistribute, sell, or edit them and claim as your own. I spent a lot of time on these and hope that you can use them in your own home! I would love it for you to link back here to share with others. :) Thanks!

 For Medical Information Sheets:
PDF VERSION
EXCEL VERSION

Prescription Info:
PDF VERSION
EXCEL VERSION

Did you miss out on the other free Home Binder Printables?

Our Week at a Glance
2012 Calendar
Daily Quick Clean
Weekly Cleaning 
Monthly Deep clean
Blogging Schedule
Want's, Need's, & Sizes

Home Binder {Family Quick Sheet}

Ready for another free printable for your home binder?{As a heads up, I do have a directory page and I am designing a front binder cover as well as tab sheets to use as dividers...but I am not done with those.} So I will just keep posting the printables in order as I have them in my binder. One of the first things besides our Week at a glance, is our family emergency quick sheet.

 This is so handy to have these important numbers handy. I am trying something new! A little nervous to see how it goes. I will offer two files. The first is a pdf of this file. The second is an editable excel file. I created it in a new version of microsoft excel, but I saved it as an older version which will hopefully allow more people to use this to customize their file. The font I used is futural-light-normal which is a free font you can find online. We'll try this out and see how it works.
For pdf go here.
For excel file go here.

Other Home Organizing Printables:
Our Week at a Glance
2012 Calendar
Daily Quick Clean
Weekly Cleaning 
Monthly Deep clean
Blogging Schedule
Want's, Need's, & Sizes

Week at a Glance {free printable}

 Wow, I thought with the holidays over life would calm down...apparently not! Its already a week into January. I have some good news for what's been keeping me busy...we are buying our house! I am so excited, even though right now it just seems like a bunch of work with inspections, quotes, and loan stuff! Hopefully, in a few weeks things will all be done and we will be homeowners. Anyways, here the first page I have in my home binder that I am sharing with you guys! This page is so handy, sometimes I keep a copy on the fridge for everyone to see what we have going on for the week. I posted a complete 2012 calendar download that is hopefully helping everyone with their scheduling. This download is the perfect compliment. Go HERE to download week at a glance

http://www.4shared.com/office/AEi5YuY8/weeklyglance.html

More Home Binder Printables:
2012 Calendar
Daily Quick Clean
Weekly Cleaning 
Monthly Deep clean
Blogging Schedule
Important Dates

I'm join these fabulous link parties each week: Flamingo Toes,  I heart naptime, Under the table and dreaming, Not your ordinary Recipes, Not just a housewife, The Project Queen, Creating my way to success, Craft Couture, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,The Kurtz Corner,  Krafty Kat, Polly want a Crafter, Blue Cricket Design, Southern Lovely, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Women who do it all, Eisy Morgan, Laugh, Love, Craft,  Clean & Scentsible,  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Speckled Dog, Tatortots & Jello, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring, Just a Girl ,Someday Crafts, Reasons to skip the housework,  The Idea Room ,Between U and Me,   Home Saavy
Pocket full of pink,  For the love of cupcakes, Positively Splendid,  Raising 4 Princesses , One Stop Shoppe,Oopsey Daisy
CSI PROJECT

2012 Calendar

Click here to download the entire 2012 calendar. These are pdf files, so you can print each month at your leisure or the entire year at once.

I have some great FREE printables coming up for getting organized. I used a calm color scheme since it won the most votes. I may come up with something more colorful, but for right now I have my hands full. Stay tuned for tons of printables to get your house in order! I have tried to make several customizable and I am excited. 

I only have limited internet access for the next few days so be patient while I workout the downloading bugs. This is the first multipage file I have uploaded so there may be some kinks. If you email me, just know I may not be able to get back to you until next week. 

As always, you should be able to download these for FREE. They often ask you to download it with a premium account which it will ask you to pay for, make sure you just click to the free part. It will usually make you wait for 20 seconds for the download file link to appear so just be aware. 

Enjoy the calendar!  

I'm join these fabulous link parties each week: Flamingo Toes,  I heart naptime, Under the table and dreaming, Not your ordinary Recipes, Not just a housewife, The Project Queen, Creating my way to success, Craft Couture, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,The Kurtz Corner,  Krafty Kat, Polly want a Crafter, Blue Cricket Design, Southern Lovely, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Women who do it all, Eisy Morgan, Laugh, Love, Craft,  Clean & Scentsible,  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Speckled Dog, Tatortots & Jello, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring, Just a Girl ,Someday Crafts, Reasons to skip the housework,  The Idea Room ,Between U and Me,   Home Saavy
Pocket full of pink,  For the love of cupcakes, Positively Splendid,  Raising 4 Princesses , One Stop Shoppe

Easy Jewelry Organizer

Since our move, I have needed a place to put some of my jewelry. I prefer it out of the way of my main room, but still easily accessible. I keep my earrings and most rings in a jewelry box because I don't wear them that often. I always wear my hair down so earrings never really show! Anyways, I had this blank wall in our master closet and thought it would work perfect for what I had in mind. A wrought iron decorative set of hooks I got at hobby lobby years ago!

I just anchored and screwed it in. Perfect solution!

I hang necklaces, watchbands, bracelets, headbands, and my commonly worn rings on the hooks. It's easy access and kind of cute! Plus being in my closet makes it even easier to quickly accessorize my outfits.

I'm join these fabulous link parties each week: Flamingo Toes,  I heart naptime, Under the table and dreaming, Not your ordinary Recipes, Not just a housewife, The Project Queen, Creating my way to success, Craft Couture, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,The Kurtz Corner,  Krafty Kat, Polly want a Crafter, Blue Cricket Design, Southern Lovely, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Women who do it all, Eisy Morgan, Laugh, Love, Craft,  Clean & Scentsible,  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Speckled Dog, Tatortots & Jello, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring, Just a Girl

Mail & Paper Organizer

In our new house, we really needed a place to put mail and important papers that we might want on hand, especially with school starting soon. I didn't want them just out looking cluttery or junky so I needed something. I found this hanging file holder at goodwill for a couple bucks.

I sanded it a little, primed and painted it with white paint. Looked good, but kind of plain. I wanted to add a little decorative touch to take it up a notch. I found this candle sconce at salvation army a few months back for like $1.

 I just unscrewed the scalloped plate from the sconce and painted it white. It was a dark greenish blue...although you can't tell from the picture. I then painted a coat of lighter blue that I picked out to match my curtains I am going to make. Martha Stewart's Tropical Surf.

I just glued it on the front of the file folder with some liquid nails and now its ready to use! I love how it turned out. It's a good compliment to my desk I just refinished.

I love how it turned out!

I'm join these fabulous link parties each week: Flamingo Toes,  I heart naptime, Under the table and dreaming, Not just a housewife, Creating my way to success, Craft Couture, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Krafty Kat, Polly want a Crafter, Blue Cricket Design,Ginger Snap Crafts, Eisy Morgan, Clean & Scentsible,  House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, The Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest, The Speckled Dog, Tatortots & Jello, Simply Designing, Chic on a Shoestring, Just a Girl

Labeling Fun

I can't believe its almost here, I am so ready to be done with this move. It has pretty much consumed our last few months. I am pretty much all ready to load the truck.

We don't have a garage so our basement looks like this. Scary!

These are a collection of boxes I have used for our past 2 moves, we just saved them because we knew we would need them again, hence the reason they are all different sizes and shapes! While it would be nice for loading to have boxes all the same size, that just wasn't realistic for us. I got these boxes from things I've ordered and for free off craigslist. What a great way to go green by sharing boxes! Plus, they are free. :)
Notice the crazy labels? We have usually 2 sets per box, numbers colored labels, and room type. It just makes life easier let me tell you. While it takes work up front, when your unpacking or looking for the "1" thing, you'll know exactly which box its in without undoing all the boxes on the hunt for it. It keeps unpacking SOOOO much more organized. First off, I ordered some labels online at online labels, same size and type as the staples or avery brand at like half the price! You'll need lots of labels, I do 5 per box, 1 for each side and the type. You never know how they'll be stacked and it makes it easier to identify the boxes. I had to buy another printer cartridge as well because I used a lot of ink. (You can buy colored labels, but for the size I wanted I would have had to buy them separately because I used a different color for each room. This way I printed what I needed since some rooms only needed 2 or 3 sheets of that color)

Here are a few of them after I printed. Some are colored with black writing for easier viewing, some were dark printed colors so the numbers were kept white to cut down on ink.

I had the following colors/categories for our boxes. I based them on rooms and how things would be organized in our next house.
PINK- Decorations off all kinds(I am switching things up in the new house starting from scratch so I will be shopping from my selection as I re-use and re-paint items.) These do not include picture frames, those are all stacked in a tote that will ride in the car with me by my old windows and floral arrangements that I don't want smashed!
YELLOW- Kitchen, anything that will go or is associated with the kitchen.
ORANGE- Office, computer supplies, anything to go in the office.
GREEN- My crafting supplies
BLUE- My son's bedroom, toys, clothes, etc.
RED- Our master bedroom, clothes, etc, extra bedding items
BROWN- Cleaning supplies, bathroom related items
PURPLE-Electronics, XBOX, TV Cords, Modems, DVD's and CD's, XBOX games, etc.
Plain labels- Random stuff, garage, painting supplies, hubby's ortho stuff, umbrella's, etc.

Pretty much anything that goes in boxes goes in those categories. I normally number all my boxes and write down detailed contents of each box, which I did, however the color coded took this up a notch. 

 (I will type up these pages before we move since my handwriting is so sloppy!)
Mainly because I think it will be even easier for me to identify boxes quickly to let our volunteer movers know where to unload those boxes. I usually like to have most boxes set in garage or basement and unpack things slowly while leaving the house in order, however I am unable to lift boxes very easily so this should help to have them in the correct place. Trust me...this makes moving so much easier! 

Getting it together for the Holidays

I am jumping into the Holiday Version of my get it together series.

Managing the Holidays- This card list and need/want list, I keep in my "life organizer"  aka binder. Read my first post on that here. I thought it would be helpful to share these since they really come in handy this time of year! As with all of my sections, I just have these in plastic sleeves in the calender/holiday section of my binder.


Christmas Card Lists- 

 I keep this list in my binder and use it year after year making modifications as needed. (write addresses in pencil!) It is so helpful. Here is the first way I was keeping track. It is a good list, but I decided to modify it. However, if you want to download this first version click here for the pdf.
Here is my modified and preferred version, just more room to write.

 Click here to download a pdf of the Christmas Card list. 

Wants/Needs-This little sheet has also been a Holiday Organizing Staple for me. Doesn't hurt for birthdays either! It is a needs/wants list. Here I can keep track of any needs or wants which really helps when I am shopping. You know when you hear your sister mention how cool a 'this or that' is? Or how your husband could really use another tie? This handy dandy list will keep those ideas fresh and ready for when you need reference. It seriously helps so much and your friends/family will be so surprised when "you remembered" something they mentioned. I add things to the list and cross off as I go. This a must for me because I do NOT remember things like I use to! Click here to download the pdf of this list. 

 P.S. As you could tell, all of the things in my binder are coordinated in the same color scheme. I like to keep it cohesive! Also, let me know if you have problems with the downloads. I am not very tech savvy.

Monthly Deep Cleaning

This is the final step of my scheduled cleaning system. I talked about daily & weekly, and now I will cover monthly. These are tasks that don't need to be done that often, some I don't even do every month. Its just a guideline and gives me a starting point to know what needs to be done. I did have this listed 12 times(for each month) on the same sheet with a checkoff box, (I can share that if you want) but I just didn't use it. I don't have a set "monthly deep clean day", its more of a reference for when I am looking to do a little extra or have some free time for cleaning. I kind of just do these tasks as they are needed. They aren't too messy of tasks, but are necessary for home maintenance. Here is my "monthly" schedule.

 

You can see I have listed organize 1 closet, for me it helps to go through and re-organize a closet(or drawer!) every now and again. I can't face all our closets in 1 day, breaking it up is more manageable! I also would try and organize our garage once a month, but right now in the house we are renting we have no garage. That makes storage and organization for me a bit trickier!

FREE PDF PRINTABLES:

 Go here for the blank pdf monthly clean sheet.

Go here for a pdf list of my monthly tasks.

Cleaning Schedule for your Week

Today I am sharing this Fabulous Weekly Cleaning Schedule. You will love this free printable cleaning schedule!

Remember last week I mentioned Daily Quick Clean? Go here for a refresher. The next step in my cleaning system is the Weekly Cleaning Schedule. When you get the idea of the daily quick clean down, it takes a lot of pressure off "cleaning day". It helps maintain your home so that the time consuming cleaning jobs are minimized. In turn, following the weekly schedule helps the daily jobs stay minimal and they both balance each other out so that you're not spending all day (hopefully) cleaning  but still being able to enjoy a clean home. In my household, I am able to keep most of my days free of major cleaning, but I do have some of the bigger jobs scheduled out that just have to be done. Now, if you have a major disaster like spilled juice all over the kitchen, you'll have to modify this, but as a general plan this is a great guideline! I love to wake up knowing what needs to be done and also knowing that it isn't too overwhelming. That way I can get up and do my "chore" for lack of a better word and my day is still open to craft, spend time with my son, go shopping, etc. This is my schedule. This works for us and I know needs differ in every family. Occasionally, I go through my cleaning schedule and revise to what needs to get done. 

Go here for a blank pdf copy of the weekly schedule that you can customize it to your needs. If you want to download a pdf of my version above you can download that here. Stay tuned for next week when I'll introduce the next step!

Want updates and spoilers on projects and ideas?  Come like me on facebook , twitter, and Google + to keep up on whats up next!