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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep it Together, Girl!

Cord Organization

One thing everyone has in their homes is cords. We don’t think about them much, but they can be a pain to keep track of and store. It is amazing to me how all those cords for my puter and printer can be such a tangled mess!!! It can make it very difficult to clean around. But there is a simple and FREE solution!

Save the cardboard tubes from TP and paper towels. Use the TP tubes to store miscellaneous cords such as extension cords, small appliance cords, cords for small devices (mp3 players, walkmen, cameras, etc), and other gadgets. Use the paper towel tubes for containing several cords plugged in to one area. Turn everything off that is plugged in to one power strip. Unplug everything and slip into one or two tubes (I use 2 consecutive paper towel tubes for my computer cords). Then replug and power up. When it comes time to clean, simply pick up the tube and vacuum underneath!

These are my thoughts.

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Get it Together Girl!

Curriculum Now

I know many of you have just visited Homeschool conferences, conventions, and workshops recently. Some are preparing to buy next year’s curriculum online. Others are searching ebay and like websites for used curriculum. But what about the curriculum you already have?

First things first; get 3 boxes. You know the drill, one box is for items you will keep, one for those to be sold, one for those to be discarded. Go through your curriculum, shelf by shelf and sort through it. Remove the boxes that need to be sold and discarded from the room immediately.

Now you should be left with the curriculum you are still using and your new curriculum. A good way to contain and organize curriculum is to use paper organizers for scrapbooking. The plastic containers are the perfect size to contain curriculum in manageable sections. This will also help you to keep your shelves tidy even when you need to pull something off the shelf. Additionally those paper organizers can be used to place curriculum on for each day of the week. This will eliminate the need for you to have another area to keep the current week’s assignments.

Keep your eyes open for sales. Joann’s Fabrics regularly puts them on sale for around $3-4 per unit. Even if you school year round, you likely have some down time over the next few months which will allow you to get your curriculum in order and reduce clutter at the same time.

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Get it Together Girl!

Easy Kid Clothes Organization

Getting kids ready in the morning for school, outings, or co-ops, or just for getting your homeschool day started can sometimes be hindered and cause a day to begin harried when children need to pick clothes out for the day. Having your son come to the table ready to start a day of painting in good out of the house clothes is not something mom wants to deal with when trying to get her day started.

Laying clothes out the night before is a nice option and a good habit to get in to. Let your kids know what the activities are planned for the following day so they can pick out appropriate clothing. This is the most common method used for organizing kids’ clothes to keep chaos under control.

There are other methods that are very adaptable and help kids get better organized. One of these methods is to have a weeklong schedule of activities and a closet hanging sweater storage unit in their closet. Each section of the stacker is designated for a day of the week. Children can pick an entire outfit, including underwear and socks, and place in the appropriate cubby in regards to the activities planned for that day. This allows children to have easy mornings and they only need to spend about 20 minutes one evening a week organizing their clothes for the week.

To help keep things even more simple and easy, try keeping all bottoms in solid colors. Limiting those bottoms to neutral colors doubles the ease of children learning to organize themselves. Now designate each day a specific color. The child will know that Monday is red day and pick a red shirt and a pair of bottoms (if you keep things simple with bottoms, every shirt will match every bottom!). For even more organization, use this method with the above weeklong organization method!

As with anything I recommend, use an organization method that best meshes with your family’s personality and schedule. If your family changes their schedule regularly and at a moment’s notice, planning a week in advance may actual create more chaos than keeping it at bay. If you have children that enjoy picking their clothes out for each day as it comes; laying them out the night before or having color coded days of the week will be a better method. Find the method that works best for YOUR family and stick with it!

These are my thoughts.

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Area Specific Folding can Save Space

When I was a girl, I spent a tremendous amount of time with my Nana. It was very convenient for me, because she lived in the apartment upstairs. Her kind heart offered me tons of advice and know-how that I never realized I would use when I was a woman.

Being from the Depression Era and living in a 3 bedroom apartment with her father and her 11 brothers and sisters, she knew a LOT about space efficiency. One of the best concepts she ever taught me was the beauty of area specific folding. This is nothing more than folding items in a specific, and sometimes non-traditional way, to optimize the use of space.

If you do not have a lot of drawer space, consider hanging more items in your closet. When that is not an option, area specific folding can save the day! You can fit twice as many T-shirts in a drawer by following this simple method: fold them in half long ways; fold the arms in; fold in half again (this is where many people stop folding); now on a flat surface, roll from the center fold. Place all t-shirts in the drawer rolled in these cylinders. You will not only almost double your space, BUT you will also be able to see every shirt at a glance, instead of having to dig through an overstuffed stack. Want another great reason to try this? Your t-shirts will stay wrinkle free!

Another area specific folding trick is with towels of all shapes and sizes. Generally speaking, linen closet shelves are narrow. This means that folding a towel in half, then in half again (producing a large square) would not fit well. However, by altering the way you fold your towels, you can achieve a well folded towel in a shape and size that will fit YOUR shelving, allowing for maximum storage efficiency. Try folding a towel in half, from top to bottom. Repeat. Now fold in 1/3 from the side to slightly over the middle. Bring in the other side to match. Now you have a nicely presented smaller rectangle that will fit on near every linen closet shelf.

Consider using the internet to look for different folding formats. Consider the space you have to store the item and the best and most efficient way to fold the items that will be stored on those shelves and/or drawers. This will allow for maximum storage and a neat and tidy space, without much effort. Once you get the hang of a new folding pattern, it will become second nature before you know it. So don’t be afraid of change.

These are my thoughts.

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Posted in Organization

Planning is an essential part of life for me. Not being organized by nature, I have found that planners really have helped me become more organized over the years, without feeling overwhelmed.

SO, I want to tell you about something new getting ready to hit the scene.

There is a new planner getting ready to be released, that is THE planner, as far as I am concerned. This planner is not your ordinary everyday planner. Firstly, it covers forms for all aspects of life for public school families, homeschool families, AND unschool families. It contains specifics for each of those family styles! Not only that but this is a 4 year planner containing not only year at a glance calendars but monthly calendars as well. But that isn't all!

I don't want to get over wordy here until I get the go ahead about it's release, BUT this planner is type-it-in interactive. This means that you have the option of printing blank forms OR typing in the information you want BEFORE you print! HOW COOL IS THAT? The interactivity doesn't stop there. The author, Julie Forsythe, has made the planner interactive within itself. This means that when you go to the table of contents you can simply click on the page you want to go to and POOF!, there you are!

It is almost ready to be released, so GET ready for it! This IS The Master Plan!

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

I Can't Live Simply Until...

Getting Control of Your Magazine Commitments

Magazines; you know I love them! I had to learn to organize them (as I discussed last week in this post), but then there was another thing that kept coming to my mind. Each time I would go through my stack of magazines to organize them, I realized I regularly get backed up on the actual reading of them.

This lead me to some more thinking. I easily acquire magazines for pennies on the dollar at yard sales, libraries, and thrift stores. I asked myself, "If I am not reading the magazine subscriptions that I pay for in a timely manner, why do I continue to keep my subscriptions active?" With that thought in mind I began a plan to non-renewal plan. You really don't get any better deal on the subscriptions for renewing than if you discontinued and re-subscribed as a new reader. So, I began letting subscriptions expire.

I was floored at how many of those subscriptions I didn't miss! Now, I only have a select few subscriptions. Mainly I keep up with publications that are timely and news oriented, and two that are research oriented. The rest of the magazines I collect are old one picked which I pick up used. Now, I don't feel guilty when I dig in to reading a stack at a time to organize them. I also am pleased that I am helping my family to save money. But what I have noticed the most is the simplicity of not having so many publications coming into the house every month/week. It is almost a peaceful feeling that has come over me in regards to reading.

So take time to evaluate your subscriptions. Would you really miss them if you weren't receiving them monthly/weekly? Consider allowing the subscription to expire and wait 2-3 months. If you are truly missing the publication, then by all means subscribe, but if you find, as I did in many cases, that you really aren't missing it, then save yourself the money! You will find that a certain amount of guilt is alleviated without the stack of unread, but purchased at full subscription price magazines are gathering up awaiting organization.

These are my thoughts. 

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Keep it Together, Girl

Making the Most of Your Shelf Space

We all have shelves in our homes. You may not have a lot of shelf space, but you have it somewhere; the bathroom, a hall closet, a pantry, an added single cupboard, etc. Think about your shelves. Are they filled from top to bottom? Whatever you have stored on those shelves, do they take up all the space? If not, the space above your stored items to the bottom of the next shelf is unused spaced.

You can make use of this space fairly easily. If the shelves are shallow, consider using a basket that slides onto the shelf above. These generally have large "holes" so they would not be good for small individual items that may fall through those holes. But they are perfect for storing small containers for smaller like items. Consider one of these baskets placed above where you store your bath towels to store washcloths. Perhaps you have a shelf in your kitchen that has a basket for dishcloths which you could place one of these baskets to store your re-usable shopping bags, boxes for plastic bags, or dusting supplies.

Additionally, there is a product that can be installed on deep shelves. These long metal baskets have a track system that need be installed in only a few minutes. Once installed the basket will slide in and out of the area with ease, providing you with maximum space usage. These baskets may have smaller openings/holes, so be sure to determine the best way to organize the items you want to store here.

Using every available inch of storage space with shelving can really increase your storage space. Items that have a storage space behind closed doors are ones that are not out and about causing clutter elsewhere. This also cuts down on time when you are searching for an item. Make certain truly evaluate your storage spaces for maximum usage.

These are my thoughts. 

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Keep it Together, Girl!

Getting Your Magazines Organized

I have a confession to make. I LOVE magazines! I enjoy them so much, I often ask for subscriptions and renewals for gifts. I pick magazines up at yard sales and thrift stores. I purchase them at our local library's sales. I just love them!

What do I love about magazines? Well, mostly I enjoy the format of delivering information. Due to limited space and guidelines, authors write articles that are chock full of information that are short and concise. Craft magazines have lovely detailed pictures and instructions for projects. Information for websites and other goodies on the Internet are all located right in those articles. Any time I can gather research in a time effective format, I am a happy mama! Here is a sampling of some of my favorite magazines:

• Paper Crafts
• Mother Earth News
• National Review
• Martha Stewart Living
• Countryside, World News
• Biblical Archaeology
• Writers Digest
• Simple Scrapbooking
• Vegetarian Times
• Watercolor Magic
• The Old Schoolhouse
• Creating Keepsakes
• SEW News
• Digital Photographer
• Writers Journal
• Today's Christian Woman
• Crochet!
• Crochet Today
• Country Gardens
• Christianity Today
• TEACH
• Camera
• American Artist
• Sewing Savvy

As you can tell, I have not only an eclectic taste for magazine titles, but a LARGE list of the ones I enjoy reading. But what's a girl to do?

The only draw back is that I have found myself with piles of magazines from time to time. There was a time when I had boxes, shelves, and baskets filled with magazines. One day I realized there had to be a way to organize them so that I could refer back to them at anytime. The answer...BINDERS!

Yes, yet another great idea for binders. I use binders of all different sizes for magazines. I determine the size of the binder by the type of magazine. When I sat down and sorted through my magazines, I made 2 different areas: 1)Magazines to be kept in tact & 2) Magazines that had special articles or pictures. I had to be very discerning, meaning I had to go through each magazine. What I found was that magazines with art, such as Watercolor Magic, had so many great pictures & articles, I rarely wanted just one from the magazine. Other magazines, like Simple Scrapbooking, may have had only one or two pictures or articles that I wanted to keep for reference.

Magazines that I want to keep in their entirety, I slip into a page protector. This can be tricky with thicker magazines; and some will just not fit in the protectors. For those larger magazines I found project folders that would hold them AND fit in a binder. I group magazines either by title or by subject. They are kept in large 3" binders.

Those magazines that have only a few articles or pictures per issue that I want to save are stored in one of two ways: Subject or Magazine Title. I keep LOTS of scrapbook ideas, but never from just one source. I use 2" binders with page protectors. I carefully rip the ideas from the magazines and store them in the page protectors. Most of my crafting ideas are stored in binders that are simply grouped by the type of craft; sewing, scrapping, photography, crocheting, etc. There are some magazine titles that I pull articles from every issue I get, and may already be grouped, i.e. Biblical Archaeology. These are kept the same way, but the binders are for articles from those specific magazines only.

Currently, I keep new magazines for three months in magazine boxes. At the end of every three months I go through the magazines and store them appropriately. In this way I can keep the information I want, without having stacks of magazines everywhere! Additionally, I find I am more diligent about reading my magazines, knowing that I will be going through them!

These are my thoughts.

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Get it Together, Girl!

Organize Your Hard to Organize Stuff

We all have stuff in our lives that we don't know where or how to store. We have stuff in our bedrooms, our kitchens, our dining rooms, our living rooms, our cars, our garages, and definitely...most definitely in our schoolrooms. What kind of items do you have that are hard to store?

In our home I have struggled with items such as:

• hair accessories
• shopping bags
• aprons
• scarves
• umbrellas
• flashcards
• ribbon
• ties
• belts
• costume jewelry
• bras
• bathing suits
• funnels
• purses
• phone cards
• gift cards
• paper towels
• art work
• school pages (oh the abundance!)
• schedules
• warranties
• business cards
• dress-up costumes
• hats
• gloves & winter hats

I could keep writing this list, but it would take all day with the amount of stuff I have struggled to find just the right place for over the year. I bet the list in your home is similar and would take just as long to complete.

Finding ways to organize stuff that is not easily put in place can be frustrating. When I first put up my pegboard, I though, WOW! I still think, WOW! Because it is an awesome way to store a lot of stuff in small places.

However, upon using it I found I had another dilemma; what's the best way to utilize the vertical work space and what would I use to do that.

One solution that I came up with has worked in many areas other than my peg board. It is so simple and frugal you are probably going to be chuckling and thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Many of the items listed above can be stored on curtain rod ring. The two types I have found to work the best are the the kind that snap apart and the kind with a clip on the bottom. Both of these curtain ring make an excellent organizational tool.

Items that have a hole in them or you can punch a hole in are ideal for the snap together type. Many of us use flashcards in our homeschooling. Punch a hole in one corner of the cards and place on a curtain ring. To store, hang on a hook or rod. Items such as costume jewelry can also be stored on these rings and hung to keep orderly. For closet items such as belts, slip onto ring and place ring around closet bar.

For those items that cannot slip onto a ring or unable to be punched, use curtain rings that have the clips on the end. This works really well for any paperwork, such as schedules and art work. Instead of hanging art work on a hook, install a curtain rod on an empty wall in your home. Place curtain rings with bottom clips on the bar and hang art work for a neat and easily interchangeable way to display art and school work. Projects that are flat and displayed on cardboard also hang well on this device. Use these type of rings to organize items such as hats, hair accessories, extra cords, scarves, bathing suits, or ribbons.

New curtain rings can be a bit costly. I have found them from time to time in a dollar store. Another great source for these at inexpensive prices is thrift stores. For some reason people donate rings that are not in a complete set, offering you the opportunity to further customize your organization for pennies. Keep your eyes open at yard sales as well. I regularly come across them for 25 cents or less!

These are my thoughts.

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Get it Together Girl!

Under the Bed for Storage

Many times we think about the monsters (dust bunnies) under our beds. Don't be sacred though. It is a GREAT place to store specific types of items. Over the years I have used my under the bed area to store different items. Here are a few:

• cases of food and non-perishable items
• laundry detergent
• tubs with out of season clothing and to be mended clothing
• all wrapping supplies
• drawers that house shoes
• boxes with outdoor toys
• tubs of extra blankets and linens
• exercise equipment
• tubs of extra tote bags
• boxes of craft supplies
• boxes of fabric

I KNOW there are more ideas for under the bed storage! Look around your home. Is there a grouping of items that isn't used regularly that could be stored in a box, tub, drawer, or other container under your bed? Any items that are not used a daily basis, but a semi-regualr basis, are perfect candidates for under the bed storage.

These are my thoughts.

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Keep it Together, Girl!

Store those Hard to Store Items

Some items just seem difficult to store. Perhaps they are an odd shape. Maybe you have items that are like, but you just can't find the right home for them. Are your cupboards full? Do you have some bulk craft items that are taking up precious drawer space because they are not an efficient use of your space? Have small toys but are running out of space?

Consider using those mesh bags from citrus fruit, onions, and potatoes. You can use these to hold rubber stamps, cookie cutters, toys and the like. Once the items are place in the bag consider hanging them on a pegboard, a cup holder hook, or using a curtain ring hung on a rod in a closet.

Keeping like items in one place that are hard to store otherwise helps to keep your home organized without a lot of clutter areas.

These are my thoughts.

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Free Boxes for Organizing

Many of us homemakers have an item that we use regularly that has a box that can be re-used with ease for organizing...WIPES. Wipes boxes are rather small, but extrememly stackable and sturdy. If you saved every box you ever had, you would have a LOT of storage boxes!

What can go in a wipes box? LOTS! Crayons, markers, scissors, paper, stationary items, reubber bands, paint brushes, toys, cards, small games...the list goes on! Another great idea for wipes and organizing is to make little kits with the boxes. For example, you can put a few puppets that coincide with a small book in a box. Another idea would be different types of art kits. How about a writing box? A treasure box? Boxes that go with unit studies? Small plastic animals and pictures of habitats? Poker chips for practicing patterns? These boxes not only keep these little kits organized and are easily (and neatly stored), but they are transportable! You could take a different box each time you venture out with the littletons and need something to entertain them!

Wipes boxes are not exclusive to this idea. There are all different types of boxes and canisters that can serve this same purpose as well. In this case it is important for you to think INSIDE the box! It's that simple.

These are my thoughts.

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Keep It Together, Girl!

How to Use Timers for the best Efficiency

I have it on good authority that there are household management helps out there that recommend using a timer for cleaning. (SeeFlylady for more info) This is an excellent method of keeping yourself focused on the task at hand without becoming overwhelmed. Truly I believe that if this method were to be used in keeping the home on a habitual basis, home would always be in check. Why? Well, if you spent 15 minutes per day on any project, likely you would be moving along at a pace that would not have you burned out and the project would be done before you know it. For example, if I wanted to re-organize my school room, I could take 15 minutes per day for 7-10 days and it would be done. That would be a total of 4 1/2 hrs of organization time. Without allowing myself to become overwhlemed and asking my children to play independently for 15 minutes, the task is easily accomplished.

But the timer is useful for so much more in organizing your life! Right now, many families are scrambling to get their paperwork together to prepare their taxes. Where did I put those Social Security cards? Hey, and while I am thinking on it, I can't exactly remember what I did with my 1099 form either. Imagine if you devoted just 15 minutes per month to organizing your receipts for taxes? The result would be having all your information in one location, ready to go! This works for all types of paperwork. If you have school papers to correct. Don't let them pile up. Use the timer for 15 minutes per day to get it done. In th is way, you will always be on top of it! Now start branching out...sports forms, weekly schedule, bank records, recipes, research material, employment records, etc. ALL paperwork contained and managed in only 15 minutes per day!

The usefulness of a timer doesn't stop there! Try using a timer to curtail your time  with certain activities in which time seems to escape you...the TV, computer, telephone, games, scrapbooking, planning...whatever it is that you may get invovled in and lose track of time. Pick the amount of time you want to spend on t hat activity and set the timer. Once the bell rings, that activity is over. You have to become discipline to not go over that time and abruptly stop the activity. In order to keep your rudeness level down, if you are speaking on the phone or have a friend visiting, explain upfront that you can only spend X amount of time. Continue by stating that in order to keep on schedule you are setting a timer. This way, when the timer goes off, you can just say, "Oh, my time's up," and without guilt.

So get your timer out and foster that relationship. Before you know it you and your timer will become best buds, and your life will be flowing ever more smoothly!

These are my thoughts.

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Keep It Together, Girl!

Toy Rotation

Take me too any home with 1 or more children and I will show you a home with too many toys. Every mom feels that way. Too many pieces to too many different toys. Games that can no longer can be played, for missing pieces. Activities that have pieces strewn all across the house and under your sofa cushions. Not to mention that clean-up time is a laborsome chore that seems to take forever. Here is a solution that may help your children and WILL be less stressful for you.

When I first learned of toy rotation, I was over joyed. Who would have thunk that I could just store toys in those big inexpensive tubs and "hide" them away? Then when it was time to bring out new toys, the ones currently in their room would go in the tubs, to be stored away while the "new" toys were the ones to play with. This DID work great, except for one thing. Those tubs were awful hard to manage and store in our garage. Stuff would get piled on top of them, thus creating a real struggle for me to get motivated to switch the toys out. Also, living in Florida, there isn't a lot of storage here. Actually, the ONLY storage is your garage. We have no attics. We have no basements. We have laundry rooms (in name only) that often times are located in the garage. So storage space is limited and precious! (So much so that it is not uncommon to see a home that no longer has a garage, because it has been converted into a room.) So no matter where the boxes were located, it inhibited some type of function, like getting to the switchbox, emptying the central vac, opening a car door, etc. It was time to rethink this idea.

First let me say, if you have the space for larger plastic tubs, by all means use them for your toy rotation. If you have storage issues (such as no large storage space, but little spaces here and there) you CAN still use this wonderful concept. Start by making a list of toys that would be good to rotate. For our family, anything that is not a large toy is up for rotation.

Checkout local discount stores (Dollar Tree, WalMart, Big Lots) for plastic tubs. You are looking for tubs that are approximately 17 x 15 x 11. Lids are important! If the tub has a generic flat lid, over time that lid will bow, bend, and eventually not secure into place. Those lids that are contoured and made for stacking, may also have the added security of handles that come up around the lid. The main concept you need to look for, is lids that are contoured for stacking. For those who are spacially challenged and have a haze over your eyes trying to determine what 17 x 15 x 11 is, think about a mid sized all in one printer or a case of printer paper. Ultimately I chose this size due to its ease to be placed in a corner, stacked compactly, placed on a higher shelf, etc. In addition, would not be so cumbersome or heavy to move. Now, before you purchase, pull out your list and try to determine how many boxes you will need to store 1/4 to 3/4 of the items on your list. This will depend on how much you want to scale back your children's daily coices. Our family uses amount of clean up time to determine how many toys we want out and about. Make your purchase and head home!

Now comes the fun part. If you follow any of the organization ideas I offer, you likely have small boxes and bags grouped with toys...although some pieces may be around the house. Place a few bags and/or boxes of toys in one of your boxes, note if any pieces are missing. At this point I make a circuit around the house in search of noted missing pieces after asking the littletons if they know where the pieces are. OH, you may be SURPRISED to find that they know even a most remote location of a toy! Once a box is filled, secure the lid and push off to the side. Repeat this process until you have the appropriate number of boxes packed to meet your needs.

Ok, before you start looking for nooks and crannies to store these boxes, I want you to take a moment to THINK OUTSIDE of the BOX. Is there a place in plain site that the boxes can be stored? For example, 3 boxes are stacked under our long school table. They are back against the wall so they do not interfere with our use of the table in any way. In my sewing/guest room, I made curtains from an old sheet. The other part of the sheet made a pretty little nightstand tablecloth. Guess what the night stand is? 2 Stacked Boxes! Since the room is for guests and only serves to hold a small lamp, there was no need for worry over sturdiness or full functionality of a nightstand. Another 2 stacked boxes serve as a side table for sewing. These boxes have another sheet turned into tablecloth over them. This table serves to hold my pin cushions, scissors, and other small items I am using for a project and need quick and easy access to.

Once you have determined whether or not you can store the boxes inconspicuously and also have them serve a different function, how many boxes are left? Now, where to store them. Remeber to think vertical. Oftentimes, bedroom closets have a rather high shelf that isn't much good for storing items you need on a regular basis. The top of a file cabinet can house 2 boxes and still look neat and tidy. An odd corner in a closet is an ideal location to store a box! Actually, I have an obscure corner that stores 2 boxes stacked. You could open my closet and NEVER see the boxes. Will the boxes fit under your bed?

Once the boxes are stored, it is important for you to mark the date. Determine a period of time that offers the children time to have "played out" with the current toys. When you reach the "change it up" date, pick a time when the hubby has the littletons out for about a half hour. Grab however many boxes from around the house you need to replace the toys they currently have available. Carefully, unload a box of "new" toys and reload with some of the "old" toys. Continue to do this until all toys are rotated. When the littltons come home, they will be SO SURPRISED! Our littletons always have a celebration of sorts when they realize that Mom reloaded their toys.

Depending on the number of toys your children have and the space they have for storing in their closet and shelves, you may be able to have more than one rotation of toys. We have 2 rotations. However, 1 rotation is ideal! We are working towards that. Here are a few things to think about. Toys that are not taken for granted by being available 24/7 have a greater longevity. Why? Kids don't have access to them constantly. When they get bored, it is removed and replaced with another toy that was boring 3 months ago. By the time that toy is returned into circulation, it is no longer boring. Some of our toys have been here for years! We know kids that have "outgrown" certain toys. Although the toys for that child and mine were acquired in roughly the same time frame, ours are still going strong! By doing rotations, you are more likely to keep track of many pieces. One of the items that really used to bug me, was Mr Potato Head. Not only did we have the oodles of pieces he came with, but over the years the kids have scored a collection of pieces when we visit a store that has bins of random pieces to choose from. He no longer bothers me, because there isn't enough time or chaos for them to get lost, now!

All this said, if children keep their toys longer, you will spend less! Your sanity will be saved (ok maybe this is only momentarily for some of us, but we will take it where we can get it). Your children will be able to better learn to care for their items, because they won't have so much out at any given time to be overwhelmed. This is a win, win, win, situation!

These are my thoughts.

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Keep It Together, Girl!

Less Really IS More

HI there ladies! Today's topic is a little, well, sensitive. On Tuesday's I always discuss frugal ways to organize your home and life. Today is no different, except that I will talking about how less can mean more in the organizing world. I am not about to say you should never bring another thing into your home. I am not advocating that you throw everything to the curb and make your home so sparce, people would barely be able to tell if someone was moving in or out. lol!

However, what I am advocating is that you PRAY PRAY PRAY before bringing something new into your home. I can leave home with no intention of bringing anything back and come home with a van full. If I see a scrapbook sale, I end up purchasing at least one thing. I have even purchased items I had forgotten I already own. Other days it may simply be trash that I see that can be turned into a treasure. I have picked items up, with every intention of re-purposing them, only to have them in my garage for 6 months! I then had to hold Freecycle yard "sales" to get rid of the items.

When you begin an excursion by praying, you are putting God in control, right from the start. This is always the best approach to anything. Truly, think about exactly what need the new item(s) is going to meet. If it is a need that you may have in the future, I would suggest passing on it.

The less you have in your home, the less you have to organize. The less you have to keep organized, the less time spent on the actual maintaince. The less maintance within your home, the MORE time you have for God, family, and those sweeter than sweet memories! It's that simple.

These are my thoughts.

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Posted in Organization

Over the last several weeks, there has been a lot of chatter about life organization. Mom's have so much to organize; home tasks, meals, shopping, school, work, physical therapy, sports, clubs, church, doctors, dentists, etc. It's hard to keep it all organized! If you are remotely familiar with Cindy Rushton (aka the Binder Queen), you know that it is best to keep everything located in one central location.

Before the age of computers, I was keeping things in binders. Why? Because it keeps chaos at bay! I was working within the court system and organization of cases, speaking engagements, fund raising events, board of directors, grants, etc was essential. Add this to my family commitments and you know exactly why items were always located in a binder! I carried with me a large planner, so as not to over schedule my engagements. Yet, there was always something I wished I had a form for. I researched many different products, but none contained everything I wanted. Some contained blank forms that needed so much input from me, I might as well have spent the time putting them together myself for free. I never did find that wonderful all inclusive product.

I want to share with you a product that has recently been released that fits the bill! My wonderful gal pal Julie over at Open Page released a TREMENDOUS organizational e-book called The Plan. This is a customizable organizer for the homeschooling mom, including every conceivable form you will ever need! You will find budget pages, menu planners, project pages, maintenance needs, address pages, even event planning pages! Everything for your life and school. What's more Julie has taken this a step further and produced a version for unschooling moms! The Plan-Unschool Version, has just as many essential life planning pages as you will ever need. Print what you ned and organize your binder YOUR way!

Finally, a life planner that fits YOUR life! Thanks Julie!

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Dishpan Storage

Using cardboard boxes cut to size that would ordinarily put in the trash is an excellent source for storage. However, there are items that need storage in a more sturdy container or you may not have enough cardboard boxes to meet your storage needs.

An excellent source of inexpensive storage containers (not needing a lid) are dishpans. These can be picked up at yard sales and thrift stores for a few cents. Even new, they are very inexpensive. Check your local discount stores.

Dishpans are great for storing pnatry items, laundry items, toys, art supplies, books, school items, etc. Assign each littleton a dishpan. Place their clean folded laundry items in the pans and give to the appropriate child to put away. Similarly, you can have adishpan for each child for containing their school supplies. Dishpans are a great sturdy, reliable, and frugal source for storage.

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together, Girl!

Get that Kitchen Organized

When you first moved in to your home, I am sure you spent some time organizing your kitchen. Setting things up in the "right" places. Certain to pack as much into your kitchen as possible. Over the years you likely have re-organized your kitchen several times. However, you may not have truly re-organized your kitchen. If you pull everything out of the a cupboard, clean it out, and then replace the items, that is cleaning. Re-organizing is making y our kitchen set up as efficient as possible. Here are a few ideas for you to think about. If your kitchen doesn't meet some of these efficiency standards, take a peak and see if you can't re-organize to better utilize your space and time.

• Where are your small applainces located? Small appliances should be stored according to usage frequency. If you use your crockpot once a week, storing it on the top shelf of a cupboard would likely be a good usage of space. However, storing the food processor you use daily on that same shel fin that same cupboard, would not be an efficient use of space and time. You would spend too much time retrieving and replacing the unit. Daily used small appliances can be stored on the countertop, a lower shelf in an upper cupboard, or in a bottom cupboard. As long as it is easily accesible, you are using your time and space wisely.
• Do you have a silerware drawer? Of course you do. Everyone does. Why? Well, because that's how our mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers stored the flatware. However, if you have a kitchen, and you need the drawer space, conside a large pitcher or taller basket in which to store your silverware. In a previous home, kitchen drawer space was a rare commodity, so I used a taller rectangular basket that had sections, kind of like what you would see in a dishwasher. This housed our silverware, didn't take up much counter space, and gave me the use of an entire drawer! If you want to keep the cost down, go to a thrift store or yard sale and purchase one of the little basket inserts from an old dishwasher. They are the perfect size and has a nifty handle!
• How about those pots?  Don't you just love those wonderful and fancy ceiling pot racks? I know I do. However I live down here in the south, where EVERY room has a ceiling fan. No questions asked! So, no room for a rack. However, you can use a painted peg board, secured to a wall to hang your pots. The hardware for hooks is inexpensive. This will free up an abundance of valuable cupboard space, and still keep your cookware accessible. Not only that, but you will save time retrieving and replacing your cookware by simply hanging it!

It's that simple.

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Simple journey Ministries Presents

Keep it Together, Girl!

Don't Overwhlem. Pick a Place and Get Started.

One of the most overwhelming, and often discouraging, aspects of home organization is looking at the whole job. Take a step back from your home and think of all the rooms. Break each of the rooms into all the stuff within, and you have a brain that is frantically paralyzed with the fear of tackling it all!

Firstly, stop thinking of the big picture. Save that for when you get your home oorganized in a comfortable way. To keep yourself motivated, consider making a list of the rooms that need re-organized. Under each room, list a few areas that drive you batty. Sometimes, I walk into a room and am so desensitized to the area, I have to look through "different" eyes. This may even require asking another family member to come peruse the room and give the top three problem areas.

So, now you have this gianormous list, right? I probably should have mentioned that I list each room a separate piece of paper. In this way I am able to pull one sheet our of my notebook, without having to see all else that needs done. Now, pick one area you want to tackle in one room. Make it a goal to get that area of that room organized. If you find items within that area that will need to be organized in another area of the room, place the item there. Otherwise you will find yourself in a downward spiral of moving from one project to the next. You will be brimming with anxiety, frustration, motivation, and this all makes for a grumpy mommy. No need for that. Simply pick one place and focus only on that place! Keep it simple.

These are my thoughts.

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Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

An Answer for Drawer Storage

Lori Ghany of NY asked a GREAT question on my blog the other day. 

"Say do you have any alternatives to organizing my slim kitchen drawer? I tried using a cookie tray with two sections as a drawer organizer / pen holder but it cracked and collapsed after a lot of use."

One of the best thing about using boxes for storage is that they are FREE and easily replaced.  We always have an influx of boxes at our stead.  Boxes come from large bulk purchased items, cereal, pasta, baking mixes, jello, office supplies, etc.  You name it, it likely comes in a box.  If you have a project in mind, think about searching through the boxes at the checkout of your local wholesale (Sam's BJ's, Costco, Trader Jim's) store. 

Boxes are the PERFECT solution for Lori's problem.  Lori mentioned a lsim drawer.  What better way to customize your drawer than to use boxes that fit exactly?!  As a challenge to myself, and encouragement for Lori and all of you who are looking to make your drawers more efficient, I took an hour to re-organize a drawer that has been driving me crazy for ages! 

Like Lori, it is a kitchen drawer.  However this drawer is wide and I store all my cooking utensils in it.  I have a LOT of those, so the drawer looks like utter chaos and I have trouble opening and closing it.  Just take a peek into my chaotic cooking drawer.  I wasn't kidding!

YEP! That was my kitchen drawer! But by using boxes, check out how it looks NOW>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now, my drawer is wide, and so fits several boxes. In fact, the 2 larger boxes are the bottoms of cases of water bottles. The smaller boxes are cut down boxes from microwave popcorn, a hot cocoa, and juice boxes. Even a slim drawer can house cut down boxes from cereal, microwave popcorn, hot cocoa, salt, mixes, couscous, etc. All one really need do is to think outside the box!

To keep with green living, you are initially saving rubbish by using it to organize your drawers. However, at some point, you may need to replace the boxes, consider using the original boxes as kindling to start a fire, packaging material for mailings (these a GREAT to protect those items you might be shipping from an Ebay sale), art projects, table protectors, etc. Keeping your home organized goes alongside with keeping green living practices.

Just for review or for new visitors check out these to articles to read more about box storage.

About Those Cereal Boxes

Remember Those Boxes???

These are my thoughts.

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