Happy Organized New Year!

It's that crazy time of year again- the urge to clean, organize, and purge is upon us. We start out every January, especially since Phee was born, vowing to clean out, declutter, and really choose what is useful to keep and what is just hanging around the house because it might be useful one day, eventually, if I get around to this or that project.

from Home Storage Solutions

A few weeks ago I found this awesome printable list of week-by-week cleaning and organizing. It covers the whole house and it sounded like a pretty thorough and useful list. We're still in the process of tackling the first week's goal: kitchen counters and sink. I did get some things cleaned up, moved around, and set aside for Goodwill earlier this week. We just have a few more random things to return to their homes and then we're ready for next week's task. And we have a little more counter space!

I'm also buckling down on the meal planning again, too. We plan every week, but December was so crazy that the menu often got tossed for convenience or for last minute plans. All fun, yes, but it's time to get back on track! I love using this sheet to plan out whole days instead of just dinners.

from Better Homes and Gardens

A friend of mine shared this great week at a peek printable a few months ago. I absolutely love it. We have our regular full calendar in the kitchen. This sheet, while a little redundant, hangs on the fridge with Phee's weekly lunch menu. It's at eye level, too, so I see it all the time and can reference just the week at hand quickly, instead of the entire calendar. Dinners are listed right there on the fridge. And, there's space for things that need to be done during the week which is quite useful for Doug and I to keep up with.

If you're itching to get yourself and your house cleaned up after the holiday and decluttered for the coming year, check these out!

What's your favorite way to tackle the big cleaning and organizing projects after the holidays?

Packing for vacation with kids

In a couple short weeks, I'm going to be on my own for the first time in nearly 5 years. Doug and Phee are flying out to see his parents for a week. Phee is beside herself with excitement. She gets to spend a couple days with Nana and Gramp all by herself. There will be apple pie baking, star gazing, possibly a camp out in the back yard, and maybe even a trip to a family farm. I'm sure Nana has come up with an even longer list than that, too!

I don't quite know what I'm going to do with myself. Phee asked what I was going to do while they were gone.
"Sleep a whole lot."
"Sleep? Why are you going to sleep so much momma?"
"Because I've been tired for about 5 years."
Which she thought was a pretty funny answer.

I know for sure I will wander around the first night in the quiet house. Like Doug did the last time we were gone, I'm sure I'll just close Phee's bedroom door so I'm not going in every thirty minutes anyway.

It's hard not to be just as excited as she is, though. She can't wait to go. Phee loves to travel, especially to fly. She and Doug haven't had one of these huge adventures themselves yet. The solo parent traveling is always me. Over the weekend, Phee was already talking about making a list of what she wants to pack. She wants to write it all down so she can cross if off, "just like your grocery list momma."

Let me give you a great tip for vacation packing with kids: laundry baskets. When it was just me and Doug, we'd lay everything out on the bed, then pack it up. Now that there are three of us and we're generally packing at different times, laundry baskets have become invaluable. Doug gets his stuff out and once he's all set, he piles it into an empty laundry basket. I do the same for Phee's clothes and extras. Once it's in the basket, it doesn't come back out. It goes right into the suitcase and we're done.

This tip has saved us a lot of time and made packing such a smooth process. I highly recommend giving it a try!

What great tips do you have for traveling with kids?

Kitchen paperwork organization

This post contains Amazon Associate links.

Papers in the kitchen. Papers on the bar. Papers on the table. And I bring home more every day. Mail, info from school, menus stuck in our door. The paper trail never ends!

On top of all the stuff that accumulates, there's the important stuff that we actually need: doctor and medicine info, babysitter info sheet, school handbook. Y'know, the stuff you might need twice a year, but inevitably can't find at the right time.

I've tried different systems for keeping our bills, receipts, and filing in order. But this extra stuff was always just getting shuffled around. It didn't seem to have a place.

Now, I don't know about you, but I tend to stick important stuff on the fridge. Phee's artwork, sure, but also her weekly menu and monthly school calendar. If you want to order out, you're probably hanging out in the kitchen. Sick kid? We're usually pacing around the kitchen with a sick kid trying to get a hold of the doctor's office. So, all those odds and ends would be most useful close at hand in the kitchen.

These wonderful magnetic pockets have been invaluable. I have two or three folders in each one, with all the papers separated and organized. Take out menus, doctor and medical info, school info, etc. It's perfect! We can grab a folder, get what we need, then put it right back.

I've seen friends use magnetic whiteboard calendars and these pockets to create a great little family station in the kitchen. One pocket for each family member, one color folder for each person, or something similar. We don't need quite that level of organization with just three of us, but magnetic is certainly the way to go. These pockets are especially strong- the entire back is a large magnet, it's not just two or three strips. I've never once had a problem with the slipping down the side of the fridge or falling off.

They work like a charm and I highly recommend them for keeping your important papers handy.

Where do you keep all the necessary odds and ends so everyone can find them?

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Laundry organization

I like to think I'm a fairly organized person. At work, I'm very organized and everything is in its place if I'm in charge of it. At home... everything is usually organized. Or, I have some great ideas about organizing at least.

Doug and I cleaned out our closet a while ago. It has decent shelving, though not ideal. There's plenty of room for all our stuff which is the important part. Except the three compartment laundry cart that moved with us from the apartment never really fit.  We used it because there wasn't anything wrong with it, but it was constantly in the way.

Once it started to fall apart, I was thrilled to move it out.  So, when we cleaned out, we rearranged a little bit. My china is in the closet because I don't have another safe place to store it. That bin moved, I culled my unworn shoe collection and nearly never used bags that were piling up.

And then it was time to figure out the dirty laundry situation. After searching high and low for a decent hamper that would fit and match, I gave up. None of them were what I really wanted.

My solution? Laundry baskets. They fit perfectly side by side under Doug's hanging clothes. They tuck in and don't take up too much space. No one is tripping over them. It's useful, purposeful storage and organization.

Best of all? You know exactly when it's time to do laundry. With the old laundry sorter, you could jam a lot of clothes into each canvas compartment and suddenly you've got no clothes and too much for just one load of laundry.

With laundry baskets, you're all set. Basket is full? Time to do a load of laundry. It's perfect! We have a few extra baskets for when we've got a lot of towels or sheets to wash. Doug keeps one in his office to catch all the work clothes he ditches in there.

It's been a great space saver and has kept our laundry and closet much more organized. And that certainly makes me happy!

What laundry solution has worked best for you?

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Meal Planning with free printable

I love meal planning. It makes my life so much easier. I notice a huge difference in the way our evenings run when we don't have a plan in place for the week. I hate scrambling to get dinner on the table.

I generally do our planning on Fridays. Or, well, I try to. I gather up and print out coupons on Fridays and then hope that I have time to get the list together that evening. If Doug's off, though, or we have plans I pretty much always forget and then end up doing it Saturday morning while chugging coffee. When I do it that way I inevitably leave things off the list. Turns out I shouldn't make a list until I've finished at least one cup of coffee!

When I started meal planning, I made a handy little chart. I've updated it a couple times and it now looks like the one I'm sharing with you today. (Click on the chart to get a printable version.) I've found this particular chart to be especially useful for the Weight Watchers program, too. I don't plan out breakfast and lunch for everyone because Phee's at school and Doug's working. I do need that extra planning for myself, though, and it helps me keep my week on track.

Do you use a chart to plan your meals for the week? What's the biggest benefit of menu planning for your family?

Recycled bulk food storage

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

Today we're Cleaning a Thing for the Play in May challenge. I have lots to clean. My floors, lots of closets, Phee's room, the front flower bed. Am I working on any of that? Nope, I'm cleaning fun things, like the basket of bulk snacks we have.

We shop at a co-op and get lots of dried fruit and nuts for snacks, mostly for Doug to take to work. I don't always (okay rarely. whatever.) remember to take containers to the co-op so we end up with lots of baggies of stuff. I got tired of digging through them and how messy they looked heaped in a little plastic bin in the cupboard.

So, I dug some canning jars out of the closet. I poked around looking for some other suitable containers and found these two glass juice bottles I'd been hanging onto. Then, I found this awesome little bin at the Container Store. (Similar storage bin here.)

Another score? Chalkboard labels in the Target dollar bin. I'd been holding on to those for a while, too, and they turned out to be perfect for this project. Easy to swap out and then I don't forget which kind of snacks we have at any given time. And yes, I forget which is a pecan and which is an almond sometimes. I don't eat any of these.

I picked some scrapbook paper that I liked and used that on top of the canning jars. Then I dug out an acrylic paint that matched and painted the two juice bottle lids. Add a couple coats modge podge or spray them with a sealer after the paint dries to keep the paint from chipping or scratching off.

That's it. A simple solution for storing your bulk snacks and keeping the containers organized. This would work for more than bulk snacks, too. Lots of kids snacks in various boxes in the pantry? Empty them into some jars. You can label them, the kids can see what each snack is, and you can see how much you have left and when it's time to add something to the grocery list.

What kind of system do you use for storing all your snacks? 

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Link up and see what the rest of the Play in May group is cleaning this weekend. Surely, we all have something to clean, right?

Linked up at Simply Gloria, Just Us Four, Bloom Designs, Heather's French Press, The Recipe Critic, Nancherrow.

Baby Bib Games

We were visiting some good friends last weekend.  Their sweet girl just turned 1 and she's on the go, exploring the house, climbing over the dog, and helping out in the kitchen.  Phee has fun playing at her.  Yes, at.  The age difference is a little bit too much for Phee, though she is always so excited to go visit.

We're well past the baby/toddler stage, but I always enjoy seeing what other moms have and how they're doing things.  There's always some tip or trick that I haven't seen before!

For instance, this clever bib storage.  My friend has a very cute sideboard in her kitchen.  It has a few drawers and a cupboard.  And who couldn't use more storage?!  One end has a paper towel holder which has been repurposed as bib storage.

And a game for the toddler!  She loves to pull the bibs off and play with them.  More work for mom, sure, but it's also cheap entertainment in the kitchen.  You can't beat that, especially when you're trying to get dinner on the table!

Now, if you have a kitchen like mine, you don't have any extra floor space for furniture or an island.  But, if you have a cupboard that's safe for your child to play in, then you have the perfect spot for bib storage.  All you have to do is attach a paper towel holder to the inside of the cupboard door and you're all set.  You have a place to store bibs, a game for your kiddo, and when they get a little bit older, getting their own bib before a meal can be their first little chore.

What things do your kids play with in the kitchen?  Do they have one cupboard that's not off limits, or do they get the run of the place?

Linked up at We Made That, Bloom Designs, P is for Preschooler, Just Us Four, momnivore's dilemma.

Is your iPhone out of memory?

This isn't the usual type of tip that I share, but it seems to be a very useful bit of information.  I have an iPhone 4S and it's fantastic.  I use it for a lot of things and a couple months ago, I was getting the 'no more memory for photos' message.  And this at just 200 photos or so, when I could usually carry almost 1000 before having to transfer them off the phone. I found that some iPhone using friends were running into the same issue.

So, I started deleting some of my rarely used apps.  But that didn't help.  I cleared out a bunch of apps that Phee doesn't use very much or has outgrown.  Still getting the 'no more room' message.

I dug around some more, looked to see which apps were taking up the most space, played around with some others and finally found the culprit.  And a solution!

Clear the cache in your Pinterest app!  For me, it was that simple.  I use Pinterest almost exclusively on my phone.  And it shows in the cache.  When I discovered this, my cache was 4GB.

So, here's how you fix it.

1. Open your Pinterest app and click on the person tab at the bottom.
2. Click on the settings gear in the top left corner.
3. Click on Account settings.
4. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of your Account settings page.
5. Clear all three caches.

That's it.  It's that simple.  If your cache is huge, like mine was, it will probably take a very long time to clear.  I actually forced it to stop a couple times and cleared it out in chunks.

There are a few other apps that have browsing history or caches to clear as well.  Be sure to check your settings and clear out what you can from time to time.  Also, if you have the Kindle app, double check how many books you actually have on your device.  If you delete the ones you don't actually need on your device, you can free up some space that way, too.

So, go clear out and start taking photos again!

Babysitter Info Sheet (free printable)

When we found a great babysitter in the neighborhood and started having her watch Phee, I needed a way to make sure she had all of our contact information. Being the crazy, organized first-time parents that we are, with completely opposite work schedules, we needed to give the babysitter much more than just phone numbers. Just in case.

I made up a sheet for her with every bit of pertinent information I thought she would need: our home info, contact info, emergency contacts, medical info and Phee's bedtime routine. I laminated that sheet and we've been using it for over a year. It's been a time saver for me because I just have to pull it out and leave it on the fridge or counter for the babysitter. I don't have to write the info up every time she comes.

I've reworked the sheet for you as a PDF with blank spaces. Or you can just grab the photo of it right here in the post. There are a few ways you can use this sheet.

• Print it out on paper and fill it out. You can keep printing them out and filling them in whenever you need it.
• You can print it out, fill it out and laminate it like I did.  
• You can print it out and laminate it. Then, just write on it with a dry or wet erase marker so that you can make changes as needed. For example, if you're going out with your emergency contact people, you may want to fill in the info for different friends or family for that particular night.

I feel better knowing that I've left all the info organized for the babysitter to reference quickly.  I hope this helps keep your organized and gives you some peace of mind when you leave your little ones with a babysitter.

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Contain those cords!

If you're anything like us, you have way too many things that need to be charged on a regular basis.  Phone, iPod, laptop, e-reader... The only thing I consistently charge in a specific place is my phone which I charge at night and use as an alarm clock.  The rest of it gets charged at the bar in the kitchen usually- the hub of our house.

The kitchen bar is literally in the center of the house.  We pass it fifty times a day.  Everyone dumps everything on the bar- Phee's collection of rocks, lunch containers, papers from school, keys, phones- all of it.

After moving cords around a couple hundred times, I finally decided to do something about them.  I found an empty glass jar and thought it might be just the thing to help me contain the cords.  So far, it's worked pretty well.

I moved the laptop cord to the bedroom and cleared a space for it to be charged on top of a low bookcase.  My Kindle cord, the iPhone cord and couple others can be wound up and stuck in the jar out of the way.  The cords aren't out of sight, but it does get them off the floor and counter when they aren't being used.  And, with a clear jar, I can see which cords I have and which might have migrated to another part of the house.

How do you manage the cord clutter in your house?  Does it all end up in the same location?

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Many Waters

Toddler Dresser Labels {diy}

Phee is getting really interesting in letters and so we're going to start working on letter recognition.  Right now, though, she recognizes that words are letters and talks about them all the time: "Look at the letter momma."  She'll point to signs and repeat letter names: "R. S. E. E. R. R. E. R."  Cute.  And funny.

She's also getting pretty good at dressing herself.

And she'll be going to the French school in the fall.

So, I combined all of those things and made dresser drawer labels for her last week.  I rearranged her drawers and made it easier for her to reach all of her clothes.  Then, I made a label for each drawer, or half of a drawer.  Each label has a picture of the item of clothing, the word in English and the word in French.

Phee loves it.  I can tell her it's time to go pick out one shirt, one pair of pants and one pair of undies and she can do it.  Plus shoes and socks as a bonus some mornings.  She quite proudly showed the labels off to her dad the day after we put them up.  She owned those labels and those drawers and she's having fun picking out her clothes.

So far, we've had a number of tone on tone days, but no crazy "this toddler clearly dressed herself" outfits yet.  I'm kind of looking forward to those.

This is the PDF file of the labels.  Feel free to use it!  I printed them on cardstock, cut them out and used packing tape to laminate them.  Then I affixed them to the drawers with painters tape.   Easy peasy independence and learning for your little one!

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Organizing Paperwork

I can't seem to stop papers from piling up on our kitchen bar.  Or the table, for that matter.  Phee's artwork, papers from school, mail I need to deal with, magazines I haven't had time to read yet- it never ends.  I hate it, but overlook it in order to get on with my day and play with Phee.

A while ago, Doug suggested an idea for organizing and collecting some of the paperwork.  He read about this somewhere and mentioned it to me so there's no original link to share. 

The door to our garage is in the kitchen.  Easily accessible, right by the bar where I go through mail, I use it every day- it's the perfect spot to hang envelopes for organizing papers.  The garage door is unused space, too, so this is a winning project all around.

You need large manila mailing envelopes, packing tape, a hole punch, and hooks.  Chances are, you have some combination of those things laying around the house right now.

• Fold the flap of the envelope into the envelope and tape it down.  You could also just stick it down using the lick-and-stick glue that's on the flap, too, but I find that taping it down prevents papers from sticking to or tearing the flap when you pull things back out.


• Label your envelopes.  Labeling can be as simple as handwriting or as involved as printed text and pretty scrapbook paper.  Our labels are shred, file, bills and receipts.  You might have more medical paperwork or things your kids need to take to school.  Pick labels that work for you.


• Use the hole punch to punch a hole in the middle of the folded over flap, about half an inch down from the top.


• Hang your hooks on the garage side of the door (or the inside of whatever door you're using).  


• Hang up those pretty envelopes and get organized!

The advantage of this organization project? The materials are cheap and can be recycled if they get worn or torn.  When you need new envelopes, or need to add a category, it takes five minutes.  Easy-peasy.  You'll have those piles of paperwork cleared up in no time!

{click for a copy of these labels I made for my envelopes}

How do you keep your paper clutter at bay? 

Where are the tomatoes?

Oh my gosh, the pantry. How is it that one small little closet can collect such clutter and disarray? I mean, you're in there every day, you'd think it would be easy to keep it neat and find what you need. Hah!

Our pantry was a mess. Beyond a mess. We were approaching disaster status. We keep a good stock of tomatoes, sauce, beans and soup and I've hit a couple good sales in the last month so we had tons of cans toppling over. I hate having to move 10 cans to find the one kind of tomato I want. Then there is the shelf that is half Phee's snacks, half other random stuff. And the baking supply shelf... I don't even have time to bake anymore!

{full pantry before}

{shelves before}

So, I tackled the pantry Saturday night when girl's night got cancelled. I was strangely looking forward to getting this closet organized and cleaned out. I set up Gilmore Girls on my laptop, got the vacuum out and got to work. (Oh, and Phee wasn't locked in her room, she was at Parent's Night Out, so no worries there.)

I started by clearing out the floor and the top shelf, knowing that a lot of that stuff was getting moved. Then, I went shelf by shelf, throwing old things away, combining where I could and dumping things into containers instead of the bags we use when we buy in bulk. That right there, especially on the baking shelf, took care of a lot of the clutter.




I put grains and flour in empty rice containers. Phee's bulk snacks are in stacking tupperware.  I put the napkins, plastic silverware and cups into two plain gift bags. Easier to grab and look through that way. Plus, it's what I had in the house already. I put the boxes of wine glasses and champagne flutes in different cupboards instead of leaving them on the pantry floor. We almost never use the flutes and, though we have both kinds of wine glasses, we almost never use both. As you can see in the pictures, there is a shelf missing at the bottom. Doug will be making that for me soon and then I will have even more fantastic space for storing the extras.

{full pantry after}

{shelves after}

I would love to spend the money on the can organizers and matching canisters for all the bulk grains, pastas, snacks, etc. that we buy. But, that seems silly when I don't really need them. I have plenty of jars, tupperware, empty containers and random baskets/trays to get the job done. It isn't as pretty as it could be, but it's definitely functional. More importantly, it's finished. And I can see the tomatoes.

Paper Trays {diy}

I love organization.  Well, I love the idea of organization.  My office is neat and clean and very simply organized.  I know exactly where everything is.  (I would love to be able to say the same for my house, but right now, that is a work in progress.)  I found a great paper tray printable template a few weeks ago and had to make one right away.  I love easy, fast, useful projects like that. 

After making and using it on my desk for a couple days I realized that regular thin card stock isn't sturdy enough for a paper tray and heavy card stock or scrapbook paper is the way to go. I dug through my paper stash (oh so many papers!) at home and came up with two sheets of heavy scrapbook paper that match my office. 

Two trays later, my desk is even more organized than before.  I love having a space specifically for my keys and phone.  They used to sit on the corner of my desk calendar, but were always getting in the way when I needed to spread out.  Right now the second tray is a catchall tray for my half finished lunch time projects, cards, things to take home, etc. 

Everyone can use a tray somewhere.  There are always notes collecting in a pile.  Recipe cards sitting on the counter that haven't been put away yet.  Mail that needs to be sorted. 

Try the template.  It's a PDF and the directions in the article are specifically for using the printed PDF.  I wanted to print it directly onto my paper to make it easier so I used the 'Print Screen' function and then cropped and edited the resulting image in Microsoft Publisher.  By doing that, you can make the tray whatever size you prefer.  The one slight problem with that is that you will have to trim down two of the sides.  That's easily accomplished, though, once you fold the tray up, because it's very obvious what needs to be trimmed and by how much.

This was a fun, lucky project find.  I'm thoroughly enjoying my paper trays.  What little bits do you have laying around that would be best collected in a tray?