Organizational
Does Your Closet Need a Fall Cleaning or an Upgrade on a Budget?
We have been talking a lot about how to have a healthy mind and body. I think most of us know that clutter can be a real negative influence on the health of our mind and body. We often get distracted during these next few months. During the fun activities of the holiday season it becomes so easy to put many important aspects of life on hold (especially cleaning and organizing) until the busyness calms down (or should I say IF the busyness calms down). This year, don’t let that happen! Let’s be more prepared for the fun of the holidays by freeing ourselves from the stress of clutter. Or, maybe you were very successful with your Spring Cleaning this year and you have been waiting to upgrade your closet. Finding a great deal can be good for your health, too! There are fun ways to clean and organize your home and I am going to share one of those ways with you today!
ThredUP is the name of my recommendation for de-cluttering your closet and/or improving it on a budget.
“thredUP is the easiest way to save money on great Women’s and Kids’ clothing brands and sell clothes for cash. We’re like a consignment store, but simpler. On thredUP you can refresh your entire wardrobe online without ever leaving your house.”
Browse thousands of like-new clothing items, which we’ve hand-selected and certified for quality. You’ll find all your favorite brands discounted up to 90% off, year-round.
And, when you’re done with clothing, simply fill up a thredUP bag and put it on your doorstep. thredUP covers the shipping, and pays you for every item we can sell to other families.
Our goal is to make your life just a little bit easier.
- We eliminate the stress of deal hunting
Reorganize Your Calendar
Today I was challenged to schedule all my activities on my calendar–and I mean ALL. Right down to family dinner and bedtime routines. At first I scoffed at the idea thinking “Please. I have way too much going on to schedule it all. That’s ridiculous.”
However, I quickly saw the value in organizing my calendar–even the small, day to day things. I recognized that this reorganization revealed 2 things:
- The time I DO have (not just the time I feel like I don’t have)
and
2. How much stress I was causing myself by not writing everything out. By not seeing the big picture of my schedule I was feeling overwhelmed or under-prepared. By not syncing all my calendars (I have them all over the house) I was missing important things in my schedule (like writing this blog post…oops!). By not scheduling in the day to day things I could easily spend too much time on only one area of my life and not be spending my time in a balanced way.
So here’s to getting organized and realizing that we DO have time to live more, give more, learn more, and BE MORE!!
Happy Reorganizing!
…
Reorganize Your Morning
When it comes to sleep every minute counts. As a mom, I’ll even take extra seconds. For much of my short mom life I was letting the kids be my alarm. Soaking up as many short minutes and seconds of sleep that I could. The problem with this was I had no time for myself. No way to get my mind right or spend time with God. I would tell myself that I could do those things later in the day–I’d find time. But I never did.
All that changed when I established a morning routine! I have a list of 8 things that I do each morning and try to do before the girls wake up. I don’t always make it through my list, but I notice a huge difference in my day when I do.
Many people have adopted a 5am wake-up schedule. The idea behind it is that we are more productive in the morning. There are less distractions in the morning. We are more likely to get things done first thing in the day. Although I’m not yet ready to join the 5am club, I am waking up 30 minutes to an hour before the girls to start my morning right.
My Morning Routine:
1. Express Gratitude.
I journal using a gratitude journal that really helps me keep track of things I’m grateful for and has great quotes throughout the book.
2. Morning Devotion
I am reading daily devotions from the website “She Reads Truth.” There is also an app.
3. Workout
I only have about 5 minutes to workout in the morning, but it gets my juices flowing and feels great.
5. Take 5 deep breaths
6. SMILE
7. Forgive yourself for yesterday’s mistakes
8. Get motivated
I start my morning off …
Read MoreReorganize My Clutter
I confess I am a stuffer. I stuff things in closets, I stuff shoes in places they don’t go, I stuff things in places to put away later, I stuff my days with running from one thing to the next, I stuff my time with endless tasks, and I stuff my emotions when I don’t really want to deal with them at the moment. And I have realized, I start stuffing more material things around me when I am emotionally struggling. There’s something going on I don’t like so I don’t talk about it. There’s things in the house I don’t like so I don’t deal with them. There’s chores to do, so I just push them aside. It’s this endless cycle of appearing to look clean when underneath the surface lies the same big old mess. And I want to be done with it. I want to stop stuffing things in that one room in my house that drives me crazy. I want to stop stuffing my emotions and letting them bottle up until I feel like I am going to explode. I want to stop stuffing my life with busyness so I can barely hang on.
So what do I do? Reorganize, take a little time each day, clean one thing at a time, and stop stuffing. Deal with things when they come up. Put thing away in the moment rather than put them in another spot to put away later. Confront issues and emotions when you have them. And follow a new set of rules. Create systems of stuff that work, not systems that need to be fixed later. But that is all just a plan. I think part of this is a little deeper. It is my state of being. My physical surroundings start to emulate …
Read More5 Ways to Reorganize Your Life for a New School Year
The new school year is upon us and is coming fast – or for some…has already started!! For those of you who still have some time, here are 5 ways to get reorganized after a busy summer to be ready for the new school year! And, if you have already started, get on these tips before your new schedule gets too busy and hectic!
1. Buy a Planner!
A planner will really help you stay organized with appointments, lunch dates, kids sports practices, church events, etc.
My favorite places to get planners are Target, The Container Store, and Barnes & Noble. Each of these stores has all different types and sizes to find exactly what you need. Amazon is also a great place to look for different styles of planners!
I would also recommend getting your kids their own planners. I used a planner from a young age for school and it helped me immensely stay organized and on top of all my school tasks and homework. I definitely would not have been as successful at school without a planner! I always liked having a larger size planner for school to have plenty of room to write down all my assignments and upcoming tests. This one is fun, too, because you can personalize the front with a name, pictures and other stickers! (Laminate with contact paper once finished)
2. Go through clothes that don’t fit OR sell or donate clothes that are tired/won’t wear anymore to make room for some new school year clothes shopping!
It was always fun to get a new first day of school outfit or a few new staples for a new year of school. Having a special day to go shopping can be a great incentive to clear some space in your kids closet! And, …
Read MoreReorganize Your Spending
After a few months of going way over budget or wondering where all our money went at the end of the month–my husband and I decided to reorganize our budget.
For the next month we plan to input all our spending each week so we can keep track of where our money is going and if our spending is matching our projected expenses. We hope that this will keep us on track and motivated to only spend the money we have allotted. We also committed to not eating out in the month of August to save money.
I reorganized my system for spending “fun” money for activities with the girls and with my friends so that I can track where my money is going and the amount of money I have to spend.
I started by coming up with a budget: Giving, Saving, and Spending. I organized the spending into categories: Kid activities, clothes, dance class for the girls, parking money for Disneyland, and fun money for Mom’s Nights. I plan to put the projected money I will need for each category into envelopes so that I’m only spending cash, and only spending money I have. I then put the money I will need for events coming up in my wallet and I labeled it so that I only spend it for the event it is designated for!
I know that I need to be a better steward of the money I am given and I also need to see money for the blessing it is. I am confident that reorganizing my budget and spending habits will have a positive outcome for me, for my relationship with my husband, and with our family.
Do your spending habits need to be reorganized? How do you plan to make changes in your …
Read More“Shotbox” a MUST HAVE Creative Invention
The girls and I had an opportunity to go to a “Bloggers Convention” last February and one of the most innovative and creative items we saw at the conference was the SHOTBOX. We were intrigued by the design and impressed with the amazing features and most importantly we knew this would be something that would improve our blogging experience significantly.
What is a SHOTBOX, you may be asking?
“Shotbox is a table top light studio. A fully contained, tabletop, collapsible, portable, lightweight photo light studio. Perfect for objects, photos and documents. The SHOTBOX is a Collapsible Tabletop Studio that uses high powered LEDs to create a perfectly lit “micro-studio” environment to get great images with any camera, including smart devices.” This is a fantastic invention that will allow bloggers like us, the Growing Weisser girls, to improve the quality of the photographs that we post on our blog without investing in a costly supplies to make a home light studio. The Shotbox is compact, collapsible and stores easily when not being used. Here is a picture of the Shotbox and some examples of the beautiful pictures that can be taken with an iPhone or DSLR camera with the Shotbox. The Shotbox company has a Kickstart campaign going on right now so if you are interested in supporting this amazing invention and want to give the design team a big boost of confidence as they get their new product manufactured and ready for market (expecting the first shipment in October) go to their kickstart campaign page by clicking this link:shotbox. They have 31 days to go in their kickstart campaign and so far have $31,134 pledged with a goal of $50,00. So join the movement and support this amazing company. Click here to check out their kickstart …
How to Order Your Bani Banners! Passion Perspective Day 3
Welcome back to Day 3 of our Passion Perspective, sharing Bekah’s journey of developing Bani Banners for her new Etsy shop called A Line & A Lighthouse.
For those of you who did not have the privilege of reading about Bekah’s new Etsy shop in the first 2 days of our Passion Perspective week, you can access both post by clicking these links.
Day 1
Day 2
Bekah’s BANI BANNERS are handmade decor pieces to accent a baby or child’s room! Bani Banners are completely customized – You choose the fabric and felt colors for the letters of the name or word(s)!
This unique gift originated as a name banner but can also be hand-crafted for room or home decor or a party decoration (Baby Shower, Bridal Shower, Wedding, Holiday, or Special Event with words like …“Home”, “Love”, “Play”, “Sisters”…)
Today we will walk you step by step through the ordering process for your Bani Banner!
Go to Bekah’s Etsy shop, www.etsy.com/shop/ALineAndALighthouse
TO ORDER YOUR BANI BANNER:
1. Choose the Quantity of Banners
Choose the Quantity of Banners needed from the drop down menu on the Right.
Need new decor for your child’s room?
Gammie Kerry thinks this is the BEST gift idea for Grandmothers to buy for their grandchildren or to celebrate the birth of your friend’s grandchild.
Have some baby showers coming up?
This is a perfect gift that is unique for Mommies and fun for children to have as they grow up!
Need that crafty touch for your party?
Have a theme for your party?
Order a Bani Banner!
2. Choose the Number of Hearts needed (1 HEART PER LETTER IN NAME)
Choose the Number of Hearts needed from the drop down menu on the Right located under the Quantity of Banners drop down menu.
If …
Read MoreBekah’s Journey of Developing “Bani Banners”
Join us today as we follow Bekah’s journey of creating her first product, Bani Banners in her Etsy shop, A Line and a Lighthouse…….
Bekah’s story begins…
“My original passion that inspired Bani Banners, aside from loving to create anything and everything, was becoming an Auntie! I wanted to combine my oldest passion of creative crafting with my newest passion of being an Auntie to make something special for my nieces and nephews – Bani Banners emerged! The name, Bani Banners, came later (actually inspired by my husband) once I got my new last name, BANIhashemi! 🙂 The name, A Line & A Lighthouse, was recently inspired by the two symbols that represent the two most important things in my life – God and my husband.”
She continued her story of how she came up with her idea and what steps she took to make it a reality…
“I thought of the idea and created the idea for Bani Banners on the second round of babies in our family- when two new nieces and a new nephew arrived all within 2 ½ months! I really just had the idea and used my nieces and nephews as guinea pigs 🙂 I loved how the baby name banners turned out so when my friends started having babies, I began making Bani Banners for them too! I made so many Christmas gift Bani Banners that I decided it was time to open my own Etsy shop, something that I have considered for years now with various ideas, but finally decided that Bani Banners would be my product.
What sets A Line and a Lighthouse apart from other DIY craft ideas?
Kerry says, “I am an avid crafter and have been sewing for almost 50 years….and although I always love anything my girls create, …
Oh! The Places Your PackIt Can Go
I love my busy, fun, on-the-go life with my girls. Sometime it gets a little crazy, but I find that we work better when we get out of the house every day. This is why I love my PackIt and why it is such an essential part of my every day routine.
Packing lunches for myself and the girls keeps us healthy and nourished throughout our day. I love to fill our PackIt with our cold food and snacks. Our family favorites are cheese, nuts, sandwiches, veggies, salads, scrambled eggs (yep I’ll eat them cold!), and fruit.
I have a small Lunch size PackIt for most days or days i just pack snacks, and my Picnic PackIt is essential for day trips.
We love to fill our PackIt with our favorite snacks and you can join our Wellness Wisdom Campaign to get your free Growing Weisser snack list printable here.
Experience all the places you can go with PackIt by getting your own! BUY A PACKIT.
We want to see where you take your PackIt and how it fits into your life. Post a picture of yourself and your PackIt adventures on social media with #packitandgo and tag us @growingweisser and be sure to add #gwwellnesswisdom anytime you enjoy one of our favorite snacks!
AND Click the link below to be entered to WIN A PACKIT.
Mickey says, “Oh boy. These PackIts sure are swell! Make sure you get one and see ya real soon.”
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