Organizational
Decorating on a Budget-Part 2
It is 11:30 pm and Bekah is still sorting and organizing the new home she and Ashkon moved into 2 weeks ago. So I am her ghost writer tonight. Today, we had a successful adventure searching for the best deals we could find. We were looking for creative ways to store useful items in her home in an organized manner. Buying new pieces of furniture was definitely NOT in their budget so we brainstormed all the places that might have things we could use. We hunted for inexpensive things that could be used for functional storage spaces. We saved a lot of time and money by being prepared with all kinds of coupons, discount codes and special apps on our phone. We had a strategy for which stores to start with and what to look for in each store.
Here are some things Bekah did before we left that gave us the upper hand for our “Decorating on a Budget”.
1. Look up each store online to discover their weekly ads and markdowns and print up any available online coupons.
2. Take advantage of the in-store specials.
3. Check to see if the stores you are going to have apps on your phone and have all the items you wish to buy designated before hand on the app. (Target’s Cartwheel app is fantastic!)
4. Check for coupons that come in the mail, in magazines or in flyers that you may have picked up the last time you were in the store. Some stores even give you coupons on your most recent receipt, but you have to keep an eye on the expiration date on those receipt coupons.
5. Check your email for free membership subscribers coupons that come to your inbox once or twice a week and print out any …
Read MoreRedecorating on a Budget
Moving can be stressful, but it can also be fun. The challenge of creating an organized living space on a budget has reminded me of my first 15 years of marriage. We lived in 7 different cities and 13 different homes in those early years, so I became the queen of reorganizing and redecorating on a budget. Today the possibilities are endless with all the retail stores that focus on organizing closets, kitchens, bedrooms etc, but when you are on a tight budget you need to do your research and find the best deals possible.
My daughter and her husband are just settling into their new apartment and I came to give them a hand. They had found a fantastic deal on a dining room table and four chairs but the cushions on the chairs needed to be recovered. So we headed out to the local fabric store with coupons in hand. She chose some beautiful canvas style a pollsters fabric that was on sale and we headed home to recover the cushions.
Start to finish, the project took about 2-3 hours but it was worth the time because the new covers for the chair cushions completely changed the look of the table and chairs. Here are the tools you need.
2 yards heavy duty canvas or upholstery
Staple gun and light duty staples
Screw driver
Scissors
Remove the cushions from the frame work of the chair with your screw driver.
Place the cushions one by one, face down on wrong side of canvas fabric.
Cut out squares of fabric the size of the cushion plus 6 extra inches all the way around. ( a 16 by 16 seat cushion needs a piece of fabric cut into a 28 by 28 square)
Place the cushion onto the wrong side of …
Read More“Swapping”….better than Shopping?
This Saturday, we had a MASSIVE GARAGE SALE. In the first 15 years of our marriage my husband and I lived in 13 different houses so accumulating extra unnecessary possessions was not an option. But over the past 20 years we have lived in the same house. During this time we have raised four daughters who are now all happily married. Although they have all moved into their own homes (except for Bekah and her husband, Ashkon, who are in transition after living overseas for 2 years), many boxes of their prized possessions have remained stored in our garage. So, Bekah and I have been cleaning, organizing, sorting and purging our house for the last month.
The day of the garage sale was a beautiful summer day and we had a constant stream of folks coming to find gently used treasures. In the middle of the afternoon, a car drove up that had a huge frame of some sort on the roof. Typically you have a few professional garage sale shoppers drop by throughout the day with a big trailer attached to the back of their car or truck full of random items they have collected all day, but this car brought something different. Three young people got out of the car and we asked what was on top of their car. They proceeded to tell us about their day and how they had been going from one garage sale to another, trading one gently used item from the previous garage sale with something at the next sale. When they arrived at our place they had a huge paining on top of their car to trade with anything we wanted to trade. We really did not want a huge painting but thinking that this was a great creative way for …
Fun Summer Activities With Kids or Without Kids
It is summer time! Time to get outside and enjoy the sun or stay inside and be creative! Don’t get stuck in front of the TV with all your extra time. Get busy! Here’s a reference list of some fun things you can do with your kids, or without kids if you want to have some good natured fun!
Outdoor Activities:
- Sidewalk Chalk: Draw Pictures. Make a Map. Play Hopscotch. Make Chalk dress up dolls
- Slip n Slide
- Fun-noodles
- Water balloons: Have a water balloon fight or host a contest
- Run through Sprinklers
- Ice Cream Man: Make this a special treat
- Find a local farm to go berry picking
- Lemonade Stand: Help your kids make some money
- Picnic at the park
- Pick flowers
- Wash Cars: Have some fun while being productive
- Catch Fireflies
- Camp in the backyard
Indoor Activities:
- Make homemade popsicles: use your popsicle maker, or if you don’t have one use dixie cups and popsicle sticks
- Homemade ice cream: try making a new flavor of ice cream
- Cookies: Have a cookie making contest
- Go to a library
- Visit a fire station
- Make Jewlery: friendship bracelets, beads, lanyards
- Puppet Show
- Take an art class
- Have a tea party
- Have a dance party
- Read a new book
- Legos
- Write a story
- Tie-dye
- Scavenger Hunt
Make a structure for your days. But also let your kids pick. Letting them pick will give some ownership of what they do each day. Also make a jar with popsicle sticks that has ideas of what to do when bored. So if they ever say they are bored, they can have some go to ideas and you don’t always have to think of something on the spot. But also help them realize they are not bored, they just need to use their imagination and create …
Read MoreOrganize your Brain
Do you sometimes feel like this??? Our brains are flooded with thoughts, ideas, emotions, stress, tasks, details, and responsibilities. Most of the time we feel like we are on overload. Brain overload is a real thing. And I think I suffer from this disease. I am realizing I need to figure out how to energize my brains to help it function, but also how to relax my brain. If my brain is constantly firing on all cylinders, trying to do five million things at once, I will not be able to function at maximum capacity. And I cannot continue to try to live this way. So here are some tips I have been thinking through and trying to incorporate into my own life.
How to keep your brain at full productivity:
1. Find some time to let your brain rest
2. Find ways you like to recharge (Read, listen to music, pray, exercise, spend time with people)
3. De-clutter your life
4. Turn off your phone
5. Pay attention to when you are able to be most productive
6. Find your routines.
7. Record things so you remember them. Record what works for you. What doesn’t work for you. Record the process of how you got from here to there.
8. Focus on blessings. Think about what you are thankful for.
…
Spring Survival-Long Days as a Mom
Before I became a mom, I had a very romantic view of parenthood. I imagined my husband and I having so much fun as a family, going on lots of outings, and just feeling happy all the time. This is definitely a part of parenthood, but so are long days, hard work, and loneliness. Being a mom can be very isolating. However, the more moms I talk to, the more I realize we are all in this together!
Many of my friends have husbands who commute and work long hours or are in the military. Regardless of your situation, there are going to be long days when you need some ideas in your pocket to make it to bedtime.
I asked some friends to share their favorite ways to survive long days.
Here is a list of our tips and suggestions:
– Easy Dinner – make sandwiches or pancakes.
– Utilize free events and story times at your local library. I used to do this all the time with Ellie.
– Host a play date. Then you can still have company without leaving your house!
– Join a Mommy Group. This is definitely what saves me most days. You can join shared interest groups, find groups on Facebook or Meetup, or a become a part of a church group like MOPS. I have many virtual friends that support me through our talks and sharing on Facebook.
– Utilize technology: text, FaceTime, Skype. Kids love to see family. Ellie and Hanna love to FaceTime with their Aunts and Uncles.
– Do a house project to pass the time and stay focused on a task.
– Plan something for yourself at the end of a long day: a Mom’s Night, wine and a good book, a prerecorded favorite show, or a nice …
Read MoreSpring Cleaning-revisiting a New Year’s Post
It is now SPRING 2014-most of us have had aspirations (New Year’s resolutions) we have been hoping to accomplish since January. We may even have goals written down, but we just have not been able to find the time to make the changes. Who’s got time? It seems we are always looking for more time. If we just had one more hour, one free morning, or one less obligation… Usually all it takes is being a little more productive with the time we do have. Change your perspective. Have a plan. And go for it. This spring is a good time to reevaluate, start small. Make little goals that you can actually accomplish. Do one at a time. Check them off your list. Start in one room of your house, one corner of your mind, one day on your busy schedule, and get organized.
In January I wrote down twelve ideas for the New Year to help get you organized. But now it is almost May and you might still feel overwhelmed? Not sure where to start? Pick one area per month. Then by next year you will have 6 or 7 areas of your life more in check and a little more organized. But have a plan of action. Map out your weeks or months so you can tackle one thing at a time.
1. Schedule: Keep a planner/calendar. You can use a written hard copy calendar or your computer or phone. Write down important dates, things you want to accomplish, and items on your agenda. If needed, set reminders on your phone. It is a great way to keep things organized. We all have a lot going on, and some of us need that friendly buzz to help us remember.
2. Digital Clean up: Clean up your computer, …
Read MoreSpring Cleaning… it’s here!
Happy Spring! There are so many things I absolutely love about Spring. Fresh air, flowers, green grass, sweet aromas, and new life. But I have to admit, spring cleaning is not my best feature. But, I do love when things are clean. It feels organized, free, clear, and refreshing. So I love the end result, I just get stuck in the process of getting there. So, I have decided to do a little research and blog about spring cleaning tactics, ideas, and hints to try to motivate me to get some cleaning done. In researching, I found lots of information and some great websites with cleaning supplies, printables, checklists. So here are some thoughts, followed by the checklists and websites.
My Overall Tips:
Strategy: Have a plan as you go into it. Room by room? Task by task? Priorities first?
Set it all out: Make sure you have all cleaning supplies, rags, and everything ready.
Delegate: Don’t feel like you have to do everything. Divvy up the jobs.
Use Time Well: Work for a specific amount of time. And take breaks. If you feel overwhelmed, start small. Do different jobs on different days.
Make it Fun: Add incentives and rewards for those family members who help.
Main Cleaning Verbs:
Wash: laundry, sheets, makeup brushes, pillow covers
Dust: blinds, decor, furniture
Clean: windows, mirrors, sink, toilets, showers, oven, car
Wipe down: appliances
Polish: any silver, pots or pans
Organize: organize papers, decor, books, pantry, refrigerator
Vaccuum: carpet, car
Mop: floors
Sort: Use four bins 1.Thrift or Sell, 2.Find Home, 3.Storage, 4.Throw out
Flip: mattresses
Throw out: all expired food and medicines
Clear: Clutter
Clean out: Closet- Take to thrift store, consignment shop, or sell on Ebay. A fun thing to do would be to host a clothes swap party. Out …
A Spectacular Sewing Kit Solution
Have you ever had those simple sewing or mending projects that would only take a few minutes to complete if your supplies were right on hand and easy to access? Well, the Spectacular Sewing Kit is an easy organizational solution to a common problem. I have always had a large sewing basket and just recently added a sewing supply tote to my attempts to keep my sewing and mending supplies arranged in an easy grab and go container. But I still wanted something smaller with scissors, thread, pins and needles that I could keep in the kitchen or near my chair in the living room. I had resorted to a ziplock bag filled with essentials. But this morning I saw a great idea on Pinterest and decided to make one for myself. Thus, my Spectacular Sewing Kit Solution!!!
Supplies needed:
1 Quart Mason jar
1 scrap of cotton fabric 8×8 inches
1 piece of fiber fill batting 8×8 inches
1 hot glue gun
small scissors
1 or 2 spools of thread
pack of sewing needles
needle threader
safety pins
straight pins
measuring tape
seam ripper
any other sewing or mending supplies that you use regularly
Take the flat round seal piece of your mason jar and plug in your glue gun. When the glue gun is ready, place a generous amount of hot glue on the top of your mason jar seal. Fold your piece of batting in quarters and scrunch it on top of the glue on your flat round seal. Hold in place until secure.
Take scrap of cotton fabric and cut out a circle about 2 inches wider than the top.
Place the cotton fabric with wrong side on top of batting and stretch over the batting and glue in place on the back of the mason …
New Year, New Organization: 12 ways to bring order to the New Year
Welcome to 2014. You have aspirations you are dreaming of, goals written down, and all this time… Wait, something about that doesn’t sound right. I think the first two are on track, but time?? Who’s got time? It seems we are always looking for more time. If we just had one more hour, one free morning, or one less obligation… Usually all it takes is being a little more productive with the time we do have. Change your perspective. Have a plan. And go for it. This year, start small. Make little goals that you can actually accomplish. Do one at a time. Check them off your list. Start in one room of your house, one corner of your mind, one day on your busy schedule, and get organized. I have written down twelve ideas for the New Year to help get you organized. Still overwhelmed? Not sure where to start? Pick one area per month. Then by next year you will have 12 areas of life more in check and a little more organized. But have a plan of action. Map out your weeks or months so you can tackle one thing at a time.…
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