Organized Chaos: Tip of the Week #8

Family Business Cards!

Think about it, how many times have you scribbled your families information on a church bulletin or some piece of paper torn from your grocery list you found in your purse?

Now you'll have something nice and neat to hand out to your new aquaintances.

  It says, "We're organized!"......at least on the outside!

Organized Chaos: Tip of the Week #6

I have a laminated grocery list that is posted on our Fridge for everyone to use.  I keep a dry erase marker near by and everyone uses it to let me know what we need.  Then I transfer everything to a list I take with me on shopping day!

The Spices of Life

 One of my cleaning projects in early Fall is to go through all my spices.  If you've ever had (eaten) old mustard powder or old poultry seasoning, you probably do the same thing!  Several years ago I stopped buying bottled spices and switched to these cute little jars that I fill from bulk spice bins.  You can actually put a whole tablespoon measuring spoon in the opening which is a huge plus.  There is no way you could do that with standard bottled spices.  They hold 8 oz. which suits our families needs very well.

 Dump out all the spices....just do it! (unless you bought it!...like last week!)

 I wash each on throughly and air dry completely.

 All cleaned and filled with fresh spices.  One way to tell if your spices are old is to compare the color of your current stock of spices to the color of your new spices.  I spent under $15 buying new spices from bulk bins!

 My cleaned and newly stocked Spice Cupboard!  I use air-tight jars that are larger for spices such as cinnamon and cocoa powder (top right ).  I also use lazy-susans to expand the space I do have & tiered shelving for my spices (bottom)

 My "Prized Spice": Turkish Saffron my mom brought back to me from her world travels!

Click here to purchase the jars I have
Click here to purchase the jar labels I have
Some of my spices I don't use on an everyday bases, they are stored in ball Mason Jars.

Organized Choas: Tip of the Week #5

Not just for shoes anymore! This is one great idea for storing a mess load of stuff conviently and easily. You can buy these over-the-door shoe holders, with 20 pockets, at any retail store for about $6. I've used them A LOT here and there.

Here they are in the school room closet. I have one on each side wall. They hold all of the communal school supplies.
Here they are in my office closet, I have 2 in there. This is where I store all my art and office supplies. You can also see the two sweater/shoe hangers. I use them as well to use my valuable space wisely. They slide along the rod in the closet and the shoe holders are fixed to the wall. You can find pretty good deals on the sweater/shoe hangers at Ross or TJ Maxx. You can also get them at your regular retail store.

Here is the door of my pantry. My everyday utensils are stored in the kitchen drawers. Utensils I use 3 or 4 times a week go in these pockets and my less-used items go in a bin somewhere else.

You can use these ANYWHERE for ANYTHING. They have ones made of mesh too so you could use them for mittens, hats and scarves, items that would need to have air circulating around them. A friend of mine uses a couple now to store all of her skeins of yarn. My mom uses one fore her scarves, hats and gloves.

You can use them to store:

spices

cosmetics

craft supplies

utensils

tools

ribbon

stickers

cleaning supplies (obviously out of the reach of little ones)

little food packets

school material

games

snacks

paints

baby stuff

just to rattle off a few......the possibilities are ENDLESS!

Oh and yes, you can use them for shoes too!

Organized Choas: Tip of the Week #4

This is one of my favorite organizaitonal tips for families with young kids. This gives them the "organizational bug" that will last them a lifetime...guaranteed! I also find that children are more content with what they own when it's not all thrown into a room and messed up. I'd hate to wrap a present or make a craft when all of my stuff is thrown together into several boxes mixed with tools & winter clothing! If it's just too messy they don't even want to try and find what they want to play with either.

Organize your kids toys and belonging into groups. They can be either all the same types of objects or themes. Examples would be blocks, little vehicles, doll clothes, dinosaurs, or Leggos. Purchase lidded containers in your preferred sizes, taking in to account what you will storing in them. Place a pile of the toys on a table and take an aeriel view of them. Repeat with the rest. Have your photos printed and then tape them to the front of the box with packing tape. Cover every surface of the photo with tape. Place toys inside and voila!...your child is organized!

I started this when my kids were really little. This method teaches them #1 we value and appreciate what we have so we take care of it #2 that everything has a home #3 that I can always find my favorite toys because I know right where they are! The photo on the front helps them to know what goes exactly in the box, especially children that can not read yet. When my kids were able to read I replaced the photo with written words. The possibilities are endless, really. We have boxes down stairs right now that say Leggos, Ello, BB Guns, & Nerf to name a few. And as a collection grows, say Nerf guns, you get a bigger box, create a new label & save the smaller box for something else.

~This also works well with the development of a child. They can learn to play with one box of toys and stay focused on the playing-at-hand. In the older child is also creates spontenaity. "Let's have a Nerf war!" Ok...we know exactly where everything is!

~This block box is the only original one left. These blocks belonged to my nephew who is in his early 20's now. They were passed to my kids, that's when I made the box. Then I passed them back to my sister whose kids play with them today. Lots of Ruff kids teethed on those!

Prayer Cards

Sometimes I find that I need many things "organized" in my life. My prayer life has been one of those areas at times.

With a busy household and lots of things to talk to the Lord about, I felt it necessary to make Prayer Cards as helpful reminders. Occasionally I'd feel as if I was praying the same prayers over & over again or forgetting to pray about specific areas of my life or the life of others. These have helped me stay focused in my time with the Lord & I find that the days prayer card reminders stick with me throughout the day. I am reminded more often to pray about specific people, circumstances and areas.

This is my version 2.0 that I wanted to share with you! I will hang this on my bedside lamp shade. I like to pray in the morning before I leave my room while I'm still in bed.

My Prayer Cards include every day of the week. Monday is Dave, then Tuesday is the kids, Wednesday our family/home, Thursday my extended family, Friday my church family, Saturday our world, and Sunday me. Each card has the topic of that day's prayers as well as being broken down into more specific areas. One example is the kids: their physical protection, spiritual protection, health, spiritual growth, future spouses, & future plans. Another example is the world: neighbors, community, city, state, nation, world, & our Leaders.

I printed each day onto an 8 1/2 X 11 piece of cute paper using a business card sized template on a computer program I have. I also printed a cover card. Then I went to Kinko's and laminated them inside luggage tags. Kinko's provides assorted clips to choose from also. I chose a name badge holder clip. The whole set of Prayer Cards cost me $12.

Organized Choas: Tip of the Week #3

This is a storage system I created from powder-coated wire grid cube thingys! You can buy these kits to make cube shaped free standing shelving. I made them with a bin on the botton and a bin on the top. Everyone has there own indicated by a lamenated tag hanging from the top bin. We put outside shoes, roller blades, etc. in the bottom. We put our bike helmets, lunch boxes, umbrellas, & items bought personally, like cool water guns or bike gloves, etc. in the top bin. These have been very effective in keeping everyone's stuff organized & safe from being prematurely trashed.... if you know what I mean. As you can tell by the picture someone put their life-jacket in there, which should be in another bin, geez!....I try. At least it's in her bin!

Organized Choas: Tip of the Week #2

In our basement this is how I keep my curling ribbon neat. I purchased two thin curtain rods that have one finial on the end that is removable. Then I slid the spools on, replaced the finial and hung them on their brackets. I can add new spools & remove old ones the same way. Neat huh?!

Organized Choas: Tip of the Week #1

Keep your toothpicks clean and easier to dispense by storing in a cheese shaker jar. Just give it a little dash and a toothpick comes out!

Organized Choas: DISCLAIMER

Yes....I am messy! Yes....sometimes I don't even follow my own rules! Here is a picture of my office to prove it. Covered in mail, coupons, books, & bags. Don't hate me!

But I am also known as the Organization Queen around these parts. It has been a passion of mine for a long time & I have had much success in my own home as well as encouraging others about & in their homes.

I'd like to offer my knowledge and wisdom through this fun format of blogging. I have named my "business" Organized Chaos. I think it is a very fitting description of what I have done these last 15 years.

So be on the look out for my tips and suggestions. Everything from A to Z and easy as 1...2...3! I hope you enjoy what I have to give and can use it to make your life a little more easy.

Just remember I'm not perfect and neither are you!