My TOP 5 Organizing Web Sites

I hope to start the New Year off on the right foot with decluttering our home and organizing the things that are left.  Having clutter around me is a huge downer to my motivational skills.  I am just sick and tired of living in 'messy' every day; it makes me stressed, sad, and sometimes downright mean because I feel like I am not in any control.

So, I have been searching through websites, blogs, and articles on decluttering and organizing.  I have come up with my own Top 5 sites and thought I'd share them with you!! :)

1.  IHeartOrganizing: Jen over at IHeartOrganizing has the skills and design know-how I dream of.  I just stalk her blog and take some of her ideas and tweak them.  I just finished this DIY Storage Box project I found on the blog, and will be posting soon!

2.  ZenHabits is a truly interesting website.  The set up is different, but the information is wonderful.  Get used to the layout and help rid yourself of clutter (and chaos).

3.  Home Storage Solutions 101: this is a great resource for decluttering and household management. I love this quote from this blog, "Clutter robs us of peace, tranquility, time, and enjoyment, and instead gives us stress. "

4.  Unclutterer: is a website that offers posts on decluttering and organizing.  They also have funny reviews...

5.  Home Your Way/Organizing Your Way/etc.: has something for everyone.  Here, bloggers write about all thins organizing.

So, with all of my purging, putting away Christmas stuff, etc., I am pretty overwhelmed.  Calgon, take me away!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Good luck to you in your New Year Chaos Clearing, too!

Grocery List {Free Printable}

I love this grocery list!  I needed to update it relative to our family now and the groceries that we normally pick up.  I hang it on the fridge with magnet and have a pen hanging next to it.  All we have to do is check mark the item we need/have run out of...  Easy as that!!  Then, I make a separate grocery list for shopping off of this list...

Items Needed:

Print Out this [Grocery Check-Off List]

Binder Clips

Scissors or Paper Cutter

Cardboard (like a piece cereal box)

Ruler

Drill with 1/4” drill bit

2 screw posts, any size

Magnets

Hot Glue

Here is what I did:

I printed out about 15-18 pages of the Grocery Check Off List.  I got a cereal box, a ruler , and 2 small binder clips ready, too!

 I used a paper cutter to split the two sides of the Grocery Check Off List in half, but you could use scissors, too.

I cut out a little piece of cardboard (bottom right) to fit over the top of the list.  This piece is there to support the posts that are going through the list to keep everything together.  I scored it by folding it over in 2 places to fit the width of the amount of papers I printed out.  I also cut out a piece of cardboard for the back of the list for a bit of support.

I put the back piece of the cardboard on first, then the little piece (that I scored) went over top of that.  I put on the binder clips sideways to hold everything together while I drilled 2 holes through the top of the papers.  Then, the screw posts (I got mine at O.S.H.) go through those holes and are tightened together.  Then, I hot glued magnets on to the back of my list, and I was DONE!!  Put it up on the fridge!!



PS: I got this idea at Infarrantly Creative.

Clean Sink = Happy Mama

I posted a picture of my spic 'n' span kitchen sink on Facebook the other day:

I had promised a post on how I did it, so here it is... 

I got the idea of having a clean kitchen sink from The Fly Lady.  I came across one of her posts, FLYing Lesson: Shining Your Sink.  She was so right when she said that "You have struggled for years with a cluttered home and you are so beaten down."  Just having the dishes done and a clean kitchen sink when you get up in the morning is such a sense of accomplishment and it is!!  I definitely was a happier mama when I woke up that first morning and had NOTHING in my sink.  I just couldn't believe the effect it had on me!!  And, it can have that same effect on you, too...  

Start by taking all the dishes out of the sink.

Run some very hot water into the sink and fill it to the rim. If you have a two-sided sink, only do one side at a time. Then, pour a cup of household bleach into the hot water. Let it sit for one hour. Now, pull the plug with a pair of tongs. If you don’t have tongs, then scoop some of the water out of the sink into the other sink and use your hand to pull the plug. Make sure you wear gloves so the bleach doesn’t irritate your skin, and don’t get the bleach water on your clothes.

Rinse your sink well.

Use some powdered cleanser (Comet, Ajax, or baking soda) and scrub your sink. Be sure to rinse ALL of the cleanser from the sink.  (I used Bon Ami--with the cute little chickadee on the label.)

Take a sharp edge, such as a butter knife, and clean around the rim of the sink, just like you would clean dirt out from under your fingernails.

Clean around the faucets.

(Don’t have a fit if someone doesn’t take as much pride in your sink as you do. It is very easy to fix. You have already done the hard part; you will never have to go through this process again. Daily maintenance will keep it looking this way all the time. Nasty, hurtful words are not as easy to repair. Just be sure and tell your family what you are trying to do. They will think you have gone crazy.)

(The parts above were taken right from the FlyLady's suggestions.)

And, the clean and clear sink is still going strong.  Love the feeling...

Did you try this, too?  How did it affect you?

Kids' Toy Organization

We have a 4.5 year old son, who is an only child and only grandchild. He is inundated with toys--too many, really, for any kid. So, my husband and I have been clearing out his toys and have been keeping the ones not in use out in the garage. We alternate the toys every so often when he gets bored... So, these are pictures after one of our toy "updates". This system works great because I have added pictures and words, so that our son knows what goes where.

(Now, to keep him on task with cleaning everything up at the end of the day...)

OUR LIVING ROOM

MUSIC AREA

TRAINS

 

MISC. ITEMS

LEARNING AREA

ART SUPPLIES

WII, STUFFED ANIMALS, BLOCKS

TOOLS

Things are a bit astray after Christmas, but  we are trying to keep everything in its place and to make new places for the boy's new toys!

Happy New Year, all!

-Kim

Linked to Kids Co-Op via Crayon Freckles