Organizing My Fabric

So I saw this AWESOME idea on Pinterest and had to give it a shot. I had all my fabric just thrown into a big box and it was always so hard to see what I had. I loved this idea and the organization of it.

All you need is hanging folders to hang your fabric on. I just folded the fabric however it would fit onto the file folder. Each fabric was a different cut so they were all different folds. I also cute the folders in half so that I had two, if you have a heavy piece of fabric you could just use one folder for extra support. We don't have much room in our house so mine are in a box that is made for hanging folders (found at Staples or Office Depot). I Love It! It's so much easier to see everything, they stay nice and pressed and take up less room!

Lecklace Organizer

So I've loved all the necklace organizers I see on pinterest but the only problem I was having was most my necklaces are long...so I came up with this simple solution!! I put hooks on the side of my night stand!! Then I organized them into blacks, white, silver and gold and then colors! It's been working great for me and keeps them from getting tangled and out of the way!

Challenge!

So today I want to extend a challenge to each of you to find one place in your home that you'd like to organize. Mine is going to be my closet!! It's a mess for sure and I plan (sometime in the near future) on redoing the inside but as for now I am in need of cleaning out old clothes and putting away the winter clothes. So find your space and make it your goal to clean and organize it today! (I suggest a smaller space like a drawer or hall closet so you can actually accomplish it in one day!) Be sure to take before and after pictures to see your great work and to share it here with us!!! (Be sure to add your blog in the comments below so we can all see your great work!!) Good Luck Everyone!!!

Our New Room!

Check it out!!!!

I'm so excited for how it came out. Now this room had to provide many uses, a computer room for school and work, bills and all the other fun stuff you have to do with a computer, and a craft room which I have A TON of craft stuff (and military stuff that has to be on hand ready to go) that is now all organized behind the curtain (I just wanted it to feel call and relaxing and since I don't have matching boxes and containers for everything on the shelves the curtain was a good option for me) and in the closet! and I promise to finish a project before I start another one!! (did you hear that babe!) So that it stays clean for my hubby who needs this area to study for school when he starts back up! As for the card table, I'm waiting for my mommy's hand me down computer table which I measured and will fit perfect where the card table is now. It's a little one perfect for not collecting a ton of stuff like the other computer table did (which I got rid of for free!) and the card table will fold up and fit behind the door with the chairs that are already there! I converted the two filing cabinets that were right next to the door to one four drawer one (which I spray painted and plan to put a chevron design on the front when we get a few extra dollars for paint!), that helped out a lot!

Here's the loft area...it's much cleaner now it just needs to be beautified:) I'm planning on painting the shelve (when it warms up outside), covering the bean bag with something more bright and hanging pictures of a classic book (I'm thinking "Where the Wild Things Are"). That all happens when there is a little more money in the bank account!


1. What space did you decide to organize and why?
    I went for the messiest room in our house, the drop it in and leave it room where anything we didn't want our daughter getting to went in a beautiful pill all over the room. I needed this room to be more organized so that my husband could study in there (and shut the door to keep the kiddos out) and I could craft/work in there (including the bills/blog).

2. What steps did you take to ensure you completed the space within the 29 day timeline?
    I really just had to do it day by day, one step at a time. With two little ones it's hard to plan when I can organize but I used up a lot of nap times and sometimes put the gate up so that they couldn't come in and get hurt with everything that was in there, who knew what they would find. First I needed to get the big stuff out to clear up the space so I had room to move. Then start going through papers (which we had a ton!) throwing/ shredding a lot. Since I brought the up stairs office down into the space I need to get rid of stuff we didn't use as well.

3. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and how did you overcome it?
    It was hard taking time it get in there and do it, I felt that I was taking time away from my little ones but I started to realize that the more organized I am the more time I'll have to spend with them. This was just a minor time frame that would help me out in the long run. I'm now more organized and spend less time trying to get stuff done.

4. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
    I tried to sell the desk but ended up giving it away for free cause it wasn't selling (which was fine, I just wanted it gone). The two filing cabinets are in my front room waiting to sell as well (and if they don't go in a week, they go for free as well! One week is all I want to stare at them for). Lots of things just got put "in they're home" we were just to lazy to do that in the beginning.

5. Tell me one of your proudest moments during this challenge?
    Being able to open the binds! I love to look outside and have the light come in! I can now reach the blinds and open them while I'm in my new beautiful room.

6. Explain any organizing “tools” you used to help you create additional space and to establish some limits and boundaries?
   Height! I decided to go up with things instead of out! That's really helped and opened up a lot of space.

7. What is ONE piece of advice you’d give to someone else to encourage them on their organizational journey?
   Don't give up. There was a moment in the month that I felt like it wasn't going to happen. I had a party and needed to get things cleaned up and this room became the dumping ground again. I felt terrible when I couldn't see the floor again after I had it all cleaned up the first time. Now I know that this is not a dumping ground, I spent too much time cleaning it up that it's NOT going to happen!! Things are going to be put back each night before bed, just let every other room in the house.

Family Binder - printable pages

The pdf formats for Our Family Binder!! (I did it finally after much research!!)

Personal Information

Personal Medical Information

Work History

Medical History

Prescriptions

Immunizations

Dental History



Family Binder

So I'm excited to show you all my family binder. It's the most important thing that I'd grab in case of an emergency. It has all our information in it and includes copies (or will include copies once I'm done) of all our safe documents so if our home is ever broken into and our safe stolen I'll know all the information they took. It also includes everything in our wallet with CC numbers written down so if my purse or husbands wallet is ever stolen I know all the contact numbers to block cards and report to the police everything that was in the wallet/purse. I'm going to be starting with one section at a time so you can follow along and get your binder put together as well. I'll post a new section every Wednesday and hope to have it all wrapped up in one month!!

First thing you're going to need is a binder, dividers, and sheet protectors.

 Here's what the inside looks like. I have a label for each family member, home, keys, numbers, purse/wallet, safe copies

The first thing in the binder is a sheet protector with the front cut in half to make it easy to slip papers into. I use this for those moments when I'm to busy to write the information down but it needs to go into the binder, that way it stays in the binder and when I have a spare moment I write everything down.

Then after each persons name are these 6-7 pages - Personal Information, Personal Medical Information, Work History (for me and my husband), Medical History, Prescriptions, Immunizations, Dental History

I'd really like to make these so that you can just print them off from here but until I figure that out I'll give you a list of what's on each pages (and if you know how I can do that please let me know:) )

Personal -

Name, Dress size, waist, length, shirt size, neck, sleeve, pant size, inseam, sock size, shoe size, preferred colors, preferred brands, important dates to remember, school/work schedule, school/work address/phone #, wish list

   I can't tell you how many times I refer to this page for Christmas and Birthdays! It's great information to have on hand and then they have no idea:)

Personal Medical Information -

Name, Address, Doctor, Phone # (doc), Insurance co, account # (insurance), Hospital, religious preference, dentist, phone # (dentist), in emergency notify, birth date, height, weight, eyes, hair, blood type, blood pressure, past medical problems, allergies, medications presently taken, surgeries, other, updated

Work History -

For this one I have the same information repeated 5 times on a page (I printed a few pages). You wouldn't believe how helpful this was in filling out applications when my husband was looking for work.

Dates, Employer, position title, address, phone #, supervisor, hours per week, salary

Medical History -

This is what I use to write down each time we go in to see the doctor so it's 3 columns and at the top there's Date, Doctor, Description (the doctor part has really come in hand especially when I find a doctor I don't prefer I know to stay away next time if our regular doctor is unavailable)

Prescriptions -

This is like the doctor one with the columns, there are 5 - date, doctor, number, reason, type/amount/dosage

Immunizations -

The same as Medical History and Prescriptions with 3 columns labeled, Type, Date, Place

Dental History -

3 columns with date, dentist, description

So there you have the first section of the book. This is the biggest part and takes the most time and effort keeping up with it but it's so handy to have and will come to great use in case of an emergency or if someone else needs to take your child to the doctor!! I'd also add in a family pictures (make sure to update) so that you have a resent picture of everyone in case of emergency!

 

Progress!

So I've made some progress with my big project but not as much as I'd like too. As we all know dealing with sick kids isn't the easiest! The whining, crying and constant cuddling takes up most my day, but it's ok for the most part, I don't mind (the cuddling that is). Here's a little update!!

 

 So were it's mostly clean is where the computer deck will be going (a new one! not the upstairs one). As for the shelving in there...I'm going to put up a curtain rod to cover it after it's all organized and pretty to make it feel clean and organized in there! I'm excited I've made it this far and as you can see I could now make it into the room to take a pictures from the other side, yeah!!!

Organizing my home!

It seems like such a long process to get everything organized in our home but I'm just taking it bit by bit, room by room and we're getting there. This is my project this week.

This is where it's going...scary I know. And I had to take two pictures cause I couldn't open the door all the way for you to see everything (how embarrassing).

We have this little nook area in our home and it's great for our computer deck but lately our little 2 year old has been all over it, pulling out EVERYTHING! So we're moving it down stairs to our extra bedroom which is a DISASTERS! This is going to be a big project with lots of cleaning, sorting, and throwing away! I'm hoping to work on it this weekend...I'll be sure to update you the after pictures!

My plan - this is going to become the reading area for the girls. I'm very excited for this. We're going to move their little book shelve (which I someday hope to paint when it warms up outside) out here, and I'm going to make a cover to go over the bean bag to match the area. On the wall I'm going to frame some book pages from one of their favorite books (not sure which one yet, there's so many to choose from!). I'll be bringing you updated pictures Monday so be sure to check back!

I’m participating with @orgjunkie in her 29 Day Organizing Challenge during the month of Feb. and you can to! http://bit.ly/ddpVMV

Pantry Organization

So I'm not the expert when it comes to organization but it is a love of mine. For my birthday this last year all I wanted was a day to myself to organize:) silly I know but I just love it. So for Christmas I received some boxes for my pantry to organize. I was like a little kid on Christmas morning, I just wanted to play with my "toys"! So I took before and after pictures so you can see what I have done...and guess what, it still looks like this! I love that it's working for us!!

Before:

After: 

Highlights:

Here is where the kids food is...baby food in one and snacks in the other (perfect for my husband who always has a hard time finding a snack for our two year old!)

This shelve was the biggest improvement...the chip shelve! Finally I can see what we have!

And the awesome idea I snagged from Pinterest. Perfect for us cause as you can see we don't have a very big pantry and our kitchen isn't much bigger so this works GREAT!

Now all I have to do is label each container and it will be complete!

Organize Your Freezer

So I was overly happy when I found this awesome idea of putting bins in your freezer to organize it!! Can you say smart?!? I really am headed to the dollar store and Bed Bath & Beyond to find some perfect bins and can't wait. I feel like I'm always finding something new in the back of my freezer that I didn't know was there! I'll be posting my before and after pictures for you to see the great results!