52 OHC: Week 2 & 3

I haven't been doing a lot of blogging recently, but I have been doing a lot of organizing!  I kind of overlapped two weeks worth of challenges because they both involved kitchen cabinets and drawers.  One week was focused more on dishes/gadgets and the other on food storage.  I feel like my kitchen is already organized in the most efficient way possible based on the current layout.  I thought long and hard about this (with help from my mom) when we moved in 2.5 years ago.  However, there are definitely things that haven't been touched since they were initially placed there.  So, I took this opportunity to go through every cabinet and drawer (except the "junk" and "phone book" drawers--that is a whole other project!) and really considered things.

One tool I used was a suggestion I've seen multiple places, but championed by the FlyLady.  I found a dual pop-up laundry sorter I had purchased a long time ago but had never used.  I labeled one side "Put Away" (i.e. things that don't belong in that room and need to be put in their rightful place) and labeled one "Giveaway/Sell".  I had the large kitchen trash can for "Throw Away".  I also made myself a little organizer tool box that includes things like labeling supplies.  I have to say these little guys are my best friends: Post-it® Super Sticky Removable Label Pads.  They are everywhere in my house.  They last a long time unless heavily abused (e.g. Emily's art cart), but are easily removed and replaced.  Unfortunately, they only come in bright green and pink.  And I've only seen them at Target and Amazon (not Wal-mart).

But I digress. Here is a before and after of one of the worst drawers in the kitchen--the mid-sized, moderately used gadget drawer.

The utensil drawer also got a fresh sorting and mild purging, although most items stayed in the same place.

The cabinet that needed the most attention was the corner cabinet containing sprinkles, frosting supplies and plastic dishes.  I don't have a "before" picture, but it was getting bad.  As in, it wasn't unusual to have a container of sprinkles drop on your head if you reached for anything up high and the sippy cups were getting harder to cram inside when everything was clean.  I pared the plastic things down to what we actually use on a regular basis--including travel mugs and koozies.  I then used plastic containers I already had in the house to corral the sprinkles, baking cups, frosting/cake supplies, etc. as well as the vitamins/gum/medicine.  I did purchase two new containers from the dollar bins at Target for the plastic lids and bowls.  Pictured is the end result (notice the lovely neon labels).

You may also notice all the spices/cooking supplies on turntables.  Turntables are great for awkward corner cabinets!  One of the daily challenges from the Declutter Calendar last week was to purge outdated spices, etc.  I did this and actually wasn't surprised by the amount of stuff lurking in the cabinets that was past its prime.  The collection is pictured below.  The worst offense was an unopened bottle of peanut oil that I believe I received as part of a wedding shower gift with an expiration date of 2003! Sadly, that means I moved it to two different houses AFTER it had expired. Yikes!  Many of the cooking wines/vinegars dated back to my experimental cooking days before kids and expired 3-5 years ago.  Everything else is now back in place (and still alphabetized--but I bet that doesn't surprise you!).

I also took the time to really tidy up my pantry closet.  I am very lucky to have a dedicated closet with built-in shelves.  I still don't feel like the space is completely maximized, but it works well for now.  Here's a top to bottom view with commentary:

These shelves are way high up, so I use plastic crates to hold paper products (plates, napkins, cups, silverware, etc.).  I can walk the crates off with my fingertips without having to get out a stool and the labels tell me what's inside each crate so I don't have to get both down everytime trying to guess which one has the napkins (it took me over a year to figure that one out).






These shelves hold baking chips (specialty kinds are sorted into labeled Glad-ware containers), box mixes, pasta, and canned goods.  The green bag is for collecting Terracycle items.  Some kids in Waverly led by a mom I know run the program at the recycling center.  They collect specific plastic bags like chips, cheese, cereal liners, etc. and each bag gets $.02 for the WSR school district.  It's amazing how fast you can accumulate these things!

The bottom shelves hold larger bottles and boxed items, including cereal.  The plastic tub holds extra baking supplies (flour, sugars, etc.).  The trash can is for collecting recycling items that are sorted in the garage when it gets full (usually twice/week).  It sits on top of the ample supply of Diet Coke. :o)

I did finally add stackable bins for potatoes/onions and other large items instead of just leaving them all on the floor.











It feels really good to systematically go through things that I know should be done, but I would otherwise have a hard time finding the motivation to do.  I would love to have you join me if you haven't already!

P.S. I submitted two entries to the Home Organization "Hall of Fame" and both got published!  You can see the kitchen countertop one here and the spice organization here.

He begged me for it today...

...but he's going to hate me for it later!

 

Playing at the park in January

The weather this "winter" has been nothing short of amazing.  I don't ever remember going this long without snow that stuck around for more than a day.  You know you're getting spoiled when you're disappointed that the high temperature wasn't at least in the 40's!  Since today was another amazing, sunny 54 degrees, we ate an early lunch and walked to the library wearing light jackets.  Then we took a pit stop at a park on the way home.  I ended up sacrificing Lincoln's nap, but it was worth it. :o)

Hey Diddle Diddle

It's nursery rhyme month at preschool!

Sweetness

Thoughts on Pinterest

Okay, I'll admit it.  I've been sucked into the black hole of awesomeness that is Pinterest.  For those of you aren't familiar, Pinterest is the latest online social networking phenomenon.  It allows you to collect and organize all the cool things/ideas you find online onto "boards" that mimic a bulletin board collage.  The networking part is "following" other people's boards.  Newly "pinned" items show up continuously on a main board.  You can then "repin" it to one of your own boards if you like the idea and want to save it.  You can also add comments.  The nice thing is that the link to the original source is preserved, so you don't end up with a non-working link of a link of a link that someone else posted.  If you can't get enough of the stuff of the people you're following, you can always go out and look at the general board collections of all users.  Plus there is a search function.

After a week or so of use, here are some observations, tips and tricks I have:

• I didn't get the whole "invitation" thing at first.  Apparently, it's starting out semi-exclusive similar to Facebook.   You can request an invitation, but I'm not sure what happens next.  I was invited by a Facebook friend.  If you link it to your Facebook account you can follow and invite your Facebook friends.
• There aren't great instructions on how to use the web site (or at least I didn't read them).  It's more learning by doing and exploring.  That's how I did it.  I'm sure I haven't discovered everything yet.
• Organize your boards for your own personal needs.  Don't just use the pre-set titles.
• Be choosey about who and what you follow.  Find people with similar interests.  Don't feel like you have to follow all their boards, because it just clogs up your main board.  Since I care very little about the topics, I have eliminated all boards relating to fashion and hairstyles.  I am also on the verge of unfollowing some food boards, too.  I'm interested in some of the main dish recipes, but the amazing desserts/treats are almost overwhelming.  Don't get me wrong!  I enjoy an indulgent, gorgeous looking concoction of sweetness just as much as the next person, but I've decided I've already seen enough recipes to last a lifetime (which will likely be somewhat shortened if I actually make and eat them all).  Frankly, I don't have enough people/places to share the caloric love.  So I might try a new one for fun once in awhile (I already have a huge stack in my recipe collection), but I'm probably mostly just going to stick to my tried-and-true favorites. [end of food rant]
• Add the "Pin it" button to your web browser tool bar.  It's an easy way to pin stuff you personally find on the web and not just relying on repinning things someone else found.
• It's fascinating to watch the effects of a pin.  You are notified who repins anything you've pinned.  You can't see the exponential effects beyond that, but it's interesting to think about.  I pinned the 52-week challenge, and it was repinned 6 times within 24 hours (I only know one of the repinners personally).  Plus I saw it pinned at least 5 more times on my main board by other people from totally different sources.  Just out of curiosity, I pinned the blog post of our monkey bathroom remodel.  Although it has only been repinned twice, there were over 100 direct page views of that post within 24 hours.  I usually average 5-10 direct page views of my posts (I'm guessing most people use a reader).  A single blog post can almost instantly go viral.  It's a great way to advertise and generate traffic!
• Don't feel like you have to scroll through everything to "catch up" every time.  Although it's tempting, I've decided that if it's really that great, it will show up again (e.g. 52-week challenge).

There are definitely hits and misses, but it is an awesome way to collect great ideas.  My main interest areas are home organization (surprise, surprise), tips and tricks around the home, activities for kids, easy meal recipes and a place to collect book titles I hope to read someday.  If you're interested and haven't been invited to join the cult yet, feel free to let me know and I'll let you in. ;o)

Oh, and I'd love to hear your thoughts, too!

52 OHC: Week 1

This week's challenge was the kitchen countertops and sink.  The focus was on decluttering and keeping things clear.  This is an area where we are already doing well.  For the most part, the only things on the counter are things that are used on an almost daily basis.  However, there are a couple "hot spots" (as the FlyLady calls them) that seem to build up clutter quickly.  The first is the "mail" area.  This spot tends to collect papers, projects and items that need to go downstairs or be put away.  Mail that doesn't require my immediate attention gets put in the mail holder and builds up.  It gets cleared off regularly, but I thought it could use a little sprucing up. 

Like most things with picture slots, I've always had intentions of putting something in the slots of the organizer.  I don't consider myself a creative or crafty person, but I was pretty proud of this little project I thought up on my own. (Must have been inspired after getting sucked into Pinterest!)  Whenever we receive cards of any kind, they get thrown in a basket in the cabinet.  The basket was starting to overflow, and it was one of the daily missions on the 2012 Declutter Calendar this week, so it was a win-win-win idea.  I quickly sorted through almost three years worth of cards and looked for patterns that could be used as backgrounds.  I chose three that went together and gave the rest to Emily for her own art projects (they use a lot of greeting cards at preschool in the art center).  I cut out squares of patterns and glued labels on each before sliding them into the slots.  Total cost of the project: $0.  Now each item has a home, and theoretically, I shouldn't have to hunt around so long for a Sharpie. ;o)

The other "hot spot" in our kitchen is the top of the fridge.  One of the reasons is because it is one of the few "up" places left on the main floor of our house.  It was just a matter of putting things away that had accumulated and restoring it to the state I had put it in over a year ago.  I also cleared off the front of the fridge and hung up the January Declutter calendar.


 
















Here are the "after" pictures of our kitchen counters.  As I alluded to earlier, 95% of the time this is what they look like after supper is cleaned up.  One thing I'm quickly learning about this little organizing adventure is that I'm more organized than I give myself credit for sometimes.  However, there are always things to be tweaked and improved.  There are also just some areas that need a little more help than others. :o)

P.S. These pictures make me even more anxious to gut this kitchen and put a little life and character into a part of the house I spend a lot of time in!

Tube sculpture

Emily spent two days working on a "sculpture" in the basement.  The great unveiling revealed a robot made out of paper tubes with cut out eyes, nose, & mouth.  Both Emily & Lincoln had a lot of fun "feeding" the robot all sorts of things.

Spending money

Soon after Emily turned five, we started a money jar system with her (recognize them, Julie?).  Every week she receives a letter in the mail from Grandpa Lorenzen with some stickers and a dollar bill.  Using a roll of quarters from the bank, each week Emily trades in the dollar for four quarters.  One goes in Save, one goes in Give and two go in Spend.  This was a bit difficult for her to grasp at first.  She kept wanting her dollars back.  She also didn't have much of a concept of what each jar was for.  This past week we had a little money lesson where she traded back quarters from each jar in exchange for dollar bills.  Then we talked some more about what each jar was for.  I told Emily she could take some money out of her Spend jar and go to Wal-mart with me.  That's where the really money lesson took place.

Emily carefully put $1.25 into a little purse thing, and it immediately started burning a hole.  After picking up a few things I needed, we headed to the toy section.  Emily very quickly learned the value (or lack thereof) of a dollar.  She kept asking how much different things were and was visibly disappointed with the answers, "$17, $23, $28, $32..."  There were a couple boxes of dollar items, but all were complete junk.  Emily was pretty crestfallen until we passed the party aisle.  There was a whole row of cheap party favors for $.97.  Emily excitedly picked out some sparkly jewel rings.  She was almost equally as excited to receive two dimes and a penny in change after paying for it.

As expected, two out of the eight rings broke within the first hour.  She tried wearing the rest to preschool, but I made her choose only one for each hand.  They are now residing in her new jewelry box.  I'm sure this is only the beginning of many lessons learned about making good buying decisions.

P.S. Emily is now saving for a toy guitar to replace one that broke several months ago.  And she can't wait to bring her Give money to Sunday school on Sunday.

Shoebox train

It was a cold (relatively), windy, nasty day outside.  Emily's big project this afternoon was making a train out of a box and construction paper.  She called it the "Shoebox Train".