Chance to Win

Ok, so here is another chance to win something.  Below are 2 links to my shop where you can see my latest organizer binder.  This one is for a coupon organizer binder.  I made one for my stepmom for her birthday. 

 To enter your name, simply leave a comment on this blog or on www.bestill1.wordpress.com.  Share what you like about these binders, what you would like to see with these binders, your coupon tips, your coupon savings, or anything you want! 

You’ll be happy to know, I’m extending the time to enter.  Instead of getting only a day, you will get 2 days!  You may leave your comment on this blog or Be Still’s blog, but you can only enter the drawing once.  Names will be combined from both blogs for the drawing.  You may submit your comment until midnight, Tuesday November 2nd.  Winner will be announced Wednesday morning.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/59918138/custom-coupon-organizer-binder

http://www.etsy.com/listing/59923535/custom-coupon-organizer-binder-vinyl?ref=v1_other_1

What are you winning?  Why a coupon binder organizer, course!  Use it for yourself or give it as a Christmas gift!

 

Organization Wall

Often my personal blog and business blog cross paths.  Since organization is one of the keys to my sanity, I find that topics related to organization fit well on both of my blogs.  If you follow both blogs, then you will want to skip this post today!

Here is my latest little organization project around the house.

We have this little space that is between the garage, mudroom, and kitchen.  It is nothing more than a little transition space so that you don’t enter straight into the kitchen from the garage.  This little space had a plain, tall, white wall.  And since it is right off the kitchen and mudroom, I thought it was the perfect space to create an organizational area for the family.

Steve did the hard part for me by first priming the wall with a magnetic primer followed by a coat of chalkboard paint.  Now I have a 10 foot wall that is a giant magnetic chalkboard.  Next I hung a few corkboard squares and made some new magnet folders that are perfect for filing away little slips of paper that come home from school for the boys.  You know those tiny reminders and permission forms that seem to get lost in the shuffle.  Now I’m ready to organize.

Using magnets I hung the boys’ reading charts and chore charts straight on the wall.  Next I filled Zachary’s folder with sight words and Jacob’s with spelling words.  And the final touch was writing tomorrow’s agenda, menu, and verse that needs to be drilled into my children’s heads!  Oh, and of course, I left some fun black space at just the right height for those sweet little hands to draw me pictures tomorrow.

(Sigh) I am at peace now that all these little odds and ends have a home.

PS.  I realize that complaining is misspelled.  Oops!

 

Organize Your Kids’ Artwork

I feel the need to apologize for my lack of posts in the last month.  My intention was to post at least once a week.  However, with the normal craziness of December, I was inundated with binder orders, spent lots of special time with my 3 little boys, and did a little traveling.  So, here I am again!

Today’s post is written for moms of toddlers, preschoolers, or simply kids who draw. 

2 of my little boys are constantly drawing me pictures or writing me notes.  I will admit that I don’t keep everything they make (I think I just heard some gasps).  I was running out of drawer space for storing these treasures.  Their sweet pictures are precious to me, and I hated them being stuffed into drawers and boxes. 

So, I decided to organize and store them using a binder.  I made divider sections for each year by age.  Then I filled the binder with their sweet treasures.  Now that their artwork is in a binder, they can thumb through it anytime they like.  And I can look at it and see how much they are growing based on their drawing and writing.

I love having these memories in one location.  I love that my boys and I can sit down and look at their pictures together.  I love that they see that I think their drawings are special by giving them a special home. 

You can see these binders at my Etsy Shop.

 

Simply Organizing for Christmas

You may feel behind on your Christmas to-do list, but don’t worry.  You still have plenty of time.  The key to enjoying the season lies in getting organized.  Without an organized plan in place, you may find yourself running around, frenzied and frazzled.  And before you know it, Christmas has come and gone, and you are exhausted.

There are numerous websites out there to help you get organized for Christmas.  However, I tend to find them not very helpful to me.  Why?  Because the plans usually have you preparing for Christmas 6 to 8 weeks ahead of time.  I don’t feel that much time is needed.  In addition, the plans are usually too involved for me.  I like simple.

Here is my simplified approach to organizing your Christmas season.

1. Schedule 1 to 2 hours alone for yourself that you can focus on writing out your Christmas to do list and setting up your system.  Turn on some Christmas music, prepare yourself a steamy cup of coffee, and settle in with good ‘ol pen and paper.  During this time you will create your gift buying list, Christmas calendar, family tradition list, etc.  Read on for details.
2. Set up a Christmas calendar to hang on your fridge or somewhere that is easy for your family to access.  Allow all members of the family to write in their Christmas dates on the calendar so that your days can be planned out with minimal confusion or over booking.  This is especially helpful for families with older children.  In my family we have 3 little boys.  So I can keep my calendar in my iPhone just as easily.  Use whatever system you like, just make sure to have a good calendar set up!
3. Say no to anything that you can during the holiday season.  As a rule during December, I decline birthday party invitations unless it comes from a close friend of my children.  I also don’t add anything to our schedule that isn’t a necessity at the moment.  I put off until January anything that I can.  This allows me to keep our schedule open for those intimate Christmas gatherings with friends, Christmas craft projects with the kids, and snuggling up to watch lots of Christmas movies.
4. Make a list of all your Christmas traditions.  By having your list, you can add to your calendar when you plan to partake in the activities.  If you have a Christmas bake day, schedule it on your calendar.  Making gingerbread houses, schedule it.  Anything that is important to you needs to be put on your family Christmas calendar. 
5. Make a master gift list.  This includes teacher and co-worker gifts.  One giant list for everyone on your list.  I suggest you do most of your shopping online.  The sales are generally the same and most companies offer free shipping during the Christmas season.  Save yourself the hassle of going from store to store. 
6. Make a list of your Christmas family philanthropy.  Will you participate in Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree Ministries, adopting a local family?  Whatever it may be, go ahead and list it out.  This allows you to add those gifts to your master gift list.
7. Make a list of all Christmas supplies you will need.  Examples:  wrapping paper, ribbon, tape, boxes, gingerbread houses, craft supplies, Christmas cards, baking ingredients, etc.
8. Schedule 1 shopping trip for you to purchase all of your Christmas supplies.  By buying everything at once at the beginning of the season you will alleviate those last-minute runs to the store.  Or worse telling the kids you are going to work on something then realizing you don’t have everything you need.  Get it all as early as you can so you can do the things you want when you want to with your family.
9. Don’t allow yourself to become so stressed during this time of the year that you miss what it is all about!  Don’t allow yourself to be so busy that the time just flies right by you.  Make sure to leave lots of downtime in your schedule.  If you have little ones still at home, cherish every second of the Christmas season with them while you can.  They won’t always be with us, so we need to hold dearly to the time we have.
10. Have a Merry Christmas!

 

I hope you find some of this helpful to your family.  These simple things have helped me to remain relatively stress-free during Christmas seasons.  I would love to hear your Christmas organizing tips!  Leave a comment regarding what helps your family to stay organized or stress-free during the holidays.  I will randomly draw a winner to receive $10 off a future purchase from my etsy shop.  Leave your comment by Tuesday night.  Winner announced on Wednesday.

Merry Christmas!

 

Organization Tips

Do you struggle with keeping your house clean AND organized.  For most people, this is the case.  Life is busy and full, and most of us can manage to keep the house somewhat organized or somewhat clean but can’t seem to get it all done.  Here are some tips to help and encourage you.

1.  Accept that it won’t be perfect.  It just won’t.  And if there is someone in your life who you think is able to manage it all perfectly, let me reassure you it isn’t true!  There is only so much time in a day.  If you are constantly cleaning and organizing, then you are having to sacrifice in other areas.
2. Establish a system for everything.  That may not sound appealing to those of you who like to fly by the seat of your pants.  But if you have a system in place for everything in your life, then life will flow much easier.  Set a system for grocery shopping, errands, meal planning, cleaning, etc.
3. Establish a home for everything in your home.  Are you tired of looking around your home and seeing stuff everywhere.  If it doesn’t have a home, it likely won’t get put away anywhere.  By having a proper storage place for everything, you can enlist others in the home to help with the clean up without the worry of having to search for the items next time you need them.
4. Create or purchase a home organization binder.  It is crucial to running an organized home.  You can see previous blog posts about how and why to have a home organization notebook.
5. Set aside a certain amount of time daily for cleaning.  By tackling a little each day, you will keep your home from becoming an overwhelming cleaning job.  A comprehensive cleaning schedule is a great way to achieve this.
6. Plan a fall cleaning day (and a spring cleaning day) each year.  On this day let the entire family pitch in to tackle the jobs.  Clean windows, clean and organize closets and drawers, clean ceiling fans and change rotation depending on the time of the year, put away summer clothes and break out the winter wear.  Make it a fun day and set up a reward for the family when it is all complete such as pizza and ice cream!
7. Go through toys that are no longer played with.  Have 2 bags ready:  one bag to be donated and one bag to be trashed.  If you aren’t ready to part with the items, simply put them stored away for a couple of months.  Set up a rotating system for toys to keep them fresh and exciting for the kids.
8. Don’t go to the grocery store for at least a week and possibly 2 if you can manage every so often.  Use up everything you have in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.  This is cleaning and organizing at its best.  Bonus:  you will save money in the process.  You will be amazed at the meals you can come up with!
9. Clean as you go.  In other words, create a habit of putting things away in their proper place when you are done using them.  By cleaning as you go, you will keep your home from becoming unmanageable.
10. Do it all with a happy heart.  Accept that it is part of life and choose to have a good attitude.  Not many people like to clean, but it must be done.  So we might as well enjoy the process!

 

Coupon Organizing

It’s true that sometimes you have to spend money to save money.  I believe that with effectively using coupons that is the case.  I struggle with using coupons because I never have had a system for organizing them.  Using coupons can save you hundreds of dollars a month.  So it is definitely worth the time and effort to set up a system to organize them so that you can use them and start saving. 

Most of the coupon organizers on the market just don’t get the job done.  They are often too small, which is great for putting them in your purse.  But when you get to the store, it is too hard to figure out what you have.  With this coupon organizer binder, you have a full size binder with enough pockets to display coupons so you can see them all.  The binder will sit nicely in the front seat of the buggy (assuming it isn’t occupied by a child!).  In addition, there are pockets and pouches for everything you need!

Makes a great gift for the frugal person in your life! 

Shop our store

 

Christmas is Coming!

It will be here before you know it!  Christmas!  It is my favorite time of the year.  I can hardly wait until right after Thanksgiving when it is an acceptable time to begin decorating for the holidays.  My kids are filled with excitement when they see tote after tote brought out of storage.  My husband, on the other hand, tries to suppress any Scrooge-like attitudes when he sees tote after tote exiting storage.  After the mess is cleaned up, we all enjoy relishing in the beauty of Christmas all around us!

You can check out a sampling of our Christmas wreaths at www.creationsabloom.etsy.com.  Our gingerbread man wreath was featured in this Etsy Treasury!