Containing Kid Clutter AKA TOYS

I am not a professional organizer. I want to make that perfectly clear. Organizing is a hobby of mine not a career. I feel a need to say this because there seem to be a lot of people out there who assume I am a professional. I'm not. Call it a talent if you will. It's just something I enjoy doing in my free time in my own home. Someday it might turn into a career but for now I am content sharing my ideas with those who are interested. If you are in need of ideas on how to keep your kids' toys neat and organized then read on because today I am sharing the love on that exact subject! :)

How to get started:
I like to view toy organization in the same way I view my wardrobe. If I haven't worn an item of clothing in a year then I get rid of it. I try to do the same with my kids' toys. We keep what they play with and donate what they don't. It's a little more tricky with kids' toys due to the various ages and like hand-me-down clothes there's always a toy hanging around waiting for someone to "grow into it".

However, in order to make your toy organization be as successful as possible you have to purge what your kids don't need. You can include your kids in this process if they're willing to be objective but if your kids are anything like mine they'll probably insist that every toy you hold up is their "favorite" and they "play with it all the time". If that's the case it's probably best to purge when they're not around. I guarantee you they won't miss what they don't play with. Mine never do. :)

What to keep and what not:
Ultimately you have to be the judge of what stays in your house and what doesn't but if you have so many things that the playroom gets trashed every time your kids play or they haven't a clue where to put things when they're done then it's time to downsize! When I go through my kids' things I start with the "junk" first. My definition of junk is anything that's worth nothing ie Happy Meal toys or just the cheapo "where on earth did we get this thing anyway?!?" toys. I don't donate them because I doubt anyone else wants them anyway. Instead I just toss them in the trash.

Then I look at the toys that are left. Try not to keep toys out that no one is developmentally ready for. For example, if you have a lot of baby toys laying around but don't currently have a baby then either box them up and put them in a closet until you have a child ready for them again or donate them. That goes for all rarely played with toys. Keep them up and out of the way; Only pull them out when they're asked for. If you bought a toy that no one likes, swallow your pride and get rid of it. The way I figure, it's better to give a toy away to a child who'll appreciate it then to have it gathering dust in my kids' room.

The fun part... Storage!
Now comes the best part. If you've successfully cleaned out your play space of anything unneeded or unwanted then you're now ready for some awesome ways of keeping all the toys contained! Most of my kids' toys are kept in a playroom in the basement. However, these ides would work for any child's room or closet. How do I know that? Because I have never had a playroom before I moved to this house so I am experienced in storing toys in smaller spaces as well. :) The key to any successful organization project is to utilize the space you have in the best way possible. This may take several attempts until you get the right flow in the room but that's okay. I have reorganized my playroom several times myself. It's working for now and when I see it's stopped working I'll do it again!

The best place I have found for inexpensive effective toy organization has got to be IKEA. I love that store! These metal shelves are $14.99 a piece with the bins running for about $1.50 each. I love bins. You can store so much in them and they look neat and tidy. See how I pushed the baby strollers under the shelves? Make every space count my friends!

These shelves are also good for free standing things as well. Just look at how many Littlest Petshop play sets fit on there! Also these shelves can be bolted to the wall which makes them safe. I had just enough room in between the shelving for the cute teatime table my sister made for my girls. Underneath it I slid the bin full of Little People stuff. My baby is the only one who plays with it so I wanted it to be at her level and I made good use of otherwise wasted space.

In the center of the playroom closet I made the boy zone. I put everything my one and only son plays with here so he has all his beloved cars in one spot for him and his friends. I love these open bins as well. I used to have one of these in each of my kids' closets back before we moved into this house. They don't take up much space and you can fit lots into them. Just make sure you label them so your child knows where to return their stuff. I got this particular storage unit at Target several years ago for about $70.00 I think. Looks like it's a little more expensive now but then again everything is these days isn't it? Back when I bought them there weren't a lot of options for kid storage but I still love them. They work very well for small people. :)

Here's another 3 tiered storage unit that houses the girl stuff. Next to it is an inexpensive set of plastic drawers where my girls keep their dress-up stuff, most of it anyway.

Tucked behind the playroom door is a simple set of hooks for my girls to hang their play dresses on. Another ingenious use of space if I do say so myself. :)

In each corner of the closet I have these wonderful shelving units. It was such a waste of space before but now look how awesome it is! Nothing drives me crazier than clutter. There's no clutter in the closet anymore now, thanks to IKEA.

The toys that my kids still play with, but only rarely, are tucked away neatly in the top shelf of the closet where only I can reach them. I'm happy to pull them down when they ask for them and happier that they are out of the way!

Phew! I think I've overloaded you enough so for now I'll leave how I store my youngest's toys for another day. :) I guarantee you these ideas will work for your child's toys. Heck, they'll work for your toys too! Comment on this post with any questions. I am always happy to offer up advice. :) Good luck!

Resolution Update!

My New Year's resolution for this year was to be able to stay on top of my housework. I started that resolution three weeks ago and I'd like to report that it's going very well! As of today I have accomplished every chore on my to do list every day. I know you're wondering how I have managed to do that in conjunction with taxiing kids around, shopping, cooking, and all the millions of other demands on a stay-at-home mom. Well, I'm going to tell you. :)

First I decided to define what a clean house meant to me.  Everyone has their own definition of clean and so I decided that my cleaning schedule would have to focus on my own personal definition or I'd never feel satisfied with my effort. To me a clean house is everything put in it's place, no crumbs on the floor, and it is germ-free (or as close to it as I can get with my ankle-biters). With those things in mind I first made a list of all the basic chores that need to be done in my house. Every house is different of course but here's my list to be used as an example:

• Clean bathrooms-Monday
• Laundry- Monday-Friday
• Dusting/Polishing furniture- Thursday
• Sweeping- Monday-Friday
• Vacuuming main floor- Tuesday
• Vacuuming basement- Every 2nd Tuesday
• Vacuuming upstairs- Every 3rd Tuesday
• Clean kitchen- Wednesday
• Straightening main floor- Tuesday
• Straightening basement- Every 3rd Thursday 
• Straightening upstairs- Every 2nd Thursday
• Mopping hardwoods- Every 1st Wednesday

Once I had the list complete I strategically assigned a day of the week to each task. I don't like to waste my Saturdays cleaning so I stuck with Mon-Fri. When I say strategically I mean I assigned chores based on the amount of time I have each day as some days are busier than others. I also made sure to assign bathrooms to Mondays because they are the things I hate cleaning most and I just wanted to get them over with! I also tried to be realistic knowing that while I am in charge of the house, my kids are my most important charge and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible which is why I made the chores I deemed to be a lower priority monthly instead of weekly.

Finally I got out a calendar. Mine is our family calendar that we use to keep track of birthdays. It doesn't need to be anything fancy or if you'd rather you can keep track of things on a computer. I'm a list girl myself which is why I chose the old-fashioned way.

I made each chore be a different color so I could make sure I wasn't missing anything. This calendar is now hanging in my kitchen where I pass by it a hundred times a day and have to read it. No excuses! You might have noticed that I didn't assign any chores to Friday (except a laundry chore) and that was purposeful. We all have special projects that need to be done and I'm no exception to that. On Fridays I work on those extra things such as cleaning out the refrigerator, boxing up clothes my kids have outgrown, cleaning out a closet, etc. Make a list of those somewhere too so you can add to it as needed.

Having all my chores mapped out for the year has been so helpful! It is really forcing me to be accountable to my list and it feels great to have a clean house again. The best part is that I am only cleaning for the morning and so I still have plenty of time to spend with my kids and do other things. I suggest you conquer the hardest task first thing in the morning while you're still energized. For example, on bathroom days I try my hardest to get both full baths on the top level cleaned before I have to take my daughter to kindergarten. These two are the dirtiest and require the most attention. The other two I can get done while my baby is around because there are more things to occupy her attention. Yesterday I was literally down to the last couple of minutes trying to complete my two bathrooms and was running around like a crazy person. I got them both done with seconds to spare, however, and I felt proud!

I know, I know, who cares if I get two bathrooms cleaned before school? Well, you know what? I do. I like to set goals for myself and work on improving each day. My house is clean. My kids are happy. My stress-levels are down.

And I feel great. :)

Airing Out My Dirty Laundry

A dear friend of mine once told me that she had attended a women's meeting once where the teacher was advising the women on housework. My friend is a number of years older than me so I'm guessing this meeting happened sometime in the 1960's. So many things have changed since then regarding the roles of men and women in the home but the advice my friend shared was true then and is true now.

Here it is: "There are two chores you must keep on top of and they are laundry and dishes. You can easily sweep up four days worth of crumbs from under the table or dust after two weeks instead of one. If you don't keep up with dishes and laundry however, they will take over the house."

Boy, ain't it the truth? The purpose of this post is to tell you how I stay on top of my laundry. You should already know that I do my laundry throughout the week instead of on one day. One load a day really helps and I can often get that load washed, dried, folded, and put away in the same day. Try it. It works!

Here's some more things to consider:

• Don't wash clothes every time you wear them unless it's absolutely necessary. There are six people in my family. If I washed everything every time it was worn I'd be up to my ears, literally, in clothes. Instead I only wash clothes for myself, my husband, and my two older girls as needed. If there are no visible stains or smells on the clothing, then they go back in the closets. Doing my laundry in this fashion allows me to only need to wash three of the loads every other week. Nice, huh? Of course this can't apply to all loads. I still wash underwear after each use (duh) and I also wash the clothes my baby and my little boy wear because they are still little enough that they get their clothes dirty daily.
• Less laundering means clothes last longer and SAVES YOU MONEY! Who doesn't want to save money? I know I do. Plus, I have three girls. Once my oldest outgrows something it gets passed on to the next and so on. Considering how much clothes cost these days I want my clothes to last as long as possible.
• No more separate red loads. A while ago I stopped separating red clothes out of my loads, gasp! I also wash the occasional pair of jeans with my kids' loads. Because I discovered color catcher sheets by Shout things turn out fine. They work well and there's one less load of laundry needing my attention. Try them!
• Train your kids! My older two girls are 9 and 6 respectively. On the weeks that their laundry gets washed it's their job to fold and put away their clothes. Sure they grumble but I don't care. My four-year-old son also puts away his underwear and socks. He's well on his way to putting it all away too. If you do everything for your kids you'll be doing them no favors in the long run. Kids need to realize all the work that goes into running a household and laundry is a great way to start. When I was 9 my older sister and I were in charge of doing all the laundry meaning: we sorted, washed, dried, folded, and put away the laundry for the entire family while our parents worked. My kids don't know how good they have it! :)

These few simple tips will allow you to let go of your dirty laundry too and you can use the extra time you'll suddenly have to treat yourself to some chocolate. Just save some for me! ;)

2012 Resolution: Cleaning More=Less Stress

Okay, okay, so I don't have homework to do but you get my point!

Two kids ago, I used to be pretty darn amazing at keeping my house clean. The bathrooms were cleaned once a week, my floors were always mopped, the beds were made everyday, the garbage was never overflowing, and all the laundry was folded, and put away the same day it was washed. Ahh, my glory days!

Four years later I've added two more kids to the mix and live in a house nearly double the size of the house we lived in with two kids. Add to that my youngest being a very clingy child and I've suddenly found myself woefully behind on my housework. It's not that I don't want to keep my house clean because that couldn't be farther from the truth.  It's just that somehow, everything has gotten out of balance and it's driving me crazy! I look around at my dirty floors and scummy toilets and I do not feel at peace. I feel anxiety and that's not a good way to be.

My floors are rarely mopped, the bathrooms only get cleaned when I noticed scum growing in the toilets and the bed? Well, let's just say that I only make it when I notice my husband has pulled all the sheets over to one side and so I quickly tuck everything back in right before I go to bed. In my defense, however, my house may not be clean but it is organized. Organizing is my my favorite pastime after all. Cleaning? Not so much.

I'm hoping this year that I will get back on track. I knew I needed help when a friend of mine who cleans houses for a living asked me if I'd like her to clean my house every week. Apparently I have complained a little too much to her about how difficult it is for me to keep up on my housework. Her offer was tempting for sure but I know I am capable of keeping my house maintained on my own. After all, my labor is free. Someone else is not!

So here's how I've decided to do it. I've decided to make a list of chores that need to be done and dole them out to the days of the week. When I only had two kids I did this and it worked well. For example: Every Monday I will clean the bathrooms, every Tuesday do the dusting and vacuuming, etc. Laundry is already working fine. Click here if you want to see how I do laundry. :)

Easy, I can do that. Now comes the tricky part; Finding the extra time in my already full day to add necessary cleaning. To make that happen I plan to shower at night instead of in the morning before I take my daughter to kindergarten and my son to preschool. I was already letting the baby watch an Elmo movie during that time so I could shower in privacy so that should work out well. While my kids are playing and the baby's preoccupied with Elmo I can get my chores started.

I'm going to try it. I'll get started on my list right away and begin implementing my plan tomorrow. I guess all I needed was a little organization.

Wait did I just say organization? Hey! I'm good at that! :)

Christmas Crafting 2011

I love to create things, especially at Christmas time. This year is no different. Check out the things I've been working on!

The first crafts I made were these cute little sconces. I decided I needed something to balance out my rag wreath but I had no idea what I wanted to put there. The only thing I knew I wanted was the cute stars you see on the top of the sconces. I once saw these stars on a Christmas tree at my doctor's office and fell in love. They're super easy to make too.

While I was at Hobby Lobby I came upon the sconces and thought they were cute and unique. I am a sucker for anything made out of grapevines. I then glued the berries on and stuffed the insides of them with leftover squares from the rag wreath. I think they turned out really cute and they go well with the wreath. :)

The next project I worked on was my little Christmas tree that sits on top of my fireplace mantle. I've always decorated this tree the same way every year but last year I decided to try something new. So after Christmas I bought some new ornaments on clearance. The garland is made from white feather boas and the tree skirt is made from fabric I got out of the remnant bin.

The tree skirt was horrible to make and don't look very closely at the stitching because it's not very good. I learned the hard way that my sewing machine doesn't like sewing sequined ribbon but I got it done and I like how it looks with the tree.

And it wouldn't be a good crafting session without some painting. I found this snowman at Hobby Lobby for $2.95! A little paint later and voila! Most of my Christmas decorations are snowmen and I think this guy makes a welcome addition to my ever-growing collection.

Merry Christmas Crafting!

Kitchen Drawer Dilemma... Solved!

The holiday season is upon us and you know what that means right? Lots of time spent in the kitchen creating yummy goodies for all to share! Why not seize the opportunity then to get a little more organization in your kitchen to help the Holidays be a tiny bit less hectic! Every little bit helps, right?

This used to be what my utensil drawer looked like. Not pretty, huh? It was a huge pain to find anything in there and sometimes it would take my husband and I a couple of tries of digging through it before we found what we were looking for. So frustrating, especially when dinner was already on the table! One day I decided enough was enough and began brainstorming to find a better way to organize my cooking utensils. Here's what I came up with:

I went to the store and purchased some very inexpensive drawer organizers. They can be found in the kitchen department of any Wal-Mart or Target. Seriously, they're like $1.50 each for the white ones. I think the black one was more like $7.00 and normally I wouldn't have bought it but two more white ones wouldn't fit. :( I measured my drawers first so I knew that! I then categorized the utensils as best as I could and placed only the utensils I use the most in there.

The every-so-ofteners found a new home in a separate cupboard in my kitchen that had some extra space. The rolling pin was a bit too awkward even for this space so eventually I moved it from this cupboard to my kitchen towel drawer which is the only other place I knew I would remember where it was. My mom always kept her rolling pin in her towel drawer too. Why was that Mom? Probably because it didn't fit anywhere else!

Finally, the serving spoons and spatulas went in a caddy right next to the stove for easy access. I love this caddy. It's very homey don't you think? Plus, it uses hardly any precious counter space.

These drawer organizers work for any drawer. See how I used them in this drawer? To the right I have all the baby utensils and medicince droppers. Up at the top I have my measuring spoons. I love that they're in their own space because when I'm cooking or baking I just pull out the whole basket and have all the measuring spoons right at my finger tips.

So there you go, a super easy (and cheap!) way to organize your kitchen drawers. No more excuses, get to work! ;)

No Cans Allowed

I have a bucket list per say of things I would like to learn how to do that I think would make me be a more rounded housewife. They're just silly things like learn how to make candy or eventually have such a bounty of fruit and veggies growing in my yard that I have to can them. I think we all have secret wishes of being a little more fabulous in the kitchen and our homes. I know I do.

One of the items on my list was to learn how to make a pumpkin pie from a pumpkin. I tried it for the first time last year and, lo and behold, it actually worked and tasted good! If you've always wondered what goes into making a pumpkin pie sans the can then read on and I'll take you on a fantastic journey. Okay, okay, maybe not fantastic but interesting nonetheless!

First you need one of these bad boys, aka a sugar pumpkin. Sugar pumpkins are small (about the size of a grapefruit) and you may have doubts that one of them could make a pie (I did) but rest assured there is enough fleshy goodness to indeed fill a pie shell. Last year when I made my pie I set a goal for the next year to first grow the pumpkin before I turned it into a pie. Did I meet my goal?

Eh, sort of. I grew pumpkins but not sugar pumpkins. I opted for jack-o-lantern pumpkins this year for the kids. I'm still counting it! So after you've obtained your pumpkin (which can be found at any grocery store this time of year), the next thing you have to do is cut it in half, cut the stem off and get to work scooping out the seeds. Honestly, this is the hardest part of the whole thing. Sugar pumpkins seem to be very attached to their guts but it is very important to make sure all the strings are out otherwise you'll be sifting them out later when you mix everything together which is not cool. Last year I did it alone. This year I enlisted my husband and his strong man hands to finish the deed. Ah, much better.

After all the guts are out, cover each half in aluminum foil, place on a cookie sheet and pop them in the oven at 350 for one hour. The pumpkin should be tender when pierced with a fork and that's how you'll know it's done.

After it's all cooled, use a spoon to scoop out the pumpkin from the shell. This part is easy. The pumpkin literally just falls out of the shell with minimal pressure. Piece of cake (or should I say pie?)! One you've got your pumpkin scooped out, mix it and the other ingredients together (make sure you have a big bowl because once all the ingredients are in there it's very soupy and tends to splatter when being mixed) and pour into the pie shell. Yes, I said pie shell. I don't make my own pie crusts. I know how but they never turn out pretty and make me angry so I opt to let my good friends at Pillsbury make one for me.

After your pie has baked for the allotted time it should look something like this. Isn't it purdy?! You won't believe the difference between a pie from a pumpkin and a pie from a can.

The best part of this whole pie experience is that I really felt like I learned something. So many of the things that our grandmothers did have gotten lost in the hustle and bustle of modern living. It was so refreshing to take my time and make something with my own hands. There's a lot of love that goes into this kind of baking and I know that's why my grandmothers' cooking always tasted so good too.

What's on your "inner pioneer" bucket list? 

*Oh and the reason I didn't post the recipe is that it (and the all the instructions for making a pie) can be found on the bottom of the pumpkin when you buy it. If for some reason you need it, just shoot me a comment and I'll post it for you. :)