Hair Iron and Hair Dryer

Hi All

Like many people I had my hair dryer and hair iron stored under the sink cabinet. The thing that bothered me most was looking for it inside the cabinet, and then unwinding the code, which most of the time would be tangled up. I soon knew that I had a problem here.

So I started experimenting a few ideas. Finally it was there. I simply used 2 Command Hooks .. the same ones that I used for my Backpack Solution.

Well.. all I did was that I attached 2 Command Hooks vertically, but in different manner. I stuck the top one the right side up and the bottom one the right side down. This allows me to wind the code easily.
... do I even make sense....??? lol..
okay.. See it for yourself ..here is the image: 

I hung them up behind my kids bedroom door where they are out of sight and really handy near the mirror.  Now I dont have to look for them under the cabinets.. :)

Tyr this idea and share it with your family and friends.

Happy organizing :)

Library books organizing

Who likes paying fees on late or lost library books?  Not me.... and I am sure neither do you.
We are big on library books. When my kids are at the library we rarely come back with 3 or 4 books. I have ended up borrowing 20 books at a time. The library books that my kids borrowed from the library would easily get mixed with their own books in their book collections. So keeping a count of them when its time to return would stress me out.
Soon I had to look for an easier way to find library books at the time they are due for return.

 So I found out the best way for them.

Here are a few pictures.

My little girl's library bin...(shown below). She chose to decorate it with her Disney princess wall stickers, that we had for her on her wall. We got rid of them last month as we are deciding to redo kids room. (Pictures to come soon.) As she loved a couple of these stickers (.. of course.. hearts and stars .. )  I found the best way for her to hold onto those until she is ready to let go of them.

My son's library bin...(shown here). Personalized with dinosaurs, Pokémon, and SpongeBob...   :0)

These are just magazine holders I found at the Dollar Stop at Target for $2.50 each.

These library bins are placed on their headboards, so when it is time to read at bedtime it makes it easy for them to pick and read. This way my kids remember to finish reading the borrowed books and when it’s time to return I give them their own library tote bags for their books. 
I dropped in a few bookmarks in each bin for those books too.

This helps them becoming more responsible when they borrow stuff be it library books or a toy from a friend.

Anything that makes life easier adopt that system in your home and find stress free living.

I love to Organize and Manage.

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What is Organizing ?

Organizing…

What exactly is organizing? Different people think differently about organizing.

The level of organizing for every person depends upon their ability and desire to reach to and access things. For someone tools kept in the garage in a big giant box is organized enough. But for someone else the big giant box just stored with tools is just not good enough. He needs to have his tools all separated and categorized in different categories and made most easily reached to when needed.                                                                                                                                                               

Organization is providing a structure and system. A system brings along a way of life that eventually forms a structure. Organizing doesn’t have to be expensive furniture and high end kitchen remodeling. If that would be the case I would out there shopping right now… but unfortunately our credit cards have a limit ;(  .. nah  but it doesn’t work like that.

The first step to organizing is to find out what your means and resources you have and how you can make the most of it. Life happens, which means as each day goes by we bring in stuff and slowly each stuff we bring in, either gets used or gets stored away. Kids outgrow clothes, we as adults sometimes fluctuate on our sizes.. , our design and decoration taste changes, technology changes. As each day goes by these clothes, decoration pieces, old phones, and obsolete electronic devices just get stuffed in the corners of the closets or boxes in the garage storage shelves.   

Of what I have seen is that the some of us buy stuff with the hope of finding a use for it later in life. Markdowns, clearances, discounts sometimes end up becoming a disadvantage to many people. The purchases soon turn into clutter and eventually soon becoming a reason of stress.

When I was little my mom would say “A messy room is an unhappy room.”  Back then I did not completely get what she meant, but now it’s different… I am a mom myself.. well that changes a lot and how I see things …So I know now what she meant.  I tell my kids the same thing.

So where do I start? You ask.. well I think you have already taken the first and most important step, the fact that you are reading this article and looking for motivation and ways to make your space and your life clutter free and more organized is already a major step to finding help.

The most important a criterion in organizing is only keeping stuff that your space can accommodate.  The more you understand and analyze this fact the easier it gets for you.

When things get organized .. they eventually make life more manageable , which results in less stress.

Over the next few months I will try to motivate and try to inspire clutter free and organized living.

Thanks for reading and stay Motivated.. 

Free Printables

Hi all,

Here are a few printables that I use for my household binder. I hope they can be of help to you. I am currently using these in my household binder all the time.

1. Phone Directory-Family & Friends (Print it on a Landscape format) Download Here
 

2. Phone Directory-Others (Print it on a Landscape format) Download Here

3. Birthdays & Anniversaries : Download Here
'B' is for Birthday, and 'A' is for Anniversary. Check the respective box against the name of the person in every month column.

More coming soon .. Come back again.

I do have all of these printables in an EXCEL sheet format too. If you wish to have them in Excel, leave me a comment and I can email them to you.

I hope you like them and also tell your faimly and friends about these printables

OrganizeAndManage

Leave me a comment for what other kind of printables would you like to make your life more Manageable.

Keep Organizing .. :)

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List of chores my kids do around the house

Being a stay at home mom helped me get my kids become more independent cause I could be around them more and help them to do their chores correctly.

I have always tried to make my kids help around the house. Here is a list of things my kids who are 7 and 8 ½ year old do around the house. They started making their beds from the time they were 4 years old.

Here are the things they do independently or with little help.

1. Make their own beds.
2. Organize their Wii games and DVD collection.
3. Wipe the sink counters in bathroom after they brush

4. Put laundry in hamper.
5. Sort and put away their laundry.
6. Put shoes away in their shoe cubby.
7. Empty out bathroom trash and bring it to the main trash.
8. Rinse cups and plates after they use them.
9. Set table for meals.
10. Dust the furniture with the Swiffer duster.
11. Clean with sweeper Vacuum.
12. Clean phones and door handles with anti-bacterial.
13. Help Daddy take out the garbage.
14. Help Daddy check the locked doors every night before going to bed.
15. Help daddy wash the car.
16. Help carry groceries from car to the kitchen.
17. Water the plants
18. Help empty the dishwasher

These little chores become your second nature.. and they don't remain chores anymore.

“A family that CLEANS together, lives HAPPY together.”

Thanks for reading

..

Backpack solution..

   From the time my kids started school this year I have been looking for a solution for their backpacks. They had their backpack spots on a bookcase shelf, but I was not surprized when I rarely found them there. As my kids came back from school they would do their homework and then the backpacks would go back on the shelf. But as I expected I would soon find the backpacks on the floor. When asked about it I always got the same answer "Mom, I put it in the right place but it slipped off the shelf."


I tried a couple of things to keep them off the floor and out of the way.


This is what I finally came up with.

I used 2 Command Hooks to their bedroom door. I just made sure that the hooks are at the right height and easy for them to use. As these Command hooks are cleanly removable and reusable with a new sticker I can adjust the height as the grown.

So now every evening after they are done with their homework, the backpacks get hung up behind their bedroom door ready with everything they need for the next day at school.


One simple solution made it easy for them to manage their backpacks.

Believing in self.

Hi All,


This is my first blog and I am super excited about it. I am still on a learning stage. I know there is a lot that I can share about and that it's a great way for me to get organized and manage my own life in the process of sharing with all of you.
I am a mom of 2 beautiful kids, my girl 7, boy 8 1/2 and an extermely wonderful husband. He is my strength and my weakness too... ;o).  He is the best thing that has happened to me. I love to say "I am not just Lucky, I am Blessed"


I always wanted to blog, and share my organizing and mangaing ideas with all.  Now that I have finally taken the plunge, I am happy that I can journal all of my thoughts and ideas here where I can get opinions from all of you. I am constantly trying to find ways to make our life easier in everyday living.. and in the process getting things streamlined for the future. Be it a school project due in 2 days or a vacation to Paris or a sudden car accident which leaves you searching for your insurance policy coverage details.


In John Lennon's words “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.” So I believe that usually most of us are constantly chasing life and trying to catch up on things that we had to do yesterday (yes..I said yesterday). If things are unorganized and not managed we loose track of time and like I said we keep trying to catch up. Simple examples like..setting up a life insurance to safe guard our family's future in case the unfortunate fate came true or setting up a retirement plan for our future. If we did it last year it could have had given us peace of mind for an extra whole year and saved a couple hundred dollars too. That is why I say yesterday.
Most of us make plans for the future and in the process forget that Organizing the plan is a critical part of planning and Managing the plan is the path to its completion or success.


I always love to organize and try new ways to simplify by experimenting and researching new ideas.
I would love to share them with you.
Thank you for reading.