Showing posts with label Eliminate the CHAOS. Show all posts

Organize & Clean Out Your Closet


This was how it all started...

 Time to PURGE

I installed a top to an old hutch for my jewelry.

This old hutch is hung on the wall and I added "scrapbook paper" as to cover the old paint.
I don't trust old paint.  This is my version of a jewelry chest.
I am a collector of true junk jewelry.




About half of my wardrobe is gone and being donated.  I feel like such a girl now!


Here's how it all started...


A while back, as I was sitting in my closet with the door closed so I wouldn't disturb James sleeping and looked around my closet I thought, the dust around the baseboards is killer, I mean a real collection of dust bunnies and I should spend more time cleaning in my closet...anytime at all.

I decided to close my eyes to ignore the dust bunnies, even though they were plaguing me badly, so that I could focus on what I was there to do...spend time with my Lord.  I soon found that tears were running down my face, and fast.  Tears of release!  I go to my closet when I need to be with God and the need was great. His Spirit is so sweet!  It just so sweetly comes and lifts away my burdens.

When I opened my eyes, He had given me a whole new perspective.  I looked and saw beautiful dresses, shoes I never wear, warm blankets folded on the shelve, memories in photo albums, gifts I cherish, and so much more.  See, all that noise in my head before prayer and all those little things that were bothering me were "bitterness".  They were sour and unappreciative.  While I was sitting in my closet alone with God He did something amazing.  He showed me the beautiful little gifts He had been giving me throughout the years and that I had been collecting. To anyone else in the world who had less, they would consider them treasures.

Yes, there are dust bunnies that need capturing by my vacuum, clutter, and yes there is a dirtiness in our life we can get so focused on that we can't see the little gifts God is leaving us.  We are surrounded by treasures where ever we are.  There is not one place in life that God's light can not shine. When we get so focused on one little dirty issue we miss the blessings He has been giving us and we could have been collecting...not the dust bunnies, but the other stuff.  He wants to fill our closets so full that we have to give stuff away.  He wants to bless our lives so abundantly that we just keep giving more and more away.  That's His idea of our cups running over.

So, why aren't we desperate to seek His glory?  Why aren't our eyes constantly looking for His gifts?  Why do we not get excited and overjoyed with the treasures He lays down at our feet?  Because we are spoiled little children.We expect goodness all the time but when it's time to learn a lesson we fight Him and run from Him.  Is it fear?  Is it shame?  Is it selfishness?  Is it defiance?

I have mentioned many times, God deals with me in my closet, in private.  He showed me a little more deeply what I was to learn there.  So, I cleared the clutter and made room for new treasures, in my closet and in my life.

Find your quite place and rest in Him.  Cry out to Him all your pain and bitterness.  Set this time apart just for Him so that He can answer your cries.  Slow down life long enough to spend time with Him daily because He is preparing the way just ahead of you.  
Isaiah 64:4; John 15:5; Psalm 36:9 

Bless and Be Blessed

Organize Your Medicine Cabinet


I have several "medicine cabinets" and a first aid kid and every one of them was a mess.
Below are the improvements I made and some links to more ideas plus a check list of things you should have on hand.  This was SO worth the extra effort!

Kids Medicine Cabinet

Quick, where's the lip balm? Tissues? Cough Drops?

Minimize to Maximize
 Our downstairs bathroom only needs a few things.  A stock of hand soap, quick grabs, and stuff for the boys hair for when we are rushing out the door in the mornings.  Random burn relief and  hydrogen peroxide because we need it from time to time in the kitchen around the corner.  
First Aid Kit Stocked!
 We NEVER could find the ointments but magically they have been found and put in their proper place.

Out of sight, out of mind.
Adult medicines and various other necessities are on a wall in our walk in closet, up high.  I have to get a stool to get a good look.  Lots of opened packages of allergy, sinus, pain relief, cold & flu and tummy aches are now sorted in a container.  The rest are just hanging out.

I made this last year as a printable to use.
Click to go to the post from 2012.

Here are a few good links I loved.


Follow Me on Pinterest for More Ideas

Want to know how I was able to stop taking RX "band-aids" and regain my health.
I'd love for you to read my story here www.sparksample.com

I got pretty emotional when I realized that was just a fraction of the meds I have come off of due to a health life style.   Just thought I'd share this for anyone who is going through what I did...
& yes one was to help me lose weight and it never worked for me.

Organize Everyday

30 days to an organized house.  Do one every day for a month.
Below is my list!
Follow me on Pinterest to see what I have pinned to help me do the 30 days below.




Here is a printable list for you.
Sized for a 3x5 note card and small enough for your fridge that it won't look like a mess.

Click image  to enlarge and print.

Organize Those Toys Already!


What have you been waiting for?  I mean really!  There is no excuse for a kids room to ever have toys out.  My boys room is always spot clean and totally walk throughable every single day.  You believe me don't you?  Don't you?

Actually, I have spent almost two days purging toys from my kids room.  I even repainted to just make the walls look clean again.  Yes, I painted the same color.  There is just no excuse for having so many toys.  I finally started piling everything in the middle of the room and began sorting and here is the result.


Jealous?
Don't be, you can do this too.  First, let go of any emotional attachment that YOU have to the toys.  I don't care if Aunt Margo gave it to your child 3 birthdays ago and you just love Aunt Margo.  Then buy some cheap containers that are shoe box size.  I bought 10 and one of them busted during transport so I used that odd ball wipes box on the bottom shelf.  It works.   Here's a close up.


 Simple labels with matching colors makes me feel so much better now.  I started to get all cute with the letters and then two things struck me as being important.  

1. The letters need to be clear and readable for my emerging readers.  Notice how the letter style is mostly lines and circles.  Just like the letters my boys are learning to write. 
2.  Simple = Not Busy:  I have mentioned before that my ADD causes me to become unorganized and unfocused very easy.  So, if I keep it simple, I find it easier to read (even for me) and not as distracting when I'm trying to clean up in a hurry.


Doesn't that look much better than the first picture of their toys on the floor.  Say it with me...yes it does!

What about those bigger toys you say?

Here's one box of their most played with bigger toys and here is the rest of them that we kept.

2 drawers of train sets and the rest are random toys and stuffed animals.  That's it!
This is hidden in an alcove in the closet and can't be seen.  
And then I look out in the hall at the rest of the mess I've got to purge, put away, wash and organize.


oh and just to show you want a Mom with ADD deals with when cleaning...
This is the pile of things that were left on the bed after I put toys away and they simply need a home in another space.   This is overwhelming to me and frustrating.  This is the part that makes me me want to go lay down and ignore it all.  
I put them away.  
Yay me!

Then I made the bed.

7 Habits of Highly Organized People with ADD




 

Elminate the CHAOS with Pinterest

I'm just head over heals addicted in-love with Pinterest.  I have a little section called "Eliminate the CHAOS" and it's is dedicated to ideas that do just that.   If you need an invite to Pinterest just e-mail me and I'll invite you.  If you are already a member, please link up to me so we can share amazing treasures.  Here are a few of my Eliminate the CHAOS favorites...

FFFFOUND!  

House of Grace
Family Handyman
Creating Keepsakes
You're gonna love Real Simple ideas.

Hang Your Shoes...





With the simple snip of a cheap metal hanger, a bend here and a bend there, then the rolling of the ends and I have a hanger for my shoes.  Each pair of shoes is a little different for the next so making my own allowed me to customize each hanger to the shoes I needed to hang.  I'm loving this method!

Organize Your Lovely Pins

Need I say more?

This was a beautiful little shirt I found at a local thrift store.  It's a little girls GAP top.  It's perfect for holding the pins that go with my wardrobe.

A Vegetable that Chases Away Ants?? & More



Kathy Dimmick shared on our facebook page that... "the best way to get rid of ants - place cucumber peelings where you have the little pests overnight. eco-friendly, child and pet friendly and you dispose of them the next day. NO ANTS. this works"


My Kids Make  shared on our facebook page that... " i have a old porcelain kitchen sink that stains very easily {all the tea and coffee we toss in the sink probably}. I use a Magic Eraser {store brand even} to scrub the sink and the stains come right out."

Ellena McDonald Oglesby said:
This has eliminated some clutter on my cutting table.
 
 If you have an idea to share to help Eliminate the CHAOS, visit our facebook page and share!

You pesky bookends!

I'll show you!


I love these bookends except they slide.  Their slick bottom is not ideal for holding books up.  Since I had my stikkiwax out, I was able to put a pinch on the bottom of each and voile'.


Bookends that don't slide!  Plus, with this stuff, I can move them around as needed and they'll still stick.


P.S.  You can google stikkiwax for places to buy.  I bought mine at our local school supply store and Amazon has them too.

I must hide cords!


A few days ago, I was taking pictures of my bedroom wall that I had just painted.  It had been the same shade of Lindhurst Estate Cream for 9 years.  I wanted a change.  So, I painted and rearranged a bit.  When I took pictures to send to my husband at work, I noticed something.


Do you see those cords?  


I did and the bobby pin wedged in at the baseboard even after I vacuumed.
See, I have this pet peeve.  I can't stand to see cords.  I know I'm not the only one in blog land who obsesses.  For me, there comes a time when they are just annoying.  So, I used this.


This stuff is amazing.  My table went from "please don't look at me" to...

 
Now, with the proper placement of a basket to hold my husbands books and Bible I will be happy!

Join me for the month of June with simple ideas to help "Eliminate the CHAOS" in your home.
CHAOS = Can't have anyone over syndrome.

A Playroom for Pre-Schoolers

You many not know this but I am not only a mom of 3 boys, I also teach 3 & 4 year old children in this wonderful place called Creative Playtime.  It's not just a place for children to spend 4 hours a day, a few days a week playing with other kids.  It is an environment where kids explore their world with other kids their age and get to stretch their imagination while learning the fundamentals necessary for school.

I'm cleaning up the kids room and keeping in mind that I am a teacher after all.  Remember this mess from several days ago? I realized that their play environment at home should be no less stimulating and accessible as it is at school.  Wouldn't you agree?

I love this so it's staying.


My husband and I built this light box.  I got the idea from...you guessed it, Creative Playtime.  Their light box was expensive from a catalog and ours cost about $20 because we made it.  The light box has several different blocks that the kids can play with.  I'm leaving these out for a week and then I will replace them with one of these.  We have magnetic builders, gears, wooden blocks and more.

 

This toy below is one of my kids favorites.  It was a great deal at Christmas on Amazon for only $9.99 and I was so excited when it came in a really flat box for us to put together.   It was worth the effort.  It's made from wood and came with wooden cars and a helicopter.


The other toy that's hanging around for awhile is the rug below.  I will not have to take it out, only change the toys that they will play with on the floor.  This week, I'm limiting it to a few odd pieces to see where their imagination takes them.  Next week, I might put out the trains or maybe the hot wheels. 

 
 
An element that I personally believe should be in every classroom from Pre-K to Grade 12 is a comfortable spot to read a book and books to choose from.  I obsess a little over children's books but more importantly, I stress the importance of the "experience of books" in our house.


The boys also love their kitchen.  Jake likes to help me cook for real and this gives him a chance to mimic my amazing cooking skills.  I think however, I'm going to give them a dust rag for future playtime.  All the remodeling we've done in their room has left a slight white film...sorry you had to witness it.  I wouldn't wish this dust on anyone.



The general rule of thumb at Creative Playtime is that we change the children's play environment weekly.  We build on their experiences as well...think Montessori style teaching.  With all the toys the boys have, I am able to divide these items up and sort them into containers.  Then put the containers away.  Every week from now on, we will put away the "old" toys and pull out the "new".  it's a little like when you rotate toys from the attic, which I still do.  However, the amount of toys is ridiculous even when I am rotating them.  So now it is a matter of scaling WAY back.
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