Making a List and Checking it Twice

I always head into the gift giving season with the best intentions of staying organized: Receipts in this envelope, Kids' gifts in this box, hidden in this room, Lists updated...That all lasts for roughly a week. Then poof,  it's all a hot mess. I'm left scrambling at the last second trying to pull things together and I hate scrambling. Hate. My anxiety levels are high enough on their own.

I started this last year and I'm proud to report it was really effective. I'm using the spreadsheet I created last year (loooove my spreadhseets) to keep track of not only how much I'm spending, but who I'm buying for and what I'm buying.

Check it:

The Editable Version

I'm keeping track of everything. As soon as I buy something (online or otherwise), I write it down. Boom, done. 

Happy Holiday Gift Giving and Happy Organizing ;-)

<3 dani

Gift Giving Organization

I always head into the gift giving season with the best intentions of staying organized: Receipts in this envelope, Little Dude's gifts in this box, Lists updated...That all lasts for roughly a week. Then poof, as if I'd never attempted organization at all, it's all a hot mess. And I find myself scrambling at the last second trying to pull things together.

This year, I'm proud to report, is turning out differently. I created a spreadsheet (loooove my spreadhseets) to keep track of not only how much I'm spending, but who I'm buying for and what I'm buying.

Check it:

 

The PDF Version

The Editable Version

Last year, because I was super pregnant during prime holiday shopping time, I did nearly all of my shopping online. I didn't keep good track of things and with shipping times, I forgot about tons of stuff that I ordered and inevitably over/under bought for some people -- oopsie poopsie. 

Using this, I've managed to keep track of everything. As soon as I buy something (online or otherwise), I write it down. Boom, done. 

Happy Holiday Gift Giving and Happy Organizing ;-)

<3 dani

Weekly Cleaning Schedule

The Hubs and I pride ourselves on how tidy we mange to keep our house. Before Little Dude, we had our cleaning schedule on lock. Saturday morning, bright and early, we'd bust out the entire house. Top to bottom, deep clean etc. Then throughout the week, we'd just pick things up as we went along.

But now, you ask?! Oh my how things change with a ten month old running around.

The house has remained pretty tidy, but I regularly have an internal meltdown thinking about how much I have to do.

Pinterest to the rescue!

I started searching for weekly cleaning schedules and came up with a few viable options. Including THIS one that I pretty much straight-up stole.
** disclaimer: the original is waaay cuter than mine. **

Here is my version:

There are certain things that get done every single week, so those things I permanently added. There are also things that get done each day, come hell or high water, like the dishes and wiping the counters. Those things I didn't add to the chart, seemed redundant.

I did leave room on the top for things that I'm pulling from THIS calendar each week (do yourself a solid and check out that link).

So, here's to trying to clear the stress of staying on top of my cleaning habits. Try it.

<3 dani

Another Chalkboard Paint Project

It's probably a good thing that I waited until recently to buy a can of chalkboard spray paint...otherwise my entire house might be covered with the stuff.

In case you missed it, a couple weeks ago I did THIS project. And today, while Ryne was napping, I did this!! (again, sorry for the crappy pics...camera is still at school...)
 

For months I've been trying to figure out a way to incorporate a menu/notes board into our kitchen, but I'm working with such limited wall space, that finding a spot has been difficult. But on Monday, as I sat in our office, paying bills, and staring at the whiteboard hung on the wall that still had notes from last school year, I had an epiphany.

 That whiteboard (that my hubby brought home from work..i.e. FREE) shall be my new menu board and it shall go right here:

A while back I put up the shelf. Check out the post HERE.

To make my board, all I had to do was spray the chalkboard paint on, let it dry, tape off the chalkboard area and spray the frame green. Let it dry. Done. I'm so in love.

And speaking of Opening Day, a little Cubs love!

<3 dani

Drop It Like It's Hot: Menu Monday

I started this menu planning thing a little while back, blogged about it once and like any other regimen I try, this too fizzled out. But unlike exercising...eating 'right'...jogging...etc, the results of menu planning are immediate and really really helpful. I've learned that spending the time upfront makes week nights so much easier. Now, if i could just feel that way about exercising.

So, Drops is officially starting a segment I'd like to call "Drop It Like It's Hot: Menu Monday" This will help me stay organized and hopefully give you some inspiration too.

Soon I'll even have a menu board in the kitchen.

Maybe one that looks like this...

Or this one...

Oh the joy of organizing. Seriously, I've put more thought into the design of this menu board than I did with the purchase of my new car. My husband is convinced that my organization impulses boarder on a mental disorder. He's probably right.

Here's the deal about my menus:

First, I'm not much of a breakfast eater. Usually I'm satisfied with a yogurt or a granola bar, so I'm not addressing breakfast on the weekdays.

Second, for lunch I usually have leftovers or hit up the lunch line, so I'll probably only address that on the weekends.

Lastly, fair warning, I flippin' love pizza, frozen, homemade, delivery, whatever. I apologize if you are inundated with it.

On to this week's Lunch/Dinner menu:

Monday Dinner: Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

Tuesday Dinner: Crescent Roll Pizza

Wednesday Dinner:  Honey Garlic Pork Chops with Potatoes and Broccoli (I'll probably make the pork chops in the slow cooker by just adding some more liquid to the recipe, setting it to low and leaving it while I'm at school)

Thursday Dinner: Frozen Pizza (Thursday's are my favorite TV night, really the only night of the week we dedicate to watching shows. The last thing I'm gonna do is spend time in the kitchen...quick and easy it is -- this meal will probably be the recurring theme for Thursdays)

Friday Dinner: Chicken & Dumplins with Rice


Saturday Lunch: Hotdogs and Mac

Saturday Dinner: Meat Loaf and Mashed Potatoes (our family's meat loaf recipe is top secret)

Sunday Lunch: Left Overs


Sunday Dinner: Chili (I have no real recipe for this. Bummer too, because sometimes I make an UH MAZE ING batch and can't replicate it because I just blindly throw pantry items into it)

Most of these recipes I've created myself, but I've created recipes on myrecipes.com and attached a link in case you want to see how I prepared them. Remember though, take liberties where you'd like. It should be a law to never follow a recipe exactly...well, unless you're baking, but you get the idea!

Have a delicious week.

<3 dani

The Office 0 Me 1

Remember this post from way back when? It was the beginning of my accidental office redo. Perhaps it's the fact that we're hosting a New Year's Eve party or maybe it was the consistent nagging from The Hubs, but I finally finished and I dig it.

Here's the finished product.

and the befores...

my oops...

I created the corner shelves with the old shelves from the broken bookcase. All ya need is a few $.78 brackets from Menard's, a power screwdriver, a level and loads of patience.

A hand-me-down sewing machine, which a friend tells me is probably nicer than the sewing machine I use, works as my printing station.

and below serves as my filing station (which I purged biiiig time). These are the tips I used. This approach cut my files down by about 2/3s. So refreshing. Do it!



and it all came together to create this, ahh yay!



Totally high-five worthy, right?

By repurposing my old bookcase and purchasing a few cheap brackets, the look and feel of the room has changed completely. Fancy.

<3 dani

Linkin' Up

Tiny Bathroom, Storage Necessary

Eventually I'll get the go-ahead to demolish our miniature bathroom, but until then I gotta make this one work.

So you have a good idea of the space (or lack of) I'm dealing with, here's the best photo I could get. Tight squeeze.

Two tiny drawers and one cabinet. Make-up, jewelry, hair stuff...I hide everything in that little vanity. But lately, I've really let it go and searching for my jewelry was driving me crazy. So, I pulled up the bootstraps and got to work.

Disaster, right?

Here's the after. No more jewelry lingering, no more overflowing bins. Just the stuff I use daily (or close to it) separated into hair stuff on the left and body stuff on the right.

I used a plastic hook on the inside wall of the cabinet for my hair dryer. She's all outta the way.

Now, I have to find a home for the jewelry that came out of the bins.



Whathuh? The cabinet door? Fo sho.

I used:

an old towel rack (maybe, I seriously have no clue where or how I got this, but I've been hanging on to it for years)

adhesive felt
ribbon
hot glue gun

(I added more felt, but forgot the photo)

I started by figuring out where I could glue my rack. Being sure to leave space for the door to close completely. Then I covered with self-adhesive felt. I'm sure you could use regular felt and just glue it on. I used the felt for a couple of reasons. I needed something to put my earrings into annnnd I wanted to muffle the sound of the swinging and slapping necklaces every time I open the door.


I added a piece of ribbon with the hot glue gun to hold down the long necklaces, so I can swing open the door without fearing flying necklaces.

I rarely wear different earrings. My plain silver hoops and diamond studs have been in my ears for years now, but I do have a few pair and I just shoved them into the felt.

Out of necessity comes the most novel ideas. And lack of space forces us to make tough decisions about what we need and what we want. Making a small spot functional seems to maximize the space. It's like magic.

<3 dani

Linkin' Up

Take Me Up Basket

I caught the crud, but I'm not letting that stop my crafty self. Being sick is one thing, but being sick and bored is quite another. To avoid the inevitable boredom, I grabbed a few things, brought them to bed and snuggled up to make this:

Anyone who has a staircase in their house knows that the bottom and the top steps are usually layover stops for everything. It's not necessarily out of laziness that stuff accumulates there. It's because eventually, you're going to be heading down (or up) those stairs again, so why make an extra trip right now? Right? Right! But --there's always a 'but' -- sometimes [this is all hypothetical of course] someone else heads down those stairs before you and passes by the pile of stuff. And [hypothetically] let's also say this person says "I didn't know if you wanted that to go downstairs, so I just left it." And there the stuff sits, alone and homeless on the stairs.

Well, confusion no more my friends. To avoid the above [hypothetical] situation, I created a 'Take Me Up/Take Me Down' basket. This way, there is absolutely no confusion where the pile of stuff needs to go and anyone (ahem) can take it.

In general, I don't like baskets, but that's what I've got on-hand and utility is outweighing aesthetics for the time being. When I find something else to take it's place I'll just switch out the tag.

You'll need:

A basket (or any container, preferably with a handle)
Card stock or Thick Scrapbook Paper (you can just layer regular paper if that's all ya got)
Ribbon
Letter Stickers (of course you could print, write, cricut, whatevs)
Glue (if I wasn't laid up in bed, I would have used hot glue)
Scissors

I started by choosing four 4x4 pieces of scrapbook paper and glued two sheets to either side of thicker card stock(ish). I wanted it to be strong enough to withstand rides up and down the stairs regularly, so a thin piece of paper just wouldn't do.

Oh yeah, these photos are totally on my lap, in bed. Hardcore crafter right hur.

Then, I put my little letter stickers on the other two coordinating sheets of paper and layered up. Gotta give it a little dimension. Of course, you could change up this step accommodate the supplies you're workin' with.

Finally, I attached the ribbon around the handle and onto the paper. Yeah, yeah, I should have done that when I was pasting the paper together in the beginning, but I'm all hopped up on NyQuil. Gimme a break.

I just realized I forgot to show you the "Take Up" side. Oops. I'll draw you a little mental pciture...it looks just like the "Take Down" except it says "Take Up" in opposite colors. ;-)

So does this work or not?

<3 dani

LINKIN' UP

Craft Zone Destruction Construction

My craft supplies have had many homes in the three short years we've lived in this house. Every single spot has had two things in common; lack of space and zero organization. A few weeks ago I promised myself that I would find/create/build a perma-home for my crafts, whether it killed me or not!

I started small. I found a little corner in the laundry room that was perfect, but it certainly needed some work. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, here's the space. Feel free to have a little laugh, I can handle it...

Disaster, right? Yeah, I'm well aware. Nonetheless, I jumped right in. Everything was going well. I was purging like mad and categorizing. It felt great. Things got even better when I found an old cabinet that used to live in our second bathroom. Though functional, it was hideous so it came down within minutes of moving in and eventually I forgot about. As ugly as it is, it would be perfect to hold my crafty things.

Here's what it looked like in it's old home just minutes after we moved in.

PS That stupid cabinet is so insanely heavy that I'm pretty sure I lost a good 5 lbs hanging it. Getting it to stay was difficult. But I did it! All by myself too! Needless to say, I was basking in my own accomplishment for days.

I filled it up immediately and I had purged so much crap that I actually had space leftover (for future crap). Ahh, still basking. Even slicing my finger with my rotary cutter couldn't slow me down. Public Service Announcement* Don't EVER grab your rotary cutter from the top. There is a distinct possibility that you carelessly left the guard down. Siiigh.

Once again, proving to you that I am genuinely lazy (or incredibly focused...it's a thin line) I didn't go upstairs to get a band-aid. Kleenex and raffia worked just fine! Ah, the hazards of organizing.

Still beaming with excitement, I finished what I could and patted myself on the back. My hope was to move a table from another part of the basement in as my workstation. But that wasn't all going to happen in one day. I settled for partial reorganization.

Not too shabby. Until today. I had a simple plan this morning: move the table from one side of the basement, to the other. Yup, that's it. Ten minutes tops, right? Sure if your cabinet doesn't FLY OFF THE WALL spewing it's contents EVERYWHERE! Holy cannoli! Granted, I was moving things around inside of it. And sure, I never really stabilize it into the studs, but geeeez!

My sweet little ten minute project turned into a lot more. After staring in awe for a while, I started to pick up all of my supplies and had a revelation. Take a hammer to the cabinet!

I can't lie, it felt great to smash that thing. I'll even admit to yelling "Tawanda" a few time while taking my whacks! But truthfully, it was with great purpose that I smashed it. I had a plan. I was going to use the pieces of the cabinet as shelves. Genius! I made a quick trip to Menard's and snagged six brackets at $.50 each. Look how fantastic it turned out. So much better than that silly cabinet. Now I'm actually thankful it collapsed on me.

You may be saying to yourself, 'is that a spice rack I see on your work station?' and to that I would say, 'definitely!' Last week I grew tired of that huge rack on my kitchen counter, even though I still used quite a few spices in it. I put the spices I use regularly into the spice cupboard and the empty spice rack went into the corner of my basement where all old decor pieces go to die. But she was reborn when I realized how perfect my craft paints would fit. This is magical. 

And in the end, this is what I have. Finally, a perma-home.

Before:

After:

Let this be a lesson for all of us. Even when organizing is physically harmful. When projects are failing so miserably that parts of your mind have literally been blown...just power through to the end. It just feels so good!

How many of you have created a disaster while trying to fix another?

<3 dani

LINKIN UP

*If you can dig it, follow JDitB. There's more where this came from...until I run out of fabulous ideas...which is, at least, another three or four days ;-)