If those backpacks could talk - what would they say?

Welcome to school year 2013-2014!

Are you and your kids prepared? Are you planning on doing the last-minute rush to the store for school supplies? Once you’ve done that, how are you going to keep everything organized to avoid frustration and stress every morning once school starts?

If you keep these 3 tips in mind you won’t just reduce stress but you can also help your kids avoid unnecessary frustration on school mornings.

Rule 1: Everything has to have a home (labeled clearly so everyone knows where that home is)

Rule 2: Group like items (and, label them clearly)

Rule 3: Establish daily patterns to maintain order and consistency

If you designate a permanent place for backpacks, lunch bags and sports gear, you can avoid them ending up all over the house and on the floor! Children can be taught to take care of their stuff if are given a clear idea on what you expect.

When you designate a home for their stuff, make sure your kids have easy access to it (don’t put things up too high where they can’t reach). Assign a home for textbooks, homework/assignment sheets, binders and refill sheets and other school supplies so they won`t pile up on your kitchen counter or your dining table.

Also, clutter accumulates easily if you don`t get rid of the old unused belongings. If you haven’t gotten rid of last year`s school books, better to do it now!

If they have their own desk, create clear zones to separate school stuff and electronics/games/toys, etc. Same goes for their own room. Each kid should have their own zone where they store their books and personal items, and make sure they are clearly separated and label their bins or boxes so they can learn the new rules easily. Especially apply this with younger and older kids (preschoolers may need a photo on their bin rather than words, or try both).

Be creative and add some fun to school stuff, like printing labels for their bins or lockers, color coding on calendars, task lists, etc.

For younger kids use pictures instead of labels to make it more fun. Involving your children when creating a new organizational system can help them to acquire organizational habits much faster and more efficiently.

How To Organize Your Jewelry?

I was visiting a friend for Thanksgiving and she asked me if I could help her with ideas how to organize her jewelry drawer.

Some of them were fine jewelry that she would like to keep in their original boxes, and the rest were mainly earrings, bracelets, and a few necklaces.

She keeps them in one of the drawers of her nightstand, which is pretty deep.

I have found the perfect solution from Bed Bath and Beyond: 3 stackable mirrored trays, so she can fit them in the deep drawer to maximize space, and  they are divided different sizes, so she can place her jewelry customized by category.

I personally prefer storing  items hidden in drawers or containers, because it makes the room less cluttered and also it is easier to keep them clean. Small items like jewelry or nick nacks can collect dust because they are rarely used. Also earrings and rings can easily dropped by accident if hung, so it stands for safety reason as well.

I took this photo before, and soon I will upload the one after, so please look back to this post dear readers.

Have a great day and organize with a smile!

The Day We Organize Recipes

I enjoy cooking and I personally do not own a lot of recipes. I only have one cookbook and plenty recipes that I copied from friends. Once in a while I download recipes from the internet and save them in one of my gmail folders. A while ago I have scanned my “loose” recipes and send them as email attachments to save  them the same way . While sorting, I realized that some were doubled or out-of-date, so I eliminated them. (By the way I did the same with most of my photos, that project is still under process).

 

Now that the Holidays are coming, it is a relief to have our recipes neatly organized, to reduce stress, we have  enough excitement anyway. When I start baking, I will be relaxed and can work faster. I love being organized!

So, those of you who still have this task ahead of you, I summarized my thoughts on recipes:

The very basic is to organize by category:

Starters:  Appetizers/ Hors d'oeuvre

Soups

Salads

Entrees: Chicken/Pork/Beef/Fish-Seafood

Pastas/Casseroles

Side Dishes

Vegetarian/Vegan

Desserts: Baking: cookies, cakes,pies, 

  Cold: Ice cream/Sorbets/Mousse/Puddings

  Other: Fudge/Fruit salad

Where to keep your recipes?

Most usual place is in your kitchen cabinet, by your cookbooks.

Some keep them in their filing cabinet: in that case, I suggest, you use a separate legal folder, place manila folders in it for each category and label them.

How to store recipes?

If you like recipe cards, they can be neatly stored in a wood box, which can be purchased in kitchenware stores ..or I have found this web site where you can buy beautifully designed, artistic recipe boxes, even a COOKBOOK Software. I highly recommend it to check it out:

http://www.cookbookpeople.com/

  

Nowadays we live in our digital world, so it could suit many people.

And if you just find it faster to download and print recipes from the internet, try this technique:  laminate each sheet or place them in a plastic sheet protector and file them in a 3 ring binder. The same method goes for newspaper clips as well. Get a cheerful binder in an office supply store, or find one in bookstores, or on the internet.

 Use the same method, if you have loose sheets; first you have to type them neatly and print them out. Or if you lack of time, there are pouches that you can buy separately and easily insert them in your recipe binder, along with your other recipes.

Maybe you think organizing recipes is a waste of time. I look at it this way: when you do the cooking it is one thing to have the perfect tools for it, but when your surroundings are tempting that is an added bonus and keep you uplifted.

So enjoy your holiday cooking this year with an extra bonus you give yourself: being organized with design; combine delicious with delightful!

Feel free to share your ideas and organize with a smile!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!