Homemaking/Organizing

May

The Organized Kitchen: FREE Kindle ebook!

I have another great FREE ebook for you tonight! This one is called The Organized Kitchen, and it sounds right up my alley considering my spring cleaning efforts this month!

According to the review, here are some of the topics covered:

Shelf and storage strategies

Five-minute kitchen feng shui

When to clean what—with what

The right tools for the right tasks

The truth about freezing food

Meal plans that really work

Ten foolproof, must-know recipes—with endless variations

The good-enough stocked pantry

Leftovers you’ll really want to eat

Interesting, since it seems to be a combination of keeping a tidy space and meal planning/food preparation. Head to Amazon to download yours right away if you’re interested. Remember these freebies can – and do! – jump at any time without warning.

Finally, remember you can always download FREE Kindle software for your phone or computer if you don’t have a Kindle! Then you can take advantage of freebies like these too.

Thanks, Jessica’s Coupons!

{ 0 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

May

One-a-Day Spring Cleaning: Week One Update!

Last week I shared that I was going to attempt to do my spring cleaning by focusing on one task every day this month. I’m usually one of those folks tries to get it all done in a day or two, and then the energy/resolve/patience/will fizzles to nada.

My tasks for last week were: organize the entry, clean the car, clean the master closet, clean the garage fridge, and then drive any clothing items to donation.

I’m so excited to tell you I completed all of them! Here are a few photos and thoughts on my progress.

I hate to say it, but this is how my car looks most of the time. The usual suspects are mail, kids art projects, coats, and leftover snack items. It’s gotten so bad the kids are just used to using the piles of stuff on the floor as makeshift step stools to their car seats.

Here is how the floor looked, once all the items were picked up:

Basically what you have is an assortment of crackers and chips. I also found a small bit of wrapped cheese that was probably at least 2 or 3 months old. As you might imagine, I took the vacuum to this sucker (all puns intended) to leave a nice looking car floor. I also cleaned the leather, filled the car with gas, and drove through the car wash.

It’s funny how something as small as driving around in a clean car lifts my spirits. I’m so glad that I chose that as one of my week one tasks!

My garage fridge also got cleaned! If you follow my blog regularly, you know I generally have no issue sharing with you very personal stuff here – but sorry, there was just NO WAY I was taking a “before” photo. I later learned from my husband that our fridge had gone out at some point recently for an indefinite amount of time. This would explain the strong fishy smell and bloody meat I found in the freezer. (Are you seeing why I didn’t take a picture?)

I bleached, bleached, and bleached the heck out of our fridge, followed by heavy doses of disinfectant. I also used gloves (FREE actually, from a coupon deal a couple years ago) and through out the towel I used to clean it all. (Again, are you seeing why I didn’t take a picture?) The good news is, the fridge looks completely lovely, though I still have a bit of trauma from the ordeal and may take a final round of bleach to it.

Also, any ideas how to get rid of the horrid fish smell? :/

I also managed to clean out the Master Closet. Or at least my side. My husband still needs to go through his clothes, but it was definitely awesome seeing floor in there again! My kids also helped me with this task, presenting me each in turn with an article of clothing. I didn’t labor much over this as I don’t get too attached to many piece of clothing. It was a quick “yes” or “no.” I ended up giving away three big bags of clothes – probably about 30-35% of what I had in there.

Here’s how it looks now:

I don’t have a ton of clothes, but I’d far prefer to have just the amount of clothes I use and wear than lots and lots of clothes I only wear occasionally. I’m pretty low fuss that way.

I also straightened the stockpile part of my closet. I keep gifts and health and beauty items here (such as shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant). No, I don’t have or need an entire toothpaste room.

I then immediately drove them to the clothing donation bin. I found from my first go at doing a massive house clean in January is that I have to keep the momentum high by taking tasks to completion. It’s just a damper if you get the whole room clean, but are left with boxes, bags, and stacks of odds and ends to deal with at the end of it, you know?

Reflections & The Week Ahead

I’ve come to a few conclusions over the past week, doing this:

A lot of time, tasks aren’t as difficult/time-consuming as I think they’ll be. The master closet? Honestly it probably took me about 45 minutes, tops. Not hours and hours as I’d supposed it would. The fridge, while completely revolting, was done in about 20 minutes.
Even small tasks can make a big difference in my mood. I still have a LOT of clean up to do, but it’s nice knowing there is no rotting fish in my fridge or rotting fishy crackers in my car. I also started with my entry because it is the first thing I see when I walk into my house, and I needed that boost.
It’s important to finish tasks I start. The reason the ‘big clean days’ rarely work for me is because I lose energy and then don’t finish cleaning the house. Since my time is concentrated on tasks that are roughly 30-60 minutes long, there should be no reason why the tasks shouldn’t be completed. This means actually putting away all that stuff I dragged out of the house, or tidying up the cleaning supplies after I’ve used them, etc.

Some of this might seem very commonplace to all of you – particularly my uber-organized readers out there. But it’s been an entirely beneficial process to me, and I’m excited to see where my house will end up by the end of May!

This week’s tasks include: clean the pantry (today!), clean my kids’ closets (do this over two days), organize the guest bath closet, and organize the linen closet. Seems that I inadvertently have a closet theme this week. These sound really do-able, plus I’ve built in two “off days.”

Your Stories

I invited anyone to join me, and some of you have which is great! A couple of you even took the time to send me pictures and emails last week.

From Ginean:

She writes: The first picture is of five bags and one box full of shredded papers… some date back as far as 2006/2007. Prior to shredding, I checked on-line at Ask Jeeves to see when is the right time to get rid of/shred… important papers (i.e. pay stubs, tax papers, utility bills, etc). Well as you can see… plenty of what I was holding onto or rather hiding in my closet met the guidelines and their end today! I might add… I feel real good about completing this task, it was a long time coming and took several hours to complete.

Wow! I didn’t even think about devoting a day to paper organization – smart!

She writes: Second picture is a quick snap shot of one of my daughter’s drawers that got re-organized. This was the underwear/pajama drawer. She just inherited lots of pajamas and called for some of her old ones to go bye bye and to get the drawer together. Two of the plastic containers came from Target $1 aisles! We are trying the roll method for these items, but the main thing is she needs larger drawer space. Next move might be storing things in her hanging drawers in the closet! What is great about this project is we now have many items to pass on to another little girl who stays at a ministry house with her mother, lots of socks, tights, pajamas, shorts, skirts, tops, etc. My daughter loves to pass on her usable clothing… it seems she gives and receives, she receives and gives…!

Keep it up, Ginean – great work!

From Amanda:

Amanda's Closet: The "Before"

She writes: I did this a couple weeks ago, but felt that it would be appropriate for this series (maybe give people some perspective about their clutter? LOL) and it didn’t take me long at all to do this…

Amanda's Closet: The "After"

Here is her next project: The last picture is my next project which I like to call “Closet de Crapola le Army”. It is the closet under the stairs full of (mostly) my husband’s army gear (there’s more under the first landing that you can’t see without a flashlight and in a tuff box in the garage!!).

Amanda writes that they are moving, so this will have to get addressed.

Cleaning is my worst enemy, and I hate it with a passion. But, it must get done and we can’t exceed the pound limit when we move, or face an expense for the additional pounds.

You can do it Amanda! Thanks for sharing and best luck with your move!

Did you get anything done this week? It’s not too late to join me, either (read my original post first for more)! And DO consider sending your photos and stories so I can brag about your success and we can all “oooo” and “aaaah” with you! Email me at angela @ thecouponproject dot com.

{ 8 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

May

The One-a-Day Spring Cleaning Approach

Le sigh.

Since my valiant attempt to declutter and organize my home in January, I’ve been at a bit of a standstill. More like a gradual decline, actually.

Money Saving Mom has been hosting 4 weeks to a more organized home series where she focuses on one task (even small) at a time. This has gotten me thinking. What if I were to do one thing – only ONE thing – every day for May? Would I actually end up with an organized home? Would I be exhausted? Would I live to tell the story?

My general approach has been to do what I call these Big Clean Days where I clean, clean, clean until I poop out. This just leaves me exhausted and the task never gets done as I intended.

Instead of following Money Saving Mom’s list of assignments, I decided to make my own of stuff that needs to get done at MY house. I’ve then assigned each task a day. I’ve even worked in some days off (for busy days or special days).

Here’s my list:

May 1: Organize the Entry Way
May 2: Clean out my Car
May 3: Clean the Garage Fridge
May 4: Clean the Master Closet
May 5: Drive items to Donation
May 6: OFF
May 7: Clean the Pantry
May 8: Clean Daughter’s Closet
May 9: Clean Son’s Closet
May 10: OFF
May 11: Organize the Guest Bathroom Closet
May 12: OFF
May 13: Organize the Linens Closet
May 14: Clean the Deck and Porch Off
May 15: Clean the Deck and Porch Off, Day 2
May 16: Organize Coupons
May 17: OFF
May 18: Clean the Garage
May 19: Clean the Garage
May 20: OFF
May 21: Clean and Organize Laundry Room
May 22: Clean and Organize Master Bed & Bath
May 23: Spruce up Front Yard
May 24: OFF
May 25: Clean Hall Closet
May 26: Drive any items to Donation
May 27: Clean the Junk Drawers (yes, plural)
May 28: OFF
May 29: Organize Kids’ Crafting Area
May 30: Clean out Hallways
May 31: Party Day

During this time, it’s also a given that I’ll be keeping the kitchen tidy, bathrooms clean, and stay on top of the laundry. After all, who cares if you have a beautiful linen closet if your kitchen is full of dirty dishes?

If you care to join me, I’d love to have some company. Just make a list that makes sense for your home. If you’re game, I’d be happy to brag about your efforts too – just send me some before/after pictures and any write-ups about your progress (angela @ thecouponproject dot com). I’ll include as many as I can on my weekly report back.

You in?

{ 15 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Apr

My New Air Freshener: Lemongrass Essential Oil

My mom swears by this, so I decided to give it a try.

You place a few drops of Lemongrass essential oil in a spray bottle with some water and spray it throughout your house. It leaves a pleasant, lemony scent – but she also insists that it kills harmful germs and bacteria in the air and on surfaces, too. I just tried it and it’s hard to tell what it killed, but my house does smell fresh as a daisy (or a lemongrass). I opened the windows to air out the rooms, too.

At $3.99 a bottle, I feel it’s worth a try to keep sickness at bay! If nothing else, this little bottle will last a LONG time and there are no harsh chemicals, so an eco-friendly, safe alternative to aerosols, right?

Does anyone else use essential oils to clean or scent their home? How?

{ 6 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Apr

Guest post about involving children (Common Sense Home)

Laurie from Common Sense Home guest blogged here earlier this week, and I’m thrilled to be guest posting for her today!

The topic? Involving your kids in your homemaking activities! Make sure to head to Common Sense Home and check it out!

{ 0 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Mar

My Grandma’s Guest Books

Last weekend, my mom showed me these old books she’d pulled out of her closet. She told me she’d nearly thrown them away before she realized what they were.

Guest books.

My Grandmother’s guest books, specifically. The first book starts in 1942 – 70 years ago – when she would’ve been in her twenties.

These days, it seems guest books are only kept at weddings – if at all. But back in my grandma’s day? They were often kept meticulously, to record the comings and goings of guests in one’s home. Looking at my grandmother’s books, what struck me most was the sheer volume of entries. She was often referred to as “the hostess with the mostest” and it’s clear why.

What also moved me where the small snippets of details – like this 6 year old’s scrawling signature dated 1945 -

Or the notes left by guests indicating what my grandma had served that day -

But something else touched me, thumbing through these books. I realized what I was holding was my family’s recorded history, as told through dates, details, and signatures. Here is my grandpa (Reuben) coming for dinner with his sister and mother, before he’d married my grandma. They’d marry later that same year (1948).

One book was a housewarming gift in 1960, the year my grandparents had purchased the home they would live in through my own childhood.

Attached inside the cover is a color-faded photograph of my mom with her younger sister and brother, outside of their new home. I love my mom’s saddle shoes in this photo.

What might surprise you is that my grandma had every reason in the book to not be much of a hostess. See that house pictured above? It was a small home with only a single bathroom and a couple bedrooms. Not only would my grandparents and their three children live there, but my grandma’s mother had also lived with them. My grandma never drove either, she relied on others to take her places or made use of the bus system.

And in the early ’60s, my grandpa would become very ill, both physically and mentally. His experience in WWII may have contributed, plus there was a grave medical error that left him with frequent seizures. Then there was a failed brain surgery. My mom tells me he was never the same after that. He had to relearn how to do simple things, and sometimes forgot the names of his own family members.

As a child, I only knew my grandpa as a sullen, quiet man. I never heard him say my name and he would spend hours doing mundane tasks like cutting catalog pages into strips or sweeping the sidewalk. I don’t know that he ever knew who I was. He required an extraordinary amount of care. My grandma provided that care. And I never – not once ever – heard her complain about it. She cared for him with good humor, grace, patience, and love. She also didn’t let it stop her from being generous to others, and opening her home and life to them. My grandma was a social butterfly.

The guest books also cover the time my parents were dating, and then married. You see many “Rick and Marilyn” entries, including the farewell dinner in August 1976, the day before they left for LA.

And the first “Rick, Marilyn and Angie” entry was left in March 1979, in my mom’s beautiful cursive. The celebration was on my grandma’s own birthday. The woman hosted her own birthday party, and that makes me smile. I would’ve been two months old.

And then a couple years later, my sister’s name joins the entries.

My grandma, mom, me, and baby sister in 1982

Sometimes we feel guilty we don’t keep thorough journals or build beautiful scrapbooks. We grow discouraged at the talents of our crafty friends and feel inadequate to document our family’s stories. We’re afraid that our efforts will never frame the memories “just right,” or we get too busy and we don’t try at all. But something as simple as this – signatures of people coming and going, the important and unimportant events that would fill up a year, a decade – begin to craft a story bigger than the sum of their parts.

The final entries are in 1998, fully 56 YEARS after the first book was started. My mom reminds me this was about the time my grandma got sick, and needed to move into assisted care living. In November, we will remember the 10th anniversary of her passing. I am so grateful she made her guests sign all those entries. (Although knowing her, it may have been more like polite badgering at times.) I’m so glad she left these books behind for us to peruse on a quiet Saturday afternoon decades later.

I wanted to share this with you today for two reasons. First, to reflect that being generous is more about an attitude of a heart than the resources we may or may not have. My grandma’s life is testament to this. Second, to show how important memory preservation is to later generations. I’m so glad my grandma did something simple rather than nothing at all.

In the end, it may matter less how well you tell the story than that you had the courage to tell the story at all. May you all have that courage.

{ 22 comments }

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

28 Days to Hope for your Home eBook

January 30, 2012

I’m so pleased to share that fellow blogger Dana White of A Slob Comes Clean has released her first ebook, 28 Days to Hope for your Home! In her journey to “deslobification” (a term she’s lovingly coined), Dana humorously and honestly has reminded me that I’m not alone! I have so appreciated her blog, and [...]

1 comment Get the full scoop! →

Organizing your memories: How to make a baby memory box

November 3, 2011

Lately I’ve been doing some organizing. And not just the bathroom cabinets, either. I’ve been spending some time going over the items that matter most to me – identifying them, and finding them a proper place in my house. Today I want to share a simple solution I came up with for organizing my children’s [...]

18 comments Get the full scoop! →