finding homes for your "homeless" clutter

Wow, can anyone tell me were February went. It has been a crazy busy month here in the valley. I have to schedule more posts in March I think. I have a few projects on the books for March it will be so much fun.

 So I got a request from an old school friend last week when I had writers block on what to blog about. She really needed help in finding out were I put my “homeless” stuff. These are things like paper clips, pens, candles, screws for something that you may need but don’t want to put in the shed until you know you don’t need it.

The thing with this stuff is it depends on the person’s life really. I use to call myself lazy now I am just distracted or busy. Being distracted well decluttering is a challenge all in its self. I have a few steps to share that I live by that make my home less chaotic.

1.      Nothing in our home is “homeless” EVERYTHING has a home and also everyone in the home knows were said items home is.

2.      Think outside the box. Don’t think because you have an office in the basement that all office stuff needs to be down there. I have a drawer in my china cabinet that I use for “office” stuff. I.e. pens, pencils, paper clips stuff in that nature. I also have a place in my office I have, were things go as well.  

3.      I use a paper planner which I love so much. I had a small scrapbook organizer kicking around so I tossed something’s into it and I just love that I can take it to where I need it.

 

The kitchen drawer.

 

The front door dresser and dinning room.

In my office.

 

 One thing if you didn't notice was I don't have a lot of things, well I do have a thing with ink joy pens and sharpies. The trick is that they fit were they need to be. Clutter I feel is the overflow. if you have a drawer you cant fit anymore into it then then its become clutter. I hope this helps with finding homes for things. Next post will be about paper clutter and how to deal with it.

Have a great weekend

 

 

 

Organizing Kit... Crazy Mama Style

Good morning, it’s a fine day to be alive. I have a song stuck in my head for days. Good to be Alive by Andy Grammer. I just love it, it boosts me if I get up on the wrong side of the bed and it just makes me smile.   

“I've been grinding so long, been trying this shit for years
And I got nothing to show, just climbing this rope right here
And if there's a man upstairs, he kept bringing me rain
But I've been sending up prayers and something's changed

I think I finally found my hallelujah
I've been waiting for this moment all my life
Now all my dreams are coming true, ya
I've been waiting for this moment”

It’s so important the music that you listen to you brings you up. I just love music.

Ok so to today’s little project. I love organizing and I am so happy that I have been able to start making money doing it. I have become very busy, which is great. I needed to make my organizing kit better. My little make up bag was just not cutting it anymore.  So I went shopping in my house and found this little tool box in my storage area.

 

I was not in love with it. It is very plan but a bit of tape and bam its wonderful now. Then filled it with all my tools and some things that just didn’t fit in the old bag. I will be labeling it because well you all know I LOVE labels.

 

I just love what a bit of bling does to a very utilitarian thing. I would love to spray paint it but the yellow is ok for know.  Then I filled it will all the good stuff for helping clients organize their spaces.

 

 





Have a great weekends. Happy Organizing!!!!

 

how to grow in 2016

WOW!!!! Can anyone tell me were 2015 has gone. With the kids in school full time I have jumped both feet into growing my company. I am having the time of my life. I remember as a kid, maybe 10-11 years old organizing my room and cleaning it for hours, I loved it. My family thought I was nuts, I think sometimes they still do. Over the last year I have done some soul searching and personal growth. I have come so far in learning to be a better organizer for my clients and a better mother and wife. I am so excited to see what the path of 2016 has for us.

On that note I have a million excuses for not doing it but no more. I am going to schedule more blog posts for all you fans. I have a busy January planned but I feel I still need to write more. So I am open to your ideas on content you want me to share. I have too many ideas sometimes and it all gets lost in my mind.

In 2016 I want to get my home a bit more organized. With me helping others, my home has gotten a bit out of order. I will make time to put it back or change areas that don't work for us anymore. There are season in life just like there are season in Canada. Most of my clients struggle with this season. It’s the season of busy. Life is busy!! Not like when you had 3 kids under the age of 4 seasons but you are running 100 different directions busy. Between work, school and sports I feel some days I don't know where I end and begin. In the past I was home with on average 5 kids when I had my day home. It was busy but not as busy as this. Now that I am in this season I can see were my clients struggling to balance it all.

I have some tricks that might work for you. If you feel you are in the "busy" season of life.

1. LEARN TO SAY NO!!!! This is a hard one for all us moms. It’s hard because we want to make everyone around us happy. You don't want to disappoint people. Well I am sorry but if you say yes to that thing you may be also saying no to someone you love. For example, I said yes to a job that was not my "job" it was something else that was not my thing, I didn't want to do it but I didn't want to disappoint the person. Well taking on that job left me drained to be with my family. I have learned to say no to stuff that is not on my path. It’s on someone else's path but they don't know how to follow it or are too scared to do it alone. I have gone down a path with a person to show them were they need to go and do, but at some point I leave them and continue on mine.
2. OWN YOUR TIME!!! Lots of moms wake up and don't know what they are doing that day. They wait till someone plans there day for them. I am so guilty of this too. When my second was born I started to plan my days down to what time we would have snack and reading time. I would schedule playdates and own our days. I LOVED IT. Just because I was a stay at home mom didn't mean I had to be at the whims of the universe to plan my day. I loved having our days planned out, the kids did much better, and there was also a lot less stress in the home. Yes some days did not go as planned, kids get sick and plans change, but planning the day meant that I felt in control of my time.
3. BE PRESENCE- there is a movement out in the world about being presence. With all our technology now a days, it’s crazy how people are connected and disconnected, literally at the same time. We are connected to people around the world in a split second but then we are also disconnected to realty. When was the last time you saw the color of your kid’s eyes. Like really looked them in the eye and talked to them. I watch people a lot and I see parents looking at their phone more than watching their kids play on the playground. Recently we went on a trip to see my in laws 4 hours away. The kids were in the back with their tablets and stuff, doing their thing. A few hours in to the trip red says mom "where are we". I tell her and she was like wow that went so fast. That's how I see the world right now. At some point you will look up and see a full grown person in front of you demanding your attention good or bad, and you will wonder were the time has gone. So at least give your family and friends your full presence, which all people really want.
4. BEWARE OF BLEED TIME- Like a cut that will not stop bleeding, your time can run away without your directed pressure and attention. Bleed time to me is Pinterest, Facebook, heck any kind of social media. A few years ago I was redoing my laundry room and looking on Pinterest for the best system that would work for our family. Then my clever, sarcastic husband said "you know you don't need to organize your laundry if you just do it". He was totally right (shhhh don't tell him that) I was looking at systems to store dirty laundry. Hum sounds insane really. So I now have a laundry system that is just doing it. I also set a timer if I want to be on Pinterest. I really can loose and hour on that thing. I can do a lot in an hour to relieve the things that cause me anxiety and stress. Walking the dog, doing a quick home blessing (aka clean) or reading my book. The average person has 4 hours a day in bleed time that adds up to almost 13 years in a life time. 
5. DONT BE A STRESSCASE- I love this one. The top points all lead into this one. Are you running around doing things for others that they can do for themselves? Are you saying yes to things and then regretting it? Are you not planning your day with YOU in mind? You want to get healthy but you don't have time to get to the gym, don't have time to make healthy meals. You are setting yourself up for failure before you even start. If you are planning your week then you have to keep in mind that on hockey night you can’t make a 5 course meal. I like to schedule meal prep days. I love it, the kids help me and we listen to music or they just talk. We do it on a Sunday. It charges us up for the coming week and it makes the week run smoother. You can read about that here. I find a lot if not all my clients go shopping and are not percent or they are sooo stressed to get groceries. They put stuff in the cart and then get home and forget they got it and why they bought it. I think being organized before you go to the store is vital to your budget and your sanity. You are on path that is to remove clutter from your home you can’t be buying stuff just because it was a good deal. You need to be awake and present with a plan.

I hope these points help you to grown in 2016.

 

 

Good morning world, what a fine November morning it is. Today I got up oh way to early to get the hubs off to work, and of course I tried to go back to bed but my brain would not let me. Well this week my organizing class did not run this time. I was a little bummed but trying to keep a positive mind set, I tried looking at it as a blessing. Today I am deciding to take my class again lol yes I am going to get my house in a bit of order over the next 4 weeks. Even though we are on day 7 in November but I think it will be great. My home is not noticeably cluttered, but it could use a bit of a cleaning. The 4 weeks will take me just into the beginning of December which will work great with getting ready for Christmas crazies.

I will be starting today full force. The beautiful thing about taking it over 4 weeks you don't get over tiered at least I don't. some people need it done in a week. I find the systems fail if it is to fast. I also have to run my business and run the house with all the kids after school stuff. I am also working part time in my parents business. wow no wonder i cant stay up till 9 pm lol. As Brendon Buchard would say your life's work should be fun. its work but it does not feel like it. It is just what i love to do.  I will be posting my progress every week and may even share some tips from my class.

thanks for reading.

meal prepping made for busy people

Good day!! fall is in the air here and I love it. With fall comes a very busy schedule. With funds being a little snug as well I need to have a plan for meals. Meal planning is one of the most asked questions I get. Really meal planning to me is very personal, not every one likes the same foods and some can cook and some not so much. For me I love to cook, but with our schedules I don't have time to spend hours cooking but I still want a nice meal every night. Its nice to know that when we leave skating that there is a plan at home, it takes away from the impulse to run to a fast food place.

With that being said I have some really quick ideas that even if you are already busy you still can prep for meals.

1.  Make a quick plan, like set your timer for 10-15 minutes and think of what you would like to have this week. FYI 90% of the time I get to the store and that plan changes, a different meat is on sale or a different veg is being cleared out. I shop deals all the time, nothing is in stone.
2. Plan your shopping day when you have the time. Don't go to the store when you have 1hr till your next appointment. The best day for me is Saturday. If my husband is home he watches the kids or if not I take them with, there getting older they are a lot of help now. plus they get to learn how to shop. For example last week red and I were looking at getting apple but I asked her what was cheaper buy the 6 lbs bag or get single apples she had to do the math and figure it out, she loves doing that kind of stuff and she also retains it way better. MM likes to count stuff so I get him to count lots of stuff it is always a learning experience.
3. PUT THE FOOD AWAY! I know this is a big one. shopping is exhausting but if you finish the task you don't have to think about it for a few days at least. I use to sell Tupperware and I have a lot of fridge smarts and I love them.  DONT WASH your vegetables or fruit. I just toss it in the containers and wash as needed.

Ok, on to the prepping now. I love to batch cook. I really didn't have a concrete meal plan this week, I really was just in need of easy meals. I could not decide if I wanted to make taco or lazanga one night so I took a step out of both dishes. I cooked 5 lbs of ground beef with a bit of onions. Now I have 5 dinners almost ready, or ready for the slowcooker. Then I got my favorate meat ball recipe and tossed it together well my beef was cooking. I like to mix pork and beef together. I lined a pan with parchment paper and baked them. Got 2 meals out of them. well the meat balls and hamburger was cooking I cooked a family pack of breakfast sausage in the oven. got 6 breakfasts out of them. well I was waiting for everything to cool I tossed some carrots, onion and broccoli in to a pot and sautéed them for a few mins then added 4cups of vegetable broth let it boil till the vegetables were soft then I mashed them gently. let is cool. I refrigerated it for the next day and made a butter and flour rue and added that and lots of cheddar cheese. mmmm my favorite broccoli soup. You can also freeze the vegetable mash in a ice cube tray and add it to stuff. I used it once for quiche, it worked well.

When everything was cooled I bagged it froze it. Now tacos take no more them 10-15 minutes to get ready. Its amazing how much just cooking the meat makes life a bit easier.

So its not big but it is when you have 30 minutes to get a dancer fed or a little boy who just skated his heart out fed before he has a melt down. Do something today to make meals easier.

cheap fall decorating

Good morning!!!! Its my favorite season. The trees out my office window are just turning yellow. It makes my heart so happy and peaceful. In the spirit of fall I started decorating for the season. With living in a small house I don't have any extra room for decorations. When I buy décor it has to have multiple ideas. I usually gravitate towards clear mason jars (enter a big old heart). I need a sign that reads " Hi, my name is Tracy and I have a mason jar addiction". When we are out its really hard for me to control it. The older the better.

Ok on to the decorating. My first step is a big one, remove clutter, even the clutter you have gone blind to. This is big!!! I have clutter blindness like 95% of the population. To combat this I clear the whole space and I mean everything, even the pillows. I like to have a laundry basket to collect everything. This is a good time to reevaluate what you have. Maybe the old blanket has seen better days and needs a new home. Step two shop your house, I mean like dig in the china cabinet for a vase or even a sugar bowl. One time I was having friends over for coffee and I could not remember were my creamer jug went, oh it had flowers in it on the bathroom counter. My gravy boat I use maybe 2 times a year also gets lots of use lol but not for gravy. Do you have a little serving platter or a tray, grab that too. Ok so on to the fun stuff. So 95% of my decorating comes from the good old dollar store or Walmart from the year before,( you will always find me in the clearance section). I think every year I may spend $10 a year on decorating. This year funds are supper snug so all these decorations needed to be from last years stock. I love a challenge!!!!

I love my gold canyon candles and warmers. This little tray I got it from the thrift shop for $.50 and sprayed it with sliver paint.  




I just love this large bowl. My mom got it for a gift it was the bottom of a gift basket. Toss in some fake mums and done.
 



Oh do I just love fake flowers. I love real too but I am so cheap lol

I made this last year and the "S" word came so early so didn't last long.



Had some corn in the pantry. sooo cheap

Some moss i had from my
 spring decorating
 some fake leaves and berries,
 oh and of course a mason jar.

This is a little shelf in our front door. I love this spot. The frame is going on 5 years old. The paper in it just gets changed for the season. I never use papers like that for scrap booking so I save them for decorating. The large hurricane gets a good work out in my décor just tossed some moss and some leaves in it. SO SIMPLE!!!



This is just a garland from the dollar store and some foam pumpkins. 

This tool box I made when my family went across
Canada when I was 15. Also ..... mason jars!!!!!

 

 So the motto I use when decorating is less is more. I don't want my decorations to make me stressed out or look messy. Removing extra clutter I think is the key to a calming space. So go and fall in love with your home again!!!

make it beautiful for cheap!!

I got the function down now I need to make it beautiful on a small budget and I mean small. Were do you go with a budget? that's right the dolor store.

I love these cheap magazine file folders. I get them at ikea for 5 for $2.99 steal of a deal. I have no clue how many I have in the house. (had to go count lol 32 that just the kids and I use the hubby has at least 7)

ok before pic love the space but I need color!!

 

Some good tunes on and my supplies. I just simply stuck the tape on and made sure I lined it up and bam maybe 30 mins of work and all the ones in my office (19 in total) are done and of course I need cute labels. A sheet of Avery address label's and avery.com. They are perfect for me.

So love the color its sooooo close to the desk color.

Under my printer cabinet for other office stuff.

 

I labeled everything else too.

Holiday décor and home décor stuff

Party decorations bins

Kids crafts bins

 

This is a old magazine stand that I got for $1 at the thrift shop. It works amazing for quick gift wrapping.  I tossed in our craft paper roll in too sometimes we wrap gifts in plain paper and decorate it.

 

Gift wrapping station

 

I am truly in love with my new office. So much I just love about it. This winter will be great to be in here for a whole day.

Not bad at all!!! a total of $2.00 of duck tape makes this mama crazy happy.