You may have already put away the decorations, but for those of you who haven’t, here are a few storage solutions from The Container Store to help keep all the decor organized and well-taken care of. Storing your holiday decor carefully and in well labeled containers, will ensure that you can find it easily next Christmas.

Noble Ornament Storage Chest

Wreath Storage Bags

More holiday storage solutions below the cut.

Light and Garland Box

Noble Gift Wrap Storage Case

Artificial Tree Bag

Holiday Stemware Case

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Putting Away Christmas Decor – Find it Friday

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Organizing the Dog Bathing Supplies – Find It Friday

Stow your makeup in an acrylic tray or even a ziplock bag so you can see and grab your get-gorgeous bounty with ease. Save those free-with-purchase makeup cases for items you’d rather not display (tampons, prescriptions, that icky rash cream).

Putting a stop to digging through your makeup drawer can add time to your morning routine. Who couldn’t use a few more minutes each morning?

Post from: Blisstree

Be a Beauty Exhibitionist – Find it Friday

For those of you that are new and have no clue what I am talking about, lol, here is a list of my Monday through Friday topics:

• Motivate Me Monday
• Tick Tock Tuesday
• Where’s My Desk Wednesdays
• Tame Those Toys Thursdays
• Find It Friday

Here’s a brief description for each day which I posted awhile back:

• Motivate Me Mondays - Every Monday I will issue you a challenge. Either to go through one drawer in your house and purge and organize it. Or, to take a trash bag, go through one room in your house, set the timer for 5 minutes, and get rid of some stuff. Or, to sit down and write out a step by step plan for the room that bothers you the most. This plan would involve everything it is going to take to get your room back! From beginning to end.

• Tick Tock, There Goes That Darn Clock Tuesdays – This day is all about time management. We will learn together how to get back our days and weeks and be able to look back on them with a smile on our face.

• Where is My Desk? Wednesdays - This day is all about that home office. From bills to files to piles and piles of paper. We will also cover the computer, your office supplies and when to turn off that phone so you can get some work done. We have voice mail for a reason people!!

• Tame Those Toys Thursdays - This isn’t just going to be about toys. Toys just happened to start with a T. This day is all about your kids. (If you don’t have any, well, email this day to a friend who does.) We will be talking about kids’ schedules, bedrooms, school work and whatever else is in between. Teaching our kids good organization skills at a young age is something they will take with them and benefit from for the rest of their lives.

• Find It Fridays – Are you sick and tired of always looking for things? Do you find yourself rummaging through drawers and closets and under the bed for who knows what? Well, this day is all about finding everything within a few seconds. It really is a good thing to know where your keys are as you are leaving the house. Or to know exactly where those twin sheets are when you need them. Or to be able to look in your closet and see exactly what you have in your wardrobe.

I’m also adding a topic to Saturdays and Sundays:

• Supper Saturdays will be all about meal planning, grocery shopping and kitchen related organizing.
• Sweep Through Sundays will be a day that I “sweep” through the b5media blogs and find topics that other bloggers have written that I feel you can benefit from. We have an amazing group of bloggers here and they all have something great to share.

Alright, I think that does it! Let’s get started….

Post from: Blisstree

A Note from Declutter It!

As you sort through all of the papers related to your household, you will know which categories you need and which ones you won’t.

Here is a list of possible category names:

Addresses

This file can hold the anything from your Christmas card list to business contacts.

Bank Accounts

This file can hold items such as checking account statements, savings account statements and safe deposit box paperwork.

Charities

Place items such as receipts and monthly giving statements in this category.

Credit Accounts

This file can hold credit card statements, credit contracts and receipts.

Educational Records

Always know where your important school records are by filing them in this category. If more than one person in your household has educational records, put manilla folders, labeled with each person’s name, inside the main file. This will keep everything separate.

Employment

Place items such as resumes, contracts, retirement & pension plans, social security and benefits paper work in this category.

Health Records

File all health records for each member of your family in this category.

Housing Records

Some possible paper work items to file into this category are: deeds, lease, utilities, mortgage payment schedule, manuals/warranties/receipts for electronics & appliances, furnishing information and household receipts.

Insurance

You may wish to separate insurance into several different files or you can file them separately into manilla folders inside the main Insurance file. File insurance documents for transportation, house, health and life.

Transportation

This file can hold items such as expense & repair receipts, titles, frequent flyer information and lease paperwork.

Personal

File items such as marriage & birth certificates, clothing receipts, membership information, social security cards and save magazine & newspaper articles.

Schools & Childcare

Place anything related to your kids school such as report cards and certificates in this file. You can also file childcare receipts and contracts in here.

Taxes

This is an important file. Some items to consider putting here are income tax returns, yearly deductions & credits, personal property and real estate.

Wills & Trusts

Store copies of your will and trust in this file. Be sure and let other family members know where it is located too if at anytime they need to be able to access the information.

Post from: Blisstree

Household Filing System Categories

Do you find yourself constantly looking for your keys? This is one of my pet peeves. When it is time to leave the house, the last thing I want to do is look for my keys. So here are 10 Cool Products to Help You Not Lose Your Keys:

1. Human Key Holders: His and Hers. These are just too fun not to use and are also a great conversation piece!

2. Install a hook next to the exit/entrance and pick one out that you’ll enjoy using like this Rustic Twig Wall Hooks.

3. Scroll Letter Holder with Hooks – (Black)

4. KEY HOLDER

5. Grancio Stainless Steel Decorative Key Holder

6. Key holder – Keys (w/Nails)

7. Varese Stainless Steel Decorative Key Holder

8. Watering Can Welcome Key Holder

9. Wheels Key Holder

10. Wooden Key Holder for the Wall

On a personal note: How do I keep up with my keys? I put them in a pocket in my purse as soon as I walk in the house. It works like a charm for me, but oh I REALLY want those human key holders. I may have to change my habit just so I can justify buying those.

Post from: Blisstree

10 Cool Products to Help You Not Lose Your Keys

Do you love to throw a good party? How about last minute parties? We used to have people over all the time before we had kids. We invited people over to the house for dinner, invited lots of people to the house to just hang out and also constantly had people just dropping in unexpectedly.

I really want to get back in the groove of having people over more and also letting our house be the “you know you can drop by anytime” house. It’s pretty much already the place where all the neighborhood kids congregate, but they like to play outside and jump on our trampoline. Adults are harder to please. If you show up and it’s not a good time, I’ll just tell you, but on most occassions I want to have everything at hand to entertain people on a whim. I don’t want to have to search high and low in my kitchen for all the necessary party needs.

That’s why I am going to create a “party station”. This way I can find anything and everything I need.

So, what would a party station include? Here are a few ideas:

• wineglasses
• vases
• trays
• decorative napkins
• napkin rings
• fun plates
• straws
• table cloths
• place mats

Where could you create your party station? Maybe a hutch or some extra cabinet space would work. My plan is to save up for a hutch to put in my kitchen and store everything party related in there, including wrapping paper, bows, gift bags, etc. But for now, I’ll have to make some room in the cabinets.

Alright….it’s party time!

Picture Source: Corelle Hearthstone Stoneware Square 16-Piece Set, Service for 4

Post from: Blisstree

It’s Friday – Let’s Throw a Party!

The Sunday Cook

For this Find It Friday we are going over all the necessities for the Sunday Cook’s kitchen. If you are wondering what a “Sunday Cook” is, it’s for the family who are too busy to cook throughout the week. They buy everything in bulk and spend one weekend cooking, chopping, baking and freezing meals for the week or the month.

 Another familiar term for the Sunday Cook is the Once a Month Cook. The Sunday cook may choose to cook all the family’s meals every Sunday or Saturday for the week, or choose one day to cook for the whole month.

This works great for some families and I have had friends swear by this method. They say that it saves them a tremendous amount of money and frees up their time on the weeknights. It does sound nice to pull an already prepared meal out of the freezer in the morning and then stick it in the oven in the evening. Usually all you have to do is prepare a veggie, some fruit and bread if you want. I have yet to try this method in my own home, but I have gone to a place that we have here in my town called Dream Dinners.

You have the choice to make 6 or 12 meals and each meal has their own price. I ended up spending anywhere from $150 to $225 dollars for what ended up being about 16 meals for my family. I ran into the problem though of some of the meals not being kid friendly for my family, in the long run, it ended up costing a little more than just buying and preparing the meals myself. I had the main meal, but I still had to usually add some sides. I do have a couple of friends who absolutely love this method and I do think it is an ingenious idea. Maybe some day I’ll try it again.

The Sunday Cook’s kitchen is very similar to the daily Cook’s kitchen. If you haven’t read the kitchen series, then I recommend going back to the first one and reading all the way through. It goes through the steps of decluttering and the different centers to set up in your kitchen.

So for today, we will go over some of the strategies and products for the Sunday Cook to consider. (Some of the material below comes from the magazine Real Simple. I really recommend this magazine if you love your home and are looking for very useful information. This magazine has real ideas that the average family can use. I love it!)

Here are some basic strategies to think about when organizing your kitchen:

• Have all the items you need all together so you won’t have to go round everything up every time it’s time to cook. Keep all the mixing bowls, measuring cups, plastic storage containers, Ziploc baggies, etc. all together. Be sure and store it out of the way somewhere so that your counters are kept clear during the week.
• Invest in some good equipment. If you are a serious cook, then some really good equipment that will last you awhile is a great investment. A good toaster may do for some cooks, but the Sunday cook needs a little more than that.
• Organize the freezer well. This is obviously a must. When you look into your freezer to pull out some meals for the week or day, you don’t want to have to go digging through it every time. You also need to be able to see what you have so that nothing gets lost in there. You don’t want a meal that you spent good money on to end up getting freezer burned. One suggestion is to break up your freezer into sections. Have all the chicken meals together, beef meals, vegetables, etc. And don’t forget to label everything with the date you cooked it and what it is. This will save you tons of time and frustration.

The Sunday cook definitely needs to be organized. Here are a few items that are good to stock up on:

• Storage containers
• Ziploc bags
• Large mixing bowls
• Spatulas
• Wooden spoons
• Food sealer
• Scale
• Food processor
• Crock pot
• Erasable labels
• Heavy duty blender
• Calendar
• Apron with pockets
• Calculator
• Collapsible freezer and microwave safe containers

If you need some recipes and more tips and tricks for the Sunday Cook, I would recommend visiting Cook of the Month.

On the next Friday series, we will talk about the “Come on In” cook.

More recommended reading:

Post from: Blisstree

Find it Friday/The Sunday Cook

Enjoy these great posts:

• Cream Cheese Brownies by Baking Delights. Yum! (Here’s a picture of them here.)
• National Chocolate Parfait Day by Chocolate Bytes. Again…Yum!
• Keyboard Waffle Iron by Cooking Gadgets. This would be so appropriate for my house.
• Full Bloom Tea for Mother’s Day by Foodie Obsessed. I love me a good cup of hot tea.
• New Products From LG Electronics by Keeping the Castle. Very cool sounding products!
• Sugar Batteries – Sweet! by Mother Earth’s Garden. Sweet! Oh wait, she already said that. This is a great idea.
• Pseudo-Asian in California by Noodles and Rice. Can you send some of that this way please? Oh my goodness that looks good!!!
• Steps Backward by Offbeat Homes. Crazy looking house on a hill and boy are people mad!
• Frugal Flowers by Simply Thrifty. She has a great idea for frugal hanging baskets. They are always SO expensive!
• Soltronix’s Solar Headset by Unplugged Living. I’m thinking this headset, me, the beach and a strawberry daiquiri. Very cool concept.

Lots of good stuff there for you to read. Enjoy!

Post from: Blisstree

Find it Friday/Some Really Great Posts

Baskets are great for open kitchen shelves. They look nice and they can keep your items organized. I know a lot of people like to store their onions and potatoes in these. You can also use them to store like items together for some of the centers in your kitchen. If you have open shelves or are thinking about taking a couple of cabinet doors off, using a basket or two would be perfect for that spot.

A utensil jug is great for the daily cook. It keeps your favorite and most used utensils right there at your disposal. A daily cook’s wooden spoons and spatulas will definitely not collect dust on top of the counter! I thought this painted one was just beautiful. It wouldn’t match my kitchen, but I have a friend who I might just buy this for her. Her bright kitchen goes perfect with her bright personality!

An under the cabinet cookbook holder is a must! Unless of course you have all your recipes memorized. I happen to know a few ladies like that. They amaze me. This is a great way to keep your counter free for you to work and to keep your cookbook from getting so dirty. Some of mine look like I threw them in the pan and cook ‘em!

 
A mini food processor is a huge time saver in the kitchen if you cook a lot of meals that require chopping. This makes whipping up you favorite dish a breeze and because it’s so small, you can keep it stored on the counter to have it right there.

 
The next kitchen I have I want to install this trash can recycling center. You can recyle without letting everyone who comes in your kitchen, see that you recycle. This tucks right into a cabinet space and it comes with a sliding frame.

Some other great product ideas are:

• Hang a roll of paper on the wall for notes or grocery list items. I have a little wooden thing that takes receipt paper rolls and I make my list on that. If I remembered where I got it I would tell you, but I don’t. I sure love it though!
• Use the walls. Don’t forget those walls! Use racks, pegs or hooks to hang items on that you need daily.
• Use the ceiling! A Ceiling-mounted utensil rack is a popular space saver. If you are a daily cook, keep those pots and pans where they are easy to get to. There’s no need to dig for them day in and day out.
• Install under cabinet lighting. You can get a battery powered one, although I’ve heard they don’t last long. I have under cabinet lighting that was installed in my kitchen and I absolutely love it! Never again will I not have that lighting.

 I hope you got some good ideas for your kitchen if you are a daily cook. If you have any ideas to share, please send them on in!

Post from: Blisstree

Find It Friday/The Items in a Daily Cook’s Kitchen