Savour the Season -DIY Gift Boxes

Today we are savouring the Christmas Season by making our own gift boxes to give out. We got a ton of empty shoe boxes from the mall and some fancy contact paper. Walmart, you got it all! I cannot guide you in how to cover them since I am not a pro but I figured it out. I didn't cover the bottom of the boxes, I cut out strips which I first measures and then covered the sides and then a rectangular piece to cover the lids. All they need are our baking goods decorated by my kids and a big red bow on top! Merry Christmas!

Oh My Laundry! No Unnecessary Organizing (Part II)

I am so very happy to share this new "Ahaa!" experience with you! Finally, finally, after years of laundry torture, I got it!

Now picture this, some of you might deeply relate to what I am about to share with you:

You've done several loads of laundry, folded everything neatly and put them into dressers, wardobes and cupboards. After you have re-organized EVERYONES wardrobe. Finally, everything is perfectly organized and in it's place. Haa, not for long! As you walk into one of your kids' rooms, for one reason or another, you notice random CLEAN clothes pulled out of the wardrobe and on their floor. Hmmm... this is not new to you, oh no. It happens often. No worries, you "smell through them" sorting out the clean from the used clothes, and regardless clean or not, if they have been on the floor too long- they all need to go back into the washer. This is one vicous cycle!

But I got it! After reading Michelle Duggar's well put sentence in their book "20 and Counting"

..." all the trips made to carry our clean clothes from the laundry room back to the bedrooms and put them away neatly in the right closet or drawer. The "neatly" part would last until one of the children needed something out of that closet or drawer, then things got stirred up, moved around, and strewn all over the place. A lot of the time, clean, never-worn clothes ended up back int the laundry again..."... 


and walking into my childrens' rooms and witnessing this annoying habit, it solidified it for me! No more clothes in anyone's room! All of the clothes must be in one place. I figured out, if the clothes would be next to the washer and dryer, (they would not get moved from washer to floor, to being folded, onto chair to the wardrobes and back on to the floor- to the washer again,) they would stay put, hung and well, be tidy. What a liberating "Ahaa!" experience for me. Why did I not think of this sooner?!

 I know this looks like a horrid laundry room. Well, it is.

 idea + hubby + tools =

 half way there!

and 

finally done!

 realistic and complete!

yes, honest mess in a REAL home.

So,  my husband and I agreed on it,  I had it planned out and my husband made it happen! You gotta love him! Always trying to make my ideas come true.

Bad News Regarding Organized Home in 30 Days

My grand plans in organizing my home has stalled. As previously written HERE I had great plans for our outdoor shed. However, after cleaning it out, stripping it down and while painting it from the inside, we noticed mice droppings and dampness damaged walls. My grand idea of an extension to the house is not going to happen after all. 

More posts on the rest  of the house coming up soon!

DIY Toy Boxes (Organized Home in 30 Days)

We cannot afford to buy proper toy boxes for the kids right now. I wasn't going to look at their unorganized toy boxes either. They were in a mess. It made me itch. Yuck. I bought contact paper from Walmart (surprise! surprise!) and Simon got some empty shoe boxes. Ask from your local shoe shops.

 Yes, simple. Yes, cheap. And yes, ORGANIZED!

 Contact paper and FREE boxes

We piled their toys into categories and took a look which needed their own boxes. The ones left, random individuals ended up in one box labelled as BITS and BATS a.k.a bits and bobs, bits and pieces to some of you.

 Labelled and pretty

 Organized room and a happy kids (mum!)

 Organized! 

 My son's toy boxes ended up looking something like this; "GORMITS", "ACTION FIGURES", "SOLDIERS" etc

My daughter's toy boxes were more like this; "BARBIES, "DOLLS", "PONIES" etc

 Before

After

Restrategizing "Organizing my Home in 30 Days"

Okay, I know you all have been waiting for my updates on how my organizing has been going. Well, my start was strong. I had good plans for each area of the house. While I was organizing these areas, my plans changed from good to GREAT. Now, I have BIGGER plans for the areas I wan't to organize and this will take more than 30 days. I won't go over 30 days, as in, the tasks combined will not take more than 24h x 30. :) Are you curious about what my GREAT plans are?? Well I thought you'd never ask! Here they are!

The Shed will not be cleaned and organized, but it will be stripped, cleaned, painted and refurnished to be a very nice extention of our house! YES indeed! We will be getting rugs, a couch, scrapbooking table, shelving, mirrors, art- you name it! It will be a man cave, play den, pantry, art room and even during summers a great extra bedroom for visitors.

The Pantry will be dedicated for homeschooling and homeschooling only. Books, notebooks, workbooks, paper, crayons, art supplies, more books, more paper, craft supplies, board games etc

Laundry Room will be for linen, towels, blankets, basket etc

The Linen Cupboard will be extra space for clothes and other items.

Kayleigh's Room will have a whole new make over, paint job and a well organized toy area for her to maintain as well as a 3 years old can. We will go through her clothes and her princess dresses and give them a more accessable place for her to reach them.

The Backyard will be emptied from summer toys, gardening tools, pots, etc. We will decorate it to be a warm, welcoming back garden for the Autumn and Winter with logs, garden statues, Autumn plants and so on.

Joshua's Room will also get a make over, paint, toy organizing and so on.

Let the MAMMOTH task begin!

Organizing the Cuttlery Drawer (Day 4)

People should be extra tidy and CLEAN, when it comes to the drawers in the kitchen. Especially, if you live in a country that has those little gross bugs called ROACHES! Coming from a country where the worst kitchen enemy was a silverfish, I was utterly grossed out by finding a small roach in my kitchen drawer. Everything else in my kitchen was organized except the drawers. The drawers were on the top of my list for Organizing my home in 30 days thank goodness! Think about it, you and your family eat with those utensils right!? Imagine what is on them. Keep your drawers and cupboards TIDY and SANITIZE them at least every other week.

I am NOT joking, my drawers looked like that. Seriously.

and

Keeping the utensils that I rarely use in a seperate container, keeps my drawer organized and prevents them from sliding all over. I would've used sticky matt for the rest of the untensils but I ran out. Will have to purchase some more!