Articles written by Vicki VastoSee Reprint Policies at the bottom of page. |
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Have plenty of containers on hand for sorting. Cardboard boxes, clear containers and laundry baskets work the best. Label each container with its own category. Be general if you are organizing an area that has a lot of different things in it (toys, decorations, luggage, keepsakes and camping equipment). Be more specific if the area already has an assigned purpose, such as a playroom (puzzles, games, trucks, coloring books and dolls). Make sure you have containers for trash and donations. I like to start in one area and work my way around the room, sorting as I go. I like to get in the mindset that I’m in a race or competing in a challenge. Sometimes I feel like a tornado as I tear around the room, flinging items into containers! Decide where you want to put everything. In a basement you might want to designate areas for storage, exercising, workshop, laundry and play. A playroom could have areas for crafts, reading, dolls and trains. Shelves and storage containers are highly recommended. Shelves allow you to take advantage of vertical storage space. An unused table along the wall allows you to use the top surface, as well as, the area underneath for large items. Clear, rectangular containers allow you to see what's stored inside. They also stack and fit against each other without wasting valuable space. Work on one area at a time. Separate the Barbie’s from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the puzzles from the games. Use clear containers for each category so that the children can find what they are looking for without dumping everything out. You may want to consider putting pictures on the containers to make clean up easier for the young ones. Remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect and you can always do more tweaking later. It is important to throw the trash away before the rest of the family gets a chance to undo all your hard work. Put the items to be donated in your vehicle so that they do not get buried in another part of your house and you will be ready when you drive by a donation center. Use this strategy for every room of your house. Make it your goal to find a place for everything and to put everything in its place! Written by Vicki Vasto. Her website, Vast Emporium, Inc., features side tables and tiffany table lamps. Please visit her website, to learn more about the products she has available. Free shipping! Sign up for the newsletter and receive a free e-book of Monica's Organization Tips!
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Clutter From Kids: Learning to Live With Stuffed Animals
How come everyone buys little kids knick knacks and stuffed animals? What can you do with a knick knack? They are usually made of glass and kept out of reach so they do not get broken. Their main purpose seems to be to clutter every available inch on the shelves, dressers and bookcases in the kids’ rooms. At least a child can hold or sleep with a stuffed animal. Stuffed animals are the one gift you can buy that will delight both boys and girls, young and old alike. So what do I have against stuffed animals? Nothing traumatic ever happened to me involving one of these cute, cuddly creatures. I did not experience feelings of paranoia from all those beady eyes staring at me and I was never locked in a closet with hundreds of them piled on top of me snuffing out my air supply!
My dislike for stuffed animals and knick knacks started when my nieces were little. They had a whole menagerie of teddy bears, monkeys, Tiggers and Eeyores taking over their house, yet you could not go into a store without hearing their high-pitched squeals whenever they saw a stuffed animal. “Mommy, Look how cute it is! Can I have it?” There must be a way to channel that enthusiasm in a different direction. I can picture it now. “Mommy, Spot went poo-poo! Can I clean it up?” I have always preferred a clutter-free environment and strive to have a place for everything. Where do you put all the stuffed animals, figurines and trophies? There is not much you can do with glass trinkets besides placing them on shelves or in a curio cabinet to keep them out of harm’s way. Curio cabinets provide a virtually dust-free environment or mount your wall shelves above eye level so the dust is not as noticeable.
It does not make sense to put too many stuffed animals on the kids' beds, unless you consider it a form of exercise the next morning when you have to bend down to pick up each one. I recommend using toy boxes for stuffed animals. They are roomy and easily accessible to the kids. Some toy boxes have separate compartments and are great for organizing. You can keep the Beanie Babies separated from the balls and the cars. Clear containers also work well since they allow you to see what is inside without having to dump everything out. Kids will eventually outgrow their stuffed animals. In a perfect world, this would mean keeping a few of their favorites and donating the rest to a hospital. But in the real world, this means packing and sending them off with your adult children when they move out! It is a basic fact of life that most kids like stuffed animals. All you can do is change your own attitude and find ways to live with them.
Written by Vicki Vasto. Her website, Vast Emporium, Inc., features side tables and tiffany table lamps. Please visit her website, to learn more about the products she has available. Free shipping! Sign up for the newsletter and receive a free e-book of Monica's Organization Tips!
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Eliminate Clutter With a Clear Conscience Are you afraid to get rid of anything? Do you think you might have a need for it sometime in the future? Did it cost a lot of money? Would throwing it away make you feel like you were throwing money down the drain? Does it have sentimental value to you? I have organized for many people and the number one reason for clutter is the inability to dispose of items that are no longer being used. Do not worry, I am not going to tell you to start throwing everything away! But if you answer “yes” to the following questions, you may talk yourself into doing just that! Do you have items around the house that have gone unused for years? If you were given money, would you sell them? If you knew of someone who could use them, would you be willing to give them away? If you have not used an item for two or more years, it is probably time to get it out of the house. Sell it! Why not make some money for items that are just taking up room. Have a garage sale or take your clothes to a resale shop. One of my friends had a mountain of clothes that her children had outgrown. In one year, she made over $400 by taking them to resale shops! Each resale shop has its own set of requirements and procedures, so call first. Will you need to make an appointment or can you drop the clothes off? Do the clothes need to be folded or on hangers? Will you get paid upfront or after they sell? Are they currently accepting summer or winter clothing? Some places only take children or teen clothing. Check to see if they also take used strollers, car seats and toys that are in good condition. Give it away! This is a great option, especially if you spent a lot of money on something and can not justify throwing it away. Give it to someone that you know or to a donation center. You can be assured that these items will be put to good use and not just take up space in a landfill or your house! Throw it away! My all-time favorite organizing tool is the wastebasket! The more I get rid of, the better I feel. Hopefully, these suggestions will help you develop a different mindset when it comes to eliminating clutter. No longer will you be embarrassed by how messy your house looks and you will have less difficulty finding what you are looking for. Getting rid of clutter is a giant step towards an organized life-style. Written by Vicki Vasto. Her website, Vast Emporium, Inc., features side tables and tiffany table lamps. Please visit her website, to learn more about the products she has available. Free shipping! Sign up for the newsletter and receive a free e-book of Monica's Organization Tips!
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Saving Kids' Keepsakes Do you save everything because it has some sort of emotion attached to it? I organized for a woman who could not get rid of any of her daughter’s clothes, school papers and toys. She had at least 20 extra-large storage containers filled with stuffed animals! Taking sentimental value to an extreme is one of the most common reasons people cannot eliminate clutter. Here are a few tips to help you limit what you save. What is up with all the stuffed animals? Save only the ones that were special to your child. These are usually the ones with the most wear and tear. The same goes for the other toys that they no longer play with. Pictures take up less room than the actual item. If you have saved every holiday dress that little Chrissy has ever worn, why not just keep the pictures of her wearing them and pass on the dresses to someone who can get some use out of them! Snap a photo of Allison with her craft projects and reclaim valuable counter top space. At the end of each school year, I sort through my daughter’s school and art work. Everything that I keep can usually fit into a large envelope. Do you really think that Jimmy will ever care that you saved his 3rd grade math paper? By all means, save report cards and awards. These reflect your child’s work and do not take up as much space as all the tests, homework assignments and reports would. Keeping the report that Sara wrote about her summer vacation or a list of Sam’s favorite things are always winners with me. It is fun to see how each child’s memories, writing style, and tastes change over the years. I usually limit the number of art projects to ten for each year. Be sure to take into consideration those things that are important to the child. Save more of Carli’s art work if she is artistically gifted. I would not save a paper about the digestive system unless Bryce was obsessed with becoming a doctor. Doug has had a passion for rocks ever since you can remember, so saving his collection would be wise. So go ahead and save your child’s growth chart and the lock of hair from their first haircut. Save the Fisher-Price doll house and Little Tykes workbench for future grandchildren. Put a little extra time and thought into your decision making and win the war against clutter. Written by Vicki Vasto. Her website, Vast Emporium, Inc., features side tables and tiffany table lamps. Please visit her website, to learn more about the products she has available. Free shipping! Sign up for the newsletter and receive a free e-book of Monica's Organization Tips!
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Scavenger Hunt Fun - 5 Tips To Get You Started Planning a scavenger hunt can be overwhelming. How will the teams be divided? Where will it take place? What will the teams do? How much time to you want to take for planning the scavenger hunt? Here are some fundamentals to help get you started. 2. Decide what you want the teams to do. Take into consideration the age levels of those participating in the scavenger hunt. Collecting items is easiest. Following clues will take more time to plan. Make clues for the teams to follow. You can keep it simple or get creative.
During the hunt, have the teams collect items from a list.
Come up with questions that could be answered during the drive.
Assign the teams tasks.
Have challenges for everyone to compete in.
Do a combination of these activities. 3. The planner can choose who will be on each team or have a random drawing to pick teams. 4. Go over any ground rules before the scavenger hunt begins. Tell the contestants that only one item can be collected at each location. You might want to set a time limit, so you will need to tell them . Hand out instructions, supplies and the first clue. Make sure that each team has a cell phone and your number in case they need help. 5. To determine the champion you can go with the team that finished first or you use a point system. Award points for finishing first, each item collected, questions answered correctly, each beanbag that landed in the hula hoop, etc. Deduct a point if a team needed to call you for assistance. Try not to get stressed out if there are glitches during the hunt. It is a simple fact of life that things do not always go as planned. Keep it in perspective and have a good time. Written by Vicki Vasto. Her website, Vast Emporium, Inc., features side tables and tiffany table lamps. Please visit her website, to learn more about the products she has available. Free shipping, recipes and tips! Sign up for my newsletter and receive a free e-book of Monica's Organization Tips! Article Source: http://www.vastemporium.com/new361322.html
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