Let The Organization Begin...

Well now that the Holiday's are officially over it's time to get back on track with organizing my home.  For me a New Year equals new beginnings and also a great opportunity to start an organizational project...well projects I should say.  One of the reasons I decided to write my blog (hopefully on a regular basis) was to see if I could stick with my organizational tasks.  Writing about the progress would help my efforts of being able to stay on track and ultimately finish what I have started .  In the past I tended to start organizational projects then I would stop for some reason then the next thing I knew it was one, two or even three weeks later since I first began the project.  So, I am gearing this post towards organizational task I'd like to complete in the year 2013.

I have been following a couple of organizational blogs and several of them have linked up together and created a contest of sorts relating to what I love...organization!  The New Year's Organizing Revolution 2013 Challenge features several of the top organizing blogs such as the one I follow Organizing Made Fun as  promoters for this fabulous contest. The basis of the contest is to participate in a organizing challenge over the course of the upcoming weeks.  I thought it would be fun to follow the sponsoring bloggers and participate in their challenge(s).  

Challenge #1: Office Space / Desk Area

The first challenge is up and running already, those bloggers mean BUSINESS!  Participants have one week to organize their office space / desk area.  I too have an office space / desk area it's rather small but doable for what I need to get done.  So I accept the bloggers challenge and will get to organizing now!

Welcome to my office space...I actually refer to it as my crafting zone.  I don't have a lot of space to work with when it comes to having a combined work area but I make do with what I have. My space triples as a craft area (especially during the holidays), a work zone for classroom planning and a partial quiet area with a comfy chair for reading.  But from looking at the picture you can clearly see I'm not doing much reading in that comfy chair.

Ok, here is an up close shot of my desk, I found it at a rummage sale many moons ago, it's an actual teachers desk and I  LOVE it!  I have hopes for painting the desk someday (possible DIY project this summer stay tuned) but for now I'm just focused on proper organization at the moment.

Take a look at the desk and surface before I began clearing off the clutter.  Now, mind you the holidays took its toll on me.  I had holiday storage bins, holiday decor and my many lists and sticky notes just laying all over my work zone.  I knew when starting the week one organizational challenge that I needed to get busy and toss unused items and put items back in their proper living place /storage bins.

My desk supply drawer for the most part has always been pretty spiffy!  I am pretty proud to admit that...BUT the other areas of the desk yeah, need work.  The main top drawer is where I keep all my beautiful office supplies.  I LOVE OFFICE SUPPLIES GREATLY, whether it's colorful ink pens, packs of Sharpie markers, piles of sticky notes or those jumbo pink eraser blocks, you name it I probably have it.  What keeps my top drawer looking spiffy are the compartmental divider trays that I purchased at IKEA earlier this summer (which by the way was my first attempt at organizing my desk).  I found the trays in the kitchen department and they were rather cheap in price and fit perfectly inside my top desk drawer.  Don't ask me how I managed to keep the supply drawer super organized...I think my obsession with office supplies played a part at keeping that one and only drawer looking awesome.

Then if you look closely at the next picture you will see that I actually have organized storage under those IKEA trays!  I store extra printer paper, my shopping check lists, envelopes and an assortment of stamps underneath all those supplies...pretty clever right?  Of course I added labels to those areas as well...I'm a label junkie!

I organized every office supply essential right down to the paperclips and even went as far as labeling the sides of the IKEA tray compartments with small sticky labels!  I also placed a label on the lip of the drawer telling what contents are inside.  I love being able to open the drawer and find exactly what I need in a jiffy...and of course I put the items right back.

My other three desk drawers, located on the right side, are rather large and can hold plenty of items.  Which is why they look a jumbled mess now.  I have something of everything located in all three of the drawers.  For the most part it's semi-organized (yeah, right who am I kidding) those drawers could use some tidying up.

Top drawer

Middle drawer

Bottom drawer

The way I decided to organize each drawer was to remove all the contents which would allow me to start with a clean slate.  Seeing an empty space allows me to visualize more easily how I want items to be arranged.  The possibilities are endless when working with an empty space.  I imagined using a variety of organizational components like small boxes and trays to help organize my desk space...it really made me happy that I had so many possibilities for organizing my desk!

It's amazing that I had SO MUCH STUFF inside the desk drawers. The next thing I did was to separate the items into piles of importance.  What really needed to be in the drawers and what didn't are the questions I asked myself.  Once I figured out the answer, the organizational process became a breeze!

Drawer number one now houses a few magazines that like to read frequently, my 3-ring organizational binder, my small coupon binder, shopper card wallet and receipts are stored alongside in the basket.. This drawer is my go to drawer at the end of the day.  I place these ever so important items in this drawer.  I switch out the magazines every week or so and I make sure to only place these specific items inside otherwise the drawer will catch the name "junk drawer".

Drawer number two now houses my digital cameras, tripod and numerous supply of batteries.  I store my batteries in a crafting thread/ beading box, this convenient little compartment box can be purchased at many crafting type stores. I also have a small labeled container that houses all of my media storage disk and sticks...of course I labeled those too!

Drawer number three is pretty self explanatory.  My small electronics such as iPods are stored in this drawer as well as charging devices and extension cords.  I also have my Nintendo DS stored here (yes, I still play Nintendo).

Now, you may have noticed the little white stickers on the lips of all of the drawers.  Yes, those are labels, I love labeling and took it upon myself to label each individual drawer lip with a brief description as to what is inside.  Having a label be seen right off the bat, acts as a reminder for me to only place those specific items inside.  I am stopping clutter at the drawer!

Here's a couple more looks at my overall, completely clean and clutter free crafting zone!

A little Betsy Johnson container to
hold my sticky note pads
and little ink pen, so cute!

Basket for snail mail

I reused the same holiday basket from my before photo.   I turned the basket around and store my small sized planners here.

So there you have it my office desk storage and organization.  Overall, I feel the organizational challenge went well and I am loving the organizational elements I implemented.  Working (and sometimes crafting) at my desk makes me feel like I can accomplish so much more knowing the fact that the desk area is clutter free.  I like the ability of being able to locate supplies quickly and not feel disorganized one bit.  My goal is to keep up with the new look and feel of the space by placing items back in their proper locations.  Now, I am off to plan out my next organization project / challenge.

 Clutter Out, Ebby

Favorite Things...December!

I thought I would jump on the bandwagon of showcasing my Favorite Things starting with the month of December.  I love the cold weather and around here (in my opinion) the cold doesn't stay around long enough.  With that being said I enjoy wearing sweaters and pea coats when the weather turns from 90 one day to 50 the next in no time flat!  Oh, yes it's true stick around the weather is bound to change.  Anyway, here are my favorite items for the month of December!

An awesome lipbalm such as the EOS lipbalm in Mint flavor is an essential must have for me.  I have several of these lipbalms around my house.  I am a lipbalm addict have been since childhood (I've had my fare share of flavorful Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers) being addicted to lipbalm has it's reasons.  I like having conditioned lips, I don't want chapped, peeling lips EVER especially during the winter.  So that makes EOS my number one December fave!

Second on the list of my December Favorites is the Carmex Concentrated Therapy Ointment.  I found this at CVS (I love shopping and couponing at CVS).  This what I call Carmex in the BIG Jar is amazing!  Before I go to bed at night, I slap the Carmex Healing Ointment on my feet and then put on a pair of comfy socks.  In the morning when I wake up my feet are so soft.  This ointment is especially good to use during the cold winter months.

Third on the list of my December Favorites is the Bath & Body Works Country Apple Body Cream.  Now, I am a big fan of B&BW (I will dedicated a whole post to items from B&BW in the future).  What I like about this body cream is that it is really thick similar to body butter.  I love the Country Apple Scent, it's not to strong / overpowering and conditions my hands making them soft. Another Bath & Body Works product that made my list is the body splash in the scent Country Apple. The body spray scent is not over powering.  I spray my winter scarves and pea coat with this stuff.  I am definitely going to purchase more when the 3 for 3 sale runs again!

Fourth on the list of my December Favorites is the Body Shop's Shea Butter body butter.  I absolutely love the Body Shop body butters.  I began buying my body butters exclusively from the Body Shop simply because I loved them right from the start!  The body butters are full of wonderful scents and are extremely creamy and hydrating for my skin.  One of my favorite scents is the Shea Butter scent during the colder months and the Coconut scent in the warmer months.

Fifth on the list of my December Favorites is the Jergens All Purpose Face Cream.  Now, what you see pictured here is a totally different package than what the cream is normally sold in but the label is legit from the original jar.  I accidently dropped the original package jar and it cracked.  At night after I wash my face and complete my night time facial cleaning routine I apply the Jergens Face Cream all over my face and neck.  During the cold months I apply the Jergens cream to act as an extra layer of moisturizer on my face and the next morning when I wake up my face is soft and hydrated.

Sixth on the list of my December Favorites is from a company called LUSH.  I am sure many of you have heard of LUSH bath products.  I have been using LUSH bath items for over a year now and I love them dearly (LUSH haul / post in the future for sure!).  One of my favorite facial care items from LUSH is the Mask of Magnaminty.  I like using this face mask during the cold months because the product helps to remove the dry skin as well as deep cleaning and toning of my face. It has a nice pepperminty smell and is not created with harsh chemicals.  Another one of my favorite items from LUSH is the Comforter Bubble Bar.  The Comforter was the very first bubble bars I had ever purchased and instantly became my all time fave.  I am stocked up on Comforters for months to come!  I love the sweet fruity scent that is revealed as you crush up the bar and mix with running bath water.  I like to pair the Comforter Bubble Bar with the Snow Fairy Shower Gel (also from LUSH).  Again, a sweet fruity scent that lingers as you open the bottle.  Pairing the two bath items together makes for a nice bubble bath!

Seventh on the list of my December Favorites is the Germ-X Hand sanitizer.  Lets face it it's cold & flu season and this girl is not getting sick!  I carry travel sized bottles of this stuff in just about every coat pocket, tote bag and in my glove compartment box of my car.  If I stop at the stores and I have been pushing carts, I use germ-x.  After the drive up bank transactions, I use germ-x.  And even when I pump gas at the station, I use germ-x.  Call me OCD but I am not getting sick!

Eighth on the list of my December Favorites is NAIL POLISH!  I love, love, love nail polish.  Every color in the world from shiny to mattes, to sparkles and magnetics.  I love nail polish!  I love it so much that I have a couple of nail polish racks hung up on the wall showcasing my love of colorful polishes (post on that in the future).  But for December I collectively have what I call my holiday editions.  The colors are basic holiday red and green but I also have the collection of glitter and golds to boot.  I've been switching my nail color about every three days or so.  My holiday editions are great to wear all month long and as the New Year approaches I will be wearing a lot more of the glitter sparkly polishes.

Ninth on the list of my December Favorites the Bath & Body Works holiday traditions candle Peppermint Mocha.  OMG this candle is wickedly good!  I love the scent so much that I bought two of these.  To me the Peppermint Mocha is the perfect holiday candle to burn.  To give you a sense of what it smells like imaging drinking a cup of hot cocoa (or perhaps you already are).  That is exactly what this candle smells like!

And speaking of cocoa number tenth on my list of December Favorites is the Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix in Chocolate Caramel.  This is the second year in a row I have purchased several boxes from my local grocery store.  I love this hot cocoa mix so much that sometimes I make a double batch!

Eleventh on the list of my December Favorites is my deep red Corduroy tote bag from Banana Republic.  I purchased this tote bag a number of years ago.  I am a sucker for totes and this one caught my eye immediately!  I love the deep red and the durability of the fabric.  The tote is very roomy and features one zippered pocket on the inside.  The sturdy leather straps really make the tote stand up to the usage.  I can put a lot of items in this tote bag which gives it good reason for making it on my list of December Favorites.

The twelfth item on my list of December Favorites is the traditional Candy Cane. I feel that Candy Canes are representative of the holiday spirit...I mean they only make an appearance around this time of year.  I like candy canes not only for eating but also use them for decorating my holiday packages.  They also make great stocking stuffers or accompanying a holiday card.

The final item on my list of December Favorites is my new Canon Powershot Elph 320hs digital camera. I am totally in love with this point and shoot camera.  I was needing a new digital camera my old one was not performing up to par and shutter speed was extremely s-l-o-w.  I was wanting a new digital  that would go above and beyond performance capabilities.  I have found that with the Canon.  I like the Wi-Fi function (oh, yes I said Wi-Fi) being able to immediately send photos to email or social networking sites is pretty freaking amazing!  Picture taking is clear and easy with the auto detect feature that senses whether or not you need a flash.  I love everything about this Canon Elph 320hs.

So there you have it my list of December Favorites.
I hope you enjoyed your holiday season! Ebby

Gift Wrap Storage

As promised, now that the big holiday is over, I will now reveal my method for the storage of gift wrapping items.  I don't have a large amount of gift wrapping essentials but I have enough to warrant it's own separate storage bin actually two storage bins well make that four total. I like to store all of my holiday decorating essentials as well as holiday home decor neatly in large storage bins.  Doing so allows me to neatly store boxes / bins in the storage closet until I am ready to use them the next year.

Last year during the infamous after the holidays clearance sales I racked up on holiday essentials for the next years to come...yes next/ many years to come.  I purchased so many wrapping paper rolls (at a steep discount mind you) one would have thought I was wallpapering a house!  I just could not pass up a 90% off sale at the local craft stores and grocery stores alike.  Shelves of ribbons, stickers, holiday cards, boxes and bags all marked very, very cheap.  I am firm believer of get it now while it's cheap or it will be gone or worse yet raised in price a few weeks later.  Plus, not only did I select certain gift wrap rolls that could be used for wrapping birthday, valentines and other holidays on the calendar, the ribbons themselves could be used for numerous things too.  Besides, if I changed my mind on certain items I still had the ability to return those items to the store, so it was a win win in my book.

Anyway, I don't need to hit the clearance sales this year...but I may have to take a peek. Although, I did see some cute ornaments at the Michael's Craft Store and I have been dreaming of one of those pre-lit trees I'm talking about those BIG $400 - $500 trees.  Nabbing one of those pre-lit trees (on deep clearance) would be heaven!

But for now, I will focus on my organized storage of gift wrapping essentials.  Hopefully, by reading this blog post you are able to gather ideas for organizing your own gift wrap storage. My system is rather simple, efficient and organized.  I love containers of all sizes and find using various containers to organize the littlest of holiday decor is beneficial to having a neatly stored gift wrap box.

The first box is my original  Gift Wrap Box I organized a few years ago. I have since expanded my holiday gift wrapping essentials and have three more storage boxes to reveal.  Inside this box I have a clear shoe box container housing tissue paper, another clear shoe box houses ribbons and the smaller clear shoe boxes has gift bows and tags.  In the bottom of the box I have a variety of gift bags in several sizes and there are also packing boxes for heavier items or mailing of packages.

Opening up the storage container you can clearly see how I have wrapping elements stored.  I love clear shoe boxes I use them for organizing items all throughout my home.  I also like using baskets to organize small supplies used in gift wrapping.  I bought this little plastic storage basket at Walmart and it fits perfectly inside my gift wrap box.  It houses my scissors, gift wrapping paper cutters, glue, tape and a sharpie! All of my supplies are neatly stored in this basket and it sit's nicely on my craft table.  And the best part is I NEVER misplace any supplies when I am all in the holiday spirit of wrapping presents.  I just place everything back into the basket after I use it.

Looking at this picture reminds me that I need to buy tape!

On a shopping trip to the Container store I found these mid-sized clear shoe boxes.  I believe the are the kids sized shoe boxes and priced around $2 each.  They work great for storage of smaller decorating elements like I have done here:

Organizational Tidbit:  using smaller clear shoe boxes helps to contain bags of bows or gift tags. Gift tags of various sizes are neatly stored inside this small clear shoe box. I have several of the small sized clear shoe boxes to use for future organizational projects.

Next up on the gift wrap storage list is the important gift bags.  I have a few small gift boxes as well as various size gift bags placed neatly on the bottom of the storage box. Keeping the gift bags nice and flat prevents wrinkles in the paper and besides who want to receive a wrinkled gift?

Organizational Tidbit:  keeping all my packing needs in
one box allows for easy and quick gift wrapping.

So there you have it the storage and organization of the first of four gift wrapping storage boxes.  Now, on to storage box number two...holiday home decor.  I don't have a TON of holiday home decor for now I really only decorate my crafting space (more on that later) but the holiday home decor I do have is plenty enough to fill this large sized Reisenthal storage box.  I purchased SEVERAL of these boxes earlier this summer during the Container Store's Happy Home Organizing Sale.  Let me tell you these boxes are a-w-e-s-o-m-e because not only to they store virtually anything, they look pretty doing so!  My main intention for purchasing so many of these boxes was the fact that I was overhauling my closet (more on that later too) and wanted uniform, organized and decorative storage.  So in the meantime I am reserving one of the large zip boxes for holiday decor storage.  

Reisenthal storage zip boxes available at the
Container Store in a wide variety of colors and sizes

I removed the holiday elements to show what all is inside.  It doesn't look like much but trust me I have a lot of items packed into this box as well as the pink lid box seen on the bottom right.

The bottom layer consist of a large reusable tote that I use to transport holiday gifts on top 

of that I have my holiday tree bulbs in the original packaging for safe keeping.

I add a layer of bubble wrap on top...just in case.

The pink lid shoe box houses all of my felt ornaments and a few other unique ornaments. 

They all fit perfectly inside the Sterilite Shoe Box. 

Then I add the remaining items (such as boxed holiday cards and stockings) 
which fit perfectly inside the organized box.

Organizational Tidbit: adding a decorative tag helps to further organize the storage bin. 

Organized box number three houses mainly my dishes, such as cocoa mugs, candy bowls and a decorative holiday pillow.  Again I opted to use the Reisenthal zip box from the Container Store.  The size I am using is the medium and works well with storing my holiday breakables.

I like to wrap my breakable items in towels vs. newspaper, this way when contents shift as I am moving the box around on the shelf the glass has a lesser chance of breaking. Plus, I don't end up with newspaper ink on my hands from wrapping so many holiday breakables.

I have a few other holiday items as well stored in this bin.

Organizational Tidbit: adding a tag helps to
 identify the contents inside.

The fourth holiday storage box I am using is the standard old cardboard box.  This box was exactly what I needed to house my gift wrapping rolls.  I just could not locate a bin large enough...well I really did not actively search for one at the stores.  Once I saw this box on the recycle pile of my neighbors I knew it would be perfect for my storage needs!

..

Just look how neat and organized my holiday gift wrapping and ribbon spools fit inside this very sturdy box.

Organizational Tidbit:  store like items together to maximize the space.
This box is dedicated solely to gift wrap rolls and ribbon.
If space permits I store a few labels as well.

Well this concludes my gift wrap storage post.  In total I have four organized holiday storage boxes.  I will store these boxes in the small closet I organized specifically for seasonal items.

Happy Organizing, Ebby