This week's giveaway is another one of those that are especially near and dear to my heart. Not only is the company sponsoring this week's giveaway locally grown {to me that is}, the start up story is especially inspirational for a small business gal like myself. Introducing madesmart!
Madesmart is based in St. Paul, Minnesota and they work hard at creating organizational items that encompass style, function, quality and affordability. Um, yes please!
And they also believe that if they can create beautifully designed and useful products, that they can in turn make the act of getting organized enjoyable and fun. I can fist pump to that!
Bonus points that madesmart actually rhymes with iheart.
In 1990, Devee dreamed up “the Junk Drawer Organizer®” and it was the first of its kind that lucky for us, became very successful. That success moved Devee into an amazing career and super cool new category of storage and organization. Today, her company now has over 300 unique products that are offered in most major retailers (like Target and The Container Store!). See, inspiring! I couldn't be happier for her success!
So, now that you have some information as to why I personally heart madesmart, here is what they will be giving away to one lucky iHeart Organizing reader this week! A complete kitchen storage pack!
2-Tier Organizers: A stacking system that works in all areas of the home. This system makes the most out of the vertical space we have throughout the abode. Each basket slides easily on each tray and their handles allow for easy transport.
Clear Stackable Cabinet Shelves: These stackable shelves help maximize your vertical space. They feature rubber feet to keep things in place and they fold flat when not in use.
Fridge/Pantry Collection: These versatile bins store items efficiently in the fridge or pantry. Features include durable, high-quality plastic; rounded corners for easy cleaning; non-slip handles for moving and dry erase labeling area. Its nonslip lining rubber feet keeps things in place. BPA free and food safe.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck everyone! IHeart Organizing official giveaway entry rules can always be found here.
Madesmart is based in St. Paul, Minnesota and they work hard at creating organizational items that encompass style, function, quality and affordability. Um, yes please!
And they also believe that if they can create beautifully designed and useful products, that they can in turn make the act of getting organized enjoyable and fun. I can fist pump to that!
Bonus points that madesmart actually rhymes with iheart.
In 1990, Devee dreamed up “the Junk Drawer Organizer®” and it was the first of its kind that lucky for us, became very successful. That success moved Devee into an amazing career and super cool new category of storage and organization. Today, her company now has over 300 unique products that are offered in most major retailers (like Target and The Container Store!). See, inspiring! I couldn't be happier for her success!
So, now that you have some information as to why I personally heart madesmart, here is what they will be giving away to one lucky iHeart Organizing reader this week! A complete kitchen storage pack!
2-Tier Organizers: A stacking system that works in all areas of the home. This system makes the most out of the vertical space we have throughout the abode. Each basket slides easily on each tray and their handles allow for easy transport.
Clear Stackable Cabinet Shelves: These stackable shelves help maximize your vertical space. They feature rubber feet to keep things in place and they fold flat when not in use.
Fridge/Pantry Collection: These versatile bins store items efficiently in the fridge or pantry. Features include durable, high-quality plastic; rounded corners for easy cleaning; non-slip handles for moving and dry erase labeling area. Its nonslip lining rubber feet keeps things in place. BPA free and food safe.
2-Tier Organizer, Small Clear Stackable Cabinet Shelf, Medium Clear Stackable Cabinet Shelf, Fridge/Pantry 4W Deep Bin Green, Fridge/Pantry 8W Deep Bin Green, Fridge/Pantry 4W Shallow Bin Green, Fridge/Pantry 8W Shallow Bin Green
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck everyone! IHeart Organizing official giveaway entry rules can always be found here.
Although it is basically unavoidable, I love a clutter free workspace. As someone who is easily distracted, having piles of papers and accessories makes me twitchy. So yeah, my desk typically looks pretty snazzy.... the secret lies within the nearby drawers!
As in my dirty little secret. It is like I basically use my arm to swoop my clutter right into the drawers of my filing cabinet tucked below my desk.
See?!
I actually really love the filing cabinet itself... I purchased it last year at CB2. After bringing home two different Goodwill options to makeover, I wasn't finding that they were offing the types of storage that I was after, and they were not smooth to open and close. When I was window shopping at CB2, the filing cabinet caught my eye and landed right into the trunk of my car. It was a winner!
A winner at concealing my clutter in a very unorganized way. Which was totally my fault. I just have not taken the time to give this beauty the attention she deserves. Until today.
A few weeks ago quarterly taxes were due and I searched high and low for those statement stubs. I looked in binders, planners, and through the catch-all files that lived in this filing cabinet. After over an hour of searching and having a small meltdown, I found just what I needed. And moved the filing cabinet clean-out high on my priority list.
Here is what I started out with.
The top drawer held random files and a lot of clutter. The second drawer did the same. The third drawer was the start to my file organization from many months ago, however, because nothing ever was truly sorted or labeled, every last paper that I filed landed in a big "to file" file in the back of the drawer. Nice.
This was NOT a quick process. I had a lot of papers to go through as well as clutter to sort down and organize. Thank you Netflix, you saved the day once again.
As always, I emptied out every last drawer to see what I was working with and to just go big or go home.
I started with the fun accessory drawer stuff, I would rather organize items than boring papers any day... Knowing I had a lot of small items that needed to be corralled within the top two drawers, I hunted down box lids, DIY paper boxes, jewelry boxes, empty note card boxes, etc... anything that could act as a drawer divider.
I purged down items that no longer needed to be in the drawer, put other items back where they truly belonged and the rest ended up nice and neat in the file cabinet drawers. I think I just might leave this one open all day, every day....
And drawer number two:
Not earth shattering stuff but FAR better nonetheless!
And then it happened. I sorted and sorted and sorted papers some more. Blah. Why can't bank statements be printed on pretty pink paper and why aren't life insurance documents done with rainbow borders of happiness? Someone make that happen m'kay?
I blurred out the documents, but you can still take a peek at the color coding system I used. I purchased file folders from The Container Store in three colors, blue, pink and green. I used pink for my business files {of course}, blue for personal files and green for financial/important files.
I already had hanging folders inside of the cabinet which came with tabbed labels {these from Amazon}. I prefer labeling the hanging folder over the individual folders because it stands up higher and is easier to read. The hanging files were Pendaflex brand and a simple Google search brought up a label template for me to download into Microsoft Word to edit. I printed the labels using matching colors to the file folders. Pretty neat how that works!
Once cut down to size, they fit perfectly into the plastic label holders.
I use my business files much more frequently than our personal files {many of our personal statements end up in our budget binder}, so I placed them within the filing cabinet accordingly.
Once the hanging files were labeled, I popped all of the individual files inside and filled up the drawer.
I really didn't think it would be possible, but I got a little giddy inside about how the organized files turned out. Totally worth the time it took to touch every last piece of paper.
The outside of the cabinet received a small splash of color with some more printed labels popped into my favorite adhesive label holders.
And a final celebratory after photo. Be still my happy heart!
Now that it is done, I have a feeling it will increase the amount of grinning I am doing while working at my desk. And when I need to find next quarter's tax filing voucher!
Have you recently tackled something you have been dreading for a long period of time? Was it as bad as you thought it would be?
As in my dirty little secret. It is like I basically use my arm to swoop my clutter right into the drawers of my filing cabinet tucked below my desk.
See?!
I actually really love the filing cabinet itself... I purchased it last year at CB2. After bringing home two different Goodwill options to makeover, I wasn't finding that they were offing the types of storage that I was after, and they were not smooth to open and close. When I was window shopping at CB2, the filing cabinet caught my eye and landed right into the trunk of my car. It was a winner!
A winner at concealing my clutter in a very unorganized way. Which was totally my fault. I just have not taken the time to give this beauty the attention she deserves. Until today.
A few weeks ago quarterly taxes were due and I searched high and low for those statement stubs. I looked in binders, planners, and through the catch-all files that lived in this filing cabinet. After over an hour of searching and having a small meltdown, I found just what I needed. And moved the filing cabinet clean-out high on my priority list.
Here is what I started out with.
The top drawer held random files and a lot of clutter. The second drawer did the same. The third drawer was the start to my file organization from many months ago, however, because nothing ever was truly sorted or labeled, every last paper that I filed landed in a big "to file" file in the back of the drawer. Nice.
This was NOT a quick process. I had a lot of papers to go through as well as clutter to sort down and organize. Thank you Netflix, you saved the day once again.
As always, I emptied out every last drawer to see what I was working with and to just go big or go home.
I started with the fun accessory drawer stuff, I would rather organize items than boring papers any day... Knowing I had a lot of small items that needed to be corralled within the top two drawers, I hunted down box lids, DIY paper boxes, jewelry boxes, empty note card boxes, etc... anything that could act as a drawer divider.
I purged down items that no longer needed to be in the drawer, put other items back where they truly belonged and the rest ended up nice and neat in the file cabinet drawers. I think I just might leave this one open all day, every day....
And drawer number two:
Not earth shattering stuff but FAR better nonetheless!
And then it happened. I sorted and sorted and sorted papers some more. Blah. Why can't bank statements be printed on pretty pink paper and why aren't life insurance documents done with rainbow borders of happiness? Someone make that happen m'kay?
I blurred out the documents, but you can still take a peek at the color coding system I used. I purchased file folders from The Container Store in three colors, blue, pink and green. I used pink for my business files {of course}, blue for personal files and green for financial/important files.
I already had hanging folders inside of the cabinet which came with tabbed labels {these from Amazon}. I prefer labeling the hanging folder over the individual folders because it stands up higher and is easier to read. The hanging files were Pendaflex brand and a simple Google search brought up a label template for me to download into Microsoft Word to edit. I printed the labels using matching colors to the file folders. Pretty neat how that works!
Once cut down to size, they fit perfectly into the plastic label holders.
I use my business files much more frequently than our personal files {many of our personal statements end up in our budget binder}, so I placed them within the filing cabinet accordingly.
Once the hanging files were labeled, I popped all of the individual files inside and filled up the drawer.
I really didn't think it would be possible, but I got a little giddy inside about how the organized files turned out. Totally worth the time it took to touch every last piece of paper.
The outside of the cabinet received a small splash of color with some more printed labels popped into my favorite adhesive label holders.
And a final celebratory after photo. Be still my happy heart!
Now that it is done, I have a feeling it will increase the amount of grinning I am doing while working at my desk. And when I need to find next quarter's tax filing voucher!
Have you recently tackled something you have been dreading for a long period of time? Was it as bad as you thought it would be?
Happy IHeart Blogiversary Day! I started up this website of mine 5 years ago today, and I couldn't be happier that I did. This sweet space of mine has brought inspiration, advice, friendships, discussion, ideas, growth, change, giggles, connections, eye brow raises, milestones, accomplishments, partnerships, opportunities and so much more. It has been truly life changing and has impacted our life in endless ways.
And because it is just too cool not to share on this very special day, a perfect example of an opportunity I was given due to my blogging venture. This gal may have just flown off to New York, attended an inspirational Better Homes & Gardens workshop with a group of incredibly talented bloggers and friends, and chatted it up with the super fabulous Nate Berkus and his husband, Jeremiah.
#omg #amazing #giddyschoolgirl
And he actually remembered me from my little House Proud appearance which ironically also aired on my blogiversary three years ago today... it's a good day people!
I mean really.... Never in a million years would I have thought that would happen. Ever. In fact, a lot of the amazing things I have experienced over the past five years leave me perma-grinning and pinching myself on a daily basis. And I have this blog and you all to thank for that. Without you, I wouldn't be coming back to this space to share the happenings and projects taking place within our walls. So thank you. From the bottom of my big overflowing heart, I thank you all for being so supportive and good to me.
To celebrate IHeart Organizing turning FIVE today, I am kicking off a small blogging series. Over the next month, I will be sharing some things I have learned along the way {and admit to what I am still clueless about}, and will be answering many of your frequently asked blogging questions. Everything from photography tips to lessons learned to sponsorships and monetizing, I am excited to chat about what I am still so very passionate about.
And because it has already been four years since my last "Day in the Life" post {seriously, how does that even happen?}, that is the post topic of the day today.
A disclaimer. Although I didn't photograph every last bit of singing, dancing, giggles, bickering and temper tantrums that took place throughout the day, I did try to capture as much as possible through my DSLR and iPhone. Maybe next time I will toss in a video or two, completely slipped my mind this round. Because you know you want to witness a good childish meltdown. And see me dance around my living room in my pajamas... Sorry, scratch that last image from your minds.
The day I selected to capture was this week Tuesday. One of the reasons it has taken me so long to do this type of post again, is because no two days are the same. It seems like we are always running here or there or working on something new or trying to hit a deadline.... So I picked a day in the middle of the week which seemed the most typical of our day to day lifestyle. Oh! And sorry if I get wordy. It happens.
6:45 a.m. - The alarm starts going off. My husband is a great morning person and pops right out of bed. He heads up to wake the boys and start their breakfast. I am not at all a morning person, therefore, I hit snooze three more times and try to build up enough energy to get out from under the warm covers. Laaaaame, I know.
7:15 a.m. - I mozy on upstairs and hang out with the boys while they eat their breakfast. By this time they are already up, dressed and teeth brushed. I chat with them about the upcoming school day, make sure they have everything they need in their backpacks, and also make sure they know the plan for after school. If they are eating something good, I join in. Typically they eat cereal and fruit three days a week and we whip up eggs, french toast or waffles the other two.
I also sync my phone with our bluetooth speaker and listen to iHeartRadio, which is where the early morning dancing comes in. This is crucial for me in getting myself in a good ready-to-tackle-the-day kind of mood.
7:35 a.m. - Once the kiddos are done eating, they grab their bags and their coats {and hats?!} and leave. Queue my favorite moment of the day; the double hug {a.k.a. mama sandwich}.
Sorry you had to witness my morning non-showered bed-head. The internet world will never be the same.
After the boys head out to the bus, I watch them from the window until they are safely on their way to school. We are fortunate enough to have the bus come right to our home both morning and afternoon.
7:45 a.m. I keep that music going because one look at our main living areas and I know I have a quick sprucing up to do. But first, coffee!
This is a crucial moment to the success of my day. Most days are two cup days... As I said, not a morning person.
7:50 a.m. I take ten minutes to clean up the breakfast kitchen mess which consists of loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and wiping up the table, stove and counter. I then turn my attention to the living room which still has the previous night's reading blankets and toys.
This is something I always tried to do before I left for work when I worked full time in the corporate world, as I never enjoyed coming home to a messy kitchen or living room. Now, I can't focus or get anything done working from home if these two primary living spaces are messy. Ten minutes tops is all it takes to take back both rooms and I can move on with my day with a smile. Total mood changer.
8:00 a.m. I hop in the shower and get myself presentable for the day. I will spare you the photos.
Somewhere between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. I take my second cup of coffee to my studio and get to work.
I typically start the day by approving comments, answering questions and skimming through my emails. This is a great way for me to start my work day because connecting with you all is what I love most about what I do. Then, I write my post for the day. In the past I would stay up late and write my posts to have them ready by early the following day, but that wasn't helping my inability to wake up in the mornings to send my kids off to school. So now I write them in the morning and try and have them published by the afternoon. Depending on the post or project, it could take 4-8 hours to write a single post. Crazy I know, but I timed it the day I cleaned out our junk drawer and made a few drawer dividers out of paper. From emptying out the junk drawer, photographing the organizing process, photographing the paper folding process, photographing the afters, editing all of the photos, adding the graphics and then actually writing the post, it took about 6 total hours to clean out a single junk drawer and post about it. I am hoping to learn some tricks to streamline the photo editing process {which seems to take the longest and becomes quite redundant}, but the additional time I take on each post is my way of staying passionate about the details and the day to day blogging process.
My Etsy shop takes a lot of my attention, so although it is hard to show in pictures the amount of time and work it takes and how my time is spread, I am grateful that you talented readers submit your projects for "Reader Space" days and for my wonderful contributing team of writers. I have a lot of big dreams for growing my shop with new instant downloads, updated designs and formats, a slew of tangible products and a whole new website, so having time to focus my attention there is extremely important. I also use those days to contribute to external websites, work on bookkeeping, network, catch up on reader questions and emails and focus on additional projects and collaborations.
12:00ish p.m. I feel extremely blessed when lunch time comes around because my husband works about three blocks away and can come home to eat with me. It is our few minutes of quiet time {or most frequently our finish up a project time}, and we are grateful that we have that time to talk or just watch SportsCenter together. Something I know we are lucky to have and that I never take for granted. Some days we also use this time to prep our food for dinner, which we did on this particular day since we had a football game to go to after work. Taco meat into the crock pot and veggies cut up and put into the fridge and we were set!
12:30 p.m. After lunch, I either head back to my studio to continue my post writing / email answering / printable designing, or I get my creative juices flowing with another project. I still find my job is about 80% computer and 20% hands on, and I am trying to find ways to change that a bit to be more projects and crafting and less administrative. On Tuesday, I knew I had to get my 10 Minute Fall Decorating project finished and photographed because the group planned on having it go live at 5:00 a.m. the following morning. So, that is what I worked on in the afternoon.
I worked on that up until my boys came home from school.
3:15 p.m. The boys start rolling through the front door. I try to have snacks planned the night before to make for easier afternoons. This is one of the most challenging parts of my day. Shifting from work mode back into mom mode and knowing to just shut the computer and put down my phone. Sounds silly, but I really personally struggle with this as I tend to get into a work groove.
And seriously, I can't get over this photo. I managed to catch them doing the same thing at the same time and I about melted inside when I loaded it onto my computer. Wish they could stay young forever.
3:30 p.m. The boys always bring in the mail when they come up the driveway after school, so while they eat their snack, I go through the mail stack. #poetanddidntknowit I also use this time to go through the boy's backpacks and school papers. I write down any special dates on our family fridge calendar {which I found at Target about a month ago} and inside of my planner and pop any important documents into our individual mail bins.
3:45 p.m. The boys and I do a few quick chores. This includes emptying the dishwasher, sweeping or vacuuming, taking out the garbage and putting away any laundry.
4:00 p.m. The boys have free time to play inside or out, or they can work on a craft project. I always let them decide what they want to do to burn off a little after-school energy.
4:30 p.m. This time of day could go two ways. If we don't have a sporting event to go to, we start homework at the table and start making dinner. Tuesday night we had a football game, so we hopped into the car to go watch Preston play.
We traveled a few miles to a neighboring town, so we practiced our spelling words in the car on the way.
5:00 p.m. We cheered on our boy!
I opted to share a night with sports because those nights tend to outweigh the nights we are home. Especially during baseball season when all three boys play, and they all play on different nights and in different locations.
7:00 p.m. We are back home and the boys are finishing up homework while Bryan and I pull out everything for dinner.
The younger two boys typically work at the kitchen table while Preston prefers his desk nook in his bedroom.
7:30 p.m. We try really hard to eat together as a family each night. It isn't always easy and doesn't happen every single night of the week, especially if we have long distances to travel for sports, but meal planning always helps us out tremendously in this area. Whether we are eating turkey wraps in the car or a quick soup and sandwich at home, we do what we can to make this our one moment of the day that we are all together and sharing. I grew up eating home cooked meals and have fond memories of that, so this moment of the day is super important to me.
We keep things casual and simple and either play a dinner game or go around the table sharing our highs and lows from the day.
8:00 p.m - 9:00 p.m. After dinner comes showers, pajamas, teeth and reading. Nights we don't have sports, the entire family pitches in to help clean the kitchen and then we either take a family walk or play a board game. Nights we do have sports, Bryan and I own kitchen duty and have the kids get themselves ready for bed.
Our younger two boys share a bedroom, so they go to bed at different times to keep things easier and less chatty. Our youngest also has a sleeping disorder, so our nighttime routine is basically crucial to bedtime success. While he reads out loud to me in his room, I am pulling out the boy's clothing for the next morning and Bryan is in the kitchen packing lunches {or still cleaning up our dinner mess}.
While Parker reads and falls asleep in his room, Peyton is showering and brushing his teeth. By the time Parker is sleeping, I head to the couch to listen to Peyton read a bit.
Once Peyton goes to bed, I spend some time with Preston, typically just chatting about homework, school and life and by 9:30, all kid's lights are out.
9:30 p.m. I quickly wipe up the bathroom toothpaste mess and then Bryan and I work on a project together. If we don't have a project to work on, we try and find another way to spend time together, which may be watching our favorite shows on Netflix or playing an intense game of dice. This week, we spent our "together time" assembling a piece of furniture for Preston's room {which means he was temporarily relocated to the guest room while we worked}.
11:00 p.m. I check back in on everything and try to squeeze in at least another hour of work. Sometimes I end up losing track of time and it turns into multiple hours.
As I mentioned, this is a fairly typical daily routine for us, but if I am under deadline, everything looks different and my kids may fall asleep in my studio while I work.... {here is a sneak peek at all of the daily planner proofs that never made the cut}
I could definitely find things to do to work 24 hours per day, but I have gotten better about asking for help and knowing when to shut things down and put my family first. The schedule I shared today is my current way of balancing working from home, working on our home and enjoying our home.
I know this just scratches the surface in regards to how much time is put into running a shop and a blog so I will plan on diving in a bit deeper in some of the upcoming blogging series posts.
Have a happy weekend everyone and thank you again for being such a special part of my days!
And because it is just too cool not to share on this very special day, a perfect example of an opportunity I was given due to my blogging venture. This gal may have just flown off to New York, attended an inspirational Better Homes & Gardens workshop with a group of incredibly talented bloggers and friends, and chatted it up with the super fabulous Nate Berkus and his husband, Jeremiah.
#omg #amazing #giddyschoolgirl
And he actually remembered me from my little House Proud appearance which ironically also aired on my blogiversary three years ago today... it's a good day people!
I mean really.... Never in a million years would I have thought that would happen. Ever. In fact, a lot of the amazing things I have experienced over the past five years leave me perma-grinning and pinching myself on a daily basis. And I have this blog and you all to thank for that. Without you, I wouldn't be coming back to this space to share the happenings and projects taking place within our walls. So thank you. From the bottom of my big overflowing heart, I thank you all for being so supportive and good to me.
To celebrate IHeart Organizing turning FIVE today, I am kicking off a small blogging series. Over the next month, I will be sharing some things I have learned along the way {and admit to what I am still clueless about}, and will be answering many of your frequently asked blogging questions. Everything from photography tips to lessons learned to sponsorships and monetizing, I am excited to chat about what I am still so very passionate about.
And because it has already been four years since my last "Day in the Life" post {seriously, how does that even happen?}, that is the post topic of the day today.
A disclaimer. Although I didn't photograph every last bit of singing, dancing, giggles, bickering and temper tantrums that took place throughout the day, I did try to capture as much as possible through my DSLR and iPhone. Maybe next time I will toss in a video or two, completely slipped my mind this round. Because you know you want to witness a good childish meltdown. And see me dance around my living room in my pajamas... Sorry, scratch that last image from your minds.
The day I selected to capture was this week Tuesday. One of the reasons it has taken me so long to do this type of post again, is because no two days are the same. It seems like we are always running here or there or working on something new or trying to hit a deadline.... So I picked a day in the middle of the week which seemed the most typical of our day to day lifestyle. Oh! And sorry if I get wordy. It happens.
6:45 a.m. - The alarm starts going off. My husband is a great morning person and pops right out of bed. He heads up to wake the boys and start their breakfast. I am not at all a morning person, therefore, I hit snooze three more times and try to build up enough energy to get out from under the warm covers. Laaaaame, I know.
7:15 a.m. - I mozy on upstairs and hang out with the boys while they eat their breakfast. By this time they are already up, dressed and teeth brushed. I chat with them about the upcoming school day, make sure they have everything they need in their backpacks, and also make sure they know the plan for after school. If they are eating something good, I join in. Typically they eat cereal and fruit three days a week and we whip up eggs, french toast or waffles the other two.
I also sync my phone with our bluetooth speaker and listen to iHeartRadio, which is where the early morning dancing comes in. This is crucial for me in getting myself in a good ready-to-tackle-the-day kind of mood.
7:35 a.m. - Once the kiddos are done eating, they grab their bags and their coats {and hats?!} and leave. Queue my favorite moment of the day; the double hug {a.k.a. mama sandwich}.
Sorry you had to witness my morning non-showered bed-head. The internet world will never be the same.
After the boys head out to the bus, I watch them from the window until they are safely on their way to school. We are fortunate enough to have the bus come right to our home both morning and afternoon.
7:45 a.m. I keep that music going because one look at our main living areas and I know I have a quick sprucing up to do. But first, coffee!
This is a crucial moment to the success of my day. Most days are two cup days... As I said, not a morning person.
7:50 a.m. I take ten minutes to clean up the breakfast kitchen mess which consists of loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and wiping up the table, stove and counter. I then turn my attention to the living room which still has the previous night's reading blankets and toys.
This is something I always tried to do before I left for work when I worked full time in the corporate world, as I never enjoyed coming home to a messy kitchen or living room. Now, I can't focus or get anything done working from home if these two primary living spaces are messy. Ten minutes tops is all it takes to take back both rooms and I can move on with my day with a smile. Total mood changer.
8:00 a.m. I hop in the shower and get myself presentable for the day. I will spare you the photos.
Somewhere between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. I take my second cup of coffee to my studio and get to work.
I typically start the day by approving comments, answering questions and skimming through my emails. This is a great way for me to start my work day because connecting with you all is what I love most about what I do. Then, I write my post for the day. In the past I would stay up late and write my posts to have them ready by early the following day, but that wasn't helping my inability to wake up in the mornings to send my kids off to school. So now I write them in the morning and try and have them published by the afternoon. Depending on the post or project, it could take 4-8 hours to write a single post. Crazy I know, but I timed it the day I cleaned out our junk drawer and made a few drawer dividers out of paper. From emptying out the junk drawer, photographing the organizing process, photographing the paper folding process, photographing the afters, editing all of the photos, adding the graphics and then actually writing the post, it took about 6 total hours to clean out a single junk drawer and post about it. I am hoping to learn some tricks to streamline the photo editing process {which seems to take the longest and becomes quite redundant}, but the additional time I take on each post is my way of staying passionate about the details and the day to day blogging process.
My Etsy shop takes a lot of my attention, so although it is hard to show in pictures the amount of time and work it takes and how my time is spread, I am grateful that you talented readers submit your projects for "Reader Space" days and for my wonderful contributing team of writers. I have a lot of big dreams for growing my shop with new instant downloads, updated designs and formats, a slew of tangible products and a whole new website, so having time to focus my attention there is extremely important. I also use those days to contribute to external websites, work on bookkeeping, network, catch up on reader questions and emails and focus on additional projects and collaborations.
12:00ish p.m. I feel extremely blessed when lunch time comes around because my husband works about three blocks away and can come home to eat with me. It is our few minutes of quiet time {or most frequently our finish up a project time}, and we are grateful that we have that time to talk or just watch SportsCenter together. Something I know we are lucky to have and that I never take for granted. Some days we also use this time to prep our food for dinner, which we did on this particular day since we had a football game to go to after work. Taco meat into the crock pot and veggies cut up and put into the fridge and we were set!
12:30 p.m. After lunch, I either head back to my studio to continue my post writing / email answering / printable designing, or I get my creative juices flowing with another project. I still find my job is about 80% computer and 20% hands on, and I am trying to find ways to change that a bit to be more projects and crafting and less administrative. On Tuesday, I knew I had to get my 10 Minute Fall Decorating project finished and photographed because the group planned on having it go live at 5:00 a.m. the following morning. So, that is what I worked on in the afternoon.
I worked on that up until my boys came home from school.
3:15 p.m. The boys start rolling through the front door. I try to have snacks planned the night before to make for easier afternoons. This is one of the most challenging parts of my day. Shifting from work mode back into mom mode and knowing to just shut the computer and put down my phone. Sounds silly, but I really personally struggle with this as I tend to get into a work groove.
And seriously, I can't get over this photo. I managed to catch them doing the same thing at the same time and I about melted inside when I loaded it onto my computer. Wish they could stay young forever.
3:30 p.m. The boys always bring in the mail when they come up the driveway after school, so while they eat their snack, I go through the mail stack. #poetanddidntknowit I also use this time to go through the boy's backpacks and school papers. I write down any special dates on our family fridge calendar {which I found at Target about a month ago} and inside of my planner and pop any important documents into our individual mail bins.
3:45 p.m. The boys and I do a few quick chores. This includes emptying the dishwasher, sweeping or vacuuming, taking out the garbage and putting away any laundry.
4:00 p.m. The boys have free time to play inside or out, or they can work on a craft project. I always let them decide what they want to do to burn off a little after-school energy.
4:30 p.m. This time of day could go two ways. If we don't have a sporting event to go to, we start homework at the table and start making dinner. Tuesday night we had a football game, so we hopped into the car to go watch Preston play.
We traveled a few miles to a neighboring town, so we practiced our spelling words in the car on the way.
5:00 p.m. We cheered on our boy!
I opted to share a night with sports because those nights tend to outweigh the nights we are home. Especially during baseball season when all three boys play, and they all play on different nights and in different locations.
7:00 p.m. We are back home and the boys are finishing up homework while Bryan and I pull out everything for dinner.
The younger two boys typically work at the kitchen table while Preston prefers his desk nook in his bedroom.
7:30 p.m. We try really hard to eat together as a family each night. It isn't always easy and doesn't happen every single night of the week, especially if we have long distances to travel for sports, but meal planning always helps us out tremendously in this area. Whether we are eating turkey wraps in the car or a quick soup and sandwich at home, we do what we can to make this our one moment of the day that we are all together and sharing. I grew up eating home cooked meals and have fond memories of that, so this moment of the day is super important to me.
We keep things casual and simple and either play a dinner game or go around the table sharing our highs and lows from the day.
8:00 p.m - 9:00 p.m. After dinner comes showers, pajamas, teeth and reading. Nights we don't have sports, the entire family pitches in to help clean the kitchen and then we either take a family walk or play a board game. Nights we do have sports, Bryan and I own kitchen duty and have the kids get themselves ready for bed.
Our younger two boys share a bedroom, so they go to bed at different times to keep things easier and less chatty. Our youngest also has a sleeping disorder, so our nighttime routine is basically crucial to bedtime success. While he reads out loud to me in his room, I am pulling out the boy's clothing for the next morning and Bryan is in the kitchen packing lunches {or still cleaning up our dinner mess}.
While Parker reads and falls asleep in his room, Peyton is showering and brushing his teeth. By the time Parker is sleeping, I head to the couch to listen to Peyton read a bit.
Once Peyton goes to bed, I spend some time with Preston, typically just chatting about homework, school and life and by 9:30, all kid's lights are out.
9:30 p.m. I quickly wipe up the bathroom toothpaste mess and then Bryan and I work on a project together. If we don't have a project to work on, we try and find another way to spend time together, which may be watching our favorite shows on Netflix or playing an intense game of dice. This week, we spent our "together time" assembling a piece of furniture for Preston's room {which means he was temporarily relocated to the guest room while we worked}.
11:00 p.m. I check back in on everything and try to squeeze in at least another hour of work. Sometimes I end up losing track of time and it turns into multiple hours.
As I mentioned, this is a fairly typical daily routine for us, but if I am under deadline, everything looks different and my kids may fall asleep in my studio while I work.... {here is a sneak peek at all of the daily planner proofs that never made the cut}
I could definitely find things to do to work 24 hours per day, but I have gotten better about asking for help and knowing when to shut things down and put my family first. The schedule I shared today is my current way of balancing working from home, working on our home and enjoying our home.
I know this just scratches the surface in regards to how much time is put into running a shop and a blog so I will plan on diving in a bit deeper in some of the upcoming blogging series posts.
Have a happy weekend everyone and thank you again for being such a special part of my days!
Although my pal, Sarah, is queen of crafting and scrapbooking, it doesn't mean her ideas stop there. I love that what she brings here not only applies to her personal passions, but could also be incorporated within other hobbies and lifestyles as well. Today she is stopping by to share her process for displaying her recent projects within her craft room, but the idea could also be used in a kitchen or office for important memos and reminders. Versatile options are great options! Here she is now!
About this time last year, I shared with you my new system for organizing all the bits and bobs I use for creating scrapbook pages and cards. Since then, the wall above these delightful mason jars has been blank, awaiting some sort of display.
I knew I wanted to hang an empty frame, preferably with some cool detailing. The stars aligned and I managed to snag this frame for half price. I loved the frames bevel and the carved flower detail.
But I was torn: should I fill the center of the open frame with an assortment of smaller frames? Or should I create a kind of open weave memo board on which I could display finished pages and cards? I ultimately opted for the latter, though I plan to display the collage of colorful frames elsewhere in my craft room.
Decision made, I could finally paint the frame. I selected a lovely, sunny yellow, to pick up the dominant accent color in my room. I purchased a can of spray-paint at Michaels, using a 40% off coupon, of course. I also picked up some white and turquoise ribbon to create the grid. I chose two different widths of ribbon – 3/8 inch for the white and 1/4 inch for the turquoise – for added visual interest. I originally planned to get some fun patterned ribbon, but decided that might compete with the craft projects I plan to display.
I started by removing everything from the frame, which included peeling the black paper off the back {my husband’s friend claimed all the pieces I wasn’t using, so luckily nothing went to waste}.
I had initially planned to use my manual staple gun to adhere the ribbon to the back of the frame, but I discovered that the staples used to hold the picture in place would do the job instead. They were evenly spaced and there were enough of them to let me choose exactly the design I wanted for the ribbon, plus they sat high enough to let me thread the ribbon under but not so high that they would prevent the frame from sitting flush to the wall when hung.
Don’t you love it when things work out like that?! But of course I didn’t know about the staples until I removed the backing, so this is a difficult option to plan for. To get the frame ready for painting, I gave it a really good cleaning and a light sanding. Then it was time to paint. My knees aren’t such a fan of squatting on the garage floor, so I placed the frame on a card table, protecting the surface with some pieces of cardboard covered with an old sheet.
I {and by “I” I mean my sweet helper of a husband} gave the frame 5 light layers of paint, which helped avoid drips, holding the can about 12” away from the frame and letting it dry about 10 minutes between layers.
I am absolutely in love with the finish. It has just the sheen I was hoping for and I love the color. And the paint highlighted the flower detail even better than expected. Because the wood frame did have some imperfections, the coverage isn’t 100% perfect. I could have added more layers of paint, but with each layer the flower details because less and less defined. So I decided to embrace the imperfections {I think the experts call it “character”…}. But if you really want that flawless finish, make sure to look for a frame without gouges and run your hand over it to make sure the surface is smooth.
Now it was time for the ribbon grid. I played around with the configuration a bit to see what I liked best. I used a piece of painter’s tape to hold the ribbon in place while I tried different options. If you use ribbon like I did, as opposed to twine or wire, notice that the ribbon has a tendency to twist, so make sure before you permanently adhere it that it’s laying the way you want it to.
For my first attempt, I played around with crossing the ribbon and overlapping it. My original plan was just to use one long length of ribbon, to conserve ribbon. However, had I decided to keep this really random design, I would have actually cut smaller lengths of ribbon for each pass across the frame. It was just too hard to use one length, because I I had to undo all the ribbon just to change one pass. This was definitely an instance of the project determining the process.
But alas, the random design and I weren’t meant to be. I thought I would love it – and it is fun – but I decided I couldn’t handle looking at anything this asymmetrical on a daily basis. One problem {for me} with the random option was I didn’t care for having ribbon strung vertically. So for my next design I wove the white ribbon back and forth through the evenly spaced staples, every other one. Then I did the same with the turquoise ribbon.
And yet… It just felt a little too perfect… After all, this space is all about crafty creativity. So I thought I would give it one more a try. And it was juuuust right.
I actually just left the white ribbon where I had placed it for option #2, woven back and forth through evenly spaced staples. For the turquoise ribbon, I still laced it back and forth, I just chose more random spacing. Because this design was more predictable, I was able to use just one length of white and one length of turquoise.
Once I was happy with the placement of everything, I adhered the ribbon to the frame. I started by tying one end of each ribbon in a tight double knot around the first staple. Then I followed my selected pattern, making sure to pull the ribbon taut as I wove back and forth through the staples, since the ribbon will need to bear the weight of scrapbook pages and cards. Had the frame not already had staples, I would have stapled it in place each time I passed back and forth across the frame. You could also use small finishing nails. When I got to the end of the line, I secured the end with a quick staple, which allowed me to pull the ribbon tighter than I could with just a knot. A couple of quick taps with a hammer and everything was secure. Then I repeated the process for the other ribbon.
Now it was time to hang it on the wall. Since the frame is really light without a picture or glass, I just used regular nails to attach it. If your frame doesn’t already have hangers installed, like mine did, I recommend attaching two hanging brackets along the top backside of the frame. This way you don’t have to worry if items hanging on one side are heavier than the other. I really hit the jackpot with this bargain item!
Now the only thing left to do was hang some of my recently completed projects on my lovely new frame.
To hold the projects in place, I used these colorful magnetic clips I picked up in the office supplies section at Target and small clothes pins from Michael’s craft department. The magnet clips are nice because they won’t damage the paper, which is very important. An added feature that I hadn’t anticipated is that I can use the bottom lip of the frame to bear the weight of lower items. Yet another happy accident.
The frame turned out even better than I hoped for and I’m so excited to finally have a place to display newly finished projects.
I would love to hear from you brilliant I Heart readers: How do you display your finished projects so you can admire them?
"My name is Sarah and I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN with my husband of almost two years, Eric, and our two adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Hermes and Brontë. I am a Communications Consultant by day and by night/weekend/any spare moment, I indulge in my passion for writing, crafting and organizing. I am honored to share with all you dedicated iHeart fans my tips, tricks and secrets for organized crafting, which will not only help you get control of your craft clutter but also allow you to make more efficient and productive use of your precious crafting time. While I am blessed with an entire craft room, I promise to explain how all the solutions I share can be tailored to your specific situation, whether it be a dedicated room, a small storage space or mobile crafting. In the meantime, Happy Crafting!"
About this time last year, I shared with you my new system for organizing all the bits and bobs I use for creating scrapbook pages and cards. Since then, the wall above these delightful mason jars has been blank, awaiting some sort of display.
I knew I wanted to hang an empty frame, preferably with some cool detailing. The stars aligned and I managed to snag this frame for half price. I loved the frames bevel and the carved flower detail.
But I was torn: should I fill the center of the open frame with an assortment of smaller frames? Or should I create a kind of open weave memo board on which I could display finished pages and cards? I ultimately opted for the latter, though I plan to display the collage of colorful frames elsewhere in my craft room.
Decision made, I could finally paint the frame. I selected a lovely, sunny yellow, to pick up the dominant accent color in my room. I purchased a can of spray-paint at Michaels, using a 40% off coupon, of course. I also picked up some white and turquoise ribbon to create the grid. I chose two different widths of ribbon – 3/8 inch for the white and 1/4 inch for the turquoise – for added visual interest. I originally planned to get some fun patterned ribbon, but decided that might compete with the craft projects I plan to display.
I started by removing everything from the frame, which included peeling the black paper off the back {my husband’s friend claimed all the pieces I wasn’t using, so luckily nothing went to waste}.
I had initially planned to use my manual staple gun to adhere the ribbon to the back of the frame, but I discovered that the staples used to hold the picture in place would do the job instead. They were evenly spaced and there were enough of them to let me choose exactly the design I wanted for the ribbon, plus they sat high enough to let me thread the ribbon under but not so high that they would prevent the frame from sitting flush to the wall when hung.
Don’t you love it when things work out like that?! But of course I didn’t know about the staples until I removed the backing, so this is a difficult option to plan for. To get the frame ready for painting, I gave it a really good cleaning and a light sanding. Then it was time to paint. My knees aren’t such a fan of squatting on the garage floor, so I placed the frame on a card table, protecting the surface with some pieces of cardboard covered with an old sheet.
I {and by “I” I mean my sweet helper of a husband} gave the frame 5 light layers of paint, which helped avoid drips, holding the can about 12” away from the frame and letting it dry about 10 minutes between layers.
I am absolutely in love with the finish. It has just the sheen I was hoping for and I love the color. And the paint highlighted the flower detail even better than expected. Because the wood frame did have some imperfections, the coverage isn’t 100% perfect. I could have added more layers of paint, but with each layer the flower details because less and less defined. So I decided to embrace the imperfections {I think the experts call it “character”…}. But if you really want that flawless finish, make sure to look for a frame without gouges and run your hand over it to make sure the surface is smooth.
Now it was time for the ribbon grid. I played around with the configuration a bit to see what I liked best. I used a piece of painter’s tape to hold the ribbon in place while I tried different options. If you use ribbon like I did, as opposed to twine or wire, notice that the ribbon has a tendency to twist, so make sure before you permanently adhere it that it’s laying the way you want it to.
For my first attempt, I played around with crossing the ribbon and overlapping it. My original plan was just to use one long length of ribbon, to conserve ribbon. However, had I decided to keep this really random design, I would have actually cut smaller lengths of ribbon for each pass across the frame. It was just too hard to use one length, because I I had to undo all the ribbon just to change one pass. This was definitely an instance of the project determining the process.
But alas, the random design and I weren’t meant to be. I thought I would love it – and it is fun – but I decided I couldn’t handle looking at anything this asymmetrical on a daily basis. One problem {for me} with the random option was I didn’t care for having ribbon strung vertically. So for my next design I wove the white ribbon back and forth through the evenly spaced staples, every other one. Then I did the same with the turquoise ribbon.
And yet… It just felt a little too perfect… After all, this space is all about crafty creativity. So I thought I would give it one more a try. And it was juuuust right.
I actually just left the white ribbon where I had placed it for option #2, woven back and forth through evenly spaced staples. For the turquoise ribbon, I still laced it back and forth, I just chose more random spacing. Because this design was more predictable, I was able to use just one length of white and one length of turquoise.
Once I was happy with the placement of everything, I adhered the ribbon to the frame. I started by tying one end of each ribbon in a tight double knot around the first staple. Then I followed my selected pattern, making sure to pull the ribbon taut as I wove back and forth through the staples, since the ribbon will need to bear the weight of scrapbook pages and cards. Had the frame not already had staples, I would have stapled it in place each time I passed back and forth across the frame. You could also use small finishing nails. When I got to the end of the line, I secured the end with a quick staple, which allowed me to pull the ribbon tighter than I could with just a knot. A couple of quick taps with a hammer and everything was secure. Then I repeated the process for the other ribbon.
Now it was time to hang it on the wall. Since the frame is really light without a picture or glass, I just used regular nails to attach it. If your frame doesn’t already have hangers installed, like mine did, I recommend attaching two hanging brackets along the top backside of the frame. This way you don’t have to worry if items hanging on one side are heavier than the other. I really hit the jackpot with this bargain item!
Now the only thing left to do was hang some of my recently completed projects on my lovely new frame.
To hold the projects in place, I used these colorful magnetic clips I picked up in the office supplies section at Target and small clothes pins from Michael’s craft department. The magnet clips are nice because they won’t damage the paper, which is very important. An added feature that I hadn’t anticipated is that I can use the bottom lip of the frame to bear the weight of lower items. Yet another happy accident.
The frame turned out even better than I hoped for and I’m so excited to finally have a place to display newly finished projects.
I would love to hear from you brilliant I Heart readers: How do you display your finished projects so you can admire them?
"My name is Sarah and I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN with my husband of almost two years, Eric, and our two adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Hermes and Brontë. I am a Communications Consultant by day and by night/weekend/any spare moment, I indulge in my passion for writing, crafting and organizing. I am honored to share with all you dedicated iHeart fans my tips, tricks and secrets for organized crafting, which will not only help you get control of your craft clutter but also allow you to make more efficient and productive use of your precious crafting time. While I am blessed with an entire craft room, I promise to explain how all the solutions I share can be tailored to your specific situation, whether it be a dedicated room, a small storage space or mobile crafting. In the meantime, Happy Crafting!"
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
