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Junk Drawer Solution

1/15/2016

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We all have a junk drawer somewhere in our house!  Most junk drawers reside in the kitchen and they usually grow until you literally can't close them anymore!  If your junk drawer has gotten to that point, this organizational contraption may be calling your name.  It's definitely a thrifty item, selling for just $9.99 at The Container Store.  It has two layers giving you extra storage for staying organized.  Finding this was inspiration for me to clean my junk drawer(s)!  Once I discarded what I didn't need/used and found homes for items that didn't belong in there, I ended up with the perfect amount of "junk" for my new organized junk drawer!  The results were great!!  
Purchase The Everything Drawer Organizer Here
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Undeck the Halls

12/27/2015

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It may not quite be time for those Christmas decorations to come down, but it's right around the corner!  Take the time this year to organize while you put your decorations away so next year’s “Decking the Halls” will go smoothly and be more joyous! Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind as you "Undeck the Halls".
​Purge Decorations - Take a look at the decorations you didn’t use this year and don’t put anything away until you have made decisions about everything that didn’t get used this Christmas.  Go through each item and decide if you are going to keep, donate or hand-down to a family member or friend.  If you decide you are going to keep an item, really ask yourself if it brings you joy?  When was the last time you used it?  And when do you anticipate using it again?  
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​Storage Containers - Take a look at the storage containers you currently have for your decorations.  Are they practical for organizing Christmas decorations?  Are they too big, too small?  Do you have enough?  Too many? There are many containers designed precisely for storing Christmas decorations and now is a great time to go out and purchase some at half-price.  They do sell quick so hit the stores fast! 
​Take Pictures - Take pictures of each decorated area in your home so it’s easy to remember what you did for next year.  If you have an arranged mantle, staircase, set of Christmas pictures on the wall, etc., snap a photo to make decorating that much easier.  You don’t have to decorate exactly the same way each year, but the pictures provide a nice guide to start with, especially if you are pressed for time.  Once you have developed your pictures, store them in an easy-to-find spot with your decorations.
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​Ornaments - Though I am thrifty, I do spring for plastic ornament storage containers.  I like the stackable ones that have about 12 or 16 compartments in each one.  However, I load each compartment up with multiple ornaments.  Of course, anything that is super fragile or super special, gets special care, but otherwise, they get grouped together.  They sit on a shelf for 11 months so I don’t get too worried about anything getting broken.  You can also take out the dividers in these boxes and use the larger spaces to store larger or fragile ornaments.  Plastic grocery bags are great for storing fragile ornaments.  You can wrap them loosely in their own bag and then gently place them into a layer of your stack-able container. 
​Lights - I also use grocery bags for lights.  Each string of lights is loosely wrapped up and put in its own bag.  All of the bags go into a large plastic container marked “Christmas Lights”.  This method has always worked nicely for me and is super simple. 
​Garland - As you take down your garland (fake), make sure to label where you have taken it down from so you can easily identify where it goes up next year.
​Label - Finally, group like items together and label.  I don’t recommend labeling your containers “Christmas Decorations”, but rather “Christmas Nativity Scene” or “Christmas Village”, etc.  Be specific and next year you will be glad you were!  
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All Wrapped Up!

11/28/2015

 
Here is a simple, organized way to keep your Christmas wrapping paper and accessories neatly together and portable.  I know sometimes I have to "hide" when I wrap and other times I want to wrap in front of the TV and sometimes I'll even wrap at the kitchen table.  This portable system can travel through the house with me!  I choose this particular garment bag because it has five pockets, 4 smaller ones on one side and a larger one on the other. I'm able to store scissors, tape, to/from labels, ribbons and bows in the various pockets.  I have everything I need in one tidy space!

Organizing Blank Greeting Cards

11/8/2015

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A client of mine wanted some help organizing her blank greeting cards which got me thinking about my own greeting card collection.  I knew (or thought) my cards were fairly organized, so I pulled out my box of cards.......... and then another box and yet another box and then an expandable folder.  So maybe I wasn't quite as organized as I thought.  It was time for a new system!  I decided to make a greeting card filing system that would allow me to easily find a card by category.  After going through all the cards, I realized that most of them were so old and out-of-date that I only had a couple of dozen that I would actually use.  I sorted the remaining cards by categories and cut some kraft poster board to make dividers.  I cut out "tabs" from the poster board, attached small chalk-board clothes pins and marked the card categories on them.  A simpler version would be to use a label maker to mark the tabs or simply write the category names directly onto the tabs.  Much better!  I now have one neatly organized box of greeting cards with plenty of space to buy more! 
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My Weekly "Thrifty" Deal - Accessory Hangers

11/4/2015

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Yes, they're everywhere, but I couldn't resist picking these up at, no other place other than, ALDI's, yes ALDI's! Why? Because in regular ALDI fashion, they were incredibly cheap selling at $2.99 for the set of three!  I knew I could come up with some fun, thrifty way to use them.  The set comes with a tie, belt and scarf hanger.  I already have my scarves the way I like them so I didn't need another scarf solution.  And I don't own any ties so I had to think a little outside the box.  So here's what I came up with!  The scarf holder makes a great panty hose/tights hanger! It's easy to quickly look through your various tights while even having them hanging in your closet next to the clothes you are going to match them with!  I decided on a head-band holder instead of ties.  I'm always rummaging through a bin of headbands that I have to pull out of a closet to even see, so this was a great solution for me.  Thee headbands are now all there on easy display!  And finally belts.  I love belts!  This takes up practically no room hanging in your closet with the rest of your things and it makes each belt very visible for easy belt choosing!
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Dream Drawer - Spring Loaded Drawer Dividers

10/27/2015

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Before Drawer Dividers
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After Drawer Dividers
It’s not that rummaging through 50 similar colored tank tops in my dimly lit bedroom (so not to wake the sleeping husband) is not a good time, because it is, honestly!  But I thought I would give these Spring Loaded Drawer Dividers a try, none-the-less.  Ok, so they took SOME of the fun out of the morning hunt for the ideal tank top, but I was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of the blog!  Clearly they did the job they were designed to do.  I can definitely see the appeal over my former method so they now are my first item on my list of “Favorite Things”.  Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens and Spring Loaded Drawer Dividers!!  I got these on sale at TJMaxx for $20, which honestly is a little over the budget for The Thrifty Organizer, but since they are already in my drawer, I’m going to resist shopping around this time!!
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    My Favorite Things

    I never imagined myself as a blogger but as I began my journey as a professional organizer, there is just too much fun, innovative and  often "thrifty" organizational knick-knacks, tools, and "must-haves", that I simply had to start sharing!  My goal is to feature at least one item or trick per week, but we'll see if I can contain myself.  If you love to organize, you'll understand what I mean when I say "contain", if you don't, well you've come to the right place! Hopefully these tricks of the trade will inspire you! Enjoy!

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