Picking my organizing brain!

My friends like to pick my brain whenever I'm over at their homes.  They "casually" mention that they just can't seem to come up with anything to organize a certain space, then take me in and show me the dilemma.  Well, I DO love to solve a good organizing dilemma and so that always gets me thinking how we can make this work for them.

Search for it!

Happy Labor Day!

I have been blogging for almost a year and a half.  I post three days a week.  So, that's a lot of stuff on this here blog!  Some of you have just recently joined the OMF Revolution!  {I made that up, you know.}

I wanted to remind you that this is a blog meant to be a resource to you.  That means if you think "Hmmm, I wonder if she's ever had a post on organizing a linen closet?" you can simply go to the bottom of the blog to the "Search" area. Type in any word you want, and WHAM! It will pull up all the posts with that word in it!

It's pretty neat, I must admit! It's WAY at the bottom of the page.  If you are an email subscriber, you MUST go on to the blog and actually search that way.  

Let me also remind you, again...that I have a Facebook page with 1500+ of you {and growing every day!!!}.  We have a great time chatting about all the fun stuff I've found to help organize your space. If you ever want some GREAT organizing inspiration or ideas, go to my Pinterest Board, called Organizing Madness.  

I also have heard from a few of you who'd like more ideas how to organize "on the cheap".  So, I have created a label on the right side bar of the blog called "Cheap-O".  If you click on that label, it will pull up all the cheap organizational projects I have done - get it? Cheap-O = Cheap Organization! So clever, I know!

By the way, have any of you noticed that new "favicon" that has appeared when you go to OMF?  You are thinking, what in the world is a favicon?? It's that little button next to the URL address. Well, that's about it for today!




Parties:

A Bowl Full of Lemons
Tidy Mom 

Whoopsie! Not quite so organized!

I realize that I am supposed to be organized, since I am trying to be an example to others and inspire YOU to organize.  But, hey...I'm human! I'm not perfect and there are just places in this house that I make a mess - yes, ME!  For example...this is our entry dresser.  

Do you remember how I showed you every drawer was arranged just so?

What happened?  Well, see that big gap of space in the back? The nice trays got pushed back and I began using it to hold my stuff for when I go walking each morning and just sort of shoved it in!  Oops! I knew that wasn't going to work and it started driving me crazy!

I was at Target the other day and saw these cute cracker baskets for $1 each! I got them...it wasn't quite what I was looking for, since I really wanted a plastic version in this size but after all the errands I had been running there was nothing in any of the stores that would work.

See? The basket on the far right holds all the things that I need every morning I walk. I just grab it and set it on the table along with my water bottle and house key so that in the morning I just grab and go up "the hill of death."

Everything in it's place. You can see my Iphone strap I use when I walk, my prayer cards, and headphones.

I also have my extra Iphone case, bluetooth, and extra headphones. Theses are all things I rarely use!

Have you ever seen this?  This is velcro on a roll.  My hubby, who helps with the sound technician-y stuff at our church uses this stuff ALL the time for tying cables quickly so they are neat.

It makes an easy way to tie up something that you'll use often, plus you can make it the size you need by just cutting off what you need! Indeed a neat organizing tip, huh?

So, what you do think? Have you got any drawers that need a tweak?







Parties:
Organize with Sandy 
A Bowl Full of Lemons 
Raising Homemakers
Serenity Now 
Organizing Junkie 
Iheart Naptime 

Magnetic attraction

I must admit that I readily throw stuff out in a heartbeat if I can't find a good use for it! But, thanks to the land of blog, I am now finding uses for things I never dreamed of! I will take credit for this next one, though! This one I thought up of all on my own - which may or may not have been thought up by some of you!

OK, so we get all kinds of those magnets that have calendars, reminders or what-not on them - especially from church.  The idea is that you put it on the frig and have it all year with dates to the event. But, when the year is over you no longer need it!

I hate to waste the magnet - it's big - but I also don't need it anymore! So, I use it for labeling my metal shelving!  I put the label right onto the magnet, like this:

Then, just take the scissors and cut it out and stick it to the metal!  Easy-peezy!

Ok...so I must admit something before I show you more.  You will laugh, but I did NOT realize that the front of the shelf in my frig was NOT metal until I tried to hang my magnet on it.  Good grief, Becky! It's PLASTIC!  I was totally fooled for the last 15+ years we've owned this frig! I still don't want to adhere a sticker-label directly on to the plastic, so I just turned it over and put tape on it!

You caught me! OH, and my tile counter-tops need to be cleaned a bit, eh?  Ok, so in my freezer they ARE metal and I put them in there, too!

And I also use them in my laundry room.  I like them because I can move them around quickly and easily should I decide to change things up!

What do you think?

Parties:
Ask Anna 
A Bowl Full of Lemons 
Women Living Well 
Organize and Decorate Everything 
House of Hepworths 
Organizing Junkie

Commenting on YOUR comments!

What a wonderful response I got back from so many of you last week about leaving comments! 

Source: photojojo.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

I now have some GREAT future ideas to do that some of you asked for!

Here are some of the things you asked for:


1.  Creating a "landing zone" without walls in your entry

2.  Keeping your car/van organized {I've had that one on my thoughts for awhile now}

3.  Getting teenagers motivated to stay organized and keep their rooms clean

4.  Inexpensive organizing containers

5.  Keeping your bedroom clean when hubby isn't always so helpful in keeping it up.

Source: bhg.com via OrganizingMadeFun on Pinterest

Keep the ideas coming! I'm definitely listening. Again, this blog is a resource for YOU - and there are MANY of you all over the WORLD!!  That is so exciting.  One of the ways that I have made blog "friends" is from commenting.  Really, some of my favorites we regularly comment on each other's blogs and have become Facebook friends and hope to meet each other {ONE I already have} some day soon!

Source: smallplacestyle.blogspot.com via Hello on Pinterest

Here is a sneak peak of some other ideas I have:

1.  Organizing my business {I'm a piano teacher}

2.  Organizing the frig/freezer


3.  Organizing medical bills


4.  Organizing my DOG {yes, I am THAT crazy!}


5.  Organizing in the bathroom


6.  Schedules...for all kinds of stuff


7.  Organizing for the rest of our family room

8.  Being too organized! {Did I just type that?}




There's more, believe it or not - but this is a sneak peak of what is going on in my head! This FRIDAY, I'll be featuring some of the top toy-clean out spaces that have been linked up or emailed to me!  It's not too late to link up to the party - it runs until Wednesday morning!

By the way, I'm guest posting over at CSI Projects! Go check out my tutorial on organizing headbands!

Comments obliged!

I LOVE my readers!  You are all some super, fantastic, wonderful ladies {yes, 99.9% of you are ladies}.  I love how some of you send me sweet emails of encouragement.  I feel so privileged and honored to be able to share with so many bloggers, blog-lovers, and readers about how I just LOVE to organize.

Source

I appreciate that all of you READ this blog...many use it as a resource.  That is exactly what it is intended for.  It is my intent for you to think "how should I organize under my sink?" and then search for that on the blog and find it!

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Some people just need motivation to get some projects done around the house.  Some like to hear about new products, new organizing websites, or crazy organizing tips!

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But, I want to really know what you think of stuff - of course, keeping it clean and nice - about what I'm showing you.  I wonder, sometimes, "did anyone READ what I posted?"  Yes, my statistics on Blogger SHOWS thousands of people came and saw the post, but only a handful will actually say anything.  

It's not that I NEED email...trust me, I've got plenty.  I just need to make sure that I am giving you relevant content!  I want to be sure to know that I am listening to your requests. Plus, I try to email back just about everyone who leaves a comment - unless I'm super busy that day then it will take me a little longer! Also, anytime one of you leaves me a comment with a link to a blog post, I ALWAYS go over and check it out - and often leave YOU a comment!  

Please email me anytime if you have a request of something you'd like to see organized.  Chances are, I've either thought about it or I'm planning it - I've got ideas planned for the next six months!  But, I'm happy to throw in a request or idea once in awhile!

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If you've got a great organized space that you'd like to show off....PLEASE let me know. Feel free to come by my Facebook page cause there are lots of fun things I post there that you don't see here, too!  Oh, and my Pinterest pins are always fun to follow too! 







<a href="http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz114/beckybarnfather/Blocks-1.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>

Timers! Blessed timers!

Timers....I LOVE timers! I have a LOT of them too.  Today I want to show you this wonderful tool and how it can really help you better organize your time, your kids, and whatever else is around your house!

First up, is my ALL time favorite timer.  This timer can actually have three timers going all at the same time.  It sits on my kitchen counter and does a lot of work.  I can set the timer for two different things I'm cooking and then a time-out timer! Or, it can help me set a timer for when my laundry is done {it's downstairs in the basement so I can't hear when it's done}, another for stuff I'm cooking, and a third one to remind me of when I need to get off the computer and start a new project!

My other timer is in the kids' bathroom.  This one is to keep one of my children moving in the morning.  This kid is S-L-O-W and DISTRACTED and I have to keep pushing them and pushing to get them out the door! I set it for ten-minute increments {generally} and give the task. It's PLENTY of time and helps keep them moving.  

Another timer I have is on my light in the front living room window.  I keep this one on from 5 PM to 7 AM.  This is nice to have on as a big night light, or when we come home late I can see our house from far off, but mostly it's a good idea to have lights on a timer to keep "bad guys" from knowing if you are there or not :)

I have yet another timer in our family room on a light.  This one goes on around 5 PM, off again at 10 PM {our general bedtime}, again at 5:30 AM, and off again at 7 AM.  This one does the whole "throw off the potential bad guys thing" but I mostly have it to always have a light on in the darkest part of the house. When we get home from being gone for a long time during the day or from going out to dinner, it's nice to have this one on to see our way through the house.  I also have it on in the morning to see where I'm going!

The next one is outside on our deck.  This goes on around 5:30 PM and off at 10:30 PM and turns on the pretty lights I've hung around the patio.  It is so pretty at night that I love looking out every night to see it!

Another outdoor timer is the one that lights up the kids' playhouse.  It's really dark in that area of the yard at night and I have lights all around the outside and on the inside to light it up.  We have our family fellowship group here once a month and the kids are outside in the dark playing so this goes on "at dusk" and stays on for four hours after.  I can set it however many hours I need - we use it for Christmas lights in December.

OK...so my last timer I'm going to share with you is a secret that I've used on both my kids to get them to stay in their rooms until a specified time in the morning.  When my son was just around 2 years old, we moved him up to a "big boy" bed.  The only problem with our early riser?  Well, he woke up at 5:30 in the morning and came up to our bedroom!!  Ummm,that is just NOT going to make it for me!  So, I saw this idea about TEN years ago in a magazine and made it into my own way. 

Adam in his "big boy" bed. He started at 2 years old, but this is when he was 4.

I bought a timer {digital works best, but the others are fine} and put one of his lamps in his room on the timer {it was a lamp I didn't use much and kept in the corner}.  Well, the first time I set it for 5:40 AM.  So, when he came up to our bedroom, I walked him downstairs to his room and then laid down with him and "waited" until his light came on and said "OK, time to get up!" Then, the next day I moved it by 5 minutes to 5:45 AM and did the same thing. He is autistic and at the time couldn't even talk....and HE got it in two times! Each day I added another 5 minutes until it was 6:45 AM and he would either go back to sleep or was allowed to "read" books I left him while he was sleeping until the light came on.  

My daughter in her "big girl bed" at age 22 months!

It gave me a MUCH more predictable morning - remember I'm a scheduler! I was able to get up at my time {6 AM} and do my Bible study, get myself up and ready, or showered.  Once he could read 7:00 on the clock, around age 4, he could wait until then to get up on his own.  Viola! My kids STILL aren't allowed to get out of bed {only to go potty} until 7 AM! It's pretty ingrained into them!

So, timers...yes, they are amazing! I have to tell you that sometimes I set a timer and it goes off...my husband will tell me that it's going off and I can't remember WHY I set a timer! Ha, ha! Most of the time I figure it out, though! So, what do you think? Do you use timers a lot, too?

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