Wrapping Up the School Year

     
As the school year closes, it's a good time to wrap up end-of-year activities. Even if you don't have kids in school, many activities take a break for the summer - a perfect time to put closure on those activities.

If you volunteer, declutter and organize any paperwork for your position. If you are passing that position on to someone else, hand off that paperwork  so the transition goes smoothly.

If you've taken a class, organize your class notes and related material. Look over your notes for action points you want to take away from the class.


If you have school-age children, sit down together and look over school papers, projects and artwork you have saved. Determine an acceptable amount to save and work with your child to determine which masterpieces to keep. If you wish, make a scrapbook of the year.

If there are too keepsakes many for your comfort, take pictures of the rest and put them in a photo album. Or send them to relatives or soldiers. Or create placemats, lamp shades, collages, etc. with them.

Print photos you want to keep from this year and divide into categories. Or copy to CDs or DVDs or another medium. Organize according to activities. Remove these pictures from your camera to make room for your summer fun.

If you haven't done so already, evaluate summer clothes for the family. Get rid of those that don't work and fill in the blanks with new ones. While you're at it, if other clothes are outgrown, get rid of those also. Donate, hand them down - whatever, but get them out of the house!

Finally, celebrate the end of school! Make something special, decorate, do something silly, make certificates to celebrate milestones. Whatever you do, celebrate all the work each of you has accomplished during the school year.

More on wrapping up:
Planning an Intentional Summer for Your Child
Managing Paper, Part 2
Organize a Fun Activity List

Hoarders Plead Guilty to Child Cruelty

  
I've read about people dying in house fires because their clutter wouldn't allow them to get out or be rescued. This is the first I've read about hoarding becoming child cruelty. The following details an English couple narrowly escaping prison because of their excessive possessions.

"A couple whose obsessive hoarding cluttered the house until their four children had to eat their meals on the stairs, have narrowly avoided a prison sentence.

A man aged 47 and his partner aged 46 were described as 'slovenly' yesterday by a judge who had been shown pictures of their home. Piles of clothes filled the bedrooms, and toys and bric-a-brac picked up at car boot sales made conditions cramped throughout the house.

The couple, from Bedfordshire, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in Central London to four charges of child cruelty by providing inappropriate living conditions for the children between September 2007 and September 2011.

Judge John Bevan said that the couple appeared to blame each other and told them that they were lucky not to have been sent to prison.

'The evidence demonstrates, and one only has to look at the photographs, that you were slovenly,' he said. 'The photographs are dreadful. There was nowhere to eat food other than on the stairs.'

Police and social workers who visited the three-bedroom terrace house found the children eating their meals on the stairs because the kitchen was so cluttered. The children, who are all aged under 16, cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Judge Bevan told the father: 'As an ambulance technician, you should have known better.'

Addressing the mother, he said: 'You were addicted to car boot sales and clutter. The children were unkempt and untidy. Despite claiming you were suffering depression, you were not prevented from going to car boot sales and making the situation worse and worse.'

They were given six-month suspended prison sentences and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work each, in what is believed to be a first such ruling related to hoarding.

Charles Ward-Jackson, for the prosecution, said the house was 'extremely untidy' but that it was clean. The couple ignored repeated warnings after social workers visited the house on a number of occasions.

Judge Bevan said: 'He has got money problems — she seems to spend it all at car boot sales. She shows a number of characteristics common in individuals who hoard, frequently shopping, visiting car boot sales on a weekly basis.'

Bozzie Sheffi, representing the mother, said that her client suffered from depression and was exhausted.

The couple had appeared in court after being bailed, and Judge Bevan told them: 'You can count yourselves fortunate that you are leaving by the same door you came in through.'"

More on hoarding:
Are You Turning into a Hoarder? Find Out.
5 Causes of Disorganization
Hoarding - There are No Easy Answers!

Storage Ideas for Crafts and Art Supplies

Terri, one of my blog followers, asked for some help on organizing craft and art supplies. I'll do a couple of blogs on this, and we'll start with storage ideas. The following websites were mentioned on a NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) chat. I've chosen some creative storage products from each one.

Craftmates is one of the best organizational storage solutions for small supplies such as brads and buttons. I use these screw on containers for beads - they're easy to remove and put back, unlike flat divided containers with one lid.

Cropper Hopper, has everything from furniture to embellishments, but specializes in flat and embellishment storage. Left to right, first row: Paint and Dabber Holder, Embellishment Bags, Zip 'n Flip Embellishment Bags. Second row: Ribbon Revealer, Small Sticker Bin, 10-Drawer Rolling Cart.

Creativity, Inc., aka Crop in Style, has been around for the past 10 years and has led the way with wheeled totes and paper storage. Left to right: Cube with four inserts (paper storage), Tote to transport paper and tools, Pen caddy.

Fiskars, is great for cutting systems and tool storage. Left to right: Scissor/tool storage, Embossing Organizer, Hobby Holder.




Archival Methods, has everything archival for photo and memorabilia boxes, in addition to long-term album storage. Left to right: Archival Tissue, Snap-Lock Hanging Files for Photos, Slides, Prints and Documents.

Archival Supplies is similar to Archival Methods, but has a bigger selection of supplies. Left to right: Archival Document Storage Boxes, Vertical Filing System - Wall Rack.




Two Peas in a Bucket Left to right: Wall Clip Hangers for Paper, Embellishment Organizer.


That gets us started on storage ideas. We'll talk some more about storing and organizing crafts in an upcoming blog. In the meantime, what are your clever ideas on the subject? Subscribers, click the title to comment at the end of the original blog.

More on crafts:
Saving Time by Cutting Out Craft Clean Up
Craft Storage
Organizing Your Ribbon

Craft Storage

A few months ago I came across some containers that are perfect for storing small craft items - beads, scrapbooking/card-making items, etc.


They are clear acrylic circular containers that stack and screw onto each other. The advantages:
- you can see all your supplies at a glance
- ease of removing and replacing contents
- compact, consistent storage
- reasonable price.

I bought this set at Hobby Lobby for $6.99. I've heard they are also available at Walmart.

I had previously used flat plastic boxes with multiple compartments. In order to see the contents, you had to open the lid. Removing items like small beads were difficult and even harder to replace. Many times they would fall into the sections next to them.

Some people use a drawer unit designed for nails, screws, and like items. It must be mounted on the wall or placed on a surface. If mounted on the wall, it conserves space, but may not be the look you're going for. Storing it on a table takes up valuable work space.

I store my circular containers horizontally in a drawer. Even though they are a couple of layers deep, it's easy to see what I want at a glance. If you store like items together in the same column, all you have to do is pick up a column and you're ready to go!

I might even decide to use them for storing dried herbs! How about office supplies? OK, I'd better stop.

What do you use to store your craft items? Subscribers click here to comment on the original blog.

Other crafty ideas:
Saving Time by Cutting Out Craft Clean Up
Organizing Your Ribbon

Get Organized Month 2009 - Decluttering Magazines

Decluttering magazines is something I'm attempting to do throughout the year. I'm not keeping on top of it, so I need to whittle down the quantity that enter my house.

If you have the same problem, here's how to get started;

1. Go through your magazines and toss those you know you don't need or want any more. To double your time, do this task while watching something on TV or another activity that lends itself to multi-tasking. I take them along when I'm riding in the car for a few minutes or when I know I might be waiting.

2. As you're going through your magazines, ask yourself if you really want to continue the subscriptions you have. If you don't have time to read your magazines, it's wasting your money and cluttering up your house! I've recently let several subscriptions lapse because I just don't have time to keep up with them. I'm also going to cancel a newspaper that we're not reading.

3. For those magazines that are left, tear out the pages to keep or read. Categorize them into like groups: recipes to try, organizing ideas, etc.

4. For those articles or ideas you want to keep on a long term basis, make files for each different category or create a binder for decorating ideas, scrapbooking examples, etc. Use plastic protector sheets and just slide the articles/ideas into the sheets. If you place a piece of paper in the protector sheet, you can store an idea on each side.

5. If there are entire magazines you want to keep, get some magazine boxes and label them accordingly. Give yourself a limit on what you will keep. For example, if you decide to keep one year's worth of a magazine, remove the oldest one when you receive and have read the newest one.

6. Decide if you want to organize your magazines by magazine titles, topics, or by month (if you want to look at ideas, recipes, etc. seasonally).

7. Keep your current magazines in a magazine rack or box. When I have a few moments, I'll pick up a magazine and go through a few pages.

Do you have tips that keep your magazine clutter to a minimum? (If you receive this by email and want to leave a comment, this link will take you to my blog.)

If you have further decluttering needs, please see our 1-2-3...Get Organized series.

Organizing Your Ribbon

Are you a crafter? Have lots of ribbon? You must check out a blog called Stamp with Shelly (click the title above). The title of the post is "Confessions of a Ribbon Addict."

Shelly has taken drawers of ribbon and organized them on one device that spins. Not only does she hang her ribbon on it, but embroidery thread, stickers, and other items. She has them available and accessible at a glance! And what a space saver!

You have to see it to appreciate it - she has pictures showing the process and the final product.

Thinking Through Your Closets

Hope you had a wonderful and restful holiday weekend! We had some friends visit - the parents of our son-in-law. The weather was wonderful and we visited a nearby mansion and grounds, our local riverfront, a fabulous Italian restaurant, and our town's Memorial Day Parade.

Today I helped a client rethink her office and several closets. The thought of attacking these areas were overwhelming her and were robbing her of peace of mind.

My client determined her vision for her office: photography, scrapbooking, and the computer/desk area. We removed everything from her office closet that didn't contribute to her vision for her office - clothing, linens, ironing gear among other things.

We grouped cameras and related cords and recordings together. We grouped office supplies together. Several shelves were designated for scrapbooking supplies. And a shelf for computer programs and instructions.

My client is going to buy some clear plastic shoe boxes at the dollar store to store scrapbooking supplies, camera cords, earphones, memory sticks, and other groups of small items. And she is going to bring a five-foot table from her basement into the room for scrapbooking.

We determined a purpose for each of the other closets we decluttered. That made it easy to determine what belonged and didn't belong in each closet. We organized like items together and removed unwanted items to be donated, tossed or put in another location. My client planned to make a trip to Good Will and the consignment shop this afternoon to get those unwanted items out of her house.

In four hours we decluttered four closets - what peace of mind!

The Final Review of Organizers

My final review of organizers is about Cozi, a computer-based program that is available as a software download or on the web. Cozi coordinates family and work schedules, with a different color for each family member or other important persons or groups.

It syncs with Outlook, and is accessible from any computer with internet access or any mobile phone. You can even call an 800 number and have something on your calendar or lists texted to your phone or read to you over the phone – recipes, directions, whatever!

You can send messages and reminders to family members, work associates, or the carpool from Cozi Messages – to individuals or a group.

Cozi Lists allows you to make to-do lists, grocery lists, birthday lists, and anything else you need to remember. You can transfer ingredients from a recipe to your grocery list, too.

Document special moments with pictures and short descriptions in your Cozi Family Journal. No scissors or glue needed! And Cozi automatically generates a screen-saver collage from your pictures. When you find a combination you like, you can send the collage to family or friends with just a click!

On Cozi’s home page a video walks you through the features of this unique organizing program. There’s a blog to give you additional ideas and suggestions. And Cozi is free!! Check it out at www.Cozi.com.

Do you have an organizing system you love? Please share it!

I'm in Family Circle Magazine - Organizing Your Scrapbook Materials

Check out the April 1, 2008 edition of Family Circle Magazine, where I'm featured in an article by Lindsey St. Clair on p. 26 about organizing your scrapbook supplies! How fun is that?!

Dreams really do come true!