Attempting to get Organized

I think most of you know what I mean when I say that my counters are always overflowing with paperwork.  It's amazing to me really, how much stuff comes home from school even in this technologically advanced day and age.  I get texts announcing homework assignments and upcoming tests but still they send floods of paperwork home for me.  

The evils of papers.....well first there is the clutter.  It drives me nuts to have a cluttered kitchen (or dining room table AHEM..if any of my family members may be reading this) and it makes me cranky.  No one likes a cranky mama.  Second, there is the problem of never really knowing where anything is.  One of the kids needs to turn some of that paperwork in and then I'm digging through piles for an hour or two.  And let me just say that once I start digging through a pile, I have to go through it, organize it to the best of my ability and sort out the junk which just consumes more time.  

In order to combat the clutter and chaos, one of my goals for this year was to become more organized.  What better way to do that than to search my favorite treasure trove of information and ideas....Pinterest.  I've found loads of wonderful ideas for home organization binders and other odds & ends.  I'm currently in the process of moving everything to binders.  I have a home binder, one for my son's schooling info (for anyone who has a child with an IEP, you know how much paperwork that can generate!), and legal & financial info.  I still need to get one done for my daughter, one for the budget and one for the extras (travel plans, crafting things I found in magazines, etc).  I also decided we needed some cork and dry erase boards so I glammed up some of my own.

Here is my spruced up cork board (with some of my binders in evidence):

 And another one of the board with the dressed up clothespins:

 And finally, our dry erase board where everyone can list items that need to go on the grocery list:

The dry erase board was simply a frame I already had on hand with some cute scrapbook paper inside.  The cork board I bought at JoAnn along with a 1/2 yard of fabric, decorative upholstery nails and a wooden letter that I painted white.  It was a fun project and I feel more organized already!

Stroke of Genius

I'm always looking for more ways to get organized, especially when it comes to my kitchen.  Anything that can make my life simpler gets my vote.  Plus, I'm teaching Ms. AniBelle how to cook and organization not only makes it easier for her, but it gives her a good starting point for when she has her own kitchen.  Hopefully it won't take her the 15 years it took for me to learn these lessons.  

I try to buy most of my baking supplies in bulk at Sam's Club.  In order to not have to drag out the ginormous bags each time I wanted to bake, I bought several Rubbermaid containers to hold more manageable amounts.  I also made chalkboard labels by spray painting printer labels with chalkboard paint.

 Another habit I try to keep up with is doubling one or two meals a week and freezing the second portion.  First, it is very convenient to have meals prepared that I can just thaw and pop in the oven on busy nights.  Second, it's helpful for my hubby on occasions that I'm in the hospital or feeling too ill to cook.  My man is wonderful at grilling things but cooking anything beyond simple basics is not up his alley.  The problem I have with the meals is keeping track of what I have.  A dry eraser board solved that for me.

 Last week, my daughter was foraging through our pantry cupboards to find some nonperishable items to bring in to school for a food drive and I had a stroke of pure genius.  As she was pulling out items, I realized that there were plenty of staples hidden in the pantry that I didn't realize I had which meant I was buying them with regularity.  To solve this issue, I painted the insides of the cupboard doors with chalkboard paint (it may or may not be an addiction folks!).  Now I have each item listed on the doors.  When I use one, I erase it or change the quantity, and when I buy more, I update the list as well.  Voila!