Have you heard of the One-In, One-Out rule of organizing?  If not, let me fill you in on one of the best organizing principles.  For everything you bring into the space, one thing must leave.  For example, if you buy 6 new pairs of socks, then 6 (or more!) pairs must leave!  It’s a great way to avoid building up clutter.

I just recently tried a different version of that with my oldest daughter.  Normally before a gift-giving holiday, such as Christmas and birthdays, I have my girls go through their toys and purge the ones they no longer play with to make room for their new treasures.  This year, I had Savannah purge 1 item for every invitation she mailed out!  She does very well when she has limits so it made it a little more fun for her.  Another bonus was that we also didn’t have to wait until after the party, like we would if we did an actual one-in, one-out.  This trick worked great for us!

I’ve been looking for an inexpensive cute way to store my princess’s hairbows, and I realized we had an old french memo board that would be perfect for the job!

Check out the Shabby Nest for more Frugal Friday ideas!

I got inspired watching a repeat episode of Martha yesterday when I saw this picture of a wall of books organized by color.  Isn’t it cool?!  It’s the office of designer, Kevin Sharkey.  I thought it would be great in our playroom, since, let’s face it…my little monkeys aren’t so into putting things back into alphabetical order, or by size, or even by whom the books belong to.  Color seemed simple enough, plus it looks so fun in the playroom!

The countdown has begun!!  I’m so excited!  I seriously think I am more excited than the kids.  I love them, but this Mommy needs a break!!

Here are some tips for getting back in the groove of the school year:

Alarm Clock

A few weeks before school is a great time to start adjusting everyone’s schedules and routines to get them used to those school-night bedtimes and early morning wake up calls!

Central Calendar

Have a family calendar to keep track of those busy schedules!  Keeping track of everyone’s activities on one central calendar is critical!  My favorite one is the one pictured here from the flylady site.

Launch Pad

Have one place to keep the backpacks, lunchboxes, shoes, and jackets ready to go the next morning.  We use hooks by the front door.  We also have a specific place to keep books, papers, and homework.  Assign these things a home so you always know where to find them.

School Shopping

Get your school supply list ready and hit the stores early!  Even now there are great sales going on, and it’s best to beat the crowds!  Kids love picking out their own backpacks, folders, etc.  Whatever gets them in the mood for school if good with me!

Don’t forget to label everything with a permanent marker when you get it home!

Preventing Paper Pileup

Once school starts, you know you’ll get bombarded with papers of various kinds.   Have a couple folders on hand to help you tame the clutter.  One marked “Action” for things that require you immediate attention, such as a signature or a check, one for homework, and one for papers to keep on hand throughout the year, such as a classroom phone number list.

Here’s a great downstairs closet (before I worked my magic!) that was destined to hold games and toys for the kids.

While emptying it out, we found new homes for the vacuum, bigger toys, jackets.  We also sorted the games, as we went through them, into 3 piles: Keepers, Missing Pieces, and Trash.  We quickly went through the games to see if they had all the necessary pieces to be played with again. By keeping the pile of games with “missing pieces” off to the side, we were able to find their missing parts scattered throughout the closet by the time we had it emptied!  Woohoo!

Here’s what it looked like after only 30 minutes:

Tada!  The finished result looks great and will be much easier for the kids to get use out it once again.  This entire thing took LESS THAN AN HOUR!!

Also, check out these cool Game Saver boxes!  I’ve seen them at the Container Store, but I didn’t see them on their website.  You can find them, in two different sizes and colors, if you click here on Amazon!

Photo from Pottery Barn

What’s under your bed? Typically, I’m not a big fan of storing anything under there. I just think of it as a dark abyss that swallows up lost shoes, random pieces of clothing, and the key to my handcuffs. Ha! Just seeing if you were paying attention there

Even though I like to keep the space under my bed bare, I do realize it’s different strokes for different folks! There are lots of storage options for the bed. I’ve been noticing that some newer beds have built in storage and I LOVE them!! It would be a great place to store extra linens, and probably chocolate. I keep chocolate everywhere!

Here’s some before and after shots of a kids room. Some simple underbed storage boxes made a huge difference! Before, everything would get pushed under the bed, whether it was on purpose or maybe because of the slippery hardwood floors, I’m not sure Either way, having a specific place for toys makes cleaning up so much easier for kids. Also, I pointed out that the space in the box is all the space they have for that specific items. If you notice on the far right, the Webkinz box has reached it’s limit! So from now one it will have to be one-in and one-out (maybe even two or more out the door) if a new one comes into the home!

Today was a hectic day for this organizing momma! There was a long walk outside, tons of laundry and dishes, paying bills, cleaning up puddles of pee, making dinner, dealing with trouble at school, bathing kids, etc. I’m just exhausted!

Although I really do enjoy organizing, I don’t love cleaning. I always end up getting a little sidetracked and organizing at least something while I’m just straightening up or doing those mundane tasks we have to do to keep our homes running, like vacuuming, mopping, laundry, etc.

I’ve posted before about how I treat myself to a chocolate truffle when I put away a load of laundry. I also do things like light one of my favorite candles after I swipe down the bathroom counters, or like right now….I told myself I’d blog during nap time as long as I got the sink emptied first. Its the little things, right? Oh, and about that chocolate trick. Right now I’m out of chocolate, but it’s ok. I’ve “grown” a few sizes in the past few months. Whoopsie! Don’t worry, I’m not giving up chocolate as that could possibly effect many jobs as my favorite companies would surely go under without my help!

Spring and summer seem to be brimming with kid birthday parties. We have one coming up next weekend! Our little Phoebe is turning 2 this month! I thought now would be a good time to write about organizing a birthday party. I really love planning parties for my girls. I look forward to the next one as soon as one is over! Birthdays are just so fun, and a great time to show a person how special they are. Being organized makes planning a child’s birthday party less stressful and more enjoyable. Here are my tips and time line.

6-8 Weeks Before
-Choose the date, time, and location for your party. Check your calendar for other specials occasions to make sure nothing coincides with your party, holidays, other birthdays, lessons and practices, etc. Kids parties are usually around 1.5-2 hours long. For younger kids, it’s smart to schedule around nap times and meals so you have a happy birthday girl/boy! Also, consider the weather when deciding on a location. An outdoor party in Georgia, in June, needs to include some air conditioning, a pool, or both! If you’re not having the party in your home, book the location as soon as you can!
-Choose a theme. This part is my favorite, or it can be. With my almost 8 year old, well, sometimes I find myself gently trying to sway her away from a rock n’ roll, black and orange, skeleton, pirate, video game, dog theme party like she would like to have, lol. Of course, I do remember that the party is FOR the child, not for the parents or guests! Themes are fun for the kiddo, and they help you decide on the cake, decorations, activities, and all that good stuff.
-Make a guest list. The general rule of thumb is that for a child under 8, invite the number of kids that equal your bday child’s age, or their age +1 or 2. Keep in mind the number of kids you can manage at one time, in the particular location you’ll be partying in, and what you budget can accommodate. Know your limits!
-Plan the entertainment. If you’re going to hire a magician, etc book them early!
-If you’re ordering personalized party invitations, order them early so you have time to have them shipped before you need to mail them out.

3-4 Week Before
-Have the birthday girl/boy make a wish list. Some stores even allow kids to have a gift registry! My girls have a lot of fun with those. This is also around the time I start shopping for my birthday girl, and I let my girls buy their sister a gift that is just from them. They always think that’s pretty awesome! From experience, I’ve learned that when people ask “what is ____ into?” or “What would ______ like for her birthday?” I tell everyone something different from the wish list. We’ve had a few Christmas Days where my girls got several duplicate toys! Whoops! Lesson learned!
-Prep Invites! If you need to, ask your child’s teacher for an up-to-date class list. Also, think about how you’re going to deliver the invitations. If you’re not inviting the entire class, ask the teacher if she can discreetly pass out the invitations so no one gets hurt feelings. If the topic comes up with some other parents, you can reiterate that you could only invite x amount of kids, only for girls, etc. One of my favorite tips is to include an end time on the invitation! It not only helps you, but then the other parents know when to pick up their children and also to help plan the rest of their day as well. Oh, and don’t forget to buy stamps! Also make sure to include if you’ll be serving a meal.
-Shop for supplies. This can be a stressful, daunting task if it’s left for the last minute. If you’re ordering them, you will want to have this time for shipping.
-Plan games, activities, and a menu that fits the theme. Choose games that aren’t too competitive. Crafts are usually a popular choice!
-Get help! Enlist family, friends, and or other parents. If anyone offers, let him or her help! You can’t be cutting a cake, taking pictures, and herding children all at the same time!

2-3 Weeks Before
-Send the invitations. If you don’t want to do the cutesy paper options, I really love evite! Have the guest list near the phone or computer so you can keep up with who’s coming and who’s not.
-Purchase supplies for the games/activities. Depending on the ages, have a few different things planned.
-Purchase decorations, party favors, paper goods balloons (order if needed).

1 Week Ahead
-Call guests you haven’t RSVP’d yet.
-Confirm number of kids and other guests.
-Plan agenda for the party, for example when to open gifts, serve cake, and play games.
-Rent any videos you need for the party, or anything you may be borrowing from a friend.

2-3 Days Ahead
-Purchase the grocery items needed. Don’t forget candles for the cake!
-Prepare the goody bags. Make sure the fillers are age appropriate and not too annoying for the other parents Crafts or pictures made at the party make good party favors.
-Charge the batteries in your cameras!
-Prep activity and craft stations.
-Confirm entertainers and helpers.

Day Before the Big Event
-Bake anything that can be made ahead of time.
-Clean the house, and make it child-friendly. Stock the bathrooms with tp, too! No one will really remember how clean your house was, so don’t stress out about it. Kids will remember how much fun they had! They don’t really care about the dust bunnies under the china cabinet!
-Bake, or pick up the cake.
-Order any take out food you may need.
-Remind the birthday child about how to behave at their party, to thank everyone, how to act if she/he gets a duplicate or a gift they don’t really like.
-Decorate your home, or gather your décor if you’re transporting it elsewhere.
-Prep food, if possible.
-Prep activities.
-Pick up any last minute needs.

4-5 Hours Ahead
-Set table and decorate.
-Put candles on cake and a lighter nearby!
-Fill balloons, or go pick them up.
-Balloons on mailbox.
-Set up activity and craft stations.
-Have a pen and paper ready to write down gifts for the thank you cards.
-Crank up the AC! If you’re having a full house, it will get very warm very fast!

1-2 Hours Ahead
-Consider putting the pets away. For some reason, not everyone loves a basset hound licking his or her ears!
-Get the kiddos dressed, and I theme it up of course!
-Set up the food.
-Set mood with music or a DVD.

Week After
-Send Thank You cards. Have the kids fill them out if they’re old enough.

These pictures are from Phoebe’s first birthday. She had a cupcake theme. Remember how I love any excuse for cake!

See, she even had a cupcake on her after-first-birthday-cake-bath outfit!

I have to say that I didn’t come up with this on my own. I read it in a parenting magazine, and I’m not even sure which one! This trick has really helped S stay motivated to keep her room clean (as clean as a kid can) and her bed made. We have a “room inspector”, Delores, that we hired to come to check her room every day while she’s at school. Don’t tell S, but our Delores Fuzzlebottoms doesn’t really exist!

S is a strong-willed kid, and responds very well to positive reinforcement. When Delores sees a sparkling clean room, she often leaves a little treat on the pillow for her to find. Delores has also been known to even hide a treat in a messy room just so S will have to clean to find it! That’s only been used as a last resort though, but it did work! As for summers and school holidays, Delores leaves S a note explaining that she uses this time to go on holiday back to London where she is from, tee hee hee.

Head over to one of my fave blogs, We Are That Family, to read more WFMW tips. WFMW translates to Works For Me Wednesday, by the way

Photo from Pottery Barn Kids.