Oops, here's the how-to!

I got completely sidetracked by my own thoughts in my previous post and forgot to actually write about HOW I organize which was basically the main point of my post, haha.
Keep in mind, this is what works for me & may not work for you.  The trick is to adapt.  Take some of these helpful tips, along with those that you find elsewhere and find a system that works for you.

I set small goals for myself first.  Then I set a larger "in the end" goal that I basically forget about until I've tackled every other thing on my list...because its my small goals that lead to the big one.
When it comes to cleaning, organizing and decluttering...my small goals are each individual room and my large goal is to go through every last room, closet, cabinet & drawer until I've done them all.

For the purpose of this post, I'll just keep it simple.

A couple ground rules that I follow:

A) Finish one room completely before moving to another (trust me, stick to it).  You don't want to have an entire house of half organized stuff.  Finishing a room brings a sense of completion that carries you into the next project.   It will slow you down if you're thinking about what you neglected to do in the previous room.

B) If its expired, toss it.  If its a bathroom product (i.e. liquid, soap, shampoo, makeup, medicine, etc.) and its more than a year old, toss it.  If you haven't touched it, used it or even thought about it in the past year, toss it.  Learning to throw things away is CRUCIAL.  Sure, that super sparkly blue eyeshadow looked great that one time and sure, I might want to wear blue eyeshadow again someday, but that day hasn't come anytime recently therefore that blue eyeshadow is just waste.

C) Trust your gut.  If your gut says "keep it" then do so.  You'll do another clean up a year from now and realize you didn't need such & such but keep it if it makes you happy.  Don't stress about it.  I like to think that if I at least toss about as much as I'm keeping I'm in a good place.

D) Buy good trash bags before even attempting a cleanup.  I'm talking the 30 gallon, black, Hefty bags.  Challenge yourself to fill at least one trash bag per room (or whatever your particular cleanup calls for).

E)  Save your breaks.  Nobody *likes* to clean.  You'll often get bored, discouraged, frustrated or tired by what you're doing.  Keep going.  You can take a 5-15 minute break between rooms.  Finish the entire room before you stop.  Otherwise you'll start feeling like you've been working in the same area ALL day. If you keep the momentum going you can easily tackle one room at a time before taking a break.  Believe you can do it.

When I start in any given room of my house I do the following:

1) Pick up any normal clutter and put it where I'd normally put it when I'm cleaning.  Working with a clean room to begin with makes me want to strive to get it back to cleanliness after I've dumped everything out and created a big mess.  To organize efficiently, you're going to need to make a mess.  Forget the windex and wood polish for now.  You'll have time for that when the room is decluttered.  Give yourself plenty of room to sort.

2) If there is a big task (as in, size matters), do it first.  If that means cleaning all your old clothes out of the closet first because they're overflowing and making your workspace difficult to navigate, start there.  You'll feel great after you clear out a bunch of larger items and the room will already start to feel lighter.

3) Next, move onto things that annoy you the most.  For me, its junk drawers.  Any place where random items are accumulating.  Why?  Because they require more sorting and time devotion.  It usually involves a lot of small things that have to be organized.  The easiest method I've found is mini piles.  I make a mini pile of things that belong in the kitchen, or my son's room or the bathroom.  Instead of running every little thing from room to room I can take it all at once.  On that note, I also LOVE old shoeboxes for this reason.  I usually have one for each room of my house and I bring them with me as I clear room after room.  Organizing within organizing, the way someone with OCD would do it.

*HINT*  If you're boxing things up and/or have a lot of items you plan on just storing...I suggest using medium sized boxes.  I avoid large boxes because I have a tendency to pack them too heavy which defeats the purpose when we're moving if nobody can lift the darn box.  Small boxes just mean more to move.  A good sturdy medium box means I won't be keeping too much but I'll have room for what I need.

4) Okay, you've done something BIG and you've done something annoying now, right?  Now do something easy.  Organize something that doesn't require much organization.

5) You should be done or very close to done by this point.  If you're still far from your goal, keep pushing.  Box after box, tub after tub, until you've sorted through everything in the room.

6) Lastly, clean that room the way a maid would.  Wipe down mirrors and windows, polish furniture, clean your baseboards and any smudges off the walls.  Wash your bedding if you're in a bedroom.  Vacuum, sweep or mop the floors.  Give yourself a pat on the back and move on!

In my case this task took me a couple weeks and I'm still going strong.  At the end of it I'll haul everything I've purged out of my garage and off to recycling, the dump or Goodwill.  Then life will go back to normal.

How I Organize...

We are moving this summer...either to a different house, or a different city altogether.
I can't really start packing now, because that would be silly when we have 4 whole months left here.  Packing things away for 4-5 months means they aren't things we need on a day to day basis which is cause for throwing them out!
I started with the garage.  Mainly because we bought a new car.  Well, Ricky did.  It will be his daily driver, now that his new job requires a commute.  He's always driving me crazy about cleaning out the garage because there are things out there that just move from one house to the next but never get sorted through.  So I successfully hauled a bunch of things off to the recycling center with his dad and him and cleaned the garage out!
Then I got this crazy idea to tackle the office/guest room/ my sewing room.  I went completely OCD in there.  Printed labels for everything, sorted through every single drawer and the closet.  I impressed myself, haha.
Then I reorganized some of the kitchen cabinets and cleaned out the cabinets in our small laundry room.
Today, I sorted all the laundry...which feels like moving mountains to me.
I went through our master closet and pulled out a ton of clothes to toss or donate.  I did that mainly because my husband has lost 70 lbs. this past year and it was high time to clear out his bigger clothes in celebration of such a huge accomplishment.
Then I did most of the laundry (its still going) from wash, to dry, to folded & hung.
Finally, Gavin and I went crazy cleaning out his room.  I was very proud of him...he cleared out 3 large trash bags worth of junk!  
We are going to rearrange it tonight as soon as I come up with a plan to fix his platform bed which I messed up while moving it.  Anytime you tackle a clean up in Gavin's room its a HUGE task so to just toss that in randomly & finish (for the most part) felt great!!
Tonight and/or tomorrow I think I'll work on the bathroom & linen closets, the china cabinet, and our "junk drawers."
My goal is to have gone through every room from top to bottom and at least have everything sorted & decluttered by Friday.
Then I can enlist Ricky's help cleaning up the yard & hauling things away this weekend!
*whew*  Even this post was exhausting.

Here are some photos of the cleanup in my sewing room!

Quilt Progress

Today I had the chance to bust out a ton of quilt work.
I spent awhile cutting my scraps to size, then sewed them once (I'm working on my own version of a postage stamp quilt).  Press, then sew those sets together.  Press.
I stopped here, because I wanted to see what it would look like using the postage stamp squares and pieces as a border for the 8" scrap squares I'd made awhile back but fallen out of love with.
So I'm using the little squares to throw off the big squares.
Anyway, I'll start putting them all together for real when I get it to cover my bed top at least.
I'm wanting it to be throw sized, mainly because its easier and I want to get it finished quickly in case I decide to give it as a gift.
Here of some photos of me working on the rough draft layout.
I'll have some sizing issues to work out but that will be down the road!
I'm farther along than I thought I was, so I just need to stay motivated to keep busting these pieces out!

Enjoy!
xo

Its Official!!

I have officially made my first Etsy sale!  One of my dear friends who I met ONCE many years ago when I was adjusting to living on an Air Force base bought a bag and a pouch from me!  I'm so excited!  I hope that there are many more purchases after that!

Of course, I have to keep making things!  I have plenty of ideas from friends that they're interested in so that will be my focus this upcoming week.  Keep in mind, if you ever see a fabric or design you love...let me know and I'll custom make something for you as long as I have the right materials!  When I'm done, I'll list your item in a custom listing on Etsy so you can securely check out.

I have a couple other projects I want to work on this week.  One is my scrap quilt.  I've organized all my scraps by color so I need to start cutting them down to size for a scrap quilt I've been working on off and on for what seems like FOREVER.  I can't ever get my ideas straight for this first quilt and I know its because I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself.  I want my first quilt to be nothing short of spectacular, scraps or not!
I also have an idea that I want to work out some fine details on.  A couple people I know are pregnant (one of them in my very own sister in law) and I've been racking my brain for out of the ordinary gift ideas I can make them.  I don't want to make something that will just get tossed in with the bundles of baby stuff they'll get at their baby showers.  So I have an idea for something a little different and I can't wait to start messing with the pattern and seeing what I can come up with!

As always, I am so grateful for your support and kind words.  I love comments so don't hesitate to comment on a blog post!  Keep checking my Etsy shop for new things!

xo
Beth

My newest fabrics!

My dad was just in Florida visiting me and he helped me stock up on some much needed fresh new fabrics!  I'm so excited to start sewing with these new colorful prints!  I'm going to have a few things listed by the end of the week!  Check back *soon* for updates! =)

I'm also going to be offering these little pouches for a few bucks.  I made some for Gavin's teachers for Valentine's Day and have plenty of fabric leftover to make more! Ours were stuffed with candy, but you can use them for just about anything because the pocket is high!

While my Dad was in town, I made him a little shaving bag to keep his bathroom stuff in.  I loved the mustache print and designed this bag myself using tips and ideas from random tutorials & patterns I'd used in the past.  Bags & pouches are getting easier and easier and I like to make each one unique!

 Found some cute new things to decorate my sewing room with!

STAY TUNED!!!