Operation Organization: Day 2

I hope it went well yesterday and that you got excited instead of overwhelmed.

One of the first suggestions to organizing a home is that you always make sure that you have taken care of first things first. Get ready for the day, eat, take care of normal morning things, otherwise things just seem to compile {we don't want that, and you will feel better while you are organizing and not guilty for the things you should have done, but didn't, and if someone drops by or you need to run to the store for something you will be all ready to do that}

Today I want you to put the list you made yesterday into order of priority {the area that you would like to be solved first being #1 and so on down} Put the list down. Now the fun begins!

Pick a room. I would pick a small/easy room to start.

First - You will need some garbage bags and/or boxes. Label them: Storage, Donate, ?, Garbage.

Second - Remove anything from that space that does not belong there. If it has a home, put it there. If it does not, put it in your ? box.

Third - go through that room and start putting things in your boxes.

Forth - You should only have things left in that space that will remain there. Put everything away where it goes, where it is convenient for you and your family to use. If you need any baskets or other organizing items to help you keep this space tidy, write it down on the bottom of your list under which room it is for. For now just put it where it goes. You can get very inexpensive items from the dollar store. This does not have to cost a lot of money. If it is something bigger like a bookshelf for instance, write it down and work towards that.

Fifth - If you can manage all of the above, vacuum, dust and tidy this space.

Sixth - You are done! Stand back and admire your hard work. Try and keep this space like this for the rest of the week.

DAILY TIP: You do not have to be cleaning all of the time to have a house of order. Once you have done the major clean out, it should take no more than 5 or 10 minutes at the end of the day or before dinner or whenever is best for you to do a quick clean-sweep of this space. The key is that everything has a home, put it there! And anything that does not belong in that space does not stay longer that a day. No sleepovers!

Have fun! Do not get discouraged!

I will be back tomorrow. Be dressed and ready to begin!

Fun Summer Finds

We love to entertain, especially during the summer. What better to have at a BBQ than lemonade! After much searching I found this juice dispenser from Canadian Tire. I love it - it holds up to 192 ounces/24 cups of liquid, it dispenses juice at a moderate speed, not too fast, which is great for kids {now they don't spill while trying to pour from a pitcher} and best of all it has a really charming old fashioned look.

One thing I was concerned about was the fact that, like some glass juice dispensers, it did not come with a base to stand it on. You have to put it on the edge of the counter in order to put your cup underneath. So I cut out a piece of plastic mesh shelf liner or area carpet non-slip padding that I had left over from other projects - now it sticks really well to the counter and you cannot see it when it is filled with lemonade. The night I bought it we had a dinner party that included 14 children - it passed the test. The kids loved it and I didn't have to refill it once!

The metal caddy was actually found by my friend Rachel while we were shopping at Winners. When she said she wasn't going to get it I scooped it up. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with it, {so many possibilities - I thought cupcakes would be cute}. Rachel said that she saw something similar that was used for glasses. Great idea!

We are all set now with a cute and practical way to serve beverages at our parties. Enjoy your summer!

Baby Hummingbirds

They are here and they are so sweet!