Reminder Board

You may have seen my post this past fall about my Gratitude Board.  We are still using it as much as possible.  It is such a great reminder of our countless blessings.
My blessings aren't the only thing I need to be reminded of lately.  I am still suffering from Mommy brain. It must truly be lack of sleep.  Jude is teething and Jack is having nightmares...sigh.  
I find that I have lists and post-its all over my desk to remind me of daily details I need to take care of while sitting at my desk.  You know, the little things that you need to do while sitting in front of the computer, calendar, or contact list...well, I have forgotten many of those lately.  Forgetting them makes life just a litte more hectic and completely drives me insane!  Who needs more hectic!?!?
So, I decided to make myself a Reminder Board to write all those little "to-dos" that need to be done for the day/week.  Excuse the awful pictures.  They were taken in the middle of the night with my phone...thanks to those toddler nightmares!

It is simply a picture frame with patterned paper inserted.  I added a few ribbons to take the cute factor up a notch, and used a dry erase marker to make my list.  You can get the full instructions here.

I erase my "to-dos" as I complete them, and add new ones as I think about them.  This might actually help my case of Mommy brain.
I also have made one to use to announce sales and such at my Vintage Couture Trunk Shows.

Another quick and easy project!  You should try it!

A Quick Pantry Door Project

Wow!  It's been over a week since I have posted anything over here at The Teleporting Toddler!  The Roden house has been crazy busy and sick...again, which leaves me with lots to blog about, but little time to actually sit down to blog it.  
Here is a quick project I did with our pantry door...
Our pantry door is the landing place for all the kids' artwork.  I have had a bulletin board on it for the past couple of years, but it always seems to be so cluttered...I hate clutter...shocker...I know!  

I have thought about adding another bulletin board, but I think that will just create more clutter.  So while browsing the aisles of my happy place...Target...I decided to hang up some cork board.
I just purchased a package of the square cork board and some 3M Command adhesive tape.

All of our doors in the house have a decorative inset.  To accommodate that and not cover it up, I traced the outline of it with tracing paper.

For once I was very lucky in a decorating/organizing project and discovered that the cork board squares were the exact size of my inset.  So I just attached them to the door with the adhesive tape, and trimmed the top one to match the curve in the inset.

Tada!  A new cork board pantry door.  We have much more room for artwork now.  I think having just the cork hung and not a whole bulletin board gives it a less cluttered look.

Now if I can just figure out how to reduce the clutter of viruses running through my house at the moment...

Bye-Bye Dining Room

Jer and I have been dreaming of a new house.  
We love our neighborhood, but it is too far out.  For the past several months I have been neglecting some projects, organization, and redecorating.  I have been saying to myself...in our new house...I will do...this or that.  I have been so preoccupied with creating this new perfect house in my imagination that I have fallen a little out of love with my current home.
Well the fact is, we aren't going to move anytime soon, and I need to tackle these projects, and fall back in love with my house.  It is a beautiful home.  No reason for me not to love it.  There actually is a plenty of room for the kids to play and roam.  The space just needs to be used more wisely.
The first item of business is the dining room.  (Big sigh) I {heart} my dining room.

I love the color, my wall art, and my dining table that I got for a STEAL at the Barn years ago.  I especially love and treasure my Granny's mission bookcase.  Its from 1916 and still has the original glass.  How it survived me and my siblings, I will never understand.

I really didn't want to part with any of it, and frankly I wasn't going to.  But Jer and I needed an office.  The dining room is used maybe 3 to 4 times a year for Thanksgiving and birthdays.  It just isn't a wise use of space.  After a little pep talk, I convinced myself it was the right thing to do...say good-bye to my dining room.
So some rearranging commenced.

We moved some shelves and an existing desk from upstairs.

Some items were repurposed.

Granny's bookcase is now used has an actual bookcase.  The dining room table became my desk, and the chairs were put in storage to pull out when we entertain.

Now, Jer and I have an actual office.  

I thought I would hate it, but I kind of love it.  Jer is over the moon to have his own space.  That alone makes the 525 trips up and down the stairs completely worth it.  

I'm a Basket Case

I must admit I've had an obsession with baskets for most of my adult life.  There is something about throwing things in a basket that creates instant organization.  Who doesn't love instant organization?
If I have a group of items that are driving me nuts scattered about, my number one solution is always a basket.
Pens, pencils, notepads, and scissors cluttering up the counter...now in a basket under the phone.

Children's books all over the living room floor...now in a basket under a side table.

Shoes, coloring books and crayons causing us to trip in the foyer...now in their own basket homes.

Diapers, wipes, and creams in three different rooms while trying to pin down a wiggly toddler...now in one basket for easy access at changing time.  Not much I can do about the wiggly toddler!

Jer's keys, wallet, pens and guitar picks...well...all over the house...now can be found in baskets hanging on the wall beside the door.

My current favorite basket is what has come to be known as the "upstairs basket".  This basket came to be in my efforts NOT to have a Kate Gosselin-type tantrum.  Having my downstairs floor covered in toys, clothes, hair clips, gadgets and such that belong upstairs...drives me a tad crazy.  So instead of screaming like a mad woman, I created a coping mechanism.  See, I am trying to remember that "calm" is my one little word for the year!

Instead of walking up and down the stairs several times an evening to put things away, I toss it all in this basket that lives at the bottom of the stairs.  I take it upstairs at bedtime, put everything back in its place, and take the basket down stairs for the next day.  Maybe I should tell Kate about my basket...
What is your go-to tool for coping organization?
Check out the Organizing Junkie's 52 weeks of organizing...

My BusyBodyBook

Lately I have been getting the question...

"How do you keep up with it all?"

I am over-the-top organized...to the point of driving my husband insane.

I make lists, lists and more lists...to the point of driving myself insane.

Also, I am often sleep deprived.  I could blame it on the boys, but they pretty much sleep through the night.  It is mainly due to the fact that my brain won't rest until I feel like most things are neat and tidy.  

I have always used some sort of organizer to keep up with all my lists, appointments, notes, etc.  I have also always preferred paper over electronic.  There is just something about writing down and checking off a task that makes it much more satisfying.  Just another one of my many quirks.  

With my recent confession of having Mommy Brain, I have had to resort to writing down everything...everything!  I pretty much dump my brain on paper on a daily basis.  But, there has never been an organizer that has met my needs, nor one that I just LOVE.  Until now...

I have been using The BusyBodyBook for a few months now.  It is so versatile! The BusyBodyBook is a monthly and weekly organizer set up in a GRID format.  Each column can be assigned to a different family member, project, or other activity.  Mine is set up with columns assigned to the office, home, boys and blog.  My friend, Mel, uses her to keep up with work duties and assignments for her various graduate classes.

I use it to keep up with events and appointments, but I also use it to write down lists and record milestones for my boys.  It is my all-in-one sanity check.  In case you are wondering, the people at BusyBodyBook didn't ask me to write this or give me my book.  I just {heart) it and wanted to share!

Mommy Brain

Yes, you have heard of it - Mommy Brain.  It's a lot like Pregnancy Brain, which I never had, by the way.

Can you hear that noise?  That's my friends and family saying yelling, "Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

Ok, ok, I will finally admit that I do have Mommy Brain.  This is a struggle for me...a real battle.  I am the type of gal that remembers everything, EVERY detail.  I can used to be able to recall the craziest random details, events and numbers from several years back.  That was just me...another nutty way my brain worked.

As mothers, we have to remember 2,345,572 different things a day.  As wives, that number probably doubles.  Then I add on all the things I have to remember and recall for my detail laden job...the number just continues to multiply.  I have to face it - my hard drive is full.

To prevent a crash, I have just given up on remembering every single detail.  Every little piece of information just isn't as important as it used to be.  I have discovered that I can let some things slip out of my memory, and it's really OK.  The world didn't stop moving if I forget something every now and then.

For all the stuff that falls into important categories, I have strategies to back up my database.  I have resorted to extensive note taking, lists, and reminder sticky notes.  For example, I try to bring Cracker Jack a snack and drink when I pick him up in the afternoon.  It has been a challenge to remember his goodie as I am running out of the office to pick him up on time.  So, here is my strategy...

Notes on my phone...

Reminders on my computer...

"Last ditch attempt to make me remember" notes on my keys...

I finally remember to grab Jack's snack the day I started this intervention.  There is one detail I forgot...Jer was picking the boys up that day...sigh...maybe it's time to reformat. Hehe.

Mission De-clutter...Entryway Reorganization

I admit that I am a little "over the top" when it comes to organization..well not that bad...oh, who am i kidding?  I am a nut when is comes to keeping things neat and put away.

But this is me, it is how I work, it is how I clear my head and have peace.  If the house, car or office are cluttered then my mind is cluttered.  Cluttered with all kinds of junk that keeps me spinning, feeling like I am just a hamster running in a wheel.  The clutter keeps me so distracted that I can't be as productive has I would like. In my world clutter breeds chaos, and chaos and I aren't very good friends.  Everything doesn't have to sparkle, my junk just has to have its place and stay there when not in use.  Not crazy, right?

Since I have been pregnant and nurturing baby boys the past two years, chaos has tried to become a permanent resident in my home. I have dealt with it, and let him visit for a bit, but now it is time for him to go.  This mommy is no longer pregnant, losing the two years of baby weight and getting my my energy back.  Aaahhh!  Just writing makes me feel so much better.  

The de-clutter bug has bitten me hard; so you will probably see many posts of me reorganizing and getting my home back in order after the two years that we now refer to as my hard time served in the "Pregnancy Prison".

I started with the kid's bathroom a couple of weeks ago.  This week I moved onto the entryway.  This picture doesn't do the chaos it once was justice.

This is after the massive mountain of toys was banished upstairs.  There once was a nice shelf that when organized kept the toys nice and neat.  The problem was that we are still trying teach Cracker Jack how to put away toys.  He is getting better at it, but most of the time toys carpeted our entryway.

Once the toys were organized upstairs, this is all that was left...our shoe basket, and a small row of hooks that barely hold ball caps.  I knew this wasn't going to keep everyone's stuff crap things organized.

I had visions of something very Pottery Barnish...like this...

                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Or this...

Or, ooohhh, this!

But the budget was just not going to stretch that far, heck or stretch at all for a project like this.


I had to make do with what I had and make a couple of minor purchases.  My goal was to have small hooks for keys.  Baskets for mail and wallets. Large hooks for adult coats, and a row of hooks low to the floor for the kids to hang their coats, sweaters and school bags.  I also wanted some sort of bench, and the shoe basket to stay.

This is what I came up with...

I kept the small hooks we already had and used those for keys.  I had some baskets and just nailed those straight to the wall for the odds and ends I mentioned.  

I purchased two sets of large hooks one long, and one short.  The short one was hung high for adult coats, and the long one was hung lower for the kids things.  Hey, if they can hang up their stuff at school, they can do it at home!

The bench is an ottoman from our family room.  It was completely in the way there, but makes a great bench for this area.  Lastly, the shoe basket stayed.  Basically, when everyone comes home shoes get thrown in there vs. getting thrown all over the house for me to trip over.

I love it!  For very little cash...I have a new entryway with a touch of the Pottery Barnish vision I was looking for.  Here is one more view...

                                     


Aaahhhh...my head is becoming less cluttered everyday!


Do you have trouble with a cluttered mind when your world is full of clutter?  Or is that just me?