Today’s post was submitted by guest blogger, Linden Coyne. She tells about her recent experience with lots to do, limited time, and three children to tend to.
It’s Friday night, the week before Halloween, and a friend invites us to her house on the Eastern Shore for a Halloween Parade that Sunday. Sounds great, but we don’t have costumes. Few things seem more painful than walking three rambunctious kids through a Halloween store to pick out overpriced, plastic costumes that will only be worn once (if at all).
Saturday morning, determined to find materials to make costumes, I come across two yards of felt – one pink, one brown. Using a photo from a recent Pottery Barn catalog I begin to create a cupcake costume for my daughter Nola, who was really only excited about the strawberry that would go on her head. I also find a template for a spider costume designed for a dog on MarthaStewart.com for my 2-year-old Rocco.
Saturday night I begin sewing on the couch with a sleeping baby on my lap and a screaming husband watching football. Sunday morning I’m stitching and stuffing all the way to the Eastern Shore. We arrive just as I finish hacking together my hair bands to secure Rocco’s spider to his back.
As we pull into the driveway Nola sees a friend in a Sleeping Beauty dress. The tantrum begins and the cupcake costume stays in the car. Ten minutes later I find Rocco’s spider in the bushes. Success? Maybe not, but the kids had a great time without their costumes. I also avoided the trip to the Halloween store, I saved money, I don’t have environmental guilt, and my shoddy stitching was complimented for its “boutiquey” look (SCORE!).
Now let’s see what happens on Halloween.
“The demand for home organization products in the US will increase 4.3% annually to $8.9 billion in 2013. Bins, baskets and totes accounted for the largest share of home organization product sales in 2008, with 38% of the total market. Sales of home organization products for use in garages are expected to post the strongest gains through 2013.” [TransWorldNews · Home Organization Product Demand to Reach $8.9 Billion in 2013 · Ellen Kosloff ·August, 11, 2009]
Need Help Getting Organized?
- Photo Storage at The Container Store
- Need Help Managing Your Contacts? Get CardScan. Get productive.
- Messy Office – Stacks and Stacks to the rescue!
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*Update: The Hybrid is not quite gone…yet. You can find it on the Butler Bag website, eBay, and Amazon.com (see the picture below from Amazon). One thing that really is gone is the discount. -Deb, 4.16.11
Ok, girls, the Butler Bag that I love so much is getting the heave ho. That’s right, Hybrid style is being discontinued so this is your last chance to get it before they are sold out. Grab your coupon code (see below), my friends, and get the world’s most organized bag before it’s too late!
Test it out and let me know if you love it, like it, or if it’s not for you.
When was the last time you wore your prom or wedding dress? Think you’ll still have time to update it so you wear it again someday? If it’s been sitting in your closet or under your bed in a box, why not consider donating it? You’ll lighten your load and do something good for someone else.
Ready to part with that dress? Check out these organizations who would be happy to take it off your hands:
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
• Donatemydress.org. Visit this website find a location near you that will accept your dress and pass it on to an underprivileged young person. You’ll make that young lady very happy.
• Bridesagainstbreastcancer.org. Donate your gown and wedding accessories (e.g., veil) to be sold to brides-to-be at a discounted rate. Proceeds from the sales go to Makingmemories.org, a wish-granting service for terminally ill women with breast cancer.
Related Articles
- Newlywed gives her wedding dress away on Craigslist (timesunion.com)
- Hold a Professional Clothes Drive (organizingla.com)
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Interestingly, after writing my article yesterday, The Thrill of Thrift Stores, I found a related blog post today by Professional Organizer, Stephanie Calahan. In her comments, she mentions 11 questions you can ask yourself before you commit to buying something. Here are a few that I use personally and tell my clients to etch in their minds…
#2 Do I already own something that can fulfill this purpose?
#5 Do I love it?
#9 Do I have a place for it?
To see the other 8 questions, click here. They will help you avoid going home with an armful of items that you may not know what to do with. Less stuff = less clutter.
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Have you ever been to a thrift store? Have you ever been to a thrift store and found a new (or like new) item for pennies? If you’re the sort of person that loves finding a great item at a phenomenal price, you may well enjoy the thrill of going to a thrift store. This feeling must be a difficult one to ignore, particularly if you’re someone who really enjoys shopping. If you feel absolute joy while shopping, how do you turn off that “happy switch?” The thrift store thrill will likely be more magnified because you can easily get a lot of stuff for just a few dollars. What if you are a hoarder?
…and what happens when you get home and the full realization hits you that there isn’t enough room to store it all? This sounds like a roller coaster ride between two emotions: superb glee on one hand and desolation on on the other with no “in between.” Recently, as I watched an episode of Hoarders, this was the struggle one of the women profiled faced. She was a bargain hunter. When she found something in good condition on sale, she seemed to be at her happiest…until…
If you have a hoarder in your life who does a lot of shopping, it’s important to realize that he/she may not have as much control over their “happy switch” when they go shopping. While you might find it helpful to take a list with you when you go shopping – or inventory what you have before you head to the store – these strategies might not work with a hoarder. The issue (i.e., hoarding) didn’t happen overnight, so the solution will likely take a while and the strategies may be different, too.
As you can imagine, a good dose of understanding is necessary. Here’s what hoarding expert, Geralin Thomas, told me on Twitter recently:
- Image of Geralin Thomas
@dallisonlee about #hoarders+patience –> “If you add a little to a little, and then do it again, soon that little shall be much.” Hesiod 6:38 AM Sep 21st from web in reply to dallisonlee
- Stuff versus relationships (unclutterer.com)
- Super Savers: Helping ‘Hoarders’ (online.wsj.com)
- Attention Shopaholics: Your Weakness May Be a Proper Disease (nytimes.com)
- A&E Explores The Lives of Hoarders (dallisonlee.com)
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“Just because it’s old, that doesn’t mean it’s valuable and saleable. They made junk in 1857, too.” ~Julie Hall, “The Estate Lady,” speaking at the 2009 The Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers (MARCPO)
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This past Saturday, over 100 organizers got together for the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers (MARCPO), hosted by NAPO-WDC, in Bethesda, MD. The educational content of the program was fantastic and included the presentation, Putting Some Green in Your Organizing Business, by the “Queen of Green,” Candita Clayton. Now, I’m a fan of living green and I encourage my clients to do the same with my “Reduce, Reuse, Recylce” mantra…but I discovered that I was only “light green.” Before I get into that little eyeopener, here’s how Candita defined “being green”:
“Being ‘green’ means making healthier, more sustainable choices for you, your family, your business, and the planet.”
So, it’s those types of choices that determine whether you’re light, medium, or dark green. Here’s an easy to read chart I found at BeGreenMinded.com that explains what each shade means. I added a few tidbits that I picked up portions of that site and from Candita’s presentation as well.
You want to be green but not sure where to start. Candita said that you can also be in this category if you’re just starting, e.g., replacing your usual lightbulbs with CFL’s, recycling newspapers and plastics, etc.
You do more than most, but nothing radical. So, you’re in the swing of things. You’re using CFL’s, green cleaning products, aluminum water bottles, and replaced your flooring with environmentally friendly carpet tiles or wood flooring.
You are passionate about lowering your carbon footprint no matter what. Now, you’re really rockin’ n rollin’! In fact, you’ve morphed into Ed Begley, Jr. =) You’ve made environmentally friendly renovations/updates to your home by replacing your roof, HVAC unit, windows, doors, insulation, and water heater. You’ve also switched to Energy Star rated appliances, installed rain barrels, ride around in an efficient or hybrid car, and when you have to take a cab, you share your ride with others.
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So, it seems I have a little more work to do on the home front to get from light to medium green. In the meantime, I’ll keep up with my light green practices and definitely encourage you to do whatever you can to make healthier choices. It might seem like it’s a lot – and it is – IF you’re trying to be dark green right off the bat. Candita suggested starting small (e.g., finish up your current cleaning products and then switch over to green ones). You can definitely recycle your newspapers (if you still get your news that way) and reduce your consumption in other ways. You’ll have less clutter and will be doing something good for your planet. Baby steps, yes?
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“We always say tradition is the biggest roadblock to progress, and I think it’s tradition in law enforcement,” says Brandon Clabes, chief of the Midwest City Police Department. Instead of saying there’s a 417, officers now just say there’s a man with a gun inside the 7-Eleven store.
- Image via Wikipedia
I heard this statement a few days ago on NPR‘s Morning Edition and learned that many police departments are now moving away from the traditional use of radio codes when calling in a report, and are starting to use “plain talk.” For some, this is a hard tradition to break…even though it actually makes sense. Instead of having to remember a code (or a series of codes), officers can state exactly what’s happening so that the dispatcher – and other officers listening in – know how urgent a situation is.
Ok, so what do police officers and radio codes have to do with organizing and being more productive? Think about this – would you agree that our usual routines or habits can be likened to “tradition,” or the “We’ve always done it this way” syndrome? Even when we know that making a change would be in our best interest, it’s still hard to let go of the way we usually do things, isn’t it?
Could today be the day that you break with tradition and decide to make that change? …to pick up 5 things and put them away before you go to bed? …to start keeping all your like items together so they’re easier to find? …to start using a timer to keep yourself on track? …to clear your desk before going home for the day? …to pick out what you’ll wear to work the night before? …to do some organizing activity for 10 minutes? Did you notice that each of these suggestions is not very time intensive?
So, this is your “kick-in-the-butt-time-to-make-a-change-motivational-just-do-a-little-tip.” I hope it spurs you on to committing to being even a little more organized. Won’t you tell me if it does? I’d love to hear if you think this is doable or if you think I’m full of…well, if you think this is all hogwash and crazy talk.
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“A cluttered desk means a cluttered mind.” ~Michael Scott (character played by Steve Carell) [The Office · "The Secret" · 2006]
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