My (Little) Weekend Organization Project

So, I was totally inspired by this post by Aby Garvey on her Creative Organizing blog.

Cute Scrapbook Organizing Idea

Since my scrapbooking area (/home office/library/storage area) is *completely* out of control, I thought it would be nice to have a handle on at least a little part of it, so I picked up this cute little tableware caddy at Target and filled it with all of the goodies I've been collecting for my Smash Books.  One of them is going to be for vacation/camping, and one is going to be an idea book for home and my classroom (I even found little dividers that I can insert into the book to make sections for it!).

I'm going to really try to give up my perfectionism and just "smash" some stuff in there.  :)  The idea (thank you again, Aby Garvey!) with the tote is that I grab it and do some *imperfect* scrapbooking in front of the TV, in the RV, or out on the deck.  Everything I need is in this one handy little space.

What'cha think?  :)

Ohhhhhh....the Kitchen.....

THIS is what happens when you just pile things up.  Or when you let your kids and dh do the cooking.   Or when you have dogs.  Or when you just don't have enough room to put everything away.  *sigh*

Yesterday, as I was putting things away, I found evidence of rodential (my own special word) activity in one of my drawers.  I really thought that my plan for total annihilation of all things mouse had worked, but apparently I missed one or two, and I missed a hole which they have been using to escape the walls.  So today, I am focused on the kitchen (and laundry - we must have clean clothes in this house TODAY).  Here's what I started with:

 Yep, the vacuum has been laying there for days.  We just step over it now.  No room for it where it's supposed to go - that will probably be next week's project (coat closet).  The stain is from a spill - I'll need to get the shampooer out once the room is tidied and vacuumed well.

 The front of the fridge really isn't too bad.  I don't like a lot of stuff on there, although the kids and DH LOVE to put things on there.  :)  Mostly, I need to take the stuff off the top and give it a good wipe-down.  Oh, and clean it out.  That's a different story.  :)

Nope, no cooking in our house right now.  DH does everything on the grill during the summer, anyway.  Who needs a stove-top?  :)  Actually, a lot of that stuff is from our pop-up camper, getting washed and re-loaded in preparation for camping.

 Nowhere to put the cool new tumblers I bought at Sam's Club.  Why did I have to have 6?  I don't know.  That's how many came in the box.  I'll have to clear a shelf for them now.  I guess the Christmas dishes can go in the attic, too.

I don't even know what to say about this. We all just kept bringing stuff in, and nothing went out.  AND we are out of storage in the pantry, etc.  Time to de-clutter!

This is my "home office solution."  This big contraption (The Desk Apprentice from Staples) actually houses an organized system of file folders (tickler file), phone books, pens, scissors, paper clips, etc. for household tasks like bill-paying and permission-slip-signing, but even it got covered up.

OK, so that's the "befores"  I wish there was a way to post the "afters" side-by-side, but I'm not that good with Blogger yet.  (Oh, and I don't have any, because I need to be working on them instead of blogging!)  :)   Guess I'd better get started!!!

Well, the classroom remodel is going to have to take a back-seat for now.  I got things put back, just not the way I'd like, but the school year is over, and my room is back to looking like it did before Christmas again (we had to pack everything up).  I didn't get pictures taken of the room, unfortunately, but I will get them up here when I get back from Summer vacation and get the room set up again!  :)

The project now has moved on to my home.  During the school year, I have a tendency to let things slide at home and go full-bore on school-related items.  (Or burn out completely and just spend every free moment in my bedroom, hiding from the world in my pajamas.  I'm determined to have things in order before I go back to school this year, though, so I will only have to maintain.   I'm putting in some before and after pictures to help motivate me (seeing what things REALLY look like) and keep that fire burning (seeing the results of my hard work).

 The China cabinet before - not too bad, but I hate having it all cluttered up with stuff that doesn't belong!

This is our dining room table.  How are we supposed to eat?  Notice the crumb-catcher reposing underneath.  Such a helpful critter!  :)

 This is the bookshelf that I had my wonderful dh put in the dining room so I would have a place for my cookbooks, and what used to hold my Aerogrow gardens, until I killed them off.  They are currently in the garage waiting for a re-"planting" session, and the bookshelf since became a catch-all for Christmas glasses that wouldn't fit in the cupboard and other junk/dust bunnies.

Yet another helpful canine lying in the way of the progress to be made in the dining room!  :)

Here's the china cabinet "after."  Still too many dishes, but they were my gram ma's.  I like them.  :)

A cleared off dining room table, dressed and ready to eat at!  :)  Oh, the floor is CLEAN, too.  All the dust, dust bunnies, dog hair, and dirt has been removed through multiple sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing, and re-mopping activities!  :)

And finally, the bookshelf, reinstated.  There are still Christmas glasses on there, but DH is getting the boxes out of the attic for me tomorrow so they can be boxed up until this December, when they'll get removed, rewashed, and reused.  :)

Now, onto the kitchen!

Before Pictures of My Classroom

The Clutter-Free Classroom Project Week 1 Challenge  is officially underway!  I'm a little late getting my pictures added to the linky party, but that's because I'm COMPLETELY new to this whole blogging thing.  :)  I wanted to link up yesterday, but I couldn't figure out how to add a link back to the party.  I have the link, above, but I never did figure out how to grab the cute button that Littlest Learners has on her blog that goes straight to the linky party posts/challenge.

Anyway, I thought I would edit this post and add the link so I could be part of the madness project.  :)

My room doesn't actually look this bad usually.  We had to remove all of our stuff from the walls and move all of our furniture to the center of the room before we left on the holiday break because painters were coming in to repaint the walls and put up new (?) bulletin boards, which were in SHORT supply.

As you can see, I have my work cut out for me when I can go back in the building on Monday!  It's a professional development day, and the kids come back on Tuesday....I'm seeing some serious overtime in my near future!  I'm not sure right now where the furniture stops and the clutter begins, but I'm probably going to re-arrange my entire room tomorrow, knowing me.  We don't have much storage in the classroom, so my clutter is contained to my desk and a couple (okay, 3) filing cabinets.  However, I never got around to labeling supplies, manipulatives, OR my library, so I know that will be something to work on, as well as taming the filing cabinets and my desk.

Oy vey, Monday is nigh!

Mise en place(s) and pile(s)

Mise en place is a french phrase used in the chef's kitchen to describe a state of readiness - everything is in it's place and ready to be assembled into something delectable.

That's what I'm striving to do, not just in my kitchen, but in many places in my life:  my home, my classroom, my practice as a mother, wife, and woman.  (I say practice, because I'm never "right" in how I do things as a mom or a wife - I just keep trying to do better and practicing at being the kind of mom/wife/woman I want to be.)

Not only do I have multiple facets of my life that I want to organize, ready, and assemble into something delicious, I have many many PILES within those PLACES - hence the name of the blog.  I frequently have many wonderful things compiled, but they are scattered into the piles and places of my home and classroom.

I'm going to use this blog as a place to record my journey toward Mise en Place in my home and in my classroom.  I don't hope to change the world or even anyone else's life, just my little PLACE in it.  :)