If you’ve been following along for a bit here in the space, you might remember Suzy from Hip Mountain Mama challenge other bloggers and those endeavoring to live greener to make One Small Change. The challenge ended in April, but those who began this movement decided to continue on and are still making One Small Change every month to live more sustainably.
September as a pivotal month of change. A change of seasons, a change of schedule, and a change of weather. So I decided this month to be the time to jump back in and share the One Small Change our family is undertaking to live greener. I love organizing my home, so this month I plan to collect and create some greener organizing solutions, and of course share them all here with you.
There is just so much plastic a girl can take I tell you! This blog, Organizing-Life began with my passion for all things in its place. I organized everything really. And all in plastic containers. They are cheap, simple, modular, interchangeable, uniform, and plentiful. Now, as a girl going green, I am thinking about what else can I use to organize our belongings that isn’t going to leach BPAs, phthalates, and other toxins? What do you use to organize your home you ask? Why, natural materials of course! Remember stone, wood, glass, paper, and metal? Ahh, to bring a bit of the earth into our home would be really a relief.
This month I plan to share a few of the ways we incorporate organizing solutions made of natural materials into our home. It isn’t easy. I feel like I am on a safari sometimes hunting down organizing containers made of anything other than plastic. I am usually astounded at the prices of these beautifully crafted organizers. Think outside the box, get creative, and thrifty, and make do. And really, it works to help make the home a bit greener.
The first switch we are endeavoring is to get rid of our plastic bowls. I found these very dirty, but very sturdy, wooden bowls the other week at the thrift store. With a little bit of elbow grease, these were revived into working condition and are now part of our collection. In fact, they are the perfect size for popcorn.
- Sand them down. Use coarse sandpaper for wood first (like a #60) and then a fine sandpaper to smooth things out (like #150.)
- Rinse to get rid of the dust, wipe, and let them air dry completely.
- Let them be or seal them with linseed oil and beeswax. (Melt a 1:1 ratio, cool, and wipe on with a clean rag. Wipe off excess with another clean rag and let the piece dry completely. This concoction is food safe.)
- Hand wash these babies. Don’t try to put them through the dishwasher because they’ll dry out and crack.
Where to find it:
- Yard sales, Craigs List, Freecycle, Ebay, rummage sales, thrift stores, your parent’s attic.
How to use it:
- Knick knack drawer
- At the dinner table
- Fill with stones, acorns and pine cones and use as a table centerpiece
- Jewelry catcher on the dresser
We have a lot of plastic bowls. And we are slowly replacing them all with wood, glass, and metal. For food stuffs, it is a small way to keep the plastic out of your food. For the rest of your home, well, wooden bowls are a nice way to bring a bit of the outdoors inside. And we just like to limit the number of plastics we touch daily. (If that is even possible?) The fish Nemo’s friend Dori comes to mind. “Keep on swimming, keep on swimming.” We are just endeavoring to do the best we can in this world made of plastic.
Up next, plastic vs. baskets.
P/S Can I also submit this as an additional Small or rather Large Change? My husband just took a new position with the Department of Energy managing government loan guarantees for renewable energy projects across the country. I am pretty darn proud of him as I too believe that renewable energy sources will pave the way for our continued future energy consumption. As a former poli-sci undergrad, I am a bit taken aback that now we are part of that bureaucratic system. Yikes! All for a good cause perhaps.
P/P/S
Take a peek at what others are doing to live a bit greener at the One Small Change Blog!
 P/P/P/S
Can I do that many P’s? For a much better tutorial about how to restore your wooden treasures, visit The Magic Onions blog here.
Okay in my head this was going to be a 3 hour project. I know about angles, about compound miter saws, and I always love a little bit of DIY home improvement. In reality this took the larger part of a day. But someone, (maybe Ni Hoa Kia Lan) was blessing the kiddos with a bit of extra patience as mommy and daddy were outside in 98 degree humidity trying to figure out mitered corners.
So we saddled up on Saturday morning and trekked to Home Depot. After $60 of molding, 4d nails and pine plank, we went by my father-in-law’s place to borrow the miter saw we gave him a couple years ago for his birthday.
Fast forward to after lunch. 4 cuts done correctly. 4 cuts done incorrectly. One more run to Home Depot to get the plank I forgot. (Foggy Friday-night math I swear!) And not even the box was completely assembled. (Click here if you want to make your own cornices.)
Fast forward to after dinner. Another run to Home Depot to buy additional crown molding I forgot to buy. (Did I say I know anything about angles and math? Nah, that wasn’t me.) And I am sitting on the kitchen floor filling nail holes, gaps, and priming the cornices.
Sunday after church, my husband did a fantastic job of hanging them, and they looked fabulously primed for our dinner company; family visiting from Korea.
Now, how long do you think it will take me to actually paint these puppies enamel white? I am thinking next spring…
 We have a summer of learning ahead of us. I believe it to be a unique and exciting mama experience to have the opportunity to learn with and teach your children. Not all parents have the wherewithal to be able to spend all day with their little ones showing them a personal tour of a small part of the world. I am always on the look out for new learning tools and new ways to learn through play.
There is this wall at the center of our home I just didn’t have a clue how to utilize, so I decided it was time to create a space where we can all write on the wall. Make a chalkboard that is. This is before.
 
This is after.
  
It is hilarious that the writing is on the wall, and it fills only the bottom third of the black board, that I never have to erase because the kids like that more than drawing, and that a wall can provide hours of entertainment. I have some paint left over, so I am contemplating, the pantry door, another wall, the entryway–so we can write inspiring words on the wall, and hummm where else? Here is how I went about this process if you feel so inclined to create your own chalkboard wall.
How To Make a Chalkboard Wall
- Tape off the area you intend to make chalkboard with low-tack painter’s tape.
- If the area is already painted with latex paint, sand the area with a fine sandpaper. If the area is exposed wood, or dry wall, you can skip this step.
- I had holes in my wall, so I filled them with patch putty with a putty knife. After this dried, I sanded the area again.
- Prime the area with a quality primer. (This extra step just makes painting the area tons easier and the finished area is nice and smooth.)
- Paint the area with chalkboard paint and a sponge roller. (I got my chalkboard paint at Home Depot. There is also a chalkboard paint you can tint different colors to match your decor.) (And I needed three coats to get good coverage. Oh, and remove the painters tape after the paint has almost dried.)
- We waited three whole days to write on the wall, per the instructions on the can. First I covered the chalkboard with a coat of white chalk, then I used a chalkboard eraser to erase the entire thing. Then we were ready to draw.
- When needed, wipe down the chalkboard area with a barely damp cloth. “Prime” the area again with white chalk before drawing again.
Do you do anything to sneak “learning” into your everyday? Hope you are having a simply wonderful summer.
Here is a quick jewelry pouch how to. I like the envelope flap and the easy snap closure to keep my jewelry neat, protected and organized.
Need:
- 2 scrap pieces of fabric 9″X5″ each (quilting weight woven cotton works well)
- 1 metal snap
- 1 needle and straight pins
- coordinating thread
- fabric scissors
- sewing machine
- iron and ironing board
How-To:
1. Cut (2) 9″X5″ rectangles of coordinating fabric. Fold up one short side, right-sides together, 3 1/4″. Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, machine stitch both sides of “pouch”, back stitching at the beginning and end. (I used a generous 1/4″ seam allowance to stitch the lining so it will fit smoothly into the outer-fabric pouch.)
2. Clip bottom corners of pouch, and turn lining fabric pouch right-side out. Insert lining pouch into outer-fabric pouch and smooth the layers. Clip the corners of the flap to create an angled envelope-flap shape. Pin the layers if necessary. Machine stitch the sides of the flap, and across the front of the pouch, keep the top of the flap open for turning, back stitching at the beginning and end. Clip the corners of the flap where it meets the pouch. Turn the piece, tuck in the lining and press flat.
3. Turn under the open envelope flap and press. Top stitch around the edge of the flap.
 4. Align the snaps in desired position and hand stitch in place.
5. Insert your jewelry or other items and voilá…nifty organizing.
That’s all there is to it. I just love little pouches.
I have been reading so many great articles about how to get organized for back-to-school! This year my family is preparing for our older son to enter pre-school. 3-year-olds look so cute with those big turtle-like back-packs on their little shoulders! The pre-school we chose is a cooperative school, meaning that parents assist in the classroom, serve as coordinators for different activities (we are the social-committee co-chairs) and participate a number of hours in other areas such as fundraising, cleaning and maintenance, and field-trips. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed when the e-mails starting coming fast and furious last week and all of a sudden I needed 6+ days of morning week-day child care for my daughter this fall. I guess it isn’t just kids who need a schedule adjustment, but do parents too! As a parent, how am I going to manage all of these obligations and everything else? Here is how I am planing my back-to-school schedule.
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:: Write in obligatory or mandatory events first. I have scheduled the days I am required to assist in my son’s class, holiday gatherings, birthdays, holy days of obligation, and our Cancun vacation. I like to plan at least 6 months in advance. Or, in this case, my BIL is getting married in January and is also having a separate important reception, so we need to have our January schedule plan outlined now as well. Planning ahead especially around the holiday season, helps you know what you need to do to prepare, and what you need to acquire to be prepared. This way you can catch sales along the way instead of paying full price in a panic the week before.
:: Make a list of other seasonal activities you would like to do with your family or friends. I am planning to go apple picking with my family, and then spend the rest of the weekend making apple sauce, dried apples, and can apple pie filling. I also hope to visit the fall farm festivals we have in our area so the kids can see the farm animals and I can pick up some pumpkins.
:: Schedule these seasonal activities in your calendar, with the “weather permitting” caveat of course.
:: I try to schedule a “home-project” weekend each month as well. Sometimes this varies with the weather conditions, but I feel if I don’t schedule it in with all the other things we need to do, that crown moulding that has been sitting in my basement for a year will never get hung!
Although it may seem silly, make it a point to write down the fun stuff in your calendar too and don’t forget to schedule a day to relax!
:: Don’t forget a do-nothing-weekend. I always schedule a do-nothing weekend every other month or so, when I put aside the work and we just hang-out as a family, cook together, play together, and do what ever we feel like.
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How are you coming along preparing for the new school year? A while back I designed a few planning pages, you can find the monthly planner here, and the weekly planner here. (Be sure to read the posts to learn how to utilize these planning tools.) Do you have tips you rely upon to help you schedule all of your parental obligations, both academic, athletic, and otherwise? Leave a comment here, I’d love to hear from you and I am sure readers would like to hear your tips too! Happy Organizing!
Okay, I love my freezer. If you have been reading this blog for a bit, you probably think I use my freezer like a piggy bank–which I kind of do. It is kind of like my bank for saving leftovers, saving fresh produce, and stashing dishes made-ahead of time which otherwise would be bound for the trash. Reading TipNut.com’s zucchini bread recipes in my Reader, reminded me of another freezer-saver favorite from my childhood: frozen bananas.
My mom would beat out any other sugar police out there, so we stuck to healthy everything with no refined sugar. One of my favorite snacks as a kid was a frozen bananas dipped in yogurt and coconut. In my home, we always have ripe bananas the kids aren’t going to eat, and because I don’t eat them anymore, they head for the trash. But, with this money and time-saving healthy tip, we can start saving our banana money in the freezer! Here is how I make them and some other variations:
- Select moderately ripe bananas, peel, take off those stringies, and slice in half width-wise.
- Push a clean round popsicle stick through the cut side of the banana about 1/2 way up the banana. (You can cut a 1/4″ dowel from the hardware store with a kitchen shears into 6″ lengths.)
- Coat with desired topping.
- If topping is drippy like melted chocolate: Place banana flat on baking sheet lined with waxed paper, lightly cover with plastic wrap and freeze flat for 4 hours. Then roll each individual frozen banana in waxed paper, twisting ends, and place in Ziploc freezer bag. Label the bag, and place in the freezer for a sweet and yummy frozen snack.
- If topping is dry like toasted coconut: Roll each individual frozen banana in waxed paper, twising ends, and place in Ziploc freezer bag. Label the bag, and place in the freezer for a quick, refreshing money-saving snack.
Suggested toppings:
- Plain yogurt and toasted coconut or granola
- Fruit flavored yogurt and mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts
- Peanut butter – can get messy
- Melted chocolate (white chocolate is yummy)
- Berry or fruit puree
- Caramel (melt caramels, or make your own, place bananas on baking sheet lined with waxed paper and drizzle caramel on with a fork.)
I hope these inspire a chilly snack to cool off your summer days! For more Save Your Money in Your Freezer posts visit here and here. For a printable Save Your $$ In Your Freezer download it here.
Do you have other freezer saving, money saving tips? if so, leave a comment here for other readers! Happy organizing!
When people ask me, “are you planning to have more children,” my answer is, “we aren’t planning now, but if God is planning, than yes, then we’ll be planning too.” The reason is because I don’t know if I could keep up with the medical issues of a third baby if he or she had as many as my two children have had.
I frequently wonder how I end up spending so much time coordinating doctor’s visits for my children. In three years, we have been to see the cardiologist, nephrologist, urologist, orthopedist, physical therapist, and countless radiologists in addition to their regular pediatrician and dentist. We have had only two ER visits for a clipped off finger pad and a nurse-maids’ elbow, a week’s stay in NICU, and one stay-in-the-hospital surgery to correct a Grade-5 kidney reflux condition. I count myself and my family lucky that we are in overall good health and that none of these medical issues are major. But I can’t help but wonder why I have a directory of medical specialists when most of our friends who have children simply brought their babies home from the hospital and never looked back.
You are probably asking, why am I thinking of this now? I just scheduled my daughter for an Early Intervention evaluation to find out if she qualifies for physical therapy services (provided our insurance and budget cooperate) for gross and fine motor skill development. I am just not sure if it is her little premie-baby-attitude saying, “I’ll walk when I am good and ready!”, or if there are other bad-habits she has that are preventing her from developing the balance and muscle tone she needs to walk. She isn’t alarmingly late, not even trying to walk at 18 months, but I’d like her to eventually be able to interact appropriately with other toddlers her age who are now learning to run.
So, how do I organize their complete medical histories? I carefully record and document each phone inquiry, visit, prescription, evaluation, follow-up, specialist’s contact information, and medical proceedure. A while back, I designed a health-care planner pages packet that you can download hereand print to help you organize your family’s medical information. I also send a copy of this info to my parents and to my in-laws (and keep a copy of relavent history handy for a sitter or other care-taker) in case of an emergency.
Do you feel like you are in and out of the doctor’s office constantly? Do you wonder why God is giving you these challenges? Do you have a special system you use to organize your and your family’s medical information? Leave a comment here and share your experience with others! Happy Organizing.
I love tricks that make my life easier and healthier. Here are five of my favorite kitchen tools and how I use them to make cooking healthy meals for my family easier. (I know I said easy, but I meant eas-ier.)
1. The ice-cream scoop
I have to admit, I stole this one from Martha Stewart, but I have been using it tons ever since. Use an ice-cream scoop for measuring muffin batter, waffle batter, and pancake batter. Or use it to form perfectly round cookies. The little scraper thingy makes portioning runny batter a neat and even, super-simple task. I have a large one that is 2″ and a small one that is 1″ wide that is perfect for those mini-muffins.
2. Ice-cube trays
I mentioned in the popular “Save Your Money in Your Freezer” post that I like to save my extra stocks, juices, tea and coffee in the freezer. Save your little leftovers in perfect 1 tablespoon-sized portions in ice-cube trays and stash them away to make lemonade, iced-coffee, or iced-tea later. This is also the perfect way to save single portion veggie and fruit purees for your baby.
3. Pastry-piping tips
I stole this from Martha Stewart too. I love cake decorating and have tons of pastry piping tips. But, I don’t eat cherries enough to warrant buying a cherry pitter. So, I slip my finger into the pastry tip, a #7 Wilton will do, and poke the tip into the top of the cherry to extract that pesky little pit, and pop the rest into my mouth. YUM.
4. Scale
I use my kitchen scale for everything. It was the best wedding-registry gift ever. I use it for those European baking recipes where everything is in grams and when I need to weight a letter to find out how much I owe the Postal Service. I also use it to portion meats I buy in large packages. Tare the Ziploc bag, measure one pound of ground turkey, and seal up the bag, label it and stick it in the freezer and viola, you have the prefect portion.
5. Cheesecloth
This is a great kitchen tool. Cut a square to make a pouch for mulling spices, bouquet garni, or roasted barley to make tea. Or, double it back to line a strainer, to cull the seeds from a berry puree or to catch the clots that might mess up your egg custard. Or, wrap herbs like lavender or sage in a piece of cheese cloth and place it in a small place that needs a special scent.
Do you have favorite kitchen tools that make your life easier? Share your tips and tricks here to make other readers’ lives easier. Happy Organizing!
Here is a quick tip post to start your organizing week out on the right foot….
5 Ways I Use Bins to Organize at Home
Organize your plastic baggies of frozen fresh herbs and zests in a small plastic bin. This way they don’t slide around in your freezer!
Keep your over the counter meds and first aid organized in a single and keep it handy on a cabinet shelf.
Keep that drippy bleach measuring cup from messing up your fabrics by putting it and your detergent measure in a plastic bin.
Mama King from 4 Crazy Kings organizes her kid-crafting supplies in a plastic bin. Head on over to her blog for more great kid-crafts and organizing ideas.
Finally, keep your bagged snacks in order by placing them together in a bin on your pantry shelf.
Hope these quick tips are useful to you. I bought the bins with holes at Walmart for under $2 each and the clear plastic bin at The Container Store for about the same. Do you organize in plastic bins? Leave a comment here and lend your organizing expertise to other readers. Happy Organizing!
Wow, thank you to everyone who left their well-wishes regarding our beginning a journey toward being debt-free! I so appreciate it, and I am going to need the encouragement and momentum! Oh, and thanks for the money saving tips MoneyWise Moms! (For those of you who don’t yet know Gina, head on over to MoneyWise Moms to learn a plethora of valuable information about how you can save money!)
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Monday I wrote about Budgeting…It’s a Philosophy, and how I have changed my perspective about shopping, saving, and consumption. Yesterday, I wrote about starting our Journey Toward Being Debt-Free and how I figured out that in four short years we could pay down more than $177,000 of debt (and interest) to totally wipe out our second mortgage. Today, I wanted to share with you a few of the resources and money-saving methods I have picked up along the way that will help our family achieve our goal of getting to a debt-free life.
Using the Envelope System to Manage Spending
I have gotten used to handing over the plastic when I make a purchase. It kind of makes the price tag vanish into thin air…or makes it just plain irrelevant because you never saw it in the first place. I believe physically separating my spending money from my savings, physically handing cash to the cashier, and seeing the amount of money in my envelopes diminish through the month will most literally demonstrate my spending habits. The envelope system is transparent and there is no ignoring the amount of cash I give away (well, in return for something else.)
In a nut shell, I am going to withdraw the cash amounts I plan to spend on essentials, such as groceries and donations, each month. The grocery money goes in one envelope and the donation money in another, and I plan to spend from each “stash” separately. If we run out of cash before the end of the month, that’s it. No more. If we have cash left over, we can save it for the next month, or use it to eliminate even more debt.
To learn more about the Envelope System visit Mandi at Organizing Your Way and read her article Organizing Your Budget With the Envelope System, or visit Tsh at Simple Mom and read her article, Keep Your Spending Tidy With an Envelope System. Or, if you need a visual tutorial, visit this YouTube video entitled, Envelope System Tutorial!
Make Mini-Goals and Set Mini-Rewards
Four years isn’t a long time, but I am sure it is going to seem long. We are working into our budget and calendars mini-goals and mini-rewards to celebrate those milestone achievements. I feel a little pat-on-the back to pick up moral during our journey will be necessary from time to time. Some of our mini-goals include, paying off our auto loan and paying off our HVAC system. (We had to install a new $7,800 HVAC system not even 30 days after we bought our home. Yup, no contingent seller guarantees, and the home inspector…well, let’s just say he didn’t do his job. Lessons learned.) After we reach a debt-reduction milestone we plan to celebrate, either by indulging in a little frugal fun or by indulging a bit more by going out to a sit-down Korean kalbi dinner. But I am guessing that the best reward will be knowing that we have that extra cash to pay down other debt more quickly.
Plan Ahead and Work Ahead
Eating out is always our biggest budget busters. We see it as a form of social entertainment, or a celebration for a job well-done, or just plain relief from having to cook dinner at the end of the day when we are tired. But at $35 for a sit down meal this entertainment is sure adds up fast. So, my solution is to plan ahead and work ahead to make economical meals at home before the kids get crazy and before I get tired at the end of the day.
The other day I took a full inventory of my freezers (I have two), my pantries (I have two), and my fridge. I realized that we have enough food stuffs for shelter-in-place for three months. No joke. So, I went through my ingredients, and jotted down menus that directly correspond to what I have on hand and what needs to be consumed first. AllRecipes.com is a wonderful website that allows you to type in the ingredients you have on hand and searches for recipes that utilize those items. This process probably seems so “duh” to most of you, but it is a task I simply haven’t put on my To-Do list as a priority. Planning menus, and a list of quick-fix meals for those especially tough days, will keep me sane and keep us from spending the extra cash to eat out.
I am also starting to coupon again. (I haven’t in a few months because I had a complete stockpile and wasn’t cooking.) The general idea is to buy items when they are on sale AND you have a coupon for the item so when you NEED the item you don’t purchase it at full retail price. CouponMom.com is a great informational resource that explains how you can buy literally $100 of groceries for $35. I know, I’ve done it. You can download her free e-book “Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half.” Also, Money Saving Mom has a great wealth of information about couponing. (One of the things Money Saving Mom noted in her podcast interview was that couponing isn’t an overnight, save 75% off your grocery bill miracle, but rather a journey toward developing frugal grocery habits.) By planning menus ahead and working ahead to buy items at rock-bottom prices I know our family can become debt-free.
Be Flexible and Reevaluate Often
I know that there will be unexpected events and unexpected expenses along the way and this may delay our debt reduction journey. But we are planning to save cash for these rainy days and we are planing to be flexible. One of the most difficult things for me is to accept is that I don’t have total control all the time. Stuff can happen and it will. And I just need to have the wherewithal to be flexible and roll with it.
We also plan to reevaluate often. We have never tried to adhere to a budget or change our needs vs. wants spending philosophy, so we don’t know how it is going to turn out. If this budget works, great. If at some point it doesn’t continue to work for our family, we’ll change it. Again, for me, it’s all about accepting what is and not getting frustrated trying to make it what I would like it to be.
Keep Your Eye on the Prize
I don’t remember where I first learned this saying, but I feel it is very applicable now. Four years isn’t all that long, but I know it will seem long at times. I need to keep reminding myself that being debt-free is possible, is best for our family, and particularly for our children. Maybe I’ll make a sign to hang in a prominent place…like my wallet.
Are you starting, or walking along a journey toward a debt-free future? Why do you think debt-free living is so seemingly counter to popular culture here in America? Leave a comment here for other readers inspired to live debt-free. Happy Organizing!
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thank you for stopping by my blog  I am a 30-something mom to a 4 year old son and 2 1/2 year old daughter, and a wife to my life wonderful. I write in this space when my crafty inspiration strikes or when I get to pondering about how we can better connect with the earth around us. We are a family surviving the suburbs, contending with commercialism, and getting to a greener lifestyle. Welcome! ~Abbie a few blogs I like in no particular order 
One Small Change can help the environment!
In Jan we stopped using paper towels
In Feb was Ziploc elimination
Check back at the end of the month to see how I did and for recipes to make your own all natural lotions, shampoos and soaps!
Permission © Organizing-Life 2009
All images and designs are property of Organizing-Life. Please do not copy any original designs or photography without written permission. Thank you!
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