Keepin' it Real!

In the interest of "keeping it real" I'm feeling the need to share a little about my own home.  Virtually everyone that knows what I do says "I bet your house is so organized all the time."  Ha!  If they only knew.  I tend to blame the dis-order on the kids - 2 teenagers, the  preschooler and {especially} the baby :).  My husband and I love a tidy and orderly space so this dis-order causes stress.  The baby - by far - makes the biggest and most messes and we spend more time picking up after her than the other 3 combined.  


So here it is.  I'm admitting out loud to the world...there are some nights I go to bed and everything. is. not. in. its. right. place.  




But here's the thing.  That baby goes from 1 location to another pulling and dragging out every single thing she can get her hands on simply to just throw it down and move on to the next place.  This is the most fun thing ever to her - she laughs and screams and waves her arms wildly up and down.  And she just looks at me with this devilish grin.  


So my thinking is "what is the point??"  As soon as I pick up after her she sees it as her blank canvas and starts the process all over again {I find myself saying quite often "it's a good thing God made babies so cute"}...and there is all kinds of cuteness:                                                            

        

The messes even drive my 4 year old crazy.  Before I even ask, she'll say "Mom I'll help you pick up"!  [that's my girl! LOVE that!]


So for all of you who think I have a perfectly organized home all the time you'll be happy to know that some most nights I kind of just "scoot" items over with my foot so they're not in the walkway.  And I may or may not kind of just toss everything in the tupperware cabinet instead of stacking them neatly.  And the princesses and barbies sometimes just simply lay around our living room instead of being put away in their designated box.  [makes me cringe just writing this]

All this to say...everyone - give yourselves a break!!!  How boring would life be without the kids in our lives!!!


Oh and here's some exciting news - January is National G.O. (GET ORGANIZED) Month!  So stay tuned for some of my helpful little tips throughout the month.  And don't forget if you ever need help organizing a space please get in touch with me.  I'd love to help!

Fruit of the Spirit with a 3 year old!

So I mentioned that I may not always blog about organizing and here's one of those times!  But I am just so excited because today I concluded my study with our 3 1/2 year old on the Fruit of the Spirit!  Whoo Hoo!!!  It took way longer than the 9 weeks I allotted!  Oh well...it was fun for Claire and hopefully something sticks!

When I started thinking about our summer {Yes, I realize it's fall now} and how we'd spend our time I knew I wanted some combination of spiritual, educational, physical, social, musical, charitable and fun & crafts!  I actually did come up with a list under each of those but that's another post!!  Anyway, under the spiritual heading.......well let's just say that inspiration came in the form of the day-to-day life and trials in "dealing with" the behaviors of a 3 year old!  Hummmm....enter Galatians 5:22-23.  Truth be told, I needed this more than anyone.

So here's what we did...We took 1 spirit and chose a craft and a bible verse to correspond with that fruit.  For instance, with gentleness, I got a green balloon, filled it with flour, attached a brown foam leaf, and drew a smiley face...it was smushy, soft "gentle" grape!  I know, I know it's kind of a stretch :)

So as I said for GENTLENESS, I chose a grape and 1 Peter 3:3-4.

For LOVE ~ strawberry and Deut. 6:5.

For PEACE ~ watermelon and Col. 3:15.

For JOY ~ pineapple and 2 John 4.

For KINDNESS ~ orange and Ephes. 4:32.

For GOODNESS ~ banana and 1 Tim. 4:4.

For FAITHFULNESS ~ 2 cherries bound by a stem and Heb. 11:1.

For PATIENCE ~ lemon and 1 Thess. 5:14.

For SELF-CONTROL ~ apples and Titus 2:12.

I soon realized I kind of had to keep the reading and talking brief and move quickly onto the craft. But, man, talk about a sponge - she did so great memorizing the verses!  She likes to go around saying "be kind to each other" and then the other day she could tell I was getting frustrated with her and she said "Mommy be patient with everyone" (1 Thess 5:14)!  Whoa...talk about stopping me in my tracks!

Bottom line... I just loved our time together (done while the baby napped) talking to her about Jesus and doing crafts :) 

Oh and btw...Yes, these pics depict a child wearing not much more than her pj's, a costume or her birthday suit...but that's just how we roll around here! Ha!

Can I get an AMEN for hectic A.M.s!!!!!

Ok so I really don't know about hectic mornings (yet!)...I'm not running around getting my kids and myself dressed and ready for the day.  But I do know that I like a smooth morning when we do have to be out of the house early.  The one thing I hate dislike the most is staring at the clothes in my {too small} closet, debating about what I'm going to wear.  Just seems like such a waste of time and yet I want to look [somewhat] stylish! ;)

What ends up happening is that I wear the same thing over and over again.   I'm not sure if it's because I don't have (or take) the time to put together an outfit or I've simply forgotten about the cute top I just bought.  So the other day when I came across something in my closet that still had the tags on...I knew it was time to take action.

Enter "My Look Book" (not to be confused with the Neiman Marcus Look Book!!)...

All you need is a scrapbook and your camera - oh and a little patience wouldn't hurt.  Over the span of a couple of afternoons I took pictures of different outfit combinations, dressing and undressing the hanger several times!  Turns out I really have some cute stuff that no one has ever seen!  Scarves were my starting point for inspiration...putting them with different tops and jackets.  Then I used my jewelry as inspiration.  Different outfit combinations started abounding!  It was so exciting!!  See the thing is, often we go out and buy something new because (a) we don't know what we have in our closet or (b) we can't find it.  Being organized can help you not only save money but the precious commodity of time too!

I actually shot pictures of my shoes too - because I forget what I have - plus they serve as inspiration too!

Now the fun begins!  Each week (usually Sunday) I look at my calendar for the week to see what I will need to "look cute for" (i.e. meeting, church, lunch with friends, date night) and just pop open My Look Book and make the decision for each event.  Can I just say that it is so nice to not have to worry: "what will I wear?"  And if I'm honest, My Book is kind of a little work of art that brings me joy!

Oh and 1 more thing...I would take this a step further and pick your kids clothes out for the week too...especially with school starting soon!

i {heart} kid art!!!

If you're like me, lots of art projects come across my path - which I LOVE because kid art is way cool in my book.  My sweet 3 yr. old loves to cut, create, color and craft almost as much as I do...and she asks me every day if we're going to make a craft.  But what do you do with all those wonderful masterpieces??!!  Personally I didn't want to go to the expense of buying frames and then putting holes in the wall...not to mention the agony pleasure of that honey-do project with my husband.  All that measuring and making sure you get the picture hung exactly right - does not always make for a pleasant time for us :)  !!  

So here's a neat way to display your footprints, alphabet and bible verse crafts, paintings and other what nots.  It's super easy and cheap...and best of all its easily accessible so you can interchange as often as you like.  And you can hang it immediately as my little budding Picasso likes me to do! :)  

Our museum wall is on the staircase near the kitchen so I get to look at these pictures all day and it just makes me smile! 

I'd love to hear your ideas on what you do with your kids' art!  

Jewelry Jumbled Up

I don't know about you but I've spent a decent amount of money on jewelry - especially necklaces.  I absolutely love them!  A lot of times a really great necklace will be my starting point for picking out something to wear.  Then I got into beading {shriek}!  So with my new hobby, my poor jewelry stand got a little overwhelmed (see Before pic below)!  I was almost too embarrassed to show you the jumbled up mess.

The poor stand needed some relief so I went browsing on Etsy (love that site!) and found this really neat idea for displaying jewelry.  It looked like a lovely piece of art on the wall.  So I decided to try my hand at making one...

                                                           Before                            After

All you need is a large frame, pretty fabric, screen (a little bit larger holes than what you would find on a screen door), and S hooks.  Oh and a staple gun would be good too.  I also added some glass knobs at the bottom of the frame for additional display.  Everything came from Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off except the screen and S hooks.  It was SUPER easy!

Now I can actually see my "treasures"!!!  And it's organized!!! Happy day...

Over the Moon for the Overdoor "Shoe" Bag!

For my 1st organizing post I thought I'd share with you my fave organizing product!  Really everyone should have at least one!  It's the 24-Pocket Overdoor Shoe Bag.  You can get these at the Container Store for about $15 but I think Kmart carries them too (by Martha Stewart).  Of course you could put your shoes in it but...

little Princesses

cleaning supplies

just think...the possibilities are endless as long as you have a door!  How about your crafts, any and all cords, Nintendo games, art supplies, hair bows and barrettes, Legos, scarves and gloves, the pantry, belts, etc etc!  Great for both adults and kids alike!

Let me know what your ideas are!

Welcome to my new blog!!

I am so excited to enter the blog world! And to write about one of my biggest passions is going to be...well...pretty amazing! My thought is to fill you in on creative systems and products to help you get organized but I can't promise that I won't write, on occasion, about other things that inspire me...hope that's ok!

On the (off ) chance you want to know a little bit about me here's the scoop...I'm happily married to the love of my life who also happens to be very supportive when I get a "wild organizing hair"!! I think he kinda likes it too though because he's the same way! I'm the overly proud mom to 2 precious little girls and the stepmom to a daughter and son who provide me joy and inspiration every single day!

Now a little about my business...Org-N-Ize...it's just that...I go in and help you organize anything you want! Officially I've been a PO (professional organizer) for 3 1/2 years and I'm a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers {mouthful}. ( www.NAPO.net) Unofficially I've been organizing for people my whole life. Even in elementary school I helped my friends organize their rooms and closets! Yes I'm kind of a nerd...

A little bit about my philosophy...I believe an organized life is a peaceful life. The world is so fast paced, who doesn't want to be able to keep up? Coaching people on systems to help their lives run more smoothly is what it's all about for me. I want to help people save time, money and energy!

I mentioned my 2 little girls. Staying home with them is a privilege and priority for me. That's why I'm working my business on a part time basis...in a few short years they'll be in school and then I can work more but until then I can only accept smaller jobs. Please feel free to email me at csgammill@gmail.com if you are interested. I welcome any ideas or thoughts...feedback of any kind! We're all just here to help and inspire each other!