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As a Professional Organizer, one of my favorite tools is my label maker.  With one little machine you can create oodles of labels in different fonts, colors and even add borders.  However, can you create a label without a label maker?  Absolutely!  Check out these other creative and perhaps “new to you” ideas to keep all of your favorite things in place:

• Use Photos…to quickly find the pair of shoes that you are looking for. While pictures work fine mounted on any shoebox, different manufacturers’ shoes come in different size boxes and those can be hard to organize.  Clear plastic shoeboxes fit the bill for that dilemma, but what I really love are the stackable shoeboxes with an open front!  With those you don’t have to take all the other shoeboxes off to reach the pair you want that day.  By putting the picture on one end and the other end backed up to the wall you will achieve a consistent and colorful look!

• Have you gone to a lot of conferences and never know what to do with those Plastic name tag holders with the safety pin on the back?  Flip over the paper with your name on it and use the blank side as your label!  Pin them on those fabric cube boxes that you can seem to find almost anywhere.

• Did you know that if you put a Magnet on each side of a clear plastic bin, that the two of them will bond?  I just tested it and it worked!  Use a generic flat magnet on the interior of the bin and on the exterior, use a magnet with a clip.  Consider creating a small label with scrapbooking materials or pressed flowers, laminating it, and then clipping that on!

The additional ideas listed below are brought to you courtesy of Martha Stewart and her new Home Office line at Staples.  What can’t that woman do!

• Martha came up with ElastiNote Tags®, which are tags connected to an elastic band.  These are ideal for cord control or to secure a box with jewelry, coins or any other small items.

• She also created Small Metal Bookplates, which add a classic touch to items like magazine holders and photo boxes.

• Finally, for those people out there with commitment issues in regards to their labeling, you are in luck!  Chalkboard Labels (conveniently placed near Martha Stewart’s chalk!) and Dry Erase Labels (where are your markers, Martha?) are easy and fun to use.  Just erase and start over again!

Whatever your preference or style there is a labeling option out there for you…even if it’s as simple as a Post-It and Sharpie!  Happy Labeling!

Children all over the country are excited about the end of school.  Their visions of having endless free time fill their minds, while parents scramble to figure out what to do with their children during this free time.  May-June can be a time of great stress to parents, but with proper organization, the transition can flow smoothly.  Below are a few tips to help with this transition:

School Papers and Supplies

–       When school ends, help your child decide which beautiful works of art should be saved, and which could be discarded (or sent to Grandma and Grandpa for their refrigerator).  Hold up three pictures, and ask them to select one for keeping.  Then repeat this process until only the best ones are left.  Taking photos of school projects can help preserve the memory and save space in your home.

–       If you prefer to keep important test papers, research projects, and paperwork from the year, decide where you will store them.  Try to recycle as much of it as possible.

–       Go through your child’s school supplies, and decide what can be reused next year and what needs to be tossed or donated.  Keep the reusable supplies together, for easy access in September.  There is no need to purchase duplicate supplies year after year.

Home Organization

–       It’s that time of year again to sort through your child’s closet, pack away the winter clothes and pull out the summer clothes.  Check for size, and pull out any clothes, shoes, etc., that are too small.  Decide what to do with clothes that are too small – donate, save for another child, or find a new home.  Keep some clothes out for cooler weather, just in case.

–       Set up your home for summer activities, such as a drawing area, a reading nook, a place for playing games, and other activities of interest.  Check the backyard for poison ivy, and clear out debris.  Check the children’s sports equipment and bicycles for safety, and make any necessary repairs as soon as possible.

Summer Camp

–       Keep brochures of summer camps and special programs together.  Compare the dates with your family calendar, and once the decisions are made, recycle the ones which are not used.

–       Gather all required camp medical forms, and mark due dates on your calendar.  If your child is due for an annual checkup, schedule the appointment before the medical forms are due.  Bring all medical forms to your appointment, so the pediatrician can fill out all of the forms at once.  If your child does not need an appointment, send the medical forms to the pediatrician to fill out.

Communication

–       Communicate with the parents of your children’s school friends, to find out what their children are doing.  Perhaps you can arrange to send your child to the same day camp as his or her school friend, to reinforce the friendship.

–       Collect addresses of your children’s friends.  If you travel, your child can send postcards to maintain a connection.

Enjoy your time with your children.  Summer vacations will not last forever, but the memories you share, will!

I went to see The Lorax with my niece and we really enjoyed the movie, including dancing to the song at the end of the movie after everyone had left! The environmental theme revolved around saving the trees so I told my niece that I would take her to IHOP for pancakes since they are offering free tree seeds as a promo for The Lorax. I’m hoping that Universal Studios keeps with the green theme of the movie and doesn’t decide to flood the market with Lorax theme-based stuff: toys, plush animals, games, etc. However, there’s probably not much chance of that happening.

The main theme of the story however revolved around the word ‘UNLESS’. The Lorax said, “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” At my previous employer, there were a lot of built-in opportunities to “care a whole awful lot” such as volunteering, raising funds for various charities, and hold clothing and food drives. It felt like we were making a difference in the lives of people on an almost daily basis. Now that I have my own business, I look for ways to volunteer in my own community.

My former college roommate and I spent one Saturday morning with our fellow alumni from Shippensburg University volunteering at the Reading Berks Food Bank. We packaged boxes for elderly clients of the food bank. A few months ago I spent a morning working with volunteers from Habitat for Humanity by laying a floor in one of the offices at the Blind Association in Reading. I had never laid a floor before so that was really fun!

If you are cleaning out the kitchen and pantry, donate your unexpired dry goods and canned food to the food banks in your area. If you are cleaning out the bathroom and linen closet of toiletries, make-up, linens, and personal products, donate your excess personal items to emergency shelters, women’s shelters, elderly organizations or any other agency that could use your unneeded items. Go to the website for the agencies in your area and find their wish lists for the most needed items.

Ok, we’ve all heard that we should keep our bodies active in order to lose weight.  We’ve also heard that we should keep our brains stimulated so we can keep our minds sharp and therefore, remember where we left our keys!  But how does “use it or lose it” relate to clothes?  Well, I will tell you now!

Clothes are tied to sentiment, self expression and comfort, so it’s no wonder why closets can become overloaded.  Sentiment, for clothing we wore at meaningful events in our lives and also times when we were a couple sizes smaller!  Self expression, for clothing we buy to show off our different sides.  And comfort, for those days you just can’t deal with constricting buttons and zippers!  Often though, these items don’t fall into your everyday wardrobe.  Did you know that there is actually a statistic created for that?  You wear 20 percent of your clothes 80 percent of the time.  So what can you do with that 80 percent that is rarely worn?  Here are some options:

1)     Consign …for formal gowns or cocktail dresses (yes, those bridesmaid dresses too!) that you don’t know if and when you will wear again.  Interview some consignment shops and let someone else appreciate and enjoy them for their special occasions!

2)     Host a clothing swap…for friends that have been eyeing items in your closet.  Beware of taking in more than you have put out and aim to use those items in your day to day 20 percent.

3)     Donate…if there are items that you know you will never wear again (maybe they’ve fallen on the floor and got pushed to the far corner!), or haven’t worn in a year.  Give them a gentle wash and bring them to your favorite charity collection site.

But maybe you’re not wearing some clothes because they are missing buttons, have ripped seams or you are just plain tired of them.  Here are some options for these dilemmas:

1)      Head to a tailor…for items with the quality to last and take them in to repair seams.  If you are missing a button, look to the stash of buttons that come with the shirts you buy – that’s what they are there for!  I store all mine in a small decorative box.

2)     Head to a low cost retailer…for items that you’re bored with.  Look for accessories like belts and broaches that can enliven and refresh what you own.  You can follow the color trends without having to buy clothes.  Plus accessories are much smaller and easier to store!

3)     Head to an art center…for shirts that have faded or just can’t be fixed.  They make great smocks for kids!

Now, with all that done, how is your closet looking?  Have you gotten to 70/30?  60/40?

Take it one day at a time and know you are not alone!  Strive to make your closet a place that you can enjoy going to, filled with items that make you happy, are flattering, and reflect your personality.  Then go out into the world, smile, and know that you look fabulous!

Why is organizing so much easier when you start with someone else’s belongings?

Clients often call looking for help with several projects within their home.  As I ask questions to determine their priorities and a starting point, occasionally the client will volunteer a child’s room or their husband’s “man cave.”  I agree that we can start wherever she prefers; however, my experience tells me these choices are, um, typically the least productive.

Here’s why:

1)  It’s natural to choose another person’s area because the client (the person who called to hire me) has fewer emotional attachments to the other family member’s belongings.  Deciding to let someone else’s things go is so much quicker and easier.  Isn’t it?  Trust me when I tell you this surprise won’t be received well.

2)  Next, other members of the family may not have called in the Organizer and may not yet buy into the idea of purging and organizing.  If the client starts with his or her own belongings and shows tangible results (a beautiful, organized room or two), trust is established, and volunteers start to line up.

I’ve been welcomed into many homes and, sometimes, I can actually feel the trepidation of the innocent by-standers (husbands, life partners, and children.)  These are the people who nodded “yes” to the theory of getting organized, and a few days later, find themselves, slack-jawed, being introduced to a genuine Professional Organizer standing in their living room armed with bags for “lettings things go,” “donations,” and a box for things to “to sell.”

The by-standers may openly admit to a fear that their possessions will be the first to go (good instincts).  Some ask if I’ll put their belongings on the front lawn “like they do on TV.”  Once they learn that public humiliation isn’t part of my process, the handwringing often stops, but they still follow me around keeping a watchful eye.   And, that’s okay.  In all honesty, if the tables were turned, I would need some assurances, too.

In every home, belongings get co-mingled.  Therefore, as we move through a room, methodically organizing each area, anything that doesn’t belong to the client, and seems out of place, we put in an “ask” pile.  Later, the owner of the “ask” pile decides to keep, donate, or toss those items.  All “keepers” need to be assigned home.  The best way to select a home for each item is to store it where you use it.

You might be thinking, “Building trust is great, but where should I start?”  Excellent question!  Here’s the short answer.

The way to decide where to start is to choose the area that gives you the most “pain.”  Let’s say the person making the call is a woman.  Her “pain” might refer to the discomfort of getting dressed and going out in the morning.  Is her closet full of things that don’t fit anymore?  Is the floor littered with stray shoes? Does the space feel claustrophobic?  Are there more pieces of clothing that don’t fit than do fit?  That’s enough to make anyone feel depressed before reaching the breakfast table in the morning.  If so, this is the place to start.

If everyone is late getting off to school and work because the kitchen isn’t efficient or meal planning doesn’t work, planning is needed in this area.

If you’re disorganization costs you time and money in the office, this is where organization will change your life from day one.

If you choose the space that causes you the most “pain,” organization will provide the most relief.  Once you learn some tricks of the trade, you’ll be inspired to make every facet of your life work like a well-oiled machine.

Without a doubt, the biggest clutter problem that faces people these days is paper.  It comes in through snail mail every day, from the kids bringing forms home, from items we print from our computer, notes that we make to ourselves in our car or while sitting in the doctor’s office, and just about everywhere we go.

Out of frustration, sometimes people just put it in a pile on the counter or desk and then the next day add more and then the next day more, etc. until the pile can’t stand on its own anymore.  The “tipping point” is when the pile starts falling over.

When it gets to this point, most people start going through the paper and files from the bottom up worrying that the papers on the bottom would be the most urgent. Sounds logical enough until you realize that if there’s anything on the bottom that needed attention, you mostly likely would have had a call or crisis to bring it to your attention. Nine times out of ten, most things take care of themselves by just becoming obsolete.

The more efficient way to sort when you have larges piles of paper is to start at the top and by handling the most recent and to include each new day’s papers with the process.  That way when you do get to the bottom, most of which probably just needs to be filed or tossed, you’ll be on top of everything.  Starting at the bottom and continuing to pile new incoming papers on top just adds to the feeling that you’re never quite caught up.

To stay in control of paper, set up a system where you make decisions each day for 5 minutes.  It doesn’t matter what time of day as long as it becomes part of every day.  Paper can be divided into just a few categories:  Toss / shred / file / needs action.

If you want to spread it around more, you can also have a stack for someone else to review and handle (read as husband or significant other).  There’s no reason why all the paper in the house is exclusively your responsibility.  If your children are old enough, they might even be able to take responsibility for some of it.  With a little investment of your time, you could assign older children these tasks, helping take some stress from you and teaching them responsibility that will serve them well as they begin to deal with the same issue.

Don’t surrender to the battle that paper presents every day.  Divide and conquer!