Planner Obsession

Okay, I'm going to be honest with you guys...I LOVE my planner! I love my new DIYFish inserts! I love my new erasable Frixion pens...I think I have a problem. LOL

In fact, I spent some time over the weekend making a new planner for my office. I have been using a monthly 8 1/2 x 11 spiral bound calendar for the last few years, and then I add post-its for things like meeting notes, etc. But honestly, it just ends up a scribbled mess. So, I decided to try out DIYFish for work. I admit, I didn't get an ARC binder because I'm not ready to commit yet (and I don't want to carry my heavy punch back and forth from home to work...LOL) But, I found a half-size binder that will work for now. If this is something I think will work out well (and I suspect it will), I'll probably get an ARC for obvious reasons (reasons being: I love ARC. The End.).

Since I'm still fairly new to using DIYFish, I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos on how others use planners to get some inspiration and ideas. I've just found even more awesome organization systems that I can't wait to implement, like Bullet Journaling. Where has this been all my life?? It's like something I've naturally gravitated towards doing already, but much more polished and logically laid out. I have a feeling this is going to be a great system for me.

I wish I could be super creative and decorate my pages or use my graph paper for sketching or whatever. But the honest truth is I'm just not like that. It's not my personality! But I'm so grateful for everyone else's creativity because it makes this world a more beautiful place. In the meantime, I will stick with the basics.

And, just so this isn't a random post about a somewhat strange obsession (although I'm not alone in this--did you know there is a whole internet subculture out there all about planners?), I wanted to share with you a find: I ordered this personalized freezer inventory printable from IHeartOrganizing and I love it! For just $3 I have an unlimited supply of these (I can print them as much as I need). I punched it and keep it in the Menu section of my planner. Since we've moved, our garage freezer has just been a glorified ice bucket, so I am looking forward to refilling it and doing it organized!

A Happy Mess!

I'm taking a quick break before I dive into organizing my new kitchen. I know I just did a pantry video, but I will have to update you after we settle into our new place! My baskets don't fit quite the same, so I'm scouring Pinterest for new ideas. I'll let you know what happens!

She Organizes the Food Pantry

Okay, so it's been about 6 weeks since my last blog...

Shame on me! In my defense, February is always a busy time of year for me because of an annual retreat that I help coordinate at my church. But now that's it's past, I figured I should get back to kitchen organization. And I promised I'd talk to you about the pantry & how I store my food, so here you go!

I've compiled a video (about 8 minutes long) that gives you all my tips & tricks, plus a tour of my pantry, so check it out:



If you can't watch it for whatever reason, let me summarize it for you. Basically, my pantry is really just a couple of over-sized cupboards. I had a hard time keeping things organized because it is so deep & wide that boxes & cans would get buried and I'd never find what I was looking for, so I would either buy more or I'd finally find it and it was past the expiration date. Frustrating! Oh, and my favorite thing was reaching in to get a snack only to find the box is completely empty--no one wanted to throw the box away after they grabbed the last item. ;)

So, I decided to categorize everything. And get rid of as many packages & boxes as possible! My solution? Baskets! I went to Target and bought a wire shelf that fits inside my cupboard. It basically splits the space in half so I can neatly stack things on top of one another and still be able to find things. For just a few bucks, I doubled my pantry space!

Then I went to the dollar store and bought some simple black plastic baskets. I made some labels out of blank business cards (you can pick some up at the office supply store), laminated them and tied them to the baskets. I have a basket for things like breakfast, snacks, lunch, coffee & tea, canned goods, rice & pasta, sauces & marinades, etc. In a separate cabinet near my stove, I also have a basket for sweet spices & savory spices.

When I get home from the grocery store, I immediately empty boxes (and the kids help)--anything that is individually wrapped, like cereal bars, instant oatmeal packets, etc., get dumped into the baskets and I toss the boxes (or re-purpose them). It saves so much space! Also, if there is something like pasta or tortillas that I plan to use for a meal later in the week, I split up the package (or buy multiples) and put some in the lunch/snack basket for the kids to eat free-reign, and I put some in another basket that way they know not to eat those because I need them.

It's not the perfect system, I'll admit. But, it work so much better than if I were just to throw everything in there like I did before! You can also do this for your cold food, although it doesn't work well for us because of the size of our refrigerator/freezer.

Someday I long to have a walk-in pantry...but until then, I'm happy with my over-sized & organized cupboard! (And I'm blessed & grateful each day that it has food in it...)

How do you organize your pantry? Leave your tips in the comments below, or link to your blog so I can see what you've done!

She Eats: Kitchen Organization

The kitchen has never been my favorite place (except for snacking late at night)...but I'm trying to change that. It's not that I don't like cooking or caring for my family, it's just that I don't have a lot of time to spend on making gourmet meals or cleaning up after them!

Over the years, I have tried to come up with a system that works, and to be honest, I'm still working on it. The point of this entire blog is not to show you how I have finally discovered how to keep it all together, do all and be all...nope! It's to share with you my honest struggles and my hope that some of the things I've learned can help you out, too. I have some talents and gifts, but I'll be the first to tell you that they do not include kitchen stuff (or music...)! But I wanted to share a few things that I've done that have helped me out tremendously.

First of all, we don't have a dishwasher. Although, I can't blame my issues on that alone, because even when we had one, I wasn't that great in the kitchen...the key is you have to actually use it for it to work...imagine that! LOL But anyway, one thing we are blessed with is a lot of counter space. So, since I have an abundance, I can afford to assign one nook to be my dish drying area.

I am notorious for procrastinating, so I often don't dry and put away my dishes immediately. Since I have this nook (it's hidden in the back corner by the fridge), it's not immediately visible if I have company or anything. And on the other side of the sink I have plenty of room for all the dirty dishes, which *is* immediately visible so I am more motivated to keep my dishes clean! LOL

Since I don't have a dishwasher, that means I need ready-to-grab tools to clean my dishes. Anything that will give me an excuse to put it off will be a problem, so I keep my stuff right in the sink. I don't want to clutter my counter, so I use one of these mini dish drainers I picked up from Target for only $8.

It's attached to the side of the sink with suction cups. In it, I keep my soap, scrubber, gloves (my kids use them), and in the little cubbie that's meant to hold silverware, I keep my Pampered Chef pan scrapers. No more excuses! And since I have a traditional double sink, I have a whole second side (with the disposal) for washing & rinsing so this isn't in the way.

This next tip may seem ridiculous, but it has helped my family out and kept my sanity in tact so you may want to give it a try! I labeled all my cabinets. Yes, yes, I know...but trust me! I made cute labels explaining what is on each shelf so that a) when my kids are putting away dishes, they know where they go and I'll know I can find them when I need them and b) when I have company over, there is no question where they can find something.

Each line represents a shelf in that cabinet. Because I have white cabinets, this has worked well for me. I'm not sure if I'd do this if my cabinets were not white, so use your own best judgement. Also, I'll admit I didn't think it all the way through--I used 2 x 4 mailing labels but they wouldn't stick to the paint so I used packing tape to secure them. The problem? If I ever change them, the paint will come off with them...oooooops! (Hey I'll be the first to admit I'm far from perfect!) So, I've thought about it a little more, and if I do it again, I will print them onto business cards, punch them out and laminate each one. Then I can secure them onto the cabinets using white Velcro dots. Easy solution! I only wish I had thought of that the first time around...

One last tip: go through each cabinet and weed out anything you haven't used in the last 6 months. I am queen of "I might need that later" so I have tons of kitchen gadgets! I also might have an addiction to The Pampered Chef...but I digress...

In order to combat an oversized mountain of dirty dishes each time, I have cut back on the amount of plates, bowls, cups, etc. that we have available to use. The less dishes we use, the less I have to wash and put away! I kept the bare minimum and boxed up the rest and put them in the garage. I can always go out and get another one if something breaks or if we have company. But honestly, if we have company, we usually use paper anyway...I know, I'm so fancy...

What do you do to keep your kitchen clean & organized? Let me know your tips in the comments!

Next time I'll share about my pantry. Hint: labels & baskets!