Save Big Time Money This Christmas!

Are you sick to death of the yearly shopping rush to buy everything on time? Or maybe the credit card bill that increases right before the new year? Or the "Black Friday" lines that wrap around the store just so you can save big on just one or two items?

I fell victim to the Black Friday rush the first few times I really paid any attention to it. I thought it was a great idea until I saw the lines wrapping around stores, the parking lots jam packed with crazy people just trying to find a spot, and the rudeness that seemed prevalent in hot spots.

Last year I decided there must be a better way to save money at Christmas time. I thought long and hard about it and even prayed about it. We certainly didn't have bookoos of money to spend on presents, but I still wanted a great Christmas morning for my children. Then the idea came to me, like a "ta da" moment. I buy my clothes used, I buy my decor used, why in the world not buy some of my presents used, too?

Let me tell you, people--I am HOOKED!!

Oh, I know what you're bound to be thinking. Used for Christmas?! But...but...what about the list? What about getting something shiny and new? What about...SANTA?! I know because I was thinking the same thing. But God! It's so nice to have new things once a year. LOL. I do whine to God every now and again.

But I want to share with you what a difference it made in my Christmas.

I felt God tugging on my heart to just try it. And when I would feel sorry for myself, I heard God whisper, "Who's this all about anyway?" I had to admit, all of my Christmas's, at least since I've been a grown up and been in charge of the giving, have been plain miserable. I had a list in front of me a mile long and I rarely shop at all, so just the thought of finding these things and making it all even wore me plum out.

I knew Christmas was supposed to be about Jesus, but I was way too busy for that. And the sad thing was, it was also taking just a bit away from Thanksgiving. (If I was going to get up that early, I better cut my visiting short and get to bed!) I hated Christmas time. I really did. I loved Christmas Eve and morning, but the preparation was so exhausting that it took away from what Christmas was supposed to be about.

So, how does that change, except maybe some saved cash, when I thrift store shop instead? I had no idea!

It was simply amazing!! I pulled in the parking lot to my nearest Thrift store and sat there a minute looking at my children's letters to Santa. How in the world was this going to work? I had never even thought about praying before I walked through a store at Christmas time to go find presents. But, right there in that thrift store parking lot, that was my very first thought. God. If my children were going to open presents and find awesome things under that tree, it would be God, not me, who did it. I prayed. And not just a little, "Oh please don't let the bathrooms be too crowded this year" kind of prayer. I let God know that I knew that if my kids were going to be delighted with what they found on Christmas morning, it would be because of Him.

Then I prayed for specifics, especially the Barbie house Abby had her heart set on. That right there brand new was over $100! She also wanted a baby doll car seat, but I didn't think much of that, those were cheaper. I finally went in, shopping after I spent time in prayer.

I shopped with searching eyes, seeking out ideas that might work. Ideas started flooding. A baby doll stroller that Leah wanted, we found at the very first stop! She had been talking about getting it for months, and there one sat, almost like new. I called my mother-in-law to make sure it was right. Then, around the next bin I stumbled on an Ikea high chair for just a few dollars. I hadn't even thought to put that on the list even though little Joshua had been needing one. On it went, one little find after another.

I probably visited about 6 or 7 thrift stores that day, thanking God after what I walked away with and praying before entering a new thrift store. And all along the way, praying hard that we'd find a Barbie house.

The last thrift shop I went in that day held my treasure--a big ol' High School Musical Barbie doll house with a broken window. I was seriously holding back a squeal of delight! And when I got it for $5, I just about cried--actually, I did, I just waited until I reached the car first.

Only one problem. I was expecting this to be her Santa gift and it had a broken window. God had a solution. As I was walking around the thrift store, glancing here and there for ideas, I saw them. I big huge row of old car seats. My first thought was, I hope people check the expiration dates. A car seat that's expired would be totally useless...unless it was for a doll. The thought just whacked me right in the head. Why not buy her a real car seat (they were like $5!) that would fit one of her big dolls instead of those dinky play ones?

Once I did all of my thrift store shopping, there were just a few things that I needed to fill in from normal stores. I had spent more time with God than ever on Christmas shopping and found things I never expected to find. It was so much fun and so exciting, I'll never stop doing it!!

So, do you want to see some pics from our last Christmas?

Oh, did you notice all the used stuff?? No! Me either. We just noticed all the smiles and laughs and wrapping paper flying everywhere. We noticed the orange juice served in fancy glasses and the sleigh bells off of Santa's sleigh. We noticed all of the squeals and jumping up and down, and we noticed all the extra hugs we were given. But not once did we sit down and think about half of the stuff being used!

Last year I was a little nervous about how it would be received, but this year I'm looking forward to it all. I can't wait to find all the treasures God has prepared in advance for us to find. I hope you will consider trying this out this year.

Linked Up with some of my favorite Blogs!!

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Making Space Mondays, Link Party #9

My sister and her son are HERE--yay! The guest bedroom was such a dungeon before and I really wanted to clean it out and make it feel welcoming for her. She'll be buying a bookstore near us and is staying here until all the paper work is finished and the little apartment attached is cleaned out.

The challenge was in keeping myself from spending any money at all since we'll be moving soon and I'm not making in purchases for the house until we get there. I pulled things from different rooms and mainly just cleared the room of all the mounds of clutter. Judging by that room people could've guessed we had lived here forever!

Here are the results. It could've been a lot better if we could've painted first, but the whole back of the house is going to be done soon so it would've been wasted effort.

Like it? So what have y'all been working on? I would love to see your guest bedrooms along with any other spaces you've been working on.

Gathering Moving Supplies

 It's only been two and a half years since we moved into what I thought was going to be my forever home, and just look at how dusty that lid is!! Well, looks like there's one more move to find forever on this side of heaven, so I'm glad I kept my supply box. It was a little on the messy side, so it needed a bit of revamping.

 So, here's what's in my Moving Kit:

• Big Trash or Recycling Bags
• Zip lock bags, various sizes
• Spiral Notebook
• Twist-Tie bags, large and small
• Extra grocery bags (for other people's stuff as I find it)
• Clorox Wipes
• Shower Head(s) to replace my expensive ones
• Sticky Notes
• Index Cards, 3x5
• Pens
• Fragile stickers
• Medal rings to hold index cards together
• Twist-Ties
• Scissors
• Tape Dispenser, Heavy Duty (WORTH every penny!!!)
• Extra packing tape
• Floor Plans to New Home (if available)
• Packing Paper (I don't like newspaper)
• Permanent Markers

 Also, I take along a my cleaning basket, with Scrubbing Bubbles, Windex, Endust, lots of cleaning rags, and Magic Erasers. I deep clean as I go, so I'll only have to do what's left and upkeep after packing.

 Oh, and my laptop. That's a must! I type out a basic inventory of what's in each box so that I can find it easily. I detail things like book titles, but most of the time the inventory looks more like Abby's dress-up clothes and accessories, plus my wedding veil. I'm talking very basic.

 I load it all in my freshly cleaned tub and I'm ready to start. The white drawer bin is for peices of sets found along the way or lost and found items. That way, I can add them to their proper container when I find it or at least know where all the little missing things will be after I move.


You wanna know my secret to GREAT, FABULOUS, AMAZING Boxes?????????!!!!!!

Barnes and Noble!

Yep, People, Barnes & Noble has the best FREE boxes ever!!!! Just take a look! They're all the very same size, they're pretty free of word clutter, and if they're strong enough to hold books...well, you get the idea. Oh, and really quick, too. If you are trying to get boxes from your local grocer...where every Tom, Dick, and Harry are also trying to get boxes...than you may be in for quite the wait. I call Barnes and Noble and usually pick them up either that same day or the next.

Aren't my boxes beautiful!!??? SOOOOOooooooo much room to write and absolutely NO color to distract the eye from what you want your moving buddies to be reading. And, did I mention they are the perfect size? It's like they were meant for books, lol! Oh, and I have a TON of books, too. Perfect size and weight for the normal person, too.

So, it's a packing we will go...a packing we will go...Hi ho the dairy-o, a packing we will go.

Series on Moving!

Okay, so today I'm starting a series on MOVING!!

The last time we moved a realtor friend of ours helped with the physical moving from our townhome to this one. He stopped me while putting boxes onto the truck and said that people would pay big money for organizing their move the way I did. I don't usually like to brag, but I could tell he was really impressed.

At the time, I couldn't find anyone with good information about how to move...and believe me I looked everywhere. Most of the advise was at best, already obvious, and at worst, really bad advise. I want to spend the time to explain how and why I move and organize to move the way I do, because the fact is, you have to keep living in the meantime.

I got rid of a lot in the last move only 3 years ago, but I have changed a lot in that time in regards to my taste and needs in life. Just because something wasn't clutter back then, doesn't mean it's not clutter now. Also, we moved into a home with stuff already here! I got rid of everything in the house that wasn't mine, but the garage is still quite full of it, no pun intended.

What my hall looks like right now:

First Stage in Moving: Daydreaming Big

So...you're thinking seriously about moving! You don't know the date yet, there's lots of work to be done and your house is a cluttered mess. Where's the boxes, right? Not quite.

Unless you're being rushed to move, take a little time...possibly two weeks or so, to daydream.

What kind of houses do you like or not like? What would your NEXT dream home look/feel like. (Not your million dollar dream, mind you. Just the reasonable to dream, dream.) What kind of backyard/storage/even neighbors? What size yard, what kind of stores would be frequented, are your friends/work close by? What kind of neighborhood feels safe to you?

[A word on neighbors: You are going to be living next to "these" people, whoever these ends up being, for a potentially long period of time. This is the one time in life where I would say to let the inner prejudice out just a little. Don't let that monster, because it IS a monster, come totally out, but let it surface just enough to find a place you and your neighbors will be happy about long term.

If you are seriously prejudice against a certain people--Black, Hispanic, Greek, Jew, Christian, Indian, Muslim...etc, etc.--do these people a favor and DON'T be their neighbor!! It will cause them much more misery than it will cause you.

But that's really not the prejudice I'm talking about here.

Are you annoyed every time you can't understand what people are saying and get agitated when you go in an ethnic resteraunt because you can't figure out what the labels say? Then, by all means, if you're not willing to learn the language well, don't move to China town or whatever.

Do you have several rambunctious children who love to swing on ropes, screeching at the top of their lungs when they run through sprinklers? Take pity on the quiet neighborhood chauk full of retirees.

Are you a certain religion and would rather only have an "open" mind on your schedule and not everytime your kids come home from visiting the neighbor kids? Then, you may want to scour the neighborhood for nearby churches to see what's prominent.

Do you like to keep three storage bins full of sporting equipment, an old crib, and a broken easy chair on the front porch? You probably don't want to move into a neighborhood with strict associations. OR are you super organized? You might not want the house four doors down from Mrs. Keepalot.

Meeting a huge variety of people and learning from them is one of the most fun and interesting parts of being a Houstonian. That said, you want to live where you can kick your feet up and keep the debates to a minimum. You want to feel at home and not like a social butterfly who just moved into a convent of mutes! Just really think about who you are and pay attention.]

Linked to A Bowl Full of Lemons

BIG NEWS!! Like 2500sq. ft kind of news!

So, come to find out...my dream home was not Josh's dream home!! And honestly, after letting go, I've got a bigger dream than I once had. The last several weeks have been a flurry of emotions for me. For one thing, we're at the end of a homeschool year, and I am still a little behind. (Not too bad, but still). For another, we are about to take a huge leap of faith. I'm talking, quickly shuffle your dinky parachute on and leap out of a plane kind of leap of faith!! Our insurance on the house just took it's third consecutive rise. Every single year, the insurance has sent us a letter stating that our insurance is going up another $200 per year. This is the third year in a row. We talked to some neighbors and some of them are having a hard time keeping their insurance without doing excessive work on the house. People that have tried to change have found that no one was excepting new policies for this area. We are already spending FOUR Xs the national average for home insurance!!!! If that's not crazy enough to make you think of moving... Here's our situation: We went into the house with about $25K-$30K in equity. That was before we did any renovating. It's now inching it's way up to $40K and with what we plan to do before selling, it'll likely hit the mark. That's just the first thing. Second, this house is so leaky (air) that in the summer if you want it cool enough for comfort, you have to fork over about $500-$600 per month in electricity. Most people in new homes are paying closer to $200. Then, about twice a month there's something that comes up and needs attention. Most of it has been very minor...we need to chaulk that crack, we need to add some dirt to these holes in the back yard, I need to get the carpets cleaned, the racoons are back and we need to trap them again...etc. Still, that's about $200 on average a month that we're spending to maintain this aging home. Now, here's the killer............ready for this......................if we can sell this house for what a realtor has told us we could likely get for it, considering the equity, the lower insurance, the to-die-for interest rates we can get (we've got to-die-for credit, too), and the really low energy bill, plus we wouldn't have to fix stuff every other week.............we could buy a brand spanking new, built the way we like it, home, for only about $250 more a month!!!! Dropping your jaw??? Yeah, me too!! Actually, it almost makes me sick to my stomach. The little things that have needed fixing have really taken their toll on Josh. He's been far busier at work these past couple of years than when we moved in and he really doesn't have the energy anymore to fix all that little stuff. He just needs to come home, play with the kids, eat dinner, watch some tv, and chill out! It's like he hasn't had a real weekend in almost three years. Anyway, all that to say...we just might be MOVING!!! Boy am I nervous!! So, what do y'all think???? We would be going down in sq. ft. a little, but we'd have more living space, if that makes any sense. We'd have a smaller back yard, but bigger than the typical for brand new houses. And, my blog would no longer be focusing on fixing up, but just on decorating and organizing. And, since we would be on an even tighter budget, well that means even more creative thinking and purse-string pulling...right? I would love to hear from y'all! Any thoughts and opinions, questions and conserns are welcome.

Eeeek! Free Highschool Math!!

So, I normally write about the home, but in our home school is also a big part of the picture. Homeschooling can be pricey!! When Abby was in Kindergarten through 2nd grade we would spend on average about $1000 a year on curriculum. Did I just hear a few people gasp?

Oh yeah. It is not always the cheap route to a good education. But, the last year or two I've really been able to save some serious money homeschooling. Mostly, because I'm now willing to use used books. I'm still not willing to use written in workbooks, but ya know...everyone has their limits.

So, the other day, one of our family's good friends messaged me about some math curriculum she was offering me. She's a highschool math teacher in my area and also homeschooled 4 children who are all absolute geniuses. No seriously...they really are. Try near perfect SAT scores.

Anyway, here's what she gave me!!!! An almost complete highschool math "library":

If this gets you over the moon excited like it does me....you're probably a math geek.

Linking to:
Tidy Mom

My 5 Meal Chicken

I've been teaching myself to cook a chicken and it's broth that stretch to at least five meals (4 dinners and 1 frozen lunch) in the crock pot. I use specific veggies, but there is a tremendous amount of excellent information about making broth and it's benefit's over at Nourished Kitchen! I make my broth with the veggies I have on hand all the time; garlic, celery, onions, bay leaf, and carrots.
First of all I want to show you a group of pictures of the meals I have made with this crock pot chicken broth and then tell you how I make the broth.

1. My Mother-in-law's King Ranch Chicken, which makes enough for lunch leftovers or I freeze the smaller one for another time. Even the smaller one is enough for dinner if we add a salad to it. This recipe uses a 1/3 of the chicken and a couple of cups of broth.
2. I make this Minute Minstrone from Food Network's How to Boil Water. Their recipe calls for canned broth, but I make my own and don't have to buy that. I double their recipe (except the salt, which is great for one pot but when doubled is just too salty). Then serve half and I refrigerator can the rest for lunches through the week.
3. I absolutely LOVE this pot pie recipe Kristin, my friend from church created. That's another post! Awesome!! I use 1/3 of the chicken and a touch of broth to make two pies.
4. My Grandma Davis's Chicken Noodle Soup. My mom has made this from the time I was a child. It's been passed down from my great grandma and possibly beyond. It's excellent!! Yet another post that I'll make time for soon, I hope. This uses 1/3 of the chicken and at least 1/2 of the broth.
5. Five is just the freezer casserole of the number 1 King Ranch Chicken.

I say this is 5, but really I get lunch leftovers from nearly all of them...so it's really a 5 dinner meal chicken with more for lunches. So here goes how I make this super easy Crock pot broth.

What you will need before making broth:

Tools:
A Large Crock Pot
Canning Jars or sanitized pickle jars like Clausen or Vlassic (I threw out so much broth the first time I made this because it went bad in the fridge before I could use it all. Now I 'refrigerator can' the broth in canning jars (I'll explain) so that it will stay in the fridge much much longer).
Cutting Board and Veggy Knife
Dish-draining Seive (I haven't found anything that fits as perfect over jars and catches e.ver.y.thing! They are super cheap.)
Laddle and Tongs to dip the broth and get the chicken out with.

Ingredients:
1 or 2 Onions, cut in 1/4ths
2 or3 Celery stalks, cut to fit crock
6-10 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
3 large carrots, halved
Fresh Ground Pepper
1 bay leaf, optional
Super Large Roasting Chicken

To Start, night before:

• Cut all veggies and throw into empty crock
• Grind desired amount of fresh pepper on top of veggies
• Open Chicken over veggies to catch all the juices and make sure there's no bag inside chicken
• Fill crock pot with cold water and turn on low setting (Nurished Kitchen's blog has information as to why to start with cold water and why to cook it slowly). If you have an older crock, you may want it on medium. You want it to cook very slowly, but stay hot enough to kill bacteria. Mine on low, simmers.
• Leave it to cook over night and sanitize your jars.

About my "Refrigerator Canning":

I am not a canner and never have been! I want to say that to start so that you will not just take my word for it without researching.

I use any jar that still has a pop-down lid, like my old pickle jars, and wash them in steaming hot water. After they're sanitized, don't touch the inside of lids as your fingers can carry bacteria. I also use a new drain seive that is stored with my jars. It would never perform double duty--yuck. It gets sanitized, too.

• Place your drain seive atop the jar, and start early the day after starting the broth. Ladle broth through seive into jar up to about 2 millimeters from spill-over.
• Immediately put lid on and tighten well. (Watch out, it's HOT!). Set aside on counter until cooled enough to handle.
• Fill Crock back up to top and keep on low.
• Repeat every couple of hours, only filling up to two jars at a time.
• Mid day, gently remove entire chicken and set aside to cool until you can easily handle it. Leave broth on. (Do NOT discard carcuss!)
• Once the chicken has cooled, divide meat evenly into 3 zip-lock bags and freeze all but one until ready to use them. You can use one bag for tonight's supper in an easy casserole or pot pie!
• Replace remaining bones ect. back into crock, and take note of how full the water is now.
• Continue to ladle only one to two jars of broth every couple of hours until evening. Then ladle remainder into jars and tightly close.
• After cooling, check each one to see if the lid still pops or if it has sealed down. Most of them will have sealed and you can go ahead and store them in your fridge. Any that haven't sealed need to be used within a couple of days.

Why I don't store them in my pantry:
Meats should be pressure canned to prevent botulism. I'm not experienced in canning and not willing to take the chance. I keep them in the fridge and use them within 3 months. I always check for a seal when I'm about to use them and also use my nose to make sure it still smells fresh. The steam from immediate transfer from pot to jar and quickly sealing is enough to cause a vacuum and it's freshly cooked, so it's safe enough for me and my family--and I'm a little on the paranoid side.

This is what it looks like when opened after being stored in the fridge. I have to poke through the gelled top layer for it to pour out.

So, that's how I make a chicken stetch to use in 5 or more meals! This makes 3 baggies of chicken that can be used in cassaroles, chicken pot pies, soups, etc. and about 6 quarts of broth to make two soups and to suppliment recipes calling for a can or two of broth.

Linked Up at this wonderful blog:
Cornerstone Confessions
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Now, I want you to have many choices of things you can make using the chicken or the broth, or both. I'm starting a link-up below that is INVITE ONLY!!! All of these links will be recipes with the following rules;

1. A different recipe for home-made broth, or
2. A soup that uses chicken broth as it's base, or
3. A recipe that uses up to two cups of shredded or diced chicken, or
4. In some way educates about canning broth, making a better broth, or otherwise benefitial in relation to making a chicken stretch.

If you have a recipe or information that you think would fit well here or know of one, please leave me a comment below with a link and I will take a look.




http://nourishedkitchen.com/reader-questions-bone-broth/

Making Space Mondays, Link Party #5

This Monday is all about Oops decluttering, or Out Of Place Stuff. This is the first month we'll be making our way through the whole set of acronyms, too, so I'm excited. Just a little reminder, here are the acronyms I use and what they stand for:

Oops is Out Of Place Stuff

E.T.'s CUP is Easy Trash and Clean Up Place

PITS is Pass IT Stuff

NAPs and MAPs is Needs A Place or Make A Place

and lastly

TLC is Tedious Longsuffering Care

Each Monday I focus on writing about one of these acronyms and what it means to me, and this is the first Monday of the month so my focus is OOPS or Out Of Place Stuff. This Monday I want to share a little secret with you...more like a confession.

I am a horribly messy mom!! There...I said it. The cat's out of the bag and the truth is, it's a very ugly, dingy cat who claws at people and never purrs. I am a MESS. I've always got something in my hands, whether it be my laptop or a baby on my hip. I'm setting a drink down so that I can switch hips. I'm changing a diaper and jump up to answer the phone, meaning to get back and put it in the trash. The kids are sprawled out on the floor with a half dozen pillows finishing a math lesson and Abby wants to help with lunch, so there ends up being workbooks and pencils everywhere. By the end of the day, we're all wiped out with no energy left and we leave dishes to be done later. By the end of the week things are looking bad and it's a little chaotic. That dish that keeps getting overlooked when we quickly do dishes is stinking up the whole front of the house. We're tripping over toys, weaving our way through an L-shaped hallway and crash on our unmade beds! Oh, and the toilet wasn't cleaned last week. Has it been two? No, we cleaned it when so and so came over. Oh my, that's been like a month ago! Well, at least Josh dropped in one of those Scrubbing Bubbles self-cleaning pucks.

Oh yes! This is my life and my struggle. I'm a mom who can't function in chaos and I fight it daily.

When it comes to decluttering a room or closet or drawer, there are always OOPS things involved at my house, but when I start a project like I'm about to do, I don't actually start with that room. I start with picking up my messes. I start with doing the daily grind stuff like dishes and laundry or tidying the living room. Decluttering a room is actually a bit of fun for me because I just can't wait to see the end result, but in reality it would all fall hopelessly apart if I didn't backtrack and fix the messes that I made before sinking my hands into a project.

OOPS decluttering starts with the boring. It starts with what we have hated doing since we were kids. It starts by picking up your messes. I want to introduce you to my Chaos To Calm In 1 Hour posts. These are some of my favorite posts because this is exactly how my life is. When someone like me chooses to be a homeschooling mom, they are also choosing to live with extra mess! We have more art, more books, more workbooks, more office supplies, more projects, more dress-up clothes, more pencils and erasers, more science projects, and more odd things like a huge white board, than normal moms. Add to that the many, many more hours that all of my kids are home and have the access to this stuff, and you can just imagine.

Chaos To Calm in 1 Hour, The Master Bedroom
Chaos To Calm in 1 Hour, a Child's Room
Chaos To Calm in 1 Hour, The Kitchen
Chaos To Calm in 1 Hour, The Living Room
Chaos To Calm in 2 Hours, The Whole House

OOPS in the Laundry Room, May's Project

I've decided to focus on one room a month to make it a little easier to write about. I usually hop around, doing whichever project demands my attention, but this will make it easier to find my photos and organize my thoughts while still homeschooling full-time and nursing my baby.

I wanted it to be a small room with a big impact, so I chose to start with the laundry room. OOPS decluttering is pretty obvious in this room, isn't it? Catch up on laundry. You think I have a perfect system? With matching baskets and home-made soap?

Think again! (All except the home-made soap. I do have that-surprisingly easy!)

People, all three of you that read this, I need this as much as anyone! So...are you with me? Let's dive in there and clean out those laundry rooms! It'll likely take me all week to catch up on laundry for OOPS, and I'll be back next week for E.T.'s Trash (Easy Trash and Clean Up Place). And who knows, maybe I'll chip out a little time to write more than one post this week!!

Oh, and as soon as I can, I'll be posting a link-up that will be on-going for anyone wanting to show off their laundry room.

Making Space Mondays, Linky Party #4

NAP and MAP is by far my favorite part of decluttering because I get to containerize!! I love containers. They are just the best. I could live in The Container Store, but I buy most of my containers at Dollar Tree. NAP and MAP stands for Needs A Place, Make A Place and is the final step in my decluttering cycle. We will be starting with the first of my decluttering acronyms next week and I hope you'll join me as we continue decluttering our homes.

When I'm working on this phase of decluttering I think toward one main goal--creating a vacuum. Vacuums are empty spaces that when opened up suck in the things around them. The vacuums I want to create in my home suck in a specific type of thing and hopefully when working right, continue to suck them in.

Let me explain when and how I create a vacuum with containers.

 First I identify an area that's been bugging me but that we use regularly like my son's dress-up toys above. He plays with them all the time, we've already taken them down to truly loved peices, and yet they always end up in such a mess. This is one area I want to create a "vacuum" for.

I  have to ask myself why the current system doesn't work. So, I've been watching for some time to see how they play with this set of toys and this is what I see. I see him digging in the white basket for a specific thing or set of things--like the sheild that goes with his transformer costume or the mask that goes with whatever. The smaller stuff shifts it's way to the bottom and to get to it they empty the entire basket onto the floor before finding it. So, I need to try something different and see if it works better.

I created 4 vacuums for Abram's dress up so that the smaller stuff will be easier to find and will hopefully be simple enough to put away. I emptied all of his dress-up onto the floor and assigned specific baskets the work of vacuuming specific types of stuff. (This is also how my children pick up their rooms, btw). So, a basket's empty...now I just pick up all the stuff that goes there from on the floor. I have the big laundry basket for dress up clothes and swords, a small basket for hats, one for masks, and one for other accessories. I only get as detailed as can possibly work. I tried just the laundry basket, but it just wasn't enough. This is the next level vacuum.

 While I was at it, I also organized his clothes in his closet with Abram's favorite color, orange. The hanging baskets are empty for a purpose. They are their own form of "vacuum". Those clothes that end up hanging all over chairs and bed-rails go here. I figured out a few years ago that the reason they were out was because they were in-between clean and dirty. We didn't want to hang them back up because they had already been worn--like a pair of jeans--but we didn't put them in a laundry basket because we could get another wear out of them. So, they ended up not having a place (NAP). These hanging baskets are assigned this task of "vacuuming" up these clothes. When I need a little extra in a small wash, that's where I go...to the hanging baskets.

I just bought these simple little orange baskets as drawer dividers. They are awesome! I found them at Dollar Tree and they fit perfect. The ones in the drawers hold undies, swim trunks, play shorts, and socks. The ones on the shelves hold things Abram looks for regularly. One is candy that I don't want to get lost in some corner but that he likes to keep in his room. Another is his money, wallet, and coins.

 "Vacuums" are sorta like the machines that we use for our floors, they don't work unless we run them, but when we do they work fast and pick up all our messes. Here is another area that I created places and 'vacuums' for things...this one in my kitchen. This is my baking pantry. It was a horrible mess, but I didn't get before pictures.

So, what area in your home needs a vacuum? Can you clear a place, put in a container and start sucking up the stuff that now belongs there? You'd be surprised how much clutter can be taken care of from around the house by just creating a place for a specific group of things. There's a familiar saying "Everything has a place, everything in it's place", but before everything can be in it's place, you have to create that place and tell that stuff where it goes.

BTW...Next week is the beginning of a new cycle of decluttering. Whoo! This will be the first time all the way through. Do y'all want to do a specific small room all the way through or work on something you've been putting off? Maybe we can all work on something together! If you have suggestions, please let me know.

Linking Up to A Bowl Full of Lemons

Making Space Monday, Link Party #3

This Monday is TLC time! TLC stands for Tedious Longsuffering Care and is by far the toughest clutter to get rid of.

I had an entire post prepared about TLC, and then set it aside for this one. I want to journal a little today about just one of my TLC items that I’ve had trouble getting rid of. It’s 5 bottles of really great prenatal vitamins.

I had quite a number of prenatals handed down to me by a mother who had just had her baby when I found out I was expecting. They were the best, but they made her feel quite ill so she had to change. They were the same I had used with both of my previous pregnancies and I used them again…this time without having to pay the enormous price tag. I was grateful and now I have 6 leftover bottles.

I knew that it wouldn’t do any good to donate them just anywhere because they might just get thrown out if someone ignorant about these sort of things got ahold of them, so I carefully chose to donate them to my friend Michelle who works with Crisis Pregnancy Centers. But…as most TLC (Tedious Longsuffering Care) clutter goes, it is taking quite the time. First I needed to check with her about if they would even accept them since they were a consumable item and of course, she also had to check with the right people. Questions came back about if they were sealed and they were, etc. That part took about two weeks of back and forth to church conversation.

Then there’s the ‘it slips my mind’ phase, where week after week we go to church and at that very moment that I see Michelle or her family, Bam…it hits me like lightning that I have yet again left for church in a hurry and haven’t grabbed the vitamins. Two months goes by like this and it fades into the back of my mind where most other clutter does, except that I clean out the entryway furniture and find it here just waiting patiently to hitch a ride with me to church.

This morning it came to mind as I was sitting down for coffee while the kid’s got ready for church. I finally remembered and I wasn’t going to take the chance. I stuffed it in my already full bag and it made it’s way with us to church.

We don’t go to a small church, so I keep my eyes opened in every hallway and look around during service for her. Maybe I’ll snag a glimpse at her and finally pass them to another caretaker. No such luck.

But then Joshua starts getting fidgety during service and I have to leave. I only took with me the diaper-changing necessities just in case and left all other items by my husband’s feet. And, what do you know. Michelle happens by! (True story—this was just this morning). At first I was excited. I get her attention as she waves my way and let her know I have it with me but not actually with me since it’s in the sanctuary. Then she lets me know her husband will be in class so I can give it to him then. I sigh relief and stop worrying about it.

Class comes and I see him there, but I’m in the middle of a deep conversation with some ladies and keep glancing toward the bottles trying to signal Josh to pass them on to him. Wasn’t happening, but I think Oh well, I’ll just give them to him after class.

After class comes and no such luck. He left early without ever having a clue that I had anything of importance for Michelle. Ugh!! I could’ve screamed.

This is how TLC clutter goes. TLC clutter is haaaaaarrrd to get rid of. And normally the longer it takes to get rid of the more important it is. It could be small; two pages that need to be filled out for your insurance to be paid. It could be very large, like a car parked in your driveway that needs to be fixed before returning it to your parents. But it always takes the one thing we all lack—time.

The thing about TLC clutter is, you can’t just tuck it in some trash bag and haul it away.

If those two little pages don’t get filled out, I could owe big money to my doctor. So, it takes weeks on end to get rid of two pages.

If we just had the car hauled away, I’m pretty sure that would have serious relational repercussions.

And, if I decided to just donate those 5 bottles of prenatal vitamins to the easiest stop on the way to my next destination…then they might be thrown in the trash instead of being used by a brave women who chooses life for her growing baby instead of termination.

These are not things that take decisions like “keep”, “toss” or “donate”. It really can be more complicated than all that. Books about clutter can make it sound so simple as if there is something seriously wrong with you if you don’t just throw something casually into one of those boxes.

Getting rid of clutter can be a climb as hard to do as climbing up Mt. Elbert in Colorado—and I’ve done just that. It really is a climb. It really takes effort and work. Hard work. Time consuming, hard work. But every step you take, even the ones that take all of your energy, all of your resolve, and all of your Saturday off to accomplish…are in the end, worth it.


So, did I get those prenatal vitamins to Michelle?

Nope, but hopefully soon. But this TLC item was finished today!

Linking Up at these amazing blogs:
A Bowl Full of Lemons

OOPS Steam Cleaning Made an Oops...

...and how they fixed it!

When we decided to decorate our living room, I knew I was going to hire someone to steam clean my carpets. I normally clean the carpets myself with a rental, so it had to be real steam cleaning to go above and beyond what I myself could do. I researched opinions and got references...and nearly everywhere I turned, the answer was Oops Steamcleaning. So, that's who I hired.

The guy who came was very informative, making sure the kiddoes knew to stay away from the hot machines and letting us know that what they used was safe and non-toxic. We watched with great interest as he worked on our dingy carpet. The kid's (and me) were amazed to see years of grime disappear right in front of us.

The night before they came, we had all the guys come over and remove all furniture from our living room. It would've been $10 a pop to have them do it and I wasn't going to pay that when there were strong guys right down the street who were perfectly willing. The only thing we didn't remove was the dining room table. It was light, but it wouldn't fit through any of the inside doorways. We were a little worried about it being on the porch (the only door it would easily go through) because it was an antique and would be out in the weather.

I made sure my sis-in-law was there to help move it out of the way as he worked, so she was standing by watching right along with the kids. The guy made sure we put foil under the legs so that they wouldn't get wet--very much appreciated since I didn't even think to do this!

Then it happened. He got close to the table and I asked him to wait just a minute so I could pass off the baby to someone else and help Aunt Leah move the table. Apparently, he wasn't thinking about the table and it's narrow legging, but instead about two ladies, one with a baby and one tiny teen, about to move the table. He took it upon himself to shove it over as he said, "That's alright, I got it."

CrrrrrAck! Leah and I looked on in wide-eyed amazement as the opposite legs from where the guy was pushing (instead of pulling) the table bent under about a foot and snapped the frame by that leg. I was stunned and just stood there wondering what to do. Should I get on the wet carpet to check? I knew it had cracked...it was as loud as a branch breaking off from a large tree. How bad was it? Would the table be okay? It was my antique! And...it had been entrusted to my care by the family who sold us this house. That table was the only thing left that the family might return for later.

As soon as he left the room, acting as if he hadn't done a thing, I scrambled under the table to check. It had cracked the frame about three inches from the leg all the way through and had left a gap. The gap, I pushed back in place easily but the damage was done like a hairline fracture in a leg. What was he thinking?! Even I knew to never push a table that light. I was upset!

I held my composure, but I had him note on the receipt that he had cracked my table. He noted it, I paid, and he left. Then I sat stunned wondering what I should do.

Giving them a Call:

Two days later, after thinking it over, I gave them a call. I had never been unsatisfied with someone's service before and was a little nervous. I should've eaten first. I was shaky and irritable and probably sounded like a lunatic. On the other hand, they sounded unsympathetic and didn't want to admit that the problem was theirs. They didn't want to take responsibility because I hadn't paid to move the furniture. I was mad. I couldn't get them to understand that I didn't pay to have them move the furniture because I didn't WANT them to move it! I got off the phone and cried.

Then I ate. Probably would've been better to eat first! After I called them back with a clearer mind I was able to explain what had happened. They hadn't understood me and were more understanding this time. Low blood sugar brain has been a cause for several misunderstandings in my family, so I slapped the proverbial "In the past" label on the former conversation and hoped they would do the same.

This time, communicating clearly that we had fully intended to move that furniture ourselves and that it wasn't our fault that the guy took it upon himself to do so, they offered to fix it. The first offer was to have an antique restoration guy come out and fix the table.

I'm not by nature a trusting person, so I could just imagine some ill-trained guy who worked for an actual antique restoration company slapping some wood glue on it and calling it a day. So, Oops Steamcleaning was going to pay a few hundred dollars to have someone rub a little wood glue on a hairline fracture in my table.

I thought about this for a split second. I wanted the table fixed, but I had a choice. My husband, who's a pricing analyst (take off the y, s, and t and you'll have a clue how much he researches even the littlest of projects before taking them on), could fix it himself. Or, some guy I don't know and have never seen a bit of work they've done, could work on my antique Thomasville dining room table. No question. I trusted Josh more for that job. But, they still needed to do something about their mistake. It's not like they painted a wall the wrong color. They cracked my antique!

A little more split second thinking. You know how that goes when it happens in your head between a question, a pause and an answer, but takes two whole paragraphs to explain? Sheesh. My second thought was to ask myself what would be reasonable to ask. It was, after all a small crack. They were going to hire a guy to come fix it, so they would be forking over a couple/few hundred dollars for the work. Wouldn't it be easier on them to just make up for it by doing some more work? They had already cleaned every carpet that needed cleaning. I'm not even sure I'm going to keep my drapes. That left my entryway floor and my enormous kitchen floor. The entryway was smaller. Okay, I'll ask for that.

So, I did. I told them I would rather them just come clean my Entryway stone work then to send a guy out to fix the table and they agreed. We set the day. I found out later that this was a very pricey job.

I hadn't expected much change. I had scrubbed this floor down before on hands and knees with disappointing results. Cleaning with expensive machines might get the edges cleaner and give me peace of mind about old grime, but really that's the extent of my expectation. But...take a look!!

First of all, they sent their top guy. He may be wearing grungies, but he spoke like a Suit. This was either the owner or management. They weren't taking any chances! I bet they had never broken an antique before and most likely hadn't made a mistake anywhere near as big in the past. They were serious about fixing things.

And, what an After!! I had no clue the color was this light. Look at the swirls in the stone!They're visible!! Did you catch the painting behind Mr. Fixit? The stone is the same floor painted almost three decades before by an immaculate housekeeper. It's not even this light. Amazing!

So, would I use them again??

Well, only if I can get over my low blood sugar, ogre-lady phone call embarrassment!

Making Space Mondays: Link Party #2

Depths of Clutter: How I Begin Decluttering An Area

PITS (Pass IT Stuff)

I’m going to take the opportunity to let you into how I declutter while decluttering my own spaces, little by little. I hope to continue this through my whole house—including before and after pictures. Since today’s focus is on PITS, I thought I’d tackle the Entryway furniture where I stash the things I’m distributing elsewhere until I can get to them. When I find shirts that are too small for Abby, I stash them here for one of her little friend's who’s a year younger. When I come across a silver spoon that Berk (previous owner) left by accident when he moved out, I stash it here until I see him again. This space gets full of PITS often and fast.

It's the PITS!

Ha! I just love acronyms. They make it easy to remember steps. PITS is our focus this week and this is one of my favorites. It's the decluttering that actually gets the stuff out of your house for good. This is the stuff most people think of when decluttering--taking a trip to Salvation Army, waving the proverbial hand goodbye as they drive away from their junk and feel proud of themselves for having 3 entire garbage bags full of stuff, gone forever. This is the step with the decluttering high. The one where you can give yourself a high five for finally ridding yourself of junk.

I know I do! I count the bags and estimate the weight. I imagine my house being weighed on a gigantic scale. Ah--20 pounds gone in one day. Refreshing. Uplifting. This is the good part. It can also be the fun part.

Did you know that planning a visit to a friend can be a PITS stop?

That's right. When I declutter an area and bag all of the items going to other people, I write their names on a list. My list is on my iphone on Toodledo. I happen to love that app...GRIN. I actually think to myself, hmmm...I wonder if Berk would like some company sometime soon. And, I know he does cause he loves stocking ice cream just for the kids to come by and dote on him for being the best. I see it as this great excuse to visit someone who we love hanging out with. "Hey Berk. We have a few things we found that are yours. Would you mind some company?"

Of course, that's the fun part. Decluttering gets much harder than this. But allow for that reward. The high of seeing large amounts leave at once, visiting a friend "just" to drop off some odds and ends, and "having" to get out of the house because you need to drop stuff by the thrift store.

Don't forget that this part, though fun, is actually vital to your success. In order to free yourself of masses of things attempting to strangle the life out of your day, things do actually have to leave. Making plans to do this is an important part of dejunking your home.

And who knows...you could find a treasure while you're out!

Today is the first of my weekly focus posts and today’s focus was on PITS (Pass IT Stuff). That means next weeks focus is on TLC, Tedious Longsuffering Care. This part of decluttering is by far the toughest but is also the most perminent! Please join me next Monday and don't forget to link up your own posts. The more information people have at their fingertips the better.

Now, why did I say “begin”?

I have found, with few exceptions, that I can rarely finish with absolute completion, decluttering a space in one fell swoop. I think expecting that is why so many people fail at it and give up. Instead I like to start the process with a bang and then allow momentum to carry it through to completion, while the rest of life is allowed to continue. In fact, if you expect yourself to completely declutter a room before going on with your daily life, you may fall farther behind in chores than you can easily recover from.

Quick Abbreviations:

OOPS-Out Of Place Stuff

E.T.’s CUP-Easy Trash and Clean Up Place

PITS-Pass IT Stuff

TLC-Tedious Longsuffering Care

NAPs and MAPs-Needs A Place and Make A Place

Start with a Bang by looking through an entire space and then let momentum carry you through to completion by focusing on each of the 5 depths of clutter.

I always sort each item into these catagories: OOPS, ETs CUP, PITS, TLC, and NAP and MAP.

Here are the steps I took for this space so that you can see how I use my acronyms:

1.       Empty out a small area that you can look all the way through before you need to run off to cook dinner or get to a Ladies Night Out. You can always go to the next small area if it was quicker than you thought. You will need a small laundry basket, a trashcan proportional to what you expect to use, a small basket or bin that can fit  back in the area you're decluttering (for this space I wanted to make sure it fit papers, but only a small stack’s worth), several grocery bags, some scraps of paper, and a pen or marker.

2.       As you sift through 1 item at a time, you will be putting it in one of the following: OOPS laundry basket, for anything that belongs to you but is out of place, E.T. trashcan for anything you just need to quickly toss, PITS grocery bags, TLC bin, and NAP pile.

3.       If it’s just out of place or trash, you know where it goes. OOPS in laundry basket and trash (ET) in the trash bin.

4.       If you run into something that you want to pass to someone outside of your household, and you don’t need to do ANYTHING except take it to that person/place, then put it in a bag labeled with that person’s name (PITS). Some things that might go here are things that a friend’s child left behind when they were visiting, things you have already designated for the thrift store, or things you have borrowed and need to get back to the owner. If you have to do something with it before it goes to that person, it does not go here. But if all you have to do is take it to the person, bag each group of things based on where they are going. That’s what the scraps of paper, marker or pen and grocery bags are for.

5.       Now, if you come upon something that requires more attention than you can give it right now, then it goes in the TLC bin. This includes bills that need to be paid, papers that need to be filled out, a vase that’s broken and needs to be glued, a necklace that needs to be untangled, an apron that needs mending, or even a magazine that you want to read. Anything requiring more attention than you can do right now while you’re working here, goes in TLC. We will be discussing this one in detail soon. I would suggest at least putting important, time sensitive stuff where you know you can find or at least at the very top of your TLC bin.

6.       If there is something that you come across where the item does not need attention, but putting it away needs attention it goes in NAP and MAP. This is stuff like bills that have already been paid and just need to be filed, a game piece that is out of its box, or toilet paper that needs to be separated and stored in all three bathrooms. The difference between TLC and NAP is in what needs attention…the item itself (TLC) or where it belongs (NAP and MAP).

7.       Now that you’re finished sorting the items into these piles, you’re ready to deal with them. First, make a quick list to keep with you of the people/places that each of your PITS (Pass IT Stuff) needs to go. If you’ll be heading that way soon, go ahead and put the bags in the car. If not put them somewhere that you can remember to grab when it’s time. Keep this list close to your calendar—that way when you notice that you’re going to church and you have two things that are going to people who you will see there, you’ll remember to take them.

8.       Throw the trash away and put the can back where it goes.

9.       Put the things away that go in different places in your home and put the laundry basket away.

10.   Stash things neatly and as near to where they go as you can if they are in the NAP and MAP category. If you can easily deal with them, like filing papers, then go ahead and make the time. We will deal with this in greater detail soon as well.

11.   Quickly glance through your TLC bin for anything that is time sensitive and make sure it’s put in a place that you are familiar with and can deal with it soon, or you can just make sure it’s on the top of your TLC bin if you don’t have a good place for it.

Well, that's it for this week! Next week is TLC. TLC, or Tedious Longsuffering Care, is the toughest part of decluttering and is definitely for me, the one area that crowds MY house. Not dealing with this can, and for me does, stop up my home like a dam in the middle of a flood. Please link up any post(s) you'd like and then join me next week for a focus on TLC.

Linking Up to the fabulous blogs:
DIY Home Sweet Home
A Bowl Full Of Lemons
You're Talking Too Much
Between Naps On The Porch
Coastal Charm
Add A Pinch
A Bowl Full of Lemons