Tackle it Tuesday

I'm in the process of moving all of my scrapbooking supplies into one of our bedrooms that is not being used anymore, and it's taking a while to get organized, but I've made major progress.

I got all of my paper organized, first the solids (white, brown, black,, ROYGBIV) and the printed papers below that.

This is my desk.  I'm still working on the best arrangement for the desktop, but I got my wall just about the way I want it.

This is my spooled ribbon as well as my washi tape.

I feel like I've gotten a lot done, and I'm happy with it!
5 Minutes for Mom hosts Tackle it Tuesday.

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Tackle it Tuesday

I love to review products!  I enjoy receiving free product for my opinion.  I love hosting giveaways.  But my blog is definitely NOT one big commercial enterprise.  There are many more regular posts than there are sponsored posts on my blog.

Today I am tackling my feed reader and my feelings.  Some blogs have to be cleaned out.

I used to be a huge fan of 5 Minutes for Mom.  Lately, almost every post is sponsored, and this really bothers me.  The site is so commercialized now.  There is very little actual content.  I want to read about what other moms are coping with and how they handle the balance between being a wife/mother/business person/daughter, etc.  I am so disappointed in 5M4M.  When I began reading that blog in ... probably 2006, there was engaging content.  Now it's just another commercial enterprise where the moms receive fabulous products, prizes, and vacations in exchange for advertising on their site.  I love to read the opinions of other moms... as long as they are true and honest and not influenced by expensive vacations or compensation.  If I wanted commercials, I would watch television!  How can an opinion truly be honest when the "reviewer" has received a trip to Disney World?  Wouldn't you say nice things about a company that paid for your vacation?  Beauty products?  Computer software?

Thanks for reading my rant while I tackle my blog reader.
Ironically, Tackle it Tuesday links to Five Minutes for Mom.

Tackle it Tuesday

I'm linking up today with 5 Minutes for Mom for Tackle it Tuesday... Making housework bloggable.

I have been meaning to straighten my laundry room for a while now.  It used to be so neat and organized!  (Please don't mind the different color washer and dryer.  That is my husband's doing.)  Now, on to the important part.  Here are some "before pictures."

My laundry room is so small, almost like a closet.  I organized all of the beach towels and extra towels on the left side as well as a plastic container with blankets and extra pillows.  The right side has a stack for top sheets (which my children refuse to use), full-size sheets, and twin sheets.  There is a rack below that for my dry cleaning towel, the dryer rack, and pillowcases.  There is a shelf above the washer for detergent and stain remover.  On the left, there is also a bar for hanging clothes that need to air dry.  I dusted the windowsill, cleaned the floor, and cleaned the appliances. And the baskets fit nicely on the dryer now.  I'm happy with it.

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Tackle it Tuesday

My tackle today is not very exciting, but it was very necessary.  My mission:  clean out my son's sock drawer and clean off his dresser.

Before:

And After:

Check out more Tackles at 5 Minutes for Mom.

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Tackle it Tuesday

My husband and I recently celebrated our anniversary, and I wanted to get him a candy bouquet or basket.  I asked my co-worker where a good place would be to buy one, and she asked why I didn't just make it myself?  She is so creative.  But I decided, after looking on the web, that I would give it a try.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought my supplies:  A bucket, foam, craft sticks, florist's sticks, a small balloon, and some shredded filler to conceal the foam.  I got the candy from Walgreens.  In all, I spent about $25.00.

The first thing I did was put the foam in the bucket.  I had to break one of the squares into smaller pieces since the container was round and the foam was square.  I also spray painted the craft sticks gold (we already had the paint) so they would blend in better with the candy.

I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like.  I taped some of the craft sticks together so that I ended up with three different lengths of sticks.   I hot glued the Ghiradeli pieces to the craft sticks and began to put them in the foam.  I should have started with the center and worked my way out, so that was one lesson learned. 

I taped some Lindt dark chocolate candies to the florist's sticks and put them around the outside edges.  I put the shredded filler in, put the balloon in the middle, and I was finished.  It didn't turn out as pretty as the vision in my head, but it was made with lots of love, and my husband really liked it.

Not the best picture in the world, but you get the idea.  And yes, that's a globe and Homer Simpson (my son painted it) in the background.  LOL!

What are you tackling today?  Tackle it Tuesday is hosted at 5 Minutes for Mom.

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Organizing the Bathroom Drawer

I have been organizing a lot around here lately.  This is my bathroom drawer project (makeup, hair clips, nail files, etc.).  I took everything out of the drawer, purged, and tried to put like items with like items in a way that will make it easy for me to use each day and easy to keep neat.

Here's all the stuff I started with.

And here's what it looks like in the drawer now.

This is part of my effort at 52 Weeks of Organizing with I'm an Organizing Junkie as well as Tackle it Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom.

Tackle it Tuesday

Because of Memorial Day, I kept thinking today was Sunday.

But it's not!  So I have to get my "tackle" posted.

Tackle it Tuesday is sponsored by 5 Minutes for Mom.

I decided to clean out my pantry and get it organized.  I don't know how long it will last, but that's okay.
I cleaned the shelves, threw away some things, and organized the rest in a way that makes sense to me.  It's kind of hard to tell much from the before and after photos, but it did make a huge difference, even though it's still not perfect.  Also, the lighting is different, maybe due to what light was coming in through windows at the time. Oh, well.  Here it is!

Here's before:

Here's after:

What are you tackling this week?

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Tackle it Tuesday

5 Minutes for Mom makes housework bloggable!  Check out Tackle it Tuesday.

This week I tackled my refrigerator.  I took out all the food, got rid of what we no longer needed, cleaned the shelves, and reorganized like items with like items in the proper spaces.  Doesn't look like much, but I sure felt better when it was over!  Just having the sticky shelves clean again is an accomplishment!

What did you tackle this week?

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Tackle it Tuesday

Tackle it Tuesday is sponsored by 5 Minutes for Mom...

My husband calls this the "kitty cat closet" because it's where they used to store the cat supplies. I call it the "craft" closet (or the crap closet) because everything just gets shoved in there!

What a mess! It was time for a tackle. Everything in the closet came out, but not everything went back in. I think it's much better now, although it may still look cluttered. At least it's organized. All the China dishes together, school supplies together, craft items together, etc.

What did you tackle?

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Tackle it Tuesday

Tackle it Tuesday is sponsored by 5 Minutes for Mom

This past Sunday, I tackled the Christmas "un" decorating. I started with the tree - getting all the ornaments off. My husband did the lights, then we both disassembled the tree (artifical). Then I gathered up the many, many other decorations in the living room, kitchen, entry way, stair way, and so on.

No more tree! Or any other decorations! We got it all boxed up and into the attic in a matter of a few hours. Whew! I'm glad that's done! What did you tackle?

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Tackle it Tuesday

(Hosted by 5 Mintes for Mom) There is a corner of my scrapbook room that has been bothering me for a long time. It's where I keep my paper and a TV stand. The TV stand was loaded with all kinds of things that didn't belong there, and the paper stand was so unorganized with many things just stacked on top. It took a while, and it didn't happen all at the same time, but I managed to find the correct home for the things on the TV stand. Now I have a place to store my scrap cart when I'm not using it, a place for my movies, and a place for my disks and miscelleneous computer items in the striped bin, as well as a few pretty things on top. All of my paper is organized by type and color as well as slots for pre-made layouts and completed layouts that don't yet have a scrapbook. I feel better! What are you tackling?

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Tackle it Tuesday

Tackle it Tuesday (Making Housework Bloggable) is a meme hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.

This weekend, I tackled the Thanksgiving leftovers and the appliances. My husband's aunt must have sent home a dozen containers of food, mostly things no one wanted such as brussel sprouts, onions, and sweet potatoes and a few things I couldn't even recognize, plus the leftover cornbread dressing I made to take to my mom's, not to mention black olives, turkey, and cranberry sauce. So, I gave the refrigerator a good cleaning and got rid of all the leftovers before they had time to start growing mold.

My daughter decided to make a fresh apple pie for Thanksgiving (and did a fine job!), but she forgot to put a cookie sheet under it, and it dripped in the oven. Thankfully, it has a self-cleaner. After that, the outside of the appliances needed sprucing up, so they got a good dose of stainless steel cleaner. It felt good to get this done!

What did you tackle this week?

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Tackle it Tuesday

Boy have I had a situation to tackle! My husband was looking for a survey on the house, one that was done ten or eleven years ago before we were married, and no amount of convincing would persuade him that it wasn't in our file cabinet.

Not only that, but he had stacks of papers in no apparent arrangement. What happens any time he can't find what he's looking for? First, I'm called upon. Did I throw it away? No. Did I file it wrong? No. (At least I file papers!) He doesn't mean to imply blame , but he does.

And guess what? The paper he was looking for wasn't in the file cabinet at all, and, as it turns out, was a paper I had never seen before in my life that he had put in a folder, with some other folders, in a sack, in the attic. Hmph!

I left everything sitting there for a couple of weeks hoping he would clean up the mess he created. Last week, I finally reached my limit. I had to try to put Humpty together again because it wasn't going to happen by magic, and he was definitely in no hurry. Plus, he doesn't like to throw things away. He has camping lists and pamphlets from ten years ago!

Rome wasn't built in a day, and this mess wasn't cleaned up in one day. It took several days, but I finally tackled it, with the exception of one little pile that my husband HAS to go through. I threw away quite a bit, too. Well, actually, I recycled it. And that's my tackle!

Catch more tackles at 5 Minutes for Mom!

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