Graphic Organizers for Mom (Or How to Play Games With Your Mind)

For some reason, I dislike making lists for myself of things to do.  They tend to become taskmasters to me, and make me feel like I must get them DONE before my day or week is a success.  Typical first born, perfectionist, I suppose.  But I've come across another method for helping me organize tasks, that feels more like a game of Bingo or Black Out.  :)  Oh, the games we play with our minds!  I call it a Graphic Organizer for Mom, and I love how it organizes my want-to's and need-to's into nice tidy little squares.  Here's how:

Just take a piece of computer paper and fold it in half, and then fold each half several times until you have either 16 or 24 little squares.

Then as you think of things you WANT to get done and NEED to get done, write one on each square. I also write down some fun things I'd like to do.  This particular Graphic Organizer is for me over Christmas Break from homeschooling our 9th grade son.  I still have a few empty squares on it, so that I can add to it as I think of something else.

As you complete a task or a fun To Do, put a nice big X through it.  Ahhhh, doesn't that feel aaaamaaaazinnnggg?!  And it looks so tidy.  Plus it feels like I'm just playing Bingo with the goal of a complete Black Out by January 2.

Some of these things I am REALLY looking forward to...like beginning my new Smash Book Scrapbook. Playtime with paper!!

Other items...not so fun.  Like mopping the kitchen and sewing my husband's coat buttons on tight. But, because of this Graphic Organizer I really didn't mind doing it and then having the fun of crossing it off.
My photos today are subpar because I used my iPhone rather than my camera, but you get the gist.  
So give it a try and see if it makes you feel more organized and less mastered by a To Do list.
Works for this Mama!

Christmas Blessings!

Donna

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One Hour Purse Organizer

I had some unexpected time at home alone tonight.  Bliss!  So I got busy on a project I was dying to make, and bingo!  It just took about an hour to make this fun, cute purse organizer.  I want to be sure to give the credit for this inspiration to the blogger at The Giving Flower.  She has a very nice tutorial here, so be sure to visit her blog in order to get all the instructions.

I went through my fabric stash and found these cute coordinating prints that would work.  I'm in love with all things vintage so that's why I chose this.  Yvonne, do you recognize this fabric?!  Thanks to you, I had it here...ready to use!!!

After measuring, ironing on interfacing, sewing, and ironing, it was ready to use.  You lay out your organizer before you sew the pockets and determine what items you want to go in it.  Then using a disappearing ink fabric pen, you mark off the size of pockets to fit your needs.

I left the last pocket on the right for kind of 'general' use.  Right now it is housing my lip balm and change purse.

Here's the reason I needed a purse organizer...I bought this bag recently at Hobby Lobby.  It's supposed to be a combo purse/tote bag for my 'must haves' and my new birthday present...more on that in a minute.

After fitting all my must haves in the organizer, I worked with it, to kind of roll it or fold it into a workable bundle.

This is designed so that when I want to change purses, for something smaller and nicer, I can just grab this organizer and plop it right into the purse of my choice.

My birthday gift.  That needed housing for going out and about. Yes, my husband spoiled me rotten.  He's so good to me!!

And here is my new bigger purse, all outfitted, organized, and ready for shopping, going to church, or any place.  I still have room in there for my Bible on Sundays.  Peachy!!

Miss Gracie Anne found it fascinating.  She's a girl.  Girls love purses.  

Yes, that might be a Dove Chocolate Easter Egg in there.  I try to have a small stash of dark chocolate on hand for come-what-may.  :)

So...if you need a purse organizer or wish to make one for a gift, check out the tutorial at The Giving Flower and go for it.  I'm sooo happy to get mine done.  Now...back to addressing thank you notes and Christmas cards.  :)

Blessings!
Donna
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Travel Gadget Organizer from a Tea Towel

In July, JoAnn Fabrics had their summer line of things marked down to about 70% off.  I always have my eye open for cute tea towels, as they are a nice sized, already-hemmed, sturdy piece of fabric...just right for a little project like a pillow cover, or this!

Martha Stewart had emailed me this cool idea for creating a gadget organizer out of a tea towel...wasn't that nice of her?! :) This towel was just right for this project.

It's super easy, just requiring a few straight lines of stitching...ready?  Ok, I hope you can see from the photo how it is  folded.  You fold the bottom of vertically-laid towel up about 2/3 of the way, then fold it down, and up again...letting the first fold show alittle bit under the second fold.  This is kind of like an accordian pleat.  It will create 2 layers of pockets.

Next use a ruler and a disappearing ink fabric pen to mark off your pockets.  I wanted four equal sized pockets across, but you can customize it for your needs.

My pockets were all about 4 inches wide.

Since I was dealing with a large plaid, I had to try to keep my plaid lines straight, even though my towel wasn't really 'square'.  I sewed the two outside seams first.  Then the middle seam, and lastly the two outer pocket seams.  

Sew super easy!  (Pun?  Yes!)  When I travel I tend to forget which bag I put my camera cord in, or my ear buds.  With this organizer I have a go-to place for those items as well as extra batteries, my phone charger, bluetooth charger, etc!  I took it on my next trip, and it really was a help.  Yay!

Can you see that the pockets are staggered?  The first set of pockets are alittle higher than the second set, so that I can easily see what is in the top set and the bottom set.

I fold it into thirds and tie it with a gross grain ribbon.  I'd like to attach a tie permanently, but haven't taken that step yet.

Thanks for stopping by!!  Your comments and visits are always greatly enjoyed!

Blessings,
Donna

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15 Minute Craft...Trash to Splash!

This past week while cooking dinner and preparing to throw these cans away, I decided they were such a nice round size and very sturdy. They would be great for holding craft scissors, etc. Hmmm. I decided to take them from Trash to Splash with a few craft supplies!

Like my craft room? It's called...the kitchen counter! :) That's where I do my best work.
I cut the paper to fit the sides of the can and then used spray adhesive to make them tacky on the wrong side. Again, the kitchen and some newspaper works just fine for this step!
I covered the cans, then used 2 different circle punches to create some coordinating flowers for the front. And found white buttons to be the crowning touch.
My little Snowman wanted in one of the pics. ; )
This took such little time that I went ahead and covered the lid of an empty ice cream bucket too. In just minutes I have three cute craft caddies made out of trash and on-hand papers. Fun! Thanks for looking...I'll let you go....I'm ready to go put my little caddies to work!

Simple Holiday Notebook

There's almost nothing more fun than making something cute and useful out of what you have on hand. I like to keep notes of my holiday menus, gift ideas, etc. each year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But my previous notebook was about 15 years old, and I'd run out of paper. So I took a composition notebook that I had picked up on clearance for .38 at Target, and got busy making myself a new one.


I went through my scrapbook paper, and found this cute page which I'd purchased long ago at the Dollar Tree. Adorable and perfect. I traced around the composition notebook cover and cute out the part of the page that I wanted to be the new cover.


Putting my new cover upside down on newspaper, I sprayed it lightly with photo mount spray (spray adhesive.) When it had dried for 1 one minute, I attached it to the front of the composition notebook.

Finding some cute red and white polka dot paper, I printed a title for the notebook, matted it, and used spray adhesive to attach it, as well as a few little white paper snowflakes that I punched at Archivers one time.

A 'found' red ribbon in my sewing box was perfect for a bookmark. It is glued in the center of the book, and a little snowflake punch on each side of the bottom of the ribbon gives it alittle weight and decor. Here is the planning page for my Thanksgiving Dinner this year, as well as recycling a used orange envelope as a pocket to hold the recipes I am thinking of trying.

Here's a space and recipe pocket for my Christmas 2009 recipes and menu...yet to be determined!

I also have pages of gift ideas for all of the people we buy for. As I purchase one of these items, I will write the price above it and circle the little bullet point beside it. This will keep me organized and on budget...ps...this is MY gift wish list! :)

You can recover a composition note with any kind of cute paper for any purpose. Last year I made monogrammed covers for my 2 teenaged nieces. So cute!

Give it a try...super cute, useful, inexpensive gift don't you think?

Blessings!

Donna

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Simple Display

My fridge is one of those with LOTS of photos, cards, and notes displayed. I've used the fridge magnet frames for years. But recently I came up with something I like even better...and it only cost $1.

Target's dollar section had a teacher's 'sentence strip' holder in several fun colors, and since organizational tools are like toys to me, I couldn't help but purchase one. Bringing it home, I decided it would easily stick to the front of the fridge with Sticky Tac, and the clear vinyl pockets could hold all my fridge art! Now, the pictures, cards, and notes are easy to pop in, change out, take off and look at, and my fridge no longer has a great mismatch collection of magnets and frames. I pop in a grocery list, meal plan, or postcard and several days later, remove it without any effort. No matter the size of the artwork, I can make it fit in a pocket.

Keep your eyes open for great ways to re-purpose cute organizational tools...for a simple display!