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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More DIY Binders

Last week I shared a post on how to organize the recipes, magazine pages, and computer print outs that you want to save.  There were pictures from my Recipe Binder and my Ideas Binder.  This post will show my Decorating Binder and Teaching Binder.  See Jane Austen's words above on the cover of the binder?  Oh, so true.

My Decorating Binder is a great place to organize the many great magazine photos I find.  I have one section for Seasons, and have inspirational photos of ideas for Fall, Christmas, Winter, Spring, Summer, and all the holidays in between.  Don't you love that frame with a bunting of real leaves hanging across it?!

And this darling Christmas tree made of layering open books?!  How do people come up with these smart ideas?!

More lovely Autumn ideas.

I have a section for colors.  Better Homes and Gardens has a special article on color each month, with several recommended paint colors in a certain color family.  I love to save those so if I need a really nice green, for instance, I've got some names to investigate.

Then an Interior section, where I gather ideas for pretty rooms, unusual displays, and nice room arrangements.

The Exterior segment holds ideas for outdoor holiday decor, patios, flower beds, door colors, porch displays, etc.

This is my Teaching Notebook...I taught Kindergarten Sunday School for years before we moved down south, and this is the notebook I started for collecting ideas for teaching children.  I am working with middle schoolers at church now, but will still keep up this notebook for the future.

Here is a list of teaching methods.

The Activities Section had great ideas of things to do with a group of children...creating a cardboard castle, for instance!  Alot of my ideas came from the Family Fun magazine.

And of course I had to have a big section for Crafts!

And games!  This notebook is going to be helpful as I have grandchildren down the road.  :)

And of course I needed a spot to keep samples of crafts made previously, so I didn't need to keep re-inventing the wheel every year.  :)

Notebooks are such a great way to organize your recipes, ideas, gift ideas, important papers, etc.  I even have a binder of some of my grown kids special papers and letter from their teen years...like when we had them compose their Top Ten in a Spouse list, before they began to date.  Those are treasures!  In that binder I also have the last letter that my Grandma wrote me, just days before she died of a sudden heart attack.  I'm much more apt to look at these things and enjoy them in a binder, than in a box.

Inspired?  Just start!  When you choose a binder, you are on your way to beautiful notebooks that will be like scrapbooks for years to come.
Thank you so much for stopping by!  Your comments are always a joy to me!

Blessings!
Donna

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DIY Binders

Long before I started blogging, bookmarking, or Pinteresting, I've had a love affair with magazines.  The beautiful photos, fresh new ideas, recipes, trip reviews, information, etc...they are tremendous eye and brain candy for me.  But what to do with the ideas from magazines that I want to keep?

Enter DIY binders.  I gathered some 3 ring binders that had clear pockets on the front.  Create a fun title page to slip into that front pocket, and then fill it with dividers and clear plastic page protectors.  Ready to go!  I love to find a quote for the front of each binder that makes me smile and gives a hint of what is inside.

Over time I have made a variety of binders, including one for  Decorating Ideas and Teaching Children.

This recipe binder was my first!  Isn't that quote so cute and true?

After making and loving the ease of using the recipe binder, I made one for general Ideas.  I love that quote too!  This binder has sections for party ideas, things to make, good-to-know articles, etc.

For this post I will take you on a tour of two of my binders, and will do the others in a subsequent post.  I started the recipe binder with breakfast items and appetizers.

I am inspired by recipes with photos, which works out perfectly for a binder.  I made that chopped holiday salad for a bridal luncheon a few years ago.  So pretty and good.

This section is for main meals.  I can stick in 3x5 card size recipes or whole page ones.  Things from magazines or printed from the internet.  I never fail to be inspired in cooking when I get down my binder and go through all the ideas that have looked good enough to make it into my binder!

This is from my Ideas Binder.  As I was helping plan our daughter's wedding, I began seeing the benefit of collecting photos and ideas of decorations, menus, and centerpiece for all kinds of parties.

I have articles showing how to fold napkins prettily, to how to make DIY votive candles, to how pretty it can look to just put hosta leaves in a white pitcher for a centerpiece.

There is the all-important To Make section in my Ideas Binder.  Anything that I think I might want to make in the future, I tear out of a magazine and put in this section.

It's also a great place to keep those little DIY instructions I bring home from JoAnn Fabrics!

This article inspired me to actually make a Travel Binder and use parts of an old map for decorating it.  See that post here.

The last section in my Ideas Binder is for good ideas that are rather miscellaneous in nature...such as helping aging parents with their finances, or

Keeping a cute haircut possibility  on file.  I have articles in this section on fun games to play with a big group, the warning signs for when your aging parents should stop driving, and what foods to eat in order to stock up on certain nutrients.  

The DIY Binder has been a great help and benefit to me.  Now I can read my magazines, pull out the ideas I might want to try, and then pass on the magazine to someone else before it hits the recycle bin.  And my ideas and recipes have an automatic home to go to, rather than be stacked in the kitchen or bedroom.

Visit again soon for Part 2 of DIY Binders.
Have a wonderful day!

Blessings!
Donna

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