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Organizing Gift Wrap for the Holidays

Organized Gift Wrap Station Custom CabinetryPhoto Credit: Martha O’Hara Interiors

With the holidays just around the corner, getting organized ahead of time can reduce stress. Today on Wayfair’s blog, My Way Home I’m sharing ideas for creating a beautiful, orderly and functional gift-wrap station.

Gift Wrap Station with Paper Hung on Tension RodsPhoto Credit: Midwest Living

Happy Organizing!

Cristin

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Read full story By on October 8, 2012 in Christmas, Organization, Paperwork

Martha Stewart Home Office Review & Giveaway

Did you know that Martha Stewart and Avery have teamed up to create a beautiful line of products for you home office? Yep, just in time for spring cleaning, the Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery line is now available at Staples. Here’s a closer look at some of the products.
Martha_Stewart_home_office_giveaway

Pencil cups, stackable inbox trays and magazine file holders help make a desk tidy. Mix and match items such as these from the Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery product line to create a beautiful, custom desk organization system.

marth_stewart_home_office_supplies

Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery also offers durable, beautiful accordion files which stand freely on a desk so important documents can be in close reach. Perfect too for keeping tax information all in one place!

chalkboard_labels_jars

Another fabulous product in the Martha Stewart Home Office™ with Avery™ family is a line of versatile kitchen labels to keep pantry items in order. Yep – for many of us our kitchens are our offices too!

sb_kitchen_cabinet_organization
This past week I received the opportunity to review some products from the new, beautiful Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery line now available at Staples. I selected the adhesive pockets because I need a better way to organize coupons, loose recipes and takeout menus. It only took a couple of minutes for me to stick the pockets on the back of a kitchen cabinet door and voila, I have a smart and pretty solution for housing kitchen paperwork! Love ‘em!
The nice folks at Martha Stewart and Avery would like to giveaway $50 worth of adhesive pockets to one lucky Simplified Bee reader to try for themselves!

Here’s how to enter to win:
• Leave a comment on this post. {provide your email if I don’t have a way to contact you}.
• Extra Entry – become a new follower of Simplified Bee’s Blog, Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook Page.
• Extra Entry – mention this giveaway in a blog post, FB link or tweet, then leave a comment letting me know.
• Extra Entry – become a new follower of Avery and The Org of Moms on Facebook.
• Please post a separate comment for each extra entry.

Entry period closes at midnight PST on Monday, March 19, 2012. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and will be announced on the Simplified Bee Facebook page on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.

Happy organizing and best of luck!
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Read full story By on March 12, 2012 in Giveaways, home organization, kitchens, office supplies, Paperwork, product review

Guest Post: Organizing School Paperwork

As we all know, managing paperwork can get out of hand. With the right system in place however, it can be very simple.

Today I am thrilled to have Jen from one of my favorite home organizing blogs, I heart organizing here today to show us how she keeps the school paperwork from her three boys in order… and stylishly I might add. I will be downloading the darling {and free} file labels for sure! Thanks Jen!!!

I heart organizing blog jen
Each and every day when my little ones hop off of the bus and come running in through the front door, they take off all their gear and give their mama some major hugs!  That’s my favorite part.  And then they take out piles and piles of paperwork.  Piles.  And more piles.  It’s like crazy amounts of papers each and every day.
Tackling these piles can quickly get overwhelming, since it seems never ending.  And if they don’t get dealt with, the piles can create mass chaos…. I know, I have been there!
We typically go through all of their work, and file all the necessities in their personal bins.

This is always our “go to” place for all things related to the kid’s schooling and activities.  However, to ensure the bin doesn’t overflow with all the papers I can’t part with, I had created this binder system to house all my favs.

organizing kids schoolwork binder

I actually pre-made three binders that matched for all of my boys, even though Parker hadn’t even started school yet.  Because I wanted them all to match.  And this crazy girl thought that she could get ALL of their elementary paperwork into one binder….
I tend to hold on to all their important tests, report cards, paperwork showing milestones being made, etc… and it ended up being more than I originally planned for.  And that’s ok.  It is always one of my favorite ways to go down memory lane with the little ones… they really get a kick out of looking at their older papers as well.  So instead of pairing down even more, which tends to be my first reaction, I decided I needed a new storage approach.  One that will be manageable as they continue to learn and grow, yet is easy to maintain.
So I snagged three file boxes.  You can get them anywhere, office supply stores, Target and Walmart, Amazon…  They come in so many shapes and sizes and colors!
how to organizing kids schoolwork
The goal was to place thirteen hanging files into each file box.  One file for each grade, Kindergarten through Twelfth.
Enter these labels {notice they look slightly different from my photos due to a recent formatting update to accommodate more users}:
free labels for organizing kids schoolwork
free file labels for kids schoolwork
You can download them for free!  I just printed the labels out on standard address labels and popped them on each of the fourteen {times three boys} file folders.

organizing kids schoolwork files

The next goal was to add a little coversheet to each folder, giving a quick explanation of the contents and showcasing a fantastic school portrait of my little guy, for each current year.

organizing kids school work printout

You can download your own copy of these also!  Do you feel the love?

organizing kids schoolwork free printouts

I just printed out a copy onto cardstock for each folder, for each year and popped them inside.  Doing this ahead of time will ensure a consistent look for all years down the line, and make it easier to keep up as the years come and go.
Then, just using a glue stick, I glued the year’s school photo to each sheet, and filled out all the year’s information in the blanks, which ended up making a perfect coversheet for each folder!
organizing kids schoolwork folders

And although the file box looks like it is all filled up….

managing kids school paperwork

There is definitely plenty of room to grow!  Which is exactly what this proud mama needed!

organizing kids school paperwork

I just pop the cover on and stow away on a nearby shelf.  Making this a really easy system to maintain.  Oh imagine the giddiness!!

School paperwork is always a hot topic that I have gotten oodles of emails about, so if there are any other storage ideas or solutions that are working well for you, we would all heart to know!

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Read full story By on January 11, 2012 in baby and children, file folders, home organization, organization tips, Organizational tips, Paperwork, school paperwork

House of Fifty & Family Command Center Ideas

house of 50 magazine
It’s here! The new online magazine, House of Fifty by Janell Beals of Isabella & Max’s Rooms is live and fabulous. From meal planning to flower arranging to tips for creating a delightful nursery – there is a little something for all readers.


creating a family command center communication

I was thrilled to help Janell find some chic products for her family command center that coincides with a great article, Creating a Family Command Center by Pauline Wiles.

stylish family bulletin board ideas
chic family communication center ideas

 
Congrats Janell! We love it!

 

 
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Read full story By on April 25, 2011 in home accessories, home organization, office supplies, Organization, organization tips, Paperwork