Organizing 101

Who am I to talk about Organizing?  Most the time my house is in complete shambles and in CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome).  But I DO know HOW to organize, and I'm pretty good at it, I just have to do it and keep it that way.

So here is my brief and over simplified way of organizing.

1. Decide what you want your space to be.  Is it a linen closet, coat closet, etc?  This cabinet had everything from dishes to fabric.  

2. De-junk.  One of the greatest things I've ever learned is, "You cant organize clutter"  so get rid of it!  I do this by pulling things out one at a time making piles.  Keep.  Give Away. Trash.  

If the thought of doing it all is to overwhelming do it in stages.  Like in this cabinets case, I did one shelf at a time over the course of a few days.  

3. After putting away your piles to their various locations it time to put back what you do want in your space, organized!  I needed this cabinet to be my craft space.  So only craft/sewing supplies are welcome here.  

 I even added the hardware on the drawers that have been sitting in my basement for a couple of months. 

Don't forget to think outside the box as far as storage containers are concerned. My tall containers are cereal containers from the kitchen section at Walmart.  I still need to buy a paper tray organizer but that will come soon enough. 

 I love my new craft space, it is so easy to find what I need and so easy to clean up when I'm done!

Super Easy Manicotti

Do you Manicotti?  This recipe comes from my cheese lovin' friend Mary. 

1. cook up your noodles

2. open up a packet of string cheese

3. stuff your cooked noodles with 1 1/2 cheese sticks (the half meaning length wise)

4. poor over a jar of your fav marinara sauce (put some in bottom first

5.  Top with.... more mozzarella cheese (not pictured)

6. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  Until it looks melted and done 

I forgot to get an "after" shot when it was done baking, but my kids gobbled this up and I loved how easy it was.