Organization

What is it about January that makes you want to get organized? Maybe it has something to do with all those new presents needing a place to go. Maybe it's a New Year's Resolution that we automatically and silently make to ourselves or maybe it's as simple as New Year equals fresh start?

Whatever it is... I'm obsessed. Somewhere deep in my being I crave a perfectly organized home. Reality is there isn't a single aspect of my life that is properly organized.

Think about it. Organized living would be more peaceful. Organized living means being about to invite people over at a moments notice. It means guilt free, "me time"
It means a bunch. Less stress, less chaos, a sense of pride.

I get all that but, here's where I struggle. I don't want to give up other things to make the time to stay organized. Oh, if only once I did it and it would effortlessly stay that way.

I think that is the hardest aspect of homekeeping. Nobody notices what you do, but boy do they notice what doesn't get done. Heavens forbid you don't make dinner or don't put sheets on the bed. That and the fact nothing is ever really finished. You can't stand back and look at it, like a fine piece of art in a museum and say, "Well Done"!

You do the laundry- but, everyone is wearing clothes that will need to be done the next day. You buy groceries and they have the nerve to eat them. You wash the dishes just as someone grabs a bowl of cereal. It's a never ending circle.

There's a tiny voice inside of me that is relentless in it's nagging. "The boys are older now... if you do it, it can stay that way.... do it, do it, do it!

So I decided to start with they Scraproom. Why? because it seems like all the clutter around here somehow revolves around that room. Ticket stubs on the counter in the kitchen. Bits and pieces of things that are to precious to throw away.
Conatiners begging to be altered. Magazines full of amazing ideas.

So- the organization has begun. Starting with my massive hoard of ribbon. I thought I would share my idea. It starts with cutting boards that I found at Dollar Tree.
Each package comes with 2 Mats. These mats are thin enough to be cut with your trimmer. I cut each mat into rectangles that measure 2 1/2" by 2 1/4". Then using my Crop-a-dile I easily punched a hanging hole in each rectangle. Easy so far and quick! Then I drew on 2 lines, each 1 3/4" long. Next using my slot punch I started punching out the lines.
This part isn't as easy or a quick as I would have liked. If anyone has an idea of how this step could be improved..please post it. Anyway, while watching football I was able to amass quite a few finished rectangles. Then the fun part began! removing ribbons (I started with pink) from spools and jars and various failed storage attempts and adding them to my rectangles. If the amount of a particular ribbon is more than 1 yard, I cut it into 1 yard pieces. It's pretty to look at, it will be easy to see exactly what I have in all colors and a real space saver. Best of all my total cost for making 96 rectangles is $2.14! Be sure to save your scraps- these will work great for making your own letters and embellishments! Heck, buy more cutting mats and cut out your own funky shaped album.