How my Husband was Right

My husband wins!  After torturing him with handmade clothes missing any label indicating the back of the garment, I finally had to deal with it myself when dressing my niece in a dress her mother made.  And now that I know what it is like when yo don't just "know," I conceded to adding labels.  And you know what... its fun.

In fact, it may be an addiction.  Some I ironed directly on (particularly garments already made).

But my preference was to make these cute twill tape labels...

Aren't they fun!

There are a lot of tutorials on these.  And they really are simple.  Just design your label on the computer and print it on t-shirt transfer paper.  (Note: Test Print.  After designing it as a mirror image on the computer, I discovered that selecting the t-shirt transfer option in my print settings reversed it by itself, and un-reversed all my hard work.)

Then cut and iron on your twill tape.  Voila!  No more headaches for other people... nor for the kids.

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Organizing 101: Reader Ideas

Thanks to everyone for your comments this past week.  Here are some of your suggestions...

• "One thing I do like to do is get the coffee set up the night before in my preset coffee timer, so when we wake up it's already made."  (Sue from Stay at Home Mom)
   
• "Another time-saving idea I've been using lately is when line-drying laundry, I often put it on the hanger wet, hang it to dry, then put it straight in the closet. Why put in another step with clothespins if it's destined for a hanger in the closet anyway?"  (Julie from Heirloom Homestead)
   
• "I made some fabric wall-art using large corkboard and covering it with batting and cute fabric. Hang it on the wall and I have a cute piece of art with texture on the wall. But then I can hang up my kids' artwork on top of it! yay!"  (Jane)

Wishing everyone a smoothly-running week...

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Organizing 101: The Breakfast Routine

I love old housekeeping books.  They are fascinating tomes  full of tidbits and wisdom from the past.  I think of all the women before me that have read them as they planned how to manage their own homes in their own unique styles.  However, there was one piece of advice that I read many, many times and have only recently begun to appreciate... set your breakfast table the night before.

It's a simple thing to do.  But it is such a help with the morning rush.  Just set out the table the night before with any nonperishable items... plates, bowls, cups, forks and spoons, coffee mugs, bananas, bread on a cutting board with a knife, honey, boxes of cereals, tea bags... whatever makes sense in your family.

Five minutes at nice... maybe five minutes in the morning to actually sit and drink your coffee... those women before knew what they were doing.

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Organizing 101: Clothing Labels

This is a re-post of a former idea, but I wanted to share it again as part of this Organization week.  This is such a help in our life.  We have a set for me and for my daughter, and I'll be making a set for my son soon as well.  Anything that makes mornings easier is appreciated, and this makes sure that everyone has clean clothes, particularly when I am trying to work off of smaller wardrobes.

I originally saw the hanger label idea on No Fuss Fabulous.  The pink didn't exactly go with my beach-inspired room, so I decided to make up some custom designs for myself.  Using Microsoft Word and Clip Art, I came up with basic designs incorporating coral, sea horses, starfish, and sea shells.

I do laundry on Saturday.  Either Saturday or Sunday I run through and lay out my clothes for the week.  With the hangers, I always have something ready to go in the morning and don't ever have the dilemma of having nothing clean to wear.

The other great advantage is that my husband can help get my daughter dressed without having to ask what I want her to wear.  He just grabs the day's hanger and has everything he needs.  No thought dressing... particularly useful if he hasn't had his coffee yet.

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Organizing 101: Meal Planner and Family Organizer

This may be one of the greatest organizing tools in out house.  It serves as our central command center.  It controls what we eat and what we do.  It helps ensure we make it to doctor appointments and ballet classes.  All in all, it helps us keep it together.

In essence, it's a simple white board with a grid marked out in thin artist's tape along with a few "day" magnets and multiple marker colors.  Nothing more.  But this simple tool helps keep us organized.  Each week my husband and I plan out our week... ballet classes, church, dinner appointments, to do lists, etc.  Then we plan out our meals as well.  Everything is color-coded, include meals:  purple means I'm cooking, orange means he's cooking, and black means other.  It keeps us together.  Trust me, when we don't do that weekly plan, we eat out entirely too much.  We even use the same color-coding for our activities with a different color for every family members. 

How do you keep your family organized?

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Organizing 101: Organizing Kid Artwork

There is something about Fall that makes me want to organize.  Perhaps it is the fresh school supplies and new clothes.  Perhaps it is a renewed interest in home as the days get a little cooler.  Perhaps it is just the busyness of activities resuming that screams for schedules.  Whatever the reason, organization is on my mind.

This week is Organizing 101... some tips and ideas that have helped in our lives.  Please share your ideas and suggestions as well.  After all, we can all use some help.

In honor of school starting, let's start with an idea for organizing artwork.  My daughter's room has a weird partial wall that we have turned into a rotating gallery.  It's a simple concept: three clear clipboards with coordinating scrapbook paper attached.  The clipboards hang on the wall just waiting for their next creation.  They are cute on their own, but let's be honest, that won't last long.  So when new artwork comes home, you can clip it up for as long as you like, and then rotate when the next piece comes in.  Simple and fun.

Recognize the Madeline hat and the Kite?

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Art in little places

Want a fun playtime activity for the kids (depending on their age) or yourself.  Grab some different colored sharpies and ziploc bags and go to town.  I was inspired by To Be Charmed's post about spicing up Ziploc bags.  So much fun.

I started decorating a few bags to store strawberries, but then I just couldn't stop.  My creations are nowhere near the originals.  But, they were fun.

So go, grab a few pens, and create your own generations.  Packed sandwiches are so much more fun when adorned with a little sailboat or with Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham.

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Monkey Hairbow Holder

Last Summer I came across this cute little barrette holder while at a local craft fair.  It had a little monkey - perfect for my little monkey - and was the solution for our ever-growing hair bow selection.  At only a few dollars, I scooped one up.  Then not long ago I was exploring the aisles of Michael's and, lo and behold, came across the same little monkey figure as was on my daughter's bow holder.  I realized exactly how easy that little holder was.

Given my obsession with barrettes for my daughter's pigtails, I've been running out of space for hair bows.  So, I decided to make a little partner monkey to go along with our current one.  The result... two little monkeys hanging on the wall.  (The one with the yellow ribbon is the original.  The one with the pink ribbon and flower is the new one.)

The instructions are really simple.  I was able to do this in less than an hour while watching a movie with my husband.
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Hanger Labels [WFMW]

Mornings in our house have been rather hectic since I returned to work.  Between pumping, getting myself showered and ready, getting my daughter dressed and pig-tailed (I'm adding to the English language here), nursing my son, and getting him dressed, it sometimes seems like a miracle that I get to work on time.  And that is with their father handling feeding our daughter and dropping them off at day-care (unless it is a daddy-at-home day).  So when I saw these hanger labels on No Fuss Fabulous, I loved the idea.

The pink didn't exactly go with my beach-inspired room, so I decided to make up some custom designs for myself.  Using Microsoft Word and Clip Art, I came up with basic designs incorporating coral, sea horses, starfish, and sea shells.

These hangers have been such a help.  Since I am still losing the baby weight, my wardrobe is rather limited.  I do laundry on Saturday.  So, either Saturday or Sunday I run through and lay out my clothes for the week.  It means I always have something ready to go in the morning and don't ever have the dilemma of having nothing clean to wear.

These hanger labels worked so well that I created a custom set for my daughter as well.  Hers match her whimsical garden-inspired pink and green room... sun, flowers, owls, butterflies, etc.  The other great advantage is that my husband can help get my daughter dressed without having to ask what I want her to wear.  He just grabs the day's hanger and has everything he needs.  No thought dressing... particularly useful if he hasn't had his coffee yet.

Based on our lifestyle, I made the labels for Monday through Friday and then Sunday.  Saturdays tend to be lower key around here.

For now, my son has plenty of baby clothes and doesn't need these.  However, I do plan on making a set for him one day, probably with anchors and sailboats.

How do you make your morning routine easier?

Linked to Works for Me Wednesday

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The Bedtime Routine [WFMW]

“All well-regulated families set apart an hour every morning for tea and bread and butter”

~ Joseph Addison

I have a confession... sometimes I can be a forgetful mother.  For whatever reason, bed time has always been a struggle.  We kept forgetting things.  In other words, our evenings sounded like this after we got our daughter down...

     "Uh oh... we forgot to brush her teeth."
     "Oops... we didn't get her to pick up her toys."

Things had to change.

I decided to print up an evening schedule for my daughter to follow.  Notice the header?  Can you tell I am on owl kick these days?  (as seen here as well) 

It's easy to make.  All I used was Microsoft Word and a little clip art.  But it has helped so much.  And it is cute enough that I don't mind having it up in her room.  Now our evenings sound like this...

Daughter:  "I need to read my list.  I look for my pink owl to go to sleep.  I put on my pajamas..."

Everything is running much smoother these days.  It has made the bedtime routine longer, largely because we can't skip steps and because she insists on reading the list after we complete every item.  But she loves it and it makes evenings rather easy.

What tips do you have to make things easier with infants and toddlers?

This project is linked up with...

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