Organize: Under The Kitchen Sink

So many readers have been asking about organizing under the kitchen sink. This hasn't really ever been an issue for me - and maybe because I don't access it a ton. (I should clean more than I do.)

The space under my kitchen sink isn't that big. I have an obnoxiously large sink with no divider (which drives me nuts...hence why I don't do the dishes by hand). I also have a food disposal. Not much room left. Here's what it looked like under my sink before "cleaning" it out.

I have two caddies under my sink. I don't ever take them out to tote around the house with me, so I suppose a regular plastic basket would also do. I do like the compactness of the caddies though. I sort everything under my sink and put like items together.

This small stackable shelf is my favorite thing under the sink. It makes towels and cleaning accessories easily accessible and fits nicely in the front of my space.

please excuse the ghetto tape job on the wall...lol

There's not much to it for my under the sink space, but here are some tips for you...

• Use command hooks to hang what you can on doors or the wall - it makes things easily accessible and doesn't take up valuable surface space needed for cleaning supplies.
• Purge - seriously. Get rid of what you have extra of if you don't have the room to store it under your sink. Or store it elsewhere. This space is meant to be easily accessible and not to store every odd and end you can't find a home for. Since sinks can be leaky or troublesome at times, you don't want to have to haul out a ton of junk just to wipe up a drip.
• Look around your kitchen for drawers/cupboard space you could store things in that don't need to be under the sink. If I had an extra drawer, I'd be storing my towels there rather than under the sink.
• Keep cleaning supplies in a container/basket/etc. - if they leak, they won't ruin the cabinet. Also, if you need to remove everything from under the sink because of an issue (such as a leak), you can do so a lot faster since everything's containerized.

the towel that hangs on my cabinet door...love it

For more ideas and tips, visit the posts the following blogs have previous written on this topic:

• A Bowl Full of Lemons
• Ask Anna...
• Delightful Order
• Organize with Sandy

P.S. Thank you so much for all of the ideas for the 2012 monthly challenge - I have a ton of ideas to get us organized in the new year. Please, keep them coming if you have more ideas!

Have a Wonderful Weekend! - & a Coupon

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving today and if you did any Black Friday shopping, you were successful in snagging some great deals. Chris and I did a little bit of shopping today - but we didn't start until 10:30 am. Nothing too great.

I'm super busy this weekend, working on projects at home (that will be on the blog next week) and trying to get my classroom/curriculum in order. (Let me tell you, it's all a mess.)

And while you're enjoying your weekend, get organized with printables from my etsy store...& save 30% on your entire purchase by using coupon code TURKEY11 at checkout. (It can even be used with clipboards & clearance items.)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Free Printable: Black Friday Shopping List

In spirit of this week's "events", I've created a new free printable: Black Friday Shopping List. I won't be going out into the crowds on Friday, but I'll be shopping online for sure. =]

* download the full color version * download the all black version *

Happy Thanksgiving!

Blog & Etsy Store and Holiday Planner Binders

In case you couldn't tell, I love binders. I think they're the easiest way for me to organize paper because:

• it's easy to see everything
• it's categorizable
• I can punch holes in the paper
• I can easily throw things away/replace things

My favorite binders recently have been from Target by greenroom. They're $6 a piece, which kills me (especially since I already have about 15 extra sitting around) - but they're beautiful, sturdy, and have the 3-ring clip on the binding. But if it's not a long-term binder, I'll just use one of the Avery ones I already have, which are also really great products.

Yesterday I created two more binders: one for my blog & etsy store and the other for my holiday planner.

Here's a peak inside:

holiday planner set available here

attached label with paperclips so I don't waste the envelope for 2 months

categories: calendars, cards, gift ideas, gifts bought, home

excuse the poor lighting in the following pictures!

blog & etsy store binder

categories: stats, orders, blog planners, etsy planners, ideas

stat calendar - I have one for my blog & one for my store

order log - the leaves are to hide buyer names =]

etsy store planner for the month

I have more docs in this binder, but I just haven't started to use them yet. I may end up putting this set in my store later on.

And here's where these new binder sit...with my loan binder and home management binder.

Are you as obsessed with binders as I am? How do you use binders at home/work/school?

Help Me Help You...

First off, I am just amazed right now. The Nest Effect averages about 2,500 page views a day. Until yesterday...when it hit 7,500 views...and so far today 23,500 views. Thank you Pinterest. Apparently my October Project is a huge hit.

I've received emails and comments from readers asking me if I'm going to do something like this again or if I'd create worksheets like I did for the October Project for each month of the year. Sure, why not? But I need to know what y'all need help getting under control and organized. I'd really like to have a monthly project for each month in 2012.

Help me help you and leave a comment letting me know what you need to tackle in 2012. I'm sure you have ideas that I haven't thought of. I will create free printables to share each month for each project. Getting things under control will help me as well now that I'm not home all of the time like I was a few months ago. My home has become a war zone. lol

So please, leave a comment and let me know: what do you need help organizing? Tell me the area/room/topic/etc. Tell me what is bugging you about certain spots in your home. Let me know - no matter how big or small you think the project may be.

If I can get enough feedback from y'all, I may choose a comment to receive all of my editable documents from my etsy store.  

The winner, chosen by Random.org on 12.17.11, is #6 - Rhonda! Congrats!

Even Better News...

I've done it. I finally have my dream job. On Monday I received a phone call from the principal at the school I did my student teaching at last year - they have an immediate opening in a 2nd grade classroom. I interviewed yesterday afternoon, and was offered the job last night. I am so excited!

Expect to see some classroom organization tips (which will most likely be easily transferable to your home) very soon! According to those who have filled out my reader survey, there are a lot of teachers out there searching for classroom organization tips.

I start my new job on the 28th and I couldn't be happier. (Plus my new hours will be better, giving me more time blog!

Friday Favorites: Fonts - Part 5

I often receive emails and comments asking what fonts I use. For the next few Fridays I'm going to share my favorite fonts and their sources, if available, with you. Some came on my computer and may not be available for free download online, but others I've found for free online and added to my PC myself. Need help installing fonts? dafont.com has a great FAQ for both Mac & PC users.

1. Pea Mique :: fonts for peas

2. Pea Sarah Lynne :: fonts for peas

3. Pea Theresa :: fonts for peas

4. Pupcat :: da font

5. smiley monster :: kevin & amanda

Come back next Friday for the next 5!

Free Printable For a Limited Time: Holiday Planner Set - EXPIRED!

I have been super busy lately - can you tell? My apartment is an absolute mess - my organizational-self is completely distraught over it. Luckily, next week I have Wednesday - Friday off from work. I'm so excited - I have a long organization/cleaning/project/blog-worthy list of stuff to do.

I took some time last night to quickly put together a holiday planner set. It has 14 pages, including a cover page. I think it's super cute. It's completely editable, so you can type right into it if you want before printing (or if you'd rather not print and use it digitally only). This set includes the following pages:

• holiday gifts master list
• gift tracking & budgeting list (use all year long)
• gifts given & idea tracker (use all year long)
• my wish list (use all year long)
• online holiday purchases
• holiday decoration inventory
• november calendar
• december calendar
• week of (from november 20th - december 31st/a total of 3 pages) planner with columns for events & deadlines / projects & tasks
• holiday card sent & received log
• thank you cards sent log

I will leave this set up for free until this weekend, then it will be available for sale in my etsy store for $15.

DIY Project: Table Skirt - Part 2

Last week I posted part 1 of my table skirt DIY project.

Yesterday I continued the project and finished one side of the table. Here are the steps I took to complete it.

First I ironed the piece of fabric, removing the wrinkles. I used the steam setting to remove most of them.

I used Dritz Stitch Witchery Fusible Bonding Web to hem the sides and top of the fabric.

The directions on the packaging of the bonding web says to use a damp pressing pad and let the iron steam on the fabric for 30 seconds. It was super easy to do and worked perfectly without having to re-do anything.

After hemming 3 of the sides, I added Velcro Fabric Fusion Tape to the top of the fabric that would be attached to the top of the table. In order to cut costs and save on materials, I only attached 3 strips to the fabric.

Attaching the Velcro Fabric Fusion strips was super simple - 90 seconds of back and forth motion of the iron on the opposite side of the Velcro strip. That's it!

I ended up buying a roll of Velcro Sticky-Back Hook and Loop Fastener Tape as well to attach to the table. The Velcro Fabric Fusion tape wouldn't work on the table - so I went with the regular sticky back.

I attached the finished fabric skirt to the side of the table.

I went with Velcro to attach the fabric to the table so that I can remove the fabric if I need to. It took me about a hour to get this one piece done. I don't expect it to take me that long for each of the next pieces, but who knows. So far I'm loving the one piece I have up though. It makes such a difference.

Free Printable: My Wish List

Last night I made a printable to share (for free) with y'all for the upcoming holiday season.

I didn't title it "Christmas" or "holiday" so that it can be used all year long. Enjoy!

P.S. - I've been asked numerous times about making a Christmas/holiday planner set. What types of documents would you want in a set if I made one and made it available for free (for a limited time)/sale? I need your help to create it!

Notice: Free Printables

Last night I was Googling "the nest effect" to see where I'm showing up on the internet. I came across several places that my free printables have been reuploaded to sites like Scribd and other file sharing sites, with the people who are posting claiming them as their own. They clearly say "the nest effect printables" on the bottom, so they are not just documents that others have made that look like mine.

If you want to share my free printables, please feel free to do so. I don't mind if you post a link to them on your blog - as long as there's a link directly back to my blog so that I'm getting credit.

I share my printables because I enjoy doing so. They're all for personal use only and cannot be resold or reposted as your own. That's copyright infringement. If you want to make your own documents from scratch on your computer that look like mine - go ahead, just don't make it identical. Take my printables as inspiration. I don't mind. Just don't take what I've spent time making and try to show it off as your own creation.

To recap:

• you may share my printables with appropriate credit/link ups
• you may email/share links to the free documents with friends/family/social media/on your blog
• don't repost on document hosting site such as Scribd, even with credit - it's just not the place for you to share someone else's creations
• don't resell or repost any of my documents, trying to show them off as your own creation
• all documents have my etsy store name attached to the bottom - this cannot be removed, or else it's copyright infringement

Seriously - enjoy the free printables. If you love them, share. Just do it the right way.

Thanks! =]

Free Printable: Coupon Sorting & Organizing Pages

With my new busy schedule, coupons are taking a backseat in my weekly routine. I needed a faster way to sort and organize them, so I created sorting/organizing pages.

When clipping coupons I've always piled them by category, but it was time consuming keeping track of where I put each category. When I made these sorting/organizing pages, it made couponing so much faster. When Chris saw me using them, he suggested I share them on my blog. I wasn't even sure if anyone else would even be interested in something like this, but I'm going to share for free anyways. =]

There are 4 pages total and they're all pre-categorized in the order that they're sorted in my coupon files (see pictures below).

The printable document does look a little bit different now, but comes with a blank sheet as well that you can write in your own categories. Enjoy!

See my post from April about how I organize my coupons here.