Maja has been sharing some great tips and finds over the past week to make doing your laundry more enjoyable. I had to also share this fun and inexpensive find that I discovered today from Organize-It online.

These sweet little disks are called the “SockPro Wash Organizer Disks” and cost $3.99 for a set of 10. The great thing about them is you just slip a pair of dirty socks through the middle of the disk, then toss them into the washer or dryer…voila…your clean socks emerge from the dryer as a set! They come in several different colors, so you can even assign colored disks for each member of the family.

If you’re anything like me, our laundry room is the bermuda triangle vortex for matching socks. I’m really excited to give the SockPro disks a try. Happy Laundering - Daria.

Click here to view this cool product>

Each new year, I search for a new portable calendar to carry with me. I previously had gone electronic (but I missed the pen on paper feel. Even though I think it is more efficient). In the past I’ve had a huge planner (I had multiple places that I needed to be - and was perfect for then),  a small calendar that fit in my purse (totally useless and never used),  now flash forward to my new wonderful find!! I am so excited about this one!

It is a Franklin-Covey product, and they are known world-wide for their classes on time management and accompanying planners. I have used them for years, but haven’t needed the super fat planner for a while. I finally found the perfect planner that is pretty, functional, large enough to actually fit useful information in, but still small enough that it fits in my purse (the page size is 4 1/8″ x 5 1/2″). It has a 2 page per week layout as well as a 2 page for a month at a glance. I am super thrilled with it! It is fun to open my purse and have a darling little calendar in there for all my scheduling on the go.

*While I was just looking this product up for the links, I noticed that for this week only, there is a 15% off the total purchase when you buy any binder and planner pages. The promo code is 18243 and expires 01/07/08. Lucky you! If you are busier, check out the larger planners as well. It is a great system - one that I have used for more than 15 years and have loved.Franklin Planner>

Oh, I am so glad my husband’s exams are over and I have access to my office again! Sorry about the temporary hiatus for new info on organizing, but I am back, ready to give you some great tips! I found the greatest gift wrap tool when I was last at Costco. It is a Scotch paper cutter and it is the slickest thing when it comes to slicing through gift wrap (or any other paper). It came in a package of 3 and I now have them stashed all around my house. There is one with my scissors in the kitchen, one in my office, and another at my kids “colour & craft corner” (out of reach of course). I love this it! There is a guide at the tip that makes cutting in a line no problem and is infinitely faster than a pair of dull scissors. I seriously love this thing and highly recommend it for your Christmas wrapping blitz’s! Happy wrapping!
Check it out here>

**P.S. - There is only 12 more hours to sign up for the newsletter and be entered in our draw for “Deceptively Delicious” cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. (don’t worry - we would NEVER share your e-mail address with anyone, and you will always be the first on your way to being savvy!)

After giving this weeks find some thought, I decided on the PERFECT thing to review. It is a cookbook I just bought and know that it is going to be one of those cookbooks… one that will become a favourite and likely the only one I will use for the next 10 years! It is called “Deceptively Delicious” by Jessica Seinfeld and is about putting fruits and veggies secretly in your family meals using tried and tested kid-proof favourites (think mac and cheese meets cauliflower puree). This finally makes a healthy mealtime something to look forward to instead of dread (the latter is where I am at - if my kids even see green they push their plate away).The book is so fun to look at with the heavy retro feel (did anyone else read Barbie the Babysitter?) and the layout is great. It makes reading a cookbook actually fun!!  (more…)

No organized home is complete without a family calendar in a central area to schedule you and your families busy, busy lives!! This week’s FIND is all about calendars, and I have two favourites that I wanted to share. The first is a large, spiral bound 16 month calendar from More Time Moms. It has nice, big lined squares for putting all your appointments in and a small illustration banner at the top, which translates to more area to write!

The second calendar from Motherword is equally good, as it fits perfectly atop the freezer section of your fridge. It is magnetized, and if your kids are anything like mine, it seems that I am in and out of that fridge all day!! It is ideal to always have your calendar, at eye level and accessible where you simply cannot forget ANYTHING (that may not always be a perk!) The squares, while unlined, are still are a good size and I love that it can fit on my fridge.

Every year I buy BOTH, the larger More Time Moms calendar for the office, and the Motherword calendar for the fridge. Hot tip from Maja: Buy an assortment of pens - my personal faves are the Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent Marker - you get the best, bright colours!) and assign each family member a colour. (Pick their favourite so it is easy to remember) and get busy scheduling! Make sure to have a colour for the whole family as well so you can plan family time as well. Once your calendar is up and running and all colour coded, teach your family to look at it daily so everyone knows what is going on and is on the same page! Have fun colour coding and enjoy knowing at a glance who is going where when! - Maja