I have long struggled with accessorizing my wardrobe, and have finally determined that I was born without that gene.(DANGIT!) Pulling myself together is something I have been trying to do more of after becoming addicted to the TLC show “What Not to Wear“. (BTW, I would be fine if someone wanted to nominate me…!) I realized that part of the reason I never varied in my necklaces was because I had no idea what I had and they were always jumbled together in a mess in my jewelry box. I typically would think of this at the last part of getting ready, as consequently would never bother because of the state of the mess.

I had been “racking” my brain, trying to come up with a reasonably inexpensive alternative that would work and I came up with this idea. A cork board attached to the back of your door (bedroom or closet) with all of your necklaces hanging on the back. I used push pins to hang the necklaces and bracelets, but I am thinking you could use it for other accessories as well. I haven’t figured out to hang my little earrings yet, but when I do, you will be the first to know. I hope you enjoy getting your jewelry organized! - Maja

I love birthdays but to be totally honest, my favourite birthday is my own! It is the one day a year I take completely off and just indulge, relax and take it easy.

You can’t really take time off from being a mom, so while I was working outside the home, I always made sure I had my birthday off. Then when I had kids, I vowed that they would never go to school on their birthday and that we would spend the day together - doing whatever they wanted. Tomorrow is my son’s 6th birthday and I am so excited to start this tradition with him. I am going to make his cake with him, make some cupcakes to take to his class for the next day, make his favourite breakfast, lunch and dinner, riding his bike… I can’t wait!

This post is not to convince you to do the same thing with your kids, but to emphasize the importance of neat traditions with your family. I can’t think of any traditions that don’t require forethought and planning. So think of your own traditions that you want to do with your own family - not just Christmas or Valentines, but random days in the year to make your loved ones feel special (Ok, maybe I am trying to convince you to have the same birthday-day-off with your kids…) Take the day off if you can, schedule it in, and make your little ones feel like they are your number one for the day. What better gift can you give them than that!

Remember…like everything, unless you plan for it - it will never happen. Spend a couple minutes thinking about what you want to do, when and how and you will LOVE the reward of a closer family. HAVE FUN!!

This is a D-I-Y spice rack that I LOVE! I went on-line looking for a tiered rack that could be expanded, or modified to hold my spices inside the cupboard. After looking for two hours finding nothing, I finally got out my pencil and paper and designed one that, while not pretty is exactly what I was looking for and cost me $3 in materials.

Here’s how I did it:
I got 3 1×2” boards (8 feet in length) and get them cut into 24” pieces. I then stacked them (no glue, no nails) three high in the back. For the next row, I stacked 2, the next 1, and the bottom row was flush with the base of the cabinet. It was a little difficult getting the back spices out without knocking some over, so I ended up doubling each row up. But what I ended up with was exactly what I was looking for, a tiered, modifiable spice rack. The fact that it was so inexpensive made me all the more excited! (As I was doing this on a Saturday night, I was mocked mercilessly from my husband – but every time I look in the cupboard, it makes me smile that I am such a nerd!!)

***Click to see more pictures of this DIY project (more…)

I love this Quick Tip – I got the idea from my sister.

Put a clear plastic sheet over your nice expensive tablecloth. I love it! It looks about a million times better than vinyl but has the same functionality (plus easy cleanup). It is also great that you can pull the plastic off in a flash if guests are coming over and have a beautiful, crisp non-wrinkled tablecloth on the table.

*Hint: The best way to store table cloths once cleaned and pressed, is with minimal folds and hung over a (non-wire) hanger and stored in a closet. For the most part, they look great just pulled off the hanger and laid on the table.

I recently went to a parenting night held by our local school board. It was called “Raising Children of Character: 10 Principles” by Dr. Thomas Lickona and it was absolutely outstanding!! If you have kids, I highly recommend checking out some of his books, or his website as they are FILLED with amazing parenting advice. This leads me to one of his points about character building through hard work. Now we are back to ORGANIZING!! Dr. Lickona recommended that each child in the house works, independent of any monetary reward (allowance), are to do one chore per year of age. I thought this was fantastic and the perfect way of teaching the kids to help around the house, as well as helping me let go! I could pick things that wouldn’t take very long and that I was confident they could do well enough that I could live with it!

I spent some time today making a chore chart for my kids and bought 1000 stickers at the dollar store last night so we should be all set. While I was at it, I made a list of most of things I also need to make sure I am doing on a daily basis, and funny enough, there were just as many things on my list as how old I am!! I can’t wait to get the kids started on their own habits tomorrow, as well as remembering all the things I want to do in the order in which they need to be done! I hope you take the time to look at Dr. Lickona’s site, or just make a chore chart for yourself (no stickers needed for you unless you really, really want them!), for your kids. You will soon all be working together for the goal of a tidy house while teaching your kids some great principles while you are at it. WIN WIN!! Good luck.

Additionally here is a site that offers examples of age appropriate chores to help spark your chore chart mania:  Ideas for age appropriate chores