Reuse Old Album Covers

If you have some old album covers hanging around the house that you can’t get rid of, perhaps you can turn them into something useful: Wall organizers! Paper and Stitch has step-by-step instructions on how you can create delightful and practical pockets for storing bills, artwork and more:

I am on an endless quest to keep myself organized at home, especially in my studio/office, which is quite small since I share the space with my love. Anyway, our office is the only room in the house that we have neglected to paint and I wanted to come up with a way to make it cheerfully colorful AND organized. This is what I came up with…

Stop Clutter with Baskets

My mother-in-law has always used this simple tip from Unclutterer.com - baskets on steps can help clean up clutter! You could use a stair basket just to collect items that belong upstairs, but my mother-in-law used it for my husbands two sisters. Things that came in the mail, notes, items found about the house were collected and put in a stair basket: one for each of them. When his sisters would come home from school, inevitably they would grab the items in their basket as they made their way upstairs to their rooms. It was a perfect solution!

Refresh your School Routine

With Spring Break just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to take stock of those school routines which may have become just a little sloppy. The Moms’ Buzz has 6 tips to getting your household back on track.

Create Calendar & File Central — Set up an area with a large calendar so everyone in your family can see everyone else’s plans for that month. For added organization, color-code each family member and keep colored markers nearby so everyone can easily mark plans. Nearby, set up file bins marked “To be Signed,” “From School,” and “To School,” so your child can deposit papers you need to see in a regular place right after school and pick up things to go “To School” each morning.

Make Gift Giving Easier

Lifetips.com has another great tip for the frugal mom: peronalized gift labels:

Buy preprinted gift labels with your child(ren)´s names. Anytime they have a birthday party, just stick one of the labels on the gift. No more running around at the last minute for a card. It is also much less expensive than buying individual cards. You can buy them at “customexpression.com”. They work great for gifts for all special occastions. Pick a picture your child loves, have the label printed with “a gift for” and leave space to fill in the name. On the bottom put your own personalized message.

We’d like to take it a step further though: have blank sticky labels available at your own child’s birthday party. When your child opens a gift, stick a label on the boxand write the gift givers name on it. Later, when you’re cleaning up the boxes the labels will remind you who to write thank you cards to.

Just Say No

WorkingMomsAgainstGuilt put together a list of small things a person can do during the course of the day to increase efficiency. Ways to multitask represent the majority of the tips both at home and the office. A couple rang true for me, while some seemed more difficult to undertake. The tip below is my favorite tip from their article and one I hope to implement - at home and work:

Say no to things that do not contribute to your objectives. If that’s hard for you to do, ask for some time to think about it, compare it with your priorities, and then say no.

Sleeping Bag Storage Solutions

Another great tip from the folks over at Lifetips.com:

If your child´s sleeping bag doesn´t have ties or elastic to help keep it in a roll, use a green garbage bag (until you find time to add the loops yourself).

I would argue, if the garbage bag works so well, why add loops? (Of course, I may be saying that because I’m horribly useless at sewing!)

Last Minute Christmas Shopping

Another quick tip from Lifetips.com. (Thought I’d squeeze this one in before the big day!)

Know what gift(s) you are shopping for before you leave the house. Review with the kids before you enter a store, exactly what you are getting and for whom. No side trips, no fuss, no gawking, no candy. It is extremely simple to keep the children on track if you can distract them by enlisting their help in finding the section or item needed.

The flashing lights and over the top display of their favorite goodies is sure to make them a bit giddy before the big day. If they still have to pick out a gift for Dad, make sure they come prepared… or you’ll be stuck in Holiday traffic forever!