Do Your Chores!

The dreaded chore list.  Kids hate doing them.  Parents hate arguing over them.  On the up-side, a family chore chart can help teach organization and responsibility to your little ones.  Here's a perfectly simple way to keep track of the daunting list without ruining your decor or your family.

Here's what you'll need:

• magnetic paper (found at any office supply store)
• computer with Microsoft Excel
• fun family pictures
• a list of chores for kiddos and grown-ups!

Our family chart on the fridge - so easy to move magnetic chores!

Thanks to years in the corporate world, I've learned a few tricks when it comes to Excel.  Luckily, the program is really intuitive.  Just size the cells however you wish, add some fun background colors that fit into your kitchen color scheme, and - if you really want to get personal - copy and paste family photos onto the spreadsheet. Use a color border for other cells with the chores. Print onto magnetic paper, cut out the chore blocks, and voila!

Holiday Ornaments

Do you dread opening your Christmas ornament storage box, waiting to see which of your favorites were broken, smushed, cracked, or smashed?  Unless you need a few ornament pieces to protect against intruders a la Home Alone, the destruction is probably a source of angst.  

Photo from marthastewart.com

Protect your holiday treasures with this simple solution. Revamp your current rubbermaid storage box using only a cardboard box, plastic cups, and a hot glue gun.   Cut out rectangles of cardboard to fit inside your storage box.  Then, hot glue plastic cups to the cardboard in an array.  This ensures minimal movement and redistribution over the year of storage in the garage.  

Remember to use bubble wrap or tissue paper to protect the truly delicate, but save that extra step on the fuzzy or plush ornaments.

Add as many layers of cardboard & cups as you need, and voila!

An Organized Linen Closet... for good.

 How often do you organize something, beaming with pride and accomplishment, only to find it's right back to the way it was only a short time later?  Here's a way to keep your linen closet organized for good!

As a military family, I'm always trying to think of ways to arrange a space that will translate to any home... unfortunately, this usually eliminates the use of closet systems such as the awesome Container Store elfa system.  Fortunately, there's an easier solution for a linen closet!  Keep everything in labeled baskets that can be packed up and transplanted anywhere, including to a different location within the same house as family needs grow and change!

All you need is a few supplies: hardware store paint samples, ribbon, scissors, hole-punch, sharpie and baskets of various sizes to suit your needs.  Michael's craft stores always have a wide variety of baskets and almost always have a sale going on; it's definitely an inexpensive way to stock up on a variety of the same style.

Cut circles from the paint samples and write your basket categories using a sharpie... Helpful hint: play with the colors to fit a house decorating scheme, color-code kids linen baskets, or just use your favorite colors!  Tie the tags onto each basket with ribbon and never again worry about whether or not Martha Stewart would scowl at your fitted sheet folding skills.  The baskets will help keep things organized without necessitating perfection!