Reflecting back on 2012

What a year this has been!  At the start of 2012 if anyone had told me I would be an organizing blogger, I would not have believed you!  In fact, I didn't even know organizing blogs existed until March.  {And I've been hooked ever since :) }

Now, I've gotten to know so many amazing people that I met through blogging.  And I have learned SO much about organizing and about blogging.  I had no idea I would love it so much.

Organizing Ideas for the Weekend #7

Happy Friday everyone!  I've been talking a lot about de-cluttering lately to make space for Christmas decorating and gifts.  Today I want to share an idea for helping you purge your Christmas decorations.

If you're like me, each year you accumulate more Christmas decorations.  Maybe you have a different themed tree each year.  Or perhaps you like to make a new wreath or mantel display every year.

A Look Back at November and Ahead to December

Yay!  It's December!  My favourite month.  It's my birthday month (Dec 21st) and of course Christmas is coming.  I am really looking forward to a lot of great times with family and friends this month.

Before we look at December though, let's reflect back on November.  Here's a quick recap of the month on the blog.

Organizing Ideas for the Weekend #6

Happy Friday everyone!  Since tomorrow is December 1st, I thought the perfect idea for this week would be setting up an advent calendar or some way for your family to count down to Christmas.  I guess I'm not the only one who thought that, because I've seen a lot of posts this week and this morning on the same subject :)

I'm going to take an organizing approach to this though.  So hopefully this post will be different enough from all the others you've probably read :)

How to Feel Less Overwhelmed This Christmas {and a Giveaway}

A few weeks ago I told you that I'm starting my Christmas preparations earlier than usual this year so that I can enjoy this season more than I have in the past.  So far it's working!

Most of my Christmas shopping is finished, mainly because we bought things on sale throughout the year.  I just need a few more things for stockings and a couple gifts for people I only recently decided to give a gift to this year.

I've been purging all over the house so the house feels less cluttered with all the Christmas decorations and to make space for the new things we'll be receiving in a few weeks.

We completed a deep cleaning of the house last weekend (it's so much easier after purging and before decorating!).  It will still need maintaining between now and Christmas but we won't need to do as thorough a job.

Organizing Ideas For The Weekend #5

Happy Friday everyone!  Some of you are probably Black Friday shopping (it's even become a big deal in Canada now!).  If you are out there, I hope you're finding some great deals on things you need or plan to give.  It's really tempting to buy things just because they are on sale though and they can end up becoming clutter.  We end up getting things we think we want but that we don't really need.  I know I've done that in the past (which is why my hubby does a lot of our shopping!).  But after de-cluttering so much this year I really don't want to bring anything into our house that we don't need, use, or love.

That's great for things that I can control (like shopping).  But what about gifts that are given to us?  Over the years we've reduced the number of people we buy gifts for (and thus receive gifts from) but we still end up with a lot of gifts at Christmas.

Baskets, baskets, and more baskets!

I haven't done a post in the "I Love Freecycle!" series in quite awhile so it's time to update you on some of my latest finds.   You can see my first post in this series here for more on how Freecycle works and why I love it so much.

Last time I showed you all the mason jars that I received through Freecycle.  Shortly after that post I saw that I received several large mason jars too.  I didn't take a picture of them but you'll see them in action at some point I'm sure.

Organizing Ideas For The Weekend #4

Happy Friday everyone!  This weekend's task is to organize your kids' puzzles.

Blog Awards - I Feel So Special!

Wow! I've had 3 amazing ladies nominate me for a Liebster Blog award in the last while.

• Raquel from Organized Island

• Angela from A Typical English Home

• Susan from Achieving Creative Order

I've also received this award previously (see my post here).

A Simpler Season & My First Giveaway!

Have you started preparing for the holidays yet?  I usually don't officially start until late November or early December.  But I always feel rushed.  So this year I want to start earlier.  I may not do a lot of decorating yet, but I'm definitely planning and preparing.

I love Christmas!  I always picture what I think Christmas will be like.  I look forward to enjoying special times and building memories with family and friends.  But every year I end up overwhelmed at some point by all the tasks on my Christmas to do list.

I want this year to be different.  I want to anticipate and enjoy the preparations.  There's more to this season than just a massive list of things to be done!

One thing I'm doing is starting everything earlier.

Organizing Ideas for the Weekend #3

Time for another quick organizing tip!  This one comes courtesy of Lifehack.org.  In this post called "How to Get Rid of Things After You Declutter", Lori Thayer commends people for decluttering, but recognizes that sometimes we don't actually get the items we've purged out of our homes.  Boxes and bags can sit in garages or entryways or corners of a room, waiting until we do something with them.  But, today's tip is to just get rid of them!

October Review & A Look Ahead to November

What a month October was!  It flew by and I can't believe it's November already.  We celebrated Thanksgiving in October here in Canada as well as Halloween, so November is kind of an "in-between" month without holidays.  Gives me time to get organized for Christmas!

I won't do a picture collage for October because it would just be more of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips button and you've probably seen enough of that this month :)

Here's a quick recap of the month on the blog.

Reflecting Back on 31 Days and a Big Thank You :)

I can't believe the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series is over.  What a month!  When I decided to do this series, I knew I was taking on a real challenge to write 31 posts in 31 days.  I mean I had only written just over that many posts in my first 4 months combined!

Subconsciously, I think part of why I did this series was to see if I really was committed to blogging or not.  Now I know.  I love blogging about organizing!  And more than that, I have a passion for sharing tips and ideas with you to make it easier for you to organize too.

It was a great month!  Beyond my expectations.  In addition to what I discovered about myself, I also really enjoyed hearing how you're using the tips to organize your homes.  Many of you also shared your own organizing tips which was fantastic.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 31 (Getting Help to Organize)

Welcome to Day Thirty One of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Do you struggle with organizing because it seems too overwhelming to tackle alone?  I've shared a lot of organizing tips in this series and many of you will be able to get organized by implementing some of them.  But others of you need a bit more help than that.

All Star Block Party Features

I had such a fun week guest co-hosting the All Star Block Party!  It was great seeing all the awesome projects you linked up.  You can check out last week's party here.  Before the next party gets started I wanted to share my features from last week.

I enjoyed seeing all the Halloween crafts, recipes, and decorations.  But, you know I'm all about organizing, so I figured I would feature links about organizing!  Here are my favourites.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 30 (More DIY Storage)

Welcome to Day Thirty of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today I'm going to share more DIY storage ideas.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 29 (Sentimental Items)

Welcome to Day Twenty Nine of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today I'm sharing tips to help you declutter sentimental items. 

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 28 (Multi-purpose rooms)

Welcome to Day Twenty Eight of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tips are about organizing rooms that have more than one purpose.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 27 (Office)

Welcome to Day Twenty Seven of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tips are to help you organize your office.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 26 (Command Centre)

Welcome to Day Twenty Six of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today I'll give you some tips for creating a command centre or modifying the system you are currently using to make it work better for you.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 25 (Entry)

Welcome to Day Twenty Five of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tips focus on a very important and often overwhelming area in your house.  The entry.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 24 (Craft Supplies)

Welcome to Day Twenty Four of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tips are to help you organize your craft supplies.  

It's the All Star Block Party - and I'm a Co-Host!

Welcome to visitors from the All Star Block Party!  I'm so glad you're here :)

For my regular readers, if you've been following my 31 Days of Organizing series, you're probably wondering where that big purple button is tonight.  Well, I'm just interrupting the series tonight for this post. But don't worry... I'll have more organizing tips again tomorrow!  I'll be sharing ideas for organizing craft rooms and craft supplies in tomorrow's post.

Actually, if any of you have an organized craft area, I'd love for you to send me pictures, tips, or a link to any posts you have about it!  I'd love to include your ideas to help others transform overwhelming craft areas into organized works of art :)

OK, back to tonight's post!

I'm SO excited and honoured to be co-hosting the All Star Block Party this week!  I love this party and all the amazing links shared each week.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 23 (Main Closet)

Welcome to Day Twenty Three of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series! 

Today I'm sharing tips for organizing your main bedroom closet. 

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 22 (Main Bedroom)

Welcome to Day Twenty Two of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today I'm sharing tips for organizing your main bedroom.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 21 (Kids' Bedrooms)

Welcome to Day Twenty-One of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today, I'll be sharing tips for organizing your kids' bedrooms.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 20 (DIY Storage)

Welcome to Day Twenty of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is to use everyday household items for organized storage alternatives. 

31 Days of Organizing: Day 19 (Playrooms)

Welcome to Day Nineteen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today I want to help you organize your playroom.  

31 Days of Organizing: Day 18 (Kids)

Welcome to Day Eighteen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip will help you learn how to teach your kids to be organized.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 17 (Medicine Cabinet)

Welcome to Day Seventeen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is about organizing your medicine cabinet.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 16 (Bathrooms - Wall Space)

Welcome to Day Sixteen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is about organizing your bathrooms by making use of your walls.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 15 (Bathrooms)

Welcome to Day Fifteen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is to help you organize your bathrooms.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 14 (Laundry)

Welcome to Day Fourteen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is to help you organize your laundry room.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 13 (Linen closet)

Welcome to Day Thirteen of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is to help you organize your linen closet. 

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 12 (Kitchen)

Welcome to Day Twelve of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tips are about organizing your kitchen.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 11 (Fridges)

Welcome to Day Eleven of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tips are about organizing your refrigerator.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 10 (Pantry)

Welcome to Day Ten of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is about organizing your pantry.  

31 Days of Organizing: Day 9 (DIY labels)

Welcome to Day Nine of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is about making your own labels.  This is a simple and cost-effective way of getting and staying organized.  

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 8 (Chalk labels)

Welcome to Day Eight of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  I can't believe we're into the second week of the series already!  

Because labels are such an important topic and since there are so many ideas out there, I'm going to continue with labels today.  In particular, today I'll show you lots of things you can do with chalk and labels.

31 Days of Organizing: Day 7 (Labels)

Welcome to Day Seven of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is to use labels.  I love labels!  You've probably heard the saying "A place for everything and everything in its place".  Labels help you designate a place for everything you own and that allows you to put everything where it belongs.

31 Days of Organizing: Day 6 (Containers)

Welcome to Day Six of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is about containers.  I love containers!  There are so many different options you can use for storage.  Some are very practical and some are more decorative.  Ideally you can find containers that are both :)

Google+ Blog Hop

Welcome to the Google+ Blog Hop!  We want to encourage you to use Google+ to help your blog and/or business grow.  This blog hop is designed for YOU to meet new g+ friends, increase the exposure of your blog/business and allow you to "fill your circles"!

Here are some links to refresh your memory on how to set up and optimize your g+ profile page so that you will benefit from this blog hop.

http://intheoldroad.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-can-google-do-for-youpart-1.html

http://thenymelrosefamily.com/2012/07/google-tutorial.html

To join this g+ blog hop, link up your Google+ profile page URL (NOT your blog's homepage).  For the "name" section, use your name or your blog's/website's name.  Use your personal photo or your blog's/website's button/logo for the thumbnail picture.  

31 Days of Organizing: Day 5 (Like With Like)

Welcome to Day Five of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is to group like items together when you organize.  This is a great method to help you move from overwhelmed to organized!

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 4 (Process)

Welcome to Day Four of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Today's tip is about the whole organizing process, step-by-step. There are lots of systems you can follow. Here are a few: 

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 3 (De-cluttering)

Welcome to Day Three of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Now that you've created a list of organizing projects, picked one or two to get started on, and planned out your project, it's time to dive in and start organizing!

The first step in organizing is to de-clutter.  We live in a culture that is crazy about "stuff" and we accumulate a lot of it!  Before organizing what you have (and definitely before buying any storage containers!), take some time to assess what you really need and use.  Chances are you have a lot that you didn't know you had or rarely use, and maybe even some things you don't like that much.  The popularity of shows on hoarding and de-cluttering show how much of an issue this is.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 2 (Planning)

Welcome to Day Two of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

The next step to getting organized is to plan your project.

31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 1 (Making a List)

Welcome to Day One of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series!  

Let's get this party started!  Today's tip is about planning your organizing projects.  If you have a lot of areas in your house that need to be organized, start by making a list of all of them.  Now, if you're like me, and you have a lot of projects you want to do, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where to start.  But the purpose of this list is not to overwhelm you further!  The goal is to help you decide which projects are the most important and which ones can wait.  That way you can get started organizing the projects that are most necessary, which will eliminate some of the overwhelming feelings.  And as you start getting more organized in some areas of your life it will motivate you and energize you to take on some of the others on your list.

September Review

What happened to September?  That was the fastest month I can remember.  It seems like just last week the kids started school.  I love September because it's a month of new routines and new challenges.  My kids have adjusted fabulously to their new teachers and classes and the systems we've put in place to help make mornings, afternoons, and evenings flow smoothly.

Organizing Ideas for the Weekend #2

Time for another quick organizing tip!  This one comes courtesy of The Frugal Girls.

I'm working my way through several years of my kids' artwork, schoolwork, and memorabilia to purge as much as possible and organize what I decide to keep.  It's SO tough throwing things out that your kids made!  So when I came across this tip I knew it would help me moving forward.

31 Days of Organizing Tips (Introduction)

Have you seen lots of "31 days of ... " series on blogs?  I have and thought it was a great idea to blog every day for a month on a particular topic.  I recently discovered that this idea originally came from The Nester (well maybe others did it before her but she's certainly made it popular the last few years).  She's hosting a 31 Days blogging party for the month of October.  Read this post to see how this all came about and check out some of the 700+ bloggers who did it last year.

Now if you've been following my blog you know that consistency in posting has not exactly been my middle name :)  So when I first heard about the 31 Days idea I thought it would be great to do, but I knew there was no way I would keep up the pace of writing a blog post every day for a month on an organizing topic.

So, I dismissed the idea of doing a 31 Days blog series.

From Overwhelmed To Organized on Pinterest!

Well, I've been saying for a couple of months now (June Review and August Review) that I want to start a Pinterest account for the blog and I finally did it!  Come check out the From Overwhelmed To Organized Pinterest boards.

Organizing Ideas For The Weekend

I love passing on organizing ideas to you on my Facebook page and my Google+ page so that you can implement them in your homes and lives.  There are so many great bloggers out there who share what they do to keep their spaces organized!  {And I'm not even on Pinterest yet...I know there will be even more amazing ideas there!}

I'm starting a series here on the blog called "Organizing Ideas for the Weekend".  I'll be sharing photos and links to some of the great organizing tips and tricks I've seen.

These will be ideas that you can do quickly and easily, but that will give you a lot of "bang for your buck".

To start us off, this week's tip is from Heather at Laptops to Lullabies.  She made these easy closet dividers out of craft foam and labelled them with a Sharpie {click the link to get the full tutorial}.

No More Toothpaste In My Sink!

Do you hate having toothpaste all over your sink or counters because your kids either put too much on their toothbrushes or because they can't handle the tube very well?  I sure do!  No matter how often I clean our bathroom, the sink and counters have toothpaste on them as soon as my kids brush their teeth.

I was tired of nagging them to clean it up or teaching them how to be more careful with the tube.  And at 8 and 5 they are old enough to be brushing their teeth without me putting their toothpaste on their brushes {plus I just don't have time to be doing that!}.  Oh, and I should mention, all 4 of us use one bathroom upstairs so it gets messy quickly and it's not a mess I can ignore because I see it...multiple times a day.