Southern Scraps

  This post contains affiliate links. Clicking doesn't cost you a thing, but if you purchase from my links, I earn a few extra cents.  In the spirit of organizing in small chunks, one area at a time, I'm sharing how I organized under my kitchen sink this past fall. My results aren't as pretty as those who use pull out drawers or boxes and labels and such, but it's better than the before and it works for me. Just how bad was the before? See for yourself. Everything was just thrown under there and I could never find what I was looking for. So I set out to remedy this. I took out everything. Boy was the kitchen floor a mess that day. The key steps to organizing anything are to purge, sort, and then contain. Many of the items were expired and just needed to be trashed. Some things were moved to a new location. The remaining items were grouped somewhat and then placed in baskets and bins. I also used an extending shelf to add a little more room. I  repurpo...

The urge to organize hits most people at the beginning of a new year, but for many that task can be overwhelming. Don't try to organize everything at once. Break it down into attainable tasks. Focus on one area. Today I've rounded up  ideas for setting up a coffee or hot beverage station in your home. We only drink our coffee black so we only have the pot on the counter, but we sure could use some help with all those cups in the cabinet.

Whether you have kids going back to school, you are going back to school yourself, or neither, now is a great time to get the home office organized. This time of year kicks off the busiest time of the year for many. An organized home office can help you cope with the many activities and tasks ahead. Here are seven great (and pretty) ideas for organizing the home office: 1. Make a pretty perpetual calendar: by pitter and glink

Have a craft room (or closet) that needs organizing? Yes, I do. Even though I had a new work/storage table built last July, I'm still not finished rearranging and organizing stuff. By far, I think this is the most fun room to organize.

The next area we are looking at in this series of organzing is the entry way or command centers. (Check out kitchens here and baths here .)  If everyone has a designated place for those things they bring in and out- keys, bags, phones, work, homework- getting out the door on time can be so much easier.

  Another one of those problem areas for me when it comes to organizing is the bathroom. It's where I spend a good bit of time getting ready for the day so it would make life easier if everything was organized. Having it look pretty at the same time is a bonus and sets the right mood for the day. Here are ten ways to organize the bathroom.

Organization is on everybody's mind this time of year (and everbody's blogging about it.) Getting organized is often a top resolution of many so I'm taking this month for Must Do Mondays to share some ways to get organized, room by room, starting with the kitchen. Isn't that where we spend most of our time? An orderly kitchen can make meal prep go so much faster and easier.

Don't we all love the Dollar Tree? I wanted to share these cute little plastic containers I found at my local Dollar Tree a couple of months ago. I think they still have them. You get 10 in a pack. They are 2.3 ounce containers and BPA free. Perfect for: dressing and sauces in lunch boxes storing small craft supplies containers for DIY beauty cream, lotions and supplies I'm currently using one in my bathroom to hold coconut oil that I use as a skin moisturizer. And isn't everything in a mini version just adorable? Just thought you might like to know. What would you use them for?

Now that we are eating healthier whole foods, I need to be able to freeze some meals when I have time to cook for those days when I don't have time, and to be able to stock up on some seasonal produce. The problem with all of this is that I don't have much freezer space. I normally freeze soups and liquids in containers, but those take up so much more room. I decided to try out a tip I found for freezing in bags and it worked like a charm!

Happy New Year! Many of you will be making resolutions today and tomorrow, and for many, one of them will be to get organized. I know my craft room needs cleaning and organizing. Here are seven ideas and DIY projects to help with that daunting task.   Paint stick jewelry organizer by infarrantly creative     High heel shoe rack by centsational girl

Today's Fabulous Friday find is an idea for bathroom storage. It may not seem like a big deal, but sometimes I get stuck in a rut of thinking of things as only for their normal uses. Like a lazy susan- it's made for the kitchen right? Kitchen things belong in the kitchen.   source bhg.com Well how about the BATHROOM? This is perfect for my messy under the sink cabinet. I'll be able to see and find everything without digging in the back. Fabulous! Have a great weekend! Check out more bathroom organization HERE.

Happy Friday! Hope you all have a fabulous three day weekend.  I think most of us will be outdoors, but if you spend it inside doing some organizing, here is a neat tip for you that I found at  In My Own Style . No slip hangers! Take your regular hangers - wire or plastic and wrap them with pipe cleaners from the craft store! Genius! You know you have those pesky dresses or tops that slide off all the time. This will fix the problem.  Click on the link above to read the whole post and how-to.

This isn't my normal type of post but when I find something I think is helpful, I want to share it with you. I just finished doing my taxes this afternoon. And what does that have to do with clutter? Well, ask my hubby. We spent a considerable amount of time looking for a 1098 that was misfiled, but that's another story. We all know one way to eliminate clutter is to sort and purge. Some of you like to make a little extra money by having yard or garage sales and I'll do in once per year(or two), but I prefer to donate clothes and household items we no longer need or use. When it comes time to do taxes, those donations can be taken as deductions. I haven't been paid to say this, but I use Tax Act to file my taxes. They have a calculator built in that helps you value your donations, but you've got to have a list of how many and what you donated. I used to make a generalization on my receipts and then estimate, and I've been cheating myself! Last...

The cleaning and organizing continued this weekend. My bedroom got decluttered and cleaned, a couple of dresser drawers sorted with things pulled for donation or yard sale, and I started in the closet. I did just enough in the closet to get the things out of the bedroom that needed to be in there. More on that later when I finish. I cleaned out and organized the three bathroom drawers. I started out with an attempt at organization as I had two baskets in the top drawer for make up and such, but there was no longer any distinct separation of contents. So... in came more baskets.. square ones and narrow ones. Now it's so much easier to find my makeup. Top drawer BEFORE: AFTER: The second drawer is brushes, curling irons, and hair dryer. There is no good fit for the dryer but overall the arrangement is better. BEFORE: AFTER:   and the last drawer- just miscellaneous stuff BEFORE: AFTER: Now sorted into extra toothbrushes, hubby's shaving stuff, and my hair acc...

Remember my "non" resolution to declutter and organize the house this year? We've been moving full steam ahead and after the hall closets and pantry , I really went to work on my desk and craft room. Here is the shameful before (I can't believe I'm posting this) The first step in conquering this mess was to purge the filing cabinet of all the things that could be shredded. This took most of a week working 15- 30 minutes at a time. This had to be done in order to have somewhere to put all those other papers that needed to be filed. Once all that was done the desk was tackled. Everything was removed and sorted into stacks according to where it needed to go- stay here or return to another room. The biggest helper was to set up the desktop file box: This was inspired by House of Hepworths post HERE . I thought this was a great idea. You see the little organizer in front of it? Well, that's what I was using and IT AIN'T BIG ENOUGH! So the other box ...

Last night I got fed up trying to cook supper and not having something I thought I had. Who would have known, given the state of the pantry? So, I moved that project up on the list and organized the pantry. Here's a before shot: I had actually taken part of the stuff off the second shelf before I remembered to take a picture. Just look at the bottom two shelves and you'll know what it looked like before. I took everything out and then grouped like items together. All canned goods are now on one shelf together. All dry and boxed goods are together, as well as syrup, sauces, and dressings.  I put a basket in the bottom shelf to hold small snacks and drink mixes. It's not perfect, but much better than before. Perfect would be new shelving that I could adjust, but I've got what came with the house when we bought it. Until I can afford new shelves, I can live with this. Here's my "new" pantry.  Thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up this week to...

The first project in my "non" resolution to organize and declutter the house was the hall closets. They were tackled first in part because I had to put away the Christmas wrapping supplies and decorations. The first closet is where I store my grandmother's handmade quilts, crocheted ornaments that cannot stand the heat and humidity of the attic, and other seasonal home decor items. I purchased some plastic containers to store some of the things in. BTW, these closets are very hard to photograph.  The very top shelf has some extra electronic and computer supplies- spare keyboards and cords. Next is ornaments and vases and candle holders. Then there is a container for filler items for the vases and one for candles and miscellaneous items that can be altered and gifted for various holidays. Some of the filler items have been bagged and are not in the container. (It's not perfect.) The bottom shelf and containers in the very bottom have more seasonal decor. The ...

I'm not making resolutions- who keeps them? I do however have some changes and some additions to the "to do" list. First, I'd like to learn/identify/ and develop my spiritual gift . Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Romans 12:4-6a) Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. (1 Pet. 4:10) My hubby says that we are going to "systematically" organize and declutter our house. He started on Christmas eve when he cleaned out the fridge, LOL. I'm not sure what the system is but I'm all for it. I've got to do a scrapbook/craft room/office redo. I organized it once, but then my interests grew, supplies grew, and the space did not. I have things now...

Looking again at organization products for the new year. Here are some finds many of us crafters could use. Plum Paisley Mini Organizer by victoriawilde Shadow Box Organizer - Solid Poplar Distressed Finish by NellieCorrine Scrapbooking Craft Cubbie Storage Organizer by organizemore They've got versions of these for ink pads, ribbon and punches. And for yourself when your doing a show- a stylish apron: Skeleton Painters Union Vendor Apron by yoopers

Get those unruly purses and papers- bills, coupons, you name it, organized and under control with these great etsy finds. New Style...Beautiful Petite Address Card File with Colorful Patterns and Printed Address Cards by rfrantzdesign Hooty Hoot Owl Eye Candy Customizable Organizer by crabappledesign 2010 Desk Calendar by heatherkintne r NEW UPDATED SIZE Quilted Purse Organizer by andsewmuchmore The Original Hands-Free List Maker/Coupon Organizer (Lush) by TheOrganizedShopper