Design An Organized Craft Room

I know I told all of you that I spent an entire month organizing my studio/craft room/office and I did. Yes, it is pretty clean and organized. So you are wondering where the photos are?

There aren't any. Because it may be organized but it's not cute. I haven't gotten to that part yet. I still have a desk made out of 2x4's and a sawed off piece of old laminate furniture. There is a filing cabinet holding one side up. Sounds pretty doesn't it? There is a dresser in the corner holding the kid's craft supplies and a storage shelf with plastic bins holding my sewing stuff. It's nothing to get excited about.

Now that we have our pantry cabinets installed I am trying to figure out what I want in here. Since I can't get my behind off the couch and couldn't think of anything better to do I spent last night browsing photos on the internet and the thought occurred to me, "Wouldn't it be great if someone had a blog post that linked to all of these so I didn't have to hunt them down?"

So here you go. A few links for your enjoyment all the way from simple to grand and frugal to costly. Now you can drool in the privacy of your own home. Feel free to add more links in the comments if you know of any. (Be sure to check out all of them because I might have saved the best for last.)

• Cottage Magpie - This is almost exactly what I had planned for my studio. Very functional.
• Aim True
• Monica Crowe - More Ikea
• Stamping For Sanity - Stamping room
• Fuzzy Noodle - Knitting Room
• Posie Gets Cosie
• Soule Moma - She's got quite the fabric collection!
• Tara Anderson - Fun color and containers. Check out all her flickr photos
• A Bolota Doce - Something simple but beautiful
• Jig A Bug Baby
• Norma Valentine - Would love to have this cabinet in my studio
• Xixstar - Very cool antique Drawers for storage
• Scrapbook Superstars - Got shelves?
• Two Peas In a Bucket
• Celt Song - Something more subdued
• Christmas Notebook - Amazing custom cabinetry. I want it all!
• Heather Bailey - Most of us can't even dream of being this cool. Thanks for the link Mrs. Organic!

Do you see a dominant theme in there? Blue anyone?

One of these days I'll break down and show you a photo of my amazing desk. It's quite a sight to behold.

Recycled Notecards

Tell me if you think this is weird. It probably is because I do so many weird things. But I cannot write in a notecard. I always write on a piece of paper and stick it inside the notecard so the person I'm giving it to can use the card again. I think of it like a little present. I'm sending the note and the card is the present that they can use and give to someone else. Thoughtful? Or weird?

Now if everyone did this then I would never have to buy or make another card. It would be like the gift bag phonomenon. People give them to you. You give them to other people. No one is actually buying any new gift bags. They are just going around and around. Right? I'm not the only one participating in this wonderful gift bag exchange program am I?

By the way, I don't actually make notecards. That was something I did in my past life and I just happen to have a few left over. That shows you how often I send notes to people. Isn't that what e-mail is for?

I am turning over a new leaf though. I'm going to start sending notes. I don't know why but it seems like the right thing to do. Right after I get my studio organized. Start holding your breath and checking your mailbox.

Designing My Studio

*Updated below

This is almost exactly what I am going to be doing in my studio. Thanks for posting the photos just for me Angela!

I will have a long counter along the back wall like that and a desk sitting on the left wall. I will probably do the upper cabinets all the way across the wall though. And underneath my counter you will find drawers, drawers, drawers. There is almost nothing better than drawers for organizing.

On the right side of the room I have an industrial sewing machine and an industrial serger. Think big. Very big. I love them both and couldn't live without them. I don't have room for a big table in here but I have a kitchen island three feet away that I can use to spread out on.

I need your help with something though. Should I give up some of those drawers to have a space to push a stool under the cabinet? It would make a nice spot to sit and work at the counter but I would lose some storage space in a very tiny room and I could always just drag my projects out to the kitchen island if I want to sit down. What do you think?

Are you ready for another trip to Ikea Stranger?

*I also wanted to show you a digital garden makeover that Angela did for one of her readers. I would like to send her a photo of every room in my house to see what she could do with it!

Talk About Attachment Planning

Welcome to Talk About Tuesday! If you are new, check out the Guidelines before posting. Thanks for joining us!



Really big candy bar anyone?


You know how lazy I am right? It says so right up there. I am also very forgetful. I'm so forgetful that I can't remember if I'm organized or not.

I was on my way to a meeting a couple weeks ago and I started having a panic attack because I had forgotten to write down the address of the meeting before I left. I pulled out my planner to see if there was any hope for me and low and behold not only had I previously written down the address but I had googled detailed directions and I had a phone number in case I still got lost (which can happen because Google maps is not all knowing). I was prepared and didn't even know it!

I can't even tell you how many times my compulsive organizing has saved my lazy, forgetful behind. Many.

Question from a reader:

How long did it take you to become attached to your planner? I've
been trying for over a year, and I just can't seem to keep track of it, or
regularly turn to it.

I'm so over scheduled right now, and not
surprisingly, overwhelmed. I really need to keep organized so I don't forget and
regret.

Dawn

Let me start by saying it was not easy and it took years so don't lose hope.

I use a method I call Attachment Planning; wearing your planner, co-sleeping with your planner, and spending every minute of every day with your planner. The two of you cannot ever be separated by time or space. This will help create an unbreakable bond with your planner that will foster healthy dependence and security. I write everything in my planner that I can think of. Everything. I keep my planner in my purse and it goes everywhere with me; to the store, to the gym and even to bed. I wouldn't be able to do that if I had a big full sized planner. Which brings me to my next point.

Find a planner that will work for you. I'm sure most planners out there are good but I believe the most important feature of a planner is the size. Whether paper or electronic, if your planner is too small or too big for your needs then you won't use it. I have tried electronic planners and as much as I like gadgets and computers, paper works better for me. The number one reason is probably because it is cheap. Or I'm cheap. Whatever. Meet my old planner. Meet my new planner. My old one worked great but I like my new one even better and it's oh so pretty too.

You need quality and quantity time with your planner. Every day. Make it a habit. I did that over a year ago in January with Smart Habit Saturday and haven't looked back. I have a longer planning session with my planner every morning and every night and then I consult with it again several times a day as I make needed notes.

I need to address a very important issue regarding planners. According to the Gospel of Lazy, Thou shalt have no other planners above your ONE and ONLY planner. If you are trying to juggle five different calendars you are just asking for trouble. If you want to keep a calendar on the wall for your family to look at that is fine but things must be scheduled into your personal planner first and then transfered onto the family calendar, not vice versa. If you are a person with different planners for home and office and kids and it's working for you then just ignore me. Most people are not that talented.

Additionally - Thou shalt NEVER make plans with anyone without checking thy planner first. Though shalt NEVER leave thy home or office without looking at thy planner first. Thou shalt NEVER read thy e-mails or talk on the phone without thy planner right beside thee. Thou shalt NEVER overschedule thyself. If you are married then thou might also want to apply Stranger's Law in thy life.

Ok, enough of that.

I feel like a different person since I have finally made Attachment Planning work for me. Take the time to make it work for you too and watch it change your life!

An additional note.

My ten year old is obsessive compulsive about our schedule. He wants a repeated, detailed, play-by-play of every upcoming moment of our lives. This has always been annoying for me to say the least but it is getting worse as he gets older. Finally I had him (made him) buy a small planner this year where he can write everything down so I don't have to repeat myself fifty times. The added benefit is that he tells me fifty times a day what we are supposed to be doing and when. I'm not sure if I am contributing to his obsessive complusiveness or if I am helping it but we haven't missed a dang thing since.

Oh, and how do I get him to write things in his planner because he is as lazy as his Mom and doesn't naturally want to take the time to do it on his own? When he asks me questions about our activities I won't answer him unless he has his planner in his hands and is ready to write.

I know. I'm mean and I like to torture him like that.

What are you talking about this week?

*Important - Please link to your individual Talk About Tuesday post instead of your home page or else my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before: Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to (or the post title depending on where you blog) click “Copy Shortcut” and then paste it into Mr. Linky.

Thou Shalt Not Overschedule Thyself

A couple years ago I was tired of making bad scheduling decisions and my husband was tired of hearing me complain about it so he finally laid down the Law.

Thou Shalt Consult Thy Husband Before Making Any Plans with Friends and Family

Of course I don't always follow Stranger's Law but I save myself a lot of frustration when I do. Stranger isn't a controlling husband, he just wants my life to be as happy and stress free as possible so here's how it works.

Alice calls and asks if I would like to use her extra tickets to take my kids to the Symphony the next day and by the way could she and her kids catch a ride with us because her car is in the shop? I would love nothing more than to go to the symphony and Alice's life might end if I don't take it upon myself to drive her there so instead of checking my planner to see what I already have scheduled for the next day I say, "Of course!"

But then I looked down at the *tattoo on the top of my right hand that says "Thou Shalt Consult Thy Husband First" and say, "Oh wait a minute Alice, I need to talk to my husband to see if that's going to work for us."

So I call Stranger and he says, "What else do you have planned for tomorrow?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that. (Because that would be too easy.) It looks like I'm having a root canal in the morning and then I'm babysitting the neighbor's two year old triplets for six hours while she has her hair and nails done. I guess I can't really fit the symphony into any of that." Apparently I didn't consult with Stranger when I scheduled babysitting after a root canal. See what I mean?

So I call Alice back and tell her that the symphony isn't going to work for our family tomorrow. (Who can argue with that?) She cries for a minute and I offer to pay for her to rent a car to ease my guilt about not being everything for everybody and then we're both happy again.

Now that's just one scenario. The other one would be where Alice asks me to join her six person team in running 157 miles to raise money for some great cause. After I tell her I need to talk to my husband about it first, I sit and think about all the good that will come from raising money for such a great cause and then I think of all the good that will come from my staying alive to raise my three kids and I don't even have to call Stranger. I just call Alice back and tell her that my premature death isn't going to work for our family this week. She cries for a minute and I offer to pay for the ambulance should anyone need it during the run. This eases my guilt about not being everything for everybody and then we're both happy again.

Discussing and planning my life with my husband works for me. If you don't have a husband to consult I suggest a good friend or buying a **parrot named Bill. "I would love to Alice but I need to talk to Bill about it first." Hey, you'll never know what good advice Bill might have for you if you never ask.

*I don't actually have that tattoo yet but I seriously considering it.
**I'm not suggesting that a parrot is as useful as a husband but in some cases one may be. Don't tell my husband I said that.

More posts on planners and schedules.


If you're here for WFMW you might want to move along now before things get out of hand but if you want to read footage from an actual conversation to see how Stranger's Law really works in our family keep reading.

Stranger - We're going to call that lady to tomorrow.

Lazy - Kay.

Sranger - Are you just saying that?

Lazy - Yes.

Stranger - No you're not. We really going to call that lady tomorrow.

Lazy - Kay.

Stranger - Are you just saying that again?

Me - Yes.

Stranger - Don't get mouthy with me because I'm running the show here and we are calling that lady.

Me - Kay.

Stranger - What?

Me - Kay. You run the show and I'll run the mouth.

Stranger - That's not funny. And you're not blogging about this either.

Me - Kay.

Apparently Stranger's Law is easier made than followed.

The Lazy Planner

Plan? Me? It’s an astonishing thought but I do own a small planner of my very own and every once in a while I actually look at it! I am not an expert in planner usage although I’ve tried many different types, beautiful and expensive, yet the one I have now, not expensive and so not beautiful, is working for me. When I use it. Which is the important thing. Finding one that works for you AND using it!

I don’t have a problem writing things down. If I run out of something, I write it in my planner. If someone tells me about a great book to read, I write it in my planner. It has taken years but I have finally learned to say, “I need to check my planner first,” before I schedule anything. I don’t know why I always feel like a dummy when I say that but I do. Like I’m supposed to remember each one of the three things I have planned that week! What do you expect people? I guess it’s kind of sad that a woman who has a schedule comprised mostly of “Clean the house” and “Go to the gym” can’t remember what’s on her agenda that week.

I don’t have a problem taking my Lazy Planner everywhere I go. I keep it in the Tomato except when I’m working out and then it’s in my gym bag. Why would I need my planner at the gym you ask? In case I have to re-schedule tennis or tumbling for the kids, write down a class I want to take, or I run into someone who wants to hire a sweaty Organizer to host a new segment on TV. That could happen!

So here’s my good thing goin’. My $4 planner. I got it all dressed up for its internet debut.

For some reason I just couldn't get excited about the puppies

and Lovely is far more likely to leave it alone without them. Those puppies were just irresistible! I was inspired by a member of The Lazy Organizer's club, Rosie. She came home with the same adorable puppies and took things into her own hands. She kept asking when I was going to cover mine but I just couldn't picture myself ever making it to a scrapbook store to buy cute paper. She told me to use my fabric instead so I did!

First I write birthdays in it. Not that I send anyone a birthday card or even call them on their birthdays. But at least I like to think about them on their special day. Then the next time I see them I can say, “Hey, I was thinking about you on your birthday.” I think that makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

If you happen to lose your planner or you want to upgrade midway through the year then you might want to go with a Student planner that runs from July-August. That’s what I did this year because I needed something a little different.

Cutting the corners off the pages as I go makes it easy for me to find the page I’m on.

I like to use sticky notes in the front of my planner so I don’t clutter it up with shopping lists.

Again, I write everything down. EVERYTHING. Here are some of the things I compulsively write in my planner besides appointments.

• What we ate for dinner.
• What all the girls wore to church - so we don’t wear the same thing four weeks in a row. There is no way I can remember that on my own. I can’t even remember what I wore yesterday.
• Important calls that I probably won’t ever make.
• Errands that I don’t want to run.
• Books that I don’t have time to read.
• Library due dates. Just kidding! I always forget that one but I’m going to start remembering, I swear. In fact I'm going to do it right now!
• I write down when I lend a book or movie to someone and then I’m too embarrassed to ask for it back.
• I used to make a note when I owed my kids money but now I just tell them to write it in their checkbooks. You really have to try my checkbook system with your kids. I works!!! And Mary? I just can’t say enough about Mary.

What kind of planner do you use? What do you write in your planner?

Check out PocketMod for the Stranger in your life who uses a piece of paper as a planner and has a rubber band for a wallet. (I kid you not!)

Cell Phone Profile Timer

Do you ever turn your cell phone to silent and then forget to turn the ringer back on? I might have done that once. Or twice. Or 200 times, before I started using the Profile timer. It’s fabulous. When I go to Church at 1:00 I set my phone to Silent on a timer that goes back to Normal at 4:05, just after Church is over. That way I won’t miss any important phone calls from my sweet Stranger at work wondering if I was late yet again for Church (that would be yes, as always) or from my sister needing my granola recipe because it’s easier to call me than to WRITE IT DOWN. Just kidding. Any excuse to talk to my big Sister is a good one.

If anyone has anything they need to talk to me about could you please call me at 4:06 on Sunday just so I can enjoy the coolness of this phone feature? I would be so appreciative of your helping me to feel very important and high tech. You can even call me at 3:00 a.m. but then I won’t feel important at all because the only thing I’ll be feeling is asleep. You are the exact reason I turn all my phones off at night you lunatic! Excuse me; I forgot for a second that I wasn’t talking to my Dad. Sorry about that!

Organizing E-Mails, Updated

Works For Me Wednesday. Doesn’t this just sound right up my alley? It is, except that I prefer a “Works for me Monday through Saturday”. What can I say? I’m just a “Works For Me” kind of gal!

Our topic for this lovely Wednesday is Organizing E-Mails. I like having lots of e-mail folders. Some of my e-mails are moved automatically into special folders. I can check them once a day or once a week as needed and they aren’t cluttering up my In-Box. If you have never done this before, right click on the e-mail you want to make a rule for and click “Create Rule”. It is pretty self explanatory from there.

The rest of my e-mails go directly into my In-Box. After I have taken action on them I put them into the appropriate folders for future reference. I have made a habit of moving the letters I send out of the Sent folder and into the appropriate folders as well, that way I can easily find them when I need to reference them. If I’m looking for an e-mail that my family sent me I can look in my Family folder and there is my reply right along with it. It’s wonderful!

I have never used Flags because I prefer to take action as soon as possible so I don’t have that many e-mails in my in-box. I also don’t receive a lot of e-mails with my simple life of a stay at home Mom.

I check my Junk-Mail folder every few days to see if a letter went in there by mistake. Then I delete all the junk mail and start over. For all the junk-mail that makes it into my In-Box, I right click on it and “add sender to blocked senders list”.

I know I have just scratched the surface of e-mail organizing so feel free to leave your own tips in the comments.

Update: Since writing this I have been playing around with Outlook Flags and I love them!!! I have every e-mail flagged as it comes in and I can flag different e-mails different colors according to sender, subject, etc. As soon as I take action on an e-mail I mark the flag as complete.

This is why I love to blog about organizing. It helps me get more organized!!!

Visit Rocks In My Dryer for more Works For Me Wednesdays.

Organize Your Receipts

I keep this Receipt Organizer in my purse. I fold the receipts so I can easily see the name of the store. If it’s a receipt that I won’t need to use to return anything, like fuel or restaurant, then I add it to the back of the bag. If it’s a receipt for clothing or something I might need to return later, I add it to the front. That way I don't have to search through the whole pile to find what I need. If you are like me and you only pay with credit card, you can use these organized receipts to balance against your account statement. Then put them in a letter sized envelope marked with the date. Keep these envelopes with the account statements. You can look over the account statement to find a specific receipt if you need it later. You’ll easily locate it in the corresponding envelope!

My New Information System

I bought a new cell phone! I hate spending that extra money every month but it’s nice to be able to keep in touch with Chris with all the time we spend away from home and away from each other. I should have gotten one a year ago when we started this house but I can’t say that I’ll really need one when it’s all finished. It’s definitely a luxury item for me.

It’s the little things that give me a thrill! I also bought a new purse. I don’t know why I have resisted for so long. I guess I never thought I was a purse kind of gal but it’s really been working great for me. I bought a small $3 paperback planner that fits inside. I got tired of the old notebook thing. It was too big to take along every where I went. I cleaned it out today and from now on I’ll keep papers in it that I only need at home. This new system won’t last forever, just until my life changes and I move on to something new.

Idea Binders

Yesterday, I spent my 15 minutes of organizing, clearing off the kitchen counter. I found a home for every little item that was cluttering up my beautiful kitchen. Objects and papers were beginning to pile up in a bad way. One pile that was particularly annoying was a pile of magazine ideas for fall decorating and Halloween costumes. I have a binder that I throw these things in but I didn't want to put these new ideas away because I wanted to use them soon. When my logic leads to clutter then I know something is wrong in my thinking. After re-thinking I decided that I needed to organize my idea binder into seasons so I wouldn't have to search the whole thing looking for ideas and therefore I wouldn't be afraid to use it. Today I spent my fifteen minutes taking care of this. If you want to do this yourself here is what you'll need:

• An appropriately sized binder
• A package of page protectors
• A box of stick-on index tabs

I used broad categories:

• Valentines/New Year's
• Spring (includes Easter)
• Summer (includes Patriotic and picnic)
• Fall (includes Halloween and Thanksgiving)
• Winter (includes Christmas)
• Family (includes Birthdays and Family Reunions)

Don't try to keep all your old magazines and think you'll find the article you want out of it. Even if you did remember what you wanted you would never be able to find it! I rip out anything of interest to me and get rid of the magazine. It seems to be 80% advertising anyway.

I keep separate binders similar to the above for home design ideas (since we're building a home), and small home project ideas. You can make binders for any subjects that interest you. Gardening, crafts, cooking, woodworking, fishing, etc. I have a basket that I keep accumulated recipes in. Periodically I take the time to type them into my Master Cook program so I can make meal plans and shopping lists with them. If I find a keeper, I add it to my recipe binder that I use daily.

Now that I think about it I'm going to make a new binder with gardening/landscaping ideas in it!

Headset Telephones

I cleaned out my refrigerator yesterday while talking to my sister on my headset telephone. If you don't have one of these phones you should seriously get one. Our daughter jumped down the stairs with ours a few months ago and we had to tape it back together because I was lost without it. Not that I spend a great amount of time on the telephone. But, the moments I do spend are never wasted. As soon as I pick up the phone I get to work and before I know it, I have a clean house. It's like when you're driving a familiar route and you get home and say, "I have no idea how I got here, I don't remember a thing." You just go on auto pilot. There is no better way of cleaning your house than on auto pilot. It's so painless!

Here is the phone we have that works great, although we didn't pay anywhere near $100 for it. I think we got it on sale a couple years ago for around $30. Shop around the internet and see if you can find one at a good price.

One of my favorite things about this model is that I can wear it around my neck if I'm expecting a call or I'm working outside. When I'm talking outside people probably think I'm wearing a radio on my head and singing. I must look like a goof!

An Organized Office

Remember that office garbage can I emptied last week? Well, I was so inspired by seeing a clean garbage can, I spent the next morning cleaning the entire office. Of course it only took a few minutes. Fifteen at the most. I dusted, vacuumed, and organized everything. Well, not my husbands papers. I'm not allowed to do much with those. I just moved his piles onto some empty shelves I had in there. See? It runs in the family. He's a Piler too. Maybe one of these days I'll get lucky and he'll let me get my hands on those piles of papers.

It's amazing how doing one little thing can get me motivated to do more and more. The more organized my home and life get, the more organization I crave. If this ever becomes an unhealthy obsession you'd tell me, right?

I haven't forgotten about my kitchen floor today. My daughter ran off with her Auntie Kathy this morning so there isn't much point to sweeping. I'll do it anyway though, just so you know I'm serious.

The Lazy Paper Manager

Are you trying to figure out how to keep urgent papers from piling up on your kitchen counter? Did you say bulletin board? Don't even think it! That may be Pottery Barn's solution to organization but it's not ours.

I want you to do something for me. Walk over to your refrigerator. Is this where you write phone messages? Post soccer schedules? Hang wedding invitations? Store coupons? Not anymore. Ok, now you're going to take a deep breath and clear everything off. You don't need this chaos staring down at you every morning as you eat breakfast. You don't need a daily reminder of all those recipes you haven't tried and weddings you didn't attend. If this is where you keep family photos then you need to visit the photo isle at Target. You can buy frames and books for just this sort of thing!

Take all these items from the front of your fridge and your counters and sort them into a three-ring binder that will be your new Lazy Paper Manager. I use a cheap binder with my kid's drawings decorating the cover. I have to replace the binder once a year because it falls apart with all the use it gets. I use photo album pages to keep small items such as coupons and stamps and page protectors for regular sized pieces of paper. Each section is labeled with a self adhesive index tab stuck right to the page protectors. If you are really cool then can make an adorable scrapbook quality Lazy Paper Manager cover and slip it in the front.

Phone - I print out a list of all my personal numbers and on the other side is all the business numbers that I frequently use. Every time I use the phone book I jot down the new number on my phone list and then I never have to look it up again. Every six months I add the new numbers on the computer and print out another copy. With all your numbers on one page you can keep a copy in the car, your wallet, and purse and in every room where you use the phone. Now that I have a cell phone I keep most of these numbers on my phone.

Action - This is where I put anything that I need to reference in the next few days or weeks. This is where I put wedding invitations, soccer schedules, driving directions etc. I note the time and date of the event on my calendar. If the paper has more information on it than I want to copy into my calendar then I hole punch it and insert it here. This saves me from having to copy all the information into my calendar. After the event I toss the paper. Papers shouldn’t stay more than a couple months in this section.

If you have older children that are busy with school and activities you might need a separate section or a whole different notebook for each child. This is where they will put papers that need your attention.

Club – This is where I keep aerobics, swimming and tennis schedules and club information.

Church – This is where I keep my Church group calling lists and assignment information; scouting, visiting teaching, volleyball, etc. Add or delete sections as you like. You need to find a paper system that works for you. There are so many books written on the subject that you are sure to find one you like. My Lazy Paper Manager has worked so well for me these last four six years that I couldn't live without it now. Others report that it works for them too so if you are looking for a change, give it a try!