Wednesday, February 17, 2010


For some reason this time of the year leads me to an organizing mission within the walls of my home. Whenever I find a few extra minutes in my day, I take on certain areas that are crying out to be organized. This is one area of my kitchen counter that I use so often. Instead of keeping these staples in my cupboard, I put together this much used grouping on my kitchen counter. I have found this to be so convenient and I am glad I made this decision.
Flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, sea salt, black pepper, and a glass jar filled with dry ranch dressing, along with a glass jar filled with colored straws. Now, everything stays fresh and is so easily accessible for baking and cooking.



I hesitated to share this with you. I am sure most of you have nicely created jewelry boxes and this solution will make you smile. I know that smile ... I've seen it often from my family:) I kept my limited amount of jewelry that I have collected over the years, in a big drawer in my bedroom, for the last few years. No matter how many times I would organize it, I would always find myself searching for the missing earring, or a ring, or the necklace would be intertwined with another necklace. Frustration and at times being late for an event, would result from this search. Well, I finally wised up a few months ago. I took three white styrofoam egg cartons, cut off the tops, and glued them together side by side. I hid the glued portion by glueing strips of colored paper on top of the seams. This is such a simple concept, but I only wish I would have done it years ago. No longer do I have to search for missing earrings, or rings. There is even a section of the cartons just for several extra earring backs. It is easy to see where everything is and so easy to grab and run.



On the other hand, this was our bed today. In a rare move we allowed the three to create a fort on our bed. They brought blankets and pillows from all of their beds and spent so much time creating their fort. It was fun watching them and listening to them laughing. I thought it would be perfect to put this picture in the middle of my organization post. What do you think? I heard my middle granddaughter say when they were finished that," this room is a big mess!"
We did have them help put everything away and help(in their way) to remake the bed.



Above my egg cartons for all my tiny pieces, I hung these round holders across the wall of the cabinet. These white plastic pieces with a sticky back, worked perfectly for all of my necklaces. They no longer get tangled, or broken. They are easily removed,especially when I am in a hurry to get ready. These white plastic holders come 4 in a pack for a little over a dollar. This too seems like a simple idea that I wonder to myself, why it ever took me this long to come up with this solution.
My daughter did a beautiful and efficient job organizing my pantry for me last week. She excels in organization skills.
Don't get the idea that I am finished with these projects. No, but I thought I would share these few steps that worked for me.







19 comments:

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

Well, Judy, I did have to chuckle about your fancy earring/ring container..... but only because I, too, have the very same kind of 'egg'stra-ordinary organizer for my top dresser drawer too!! How's that for great minds thinking alike!!

I enjoyed your idea of keeping your much used staples close at hand. It certainly saves time and steps when one is busy preparing meals. I'll have to ponder how I can do that.

And your glimpse into that 'messy room' with those cute kids was a real treat!

So thanks for sharing some fun stuff today.

Gram said...

I love the egg carton idea

cherry said...

U put me to shame....if you only knew what my cubbies looked like.

Sara said...

Judy...loved the post...I too was trying to come up with an idea for my earrings. Never thot of using egg cartons...but what I found & am using is the plastic ice cube trays you get at a dollar store. They work wonderful too. I love your idea with the hooks...just not sure where I could hang mine. What I found for my necklaces was a drawer organizer for utensils that have the long slots. It helps..but not as great as your hooks!! Loved the post! Esp. loved seeing the kids making a fort. I am gleaming many ideas from you for creative things to do with grandchildren! Happy Thursday!

Debbie said...

I love the idea about the egg cartons. My problem lies in the fact that we are so storage challenged I don't have a place to put the cartons. Oh, what an idea!
I'll have to think on that. Thanks!
Debbie

Happy@Home said...

I love all of your organizational ideas today, but I had to laugh when I saw your bed and read what your granddaughter said about the room being a big mess. It seems like that is life with young children in the house. As soon as we get one area all neat and organized they are undoing another area for us.

Enjoy your Thursday.

Judy said...

Good ideas once again! I have a jewelry drawer with little compartments which works quite well for the little things...but not so well for the necklaces, since they still tend to tangle. I will borrw your 'sticky hook' idea and hang them up.

Building forts from bedding has to be the grands all-time favorite game...no matter whose grands or where they live! It's a good kind of mess.

Tracy said...

This is funny...just last night I was throwing an egg carton away and thought...I should save a couple of these for my earrings! I was hurried at the time so I ended up just tossing it out, but now I have a plan! Now I have a plan! Thanks for sharing these great organizational ideas with us.

P.S. Loved the grandkids photo...as always!

Tea with Tiffany said...

I'm on a mission to organize too. However, me being creative right-brain, I tend to go back to out of order. But I like a clean house. My thing is don't look in the closets and drawers. Ha ha...

Kathleen said...

What a great idea for earrings! I'm pretty good about keeping cupboards & closets orderly, but my jewelry collection is something else. I'm definitely going to give this a try; the hooks too.

Now ... if only I could figure out a way to organize hubby (his office, garage, side of the closet, etc.), I'd be one happy camper. I've thought seriously about simply Duct-taping HIM as a means of prevention rather trying to arrive at a solution.

Alas, we are Felix and Oscar.

Blessings,
Kathleen

Anonymous said...

Dear Judy, You always come up with such wonderful ideas. I like the way you organized everything. I especially loved the picture of your grandchildren. It brought back so many memories of when our children and grandchildren built their forts all around our house :>) I hope you are having a lovely day ♥

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Judy I use a plastic organizer that was meant for embroidery floss as my jewelry organizer! It is so much more convenient than a jewelry box. My necklaces are hung on the hooks of a men's tie holder.

My grandson is only one, but he already likes to build a fort with couch cushions :-)

Terri said...

I have a few things to say to you:
First, thank you for your recent comments...very sweet.
Second, LOVE that you've recycled your egg cartons for a better use (I always wonder if there's a better fate for them than crushing them an stuffing them in the trash! Now I know!)
Third, WHAT!?!! There is a NEW GOODWILL in Ephrata and I DIDN'T even know????? I AM SO GOING!!!!

Everyday Sparkles said...

Oooh how I too love to organize. Great tips! And I really need to organize my jewelry. You've inspired me.

And I love that in your perfect kept home you still let the kids be kids. Precious.

Wanda said...

Oh, JUDY! How THANKFUL I am for your blog! Just this morning I was thinking...ugh! Why can't I keep my earrings orderly??? I'm so glad I got a bunch of my grading done so I could read your blog!!!!

THANKS! I'm going to try your egg carton idea!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Jeane` said...

You are a supremely fun mawamaw. So much so, that our home now seems drab and dull. They asked several times today (esp. "A") if they could please go to mawmaw's house. THANK YOU for making their lives such a ball!

Melinda said...

There is a science to keeping organized and I have yet to excell in it. Some days I'm better at than others.
You've done well.

Melinda

Chad, Linds and the Twins said...

Oh Aunt Judy, if only my jewelery could be that organized! Could you come to my home next??? You have inspired me as always! I am going to try and make your yummy mushroom soup this weekend! Can't wait to try it, it looks delicious!!! Love you, Linds

Lauren said...

Hi Judy!
I CANNOT believe you use egg cartons for organizing your jewelry...I just started doing this a couple months ago...and it is such a great thing, I was thinking of adding it to my blog too!! hahah.. you beat me to it! Isn't it GREAT?

Also, your lily of the valley picture is great...those were my Grammy's favorite flowers too. I can't see them and not think of her too. Even though we're not in touch as much...we are still somewhat of kindred spirits I guess.

Hope you are well.

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