Getting Organized with Spicy Shelf – Review & Giveaway

Spicy Shelf Review and GiveawayI like to stay organized as much as possible.  I like to be able to open up a cabinet or drawer and see everything that is inside and have everything easily accessible.  And when someone asks where something is, I like to be able to tell them exactly where it is, without having to get up and without having to do a lot of shuffling in the cabinet.  Although my stuff is already pretty neat and orderly, I’ve been trying to do a little decluttering and reorganing this summer.  I got a little bit of help with this from the Spicy Shelf. [Read more…]

12 FREE Printable Blog Planners

12 Free Printable Blog Planners

A new year is the perfect time to set new goals and organize your life, including your blog work.  Today I have a collection of 12 FREE Printable Blog Planners.

In this collection of planners, there is a variety of fun colors, designs, and layouts.  And we only only have monthly and week planners and post planners, but there’s also pages for documenting your blog’s finances, goals, track stats, and make notes about sponsors and giveaways!

Check them out! And Happy Planning! [Read more…]

All You Magazine – Now at Winn Dixie! And a DIY Can Craft #LifeForLess #pmedia

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and All You, but all my opinions are my own. #lifeforless #pmedia http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

All You Magazine

Have you ever checked out All You Magazine?  It’s the perfect, all around magazine for homemakers.  It includes great recipes as well as articles and tips on smart shopping, crafts, decor, health & fitness, beauty, coupons & deals, and much more!

And now the magazine is available at your local Winn Dixie!  I recently went shopping at WinnDixie and picked up the latest issue of All You.  And I was excited to see everything inside.

I got a great recipe for a Southwestern Chicken-Pasta Bake, great housekeeping shortcuts, and coupons on my favorite items like M&Ms and Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice.

One thing, in particular, in the July issue that caught my eye was the magazine’s new column,  the Take this, make that Craft Challenge, in which two crafty bloggers compete to re-purpose an everyday object into a pretty home accent.  In this month’s issue, the challenge is to use an aluminum can to make something.  The catch?  You must complete the project in three steps or fewer AND spend less than $5.

Today I have my own craft project to share, inspired by this challenge and the featured projects from the magazine.

All You Can Craft

Both of the featured crafts were adorable! I was most inspired by a set of Small Storage Containers, made by Heather Mann of dollarstorecrafts.com.  For her project, she covered her cans in sisal rope.  Then covered a plastic lid with the same sisal rope and added a wooden knob.  Very cute and very shabby chic!

I decided  to decorate a can in similar fashion:

Can Craft

Here’s a list of the tools and materials:

  • Can
  • Ribbon ($2 for the spool)
  • One faux sunflower ($1 for a small bouquet)
  • Hot glue
  • Scissors
  • Wire cutters

Directions:  Wrap ribbon around can, using hot glue to secure it to the can as needed.  Then use wire cutters to flower from stem and spreading out the petals, hot glue it to the can.  Instant organizer!

Use this craft in a number of ways:

1. Store your office or craft supplies.

Pen Holder Craft

 

2.  For a utensil holder.

Utensil Holder Craft

 

3. Makeup or Bathroom organizer.

Makeup Holder Craft

Visit your local Winn Dixie today and pick up your copy of All You Magazine!

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6 Great Apps to Help You Get Your Home in Order

Calendar Pic

Do you constantly feel like you have too many jobs to do at home, and never enough time? Or are you in the midst of renovating your home or researching potential house and land packages, and feel overwhelmed by the amount of choices you need to make? Just remember — it is possible to take control of your household and “to-do” lists, with the help of the latest and greatest apps, designed to make a disorganised home a thing of the past. Whether you want to tick jobs off your list more quickly or find and sort information in a hurry, look no further than this list of six great organizational apps for a simpler home life, especially if you’re considering JMB house & land packages. [Read more…]

Storage Furniture for Bedroom Organization

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of decluttering and organizing in my house.  My house is smaller and doesn’t have a lot a of closet and storage space, so I have to use various pieces of storage furniture for my clothes and even my health and beauty appliances and supplies.

Archers has a great selection of furniture for every room in the house, including some great pieces that are great for storage. [Read more…]

My Blog Calendar and Tips to Organize Your Blog

Planner

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to become more organized and more efficient with my blog.  One way that I attempt to do this is with a planner.  Today I’m going to be sharing the planner that I use with you, along with some other tips to organize your blog.

For my blogging, I use a simple monthly/weekly calendar.  I’ve been using these since I was in college.  Last year I bought one from Blue Sky, and I really liked it, so I bought from the again this year.  The one that I bought is currently sold out, but they have similar planners in some really cute designs, and they have others sizes and formats available if you prefer.

2013 Calendar

My favorite thing about this type of planner is that it has a monthly calendar that you can lay out in front of you.  This is where I write out my blogging schedule for the month, as well as any important dates that I need to remember.

2013 Weekly Calendar

 

And then it also has week pages.  This comes in handy to jot down specific notes, make to do lists, or even to use as a mini journal.

And what I’ll usually do is make a tentative schedule on the monthly calendar. I say “tentative” because sometimes things happen to change my schedule: a review product comes earlier or later than expected, I get a paid post opportunity that pushes back something else I was planning, or I simply change my mind!

I know my blog sometimes seems completely random.  But it actually does have a bit of structure:

  • I post recipes at the beginning of the week, usually on Monday.
  • I do most reviews/giveaways on Tuesday, unless I’m double booked for the week or the sponsor requires a different date.
  • Wednesday is wide open. This Wednesday is an organizing post, but next week could be home decor, or a sponsored post.
  • On Thursday night my Friday Favorites party is posted. And sometimes earlier in the day, I may have something else, particularly if I didn’t get a chance to post on Wednesday.
  • And then the weekend is generally reserved for sponsored posts that might come up.

So as you can see it’s pretty flexible, but it still gives me that little bit of structure that I need to get things done and be half way organized.

You can also print out your own monthly calendars.  I shared some cute ones here the other day.  Or consider printing out of these blog planners.

Now for just a few more tips:

Outlook Calendar

Use online calendars.  My email service is Outlook/Windows Live (also known as Hotmail).  I add upcoming projects to my calendar, due dates for sponsored posts, as well as reminders to contact people.

I could seriously write an entire series of posts on how great the Outlook calendar is.  But for the purposes of this post, I will tell you that my favorite thing about it is that you can set up your calendar so that alerts come to your email, as well as your Iphone or other mobile device.  The alerts are great, because a calendar alone just sits there–if you don’t look at it, it is useless, but if something pops up in my email or chimes on my phone I will see it.  And that is what I need!

Keep a sponsor notebook.  Aside from any accounting that you may do on your computer or using paperwork, I suggest keeping a simple notebook for writing down your upcoming projects.  I just have basic 70 page notebook.  And I write the month at the top of the page, and as I get chosen for a campaign or contacted by a sponsor, I make a simple note, such as “T-shirts.com – Rev/Giveaway.”

This just serves as a list to-do list, and it helps to keep me on task  And I’ve even referred back to this list to help  me verify my Paypal transactions when I do my accounting.

Come up with a balanced routine.  I can’t really give advice on this because I struggle with this a lot!  I would love to be the person that writes at this time, and answers emails at this time, and always comments, and always tweets, etc. But I just haven’t got a system down for this yet.  Maybe it will happen this year!

One thing that I’m going to TRY and do is come up with a sort of  “check list” of things I need to do each week.  It would be similar to the printable blog planners, but it would mostly revolve around networking and other tasks and sometimes get thrown on the backburner.

I’m also using this article as an inspiration: 4 Steps to Better Blogging Time Mangement from Amy Lynn Andrews. (Love her!)

Do you have any tips for better blog organizing? Or tips on keeping a balanced routine?  If so, I’d love to hear them in the comments!

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I’m linking up at Tidy Mom and these parties.

Free Printable 2013 Calendars

For me, January is all about organizing and setting new goals for the year.  I like to re-access the things I did last year, see what went right and what went wrong.  Then I like to set goals for the new year.  And above all I see it as I time organize.  And by organize, I mean everything from coming up with an organized plan to meet my goals, to decluttering and re- organizing my kitchen cabinets, to getting a new calendar and planner for the year.  For today I’ve got 5 free printable 2013 calendars for you!  Just click the link below each one to get the full calendar and print it out.  These are great for your desk and fridge, and they’re also stylish and cute.  Hope you enjoy!

[Read more…]

Friday Favorites – Week 148 – Featuring Blog Planners

friday favorites
Happy New Year everyone! Friday Favorites is back after a little holiday break!  Today apart from linking up your current projects and recipes, I’d love to invite you to link up your favorite posts or favorite post round-ups of 2012.  I always enjoy looking back at everything I did over the course of the year.  It’s also fun to see which posts got the most hits, comments, etc!

I have to apologize that there are no features for today’s party.  After doing a little research, I learned that the latest version of WordPress is currently experiencing some problems; that is, it is deleting some script codes such as the Linky Tools code when you schedule your posts ahead of time.  For this reason, last week’s party didn’t not include the linky, and I was out all day and didn’t realize the mistake till it was too late.  Oops!

But to make it up for it, I’m re-sharing these fun, printable blog planners that I shared last year.  If you’re hope to get more organized with your blogging 2013, these will certainly help! [Read more…]

Poppin. $25 Gift Certificate Giveaway

Poppin

Although everyone is overwhelmed with the holidays right now, I can’t help but think ahead to organizing for next year! That’s why I am excited to bring you today’s giveaway, which can help you to get your home office stocked  up and organized. Poppin is an online office supply store that offers an array of bright, items that really pop, to get you working happy!

Poppin everything from gel pens and writing pads to binders, clipboards, scissors, and more, to help you to get to work in your home office or send you child back to school in style. [Read more…]

Office Organizing at World Market and the Gourmet Getaway Sweepstakes

As many of you know, I love a nicely organized room, and I love shopping for tools to help me get organized.  Today I’m sharing some things I recently found over at World Market that can help you to get your office, craft room, or homeschool organized!

 1. Jayden Metal Shelf Units  2. Tree-Free Magazine Holder  3. Suzani Padfolio

4. Owen Desk Cubby Natura  5. Madras Desk Accessories  6. Hayden Organize Baskets

[Read more…]