What To Do With All of Those Quotes From Pinterest

Like millions of people across the globe, I love Pinterest. My love is simple. I'm a very visual person so I see, I like, I pin. This formula works tremendously well for me. Unfortunately, I use the same methodology for online shopping and as you can imagine, that's no bueno. But I digress...

In my time as a pinner, I've amassed quite the collection of quote images. Some for fitness motivation, some aspirational, some funny. Over time, I've dove into my boards to see the clever words but for the most part, once pinned, they are quickly forgotten. The true tragedy of this is I actually really love most of these quote images. They are beautifully styled. For a while, I've been looking for a way to bring these quotes more to the forefront of my life. Being a crafter, one would imagine I would print them out and have them in a clever display in my home. Unfortunately, my tastes change too frequently to commit to a certain set and by printing I'm limited to the number of images I can see.

On a typical Sunday morning, a brilliant idea occurred to me. Sunday mornings are my time for laundry and cleaning. I turn the music up and go putt around my home.  My AppleTV is always the source of my music - not only for Sundays, but for every day. Until this point, my screensaver was a system standard of floral images and I was curious if I could load my own images into the screensaver. You can do it on a laptop, why not AppleTV? Turns out you can! Thus, a dream was born!

The process is really very simple. On any Apple device (MacBook, iPad, iPhone), download the images from Pinterest into your iPhoto library. I found this part particularly fun because it felt like shopping, except I didn't have to spend any money and there wasn't any pesky buyer's remorse.

Next, create a new SHARED album. The "Shared" part is crucial. This won't work otherwise. On the iPhone and iPad, it's the middle navigation button within iPhoto with the Cloud. On MacBook, on the top navigation, select "Shared". Next, hit the "+", give it a name and start adding photos.

All set? Now, it's time to tell your AppleTV that you want to see that screensaver.

Here's your path...
Settings > Screen Saver > Photos > iCloud Photos > Select Album Name

You're all set! If your album is new, you'll need to give the iCloud time to catch up. My album ended up being about 60 pictures (can you imagine if I printed all of those?!) so it took about half an hour for the pictures to fully sync on all devices.

Play with your settings as well! I have my screensaver start after 5 minutes and have it set on "Flip-Up" style. But you do you!

Also, because I loved this idea so much, I added it as my laptop screensaver. To reset your laptop screensaver, here's your path...
System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver > Source (change to your album)

The best part of this is how easy it is to add to it. Next time I find a quote I love, I just add it to my Shared Album and boom! It syncs everywhere.

Now, these beautiful quotables are in my face, reminding me to be ambitious, get my butt moving and stay rad.

[Originally posted on JabberJawsBlog.com]

Put Together the Perfect Guest Basket

Every year, millions of people travel to the homes of family and friends for the holidays. While guests are just happy to be in the comforting presence of those close to them, there's always a little more you can do to make your guests feel at home. 

Put together a small guest basket of items your guest may need whether because they forget it or feel a little awkward asking for it, especially if it's needed in the middle of the night, like water or a snack. It's as easy as raiding the samples aisle of your local drug store or Target. For a mere $10-15 you can make your guests feel right at home.

Here's what to include:

1. Magazines or Reading Material

2. A Box of Kleenex

3. Bottle of Water and a Snack

4. Chapstick ... because who knows when you'll lose yours

5. Various Toiletries ... shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, etc

6. WiFi Password

7. Remote

8. Black Wash Cloth ... Why? If your guest is female, she will appreciate not ruining white or lightly colored face towels when taking off her makeup.  

 What other items would you include?

Portable Cross Stitch Storage

It's no secret that my favorite craft is cross stitching, which means I am constantly pulling out my supplies and putting them away. When I first started out, I kept all of my supplies in a sewing kit. Then it grew to a new home in a basket. But suddenly I had a mass of thread holders and fabric that was crowding my projects in the basket. 

The idea for what I affectionately call my Cross Stitch Closet came from necessity. I moved into a temporary living situation where 90% of my belongings were going into storage so craft supplies needed to be selected carefully and stored efficiently. 

It all started with a piece of luggage.

I have this carry-on rolling case that has {obviously} seen better days. The wheels don't work that well anymore and the outside is quite... quite dirty. However, being part of a set, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Thank goodness I didn't. Turns out, it's the best solution to store all of my cross stitching supplies!

In the outside pockets, I store my embroidery hoops and patterns I'm currently working on. Inside, everything else I could possibly need. 

The body of a carry-on case is the perfect size to stack thread holding containers. Amazingly enough, this case is just tall enough to perfectly hold standard size aida rolls. 

For all of my needles, scissors and other embroidery accessories, I use a simple plastic storage bin. 

My Cross Stitch Closet has been the ideal solution for storing and accessing my supplies. When I want to stitch, I simply roll out my luggage to wherever I will be working and unpack what I need. No running around from bin to basket to collect everything I need. When done, just repack and zip up! How easy is that?!

 I would love to know...

How do you store your craft supplies?

Honestly, You Don't Need That Stuff

In preparing for my move from Arizona to California, I became overwhelmed by the sheer volume of items I owned.  My closet was packed with clothing, shoes and bags.  I couldn't keep my jewelry contained to one organization system.  I had craft supplies everywhere - literally, everywhere: my craft storage cubes, the storage closet, my bedroom closet, my nightstand, in a bin next to my couch - everywhere.

Now, that's not to say I wasn't organized.  I could find everything I wanted in a snap.  Crafts were in nicely labeled bins. My clothes were hung via the visible spectrum. Jewelry was grouped together by type and style.

However, simply being clean and organized wasn't sufficient anymore.  I had to face the fact that I had too much stuff.

Thus began the Great Purge of 2015.  I call it that, but to be honest, it wasn't monumental.  I didn't put all of my stuff on Craiglist and start fresh like I was joining the Peace Corps or something.  Nor did I touch my two very full bookcases of books {psh, why would I do that?!}  Instead, I took a very practical approach to significantly reducing my items.  Here's how.

In the past, my approach to clearing out items has been answering the question "What don't I want anymore?"  This time, I flipped my approach on its head.  The question became:

What do I want to keep?

By asking a positive, permissive question, I was taking a more active role in the decision making process.  Previously, when I asked, "What don't I want anymore?" I was identifying what I was willing to give away and thus, being passive about everything else.  By asking "What do I want to keep?" I was actively identifying the items I wanted to keep in my life, pack and move.  Plus, it didn't feel like I was giving things up.  Basically, I was shopping my own stuff.  And it was amazing!

So, let's get real.  Are you ready for your own purge?  Let's get started.

Clothing
1.  Does it fit?  Does it reeeally fit?  Does it fit today?  Right now?  Be honest.  Would you wear it out in public feeling beautiful and comfortable?  No?  Toss it.  Stop holding onto clothes for "someday".  Chances are your tastes will change.
2.  If you haven't worn it in a year, toss it.  I don't care what it is and I don't care if it still fits.  You clearly don't like it that much if you haven't worn it in a year.
3.  Now, from what is left, what do you want to keep?  If you were shopping today, would you buy that item?  Put the keepers back in the closet/dresser.  Put everything else in a bag to donate.

Accessories
1.  Look at the quality of each accessory.  Is it slightly damaged?  Would you buy it in its current condition?  {Barring sentimentality, of course.}  No?  Get rid of it.
2.  Have you worn/used that accessory in the past 6 months?  If not, toss it.
3.  Now, again, from what is left, what do you want to keep?  If you were shopping today, would you buy that item?  Great!  Keep and donate accordingly.

Craft Supplies {This takes a few more steps.}
1.  Do you have materials designated for a specific project that you know you will complete within the next 3 months?  Yes?  Immediately put those aside.
2.  Are the materials expired?  Toss 'em.
3.  Chances are you have a bunch of leftover materials from previous projects.  Would it cost you more than $5 to replace those materials down the road?  No?  Put them in a donate pile.
4.  Did you buy that item because it was on clearance and you might use it someday?  There's that nasty word again.  If you don't have a project in mind, put it in the donate pile.
5.  Now go shopping!  What do you want to keep?  For me, it was mostly expensive crafting tools.  Everything else went in a donate pile.

Now, let's talk about donating.  Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, and Salvation Army are all great organizations to send items to -- however, the best place to send your craft supplies is to a school.  Many art teachers could use the supplies!  Contact your local school district to find out if you could donate to a program or, better yet, use your network.  Chances are you have a connection to a teacher through your Facebook friends.  Trust me, you'll feel much better handing off that huge box of supplies to kids.

Take a look at what you have left.  Isn't it refreshing?  All of the items you have now are there by permission, not passive acceptance.  Bravo!

Just...try not to go shopping to fill all of the space!  Enjoy it for at least a little while.

My {Organizing} Love Affair - Erin Condren Life Planners

I'm one of those people that, despite having an iPhone and an iPad, needs to write things down.  If I don't write it down, I will forget it.  I've accepted this as the way my brain works and have worked with it throughout the years by carting around a planner with me wherever I go.

The planners I have used have never quite gotten the job done.  I started in college with my academic planner, which good enough to make sure I didn't forget papers, tests or a work shift, but usually got too crowded and stressed me out.  To remedy that, I began using pens to color code, which worked for a while.  Then I started blogging, volunteering and trying to stay fit.  Suddenly, my needs were a little too big for these cookie-cutter pages.

I dabbled in creating my own planner pages, which worked for a while until I realized they were more work than they were worth.  I tried ordering printable pages from an Etsy shop, which were beautiful but only available in 8.5" x 11", meaning I had to carry around a full binder with me.

As you can probably tell from my rambling list, finding my organizational soul-sister has been frustrating.  Recently, I decided enough was enough.  I sat down to make a list of all my needs and wants from a planner.  I'm not kidding.  I made a planner wish list - then I went on a hunt to find my ideal solution.

I didn't have to look far.

I had heard a lot about Erin Condren Designs through friends' posts on social media.  They always boasted about their personalized (though slightly pricey) planners to get their life in order, posing with their beautiful little books and looking so excited.  A few clicks on the website and I understood why.

A planner designed by a creative person is the planner I need in my life.  The layout is fun but perfectly functional.  Also, it's compact at 7" x 9".  One look and I knew - we were destined to be together.

I got my planner a few weeks ago and I could not be happier.  I finally feel like I can have my work, personal and blog life all together without losing my mind and, even better, start chasing my goals.

Are you in love yet?  Explore your options at Erin Condren today!

 **This post is not sponsored and all statements are of my own opinion.  :)

Guest Post: Achieve Organization and Stay that Way!

With kids, work, and day to day activities, our lives can get absolutely chaotic. With so much going on it’s easy to see getting organized as a far off and distant dream. However, easy steps day by day can help you achieve an organized lifestyle that will last.

Determine Your Goals: The first step is to dream as large as you can. What would be your ultimate dream? Do you want a home that looks like a museum where everything has its place? Or is your goal to be able to cut down the clutter enough to be able to walk through the room? Whatever your goals, write them down.  

What’s realistic: Think about your schedule. What do you think is achievable? Understand that it is okay to ask for help. You don’t have to do everything yourself. Beside your goals, write down what you think would be achievable.

Cut the Clutter: The number one way to get and stay organized is to cut down on the amount of stuff that you have. There is no need to organize items that are rarely or never used. Consider donating, selling, or throwing these items away. You’ll feel amazing once you don’t have so much stuff to worry about.

Get Help: Today there are so many different forms of ways to get help getting organized. If looking help getting started, consider enlisting the help of a professional organizer. When this isn’t in your budget, consider getting the help of your children. Offer them a special prize for helping you clean or making it a game. Looking for little helpers day by day? Consider downloading an app that allows you to make to do lists like Remember the Milk. It allows you to make to do lists and even get reminders when something is due.

Start A Habit: Teach yourself and other members of your family to put things away immediately. This little trick will save you time and sanity. By following this tip you’ll  know where everything in your home is at all times.

Reward Yourself: Now that you’ve gotten organized and developed a habit to stay that way, it’s time for a reward. Whether it’s chocolate, a shopping trip, or a five minute break, do what makes you happy. With this positive reinforcement you’ll be more likely to want to get more organized in the future.

Remember, getting organized doesn’t happen all at once. It is a day by day trial. However, by following the tips above it can be a little easier process.

***********************************

Author: Stephanie Hanson of Monkey Bar Storage

#CreativeCubbyTop10 of 2013

2013 was a big year in our family.  We sold our house.  Lived with my in-laws for 5 months.  I changed {real person} jobs.  Built a new house.  Moved into said new house.  Spent countless hours painting and decorating the new house.  And didn't have nearly enough time to be as crafty as I wanted to.  However, y'all stuck with me and made this a big year for me.

So, what were your favorite projects?  See them below!

#10 Ultimate Drain Cleaner

#9 IKEA Expedit Media Center Makeover

#8 Egg Carton Bird Feeder

#7 DIY Cabinet Makeover Round-Up

 #6 Preparing a House to Sell Checklist

#5 Popsicle Stick Bird Feeder

#4 How to Freeze Avocados

#3 Free Printable Moving Labels

#2 Tips for Staging a House to Sell

#1 DIY Gel Stain Cabinet Makeover

Thank you, Cubbies, for making 2013 a wonderful year for me.

Stay tuned in 2014 for more ideas and inspiration!

Tips for Moving In - Stress Free!

Well, we're all moved in to our new place!  What a whirlwind!  I cannot believe that only 6 months ago we listed our house for sale and started this transition.  Suddenly the house was sold, packed and no longer ours.  We found ourselves living at my in-laws {who we could never thank enough} slowly watching our house being built.  And here we are!

I previously shared with you how to prepare your house to sell, stage your house to sell and free printable moving labels to make the moving process easier.  So, I figured I should take you through the whole process.  Here's how we moved into our new house - stress free!

Preparations

Tip #1:  Create a Schedule and Budget.  This was especially important for us because we were moving items from two storage units and my in-law's house.  Know how much money you will need for the day - especially if hiring a moving company, renting a truck or feeding your moving crew {friends and family}.  Include security deposits for utilities in your budget as well.  Know who is going where in what vehicle to get items.  Extend the schedule past "Moving Day" to cover the order in which you want to unpack the house - which rooms get top priority and who will unpack them.

If you can, plan to paint ahead of time.  Moving into a brand-spanking-new house, we had a lot of work to do before moving in.  We wanted to paint every room and install ceiling fans.  If you have the luxury, do this before moving day.  It will eliminate any delays in unpacking and settling in.

I like using excel to plan and budget.  You can download my Moving excel here.  This is a very bare bones version, but it should help kick-start your planning.

Tip #2:  Don't be a tightwad - turn on your utilities BEFORE moving in.  Yes, I have helped someone move before that didn't turn on their utilities ahead of time - which is pretty much the meanest thing you can do to people helping you move in July... in Arizona.  Yes, you will have to pay a lot to run the a/c that day, but it's one day.  Get over it.

Tip #3:  Pack a First Night Bag.  Toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo, soap, clean clothes, clean towels, you get the idea.  Pack as if you're going on vacation to a cheap hotel with zero amenities... or camping.

Tip #4:  Drink plenty of water, eat well, and get lots of sleep the night before.  You don't want to be grumpy, dehydrated or hangry on moving day.


Moving Day

Tip #5:  Hire the Best Moving Crew in Town - Your Friends and Family.  I know a lot of people choose to hire moving companies to pack and deliver their items, but I love being surrounded by family and friends in a new place.  It's personal and fulfilling.  Just make sure to feed them good food and have plenty of their favorite beverages on hand.

Tip #6: Label Your Rooms.  Pick up some scrapbooking paper in various colors to match your moving labels.  Hang the paper on the door or walls of that specific room.  I chose to also make arrows to guide exactly where I want the boxes to be stacked to avoid having to move them later.  For instance, I wanted the boxes of books to be stacked on the opposite side of the room from where the bookshelves would be placed.  The boxes were already be out of the way and I was able to unpack from their location instead of pushing boxes around the room.

Tip #7: Make Your Bed.   Once the bed is installed, immediately make the bed.  Don't wait until the end of the day - you won't have the patience or the energy.  Having a pre-made bed to crash into will make the end of the long, hard day that much sweeter.

Settling In

Tip #8:  Stick to Your Schedule.  It can be tempting to just shove packed boxes to the corner of the garage and say, "I'll do it later", but do you really want to live around boxes for the next few months?  AND if you can afford to not unpack those boxes, why do you even have that stuff?  Stick to the schedule.... and...

Tip #9:  Unpack Every Box.  This is especially important when using a moving company to ensure nothing is broken.  However, unpacking every box is a great way to do a second purge of your items.  When we packed up our house, we took three full loads of unwanted stuff to Goodwill.  When we unpacked, we took an additional two loads.  A new house may bring items into a new light, good and bad.  Purge the stuff you don't want or won't need anymore.

If you're like me, you probably have stuff you just want to keep for nostalgic reasons.  If so, then be honest.  Create {one} box and fill it with those items - mark it "Keepsakes", put it on a shelf.  Having items all over your house in various nooks and crannies that you're saving for memory sake only creates clutter.  Give it a home in a box and then you'll always know where it is.

Tip #10:  Unpack the Kitchen - The Sane Way.  Post-Its are your best friend when unpacking the kitchen.  Mark the contents of each cabinet and drawer on a sticky note and leave on the cabinets/drawers for the first week of living in your new home.  You and your family will quickly become acquainted with the new layout and it will save you from the constant, "MOOOOM!  Where are the cups?!"

Final Tip:  Send Thank You's.  To your real estate agent, to your friends and family, to your temporary landlords {thanks again, mom and dad!}

We're very excited to be in our new place and the many adventures it will bring.

Stay tuned for more projects and chaos - Creative Cubby style. 

Car Documents Organizer

Few things irritate me like a messy glove compartment.  Yes, I know it remains closed the entire time and I know I shouldn't really be going into it unless I need maintenance on my car, have an accident, or violate the law {shame shame}...so... not often.  However, I can't stand when the documents are all over the place.  Honestly though, what happens if I do find myself in one of those situations and don't know where my stuff is?!  I'd be a mess!  Ugh!

The solution: Car Organizer!

 Truly a simple and easy solution to make sure everything is where it should be.  Grab a coupon organizer {available at any dollar store or office supply section of stores} and label.

My labels are:
"Reg" for Registration
"Ins" for Insurance
"Main" for Maintenance
"XM" for my Sirius/XM channel guide
"Info" for Various Car Records

I also keep my coupons for car washes and maintenance right up in front so I don't forget them at home.  Very helpful, very orderly, very easy!

Ta-da!

Kitchen Organization Planning

The real title of this post should be:

"The True Neuroticism of Jen"

However, I didn't want to scare you away from the offset so there you have it.  We're creeping up on our close date for our new build house but we're kind of in a lull as far as things to do.  All of our items have been packed and in storage for months, so we can't keep busy by filling boxes.  So instead I've delved into the deep, dark world of my organizing neuroticism to find entertainment.

The great thing about this method of planning out your kitchen organization is it can be done even if you aren't moving.  If you would like to overhaul your kitchen, it's always best to plan - so this will work for you too.

Materials
Composition Notebook {or loose leaf paper... whatever}
Pen
Post-It/Sticky Notes
Scissors
Ruler {Optional.  I didn't use one but some people might}

The last time we visited the house we opened up all the doors of the cabinets to get a good idea of the layout.  Obviously, if you're overhauling your current kitchen, you'll have it right in front of you to plan.

I started by sketching out the entire kitchen.  Thank goodness I watched a ton of Blues Clues, otherwise I wouldn't know how to sketch out the basic shapes of items around the kitchen.  This is also an open-faced depiction of the cabinets, meaning if the doors and drawer fronts were pulled off - what would the cabinets look like.  Additionally, I denoted drawers by putting the dark triangle in the corner.

Next, I took some small Post-Its and cut them to size (keeping the sticky edge).  I listed out all the items I can recall being in my kitchen.  I know this will certainly grow and change along the way, so I made extras and kept them in my notebook for those future edits.  

Finally, I placed them.  I moved them around in the process and I'm sure I will continue to move them, but this has really helped me get my head around what I want my kitchen to look like.  Even better, it has truly opened my eyes to how much more storage we will have compared to the old house.

 An alternative to this if you are overhauling a kitchen in your house is to simply write your items on big Post-It notes and stick them on the doors and drawers.  Much easier than drawing a picture - but I'm biased towards practicing your Pictionary skills.

Happy Organizing!