Organization: legos and playroom

If you know my boys, you know that they love Legos.  They will play with Legos for hours and hours.  And they have successfully strewn approximately 52,774 Legos throughout my house.  I often think to myself as I vacuum their rooms and the PlayRoom, "I just vacuumed up $43 in Legos."  Legos are a mess.  That was before the baby.  Now add a precocious 15 month old to the mix and the mess just got really messy. 

Last year when my friend Ang told me that she sorted all of her son's Legos by color, I thought she was nuts, as it turns out she's a genius.  I did delve into the sorting last year.  I took all of the Lego Minifigs out of the general population and put them in their own container.  This was no small task since Keith enjoys removing every removable piece of Lego guy possible (and some non-removable pieces too), tiny hands, guns, hair, etc.

All that to say, I conquered the Legos and their wicked step-brothers Coloring Chaos. 

This is only the tip of the crayon, paper, marker, etc iceberg.  And this is the tidy version.

Legos live here..... And 75 other places.

Going into this project I was pretty sure that I was going to have to purchase some kind of storage container.  I was initially considering the 5 gallon Home Depot bucket with the tool organizer for the coloring supplies.  But that's still $10 and I would probably need at least 2.  I also was thinking that I needed to buy more storage drawers.  That's when I realized that I have two additional sets of storage drawers that are currently being (ineffectively) used for coloring supplies.  So I dumped all of the coloring in one place and started sorting Legos by color.

The stacker/sorter thing to the left sorts Legos by size.  I used this to get my tiny pieces sorted and find all of the MiniFig parts.

Once I was done sorting I checked the inventory and was happy that I had enough room!  We have lots of Star Wars, so the biggest drawers are a Black/White/Gray and a Green/Brown.  I also have the teeny tiny pieces that my boys love playing with in two drawers, instructions and vehicles in seperate drawers.  The rest of the colors Red, Yellow/Orange, Blue and Pink/Purple all got small drawers.  The final drawer is a bigger drawer for Legos that "need to be sorted."

Red, Yellow/Orange, Blue, Pink/Purple, To Be Sorted

Instructions, Vehicles, Tiny Pieces (2), Green/Brown, Black/White/Gray

Next up: Coloring supplies.

After sorting Legos I realized that the Lego sorting boxes were perfect for crayons, markers, etc.  So I went through several bags and boxes of writing and coloring utensils.  I checked every pen and marker, tossed lame non-Crayola crayons, set broken crayons aside for crafting and sorted by type.  That included sorting the skinny crayons from the chunky crayons.

There it is!  I threw away the magazines in the magazine holders and put coloring books in one and workbooks in the other.

Then I found all of the wayward flashcards and put them in the former Minifig container.  Loose worksheets, math facts, hand-writing practice pages, and speech homework pages are in the white binder.  Clipboards, spiral notebooks are up there too. 

It took me all week.  Mostly because I had a little helper: Little Miss Can't Be Sleeping.  But it is so nice to be able to tidy the room quickly.  And to see the boys play with Legos that they didn't even know they had!  Total Cost $0

Organization: Crafts

My first task was to organize my crafts and the kids' crafts.  The challenge: space (we don't have much) and money (we don't have any).  I love all of the cool organization tricks on Pinterest but I no longer have the luxury of a walk-in closet for my crafts.  I have this:

My initial thought was to pull everything together.  Figure out what I had.  Try to figure out how to store it and eventually make it happen.  I figured I was in for the long haul because it would take some money to contain all of our crafting stuff.  I was wrong!  I made this happen in one day (the kids helped me finish after dinner) with no money. 

Here's the before:

Well now!  Aren't you the messy one!  Let's just close the door.  What's that?  You can't close the door? 

Remember last year I confessed that I have a lot of cleaning supplies?  Well I'm down to my last three bottles of Scrubbing Bubbles!

Here's how I usually craft.  Get an idea, purchase supplies, create craft (or not), throw leftovers on top of everything else, realize that I already owned everything I needed to craft, growl, REPEAT.

And here's the after:

This is my stuff AND the kids stuff!  I have a whole basket of assorted glue (what?).

PROBLEM #1 RIBBON
Dear Ribbons,
Stop jumping into my cart at Michael's.
Love,
Mama Lou

I bought these bins at Joann's a few years ago.  Good idea in theory but I'm too messy for this kind of thing to work.  So the bins graduated to craft storage and the ribbons went their own way....

My solution for my ribbons came from  craftystorage I kept the (surprising quantity of) unopened ribbons in one of my plastic boxes.  I wrapped the small cut pieces around clothespins. Then I unwrapped the already opened spools and rewrapped them around box tops.



 PROBLEM #2 ODDS AND ENDS
When I pulled everything out of the closet and added the kids' stuff I realized that I owned more do-dads than I knew (pompoms, googly eyes, grommets, glass beads, and on and on).  The clear jars of the inventory will help me see everything (although I will always be tempted to purchase googly eyes at Michael's).

I will finish the game room closet as I tackle Legos and crayons.  These two items (crayons and Legos) are attempting a whole house take-over.  I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!

In conclusion, the total cost of this project was $0.  I searched high and low for clear glass containers in my cabinets, cupboards and closets.  I mostly used old jam jars that were hanging out in 25 different places.  And  Kevin may or may not decide that he needs to start drinking his beer out of XXL beer steins (after 8 years).  At that point we will have to relocate the foamies and misc dollar store items. 

Happy New Year

Kevin and I came to the collective and shocking realization that this year (2012) Keith. starts. Kindergarten.  I've known that this was going to happen, I even have a countdown to Kinder ticker on my phone (236 Days 20 Hours 31 Minutes 50 Seconds).  But to really KNOW it and own it and say that it is this year.  Floored.  So, we'll file that under "Things I Can't Control."

So I am focusing instead on the things I can control.  First of which is the clutter in my house.  Last year at this time I was just trying to keep my head above water.  Now I can conquer this thing (with make-up on and everything).  Kevin is still working a ton of overtime so I feel challenged to keep up with his pace.  I have a class that I finish teaching early next week.  Then I have at least three weeks to take care of business before my next class starts.

Goals:

1. Organize the craft closet shelf
2. Organize Legos
3. Filing, scanning, filing, scanning
4. Organize kid crafts
5. Print photos, frame photos, hang photos, REPEAT
6. Find Keith's glasses
7. Taxes (yay.)

And I need to do a better job of keeping up with the housework.   I'll let you know how this all goes.

Skinny Letters Only

Last night I had a dream that I was back in the pool burning some KCals.  HA! Tonight I am eating m&ms and sitting on my backside.  I've got a problem.  I've been on a workout fast (as in the act of abstaining) since July and an eating splurge since October.  I long since passed the point of blaming my tight jeans on the dryer.

Welcome to the tail-end of my three-week cold.  Me and Mr. Chest Congestion are going to part ways this weekend come hell or high water.  We have to because I might have to buy new pants next week if I don't get moving. 

The good news, everything is in place for me to do what needs to be done.  The brand-new Wii Fit Plus my dad gave me, the freed jogging stroller that has been blocked by the old fridge for months, the now perfectly clean workout room (with mirrors!).  Oh and I found a new favorite Pandora station: ABBA (don't judge).   Two pant sizes.  That's what we need.  A little movement (with the aforementioned strategies) and a little Lindsay Diet and we are good to go.  And so I present you with: the lindsay diet (all skinny lowercase letters)

I don't know that there is a diet for people like me who live to eat. I do know that there is no MD out there who would endorse my eating habits.  This diet is whacked with a side of "heard that line before."  Do it, don't do it. We are all different, this is me, you have to be you. This is the true story of how I lost 4 pant sizes.

I'm going to use my skinny voice and pretend that I am actually implementing the lindsay diet.

1. I stop eating at least 3 hours before going to bed. My rule of thumb is that if I am hungry it must be time for bed. We eat dinner between 5:00 and 5:30 and I rarely eat after dinner is completed.  Generally bedtime is 10:00 pm.
   
2. Which brings me to the next rule, sleep is your friend.  I get 7-8 hours, it really does work.
   
3. No Diet Coke.  ever, well almost see #8.  I kicked my Diet Coke habit not so long ago. I went from two a day to none. Immediately dropped a size.
   
4. Portion control, read the labels. We used to cook a pound of spaghetti for the two of us. Now we divide half a pound between four of us.  I usually serve myself about the same size portion as the boys. 
   
5. If it isn't in the house it is a lot harder to indulge. For me this is mostly alcohol and cake.  I am SO guilty of buying ice cream and other things that don't call my name, torturing my husband or loving my husband? you be the judge.
   
6. During the week I drink my breakfast: it is called half and half in my coffee.  (that is a blog confession.  so embarrassing.)
   
7. And I am usually too busy (and/or stressed) to eat much for lunch.  When I do eat lunch it is after 1:30 which means 5:30 dinner comes way too early to consume thousands of calories.
   
8. I fully commit to indulging in food over the weekend and I never say never. I love Diet Coke, Bread and Butter, Red Wine, Red Meat, Pizza, Chocolate Cake, Mayo and Beer and BUTTER.
   
9. I have always been a 3-squares kind of gal. Now I embrace the snack.  A hundred calories at a time.
   
10. When in doubt I eat more vegetables.  I know, exciting.    It helps with #4.

That's it.  Time to get back on track.  You?

Living in the "BEFORE"

Do you remember that old HGTV show "Before and After"?  It was great.  The host had a mustache that could have had a show of its own.  That wasn't what we liked about the show (however amusing), we just liked to see the pay-off..... old and dingy turns new and fancy.  Maybe this is the same reason I like a good makeover movie (almost watched Devil Wears Prada last night!).....

If you spend any time at all (or perhaps hours on end whilst your husband is at work) on decorating blogs you have been exposed to plenty of "before and after" shots.  In fact one of my favorite sites is "Better After"  a blog devoted to all of the great Before and After stories in the blogging universe.  This is the kind of stuff that inspires me (and makes me feel kind of small and insignificant).

Here's the problem (you have to have a problem, it's part of telling a story): our house is a BIG, FAT before.  And not in a crazy tartan wallpaper, dark wood paneling, hunter green carpet kind of a way.  More in a beige on beige, blah tract home kind of a way.  I know, you had this problem too and you painted it.  Good for you.  My problem is bigGER.  There is not enough valspar to deal with this issue(z).

On Wednesday, we stripped Serenity of the Christmas Clutter (tree is still up, just bare and dry).  Yesterday we went to Home Goods (where I have been known to spend hours on end) to look for a new something for over the fireplace.  We didn't find anything that made us jump up and down so we left empty-handed.  This is quite mature of us since we have been known to grab whatever is available in the moment only to hate it a year later.

While we were in Home Goods we couldn't help but bemoan the amount of stuff we need to do to our house.    Let me tell you all about it.
OUR BEFORE
1) The Kitchen

2) The Family Room

3) The Dining Room

4) Keith's Room

5) Our Room

6) The Boys' Bathroom

I could go on but for the purposes of this post I will keep it at six.

And the AFTER.... TADA! crickets
I've got nothing.  Well, maybe nothing is an exaggeration.

I've got ideas. Because the ideas aren't hard, it's the execution of the ideas that I find so challenging.  I keep no less than five lists/compilations of my ideas.  Here's a peek at "Idea Box"

So this year we are going to do it, I have no money and no time but we are going to make it happen.  And "we" is me until June because Kevin is going to work on conquering his Masters (including a thesis!). Some of the major projects (Mr. Kitchen!  Floors, counters, remod.) will have to wait due to funding and time  but I'm going to spruce and organize and paint (grrr. I hate painting) as much as possible with the time and money I have.  I am going to be an after (in at least 6 rooms).  I will promise you that I will get distracted by a million other things that need to be spruced, organized, and painted.  I just figure that six specific project rooms in twelve months is possible, even on my schedule.

And I'm going to remember The Nester's famous advice “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful”.