Attention Cricut Users - This post is for YOU!!!!

Over the holiday season I heard from many excited family members and friends that Santa brought them their first cricut or a new and improved cricut. This made me want to share some things related to the cricut that might me of some use to new or seasoned cricut users. 

As some of you know I did A LOT of crafting for this year's holiday gifts. I used my cricut non-stop for months. Now that I'm giving my cricut a rest I have been putting things away in my craft room. If you've even visited my craft room you know that everything has a place. Well my cricut mats had a stupid place. I needed to find a better one. And although they were still sticky and usable the clear covers didn't always want to stay on. Oh yeah... and the 12x24 mats?? Big pain... literally.... they were too big to fit in most logical storage places. So, for the time being, they just laid on my desk. My husband gave me a gift card for Lowes for Christmas so that he could build me shelves in my craft room for my nick-knacks. Well within a day I gave him that card back to go get the supplies. The shelves were up in a few hours and I was in there filling them up. As I was organizing my shelves those mats were laying on my desk taunting me, "you have no place for us, you aren't a master organizer, are you?" and then it hit me .... a 3M hook!!! Super quick to put up on the wall next to my desk and every mat has a hook hole. BAM!!!! Jessie - 1, Cricut mats - 0!!!!

Next is how to organize your cartridges. There are a few different options out there. I'm just going to share with you what I decided to do. I took all of my cartridges and handbooks out of the boxes. For some reason I couldn't throw the boxes away so I packed them all up in a box, labeled it, and sent it to the garage. I choose to use the cricut binders (see below). They can be found at Walmart, Michaels, or online. They sell for between $20-$25 (any higher is too much). I had my cartridges in there in no particular order and got frustrated going through 3 binders trying to find the cartridge I wanted to use. And although this is my favorite cartridge storage option, while the cartridges are in the pockets it is difficult to read the title. So I took them all out, organized them alphabetically, and typed them into a Word document table. On the pockets I used a silver sharpie to number the pockets.

Now, when I want a cartridge I look in my scrapbook binder and see what number it is and what binder it's in. This saves A LOT of time. When I get a new cartridge I'll just add it to the end of the list. If I get a bunch of new ones I may reorganize. 

So a little tid-bit about the handbooks.... at least one third of the book is some other language - pull that shit out and trash it... it isn't needed (unless you speak that language hehe). This will thin out your books and they won't take up as much room in the binder or where ever you decide to keep them.

Earlier I mentioned that my list of cartridges can be found in my scrapbook binder. This binder also holds idea pages, a list of what stickles bottles I have, my checklist of "items to take" so I don't forget something important on a scrapbook weekend away (I have forgotten REALLY important items - prompting me to make a checklist - I'll share the binder in another post). Anyway .... another thing in my binder is a sheet for each cartridge I own. I googled the cartridge in the image section, saved the images, and made a word document (shown below). This always me to flip through to search for an image. 

Cricut tools - so when your mats aren't super sticky anymore and you don't have a fancy cricut scraper you can use a Pampered Chef stone scraper. Works perfectly to make sure your paper to firmly stuck to the mat. 

Last cricut thing I wanna share is the cricut subscription. Cricut.com offers a subscription option. If you use cricut craftroom online (which is free... if you have a cricut you definitely need to use craftroom) you can get access to 25,000 images and 700 fonts for $10/month or $100/year. I purchased the year and LOVE it. You can print out a list of the cartridges offered (see below) and you have unlimited access to those cartridges (while using craftroom online). My next goal is to go through the 4 pages of what is offered with the subscription and highlight which ones I have and which are my favs. So you might be thinking, well I don't have the handbooks so that might be a pain ... I agree but there is a lady that has downloaded almost every handbook. I have her blog tagged as one of my favorites so I go there anytime I use a cartridge from the subscription. I love it because I might wanna cut out a puppy dog for a card but not want all the other images so I don't wanna buy the whole cartridge. Here is the link to the blog with the handbooks --http://jillienedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/09/links-to-cricut-handbooks.html

I'm not a cricut pro but I use mine a lot. If you have any questions - feel free to comment on this post. I 

  

Ways to tackle the most disastrous spaces!

Recently I've been talking to people who just feel so overwhelmed with rooms in their house that they feel like there is no way to clean or organize. And, let's be honest, it usually isn't that we CAN'T but more that we don't think we have the time or energy. Pre-baby I could spend an entire day organizing an area and sometimes drink a monster so I could continue into the night. Well those days are few and far between if not completely over. Work, children, sleep, sanity - they all jump in front of large organizing projects. However, the truth is, once we get it organized and cleaned we feel soooo much better and it is usually much easier to keep it in order. 

Anyone have a room or area that looks like this? or you feel like it looks like this?

Ok so maybe your disaster area isn't this bad (or maybe it is .... we don't judge) .... and the thought of cleaning this makes you cry, close the door and walk away .... how do you clean it? Well many people will say "if you get rid of a lot of stuff it will be easy to keep the space clean" and yes, this is true. Less stuff equals less mess or shorter clean up time. But you have the right to keep as much as you want and still have a clean space. 

I'm sure by this point you are saying "ok Jessie, are ya gonna give me some ideas?". Why yes I am... right now. Get some boxes, crates, or laundry baskets and trash bags. I prefer to have a large trash can with a sturdy bag when I tackle a large project. Recently I needed to tackle my garage. Since I took a leave of absence from my teaching job due to the birth of my son I needed to bring home all my school stuff (completely unorganized and thrown in boxes) and I threw it all in my garage along with everything else I wanted to keep but didn't have time to organize in the house. I invited over a friend to play with my little man and keep me company. I proceeded to go through all my boxes. I trashed things that were trash or things I DID NOT need to keep and were not thrift store worthy. I also had two large boxes labeled keep and give away. The important part about this is the "keep" box. I threw everything in this box that I wanted to keep. Some things I knew exactly where in the house they go and some had no home yet. Below is my "keep" box. 

The point of this "junk" box is to save time. Do I know where that tupperware goes? Yup, the kitchen. Where that cute little chick goes? Yup, the toy box. But instead of stopping a million times and walking that item to it's home over over the house I just throw it in the box. I maximized my "child help" time for the sorting in the garage. Now, this box is in my utility room. Each day, when I have 5 minutes (which with kids or busy jobs this is usually the extent of your free time - tiny chunks) I go to the box and grab a few things and put them away. I don't tell myself "put everything away in one sitting" .... that is time consuming and nuts. But I have a clean garage and will empty this box a little at a time. 

I use this strategy for other messy rooms of my house and have used it in kids' rooms when I've organized other friends' homes. This works when cleaning out pantries and linen closests. I pull everything out and throw it (nicely) into a box. This gives me a clean closet, bedroom, desk, pantry, etc. Sometimes that is all I have time for. But it feels great looking at the space and seeing it all clean and empty. Then, the next time I have 10 minutes I put a few things back where they are supposed to go. Little by little I empty the box. This is NOT a good strategy for cleaning out your fridge... hahaha... hopefully you aren't asking why? When a huge project is broken up into small junks it is much more manageable. 

The box is the key. Of course you can pull everything out and put it on the floor or table but we usually find ourselves being pulled into another direction once we've pulled everything out or you are simply too tired to continue. Having the "stuff" in a box or basket allows the area to look clean even though you have lots to still do. It also allows you room to clean. Think of cleaning a shelf of knick-knacks. What's the best way to clean it? Take everything off, clean the space and then put the things back. One extra benefit of the "pulling it all out" strategy is that sometimes you realize that it doesn't all fit back in nicely and then you have to decide - do you REALLY wanna keep it or can it go?!? Best way to downsize. 

Works with kids toys as well. Load all of the toys in a box or boxes, clean the play area and put back the most favorite toys. When you see that you still have a huge box of toys but no organized room then get rid of some. Kids will play with 1,000 toys but will be just as happy with 50 .... my son is only 4 months but I'm sure that statement is true. Less stuff, easier clean up. I LOVE the pop up baskets from IKEA for toys and easy clean up. No labeled boxes for perfect organization - you just throw it all in the basket and on goes the lid. Definitely something toddlers and kids can help with. 

As I was online grabbing a few photos for this post I came across this book cover. Anyone read this books as a child? 

This was probably when I first felt my OCD urges. I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED this book as a child. My absolute favorite part was the last page...

Those boxes excite me!!!! Every one labeled and everything has a place... bahahahahahaha

Labels... Labels... EVERYWHERE!!

As most of you know I love to label EVERYTHING. When it comes to buying labels you usually have 2 options. Option #1 = good quality. For good quality I usually go for Avery labels but those are expensive. Option #2 = cheap. For cheap you usually get thin labels that peel off easy. In my classroom I had a lot of use for different sizes of labels but didn't want to spend a fortune. After a lot of online searching I came across a site that sold labels at unbeatable prices. However, in my experience low prices meant low quality labels. This is site was awesome because the shipping was FREE .... yup FREE and there was no minimum purchase. You could buy 1 or 10 boxes and the shipping was free. To give you an idea of the cost savings for a box of Avery address labels you are looking about about $25 for 100 sheets. At compulabel you can get the same amount for about $14!!! The site is freeshipping.compulabel.com . If you just google complulabel the first site you come to isn't one you can order from. Most of the boxes tell you what Avery number it is compared to so when you are creating your labels in Microsoft Word you use the Avery number. Below is a sheet that I made with all the label sizes I have from compulabel and the corresponding Avery number.

I use labels all over my house and in my classroom. Here are 2 places in my pantries.

I find pictures using google images and save them to my "My Pictures" and import them when creating my labels in Microsoft Word.

When it comes to using labels you need containers to use the labels on. My favorite containers to use in my house are Sterilite drawers from walmart. You can buy them at Walmart but they don't always the variety in stock. You can buy them at walmart.com in lots of 3 to 6 depending on the size. Here are the different sizes they come in.

Above are the 5 different sizes. Prices vary by size and quantity. I use these in my pantry, under my sinks, in my closets, in my craft room, nursery... well actually EVERYWHERE!!!

Finding that PERFECT shade

I've been doing a lot of crafting lately. Between working on friends' baby book pages and and starting my maternity and Landon's book, I've been using a lot of paper. I am sure that I am not the only one that believes that "any shade of blue will due" is complete crap. There is nothing more frustrating than working on a paper craft (scrapbooking, card making, etc.) and not having the right color or, worse yet, only having one when you need two sheets. As many of you know I have decided to take a Leave of Absence with my job as a teacher to stay home with my new sweet bundle of joy. Bonus ... more craft time .... downfall ... my income stopped. So I decided to take what was left in my craft account and stock up on PAPER .... solid color, every shade, many sheets of PAPER!! The problem is that when I live there is a Michaels and a Joanns. These 2 stores are great for the basics but only provide multi packs of basic colors. Recently I scored at Hobby Lobby and online. Before I left for North Carolina my sister suggested I look at www.thepapermillstore.com. I was overwhelmed with paper options but was able to narrow in on what I was hoping was basic 12x12 scrapbook paper. There were a million options but I settled on 12x12 paper made by ColorMates and called "Smooth and Silky". The paper I chose was between 80 and 90lbs. Each pack contained 25 sheets for $7.47. This was the cheapest I've seen. When I returned from vacation there it was on my doorstep and I was EXCITED and a little nervous it wasn't going to be what I wanted. To my surprise it was EXACTLY what I wanted. 

The other place I LOVE to get beautiful shades of 12x12 paper is Hobby Lobby. The closest one to me is 1.5 hours away so when I go it is a planned trip. HL ALWAYS has great sales but the last few times I went their paper wasn't on sale. While in North Carolina I discovered there was a HL close to our beach house AND ..... drum roll please ...... their paper was 50% off .... SUPER SCORE ..... They have the most beautiful shades of every color. I pulled 10 sheets of each color and hauled it to the front. I felt bad for anyone who got in line behind me ... they quickly moved to another line. The cashier stated "I have to count each sheet because of the cameras" and then promptly said "how many of each sheet did you get?" ... hahaha .... In the end my receipt, that showed every single sheet of paper individually on its own individual line, was as tall as me and printed on both sides. The cashier said she had never seen a receipt that long. Me either!

Bye-bye craft account .... hello not needing to go to the store for anything craft related for A LONG time. My other pet peeve is the moment you are working on a project and realize you only need a small piece of a specific color but either don't have a full sheet of it or you really don't wanna waste a full 12x12 sheet for one small piece. I keep all my scraps for this very reason. However, my scraps didn't get used when they were all mixed together. One night I decided to organize them. I bought 12x12 folders at Michaels and sorted the paper by colors. Some colors like orange and yellow went in the same folder. These scraps have been used and have saved me from having to use the expensive full sheets. It's all about saving those pennies!!!

Great way to organize your week and plan your dinners!

It's Tuesday again and I have something awesome to share. Do you ever wake up and say to yourself "today I need to ..." and then they day ends and you wake up the next morning and say they same thing again about the same task? I know I do. We have great intentions to get things done but get overloaded with the amount of things to get done and we usually end up doing less than we wanted. I work best with lists so I created a weekly task manager chart (it would work for a child's task chart too). I've taken all the major tasks that I need to get done... or have high hopes of getting done ... and broken them up over the week. Some are my tasks and some are my husbands. And let's be honest... not everything gets done BUT I can say since I've implemented this (2 weeks ago) I've been pretty darn successful. An even bigger bonus is that my husband checks the chart as well and asks what hasn't gotten done and helps.... yes, I have an AMAZING hubby! You wouldn't think you needed to schedule things like checking the mail but damned if I don't forget EVERY day to do it and a week or two will go by and then it is SUPER full!!! If you are interested in making one yourself email me for my template .. jessie.hood.3@gmail.com. Or I will make you one and laminate it for $5.00. Just email me what you want on each day. I use WET erase markers over dry erase markers because they have a finer tip making it easier to erase. 

The next project I just completed was a weekly dinner planner. I made a list of dinners I typically make or would like to make. Then I added things like "Lance's Choice", "Pinterest", "leftovers", etc. I bought this magnetic weekly calender from Bed, Bath, & Beyond (about $10 - and you can use a coupon) that also had a cork board on the bottom. I created a template in word with squares of all of the meal ideas. I then printed, cut out, laminated and attached magnets to the back (magnets 52 for about $6 at walmart). I bought a square magnet board to put above the weekly calendar to hold all the meal ideas. On Sunday I plan out the meals for the week. If there is something I wanna do that I don't have a card there are blank ones you can write on. For tonight's dinner, Tuesday, you can see we had a Pot Roast. This was a new recipe for me and one that I got from Pinterest. So on sunday, when I was planning my meals I chose the "Pinterest" card because I knew Tuesday was going to be a meal I got off pinterest. Then, when I decided what I wanted to make I switched the cards. On the bottom where the cork board is I pin my fast food / restaurant coupons, restuarant.com discounts, and I clip up my gift cards too. Yes, keeping those in your wallet are handy but this way when I'm planning meals I might decide we are going out one night if we have a coupon or gift card. Modified - you could make this on a cork board with push pins. Once again, if you wanna do this for yourself email me for the template. If you want me to make the cards for you I will and laminate them for $15. If you want the magnets on the back it will be $20. You just need to email me a list of dinners you'd like. 





















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What is this blog all about??

Two years ago I decided to start a crafting and organizing blog. I posted a few times but didn't keep up with it. This time will be different! I have so many ideas and crafts that I want to share with my friends, family and the world! While googling the internet, looking for my old blog, I came across a video called "Most Organized Home in America". Naturally, I couldn't wait to watch it. This woman has a small space that she has organized in an awesome way. Even more cool .... well to me anyway .... is that 80% of her organizing ideas are ones that I have already done in my home ... so you could say that I have one of the most organized homes in America.Check out her video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoC83JhkCAw

Lastly, this blog is meant to be an avenue for me to share my ideas. Please don't expect me to be witty or grammatically correct ... lol ... I'm a math teacher ;-)