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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 9: Make a Portable Homework Box

by leanneja on October 9, 2013

Welcome to Day 9 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.

Sometimes my kids like to do homework in different places; out on the lawn, in the car on the way to an activity, or even just in another room. This homework box is the perfect solution to having everything organized and ready when they are.

And it’s made from things I had around the house. The dish carrier can be picked up from Ikea for free and you can actually use anything you like to cover it. I used a map I found in the garage.

I traced around the carrier on the back of the map then cut out all the traced pieces and attached them to the carrier using mod podge.

I made the side pieces an inch taller all the way around so I could wrap it around the top of the box and attach it on the inside of the carrier. Just cut a slit in the map on the corner of the carrier to be able to fold it over.

Once the carrier was finished it was time to add the supplies. I used Crystal Light containers to keep the smaller supplies organized.

These small stickers are perfect to label the tops of the containers with the contents that are inside.

I added more supplies to the other side of the carrier: a clipboard, lined paper, colored paper, notebook, index cards, stapler, ruler and calculator. Now it’s ready for the kids.

This project was originally posted August 2012.

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: More Organizing Ideas Using Crystal Light Containers

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 8: Organizing with Egg Cartons

by leanneja on October 8, 2013

Welcome to Days 8 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.

Egg cartons are perfect for organizing small items. They also come in a few different sizes so they can fit in different spaces in all rooms of your home.

I found these ceramic egg cartons about 6 years ago for only $3 each, but regular egg cartons would work just as well. Spray paint them a glossy white and you can get this same look. I have a few of them in my bathroom for rings, bracelets, and earrings.

This one is in my craft room to hold small trinkets and jewelry items. It looks great sitting out in the open full of pretty little baubles.

Cut the top off the egg carton and tuck it in a desk drawer to hold small office supplies and keep them organized.

My kids like to use them for collections. They can fill them with their small treasures and still keep them separated.

Here are a few more ideas for organizing with egg cartons:

This Old House

Hostess with the Mostess

Kawaii Fabric

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BHG.com

So don’t throw those egg cartons away. I’m sure you have some small items that need organized.

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: Homework Box Using Recycled Items

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 7: More Organizing With Jars

by leanneja on October 7, 2013

Welcome to Day 7 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.

This is our last day of sharing organizing ideas using jars. I had a few more ideas I wanted to share with you before we move onto more organizing ideas.

This basket in my laundry room holds jars full of clothespins, laundry soap, and dryer sheets. It sits on the dryer so I have easy access to everything, plus I love how it looks.

Here are a few more ideas for organizing with jars:

Tip Junkie

2 Little Hooligans

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Polkadot Poplars

Are you ready to get organized with glass jars? Where have you used jars to get organized in your home? Leave a link in the comments if you want to share.

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: Egg Cartons

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 6: Helping Your Kids Organize With Jars

by leanneja on October 6, 2013

Welcome to Day 6 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.

Let me start with a disclaimer: I don’t recommend using glass jars in kids room unless they are over a certain age and you feel it’s not a safety hazard. My youngest is 10 years old so I feel comfortable with him using glass jars as storage.

He uses them to hold everything from erasers to marbles. They look great stacked on the dresser or can be tucked away in a tote but still keep everything organized.

Little jelly jars are perfect for Lego people and other small pieces your kiddo doesn’t want to get lost in the sea of Legos.

Jars are also perfect to hold all their little collections: shells, rocks, arrowheads, coins, stamps, etc.

Here are a few more ideas for helping your kids get organized with jars:

Small jars seem to be the favorite for kids things so grab some baby food or small jelly jars and let your kids fill them with their treasures.

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: More Organizing With Jars

P.S. This will be the last day of organizing with jars.

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 5: Jars in the Office

by leanneja on October 5, 2013

Welcome to Day 5 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have .

I’m so happy you’re here, especially on the weekend. I promise this will be a quick one. We only have 2 more days left of jars and then we’ll be moving on to other useful organizing items. Jars are perfect for the desk top or on a shelf in the office. Because they’re clear, they minimize the look of clutter.

I love jars that are a little different and have some texture to them, like the one holding my pens. When I received the jelly from a friend I couldn’t wait to eat it all so I could use the jar.

You don’t have to have boring jars. It’s easy to add a little color and bling to any jar by adding glitter to the lid and ring. I’ll have a quick tutorial at the end of this post.

I also added glitter to Emilee’s jar rings. You could also add color by using ribbon, washi tape, yarn or baker’s twine. I love these little jelly jars.

The lids and rings don’t have to all match if you’re going to paint or cover them in glitter.

I glittered the ring in sections. Brush the top of the ring with mod podge then sprinkle glitter over top. Shake off the excess glitter. Do the same with the lid.

Brush mod podge on one half of the ring and sprinkle with glitter then do the same with the other side. If you try to do it all at one time it tends to dry too fast and you don’t get very good coverage. Do this over wax paper so you can put the glitter back in a bag or small container. Glitter goes a long way.

What could be better than glass and glitter?

Here are a few more ideas for organizing with jars in the office:

Think Shabby

Be Different Act Normal

Homestead Revival

Design Happens

Grab a jar or two and get your desk or office area organized. The really small canning or baby food jars work perfect for small supplies like paper clips, rubber bands, push pins, staples, etc.

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: Jars for Kids

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 4: Jars in the Kitchen

by leanneja on October 4, 2013

Welcome to Day 4 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.

I promise this whole organizing series is not going to be about using glass jars but there are so many organizing options using them that I just have to share these great ideas. Today I’m going to be sharing ways to use them in the kitchen.

My pantry is small and I don’t have extra storage in this house so sometimes it’s just easier to display the things you use often. Like I said before, everything looks awesome under glass, even beans and rice on my kitchen counter.

I have an issue with storing things in the bags they come in. They usually don’t stay closed, make a mess and don’t stay fresh. It’s so much easier to pour it in a jar and keep it contained. You can also stack them if you need too.

I added chalkboard labels to the jars so I can change them if the contents change. Why is the candy jar the one that’s always empty? I think I need a hidden stash.

Contain your cooking utensils in jars next to the stove.

Have a jar of homemade hand scrub next to the sink for a quick clean-up after gardening or working on the car.

Make an awesome soap dispenser out of a mason jar. Check out how I made it in this post.

Here are a few more ideas for organizing with jars in the kitchen:

The Waterfalls

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Home Made Happy

Save those empty jars and use them back in the kitchen to organize baking and cooking supplies.

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: Jars in the Office

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Vegetable Chicken Quinoa Soup – Food Contributor

by leanneja on October 3, 2013

I always look forward to Melissa’s delicious recipes. Today she is sharing with us a soup perfect for the cooler months ahead. It’s also gluten-free, which is perfect for me. I’m putting this on my menu for next week.

There are so many things I love about fall, but my favorite has to be that it is soup weather! I love the smell of having a big pot of soup simmering on my stove top. It’s also easy to sneak in a bunch of healthy vegetables into a soup and my kids will eat them up without complaining. Oh, and I love that one pot of soup lasts for a few meals, and most of the time soup tastes better the next day. There is much to love about soup. I do love a comforting creamy soup now and again, but today I’m going to share one of my favorite healthy soups with you. It is guilt-free, but still SO delicious.

It is a vegetable chicken quinoa soup and it is loaded with veggies! This recipe is easy to adapt to your own tastes, leave out some veggies, add more of others. Do whatever you know your family will like, but it is tasty as is. This is also one that is easy to make vegetarian, just leave out the chicken and switch to vegetable broth. It’s also gluten free. (As long as the chicken broth you use is one that is known to be GF.)

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did. It kind of made me excited for a snowy winter night. Kind of.

Vegetable Chicken Quinoa Soup

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 yellow squash, quartered and sliced
1 1/2 cups fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3/4 cup frozen corn
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in large stockpot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, and green beans and continue to cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the vegetable mixture from the pan.

2. Add the chicken to the pan; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sauté 6 minutes or until the chicken browned and done. Stir in the vegetable mixture, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, thyme, and basil and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add the quinoa and corn to the pot, cover and simmer an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked.

Serves 10.

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 3: Jars in the Craft Room

by leanneja on October 3, 2013

Welcome to Day 3 of 31 Days of Getting Organized By Using What You Have.

I’m going to continue my love of organizing with jars and bring it into the craft room. Jars of all sizes are perfect to hold little items that can be found in the craft room. And because they’re clear it makes it easy to find what you need.

Ask your friends and neighbors to save baby food jars for you. They’re perfect for buttons, beads, small pieces of trim, embellishments and so forth. I was lucky to get these jars that were left over from a project and the vendor didn’t want to take them home. It never hurts to ask for something especially if they’re probably going to get tossed anyway.

I just can’t get over how pretty everything looks in glass jars, although jars full of crafty things always look pretty to me.

If you want to add a little color to the jars, spray paint the lids. I chose aqua to match my craft room. I left one lid red to add some contrast.

Since these jars were used for canning so they had dates written on the lids. The paint hid the dates and made them pretty and ready for display.

A lovely jar of washi tape!

I’m just getting my craft room/decorating storage room organized since moving. I like using jars for organizing and decorating so I keep a good selection on hand. I love getting homemade jam or salsa from friends for the jars almost as much as the food.

Here are a few more ideas for organizing with jars in the craft room:

Epheriell Designs

Good Housekeeping

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Melissa Loves Coupons

What little crafting supplies do you have floating around that can be contained in a jar or two?

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: Jars in the Kitchen

And come back in a few hours for a delicious recipe from my Food Contributor!

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 2: Jars in the Bathroom

by leanneja on October 2, 2013

Welcome to Day 2 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.

Today I’ll be sharing one of my favorite things to use while organizing. Glass Jars! Do you want to know the best thing about glass jars? They’re available to you almost anytime you want them. Seriously, if you need a jar, just eat a jar of pickles and you’re good. And I have to say that almost anything looks great enclosed in glass.

These jars are at least 15 years old. I started with 3 but one broke a few years ago. They started out as jars of specialty jams. Aren’t they beautiful? They even make band-aids and hand sanitizer look good. Look for jars with interesting shapes, color and designs to add even more interest.

I have major issues with toothbrushes touching each other plus everyone in my family likes a different toothpaste so this is the perfect solution to keep everything separate and together. And it didn’t cost me anything.

See what I mean about everything looking better behind glass? The tray cost me $1 from Dollar Tree and the glass jars were from my friend. I hate the packaging cotton balls and q-tips come in. They’re a mess to try to keep under control in the bathroom drawer or cabinet so the jars work perfectly to keep them organized and easily accessible.

My husband goes through soap faster than anyone I know. By having it in a jar on the counter I know exactly when I need to buy him more and it looks pretty awesome too.

If you get an awesome jar filled with candy as a gift, keep it and re-purpose it! If my husband can have a pretty jar filled with soap then I can have a pretty jar filled with nail polish, plus it adds wonderful color to the bathroom.

Here are some more great ideas I’ve gathered from Pinterest.

DIY Playbook

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eighteen25

So find some jars today and get your bathroom organized. Wouldn’t that bunch of makeup brushes look great in a mason jar?

See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: Jars in the Craft Room

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31 Days of Getting Organized (Using What You Have) – Day 1: Introduction

by leanneja on September 30, 2013

Every day for the whole month of October I will be posting on the topic of Getting Organized by Using What You Have. I’m excited for this topic because it’s something I try to follow in my own life. There are lots of pretty organizing supplies out there but I want to show you that you can get organized without spending much money, if any.

Day 2: Organize with Jars in the Bathroom
Day 3: Organize with Jars in the Craft Room
Day 4: Organize With Jars in the Kitchen
Day 5: Organize With Jars in the Office
Day 6: Organize the Kids Using Jars
Day 7: More Ideas for Organizing with Jars
Day 8: Organize With Egg Cartons
Day 9: Homework Box Using Recycled Items
Day 10: Organize with Crystal Light Containers
Day 11: Organize Your Cords Using TP Rolls
Day 12: Organize with Cans
Day 13: Organize with Bowls
Day 14: Mail Holder and Sorter
Day 15: Portable First Aid Kit
Day 16: Organize Your Drawers Using Baskets
Day 17: More Organizing With Baskets
Day 18: Organize Using Clothespins
Day 19: Organize With Trays
Day 20: Organize With Bags
Day 21: Organize With Clipboards
Day 22: Organize Using Food Containers
Day 23: Organize With Shoe Boxes
Day 24: Organize With Labels
Day 25: More Organizing With Labels
Day 26: Simple Phone Charging Station
Day 27: Organize With Over-the-Door Shoe Organizers
Day 28: Organize With Hangers
Day 29: Jewelry Organizer
Day 30: Organize With Cardboard Soda Bottle Carriers
Day 31: Think Outside the Box

Everyday I will be sharing ways to get organized using things you already have. I would love for you to follow along so I can help you get your spaces organized creatively and inexpensively. I will be adding a link to each day for the whole month on this introduction page so if you miss a day you can come here to see what you missed. If you would like to pin this to one of your Pinterest boards that would be a great place to be able to keep track of this series.

This is going to be a busy month for me because I won’t only be blogging about this series but I will also be writing posts on decorating, crafts, DIY and other projects so be sure to check back often so you don’t miss anything.

I would love for you to follow me on other social media where I will be sharing some sneak peeks and other fun things:
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Instagram
Google+

I will be using the hashtag #gettingorganized if you would like to tag also.

I also participated in the 31 Days series last year where I blogged about Loving Where You Live if you would like to check it out.

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