A few months ago I had the opportunity to be a guest expert on MOMentity and gave an on-line teleconference on the topic of Organizing Your Closet. It was my first time doing something like this and I really had a lot of fun! I hope you’ll take the time to listen to it. You can even listen as you’re cleaning out your closet, but you don’t have to.

Have you even wondered what I sound like? Well, now you can find out, plus there’s a lot of useful information included in this teleconference. Just click on the link below, open with Windows Media Player, and the recording should appear on your screen. Nicole will introduce me, then I will help you get your closet organized and keep it that way.

Leanne Jacobs.organize closets

Do you want to find out more about MOMentity and how you can join? http://www.momentity.com/tools/mothers-of-magnitude/

Nicole is also offering you a FREE Mom Relief Kit. http://www.momentity.com/tools/lostinmotherhood/

I would be happy to answer any addition questions you have. Fire away!

I wrote a series towards the end of last year titled “31 Days of Loving Where You Live”. Now it’s time for me to again practice what I preach. This is the home I thought I would be living in until the end of time (the picture was taken about 7 years ago) but things have changed and I will be leaving this home in a couple weeks and moving to another state. It’s not what I planned, but it’s what needs to happen at this time. While I’m trying to get my mind wrapped around leaving my home I’m also trying to change my mind and heart to embrace our new home.

I’m already thinking about simple and inexpensive things I can add to my new home to give it personality. Since we will be renting for a few years I won’t be able to do anything permanent to the walls so a plate wall would be a great alternative and a great way to fill up space.

Gallery walls are another great way to add interest and color to a room without painting or structurally changing the walls.

I will be painting a lot more furniture in my new home. It’s an easy way to add color and personality without changing anything permanently in the home.

Moving is the perfect time to change things up. Having a new home gives you the go ahead to experiment with your accessories and furnishing. I’m excited to try my things in new spaces.

The kids rooms are going to be a fun area to experiment in. The bedrooms in the new home seem to be smaller so I will need to find a way to include their furniture without making it look crowded. The same goes for the master bedroom.

Even though I will be leaving the home I planned on staying in and moving to a temporary home I still plan on celebrating where I live. My family will all be together again, we will be making memories and I will be creating new ways to make my home beautiful. I plan on loving where I live and enjoying every minute of it with my family. What are you doing to enjoy where you live?

I’m happy to introduce you to our new Food Contributor at Organize and Decorate Everything . I was able to meet Melissa in person a few weeks ago and she is just as darling in person as she is in her picture. She will be sharing Recipes the 1st Thursday of every month. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with and I hope you do too.

Hi, my name is Melissa and I am so excited to be the new food contributor here on Organize and Decorate Everything! I discovered my love for cooking in college, but as a starving student I settled for Ramen noodles more often than I would have liked. As a newlywed I was able to experiment more with cooking and I found out that I was also pretty good at it. When I became a mother I had so much going on that I couldn’t put as much time into preparing food, so I try to make meals that are quick and easy, but also family friendly and healthy.

I like to call myself a tomboy in a skirt because I am a girly girl that loves to play sports, watch football, go hiking, camping, and fishing. I love yard sale shopping, cute shoes, maxi dresses, party planning, crafts, and reading.

My husband and I have been married for 7 years and have three beautiful kiddos, Jordan (6), Sam (4), and Hannah (19 months). I am a stay-at-home mom and spend most of my day cleaning the house, doing laundry and chasing the kids around. It’s not all work though! We love having dance parties, going for walks, and doing “activities” (what Jordan calls fun things I find on Pinterest). I am also blogger at My Mommy Style and love having a creative outlet to share my ideas. Working with My Mommy Style has given me great opportunities to meet new people, which is one of my favorite things about blogging.

I look forward to sharing some of my favorite family recipes with you!

Chicken Rollatini with spinach and mozzarella

My family loved this recipe so much that I think I’ll be making it many more times in the next few weeks. That’s okay with me because I loved it too! This is a lighter version than many other chicken rollotini recipes I’ve seen, but it is not lacking in flavor! Serve with a crunchy green salad and you have a 5 star meal!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 1/2 cups fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 thin chicken cutlets
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• olive oil non-stick spray

Directions:

Wash chicken cutlets and pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes, or until golden. Add chopped spinach, 1/4 cup Romano cheese, salt and pepper and saute about 1-2 more minutes, or until spinach is wilted. Set aside to cool. When cool, add mozzarella cheese and combine.

Combine breadcrumbs and remaining 2 tablespoons of Romano cheese in one bowl. In a second bowl combine olive oil and lemon juice.

Dip chicken in lemon-oil mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down in baking dish. This might take a few  Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spray with oil spray.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Serves 4.

**Chicken cutlets are boneless, skinless chicken breast thinly sliced. There might be butchers that will do this for you if you ask. I was at Walmart today and purchased thin sliced chicken breast, but it cost more money per pound than the boneless, skinless chicken breast. I was in a hurry and it was worth the extra money. To save some money you could cut the chicken into cutlets yourself. Hope this helps!

Doesn’t that look delicious? I can’t wait until I’m in my new house and can try it out on my family.

One of my favorite things is an organized pantry. Whether your pantry is small or large there are things you can do to ensure it stays organized. I asked a few blogger friends to share their pantries with you and they are full of great organization ideas to help you keep your own pantry organized so you can store and find everything you need.

A Bowl Full Of Lemons

Keeping things contained and easy to get to is the key to organization. Baskets or small totes are the perfect way to store food and supplies in the pantry.

The Thinking Closet

Labeling is also important. Use chalkboard labels and it can be changed often and when needed.

Ask Anna

Even a very small pantry can be organized using containers and good planning.

First Home…Love Life

I love organizing with glass jars, not only are they functional but also pretty.

Clean Mama

Don’t forget to use the space on the inside of the door if that is available to you. Wire racks can be found at many big box stores and are very inexpensive.

Mom Endeavors

Extra shelves can also be added to existing shelves for even more storage space.

Free Stylin’

Take things like sugar and flour out of the original bags and store in uniform containers to save on space and prevent spills.

Organize & Decorate Everything

Use clothespins, chalkboard labels, laminated labels, etc. to make your pantry more functional and easy to find everything you need.

Learning To Be Me

Don’t have space for a pantry? Build your own in a small space in your kitchen. I love this idea!

Sunshine on the Inside

All these organized pantries make me happy.

The Social Home

You don’t have to have a large pantry to fit everything in. Match your containers and baskets to the size of pantry you have.

Hi Sugarplum!

I’ll be working with a new pantry soon. I’m actually pretty excited to use some of these ideas. Are you ready to organize your pantry now?

It’s a little late to be showing you our Summer Fun List but I wanted to share with you how we kept track of our fun activities this Summer. This year we decided to use the chalkboard door leading to the garage. It was the perfect place to keep track of all our activities.

Most of our activities this year are free or very low cost. As you can see we still have a lot of fun activities to do before school starts in 3 weeks.

How are you doing on your Summer Fun List?

So…, what do you do when you can’t buy new clothes but you have a conference coming up? Shop your closet! My awesome blogging friend Megan from Brassy Apple, agreed to come over and help me discover all the awesome outfits I already had lurking in the corners of my closet.

Okay, so they weren’t really lurking in the corners because my closet is extremely organized, but I wanted Megan to help me realize the full potential of the clothes in my closet. I showed her some of my favorite pieces and she started pulling things out and working her magic.

I never would have thought of pairing some of the pieces together that she did, but once she put them together I loved them. One of my favorite pairings was the teal necklace with the brown polka dot shirt. I’m excited to wear them together!

I feel I need to add a disclaimer here before we go any further. I am not taking 9 outfits to a 3 day conference. Since I will also be spending a few extra days with my family in Atlanta, we put together the extra outfits.

Megan paired 2 tops with every pair of pants so I could double my wardrobe but save on space. I will be wearing each pair of pants only once during the conference but then also once on the rest of my vacation with a different top.

The dress at the conference parties will range from fancy schmancy to jeans. I wanted to be somewhere in between so we went with white crop jeans, heels, a nice top, and sparkly jewelry. The point is to dress comfortably and be yourself.

I had to bring a maxi skirt. Even if I don’t wear it at the conference I’ll find time to wear it on the rest of my vacation, maybe on a night when I’ve eaten too much or want to feel extra comfortable.

I’m bringing 2 extra shirts, just in case I want something a little more dressy or something more casual one day (or in the event of spilling something on one of my other tops). You never know.

I’m flying all night and wanted to be comfy while trying to sleep on the plane, so we came up with a cute but comfortable outfit. The skirt is actually a dress but I don’t feel comfortable wearing it that way because it’s a little tight. Megan suggested I wear a top over it and wear it as a skirt. I love it and feel more comfortable wearing it now.

Look how happy I am with my new clothing options. Seriously, Megan helped me see other options in my clothing and helped me realize I didn’t have to go out and buy new things, just use what I already have in new ways. If you aren’t fortunate enough to have someone like Megan, invite a friend over and ask for opinions or different options on your wardrobe. It’s fun and who doesn’t like saving money?

Who decorates their mantel when they should be packing to move? Me! If you know me at all you know how much I love decorating my mantel. I’m going to really miss it, so let’s just say this is it’s last hurrah. And, of course, I did it without spending any money.

I made this Framed Sand Dollar Wall Art a couple years ago. I’ve been meaning to make another one similar to it, but it will have to wait a bit now. One good thing about our move is that I will be 7 hours closer to a beach now.

I won this amazing piece of driftwood at an auction a few years ago. I was the only one who bid on it. Apparently no one else could see the beauty in a big piece of wood found on the edge of a body of water. Lucky me! The shell ball is from our trip to Hawaii.

I love this picture of my kids and their cousins on the beach at Christmas a few years ago. What a wonderful memory!

What can I say about the white ceramic whale? I just love it!

I made this nautical wreath last year by wrapping rope around a styro foam wreath form and tying a sea star on it.

I also made the Map Garland a couple years ago. I love maps and the garland turned out just as good as I thought it would.

I love how beachy it is, but also how subtle it is.

Here’s my Summer Mantel from last year. Oh look, the same wreath!

If I don’t have a mantel in my new house, I’ll be making one. How do you decorate your mantel or shelf for Summer?

Even though we’re moving in 3 to 4 weeks I needed a little pick-me-up and decided to redecorate a bit. I gathered all the beachy Summer decor I could find and got to work making my house feel a little more like Summer.

Shopping my house is one of my favorite things to do. I love making my home beautiful using things I already have and I like showing others they can do the same.

White ceramics, colored glass, rope, wicker, and sea life all bring that beachy feel to my home. Okay, maybe not the elephant so much but I love him, so it works.

Blue and green colored glass remind me so much of the beach.

Different shapes and sizes add interest to the simple glass pieces.

This glass case is the only new piece. I’ll be sharing more information on it later this week. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s perfect for displaying beachy mementos.

I love using architectural pieces to add even more interest and a little history to an area. It’s easy to make a little beach in glass ware using sand a few shells.

I added a bit of Summer to the entry also. I love these fresh and happy colors!

I will be sharing my decorated mantel tomorrow. It’s my absolute favorite thing to decorate.

Do you decorate for the seasons or just the holidays?

So you only have 10 minutes and think you don’t have enough time to get anything accomplished. You’d be surprised how many chores you can actually get done in 10 minutes. Here are 10 ten minute chore suggestions for you to start with.

1- Clean out and organize your purse or bag
2- Organize the junk drawer

3- Unload and load the dishwasher
4- Open and sort the mail

5- Fold and put away a load of clothes
6- Find 10 things to donate or toss

7- Update your calendar
8-Clear off the nightstands

9- Toss out old and expired medications
10- Change the sheets on a bed

The next time you don’t think you have enough time to get something accomplished, set the timer for 10 minutes and get busy. I think you might be surprised and proud of how much you get done!

What’s your favorite quick chore?