Clearing the clutter

Warning – NONE of the solutions I am about to talk about are mine. Thank goodness for pinterest and bloggarific Mama’s that have been posting genius ideas that I get to steal. But I do really like our adopted (fitting right?) chore system so perhaps it can help you too. Plus the clutter clearing ideas for all that paperwork has helped our kitchen and dining room tremendously, especially with the need to keep our foster paperwork together and easy to reach when needed.

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Carmona’s task center/chore system she shares in her blog include this totally free chore chart template (you can edit it on your own computer). We love these daily reminders of which Wonder is completing which task around our house and they love getting to check off their own list. Also included is a cute to-do list and “personal goals” that we sit down and draft together on Sunday nights at dinner.

Since our littles don’t get a regular allowance, we do include bonus “money chores” each week. This includes a bigger job (cleaning baseboards, organizing tupperware, cleaning laundry room, etc.) that each child can do whenever they want to earn the extra money. If they don’t do it, it becomes a regular chore for the following week and they lose the dollar. However, it the chore doesn’t get done, it’s not a huge deal and we move the chore to a different week. This is a great way for WG and WB to feel involved in our housekeeping and we make it fun by putting on music, dancing around, and filling Scott’s bucket. He loves coming home to the surprise of not having to do all the cleaning by himself on his days off from work.

IMG_3038Oh man, this blog post about paper organization is a MUST READ/CLICK NOW. It totally changed my life when paperwork, schoolwork, and mail were literally taking over our counters, coffee tables, and dining spaces. I loved this blogger’s ideas of putting all incoming mail into one basket to be sorted later. The two boxes are labeled “need action” and “to file” so when you put things away, you know which ones you need to go back and pay attention to in a timely manner when you remember that you actually put something in there and oops, it was kind of important.

This amazing lateral file from Pottery Barn just like the one in the blog post is on my super dreamland wishlist so that I can file all of the paperwork into more organized categories (right now they are housed in chaotic binders in my craft room).

On the bottom shelf are two CLOSED boxes of the children’s artwork and schoolwork. Every once in a while, we go through the boxes to add more or take out important pieces of work that we want to look back on or save to be proud of. I have found that setting a limit of what we keep really is a win-win. They feel important and know that we value their hard work but the sheer amount of work/art doesn’t overwhelm our kitchen or living spaces.

 

IMG_3039Perhaps you are drowning in a sea of paperwork, artwork, glorious finger paintings that you don’t know what to do with too??? I hope this helps with some ideas on how to wrangle that mess (now the actual people that make that mess? You’re on your own). If YOU have any genius tips to share, please do so in my comments, I’d love to hear them!!! Happy decluttering!

DIY Cleaner Recipes

Confession: I am not a clean person and in fact, I rather despise cleaning (cue all family members/former roommates nodding their heads emphatically). So it was a shock to my husband and even to myself, when last Spring, I got quite the bug to start some Spring cleaning. I purged my entire closet, organized cleaning/chore schedules for the kiddos and also dove into the world of DIY cleaners. And now that I have started, the creative part of the process is just as fun as saving my little family from toxins and chemicals coming into our house. It is also saving us some money as we haven’t bought a single cleaning product since beginning this venture last April (the ingredients needed for most of these recipes is cheap cheap and lasts a long time!!).

Most DIY cleaners take a combination of the following products (I keep these on hand to mix together whatever I need):
White Cleaning Vinegar (I put lemon rinds directly into the container to take away the strong odor)
Washing/Baking Soda
Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap (we love lavender and citrus)
Powdered Citric Acid
Rubbing Alcohol (or substitute actual alcohol collecting dust in your cabinets)
Various Essential Oils (message me for details on which brand I love and why)

Here a few recipes that I love from the ebook DIY Natural Household Cleaners by Matt and Betsy Jabs. As you can see, I write the actual recipes right on the label so I don’t have to search through the book to “refill” the cleaner every so often. If it’s easy to do, we’ll keep doing it right????

TBD Clean: All-Purpose Shmutza
3 cups hot water
1/4 teaspoon liquid castille soap (we use Lavender scent)
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons borax
6 drops lavender, 4 drops rosemary
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake to dissolve borax.
** I like to add specific essential oils that will also help my family and my mood on a day to day basis since we use this spray the MOST in our kitchen and living spaces. I love the dual purpose this spray can serve. **

TBD Clean: Dishwashing Soap
1 cup liquid castille soap (we use Citrus scent)
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
10 drops wild orange essential oil
6 drops grapefruit or lime essential oil
Combine all ingredients in a squirt bottle and shake gently to mix (we just reused an old Dawn container – works great!). If formula looks like it’s leaving streaks, add 1/4 cup white vinegar to rinse water.
** Even though it doesn’t suds like normal soap, it is effective and you don’t have to use a whole lot for an entire sink load of dishes. **

TBD Laundry Detergent
2 1/4 cups liquid castille soap (we use Lavender scent to aid in our kiddos’ need for calm at all hours of the day)
1 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon powdered citric acid
10-15 drops lemon essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil
Combine all ingredients in container with a pour spout (I use the blue glass container you see above from Target a while back). Shake gently to combine each time before adding to washer. It will separate after time and become paste-like so I don’t make huge batches at a time. This blue container takes our family of 4 about 2-3 weeks to get through. I also add some white vinegar (with lavender essential oil added) into the fabric softener portion of our washer to help keep our clothes nice and soft!

We really love our cleaners so far and my next adventure into the DIY world will be soaps and hygiene products (including DIY deodorant and lotions). I not only feel good about eliminating chemicals from our home, but I save time and money by creating our own products instead of adding one more item to our grocery list. If you’re interested in other recipes, please feel free to message me or peruse Matt and Betsy’s website.

Happy Labor Day everyone (hopefully you’re not doing too much cleaning today and getting a little relaxing in as well)!!