Category: Organization

Do you love or hate a daily planner? Do you make a lot of lists or keep track of schedules and appointments on a nearby calendar? Or what is your method for keeping your head together, besides the skull our heads come packaged with?

I am a paper type of gal and always have loved notebooks, pens and pencils. Sticky notes too are a favorite for me! I make lists with company menus, lists of ‘forget nots’ before trips and even keep sticky notes and a pencil in my nightstand for those times I think of something I must do or add to the grocery list or who knows what it may be! But if it’s on paper, I rest much better than trying to remember mentally! So of course I love planners and have used one for years!

There’s a wide variety out there to choose from and even several designed by Mennonite ladies, which one of those is what I use. I personally don’t like one that’s too overwhelming. The one I have really enjoyed for the past 7 years is The Time Keeper by Starla Kreider. The cover is always gorgeous which is inspiring! It’s spiral bound which is a must for me so it lays flat or can be flipped to one side. It has monthly tabs to easily locate the correct month. It has a monthly calendar page where you can jot down events and appointments, with a narrow section beside that to jot down monthly projects.

I love the way the weekly sheet is laid out! It begins with Monday and ends with Sunday, and I like that, because to me, the week feels like it starts Monday. On the opposite side of the page, is space for each day’s menu, plus a large space for your ‘to do’ list. There’s lots of extra space in the back of the Planner for notes and a gift idea section. There’s perforated shopping lists too, which I have yet to become organized enough to use them efficiently! I also love the ‘planning ahead’ section in the back with a small space beside each month of the next year. You can scribble in the dates of a far off reunion or vacation or whatever. I use it especially toward the end of the year before I switch over to the next year’s planner. Here are pictures of The Time Keeper.

I find it so helpful to use a planner on a regular basis. It helps much to just free up my mind! I like to write down the simple, normal duties on a regular basis. Monday’s list is usually, wash, cleanup house, and then it varies from week to week. But if you consistently do laundry or cleaning on a certain day, consistently write it down. Sometimes I also choose to do the ironing and mending on Monday. Or if I want to sew on Tuesday, then on Monday I also try to cut out the dresses etc and prepare for sewing already on Monday. Then Tuesday, I feel ready to start as soon as my morning duties are completed.

If I’m going to town on a certain day, that’s what I write for that day and usually not much else. It kinda soaks up a good portion of the day, especially with children. And then also till you get the groceries put away, naps and make supper. On Fridays it usually looks like, wash, clean. Sometimes I do break down the ‘clean’ into smaller jobs, such as clean bathrooms, mop, dust. Otherwise, it feels like your really getting something done, but you’ve still not completed all the cleaning and thus there’s nothing to cross off yet for all the effort! Crossing off completed jobs is a big thing in my mind!

Even just writing down small jobs such as writing a letter or getting a card off in the mail, or placing a call-in or online order helps to get those things accomplished! When there’s a day that doesn’t look as busy, try making a note for a few smaller jobs like those and see how good it feels to get that done! When I near the end of one week, I usually have an idea of what the next week is looking like. That’s helpful for when my husband or someone asks, what do you have going next week? Could you help with…? Mentally I think of my planner and what the week looks like. If it’s not full of urgent pressing things, then I feel I can plan around that event and make it suit.

When I think of jobs I would like to do but can’t right now, I like to page ahead in my planner and make a note of those jobs several weeks or a month or more out. It saves my mind, and yet keeps me from forgetting entirely! (keeping a list of ‘running’ jobs on a sticky note is helpful, because you can keep moving the whole list to the following weeks, if you aren’t able to get the projects completed) And yet it’s there for a reminder when time does allow to work on some of those jobs.

I also love a planner for keeping track of my turn on church schedules. As soon as I get a new list, I go to my planner and write it down in the week that I’m on for Sunday host, or cleaning church, or taking a meal for someone and so on. I still highlight our name on the list, but again, this way I can forget about it, knowing I’ll be reminded as I get closer to that week.

If your not a paper type of person, that’s fine. Maybe you make notes on your phone for reminders and that works too. I hate using my phone for reminders but that’s because I’m not techy enough! (I have already out of desperation). But I like my paper that doesn’t disappear or refuse to cooperate!

I find using a planner also helps that I don’t just aimlessly go in circles forgetting what I really wanted to accomplish that day. It still feels like that sometimes and for sure, there are days I don’t get everything done I wrote down! (That’s why I use pencils!) And I need to be ok with that! Interruptions are the normal aren’t they?! Its also nice to just block off a day to just ‘take it a lil easier’. Jerald frequently chides me that I ought to just relax a bit more. And it sure helps if I plan ahead for that, or otherwise, I can think, “oh hey I’d have time to do this, and this and this! And before I know it, I get all involved in something that I never even planned to do! (I hate procrastination!) But I’m a bit too much the opposite! If it helps me out tomorrow, why not do it today?! Moderation in all things.

Have you been inspired to try a Planner this next year? Choose a style you like and give it a try! (You can purchase the Time Keeper here).

I will be giving away this Time Keeper planner! If you would like to be entered for the drawing send an email to jeraldsflower@gmail.com with your name and address by Sunday, December 6. (If you receive my blog via email do not reply to this post but instead send me a separate email).

Happy planning!

Is your fridge a place of peace or chaos? Probably it’s a place of piece. A piece of this and a piece of that. I don’t like clutter inside or out of my fridge. First, we’ll talk about the inside.

Refrigerators are such a necessity in our kitchens yet so easy to just plop stuff inside and shut the door to clutter. After all, who enjoys cleaning out the refrigerator?! A long time ago when I was a girl at home, my mom and I had a brainstorm to start a business of cleaning out refrigerators for people! Lol! It never materialized of course. It’s not my favorite job and since I detest clutter, I strive to maintain my fridge, instead of having a complete clean out a few times a year.

Having designated spots for regular items is a big help! It’s rather a no brainer to keep small items such as syrups, salad dressings, jams and condiments in the door shelves. I keep a small basket on the second shelf for eggs. It’s very handy to have them out of the carton and just reach in and grab the amount I need. Or if I need a bunch, the whole basket comes out.

A good investment for me has been two clear organizing boxes that I bought at TJ Max years ago. I always keep the largest one on the second shelf for my vegetables. I like to wash and prep my veggies, put them in bags and into this veggie bin. It holds a lot because I can pile it high. When I want to fix a salad I grab the whole container and have all I need in one swift load! Besides, I love having my veggies prepped before hand! Although it does take time when I get home from the store. If I have excess vegetables, I keep extras in one of the fridge drawers until I’m ready to wash them and place in the vegetable bin.

I keep a second clear box in the first fridge drawer for apples, lemons or other bigger fruits. (I keep it in the drawer only because I barely have enough room for a second box on a shelf) Small fruits like grapes or blueberries get washed and placed in a bowl and just set on the shelf. I like to put a paper towel or small cloth in the bottom of the bowl to absorb the excess water and moisture. I keep a basket or bowl on the bar for fruits that don’t need refrigerated. The other picture is just washed produce. I like how pretty and colorful it looks! We eat a lot of fresh foods, so that is why I keep talking about my fruits and vegetables.

I like to keep my fridge drawers categorized too. Besides my fruit bin in the first drawer, I keep cheese, bacon grease, leftover frosting or other small, not often used items. The other two drawers are for extras when I get home from shopping. I place things in there like, extra butter or milk, extra vegetables, sour cream, yogurt and such. In the winter when we have citrus fruits, I keep a drawer just for that.

Now for the shelves. I like to keep leftovers on the top or second shelf but I admit it doesn’t always stay like that. The bottom shelf I keep for taller items like milk or drink pitchers.

My fridge still can get messy! But I find it’s better to stay on top of things; wiping up lil spills or smears immediately and keeping tabs on those leftovers so they don’t rot, way back in the boonys of refrigerization! Two more clarifications. When I get company, my fridge gets full and cluttered and normal requirements get banned, because there’s extra food and I need to manage to fit it all in somehow, because I don’t have a second fridge! Also, I know we don’t have a large family where there’s way more food and people in the kitchen, and where things don’t stay as mom would like it to stay! That would make a big difference I’m sure, but maybe this can still give you ideas on organizing that big cold box!

Now for the outside. My fridge does not have a magnetic front so that keeps things off for sure! I love the clean look of nothing on the front! I do have some things on the sides, but it’s not my main place to keep pictures of friends or lists or reminders.

My white board I like to jot down those little jobs or reminders. Very handy and it can easily be erased once completed. I hate cluttery papers, notes and lists all over my fridge. I put many tips, some recipes I like to keep handy or lists inside my cabinet doors. This is also where I tape up my two month menu calendar. It’s wonderful because it’s not a constant eyesore to me, yet conveniently accessible because I’m always opening the cabinet doors for dishes! If it’s a list I want to make sure I notice more, such as Sunday host schedule, I tape it inside a door that gets opened ALOT. And I highlight our name, but for safety purposes, I still write it in my planner by the date we’re on to host! Most of the other church related lists, I tape on the inside of the office door, which is right off the kitchen. On the outside of that door, is where I put up the pictures of friends and family. I love this set up. It’s easy for people to look at the pictures when we get company and then the inside of the door hides all those lists, but handy to look at when needed!

This is the office door of pictures on the outside and two of my inside cabinet doors. Do you see how cluttered that door on the left is?! It could use a cleaning up I know! But it doesn’t bother me near as much with it being hid from view.

I want to tell you how fun it is to organize kitchen spaces and what I have found to work for me. It may not be feasible for everyone but hopefully it will give you some ideas to inspire your own organization!

Now, I know we’re not all blessed with pantries. I never had one till we moved to this house and so having one feels luxurious! I know the frustration of conglomerated heaps of bags and cans and boxes! I would try to categorize somewhat, but that too can be difficult if you don’t have much space. One major thing that helps me is to utilize baskets in my pantry! You can use baskets/bins anywhere you have some room to store groceries. It’s ok if you need to store some things in a bedroom closet or another unusual place! Big totes would be especially helpful in that case. Find what works for you and your house.

These baskets help to keep items in their proper place rather than congregating all over the shelves. It still bothers me that they’re not all the same color but when I was buying them, I was unsure how many I would need and then later I could not find this aqua color. But I remind myself the baskets still work, even though it doesn’t look as nice as having them all identical!🤪 I found these at Walmart, but have seen them at Target also. Decide what you would like to put together in each basket and then label it. Yes, add labels! I know you know what’s in there, but when others in your household are looking for something, it helps to be able to say, “it’s in the drink basket” etc. Plus I think it looks nice too. I had chalk labels but I saw it was not practical because the writing rubbed off too easy. So I put practical above pretty and went with plain white labels. They stick well and the writing stands out heaps better and doesn’t get brushed off. ( but as you can see, I’m still using some on my pantry containers…. I still like the looks on there and just put up with the rubbing off! )😜 And just a side note here on labeling, masking tape also works beautifully to label jars and containers! I keep a roll in my kitchen just to label foods. It sticks well, but peels off easily without sticky residue left behind, and you can write on it with a permanent marker. Especially freezer items or jars of pizza sauce, salsa, and ketchup that someone may have a hard time deciphering which is which. I give credit to my mother- in-law for that tip on masking tape when I was newly married.😉

Now back to my pantry. I don’t store an excessive amount of extras like say cream of mushroom soup. Some people like to buy that by the case. Well, in that case, you might want to store most of that elsewhere and only keep a half dozen or so in your pantry to save on space. I personally don’t like to use a lot of that because it has MSG and other additives. So that’s why I can store my boughten canned items in two baskets. I also keep my can opener right there by the cans.

My most problematic area is the floor space of my pantry. It’s all too easy to plop bags of stuff in there and shut the door. I try to only allow that if it’s temporary. Like, if I’m going to be using a lot of it in the next few days, or if I simply don’t have the time to put things in their designated spots as soon as I get home with groceries. But the next day or as soon as I can, I try to put things away respectably. I’ve learned that large baskets help so much to control the chaotic prone atmosphere. I keep extra things in the baskets like flour, sugars, oatmeal etc. I like how I can fill up my flour or oatmeal containers, and if it’s the last I have of it, it gives me time to buy more before I’m completely out.

Also, having some margin is a must! How fun is it to pull off the cracker container and three others come crashing down in the process?! If I have to pull off the pretzel container and reach behind the chip container to pull out the crackers, and thus knocking another one over with my elbow, there will definitely be an occurrence of loud sighs from this Mama! You can’t expect things to stay neat if there’s absolutely no extra room. Allow a little extra space so everyone and everything can breathe a bit better!😅 And then when your family is eating supper and someone yells, “where’s more ketchup?!” you can calmly reply, “in the middle basket on the third shelf”.

Another area I want to tell you about is my container cabinet. I struggled a long while to keep it easily accessible, yet neat. I looked on Pinterest for ideas, but most of those did not work for me. Then, in one of my organizing streaks, I had this extra basket and was looking how I could use it. Its a bit taller so I turned it on it’s side and stacked my lids in it. So far it’s been a hit with me! I could finally keep them easy to reach without the others going whooshing down on the shelf as soon as I pulled out one lid! This also helped so that I could better stack my containers in each other, rather than storing the lids on the containers.

The turquoise basket I keep for my disposable containers like cool whip and yogurt. It keeps them together and when I need one, I pull out the basket to retrieve the item, then shove it back in. Works like a drawer. There’s no lids or containers sailing to the floor to get attention! (so I imagine their thoughts 😂) My rule is, once this basket is full, I pitch any extra containers because I don’t like clutter! But when I start getting a little low, then I save them again. I do not appreciate towering stacks of cool whip and yogurt and cottage cheese containers! But if you do, then by all means keep your stacks!

We do not use the toaster a whole lot so it doesn’t merit sitting on my counter. But neither do I want a big “awgishick” (for those who don’t know PA Dutch, a big hassle) when I do want to use it. I use my blender a lot more, so it sits up front. When I want the toaster, there’s room to push the blender to the side, pull the toaster up front, on the tea towel, and get it out. It’s on the towel so it slides better, plus it catches those crumbs that make cabinets cleaning so necessary at times! Occasionally, give that tea towel a good shake and be rid of those crumbs in a jiff!

Whenever I get done straightening up a closet or cabinets, there’s such a huge sigh of relief and feeling of accomplishment! Now, head to Walmart and buy a few baskets for yourself!