48. Organize Your Sewing Patterns

If you are a sewing aficionado you probably have accumulated several patterns. They are expensive and it is hard to purge knowing how much you paid for them. They will clutter up your sewing space quickly unless you periodically go through and purge.

Gather all of the patterns you own into one space. Carefully review each one and determine if you want to keep or recycle. Be honest with yourself, will you ever use that pattern again? Is the fashion out of date? Has your family outgrown the sizes?

You have several options to recycling the patterns you have chosen to discard.

-Since they are made of paper, you can place them in your recycle bin

- Try selling them online at

www.ebay.com

www.rustyzipper.com

www.momspatterns.com

www.debsrecycledsewingpatterns.com

www.craigslist.com

- Donate them to:

your local high school or college theater department

sewing classes

museums

thrifts shops and vintage clothing stores.

Organize the remaining patterns into categories that will be easy for you to locate later. "Costumes", "Household", "Women's Fashions", "Men's Fashions", "Baby". Pick categories that work best for you. Store into plastic containers and then label the outside of the containers with your chosen categories. You can then store the containers on a shelf or under your bed depending on your space restrictions.

39. What To Do With All Those Stuffed Animals??

Kids (and some adults) LOVE stuffed animals. Before you know it, your collection can take over a space. Over time, they can accumulate dust mites and can be harmful to people with allergies or asthma problems.

Organizing your stuffed animal collection is easy. Purge, Purge, Purge. Donate your purged stuffed animals to the following locations:

Stuffed Animals For Emergencies

Project Night Light

Local Goodwill or Salvation Army stores.

Please check with their requirements before sending stuffed animals.

Once you've settled on the stuffed animals you would like to keep, determine the best way to store your collection that would be easy for you to maintain. Some of my favorite options are:

- Hang a shelf on the wall to display your collection.

-Store in a toy chest, Rubbermaid container, or over the door plastic shoe racks.

-I found this Animal Bag storage chair online. It is like a bean bag but is sold without the stuffing. You fill it with your own stuffed animals. Your stuffed animals are gathered all in one location while creating some extra seating your room at the same time. I think this is a perfect solution for the stuffed animals that your children just can't seem to part with right now.

I also suggest, purging the stuffed animals when the kids are away. You will be able to get rid of so much more without any distractions or someone throwing a tantrum because they want to keep Pooh Bear.

Good luck!

38. Purge Your Keys

Are you afraid to throw away old keys for fear you may need them? If you haven't used the key in a few years, chances are, you probably won't. Time to purge those keys! I bet you have keys on your keychain right now that you have no idea what they open. Or maybe you have the keys to an old car, house or locker thrown in a drawer somewhere.

Check in drawers, the garage, the basement, your keychain and collect all the old keys in your house.

You can recycle the keys at most recycling stations in their mixed metal bins, place an ad on craigslist and give them away, donate them to Key For Hope. You can get creative and use the extra keys to make a wind chime, decorate a picture frame, or any other craft project you come up with.

35. De-clutter your pens and pencils

For some reason we all have an abundance of pens and pencils. Seriously, how many does one person need? Take some time today to purge your pens and pencils.

First start by discarding pens that no longer work. Simply scribble on a piece of paper with each pen to test it. Second go through your pencils and discard ones that have dwindled down to short little nubs or have lost their eraser.

Go through the remaining stash and purge again. Many of us are particular about what types of pens we like to write with, so go ahead, purge the rest.

After the purging process you can sharpen the pencils you have decided to keep.

Donate all of your purged pens/pencils to The Pencil Project or your local school.

29. Organize Your Past Tax Returns

The IRS will challenge you up to 6 years on any past tax returns, so keep these returns and supporting documents on hand. Anything beyond that can be shredded and discarded. Free up your filing cabinets from unnecessary paper work.

You can learn more on IRS.gov.

27. How To Fold A Fitted Sheet.

OK! I've found the answer to one of our home organizing biggest mysteries. How to Fold a Fitted Sheet? If you correctly fold your fitted sheets, you can double the space in your closet.

Watch this step by step video on the process. The sound is not the best quality so make sure you turn up the volume on your computer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i77Duz-VLMU

Enjoy!

26. Have a Copy of the School Lunch Calendar Handy

If your kids are like mine, then they are PICKY eaters. I never know what they like since they are constantly changing their minds on what types of food they will eat. Once I think I've figured it out, it changes again.

I found that if I hang a copy of the school lunch calendar on my fridge, I can simply ask them each morning if they will eat that days lunch. If the answer is yes, great. If not, then I can make them a lunch to take. Having the school lunch calendar easy to access makes the mornings go so much smoother. If you don't want it displayed on your fridge, you can:

- hang it on a nearby cork board

- take a photo of it with your phone and view when necessary

- mark the lunches in your calendar

- have the kids keep track of it and let you know when they need a lunch to take to school. If you don't hear from them, then school lunch it is. This will teach them a little responsibility too.

24. De-Clutter Junk Mail

Did you know the average American receives 41 pounds of junk mail per year? Junk mail not only clutters your house, but it produces more CO2 than 9 millions cars on the road. Follow these simple steps to remove the junk mail from your home and help protect the environment at the same time:

1. Place a recycle bin and trash can by your front door. Before you enter the house with your mail, give it a once over and immediately trash and recycle unwanted pieces. If you are worried about identity theft, place a shredder near the bins and shred any pieces containing your name and address. Check with your recycling center to see if they accept shredded paper. This will determine if you place the shredded paper in the trash or recycled bins.

2. Gather all your catalogs in the house. Spend some time calling each one and ask to be removed off their mailing list. Don't worry, most catalogs are available online for shopping.

3. Call 888.567.8688 to remove yourself off mailing lists.

4. Call the number on every piece of junk mail that arrives to your home and ask to be removed off of their mailing list. This included credit card offers, insurance promotions, sweepstake entries, etc. If you don't have time for this, you can sign up with agencies that can do this for you. www.41pounds.org and www.dmachoice.org are great resources for minimal fees.

22. Create Keepsake Boxes For Your Family

Each family member has items that they cherish and would like to keep. These items may not be of monetary value, but hold a sentimental value to each person. For example, my husband keeps all the birthday cards he receives every year. These cards hold no value to anyone but himself.

A great solution for these types of items is to create a "Keepsake" box for every person in the family. The boxes can be any size or style, but just make sure they are large enough to hold everything you need, small enough to be easily stored and have a lid. I purchased 18 gallon Rubbermaid containers for my family. 23.9" 15.9" x 16.5". On the outside of each box I have labeled them with the name of the family member that it belongs.

Each box contains items that have sentimental value to each person, or in my kids case, will have sentimental value in the future. They include items like:

- artwork/school work

- special toys

- baby books

- first outfits/shoes

- birthday cards

- Tickets from events they have attended

- Awards and medals

Once the kids move out of the house, they can take their keepsake boxes with them.

19. Organize Your House To Leave For Vacation

There are many steps involved to prepare your house for you to leave on vacation. I wish it was as simple as just walking out the door. Unfortunately not. Following is a checklist for you to use to make it easier to get out the door:

1. Houseplants - water all of your houseplants prior to leaving. Depending on the length of your vacation, you can insert water globes into the soil for automatic watering, plant in a self watering container, or ask a friend or neighbor to come and water the plants while you are away.

2. Mail - Nothing screams more that you are away than piled newspapers on your front porch or an overflowing mailbox. Place a hold on your newspapers and mail. Have a friend or neighbor come and collect the mail/newspapers is also an easy solution.

3. Thermostats: Unless there is something in your home that might suffer heat damage, turn your a/c off. If you prefer to leave it on, set your thermostat to 85-90 degrees. Raising the temperature will help save on your electric bill. If you are leaving in the winter months, do not turn off the heat for risk of freezing pipes. Keep the heat to at least 50-55 degrees.

4. Trash: Empty all of the trash can in the house. Who wants to return home to a stinky house? Arrange for a friend or neighbor to place the outside trash can on the street on the appropriate day for trash collection. Make sure they are reminded to put trash can back in their proper place after collection.

5. Refrigerator - Check to see if any food items will spoil while you are away. Milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese etc. Give these items to a friend or neighbor to use.

6. Clothes Washer - Make sure you are not leaving clothes in your washer to mildew.

7. Windows/Door - Check to make sure all the windows and doors are locked.

8. Jewelry Box - Hide your jewelry or place in a safety deposit box. Don't make it easy for a robber to walk in and grab your valuables.

9. Small Appliances - These items use small amounts of energy when they are plugged in, even when they are turned off. Unplug these items to save energy and avoid possible fire hazards while you are away. Examples of small appliances include: toasters, tv's, clocks, baby monitors, radios, stereos, printers, computers, lamps, chargers, dust busters, coffee makers, etc.

10. Lights - Turn off all the lights in the house except for one to deter burglars while you are away. Put this light on a timer to simulate someone is in the house. Make sure this light is visible from the outside.

11. Sprinkler - Determine if you want the yard sprinklers to run while you are away. If so, place the sprinklers on a timer to run more efficiently.

12. Appointments - Cancel home appointments that may be schedule during your vacation. You do not want the housekeeper, pest control, delivery guy, piano teacher etc. arriving and you not be home.

13. Garage door - Unplug the garage door. During storms and power outages, for some reason my garage door opens. I always unplug my garage door before I leave on vacation. I would hate for my door to open while I'm away making my garage a free for all.

14. Cars - If leaving any cars at home, remove all the valuables, roll up the windows and lock the doors. Park the car in the garage.

15. Yard - Check the yard for items that need to be brought indoors.

16. Phone - Turn off or turn down the ringer on your home phone. A constantly ringing phone is a good sign no one is home.

17. Emergency Numbers - Leave a key and emergency numbers to a friend or neighbor.

13. Organize Your Home Movies

Gather all of you home movie and separate into two piles. Keep and Discard. From the Keep pile, sort them into media types (VHS tapes, 16mm, 8mm, MiniDV, BetaMax, slides etc.) Once separated you can label them by date and store in acid free cardboard boxes. These boxes can be found at local chains like Target, Wal-Mart, IKEA and Container Store. Make sure you label the outside of the box with the contents including dates. Keep the boxes out of light, humidity, and heat. These harsh elements can cause permanent damage to your home movies.

Another option is to have your tapes, slides etc. converted into DVD's. This will make watching home movies much easier than having to pull out your old equipment. There are several companies available that do this type of service. I use Scan Digital, http://scandigital.com/ They are fantastic! I've had several tapes converted to DVD without any problems. The DVD's come back with photo images from the video printed on the DVD case. I love this feature since many home videos contain several events on one tape. I can just glance at the DVD cover to see what is contained on the DVD instead of trying to remember dates.

ScanDigital has offered a 5% discount for my readers. Use coupon code 1826131046 when placing your order online. From the Discard pile you have the option to give to friends/family, donate to your local film school, library or charity or recycle to keep them out of the landfills. Following is a list of recycling options: GreenDisk Freecycle

11. Collect Your Change

Instead of emptying your pockets or purse just anywhere in the house, pick a location and stick with it. Place a jar or piggy bank in this spot. When you clean out your pockets, drop your loose change into your jar. Once your jar is full, take it to a local coin counting machine and cash it in for cash. Some banks may even convert your change into cash for free. Deposit this cash into your saving account or spend it on something fun. You would be surprised at how little it takes to get a lot of money. According to CoinStar.com, a 1 gallon container could result in $228.34 in cash. Not bad for a simple task of emptying your pockets in the same spot every time. You will gain some fun money and have a house free of loose change.

9. Purge and Organize Your Belts

Locate all the belts in your closet. Separate into 2 categories.

1) Purge: Your purge pile should contain belts that are too small, too worn, or out of style. Are you having trouble purging your belts for fear of needing them in the future. If you haven't worn it in a year, chances are you won't wear them again. Get rid of it.

You can donate the purge pile to your local charity or if you are crafty, you can recycle your belts into cute accessories. I found this video on YouTube on how to make a vintage bracelet.

2) Keep: Your keep pile can be organized back into your wardrobe. Some people like to roll up their belts and place them into drawers. Another option is to hang then onto hooks in your closet. You should organize them by size or color. You can find several hangers for belts online. Find the best option that works for you and your space.

6. Organize Your Shoes

Pull all the shoes out of your closet and match up the pairs.

Discard shoes you haven't worn in over a year; you probably won't wear them again. Next pull out the shoes that are too small, are worn out or out of style. You can donate these shoes to Goodwill, Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe Program, or a local charity of your choice.

Depending on the size of your closet, following are options for organizing:

- Lay all the shoes on the floor of the closet matched up in pairs. If you have enough room for two rows, place the current season in the front row and other seasons on the back row.

- Hang a shoe rack on the clothing rod to store your shoes.

- Hang a shoe rack on the back of your closet door.

- Store your shoes in plastic shoe boxes or the boxes they came in and stack the boxes neatly on a shelf. Take a photo of each pair and tape to the outside of each box. This way you know what shoes are inside without having to open each box.

- If space is truly limited, you can store you shoes under your dust ruffle.

4. Organize The Clothes In Your Closet

Begin by dividing clothes into categories.

Style: Group pants with pants, shirts with shirts, dresses with dresses and so on. Once you have separated styles, you can take it a step further and group by color.

Color: Start with white and work your way to black. Lighter colors progressing to dark.

Season: If space is limited, you can separate by season. Place the current season in the front of your closet and then out of season in the back of the closet, in a spare closet, or a storage box under your bed.

Pick a way that is easy for you to follow. If you feel comfortable with a system you are more likely to keep it up.

3. Purge Your Closet

Have you heard the saying we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time? What happens the the remaining 80% of clothes? They are hanging in our closets taking up space and most likely collecting dust. Here are some suggestions on purging your closet:

1. Pull out clothing that you just don't like. This is the easiest task of all. If you don't like it, you probably aren't going to wear it. Get rid of it.

2. Pull out the clothes that don't fit. Let's face it, holding onto a pair of jeans and hoping to squeeze into them in a few months is unrealistic. Chances are, by the time you are able to fit into your skinny jeans, they will be out of style anyway. Get rid of them. If you do loose that weight, reward yourself with a new pair of designer jeans that fit. You will look better and feel better in the long run.

3. Pull out clothes with stains, holes, tears, or stretched. This is a no brainer.

4. Take all of the hangers in your closet and hang them backwards on the rods, hooking from the back of the closet to the front. As you wear an item, hang it back in the closet normally. After a year, you will notice the clothes that are still hanging backwards. If you haven't worn them in a year, get rid of them. I'll remind you close to our year end to revisit your closet and pull out the items that are still hanging backwards. You might be surprised at what you find.

Most people have an emotional attachment to their clothes. Either you've spent a lot of money on an item or it holds a special memory. This makes it difficult when trying to purge, but try not to consider how much money you spent on an item, that money is gone. You should consider how much they are worth to you now. Does it fit? Do you wear it? Do you even like it? If it doesn't hold any value to you now, get rid of it.

All the clothing purged can be donated to Goodwill, sold at consignment or on eBay, traded at a clothing swap, or given to a friend. Keep a bag or small box at the foot of your closet. When you come across something to purge, place it in your bag/box. When the bag is full, take it to Goodwill.

1. Wall Hooks

Hang hooks on the wall by your door.

Stop wasting time in the morning trying to get out the door on time. Hanging hooks by your door will give you a place to hang items that are needed to get you out the door quickly and on time. You can hang backpacks, keys, your purse, jackets, umbrellas, sports bags onto these hooks. Anything that you need for the following day. I use my hooks for everything. I even have a bag hanging that I use to store all the plastic bags to be recycled at the grocery store. When I'm headed out the door to go food shopping, I grab my bag of plastic and go.

Put a system into place that is easy for you and your family to follow.

- When you walk in the door, hang your things on the hooks. This way items are guaranteed to be there when you need them. If you walk in and drop your items anywhere, who knows where they will be in the morning.

- The night before, place items on the hook that need to leave the house with you (coats for cold days, place notes for teachers in your kids backpacks, your gym bag, etc.)

365 Baby Steps to Get Organizing

Are you unorganized? Does your clutter make you feel anxious and out of control? Are you spending more time in the morning trying to locate items than actually getting yourself ready and out the door?

I am an Austin, TX professional organizer called Curly Girl Organizing. I want to help you overcome the feeling of helplessness and chaos while teaching you simple steps to get you and your home in order.

Over the next year, I will post daily simple solutions to inspire you to create a system that will work for you and your family. There is no right or wrong way to organizing. This blog is meant to be a guide and is by no means the only answer to organizing problems. I welcome feedback and photos of your success. If you have a problem area in your home, please email me questions with details and photos. If appropriate, your space may be used for a blog post.

Don't Agonize.....Get Organized!