How to Organize Your Christmas Decor

Happy New Year! I plan on writing a little catch-up post soon but before I do that I wanted to share how I organize my Christmas decor.

Taking down Christmas decorations can really be a pain in the rear UNLESS you have a good system that makes it easy. I've been doing this for just about my entire life. My parents had vintage ornaments that were very fragile so I learned at a young age how to pack away Christmas decor very well. So I hope you learn a few tips that will make your holiday season much more organized!

1. Label everything! Label the original boxes that your ornaments came in. This will make it much easier when you are removing the ornaments from your tree. You can see exactly where each one goes and it will make the process much smoother. Also, your glass ornaments are safest in their original packaging!

2. Use shoe boxes and Ziplock baggies for miscellaneous items that may have came in strange packaging. Don't forget to label each box/bag so you know what goes inside!

3. Put random decor items (ie: glittery trees, signs, characters, etc) inside  shopping bags from Target or Wal-Mart so they don't rub on each other and transfer glitter inside your tubs.

4. Use tubs! Boxes work well if you are storing your items in a controlled environment. If you store them where it can get hot/cold/musty/humid the boxes will absorb odors that might not be pleasant.

5. Take photos of your decorations before you put them in storage. Put the photos in a folder on your computer so that a few days after Thanksgiving you can look through the photos to remind yourself what you have. This way when you are out shopping right after Thanksgiving you won't get caught up with all of the beautiful decor and ornaments that are already out on display because you already know what you have! (I put a reminder on my calendar to look through my Christmas photos in mid-November. Right around when holiday items start showing up in stores.)

6. Make a list of items you might want for next Christmas. Let's say you were at a friends house and they had multi-colored lights on their tree and you want to do that next year. A list will help remind you what you DO need to buy before you dig out all of your decor. (Or if you are really good at planning ahead, go buy those items a few days after Christmas on clearance!)

7. Store similar items together. I pack my small filler ornaments inside a smaller tub. This makes it much easier when it comes time to put them on the tree... I just grab that little tub and go to town!

 I also pack my ornaments with items that are in the same color family. I have one whole tub that has my red and gold ornaments and one tub that has my blues and silvers.

8. Use soft goods like hand towels, tree skirts, tablecloths in between layers of your decorations so that things stay protected and don't shift as much when they are in storage.

I hope you learned something today that will make your Christmas tear-down go much easier!

Invisalign Survival Kit

Invisalign. I have it. This is what they say...

More like clearly the most annoying thing that I have ever experienced.

Yeah... no one will know except for all the random people in the bathroom at Longhorn Steakhouse staring at you brushing your teeth.

If you don't have Invisalign, you might not know that you are not supposed to put your aligners back in until after you have thoroughly flossed and brushed your teeth.

Going to dinner with the hubby?

Brush your teeth at the restaurant.

Grabbing some quick fast-food on a busy day?

Nope, gotta have a bathroom close by.

Going to a cocktail party?

Stuff your face with hour'derves for 15 minutes then hit the restroom.

It sucks but if that is what it takes to have a perfect smile, I'm in! I put together a little survival kit to help get me through my lifetime year or two of Invisalign.

What You Will Need:

A cute little pouch.

Mine is Clinique from a Bonus sale a few years ago. I like it because it is semi water proof and washable.

 Here is a cute one from Target.

A Travel Toothbrush

Mine is from Colgate.

Travel Size Mouthwash

I use Crest.

Travel Size Toothpaste

I use Aquafresh.

Glide Floss Picks

I put mine in a small zip-lock baggy.

A little container with orthodontic wax.

Sometimes my aligners dig in to my tongue so I just put a little wax on them.

I keep this little pouch of goodies inside my purse at all times along with my Invisalign aligner box.

This has been my Invisalign life-line. I whip it out after every meal and proudly brush my teeth.

I hope this helps! Good luck on your Invisalign Journey!

Read mine here.

"Last Wash" Tutorial

I have a slight obsession with doing laundry. Like... big time. I will wash everything in sight if I'm in the right mood. That mood is just about every other day. Nobody needs to wash their curtains three times a week, yo! So I created a little dry-erase board to keep track of the last time I washed certain items.

It's so easy. You only need a few items.

Duck tape... preferably the new, hip, printed kind

Scissors

Two "Medium" 3M hanging strips

Dry Erase Marker

Two report covers like this:

(clear, thick plastic... also used for projectors... like back in high school note taking days)

Let's get started!

I chose the five things that I find myself always wondering

"When was the last time I washed this?"

Bed Sheets

Pillow Cases

Bathroom Rugs

Cat Food Mats

Throw Blankets

and then I typed up a pretty little Word Document with some dot leaders...

I put that aside, then taped together two pieces of plastic. Leave one side open so you can slide your paper in and out.

Take your time on this!

Then I slid my print-out between the two pieces.

Next we are going to put the 3M strips on the back...

And then slap that baby on the wall!

Now is the fun part... write the date that you washed each item.

I put mine right beside the washing machine.

Works great! I am already using it!!

I considered using a picture frame, but I didn't want to risk it falling off the wall or the washing machine lid hitting it when it's open. If you have more room, a picture frame would look cute!

This is just another way for you to clear your mind of something you can write down really quick. We travel so much and are always on the run so I can never remember when I wash that stuff. Now I will always know!

Have a great weekend!

Designing My New Makeup Vanity Room!

THIS HAS CONSUMED MY EVERY WAKING MINUTE OF LIFE!

AND SLEEP!

Okay kidding... but I have been thinking about it A LOT.

So in case you haven't picked up on this yet... I live with Tyson in Joplin part time and I live with my 'rents at the Lake part time. So far, so good. With that being said, Tyson's house is rather...

manly

Which I'm okay with...

I have changed a few things, thrown a lot of crap away, cleaned some stuff that ain't neva been cleaned, and so on... you get the point.

So he has this random room... upstairs... with the our bedroom, the spare bedroom, and the bathroom.

We call it the "crap room"... you'll see why.

It's the "crap room" for two reasons.

1. This is where we put the crap we don't have a place for.

2. The cats crap here.

Makes sense to me.

So this crap room used to be WAAAAAY worse. When I met Tyson, I couldn't see the floor.

It had two more shelves in it, crap laying on every surface (including the floor), and all of that wire was sprawled all over the floor.

I nearly had a coronary.

I slowly started cleaning it and this is where I am today.

much better... trust me

(this is the wall to the left of the doorway)

SO.

I have this disease where I can never "fully" get ready. I take a shower, lotion up, brush my teeth, do my makeup, and then...

screeeeeeeeeeching halt

Hair never gets done.

(or sometimes the hair gets done and no makeup)

(or sometimes neither get done)

I never ever knew that most girls SIT DOWN to get ready.

SAY WHAAAT!?

I stand at the dang sink and do my thang.

My feet start to hurt, I get hot from the shower steam, I'm blocking the sink and Tyson can't do anything...

I NEED A VANITY!

The crap room is the perfect size to transform into a makeup vanity room. I went to Lowe's and started looking at cabinetry, lighting, paint, and instantly started pestering Tyson to finish the sheet rock and put a damn light fixture in there.

Here is my working-vision!

SWEET RIGHT?

Once Tyson finishes the sheet rock and the overhead light fixture, I get to paint!

Ikea has most of the furniture pieces that I am going to shove in this tiny room. This "room simulator" is for a kitchen, so I had to use their cabinetry pieces and not the actual pieces I will be purchasing.

These are the pieces I have picked out.

All that shoved on one wall hopefully!

I'm gonna jam those theater system components in the Pax wardrobe along with all those damn wires.

(Wondering about the wires? Tyson used to do home theater systems so when he wired his own house, he never really finished the job... clearly.)

The cleaning supplies, clear tote boxes, and that other crap will go in the Pax wardrobe, too.

The Micke desk will house my makeup...

and the Alex unit will house more makeup along with my hair and beauty items!

Here is my inspiration!

I have to find a leopard chair!

So what do you think? Do you like? Do you have any suggestions?

Let me know!

Shopping Tip!

Here's the deal.

I have OCD.

That's pretty clear.

I also have a fear of my stuff getting stolen.

Makes me crazy.

Had a bad experience. When your purse gets stolen, it's traumatic.

So here's the deal. When I go to the store (Target/TJ Maxx/Sam's Club) I basically strap my purse in to my cart like I would a small child. I mean, the contents of a ladies purse are:

1. Private

and

2. Valuable

Otherwise, we wouldn't haul that crap around with us EVERYWHERE.

So think about this scenario...

There I am, shopping the clearance aisle at TJ Maxx, in an intense thought process about how I can re-purpose a busted picture frame or how I can incorporate this $5.00 vase in to my office and then...

BAM!

Someone tries to grab my purse!!

Well guess what happens?

They look like IDIOTS when my purse doesn't let go! That strap is holding my baby in place!

BOOYAH THIEF.

That didn't pan out for ya now, did it!?

So that's my tip. Strap that bad boy down. It takes two seconds.

Confessional Friday

1. I confess, I hang up my bathing suits. Not just to dry after I wear them, but I put them on hangers in my closet. Yeah... they are just too darn pretty to be shoved away in a drawer. Oh... and I always keep my bikinis tied together so I never end up some where with only half of the set. It works brilliantly.

2. I confess, one of my three email inboxes is completely empty. I mean I don't store any emails in my inbox. I either file them or delete them. I didn't think this was weird until I saw a friends iPhone and they had over 200 emails waiting to be opened. The other two are organized very nicely, but a few messages (less than 10) must stay in the inbox for daily reminders.

3. I confess, I watch "The Nanny" at night when I can't sleep. Fran Drescher is down right hilarious. Now, I will say... back in the 90's when The Nanny first aired, I was not impressed... I was also only 13 years old, but now it's just flat out funny!

4. I confess... I just ate about 20 of those little hashbrown/tator tots from Hardee's. Crap.

That's all I can drum up for Confessional Friday! Have a splendid weekend!!

Organization Tip!

I'm an organization FREAK! I mean it's serious. I have friends who call me to help them unpack and organize their new homes. Heck, I have had friends of friends call for help! The funniest thing is two or three years later I'll get random phone calls from these ladies and they will say:

"Hey Tristan, do you know where my heart shaped cake pan is?"

and I say

"Yes, it's in the bottom cabinet on the far right behind your fondue maker."

So here is a fun little organization tip for your bathroom! I like to display certain cosmetics that I use regularly like my lipglosses. Those little guys roll around too easy so I needed to contain them!

Here we have the Lipgloss Containing Device.

aka

Shaving Cream Lids

They're fun colors and easily fit three or four lipglosses! I have these displayed on a shelf beside the counter and sink. It keeps them from rolling off the shelf and I can easily see what I have to choose from!

It's easy and FREE! Well if you buy shaving cream it's free. Don't steal the lids off shaving cream, ladies! Lol

Now go dig in your trash for that last bottle of shaving cream and pull that lid off!

Kidding.

Well not really. I would.

:-)