Variety In Enjoyment
It's Sunday evening, and I've found another new website to use. The link is listed above. I'll mention it again just to make sure www.easyhomeorganizing.com. The site is full of organizing tips, techniques, and product recommendations to assist in making our homes as efficient as possible. I've only visited the Kitchen/Pantry section. I'm looking forward to using a number of ideas presented for storing some of those "what do I do with these" items such as chip bags. I never even thought of using a plastic planter. It's long and narrow and would be absolutely perfect for these types of bags. The article on making the most of kitchen cabinet storage was helpful as well. The list of things to keep me organized is growing by leaps and bounds. Whether you are aiming at a general, all-purpose sort of organization throughout your home or perhaps you have one spot that troubles you, I think that visiting this website will provide you with some sort of help.
Me getting organized is rather an odd thing. Not only have I never really been organized, the fact that I wasn't didn't really bother me all that much. After all, you know how we artsy types are. Besides, unless someone opened my cupboards or peeked into my closets the extent of the chaos in my home was virtually undetectable. It's an "out of sight, out of mind" thing. If I can't see it, I forget about it. The past several years however have brought about a gradual change in my thinking. Thanks in part to many wise women who have written about this topic in their newsletters and various other publications, I now see things completely different. To tell the truth, often I can't believe it's me when I ruthlessly purge those unneccesary piles of "stuff" that kept me bound. A thought that crossed my mind during prayer once was this "Your home is a reflection of your life. The manner in which you care for those things the Lord has entrusted you to be a steward of is a physical manifestation of how you care for your heart, the home of Christ." Talk about putting things in perspective! The way I viewed not only my home, but other areas in my life began to change immediately. Change started small, but start it did. Surprisingly, as I followed the Lord's guidance and direction in what seemed to be a momentous task, areas that I thought most definitely needed "fixed" the Lord said not to worry about; while other areas that seemed like no big deal to me, He dealt with quickly and thoroughly.
What has surprised me the most is how little of this process has been about organizing. Most of it has been about me changing. Outlooks, opinions, beliefs, so much has been altered just in the task of organization. Priorities have been adjusted. Interestingly enough, the lesson God has brought me back to time and again has been that if He isn't pleased, He will let me know. I don't have to change the way I do things just because I receive a magazine in the mail that says there is a "new" way of doing this or that. The fact that "all the other homeschool moms do it" does not make it a command from God to me. Neither does "all the other women in church do". More than once my loving, Heavenly Father has answered my frustrated cries with a "So?...or And?...that has WHAT to do with you?" or "That's OK. All the other moms and women aren't called to walk in the destiny I've planned for you. So it's ok if you don't do it like everyone else. As a matter of fact, it works better that way. Just do it how I lead you to." Having God be the facilitator of my adventure in organization has been amazing. The release that comes to be who He made me to be is truly indescribable. If I want to use scrapbook paper and make tags to label jars in my pantry, that's not stupid or wasteful. He provided the paper, He made me to like pretty things, and He intends me to enjoy every moment of the life He has given me. If having pretty tags on my lentils and popcorn, even though no one sees them in my pantry, blesses me and makes me smile, then God's ok with that. It makes Him smile too. Not only that, being surrounded with beauty helps develop an appreciation for it in my children. As they observe their Mama using twine to attach "beautiful" labels onto recycled jars whose lids have been spray painted to cover up the evidence of their former use, they will not only learn that even common things can be beautiful. They will also find out that an attractive kitchen/home doesn't require large amounts of money. On top of that, it's fun. Something about taking "trash" and turning it into "treasure" or at least useful, is really fun to me and God gives me richly all things that I might enjoy(I Timothy 6:17)--even little "homemade" cannisters.
In case you are curious as what I did to make these storage "cannisters", I'll briefly tell.
*Saved jars of useful size and washed them really well
*Scraped any remaining glue/label off with razor blade
*Spray painted lid solid color-I used black, but any color could be used.
*Filled jar with dried beans, rice, popcorn, beverage mix, etc.
*Using tags printed on cardstock that were leftover from another project, I labeled each jar. On beverage labels, I included the mixing instructions and the bean-water ratio along with cooking instructions and time for the beans.
*Tied tags on with plain, old jute twine
Babyfood jars were recycled to hold homemade spice mixes. We painted the lids on these jars as well. However, we printed labels out on the computer rather than using tags. I must be a little bit "tag happy" because I also tagged coffee flavorings and vinegar that I keep in cruets on the counter. I love the contrast between the pretty glass cruets and the twine.
Wow! Have I blabbed on or what? Hope you enjoy the website. Talk to you tomorrow! (I hope)
Me getting organized is rather an odd thing. Not only have I never really been organized, the fact that I wasn't didn't really bother me all that much. After all, you know how we artsy types are. Besides, unless someone opened my cupboards or peeked into my closets the extent of the chaos in my home was virtually undetectable. It's an "out of sight, out of mind" thing. If I can't see it, I forget about it. The past several years however have brought about a gradual change in my thinking. Thanks in part to many wise women who have written about this topic in their newsletters and various other publications, I now see things completely different. To tell the truth, often I can't believe it's me when I ruthlessly purge those unneccesary piles of "stuff" that kept me bound. A thought that crossed my mind during prayer once was this "Your home is a reflection of your life. The manner in which you care for those things the Lord has entrusted you to be a steward of is a physical manifestation of how you care for your heart, the home of Christ." Talk about putting things in perspective! The way I viewed not only my home, but other areas in my life began to change immediately. Change started small, but start it did. Surprisingly, as I followed the Lord's guidance and direction in what seemed to be a momentous task, areas that I thought most definitely needed "fixed" the Lord said not to worry about; while other areas that seemed like no big deal to me, He dealt with quickly and thoroughly.
What has surprised me the most is how little of this process has been about organizing. Most of it has been about me changing. Outlooks, opinions, beliefs, so much has been altered just in the task of organization. Priorities have been adjusted. Interestingly enough, the lesson God has brought me back to time and again has been that if He isn't pleased, He will let me know. I don't have to change the way I do things just because I receive a magazine in the mail that says there is a "new" way of doing this or that. The fact that "all the other homeschool moms do it" does not make it a command from God to me. Neither does "all the other women in church do". More than once my loving, Heavenly Father has answered my frustrated cries with a "So?...or And?...that has WHAT to do with you?" or "That's OK. All the other moms and women aren't called to walk in the destiny I've planned for you. So it's ok if you don't do it like everyone else. As a matter of fact, it works better that way. Just do it how I lead you to." Having God be the facilitator of my adventure in organization has been amazing. The release that comes to be who He made me to be is truly indescribable. If I want to use scrapbook paper and make tags to label jars in my pantry, that's not stupid or wasteful. He provided the paper, He made me to like pretty things, and He intends me to enjoy every moment of the life He has given me. If having pretty tags on my lentils and popcorn, even though no one sees them in my pantry, blesses me and makes me smile, then God's ok with that. It makes Him smile too. Not only that, being surrounded with beauty helps develop an appreciation for it in my children. As they observe their Mama using twine to attach "beautiful" labels onto recycled jars whose lids have been spray painted to cover up the evidence of their former use, they will not only learn that even common things can be beautiful. They will also find out that an attractive kitchen/home doesn't require large amounts of money. On top of that, it's fun. Something about taking "trash" and turning it into "treasure" or at least useful, is really fun to me and God gives me richly all things that I might enjoy(I Timothy 6:17)--even little "homemade" cannisters.
In case you are curious as what I did to make these storage "cannisters", I'll briefly tell.
*Saved jars of useful size and washed them really well
*Scraped any remaining glue/label off with razor blade
*Spray painted lid solid color-I used black, but any color could be used.
*Filled jar with dried beans, rice, popcorn, beverage mix, etc.
*Using tags printed on cardstock that were leftover from another project, I labeled each jar. On beverage labels, I included the mixing instructions and the bean-water ratio along with cooking instructions and time for the beans.
*Tied tags on with plain, old jute twine
Babyfood jars were recycled to hold homemade spice mixes. We painted the lids on these jars as well. However, we printed labels out on the computer rather than using tags. I must be a little bit "tag happy" because I also tagged coffee flavorings and vinegar that I keep in cruets on the counter. I love the contrast between the pretty glass cruets and the twine.
Wow! Have I blabbed on or what? Hope you enjoy the website. Talk to you tomorrow! (I hope)