Manda Monday--Now at Wheaton Park District!

Happy Monday, everyone!

I'm thrilled to announce that in addition to my summer classes at Waubonsee Community College, I'm now also at Wheaton Park District! I hope you can join me for one, or all, of my classes there.

Coupon Royalty

Coupon queens (and kings!) are able to cut their grocery and drug store bills in half and obtain products for free, and so can you! Become “coupon royalty” by making coupons work for you.   Learn the rules for spotting the best deals in stores; pairing coupons with sales, rebates, and customer loyalty programs; and using the best coupon web sites. Join Coupon Princess Amanda Grant (that's me!) in pursuit of the perfect balance of efficient and ethical couponing techniques.

Mondays, June 11-25, 7-8:30pm, Cost: $31 for residents, $39 for non-residents


The Ultimate Roadtrip: How to Survive (and enjoy!) a Family Vacation

Summer vacations are a great time to create memories with your family.  Make sure those memories are happy ones with surefire strategies that make “getting there” half the fun! Learn fun games suitable for all ages, techniques to get the best behavior from your travel buddies, and ways for each family member to participate in decision-making.   Tips for travelling on a budget with kids are included.  Happy travels!

Tuesday, June 12, 7-9pm, Cost: $29 for residents, $36 for non-residents

Saved by the Bell: Getting Your Family Organized in Time for School

The school bell will ring in a few weeks…is your family ready to make the transition from summer fun to school readiness? Start the process now with tips and techniques to get your family organized including:  strategies for getting ready for school the night before, how to get kids to complete housework and homework with minimal complaint, creating routines that get your family out of the door on time in the morning, and ideas for a family communication station to handle permission slips, sports schedules, family events and more. Make the transition from summer fun to school adventures a happy and calm one for your family.   

Thursday, July 12, 7-9pm, Cost: $29 for residents, $36 for non-residents

For more information, or to register, go here.  I hope to see you this summer!

OMG Organizing!

OMG you guys!!!  Guess what arrived via FedEx today?

Here's a hint:

Here's another hint:

It's a hot-off-the-press copy of The Best of Martha Stewart Living Organizing!

Be still, my heart! While this has the shape and cover of a magazine, the organization and weight are more suited to a book. It has organizing ideas for every room in the house, accompanied by great photo spreads.   

A few of the rooms featured are Martha's! I just love getting peaks into her home and life.  Through her blog and other media, of course. It's not like I'm stalking Martha, okay?

This special Organizing issue is on newsstands until April 30. For anyone wanting to get organized this year, and for those who are mostly organized but need some fresh ideas, this magazine is for you.

Happy organizing!

Martha Monday--Organizing the kitchen

Did you know that Martha's to-do lists are on her website? It's true, they are!  And today, Martha is making time to "organize kitchen drawers and discard any unused items."

Of course, I'm sure Martha's kitchen drawers are in perfect order already, and her "to-do" is more of a reminder for the rest of us. I'm on it, Martha!

For more kitchen organization, check out Martha's 50 Top Kitchen Tips. Happy organizing!

Christmas card books

I love Christmas cards, both sending and receiving.  They are on display the moment they arrive at my house, and they are usually the last bit of Christmas decorations that come down. 

For the past few years, I've been saving the cards rather than throwing them out. I'd bundle them up with a rubber band, slap on a post-it denoting the year, and tuck them into a small storage tote.  But those days are over. 

I found a better way to store them on Pinterest:  punch holes in the cards and secure them with clasping rings to make a fun Christmas card book.  This idea is from Michelle Allen at Close to My Art, and it's a brilliant one! 

I took it a step further and made a front cover for my Christmas card book.  The snowflakes were made using a Martha Stewart Crafts punch, and the year is stamped on.  So crafty!

The clasping rings I got for this project are too big, but I'll swap them out for some smaller ones before I tackle this year's cards.

Using two hole punches was sufficient for the cards.  Now I have all the cards, pictures and even Christmas letters secure for next year. 

To include the Christmas letters, I folded them in half with the writing on the outside. This way I can turn the page and not have to undo the clasping rings to read the whole letter.

I am really happy with how this project turned out. It was really easy to do, and the clasping rings only cost about $0.50 each at my local Ace Hardware.  This is going to make a great coffee table book for next year!

Label those lids!

With the holidays upon us, I wanted to share a helpful tip for keeping track of rarely-used ingredients.  So often exotic and unusual spices and seasonings are purchased for holiday baking, only to be confined to the back of the cabinet for the rest of the year.  Write the month and year of when you first opened or bought those bottles, so that you can see at a glance just how old the spice/seasoning is before using it in a recipe. 

After all, the cream of tartar works much better when it hasn't aged out of usefulness.  Spices do not have an unlimited shelf life, and it's nice to know if the cardamom you're about to put into that cookie recipe is from 2010 or 1996. 

I started labelling the lids this summer, and it's been a huge help. Not only do I know when I opened something, but now I can also gauge how fast I go through something.  Example: if I'm plowing through an 8 oz. bottle of clear vanilla extract in three months, then I should consider buying more when they are on sale, or purchasing a larger size.  Like in a five-gallon bucket.  Just sayin'.

Happy baking!

Manda Monday--Countdown to Christmas

Christmas is right around the corner. I started preparing over a week ago with shopping and decorating so I have good head start on this busy season.

Before Thanksgiving, we managed to get five Christmas trees up, and four of them are decorated.  The Christmas Village has yet to make an appearance, despite Little Guy asking me to put it up at least four times a day.  I hope to get that done, along with decorating the big tree and setting up the remaining trees, this week.  And if the weather is dry and not bone-chillingly cold, the outside lights might get put up as well.

For the record, we are the proud owners of eight Christmas trees of various sizes. My goal has always been to have a personalized or themed tree in each major room of my house.  But not in the bathrooms, because that would just be excessive.

When the decorating is done, I'll turn my attention to shopping and baking.  Little Guy is not much into shopping, but he is just as excited as I am to start baking. Already we've gone through six cookbooks to mark the recipes we want to try.  While he declares every recipe as one we have to make, I'm going to try to limit our efforts to just 10-12 varieties of cookies.  I don't want to go overboard--my Christmas is all about moderation.

In all seriousness, I do like to give baked goods as gifts.  Our neighbors and coworkers will get cookies this year...all 93 of them!...so I'll be making three batches of each of those 10-12 cookie varieties.  The amount of butter I go through at this time of year is criminal.  

Shopping will certainly take some time.  All told, we buy gifts for at least 38 people, not including the TMI household.  Fortunately, gifts for Little Miss, Little Guy and Big Guy are almost entirely done, and that is a big load off my shoulders.   

When it comes to shopping, organization is key.  I already have my gift ideas and budget on an Excel spreadsheet, and I'll take that with me to the stores. I find that this one piece of paper saves me a ton of time and money. Time, because I go into a store with a good idea of what to look for, and money, because I have a set budget and seeing it in print helps me stick to it.  If you have problems shopping for gifts, I strongly recommend that you make a list and budget, and then stick to it.  Hey, it works for Santa!

In addition to the decorating, baking and shopping, I'd like to get the kids out to see fun Christmas light displays, a trip or two to see Santa and some other fun holiday activities in the lovely city of Aurora.

This is going to be a busy, and fun, season! 

Manda Monday--Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest?  It's a great (free!) online program that works like a virtual bulletin board. Whenever you see something amazing online, whether it's an image, product, recipe or whatever, you can 'pin it' onto your board for future reference.  The location of the original info is saved, so if you pin a recipe for example, the picture and your comment stay on your board along with the web address for easy reference later.

The lovely Dora from Waubonsee Community College introduced me to Pinterest--"you'll love it!" she said-- and now I'm obsessed!  Any spare moment I have lately has been devoted to finding and pinning all the great ideas on the web that I want to save and refer to later.   You can make as many bulletin boards and pin as many things as you like. You can follow other people's boards for ideas, and people can follow your boards as well.

The Little Guy's birthday is next month and we're having a dinosaur-theme party. I've been using Pinterest to keep track of all the cool dino-party ideas I'm finding online:

I have boards for Halloween, kids' activities and crafts, recipes I want to try and more.  You can follow me on Pinterest here and see what I'm up to. 

Are you on Pinterest?  If you find lots of inspiration and cool ideas online that you want to save, then this application could be quite useful for you.  Happy pinning!

Found functional space

Sometimes, space is at a premium, and functional space is even harder to find. Sometimes, you have to create your own space.  Space with function.  Space with a purpose.   Last week, we did just that.

On the second floor we had a stretch of bare wall space between the kids' bedrooms and the bathroom.  That space was begging for a function so I gave it one: it's now the hoodie capital of the house. 

The Big Guy hung six hooks: three sports ball hooks for the Little Guy and three flowers for Little Miss. They are at the perfect height for little hands to grab a jacket and go.

My hope is that even though this area is not by an outside door, the kids' hoodies and tote bags will make their way here at the end of each day.  That way, when we are rushing out the door in the morning, tote bags and jackets are right there.  The kids can find what they need, grab and go. 

It is also my hope that this will help teach responsibility and underscore the importance of putting things back where they belong.  It's a very important space!

For now, the map is there just for kicks.  But later, once I allow them to venture out on their own and maybe even cross the street without me, they'll check this map to plan their trip.  Because the world is a very big space. 

Summer FAIL

Summer is officially over and part of me is really sad. I had lots of goals this summer; the biggest and best goal--having fun with my kids--was definitely accomplished. Goal #2--become a real gardener--can also be checked off my list.  But Goal #3--get caught up on the kids' scrapbooks and photo albums--completely and totally fell by the wayside.  Thus the sadness.  TMI GOAL FAIL.

For a while, I really almost totally was ready to tackle this project. I had ordered a bunch of pictures through Snapfish at the beginning of the summer with the best of intentions to work on the photo albums. Then, as tends to happen with small children around, Little Miss got into the envelopes of pictures and mixed them all up.  Pictures were everyone and disorganization reigned.  LITTLE MISS FAIL.

Obviously, that quasi-disaster set me back a little bit.  By mid-summer, the picture jumble was driving me mad and I couldn't take it anymore.  I spread everything out on the office floor and spent an entire morning sorting through 200+ pictures.  I organized them by month, but to get the months right, I had to compare groups of pictures with the digital versions on my computer. 

It was a long and tedious process, though I did enjoy the stroll down memory lane.

Now, all pictures are sorted by month and tucked inside a storage bin drawer.  Where they sit.  And wait. As you can see from the month labels, I am exactly two years behind on the photo albums.  AMANDA FAIL.

Summer was a busy time, and all things considered, I am choosing to be happy about what I did accomplish rather than be unhappy about what I didn't.  After all, making happy memories with your kids trumps getting caught up on photo albums and scrapbooks any time.  But, the anal-retentive Martha Stewart wanna-be in me is hanging her head in shame over this fail.  PERSPECTIVE FAIL.

Now that we're in fall, I know there's no way I'll be touching these pictures anytime soon--the Little Guy's birthday and Halloween are just around the corner, and I have a ton of home improvements planned between now and then.  Still, if I just try a bit harder to channel my inner Martha, buckle down and learn to live on three hours of sleep each night, I might be able to get this done by working on bits here and there.  That's a good strategy, right?

REALITY FAIL.

Waste not

Just like Martha Stewart, I abhor waste.  Wasted time, money, effort, resources...it all bothers me.  I try to make things last for as long as possible, and I hate to throw anything out.  For example, take a look at all of these shampoo and conditioner bottles. 

Some bottles contain enough product for one or two more uses, but they're all at the point where it's impossible to get it out of the container.  Others have more product in there, but I stopped using it because its companion shampoo/conditioner was all used up.  I like to be on the same page with my shampoo and conditioner, you know?

Anways, check out the Lotion Saver from the Container Store.

These bottle couplers allow for easy transfer from one bottle to another.  It took a day or two, but now I have everything condensed into their appropriate bottles.  Amazingly, a small bit here and there combined to make over 7 ounces of shampoo and about 5 ounces of conditioner.  That's enough product for a whole month, and to think that all of that would have gone to waste...sniffle.  Now, I have a super-crazy concoction of shampoos and conditioners made from all different consistencies and scents.  Doesn't that sound fun?

Of course, I always did a have a crazy idea of what "fun" is.  I hope it bodes well for my hair!

Labels and dates

During the most recent expedition to my basement for a sorting/organizing/purging session, I did something I should have done long ago...I labelled boxes. 

Yep, that's right: a Martha-Stewart-wannabe had not been labelling boxes in her own basement.  The horror!

And why hadn't I been labelling boxes?  Because I always think I will remember what is in them.  And do I ever remember?  No.  No, I do not.

As a result, I go through the same boxes again and again when I am looking for things. And each time, the angel on my right shoulder says "You should really label these boxes."  To which the devil on my left shoulder replies "Nah! You'll totally remember what is in each and every single box.  All 300 of them!"

And guess which one I believe every time?  Well, no more. I finally labelled boxes after I was done sorting and organizing the contents. Take a look:

Not only did I label the boxes with the contents, but I also included the date I labelled them. Now I know when this box of photo albums was sorted, and I can move on with my life. 

The little devil on my left shoulder has been stunned into silence.  I'm enjoying the quiet.

Spring break FAIL

So I had grand plans for a boatload of cleaning I wanted to accomplish over my spring break. 

Did the master bathroom get cleaned?  No.

Did the kitchen get cleaned?  Negative.

Did the basement get cleaned?  Meh. Kind of. I guess.

To be fair, I did have an unexpected family situation come up that required two days of my time. Then I volunteered to babysit a friend's kid so she could get some work stuff done, so there went another day. Add an unhappy Little Miss with tonsilitis to the mix, and my ideal spring break of cleaning my house from top to bottom has now been postponed until next year.     

The Big Guy and I did tackle the basement on Tuesday morning and serious progress was made. 
Here's the pile of trash:

This is the Mountain of Boxes.  With all the consolidation of STUFF going on, we have a lot of boxes left over.  It might be time to unload these via Craigslist. Do you know anyone with a move in their future? If so, let them know that all the boxes they need are in my basement.

The Big Guy made a lot of progress on his Man Cave/Rec Room.  Truthfully, it's driving me nuts that a room is set up without actual any actual walls, floor or ceiling, but this project is making him happy, so I'm trying to keep my mouth shut.

I did add a few more boxes to the garage sale pile.  It may not look like much from the picture, but each column is actually three boxes deep.  That's a lot of crap that needs to get out of my house by this summer.

This is the only remaining area of the basement that remains unidentified and unsorted.  Not cool.  I plan to tackle it in the next few weeks. 

The only task on my original "Spring Break To-Do List" that was truly completed is the take down and storage of the Easter decorations.  They were taken down, safely packed and tucked away in just under two hours.  How was this done so quickly and completely?

Easy...My Big Martha did it. 

Communication central

We are a busy family. For the most part, I do an okay job of keeping everything together.  This helps:

It is Communication Central.  Command Central.  The Giant Cork Board Thing That Helps Keep This Family Organized.  Whatever you want to call it, this organization tool is how I've been keeping us, well, organized.

The 5x4 cork board takes up a good portion of a wall in the kitchen.  Originally, I had hoped for an even bigger piece of cork board, but 5x4 was as big as I could fine. 

To keep track of birthdays, kids' activities, work events and more, I keep three months of calendar up at all times. It's nice to plan quarterly, whatever that quarter may be.

The map of our lovely city takes up most of the board.  I'm okay with that because I am a visual person and still feel new to the Aurora area, and the map is consulted at least once a week. 

I've even laid out points of interest/importance for our caregivers, in case they want to get out and about with the kids.

Below the map are three clear plastic sheet protectors I'm using as pockets.  The pocket on the left  contains the maps to get to and from all those points of interest.  The middle pocket contains things I need to deal with soon, like a Groupon that's going to expire in a few weeks.  Note to self:  get to Alsip Nursery soon!   

The last pocket contains the daily routine and info about the kids for their caregivers, and that is actually the newest addition to the communication center.  I'm anticipating great success with posting it as we have 3-4 nannies during the month and everyone needs to be on the same page as far as the kids are concerned. 

Sigh. I heart organization.

Party time organization

Remember that big organizing tear I went on in January?  I'm still on it, but I've slowed considerably. Nonetheless, I am determined to organize/clean out the basement in time for a summer yard sale and I recently cleaned up another bit of the basement...an outrageous amount of uncorralled and unsorted party supplies. 

Whenever fun party supplies go on clearance (serious clearance, not some measly 30% sale) I pick them up. This happens a little bit at a time, and the result was a bunch of shopping bags of party stuff distributed randomly throughout the basement. Not cool.

I brought everything into the dining room and got busy sorting.  General party stuff, such as crepe paper, balloons, banners and theme-less goody bags went into the first box.  See my trusty balloon blower-upper thingy?  If you have kids and therefore parties that call for balloons, get this thing. I bought it for $2.50 at Wal-Mart and it has saved my lungs. 

All the Sesame Street themed stuff went into the next box.  I had a Sesame Street theme for the Little Guy's second birthday, with the plan of doing the same thing for my next child.  Fortunately, I have plenty of cups, plates, napkins, party hats and decorations to make that happen.  Come next February, Little Miss will celebrate her second birthday with Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster and company. 

Note to self:  do not buy any more Sesame Street themed party supplies.

Once the general party and Sesame Street supplies were sorted, I had a huge amount of sports-themed party supplies left.  I have an astonishing amount of plates, napkins, cups, decorations, goody bags and invitations ready for the day when the Little Guy decides he wants a sports-themed birthday.  I don't think that will be this year, as he just entered a major dinosaur phase, but it is coming.  And until that day, these supplies will keep just fine in the basement. 

Note to self: do not buy any more sports-themed party supplies. 

Being organized is great for so many reasons: you can see what you have, what you need, and what you don't need, and that saves you time and money.  Now that the party supplies are organized and I know that guilt and shame will be mine if I buy any more Sesame Street or sports-themed stuff, I feel much, much better and more prepared for the next party.  Plus, getting organized is a bit like a party for me. 

Just so you know, I party like a rock star.