How to REALLY Declutter Your Home

It is the beginning of January, so of course social media is flooded with diets, exercise plans, and tips to get organized. Everything promises fast results to make it more appealing. "How to Lose 25lbs in 6 Weeks!" "Get Toned Abs with This 5 Minute Workout!" "Declutter Your Entire House in 30 Days!"

No wonder people give up so easily on their New Year's resolutions. We can't expect instant results. We should, however, expect to put in a lot of time and effort to achieve goals.

I blogged about decluttering and organizing a few times early last year, but behind the scenes it was an ongoing process all year long. I keep a post-it note in my planner to tally up how many garbage bags of stuff I got rid of and by the end of the year I had purged 96 BAGS!

Stop and mentally picture that for a moment.

Honestly, my house is cluttered, but we don't live like extreme hoarders. I still don't feel like it made that much of a difference. Quite a bit of it came from our storage shed as I thinned out the amount of clothes and shoes that I save for hand me downs. I think I do see a lot of difference there (and a lot of empty totes!) I purged a lot of fabric and craft supplies, too. (GASP!)

Anyway, I did go through some really strong decluttering sprees, especially when it was time to switch out seasonal clothes, but mostly it was a slow, chipping away at one area or another. Sometimes I was intentional about working on one area per day, sometimes I followed a list, and sometimes it just depended on my mood and/or time constraints. I also participated in a Spring Fling where we worked on one room per day for 2 weeks. It was good to have motivation and accountability, but most of my friends fell behind schedule and didn't finish.

The popular 30 day decluttering lists are a nice way to start, but they don't leave much flexibility. Not everyone has the same problem areas in their home. Sometimes life happens and we need a little grace.

I have some different ideas...

 

1. Find something that works for you. If you can do it all in a month and be done- GREAT! In the past, I have tried to focus on one room per week, but as soon as I get to the kids' bedrooms I tend to fizzle out and quit. I need to give myself some grace, admit if something isn't working, and start again. This year, I plan to focus on one room per month. I am not sure how it will go, but I am trying it! I have also found that I need to pace myself a bit. I tend to get a bit carried away and rip everything apart. For example, today I am cleaning out the refrigerator. Just the inside. I am honestly procrastinating washing out the drawers by writing this blog post, but I did get all of the old food cleared out. :)
2. It is a continual process. I can declutter one area and a few months later it is a wreck. I have to continually revisit challenging areas and maybe even find a new way to store or organize things. It is OK to admit that the awesome idea I saw on Pinterest doesn't work well in my home. I may find that I didn't actually need something because I haven't used it since the last time I decluttered. Also, things keep creeping into my home and taking up more space. Which leads me to...
3. Limit the stuff. I am trying to be more intentional about the things I bring into my home. Do I really need this? Can I "make do" with something else? What is the quality like? Is it really going to last? Dropping off 2 bags and the thrift store and coming home with 3 more totally defeats the purpose! I think the biggest key to preventing clutter is to not let it into my house in the first place.
4. Build in some extra motivation. Maybe you are self motivated when it comes to cleaning. If so, disregard this one. I am not always feeling very industrious, so I need a little push at times. I keep my tally sheet post it in the inside of my planner cover. Seeing how much I have accomplished so far helps me to keep striving to up that number. I guess marking that little tally line is similar to putting stickers on a potty training chart! I also have some friends and family who appreciate decluttering as much as I do and we will text each other when we accomplish something awesome. Having people come alongside me to cheer me on is a big help. (Thank you!) If you need me to be that person, just send me a message and I will be glad to send you congratulatory gifs and stickers! Some people might like joining a facebook group for accountability. Some might want to buy a nice, new shirt to replace the 5 they threw out. Some might just want to take a nice bubble bath when they finish one dreaded area. I think is OK to reward yourself!

I am going to keep plugging away at my decluttering this year and I will probably share more about it on facebook, if you would like to follow along there. I know that I am not alone, so I want to try to check in with the rest of my fellow declutterers from time to time so that we can cheer each other on and lift one another up. (YOU CAN DO IT!!! The cheerleader in me never quits!)

Happy New Year!

2017 Crafty Year in Review

WOW! So much has happened this past year! I thought it might be fun to throw together one last blog post for the year recapping some of my favorite posts from 2017. Everything is linked if you missed it and want to go check it out! I started off 2017 very strong in the decluttering and organizing area. I keep a tally sheet and I have actually purged 95 garbage bags of "stuff" this year! Some was garbage and a lot was donated. This coming year I plan to be more intentional about what I bring into our home (especially craft supplies!) Also, look for more blog posts about this topic in the coming year.

I did some winter decorating. (I can't wait to get all of that stuff back out next week when the kids go back to school! Yay!)

I shared some of my favorite recipes. This year, I am hoping to add more gluten free recipes since my husband is not friends with wheat.

The biggest to happen on the blog this year was that I was chosen to participate in Project Run and Play... and I actually won! I was so intimidated by the other designers and it was so stressful (I might have burned myself out a bit) and the weather was absolutely horrible (a March blizzard!) but it was an amazing journey. I really pushed my limits through the competition.

I never did sew Easter dresses for the rest of the girls after the competition was over this year. I really needed a break from sewing. I did, however, whip up some beautiful flower girl dresses for my niece's wedding. I really loved them!!!

I added a new doll dress pattern and tutorial. These also fit Wellie Wisher dolls if anyone got one of those for Christmas! I have several new free patterns I hope to release soon.

Sometimes I let my kids do some blogging, too. My 13yo had an entire week devoted to her love of washi tape.

I had quite a few posts about kids crafts and activities. Here are some of my favorites...

I expect 2018 to be a year of big changes- my oldest graduating high school and my youngest starting Kindergarten. These changes will likely affect my blogging in many ways. Expect a lot of weepy, sentimental posts. You have been warned. Perhaps I will have more time to sew/craft/blog this fall, but I doubt it. My kids are all getting older and entering new stages, so I won't be sewing or crafting the same things.

Also, blogs seem to be a dying art. I don't read blogs daily as I used to years ago. Social media is constantly changing, too. For now, I am pretty active on facebook and instagram, so you can follow me there if you are also not a daily blog reading type.

I hope your 2018 is an amazing year, no matter what changes it may bring!

Wordless Wednesday- Christmas

December is always a pretty slim blogging month for me. Other bloggers are sharing all of these awesome Christmas craft tutorials and I am usually just stuck at the idea stage of any Christmas craft projects. I get all of these fabulous ideas, perhaps even purchase the supplies, and then we just get busy. That is life. I have been trying to simplify Christmas as much as possible. I don't want it to be a stressful time of year. I want it to be a joyful time of year.

Everything went pretty smoothly and we had one of the nicest Christmases that I can remember.

But Christmas break is kicking my butt. It is hard to enjoy the time with your children when they steal coffee, fight, act out, trash the house, etc. I took all electronics on Day 2. We have no TV. It is too cold to play outside. They are definitely getting bored. Yet, I feel like if I take them anywhere fun it will be a reward for their awful behavior.

Yesterday I ate a half of a bag of m&m's.

So, I am trying to blog, but the words are stuck. So, although I just typed out a bunch of stuff, I am now giving you a "wordless Wednesday" post, inspired by the good old days when people read blogs daily. It is a conglomeration of fun pics snapped around the house and assorted crafts. Enjoy.

DIY Handwriting Copy Sign Tutorial

A new trend I have noticed is displaying portions of handwritten notes enlarged as a sign. I think it is a lovely way to remember special words. I was recently asked to create a sign with a portion of Clarence's note from It's a Wonderful Life so I thought I would snap a few pictures of the process to share a tutorial on the blog.

I happened to have the perfect size board already on hand. It is a rough cut board sanded slightly, so it has the rough edges and saw blade marks still visible. It really gives the piece some rustic character. I just lightly brushed some cream paint onto the board to get a weathered effect. You can also sand the edges to remove paint and make it more rustic.

Next, I resized the portion of the original note I was using and printed it out. (I just use Microsoft Word because I can use the page size to estimate dimensions.) I used carbon paper to transfer the image to the painted wood.

I used a fine tip black paint marker to paint the words onto the wood. It is more natural to make handwriting with a paint marker vs. a paintbrush. I also let the roughness of the wood texture the lettering by not filling in chips and grain.

Finally, I applied an antiquing wax to further age and seal the piece.

I think this technique would be really sweet for old love notes from your spouse, cards from special occasions, or even treasured family recipes!

You may also like...

Christmas Signs

LOVE Sign

Fall Signs

Barn Sale Sign

Puzzle Organization

Hey there! I am still here. You can always assume that if I am not blogging it is because I am super busy with real life stuff. I tend to take on too much and end up getting really burned out. That usually results in getting sick, too. It is like my body is forcing me to slow down and take care of myself. Unfortunately, moms don't get sick days. Even though my 4yo was struggling with a nasty cold herself, she still had way more energy than I could handle. I have written before about utilizing busy bags, quiet books, or stashes of special toys/activities to keep little ones occupied. The past few days we have gone through quite a few of them.

At the beginning of the year I was on a major decluttering and organizing spree. One of the things I tackled was the puzzles. I decided to throw away any puzzles that did not have all of their pieces. Most of them are from the Dollar Tree so it was not a great loss. It made it easier to clean the rest of the house because I tossed any pieces I found instead of saving them and trying to put them in the right box later. Here is the before picture...

Puzzle boxes take up a lot of space for the tiny pieces that they hold. They also come in all shapes and sizes, so the boxes do not stack neatly anywhere. I decided that it was easier to put them all in bags instead. All of the bags fit in one bin from the Dollar Tree. (Honestly, I don't shop there very often!) I cut the pictures off of the boxes so that they know what it is supposed to look like.

I can fit dozens of puzzles in that little bin!

It was a simple storage solution for us. Although, the puzzle my daughter chose to do was actually missing one piece. Figures!

Other posts that you may find helpful…

8 Tips that Help Me Declutter

Kitchen Decluttering and Organizing

Kitchen Organization for Lunchbox Stuff

Kitchen Drawer Organizing