Smoked Salmon in Beautiful Boxes

Want a gift that provides a healthy, tasty treat plus a great box to use for some sort of storage? Look at the offerings from Alaska Smokehouse in their silk-screened wood boxes.




Here's another of their boxes.




You can also get their spreads (Salmon, Shrimp & Salmon, and Crab & Trout) in a variety of wood pencil boxes. It's a bit late for this Christmas box, but there's always next year.

Keeping the Useful and the Beautiful

The most-quoted statement related to organizing must be this one from William Morris: "Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

Thanks to Mary Knippel, I'm reading Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, by Sarah Ban Breathnach. The entry for May 16 is a commentary on the Morris quote, and seems appropriate for this time of year, too. Here is just a tiny part of that entry.

Ask each possession, are you beautiful? Useful? Is it time for you to move on? You will undoubtedly come to an object that is neither beautiful nor useful but has sentimental qualities. Create a new category (sorry, Mr. Morris) on your clearing list. But use restraint. Does it really tug at your heartstrings? Would you mourn if it disappeared? ...

How can more good come into our lives if there is no room for it? The way we create the vacuum is by giving away what we no longer need or desire but what can serve others ...

Deciding to simplify our lives and bring order to our homes by sending on the objects we no longer love to new, happier incarnations with people who will genuinely appreciate them is the way to open ourselves up to receiving an abundance that will perfectly suit us.

Christmas Ornament Storage

All too soon now the tree will be coming down and the ornaments will get put away. I know it can be tedious, but please take the time to store them carefully; so many lovely ornaments are also fragile.

Basic Techniques

FamilyTime has these suggestions:

- Pack glass balls in their original packaging, if possible. Individually wrap breakable ornaments in tissue paper.

- Replace old cardboard boxes with plastic tubs with tight-fitting lids. Fill the tubs with shredded newspaper and nestle ornaments in the paper. The shredded paper will prevent the ornaments from shifting too much if the tub is moved.

And over at Christmas Rants, there's a reminder and a suggestion:

- Make sure you wrap each Christmas ornament delicately in tissue paper. Avoid newsprint since the ink can rub off on elegant Christmas ornaments.

- If you have any old pieces of furniture, such as a dresser that you planned to get rid of, you can possibly convert it to a neat storage center for your Christmas ornaments.

But the most complete advice comes from Your Home Improvement Catalog; here are just two samples.

- Place bubble wrap or crumpled paper towels in the bottom of the Christmas ornament storage container before you put any wrapped decorations in it. If the box doesn't include sections, use extra tissue between decorations to provide more protection. Add a last layer on top of the ornaments before fastening the lid.

- Place some silica gel desiccant in every container to remove dampness. You can buy it at craft stores.


Specialty Products



1. You can find both plastic and cardboard ornament storage boxes and chests all over the place, from Amazon.com to organizing stores such as The Container Store and Stacks and Stacks. Some of these even have archival-quality storage, such as this box from The Container Store. Some stores that specialize in archival products, such as Gaylord, also have ornament boxes.




2. But there are some products you won't find all over, such as these ornament boxes which hold from 82-164 ornaments.




3. Sterling Pear sells some fancy ornament chests.




4. ZipBin has this collapsible ornament bin. That seasonal picture isn't quite what Christmas looks like for some of us, though.




5. The ornament safe is a very different way of storing ornaments.


[Italian clown ornaments; handpainted, mouthblown glass; via Gumps]

7 Stand-Out Staplers, Plus a Staple Remover

Office supply junkies - this one's for you!

1. Red Swingline 747 Stapler

This stapler was apparently featured in the movie Office Space, which I didn't see. After years of dull black staplers, I just like the splash of color. But apparently it's a pretty good stapler, too. [Note: The price on the Swingline web site seems to be higher than the one shown on other web sites. Photo from this web site.]




2. PaperPro Stapler

Neat looking, and easy on the hands - you can staple by pressing with just one finger. Various models handle 15, 20, or 25 sheets of paper. [via Tribe]




3. Moss Stapler

This is one of the simple and elegant staplers. Others include the Design Line stapler and the Blomus stapler.




4. Hello Kitty Stapler

This one's for those who favor cute over elegant.




5. Flowered stapler

Here's a softer look that might be nice in some home offices.




6. Recycled Plastic Mini-Stapler

This stapler is made with 84.3% recycled plastic, and it has a 20 sheet capacity.




7. Stapuller

Do your staple pullers always go missing? This stapler has a built-in staple puller.




Staple Remover from Jac Zagoory Designs

This alligator is one of a number of designs; others include a dragon, a T-Rex, and an elephant.

7 Alarm Clocks For a Gentler Wake-Up Call

Want to wake up to a pleasant alarm clock - and have it look somewhat stylish, too? Here are some options to consider.

1. Zen alarm clock (shown above)

This is the one I've used for years, and I've recently bought a second one for my guest bedroom. Waking up to a chime is nice - or as nice as any alarm clock is going to be. There's a choice of woods and clock faces.




2. Bose wave radio

This is the other alarm clock I own - a quite wonderful clock radio. Mine is an older version, and the only problem is my cat sometimes steps on the buttons on the top, jolting me awake at 3 a.m. (This newer version seems to not have those top buttons.) Not inexpensive, but I think I'll probably own it forever. Other versions include a CD player, and there's a connect kit for your iPod.




3. iPod alarm clock

There are certainly more iPod alarm clocks, but I like the looks of this one.




4. Progression alarm clock

I don't know how well this actually works, but the idea is nice. Quoting the web site: "This clock uses a gradual increase in ambient light, stimulating aromas, and peaceful sounds from nature to awaken sleepers." It does look strange, though. [via popgadget]




5. Moonbean Clock

This clock also wakes you up to light - no aromatherapy, though. (It also has an alarm bell.) It's a nice simple look, available in four colors. [via popgadget]




6. Talking animal alarm clocks

This cat one goes meow-meow-meow, of course. In case you're not a cat person, there are eight other options.




7. Voco - clocks that talk

"Excuse me, sir. I'm so sorry to disturb you, but it appears to be morning. Very inconvenient, I agree. I believe it is the rotation of the earth that is to blame." Wake up to one of 150 different messages. (There's a good morning, madam clock available, too.)

Letting Go of Spiritual or Emotional Clutter

Closed burden basket, ca. 1900. Weaver unknown, Mashpee Wampanoag.

This seems like a good time of year to share part of a thoughtful post by Dwayne Melancon at Genuine Curiosity:

Our visiting missionary was talking about how we are called to leave behind things that make it more difficult for us to live the life we want to live. The "things" we need to leave behind are sometimes physical, but he asked us to broaden our perspective to include relationships, grudges, and so forth. ...

Definitely got me thinking about how I can clean up some of the spiritual / emotional clutter. For example:

- Who can I forgive (or ask for forgiveness) and get past a grudge?

- Who can I apologize to and make amends?

- Do I have any relationships where it's time to move on and stop trying to "make it better?"

And Kimberly Southall shared this quote from Ephesians 4:31:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Katherine Gibson delves into emotional clutter in her wonderful book Unclutter Your Life. Here's just one quote:

Beth Skala talks of the Native American's burden basket. "It's the mental and spiritual clutter we carry. Our burden basket contains regrets, unfilled wishes, addictions, failures, memories of abuse, unresolved issues, and guilt. We can bend under its weight as life tosses more in, or we can set it down and examine what's in it and choose to unload some of the weight."

I wish all of you an uncluttered life in the year ahead.

[Burden basket photo from The Language of Native American Baskets]

Reader Question: Organizing the Exercise Equipment

Exercise equipment storage is a challenge for most of us who work out at home without the big machines. I personally have some of the same challenges as the reader who writes:

I love your blog, but don't see any posts on exercise equipment. My husband and I live in a 1,000sf condo so we don't have equipment like treadmills and elliptical trainers, but we have assorted small items like weights and balance boards. They are just stacked in a corner which I hate but I'm at a loss for what to do with them. We don't have a basement, garage, or utility room to store anything. The toughest thing is the large exercise ball, which we just roll from room to room to get out of the way. Any ideas? I'd love to see a post about this!

Sure, lots of ideas.

First of all, I'd like to encourage you to store the equipment as close as possible to where you'll be using it. The easier it is to get to the stuff, the more likely you are to use it - and put it away when you're done. (But yes, I know that might not be feasible.)

The Make-Do-With-What-You-Have Approach

This is what I've done so far. My bands and such get stored in an upside-down exercise step, and the ball balances on top. (A basket could work fine for this, too.) The weights get stored on bookshelves, in front of some books, making sure not to put too much weight on any shelf.

If you're ready to move beyond that - and I'm about ready, myself - here are some options.


Specialized Storage for the Exercise Balls




I just now came across The Loop, and I like it a lot.




There are a number of companies making ball bases/stabilizers - and prices vary widely. Make sure you get one that's the right size for your ball.




Here's another ball holder; you put the ball on the disc, push down, and supposedly create enough suction to hold the ball in place.




If you have more than one ball, ball stackers are an option to consider. Again, prices on the web vary greatly. They are often sold in sets of three, but you can buy a single one, too.




If you want a rack and space is limited, this one from Ideal Products could work - not pretty, but functional.


Specialized Storage for the Weights/Dumbbells




This wall-mounted rack is the most space-saving option I found.




This dumbbell rack is also a space-saver.




After that, we go on to vertical dumbbell racks; the A-frame is one such style.




And there are a lot of vertical racks that look more or less like this one.




On a totally different note, there's this weight wagon.


One More Exercise Equipment Option




This doesn't address the original question - but I couldn't quite leave the topic of exercise equipment in a small space without mentioning it. The FiTable home exercise system is a weight bench, a cardio step, a rolling storage drawer and a coffee table - all in one.

Zanisa: Organizing Items for the Environmentalist

Want to shop somewhere that supports your environmental ideals? If you're buying new rather than used, Zanisa is about as good as you can get. As the Zanisa web site says, its "contemporary collections focus on items that are handmade, natural, recycled, organic, fairly traded and sustainable."

Furthermore, the company's web site is hosted using wind-powered energy, it makes extensive use of recycled materials for packaging, and with the help of americanforests.org, Zanisa plants a tree for every order of $50 or more.

And the products are lovely, as you can see from that bamboo A-frame wine rack.




I'm also quite taken with this artist pencil box. I've included a close-up view; you can see the whole box (and the interior) on the Zanisa web site.




And then there are these button boxes - boxes made from buttons!




This box is made from cloves! It comes filled with recycled note paper embedded with seeds.




This piggy bank is made from reconstituted leather.




And here's a new twist on the ubiquitous sticky notes. You write a note and then move the slider down - and tear off a note that's exactly the width you need.

[Via Style Saves the World, a blog dedicated to saving the world, one stylish day at a time]

Storing Things Securely in Earthquake Territory

Bruce Turner of TurnerBuilt, Inc. has been my contractor for 19 years. He just wrote this good advice for those of us living in earthquake territory.

If you have a home entertainment center, a kitchen hutch or a large bookcase, imagine it crashing over during a quake - and what would happen to anyone underneath it. You need to make sure those hulking pieces will stay upright by attaching them securely to the wall.

Fortunately, that's pretty easy. You can drive a long screw or lag bolt through the back of the piece into the wall, making sure you anchor it in a stud or joist - a screw, even a molly, that's anchored in drywall will rip right out. If the piece is a bookcase or hutch that doesn't have a back, you can secure an L-bracket to the top of the piece and anchor the other end to the stud. If you have shelves on brackets, make sure they're solidly mounted and secured. ...

Do you keep lots of dishes on high shelves? An airborne dinner plate can do serious damage to anyone it hits. So can a cooking pot that takes wing from an overhead hook. Think about storing your heavy dishes, pots, pans and china in enclosed cabinets at lower altitudes, and then add latches to the cabinet doors to keep them from flying open.

There's more good earthquake-preparedness advice in the article, so you might want to read the whole thing.


[photo by Patrick Keane]

Long Commutes: Even Worse Than You Thought

When I was in the corporate world, my commute went from a predictable 30 minutes each way, to a predictable 45 minutes, to an unpredictable 60 minute minimum. That last change was a real nightmare - so I very much related to Penelope Trunk's posting today about long commutes. Here's a brief quote.

A lot of people try to justify their outrageously long commute. I think this is delusional, and I would know, because I used to have one: Two hours each way between Los Angeles and San Diego. Two hours, that is, if I left home at 5 a.m. and went home at 8 p.m. I thought it would be okay because the money was so good, but actually, I nearly lost my mind.

So think twice about accepting an outrageous commute in order to make outrageous amounts of money. Especially if your extreme commute means that the time outside of work for family and friends is gone - to the car ride. Nattavudh Powdthavee of the University of London published research to show that if you are going to take a job where you will give up seeing family and friends on a regular basis, you would need to earn $133,000 just to make up for the lack of happiness you feel from being away from those people.

Read the whole article (and the linked article about nearly losing her mind) for more insights.

[photo from neoporcupine / Simon ]

Happy Holidays: Discardia Starts Dec. 21

Getting stressed out by the holidays? Try celebrating Discardia, starting on December 21.

Discardia is a new holiday.

It takes place in the time between the Solstices & Equinoxes and their following new moons. Sometimes it's short and sometimes it's long.

Discardia is celebrated by getting rid of stuff and ideas you no longer need. It's about letting go, abdicating from obligation and guilt, being true to the self you are now. Discardia is the time to get rid of things that no longer add value to your life, shed bad habits, let go of emotional baggage and generally lighten your load.

Read more on the Discardia web site.

[photo by sfllaw / Simon Law]

Four Calendars To Consider for 2008

If you're using a wall calendar, you have some wonderful choices. Here are a few you may not have seen.

1. Bunnies of the Tarot (shown above)

The same company provides Great Moments in Bunny Literature and Bunnies of the Zodiac, among others.




2. Literary Chicken calendar

Also available on Etsy, where the calendar is described this way: The depth and breadth of what it means to be chicken, and indeed what it means to be, are explored here in a year of original images and quotes from literature. ... It is printed on acid free paper which will last for years to come.




3. Hidden Habitats calendar from blissen

Besides being lovely, it's printed with vegetable-based inks on reincarnation paper (100% recycled, 50% post-consumer waste, and processed chlorine free).




4. Italian Greyhound Rescue calendar

The monthly pages are photos, not drawings. Many such groups create calendars to help support their work.

The Story of Stuff - Lots and Lots of Stuff

"Buy green, buy fair, buy local, buy used, and most importantly, buy less." So says Annie Leonard, creator of the new on-line 20-minute video, The Story of Stuff.

Professional organizers see a huge amount of stuff - stuff that overwhelms people's homes, offices, and lives. So The Story of Stuff seemed like something I ought to watch, and I'm glad I did.

Here's a brief quote from the script:

Shortly after the World War II, these guys were figuring out how to ramp up the [U.S.] economy. Retailing analyst Victor Lebow articulated the solution that has become the norm for the whole system. He said: “Our enormously productive economy . . . demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption . . . we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”

And President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors Chairman said that “The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.”

MORE CONSUMER GOODS??? Our [economy’s] ultimate purpose?

Not provide health care, or education, or safe transportation, or sustainability or justice? Consumer goods?

And one more quote:

Each of us in the U.S. is targeted with more than 3,000 advertisements a day. We each see more advertisements in one year than people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime. And if you think about it, what is the point of an ad except to make us unhappy with what we have. So, 3,000 times a day, we’re told that our hair is wrong, our skin is wrong, clothes are wrong, our furniture is wrong, our cars are wrong, we are wrong but that it can all be made right if we just go shopping.

Here's a little one-minute teaser video; click either arrow to play it.



[For those of you reading this in e-mail: If the embedded video doesn't work, you can watch the video directly on YouTube.]

Penzo Pottery from Zimbabwe

Giraffes and zebras and elephants, oh my! I wandered down some path on the web today, and wound up in Africa - or at least with African pottery from Penzo. These lovely pieces are handmade, and signed by the artist; each is one of a kind. What a way to contain your whatever!




Anjely Antiques and African Pottery is one place to buy these pieces on-line; the pot above comes from their site.




Another site, in the Netherlands, shows us this lovely cookie jar.

Penzo products can be bought at stores throughout the U.S., and at a much smaller number of outlets in Europe.

And here's more good news. "A generous portion of proceeds from the sale of Penzo is given to causes that directly benefit both wildlife conservation and the ongoing attempt to educate native Africans to observe and report corruption, poaching and other abuses that continue to endanger their animals and preserves."

What About Those Warranty Cards?

You've gotten a new gizmo, and of course it came with a warranty card for you to return. And of course that card asks about your family income and much, much more.

Do you send in the card? Throw it away? Keep it in a pile of paper where it will be re-discovered 10 years from now?

Here are things to consider when deciding how to handle that card. Note that this information applies to the U.S. only; if anyone has information about the rest of the world, please add a comment!

There are two reasons you might return a warranty card.

1. You believe the card must be returned for the warranty to be valid.

Do you need to return the card for the warranty to take effect? I am not a lawyer, but the answer appears to be "it depends." Limited warranties may require you to return the card; in that case, the manufacturer must state that it's a condition of the warranty.

But California law says this: Product warranty cards must clearly state that the consumer is not required to return the card for the warranty to take effect.

2. You want to be notified in case of a recall.

This might work - and it might not. A New York Times story says:

A second carrot held out by manufacturers is the possibility that customers who fill out the cards will be contacted if a product is recalled. ''But that's usually not the case,'' said Todd Marks, a senior editor at Consumer Reports magazine who tracks recalls. He has found that only automakers and makers of children's products consistently make good on that promise.

Rather than relying on notifications based on warranty cards, you can choose to get recall information from www.recalls.gov, as suggested by Consumer Reports.


And what are the reasons for not returning the card?

If you complete the whole card, you are providing personal information that really doesn't need to be shared, and you don't know who is going to see it. And you are very likely going to wind up with more junk mail. That's valuable marketing information you provide; it's going to get used. A few examples:

- Equifax Marketing Services will be glad to help manufacturers set up their warranty card program.

- Warranty It is a list marketers can buy; it "captures conscientious consumers who have recently registered their new product with the manufacturer by filling out a warranty card within weeks of its purchase." It is specifically recommended for "a variety of product, catalog, financial and insurance offers."


So if you return the card:

1. "If you do send one in, fill out your name and address and that's it. Don't fill out the part on whether or not you have bladder-control problems." That's the word from Mr. Hoofnagle of the of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said, as quoted in that New York Times article. (OK, you probably also need to fill in the product serial number or similar information, and perhaps date of purchase. And you may need to provide a copy of the receipt.)

2. Make sure you write these words on the card: Please do not rent, sell, or trade my name or address. (Thanks to Eco-Cycle for that reminder.)

And if you don't return the card, you can just file it away (along with the receipt) if there's a chance you'll want to make a warranty claim in the future.

[image from 3M]

Putting First Things First: A Vivid Example

Stephen Covey, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has us distinguish between the urgent and the important things - and reminds us that to be effective we must make time for the important, even if it means saying no to some of the urgent.

The Getting Things Done Yahoo group has been discussing urgent vs. important recently. Kelly Anderson, who works at a rape crisis center, provided a great illustration, and has agreed to let me share it with you.

In the simplest definition, urgent is about how time-sensitive something is, and important is about the impact if it's not done.

Answering the crisis line is both urgent (gotta do it while it's ringing, before the caller hangs up) and important (it's the work of the agency, and the impact on the individual is huge).

Getting a major grant in on time, so we can continue to function, pay staff, and be here for the next 1,000 callers, is also important -- ultimately, more so than answering a specific call. And if we're not careful about workload and prioritizing, the urgent but not as important things (someone's computer crashed, or the media is calling...) will get attention first, until the grant becomes urgent because the deadline is tomorrow.

That's why it's essential that the person writing the grant be clear that it's her highest priority -- and someone else will have to answer the crisis line.

Too Many Holiday Decorations?

How many boxes of Christmas decorations have you accumulated over the years? Fellow organizer Andrea Sharb provides this seasonal tip which could apply to decorations for any holiday.

One thing I do each year when decorating is to place the items that I am not using in the current year in a box which I label "did not use in 200x." I pack it away as soon as the decorating is complete. When I decorate the following year, I reassess the items that were not used in the prior year. If they still don't make the cut, I donate them to the local thrift store immediately.

This system has worked well for me because sometimes I do end up giving decorations a "second chance," especially this year, when we moved and certain decorations that didn't work at our old house last year look great in the new one.

The system also works well for the thrift store because I am donating the items at their most marketable time of the year, as opposed to right after the holidays when the holiday items are no longer in demand.

[photo from Patrick Q]

Holiday Cards that Won't Become Clutter

Cards that get recycled into carpet backing - how cool is that? ReProduct's cards (Christmas, New Year's, general holiday season and more) are made from a plastic material called OPP (oriented polypropylene) and are printed with healthy UV cured inks. Both the card material and the ink formulation have been certified to contain no toxins.

And the card comes in a two-way envelope (like Netflix) - so you just use that envelope to return it when you are done.

[via Greenlight Magazine]

Japanese Paper Products: A Beautiful Way to Stow Your Stuff

I've written about tea tins before - but I just stumbled upon these beautiful tea canisters from The Japanese Paper Place, and had to share them.




And the JPP makes many more beautiful products. These boxes have notepaper; when you've used all that notepaper, you can buy refills or use the lovely boxes for some other type of storage.




And then there are these collapsible pen stands.

You can't buy directly from The Japanese Paper Place, but fortunately they have resellers around the world and on-line.

Keep Files Handy with a Desktop File Holder

Step files are the most conventional way of keeping your active files in front of you. But another option is the desktop file; The Container Store has some nice options. If you pick one that comes with a lid, I'd suggest taking the lid off for daily use - you want to see the files, and make it as easy as possible to use the folders.




Levenger, as always, has a lovely but expensive option - this leather desk file.




But I just discovered some more options at Rose Lane Cottage. One of those is this wire folder holder, available in black or white.




And here is just one of the decorative file folder holders from Anna Griffin.

Simplifying Christmas: Saving Time on Gift Wrapping

Maybe you're like my dear friend Helen, who does marvelous gift wrapping and really enjoys doing it; her boxes are works of art. But if you're more like me, you appreciate anything that makes the wrapping easier while still having your gift look nice.

Gift bags are a great answer - especially fabric bags that can be reused time and again. These bags are also great if you are traveling by plane, where wrapped gifts might wind up getting opened by the security folks.




Wrapsacks were the first fabric gift bags I discovered, a number of years ago.




Lucky Crow makes the case for gift bags. "Finally, a gift wrap that saves time: no scissors, no tape, no mess, no stress. Help the environment by reducing waste! Our fabric gift bags are simple, waste-free, easy, stylish, reusable, super-cool, eco-savvy, sustainable." [via Hope's Bag]




Lagniappe Gift Wrap has a Recycling Rewards program where you can send bags back to them and get a discount coupon for your next on-line purchase.




Fwraps are fabric gift wrap pouches. [via the San Francisco Chronicle]




Another easy option is to use beautiful gift boxes that need no wrapping - and can serve as useful containers to the recipients. BoxCo has a large assortment.


[Lead photo by fille_de_photo / Annette Pedrosian]

Your Mail Needs a Home

Where do you put the mail when you bring it in? What about all those scraps of paper that accumulate in our purses, wallets, pockets, and briefcases? Say you've already tossed the obvious junk mail into the recycling bin; where does the rest go?

The most common answer seems to be, "on any available horizontal surface." Another popular answer is, "on the floor." But the answer from people who manage their mail well is usually, "in my in box."

Now, I am NOT necessarily talking about those plastic in trays you get at office supply stores. They are boring, and they often aren't big enough for some of the oversized mail many of us get. But how about some of these options?



1. The Portabella newspaper basket from Levenger is a nice size, but it's not cheap.




2. A nice tray might work, as long as you are diligent about dealing with the mail (almost) daily - or you only get a small amount of mail. This tray comes from Crate and Barrel.




3. Baskets can be a nice answer. I got mine at Cost Plus World Market. OK, it's pretty darn big - but it matches the decor of my office, and looks nice sitting on the floor under my desk. Smaller options are certainly available.




4. Wall pockets are another option. These, from Ballard Designs, come in 2-pocket and 4-pocket sizes.




5. A nice gift box, if sturdy enough, could work just fine.




6. Get creative! Here's a lasagna pan that could serve as an in tray.

Any other options anyone wants to share?


[lead photo by Glynnis Ritchie]

Buy, Buy, Buy! Stuff, Stuff, Stuff!

Cartoonist Ann Telnaes reminds us one more time, at this holiday season: Let's try to avoid making purchases of things we don't really need - and all too often, things that are destined to quickly become landfill.








I thought it might help to have that reminder as we get bombarded every day by ads urging us to buy.

[comic printed with permission of the artist]

Be Your Own Professional Organizer, Part 3: Label

We all know to label our file folders - and we all know we better label our moving boxes. But many of us don't think about labeling other containers so that all family members remember what goes where.

Here are some suggestions for effective labeling.




1. Make sure the labels are easy to read. Make the lettering big enough. Don't use those colored plastic tabs if they interfere with legibility. I originally scoffed at them, but label makers do indeed make nice labels that are easy to read.




2. For small children, consider labeling with pictures, as Laura did.

3. If you have a housekeeper or other helpers who speak another language, consider adding labels in that language - or again, use pictures. Your household helpers would like to put things back in the right place; make it easy for them.

4. You can have labels and still have a nice-looking room. We all know about the basic labels you can buy at any office supply store. Library supply companies such as Brodart also provide a number of good options. Here are a few more to get you thinking.




This aluminum tag holder comes from Doug Mockett. You can also get label holders in brass.




Label In Now sells label pouches and inserts; you can use them to label freezer containers, toy bins, holiday decoration storage bins, etc. Organizer John Trosko shows how nice these can look on storage cabinets.




The scrapbooking company Making Memories sells a number of label holders that can be used on album covers or spines.




A chalkboard bin makes labeling easy!




These wooden stick on letters come in a set of 43.


Related Posts:
Part 1: Decide What to Keep
Part 2: Containerize

[lead photo from Matt Brett]

Shaker Boxes by Brent Rourke

What a treat for a container connoisseur like me! Woodworker Brent Rourke makes some stunning boxes. To quote Brent, "They are elegant and practical, functional and decorative, traditional and contemporary at the same time."




To give you an idea on prices, this pencil box is $46.




Here's Brent's jewelry box.

If these lovely products appeal to you, take a look at the other options on the easy-to-navigate Shaker Box web site. You can buy on-line, by telephone, or at stores in Canada, the U.S., and Japan.


[via Swiss Miss and Uncommon Goods]

December 2007 Organizing Tips and More

My December newsletter is now available.

Tip of the Month: Creating Better To-Do Lists

Organizing Blog/Book of the Month: To-Do List

Also included: Two Quotes of the Month