Take 5 Friday - The Monsters Under the Bed

Welcome to Take 5 Friday (even though it's Saturday). Sorry, I'm a day late in putting this up. If you took me up on the challenge for this week, I hope you made it out safe and sound from under the deep, dark depths underneath your bed. Did you find any monsters hiding under there or some over grown dust bunnies?

My bed was absolutely empty...honest! But, I have to admit, the only reason is because we just got a new bed a few weeks ago and I swore I wouldn't be putting the under-the-bed storage totes back. I'm going with this whole new feng shui thing and stuff under the bed promotes restless sleeping. So, it's totally clean under there!

Now, my youngest daughter's bed is another story. There's the kids' disassembled baby crib and an under-the-bed storage container full of clothes to grow into. I also found some of those pesky socks. Maybe this is why she wakes up grouchy...she doesn't sleep well. Hmm....maybe there's something to this feng shui. Which brings me to my oldest daughter's bed. Clearing out this one has me stumped because the only thing under her bed is her little sister (bunkbeds)!

How did you do this week?

Take 5 Friday Challenge

I hope you're prepared...brace yourselves. This week I want you to brave the unthinkable. I want you to venture into long forgotten territory. Yep. You got it. I'm challenging you to clear the clutter from under your BED! Or your kid's bed. Whichever you feel brave enough to tackle.

Don't be scared. Just remember you DON"T have to commit to a long, grueling organizing session. Take 5 Friday is all about quick, 5 or 10 minute projects. So take a few minutes to see what you've got hiding under there (precaution should be used when looking under kid's beds!) Toss out what you immediately see is trash. See what you can find that belongs elsewhere; those long-forgotten dishes from your teenage son's midnight snacking, your daughter's "I dont' have a thing to wear" clothes, that stack of magazines from your last "sick day".

See how much you can get done when you "take 5" and report back here on Friday. Pictures are optional, but please post a warning statement if they're too scary!

Take 5 Friday - Your Big Give

This week's Take 5 Friday followed on the heels of finally dumping some of that extra trash and challenged us to get together at least one bag or box to go to your charity of choice. I'm anxious to see how you all did with this challenge. Was it difficult to come up with one bag or did you find yourself doing even more?

How did you rate? Please feel free to post your comments and/or link to your own post.

Take 5 Friday Challenge

Last week we worked on clearing out some trash. I challenged you to quickly go from room to room and toss at least one large bag full of trash. This week, let's take it one step further and see if we can't fill a box (or large bag) of useful items that can be donated to a good cause. In honor of Earth Week, let's recycle our unwanted things and let someone else put them to good use, instead of cluttering our homes.

By all means, if you still have LOTS more to toss, you may want to challenge yourself to get another bag or two together, but while you're at it, why not keep a look out for those things that can be passed on to someone who needs them?

Report back here on Friday to share your successes (or hangups!) Remember, this should be a quick sort process. If you have to think on something too long, it's ok to set it aside...for now!

Take 5 Friday - Takin' Out the Trash

Well, it's Friday. How did you do with this week's challenge? Some of you have already commented that you found more than you thought you would or that it felt very "freeing" to remove that bag (or two) from your home. Some of you found trash and things to donate and you get bonus points! (If we were giving points, in which case you'd get double! But since we're not, you'll just have to settle for my sincere congratulations!)

Even as organized as I try to be I was easily able to come up with most of a large bag of "throw aways" and some more items to add to my garage sale pile. Yippee! So, how did you do? Feel free to post your comments here and/or use the Mr. Linky to link back to your own post about Take 5 Friday.

Take 5 Friday Challenge

OK, I know that I'm throwing this challenge out there kind of late in the game. But I have faith in all of you. YOU can accomplish this one...it's so easy, yet many of us just look past it everyday. We overlook this so often that we become oblivious to it.

I'm talking about the things laying around our homes that are obviously destined for the trash bin but somehow don't seem to make it there for one reason or another. I want you to take a LARGE garbage bag and spend 5 or 10 minutes going room to room tossing stuff that is obvious trash.

This may sound simple, but trust me, you'll find more than you think. Your goal is to fill up your bag. This may seem more like cleaning than organizing, but think of it this way, you don't want to waste your precious time organizing things that need to be thrown out anyway. So think of this as a first step.

Come back here and let us know if you met your goal. Were you able to get just one bag full? Two? More?

Take 5 Friday - Always Be Prepared

This week's Take 5 Friday challenge we took a cue from the Boy Scout's..."Always be prepared." It seems no matter how organized I am, there are just some days that I never know what to expect. It never fails, when I'm in a really big rush, that's when someone will inevitably lose a button on their pants. Or discover a small rip in the seam of their favorite shirt that they just had to wear because they already had it all planned out with Friends A and B. So, this week I decided to plan ahead as much as I could for these little un-planned morning mishaps.


I found an unused small basket to serve as my emergency mend-it kit. I filled it with various sized buttons. You know all those spare buttons that come with new clothes...this is a great place to store them. Then, I threaded two needles; one with black and one with white thread and knotted the ends. I stuck the needles through a small slip of paper so they wouldn't get lost. I added a small pair of scissors, some safety pins and voila! Now, I'm ready to sew on a button or fix a small hole in a moments notice...that's sew easy!


What about you? Were you able to come up with a 5 or 10 minute project that can help you be better prepared for the little things life throws at you? Share your Take 5 Friday project with us. If you're new to Take 5 Friday, please read the guidelines about posting. Thanks for joining us!

Take 5 Friday Challenge

This week's Take 5 Friday challenge will follow the Boy Scout motto--"Always be prepared". But, I'm leaving this week open to your imaginations. OK. I'll give you a few ideas to get you started.

You can prepare a "breakfast center" with bowls, spoons, cereal, etc. on a tray for quick and easy breakfasts. You can finally get around to putting together that first aid kit you've been meaning to do the day you brought your child home from the ER with 6 stitches. You could prepare for a less stressful morning routine by helping your children lay out their clothes for the rest of the week. You get the idea.

So...let's get started then post back here on Friday with your successes (or failures so we all don't repeat the same mistake!)

Take 5 Friday - Returning Next Week

For all you Take 5 Friday readers and participants, Take 5 Friday is "taking 5" this week. I'm going to be MIA the rest of the week and it will be difficult to post and/or respond to you. Rest assured it will return next week for your reading pleasure! Thanks for your support!

Take 5 Friday - Medicine Cabinet

So this week I went to work on the medicine cabinet. You might have read in the challenge post earlier this week that I put up a freebie for the entry with the oldest expired medicine. (Don't forget, be sure you email me with your entries by Friday evening. I'll draw a winner on Saturday for a copy of my book The Organization Prescription.)

Since I'm obviously not entering my own contest I can share mine. I'm happy to report the oldest thing I found in our medicine cabinet expired 08/17/05. I didn't think that was too bad. I'll post some pics of how I keep our medicines organized later on Friday. I just wanted to get a jump start on this post so you can get in your entries for the drawing.

Keep organizin'!

Updated to add: Congrats to Avlor. She emailed me with the oldest medicinal remedy in her cabinet and will win a copy of my book, The Organization Prescription. Thanks for participating!

I promised pics. Here's my medicine cabinet, which is actually in my kitchen. For those of you who have your medicine in the bathroom, you may consider another location as heat and moisture (like from a shower) will cause the medicine to go bad/lose their potency. I sort our medicines into categories (like cold & allergy, children's, adults, etc.) and keep them separate in small plastic baskets. It sure helps when you're fighting a cold to have to just look in one place for quick relief!

Take 5 Friday Challenge

You can thank my friend Dr. Leah over at Transformation Revolution for this week's Take 5 Friday idea. She suggested to me that we tackle the medicine cabinet and I took a look at mine. Sure enough, after this past cold and flu season, it looked like it could use a dose of organization! (Sorry, couldn't help that one!) So, this week, take a few minutes to peek inside your medicine cabinet, and maybe your first aid kit if you have time. Toss out expired prescriptions and take note of anything you might need to restock. Come back here and share your progress on Friday.

Let's give you some extra incentive this week. I'll be giving away a copy of my book "The Organization Prescription; Your Immunization to Disorganization" to the person who finds the oldest expired item in their cabinet. How fitting is that?! Here are the rules:

1. Email me with your oldest expiration date (to keep the entries a secret) by this Friday.


2. On Friday post a short comment on the Take 5 Friday post, then link up using Mr. Linky.


3. Post your project on your site, and link to Organizational Enlightenment.


4. I'll email and announce the winner on Saturday, March 29, 2008 for those participants who emailed me their entry.

Good luck and see you back here on Friday!

Take 5 Friday - The Mom Taxi

My van had started to look like a caravan for wayward things instead of a mode of transportation for people. The front (my domain) wasn't too bad, but the dash looked like it hadn't seen a dustcloth in the the 3 years since I'd bought it. But, whoa! One look in the middle section where my two adorable kids sit and I knew it had to be done.

Until you actually SIT in the back from their vantage point, you don't really see all the stuff kids can cram into those side pockets! I actually even have to open the driver side back door every day when I help my littlest in and out of her carseat and I still didn't notice!

I figured the best line of defense in this case was to empty everything into a grocery sack and have the kids sit down and determine what was going to stay and what would go. I tossed the things that were clearly trash and wiped off the front dash. That took all of ten minutes and the van looked so much better for it. I would have still felt I'd accomplished something even if I'd have stopped there.

But, the great thing about these ten minute projects is that sometimes when you do have extra time, it inspires you to do more. I got out the shop vac and vacuumed the floors and the kids' seats where bits and pieces of snacks had accumulated...yuck!

What happened to that bag of stuff? I brought it inside, gave them their assignment. I heard everything from "that's not trash" to "but I need that for something to do". I'll fill you in...we live about 20 minutes from any location that we frequent and we haven't been on a "trip" that takes longer than an hour in over 3 years. They don't need anything to keep themselves that occupied. By the time we've reached our destination, they're still too busy squabbling with each other over the last thing they were arguing about when we left the house. All that stuff is NOT going back into the van!

The bag is still sitting in their room...waiting for one of them to cave and start putting their things away. I guess they didn't "need" that stuff after all. They're at their grandparents' this weekend...do you think they'd miss it if it "disappeared"?

What about you, did you tackle the junk in your trunk this week? Or maybe another, small but meaningful organizing project? Share your story with us here! If you're new to Take 5 Friday, please read the guidelines before posting. Thanks for participating!

Take 5 Friday - Challenge

Now that warmer weather is finally here (I hope, although it's currently rainy), I'm itchin' to clean out my van. I try to keep it fairly clean as we go by keeping a trash basket in between the back seats and carrying a tote bag to bring things back into the house. But every once in awhile, it deserves (and needs!) a quick clutter busting session.

So this week, your Take 5 Friday challenge is to get in there and clear out the junk in your trunk. Toughen up and tell those fast food sacks to hit the road and the the kids' gear to take a hike. If you feel really energized you can drag out the vacuum, but the most important and first step is to do the quick sort and toss. See how much you can accomplish in 5 or 10 minutes, then report back here on Friday to let us know how you did.

Take 5 Friday - Desktop

So this week I challenged you (and myself) to focus on cleaning up our desktops...and I don't mean the horizontal space in front of me as I write this post. I mean our computers themselves; the desktop, the hard drive, those temporary internet files, old emails; all those files we save that clutter up our inboxes and computer.

I have to admit, this one wasn't as fun or satisfying for me as most of my organizing projects, but it needed to be done. I keep up pretty well on my emails, deleting as I go. So I usually only have about a dozen in my inbox at any given time. But I did have some old files that I was able to chuck and I like to delete my temporary internet files every once in awhile to keep the system running smoothly. If you've never deleted your temporary internet files, you can find some easy to follow instructions here.

Did anyone else attempt this or another Take 5 Friday project this week? (You can still post any 5-15 minute organizing project you completed, even if it wasn't this week's challenge idea). Notice I said 5-15 minutes; think "coffee break" time here. It doesn't have to be exactly 5 mintues and you'll find that you'll get faster at organizing the more you do. Have fun with it!

Take 5 Friday Challenge

For this week's Take 5 Friday project I'm going to look no further than my computer. While we may take the time to clear our actual desk tops, we often forget our desktops. Got that? We're talking computer clutter, new age "junk mail", over stuffed file folders...or worse yet, no files at all. Where every electronic document we've saved over the past 5 years is haphazardly stored on our desktop or in unknown locations on our hard drives.

So, this week take 5 or 10 minutes to do a quick purge of the clutter from your computer. Add some file folders, delete some emails, empty your "trash". Then, come back here on Friday and let us know how you did. Trust me, your computer will thank me for it!

Take 5 Friday - Makeup Bag

So, how many of you were up for the challenge this week? I gave you the "assignment" of clearing the clutter out of your makeup bags (or whatever you use to corral your arsenal of beauty products). I actually use a plastic caddy with a handle. I stow it under my bathroom cabinet when it's not in use. So it doesn't have to be pretty, but it does need to be organized so I can get ready and get out the door fast.

As I was emptying the contents of mine, I did find some things that were alot older than I expected. I had some eyeliner that I'm pretty sure was around before my oldest was born...dare I say 11+ years ago!?! Yikes! But no funky teal-colored mascara or iridescent lip gloss. Whew! That would be a blast from the past!

I tossed the out dated, worn out items and one item I bought but didn't like. You'll notice I have a small bag (blue one) in my caddy. That's now reserved for everyday makeup (eyeshadow, mascara, coverup, and 2 lipsticks choices). I found another small bag (black one)that I added to store my "special" makeup, like some of the more dramatic eyeshadow and highlighting powder so it's out of my way of everyday use.

How did you do? Did you find anything over 10 years old? Older? How 'bout anything that brought back memories of the 80's??? It's amazing what we can do to get better organized in just a few minutes. How did you do this week? We'd love to hear your results! If you're new to Take 5 Friday, please read the short list of helpful guidelines before posting.

Take 5 Friday Challenge

Becky over at Boys Rule My Life was up for a little challenge. She suggested that I issue an "assignment" this week to give you some ideas on a specific project to work on for Take 5 Friday. I thought it was a great idea. So...whatcha think? Are you up for a challenge?

This week I think I really have to work on my make-up container. I know there's some out-dated stuff in there and some products that I really didn't like, but just never took the time to get rid of. So, it's time to do some sorting and purging.

Let's make this challenge fun. Posting your before and afters are great, but also give us the scoop on how long you've been holding on to some of this stuff! Have you had that blue eye shadow since the first time blue eye shadow was "in"? Are you guilty of still hanging on to that tube of teal green mascara or irridecent lip gloss from the 80's?

Come on! 'Fess up and join in the fun! Let's clear the clutter outta those makeup bags and join us for Take 5 Friday to post your results! If you're new to Take 5 Friday, you can catch up on the guidelines here. It's a quick and easy way to get organized with projects that are designed to be completed in the time it takes for a coffee break (5-15 minutes--not those hour long type of breaks!) See you back here on Friday!

Take 5 Friday - Kids Drawers

Drawer dividers are great...but they need to include at least a PG 13 rating. They just don't work well for kids. Kids get frustrated with the exact-ness required to put things neatly into them (let's face it, so do some adults). So, how do you keep those drawers straight without acting like the clothing police? Two words: mini crates.

These small storage crates from Sterilite are great. They "lock" together side-by-side, and they fit perfectly in my kids' drawers. I spent 5 minutes this week and made a HUGE difference in how my daughters put away and find their own clothes. Now that's a great return on investment of my time! Plus, they were less than a dollar each!

Before (left), my daughter's socks and underwear were mixed in with her pj's. Now (right), she has a separate crate for undies, one for socks and another that will be rotating (tights in the winter, swimsuits in the summer). It's amazing how much extra space it actually gave her because the crates keep articles more compact.

I did this in my oldest's drawer, too. But she would just "die of embarassment" if I showed you all her panties! All this in only 5 minutes! How about you? What did you accomplish in the time it takes for a coffee break? Share your posts and comments here. If you're new to Take 5 Friday, please read the guidelines before posting.

Take 5 Friday - The Snack Basket

First, I have to say: you must know that we do NOT eat all this junk food on a regular basis. Really. It's just that with the Valentine's holiday and then Girl Scout Cookie orders just coming in, we REALLY have an overload of snack food. The basket I keep for our stash became overly full under the UNUSUALLY (and I stress this) large amount of junk food.

So, I dumped everything and did a quick sort, taking out the Valentine cards, pencils and other non-food things the kids had brought home. I separated each of their candy stash into plastic zipper seal bags. I made sure the chip bags were all secured (Note handy office binder clip closure. Love these!) and just tidied it up. As if they weren't appealing enough, now these snacks are downright irresistible.

I have a rule at our house. Whatever leftover candy is still in the basket by the time the next holiday rolls around gets tossed. In otherwords, if there's Christmas candy come Valentine's day, it's outta there. This works pretty good. But looking at it today I could just tell that this basket was not going to hold out until Easter. By the way, just so you know, I wasn't looking in the basket for anything in particular. Nope. Not me. Just looking, that's all. And I most definitely wasn't even thinking of taking that last peanut butter cup in the bottom of my daughter's Valentine's bag!

What's your Take 5 Friday project? I'd love to see your before and afters! If you're new to Take 5 Friday, please read guidelines before posting.

Take 5 Friday - Book Collection

This week I took a few minutes to do a quick sort of my book shelf. I pulled off books that I had previously enjoyed but felt ready to pass on to someone else. I heard about this great site called paperbackswap I was anxious to check out where you list your unwanted books (super easy!). Then when another member requests a book from you, you get credit to request books for yourself. The only cost is the shipping!

I've sent out three books so far and have requested a few for myself. It's a great way to keep your book collection in check and still enjoy the titles you want to read.

What great organizing project were you able to complete this week in 5 minutes or so? Post your project link here and share it with others. If you're new to Take 5 Friday, please check out the guidelines when posting. Can't wait to see what you come up with!