Organizing your children's art work

This article has been on Old Fashioned Living for quite some time. It has quite a bit of useful advice, especially at this time of year! Here we are, halfway through the school year, which means all that art work is starting to pile up. The refrigerator is covered and you don't know what else to do. Here are some great tips that can help!


In school, kids are encouraged to create, draw, color, paint and build. These activities can certainly stimulate children, and help them grow. Very often, these masterpieces that your children create are brought home and proudly displayed. But what do you do when all of the artwork begins to take over your home? Here are 7 great ideas:

1. FIND THE DIAMONDS. Rather than keeping every single piece of artwork your child creates, sit down with your child on a regular basis and ask him to choose the one or two he likes best. By the end of the year, you should have no more than 5 pieces of artwork that your child believes to be his "best" pieces. This will help keep the artwork under control, and will still give you an opportunity to save his creations for future memories.

2. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. Take photos of the artwork that your child creates and keep these photos in a scrapbook. This way, even if the artwork is discarded for space purposes, you'll still have the memory!

3. KIDS FILE STORAGE BOX. Office supply stores carry portable file boxes that hold hanging file folders. These generally have a cover and a handle for easy portability. Help your child create her very own filing system. Perhaps one file folder for 2nd grade artwork, one for 3rd grade artwork, and so on. Now, all the drawings, and any type of artwork that lays flat, will be kept safe and organized. You'll even be teaching your child filing skills! It's never too early!

4. KEEP IT CONTAINED. For other artwork that does not lay flat, the perfect container may be a large, plastic container with a lid. Your child will have a space for shadowboxes, and other artwork that won't fit into a file folder. Again, be choosy. If you keep every single piece of artwork your child brings home for the next 15 years, your house is going to be overflowing with it.

To see the rest of these great organizing tips, visit 7 Easy Ideas for Organizing Kids Artwork on Old Fashioned Living.

Checklist for Organizing a Successful Holiday Event

Any event worth doing is worth doing well. And the biggest inside secret to organizing is.... PLANNING.

Ask anyone who has ever successfully hosted a party, sponsored a community event, or thrown a children's birthday party, and they will tell you their secret was in the list. Not Aunt Mabel's famous sugar cookies, not the special sprinkles on the cupcakes, and not the high-dollar caterer.

So where do you begin? Even if you are not a list-maker, you can plan and pull off a successful event by using the infamous KISS method: Keep It Simple Sweetheart. That's not to say that you should make a half-hearted effort by tossing a few opened bags of chips on the table and telling everyone to help themselves to the drinks in the fridge! Just don't make things so complicated in your efforts to make an impression on the guests.

To keep stress at a manageable level, as well as your blood pressure, try these 3 tips for simple holiday planning:

1. MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE.
Make this as detailed or brief as your little heart desires. If one word jogs your memory, that's all you need on your list. If you are into details to keep you afloat, then by all means write everything down. We each have a different communication style, and isn't writing and reading just one more way to communicate, even if it is with ourselves? (Besides, you may get lucky and pass on one of those items to someone else to do!)

Include refreshments, serving ware, decorations, tables, chairs, tablecloths, favors (optional), entertainment, eating utensils, and anything else necessary for your events' success.

2. THE OUTER LIMITS.
Don't underestimate your abilities, but don't be too eager to go outside your comfort zone if you're already going to be stressed. If you don't cook or bake, then hire a caterer. Can't afford one? Then order a party tray from your favorite deli or grocery. There is something for every budget imaginable. Don't know how to make fancy centerpieces? Call your florist, visit your local craft store, or call in a favor from a talented neighbor. Candles, cut greenery, and candycanes placed strategically around the house or banquet hall are colorful and have impact.

3. CALL 911. 
Yes, to all you overachievers out there, it IS perfectly ok to ask for help from friends, family, and professionals. Most people are very willing to help out with assembling trays, decorations, picking up tables & chairs from rental stores, etc. Not enough room in your home for an assembly line? Divide the list, assign tasks, and let your helpers HELP. Don't micromanage, don't worry. If things are not the way you would do them, that's fine. You're only one person, remember?

It's showtime! Everything is in order, and it's time to be the best host or hostess you can possibly be. Relax, take time for yourself, change your clothes, grab an ice cold drink of something refreshing, and have fun. Can't be in more than one place at once? Not a problem, just enlist someone to fill the buffet plates, refill the ice bucket, tend the bar, take coats at the door, etc. From age 3 to 93, I'm sure you can find someone to do these jobs - just ask! And after the party, be sure to take a moment to make notes to ensure next year's planning is even easier. Happy partying!

Copyright 2000-2001 Debbie Williams

About the author
Debbie Williams is an organizing strategist, and freelance writer. She is the author of Home Management 101

Organize Your Seasonal Home Decorating

I don't spend a lot of money decorating my home. Many people don't want to spend the time or money to decorate with the seasons, but over the years I have learned some ways to creatively seasonally decorate that have cost little or next to nothing.

Because I work a lot, I don't spend very much time decorating my home. When I'm updating my home to a new seasonal theme, I don't spend more than a couple of hours arranging and rearranging to get a nice seasonal effect. Here are some of the ways I've learned to organize my seasonal accessories:

- I store my seasonal decorations in several large stackable Rubbermaid containers: two for Christmas, one for Easter/spring, and one for autumn/Thanksgiving. When I'm ready to change themes, I get out the one(s) to put things away in, dust or otherwise clean the area(s) where the new decorations will sit, and then get out the new decorations. The storage containers get put back away, and everything is still organized for next season. Make sure you mark the containers in some way to know which one is which. Color coding them buy buying different colored containers works well.

- You will inevitably forget to put something away and stumble across it when you're cleaning another day. In each bathroom I have a corner of a closet shelf reserved for miscellaneous seasonal decorations. Or if someone gives you a seasonal gift you don't have anywhere else to put at the moment, this is a good place to put it.

If you find the task of re-decorating your entire home overwhelming, look for certain areas of your home that would be good for displaying seasonal decorations. In my home the kitchen, dining room, and living room are the focal areas of our home. There are certain areas where I concentrate when decorating for the seasons:

- Kitchen: I don't do a lot of seasonal decorating in the kitchen, but there are a couple of easy things you can do to liven it up a little. Seasonal dish cloths and hand towels are really cute, as well as seasonal floor mats. If you use the towels for decoration only, like hanging from your oven door handle, they will still be nice for the next year. Seasonal refrigerator magnets are also easy to update.

- Dining Area: Our dining room table is the focal point of our dining room. We have a long oak table that is great for seasonal decorating. A table runner makes a nice seasonal addition. I have one made out of Easter fabric for spring, a floral one for summer, and one of Christmas fabric. I just need to get one for autumn. You can accessorize with seasonal place mats, napkins, and napkin rings. These you can make yourself or pick up at yard sales or clearance sales off-season. I also like to decorate the center of the table for the season. A lot of times I will use a vase of seasonal flowers. For autumn I have a vase of artificial fall foliage. I accent the vase with Indian corn, gourds, and artificial fall leaves.

- Living Room: The main areas of the living room I concentrate on are the fireplace mantel and hearth, a corner curio shelf, and the entertainment center. I lay a garland across the top of the entertainment center that can be changed with the seasons: fall foliage for autumn, flowers for spring and summer, and evergreens for winter. On the shelves of the entertainment center and the curio shelves I rotate my seasonal knickknacks. The last place I decorate is the top of the piano. Sometimes I just decorate with houseplants and photographs, but it is also a great place to showcase collections, like my angels at Christmas or my bunny village in the spring. I also have a piece of fabric draped over the piano that I can change with the seasons.

- Other: Window clings are great for any season. Door wreaths can also be rotated any time of year. My grapevine wreath goes up in the autumn and is soon replaced by my Christmas wreath. You could have one for every season. Although I don't have one yet, a lot of people have seasonal flags or banners displayed outside of the house. These you could buy or make yourself.

These are just ideas to get in the mood of seasonal decorating. Learning to bring the outdoors indoors can be fun--there are many easy, inexpensive ways you can change the look of your home to get in tune with the seasons.

Copyright 2002 Rachel Paxton
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of the Creative Homemaking Recipe of the Week Club Cookbook, a cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For recipes, tips to organize your home, home decorating, crafts, and frugal family fun, visit Creative Homemaking .

Kitchen Tip Tuesday: Organizing Your Recipes

If you're anything like me, when you find a recipe on the internet you either print it off or add it to your growing number of bookmarks. Then there's all those torn out pages of magazines and newspapers, as well as the recipes that have been saved from pasta packages, and other food labels. Then there's your mom's, aunt's and grandma's hand written recipe cards! That's quite a growing collection of paper, but will you ever get to make any of these recipes? Not sitting in a giant pile or shoved in a drawer.

Some ideas for sorting out your recipe collection:

Three-Ring Binder

Many of the plastic sleeves come ready punched for 8 1/2 x 11-inch 3-ring binders. Organize the recipes in categories that are handy for you to use in this binder. I personally don't use the plastic sleeves, I use white lined school paper. I tape or glue clipped recipes onto the sheets and insert them in the binder. I use the plastic sleeve on the front of the binder to hold my menu plan for the week. I keep all previous menu plans behind it in order to refer back and remind myself of something we haven't had in a while!

Filing System

Purchase a carrier with handle designed to hold 8 1/2 X 11-size sheets. Place your recipes in plastic sleeves in this and separate into easy to locate sections with dividers. This would work somewhat like an oversized recipe card box.

Scrapbook Journal

You might want to do this only with your favorite recipes or ones that have a family significance. By including recipes, stories about family occasions when they were served, even photos of family get-togethers or the food itself you will develop fun family projects and books you can give as gifts.

Recipe Cards

Write the recipes on index cards of desired size. Place in a recipe box separated into sections. This entails more work, but gives you a very concise filing system.

Personal or Family Cookbook

Eventually you may want to organize your recipes into a book format. This often includes your recipes and other family favorites. While it will take some time, it's a great reference you can keep on your computer as well. Type your recipes out and print them off. You can also create a cover and laminate it.

Organizing Your Bookmarks

Your favorites on your computer are only limited by you. You can create folders within folders within folders if you want to! I have a main bookmark folder called "RECIPES", then I have subfolders underneath to categorize them better. I have desserts, sides, beef, chicken, bread, etc. Create folder based on your preferences and then when you find a recipe online, add the bookmark right into the appropriate folder.

Here's some ideas for building your meal plan to keep you more organized as well!

Old Fashioned Living has some great ideas for organizing your recipes into a family collection.