Mom Endeavors: Organizing

Showing posts with label Organizing. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Family Calendar & Giveaway with Sweet Rose Studio

Hi there Mom Endeavors readers!
I am so glad to be here today and I am so honored that Sara asked me to do this for her.

picture courtesy of Mom Endeavors

My name is Katie and my little blog is Sweet Rose Studio. I am a momma to two little ones and a professional photographer by trade that finds it tough to be stuck to doing one thing. So, in addition to all of my photography goodness, I also share all things parties, planning, and basically anything I think I want to share because I can. I joke that I started the blog as an outlet because my dear husband didn't want to hear about anymore of my crazy, crafty ideas.

I had the chance to attend Creative Estates with Sara recently and one of the most profound things that I took away was from the fabulous Becky Higgins. She told us that it was key for her family to have one singular calendar that encompassed everything: meal, activities, work; you name it, its on that calendar. Now she said that she and her husband use some kind of online fancy system, but I honestly don't remember what it was because my brain was already ticking away and planning out a calendar that I could make and use that would suit my family's interests best.
My dear husband and I are not always on the same page with technical stuff so an online system or program for a calendar just wasn't going to cut it for us. And after hunting for a pre-made planner that would do the job I was looking for it to do, I was coming up short. My next thought: why not make my own? As someone who was a teacher in a past life (or just last year), I relied on my plan book to keep me organized throughout the day. How great would a family plan book be?
I spent some time on Excel creating a spreadsheet and I'm sharing what I came up with with you! This calendar template was my final product. The best part is that the file is completely customizable to whatever you need it to be. I left it pretty basic so you can spruce it up as much or as little as you'd like.
Here's how I jazzed mine up:

I changed the fonts, added a plastic cover and card stock back, and had it bound all at Office Max. I wanted to make sure that I made mine durable since I made it to last for a solid chunk of time. Yep, 26 weeks are all set and ready to go! I've started filling in all of our craziness...

And the best part is? I made one to giveaway to one of you!

TO ENTER:

1. Leave a comment telling what part of your life needs organization the most.

Then, get extra entries (leave a separate comment for each):

2. Follow Sweet Rose Studio on Google Friend Connect. (see widget on the right side)

3. Follow Mom Endeavors on Google Friend Connect (see widget on the left side bar)

4. Like Mom Endeavors on facebook and/or on twitter

5. Like Sweet Rose Studio on facebook and/or on Twitter @sweetrosestudio

*Make SURE you leave your email or that your email is connected to your account. Sara can't contact to "no-reply" comments. Thanks! :)

(up to 5 entries per person)
Limited to US residents only. Giveaway will end on May 5th at 10pm PST. Winner with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. I will email the winner and they will have 48 hours to claim their prize (make sure you leave your email address or that it is attached to your profile).

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Household Notebook

The household challenge is complete!

We finally have a little organizational center--a household notebook! And, I'm really excited about it!!

So here's the breakdown of our family's "little black book"...

An emergency information form immediately on the inside with 5 divided sections:

TO-DO:
- Daily to-dos from Simple Mom. I think the form is perfect--a section for the most important tasks of the day, a section for work, for notes, for health--it's great! I laminated it, so it's perfect for wiping off & reusing. Also, I printed on both sides so I can have two days before erasing.

- Cute monthly tasks pages from Tidy Mom & a blank project to-do list I made to keep a running list of household projects we'd like/need to get taken care of.

Cooking:

We've done a lot more recently with trying to menu plan, cut our grocery spending, do more eating from home, and doing more freezer cooking. In this section, we have a:

- pantry staples list from $5 dinners which I'll use to keep track of what we have

- freezer storage sheet from Life Your Way to help keep track of freezer meals/items

- grocery list from Simple Mom

- monthly meal planning grids from Life as Mom I'm nowhere near being able to plan the whole month, but I figure if I even just keep track a week at a time for now, the full planners should end up being a good resource in the future.

Cleaning:

Ah, cleaning. This is not my strong suit. We don't have a set routine; no set cleaning tasks on certain days; no set rotation (*note: this doesn't mean that we don't ever clean--it's just we have no organized method in doing so :) ). So, to that end, I found some people who have shared their set ways and rotations.

I printed a full year cleaning calendar and Money Saving Mom's Cleaning List. We'll use those as a starting point. Then, we also have blank ones, so that we can fill-in and determine what works for us.

Birthdays & Holidays:

- Birthday/special date organizer from Life Your Way

- a Gift List that I made to keep track of presents that purchased throughout the year for various occasions. Details include "for", "what", "$$", "occasion" and "location". This way we can keep track of what we've purchased, how much was spent, what it's for, and where it is in the house! :)

- a Gift/Wish List that I made to jot down when something comes to mind/we see something at the store.

- a few Birthday Party planners from Everything Mom, which could be used for any party/get together you're hosting!

- a Christmas Decor Inventory (eventually, I think it might be good to have this for all the holidays we decorate for).

Contacts & Accounts:

- A chart to keep track of all of our accounts/bills including due dates

- Phone Directory

- a business card page to keep cards from companies we like

So, there you have it--our household notebook! I'm sure it will be an ever-changing "document" as we figure out how to make it work best for us. But, I sure am happy with this start!

What about YOU?

- Did you complete the challenge? Or have you already been keeping a household notebook?

- Anything major you think I'm missing?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

*See lots of completed binders/link yours up at Life as Mom.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Up for a household challenge?

I am--and it's a much needed one too!

In an effort to get more organized and make this house run a little smoother, I'm taking Fish Mama up on her challenge and I'll be making a household notebook!

Do YOU have a household notebook? If so, I want to hear all about it! Please leave a comment with links, ideas, suggestions--whatever you have to help! If not, how 'bout you make one too?

Photo Source: Life as Mom

If you want to make one "with" me, head over to Life as Mom and read all about her ideas and tips in making a household notebook. If you want to participate in her link-up & giveaway, then get everything together and post about it by the 31st!

In addition to the great list of resources on the Life as Mom post, here are a few more sites with some free downloads to help you put together the best notebook for you: