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Post by Linda on Feb 18, 2024 14:54:14 GMT
Going to have to pass on this one - at 53, I AM the older relative  -my parents and ILs generation have all passed away. |
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Post by Linda on Feb 18, 2024 14:54:27 GMT
Week 5- Master Bathroom: Go through the medicine chest. Do you really store medicine in here? It is not a good idea to store your medications here as the steam and heat of the showers can affect them. Consider finding a new place. While you rearrange them, throw away the horrible tasting stuff that you do not use and the expired items. Check your first aid supplies. Do you have enough Peroxide, band-aids, gauze pads, antibacterial ointment? Find a printable first-aid checklist here.
Just look at those towels! Are they torn? In need of replacement? You needed some new rags anyway! Put it on your list to replace. Reorganize the ones you have.
Clean off handles, knobs, light switches. Does anything need replacing?
How about the bathroom mat or carpet? Does it need some spot remover while you go on? Does it need to be replaced?
Clean from high to low. Take down the curtains or blinds and clean them. Vacuum the screens in the windows. Clean the windowsill and wash any knickknacks.
Clean the entire bowl. Spray with a good disinfectant. How is your bowl brush? Does it need replacing? A sponge brush works better than a bristle brush here.
Polish all the metal fixtures make them gleam. Get around the bowl and clean spots you have not seen in a while! Open the window while you spray a good mold remover if you need to. Scour sinks and bathtubs, and showers.
Do you need a new soap dish? A decorative hand soap dispenser?
Get under the sink. Look at those three bottles of hair spray. Do you need and use all that stuff under there? Consider purchasing some under the cabinet organizers to give you more storage space and allow you to get things easier. Wipe out the bottom of the cabinet.
Don’t stop there. Time to get the drawers now too. Throw away what you have not used.
Does the shower curtain need replacing? Is it really moldy?
Wash out the wastebasket and let it sanitize.
The bathroom scale hasn’t been scrubbed in a while. Do it now! Get the baseboards and wipe them down, spray the tile with a good tile cleaner while you are doing the baseboard then wipe the tile down after it had a chance to sit.
Take note and replace, repair all items that need attention.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 18, 2024 16:34:17 GMT
Books used to be considered precious and owning them was something special.
Yes! Maybe it really is this. Growing up, I was very proud to have my books, and treated them well.
But times have really changed, haven't they? Electronic books. Everything you could possibly want online. My kids' school doesn't even have a dedicated library (which REALLY bothers me, but that's a whole 'nother subject...)
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 18, 2024 16:52:41 GMT
Today I jumped back into the basement.
All the book bins are empty. Two bags of books have left the house. There are several more just at the bottom of the steps waiting for their turn. I put several books into recycling because they have definitely seen better days. I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel where the books are concerned.
I condensed some kids toy bins. Tossed the last of the dollar store type trinkets that have been long forgotten.
Tossed some sun shades made for use in the car for babies. Haven't had babies in a decade.
Found & recycled a box for a tension bar that I didn't know was put down there. I'm starting to find (and toss) a lot of stuff like that, things saved for someday (not by me) that will never be needed.
Tossing trick or treat pumpkins this trash day. My TOTers use Halloween bags now. Those pumpkins are molded plastic and take a whole shelf up. Won't even miss them.
Yesterday I tossed an incomplete dry measuring cup set that had escaped my notice in a drawer. We still have a perfectly complete set in there.
And today i tossed a whole bag of valentine's Day dollar store trinkets that my kid brought home from school. I asked what he wanted to do with it and he said, "toss." Even he wasn't smitten with the crap quality pencils, the unstickable stickers, the heart straw that you can't properly clean, etc. I feel badly for the waste, but please, just send in snacks/treats/beverages if you must.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Feb 18, 2024 17:16:51 GMT
And today i tossed a whole bag of valentine's Day dollar store trinkets that my kid brought home from school. I asked what he wanted to do with it and he said, "toss." Even he wasn't smitten with the crap quality pencils, the unstickable stickers, the heart straw that you can't properly clean, etc. I feel badly for the waste, but please, just send in snacks/treats/beverages if you must. Sometimes you can’t. I hate that the schools in our district don’t allow candy or other classroom treats for stuff like that. 🫤 My kid brought home so much disposable little plastic trinket junk for every holiday because of that. |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 18, 2024 17:26:55 GMT
Yesterday I traded in my 12Pro for a new phone, so today I pulled the phone cases and extra screen shields for the old one and added to the donation bag. I'm trying to take care of things quickly and as I run across them in hopes of preventing more piles developing around the house! But times have really changed, haven't they? Electronic books. Everything you could possibly want online. My kids' school doesn't even have a dedicated library (which REALLY bothers me, but that's a whole 'nother subject...)
I find this annoying as well. Our large church had an amazing library for years. During a recent addition of more buildings and a remodel of existing areas they completely did away with the library! And what did they replace it with? A 'welcome center' complete with expensive fancy coffee machines and tall tables/chairs - basically a Starbucks. Other than the people who work at the church you rarely see anyone in there using the space. People did use the library and we also have a very active preschool program that used it as well. The excuse was 'no one reads books any longer'. That's bull because my millennial DD prefers physical books. I've noticed others her age going to physical books because many are trying to cut down their screen time. Very short sighted decision to remove libraries if you ask me. |
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Post by smalltowngirlie on Feb 18, 2024 18:06:18 GMT
I am jumping in. Yesterday I cleaned and organized 2 kitchen cabinets. A lot of items that only get used a few times a year went to downstairs storage. When we need them, we need them but they were taking up a lot of space. I have limited cabinet space, so I needed to rethink it a bit.
The next annoying area is the top of the fridge. I have cookbooks there, but I don't used them on a regular basis. Each one has a few recipes we do use, but I don't need the entire book handy. I thought about taking pictures of my favorite recipes, but I much prefer a hard copy when cooking. Looking on my phone is too hard. I have a small tablet so I could maybe try that, but often forget to charge it. Plus how do I get the recipes from cookbooks to my tablet in an organized way. How do you organize your cookbooks? How do you organize recipes etc.? Thank you.
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Post by natscraps on Feb 18, 2024 18:32:01 GMT
We’ve been sick with flu around here so the little progress I had made all went to crud. I FINALLY got Christmas put away today. I didn’t get it reorganized like I wanted but it’s no longer spread all over the living room floor.
Im hoping to make it to the Container Store next Saturday to get the archival boxes for my grandmother’s albums.
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,761 
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Post by mich5481 on Feb 18, 2024 18:55:28 GMT
I am jumping in. Yesterday I cleaned and organized 2 kitchen cabinets. A lot of items that only get used a few times a year went to downstairs storage. When we need them, we need them but they were taking up a lot of space. I have limited cabinet space, so I needed to rethink it a bit. The next annoying area is the top of the fridge. I have cookbooks there, but I don't used them on a regular basis. Each one has a few recipes we do use, but I don't need the entire book handy. I thought about taking pictures of my favorite recipes, but I much prefer a hard copy when cooking. Looking on my phone is too hard. I have a small tablet so I could maybe try that, but often forget to charge it. Plus how do I get the recipes from cookbooks to my tablet in an organized way. How do you organize your cookbooks? How do you organize recipes etc.? Thank you. I've ripped put recipes I like from old cookbooks, put them in a 3 ring binder in page protectors, and then donated the cookbooks. That may be an option for you. |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 18, 2024 19:09:45 GMT
I thought about taking pictures of my favorite recipes, but I much prefer a hard copy when cooking. Looking on my phone is too hard. Use your phone and scan the recipes you like. If you have an iPhone you can do this using the Notes app. Save all those scans into a folder in your files. Next you print a copy of each one, hole punch them and put them together in a 3-ring binder. Back before all the cool phone technology existed (only in 2001  ) we were 'suitcasing in' to a foreign assignment and I couldn't take any cookbooks. My solution was to type up all my favorite recipes and put them in a 3 ring binder divided by categories. Even with the new tech and apps, I still reach for that binder quite often. |
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Post by dewryce on Feb 18, 2024 19:24:16 GMT
I am jumping in. Yesterday I cleaned and organized 2 kitchen cabinets. A lot of items that only get used a few times a year went to downstairs storage. When we need them, we need them but they were taking up a lot of space. I have limited cabinet space, so I needed to rethink it a bit. The next annoying area is the top of the fridge. I have cookbooks there, but I don't used them on a regular basis. Each one has a few recipes we do use, but I don't need the entire book handy. I thought about taking pictures of my favorite recipes, but I much prefer a hard copy when cooking. Looking on my phone is too hard. I have a small tablet so I could maybe try that, but often forget to charge it. Plus how do I get the recipes from cookbooks to my tablet in an organized way. How do you organize your cookbooks? How do you organize recipes etc.? Thank you. Look into the Paprika app, it is amazing. I also prefer hard copy recipes, especially when there are multiple dishes, so you don’t have to switch back and forth. I like the Paprika printed format as well so what I do is get the recipes we love into Paprika and then print them out and store them in a couple of notebooks. Now we don’t have to go through 5 cookbooks looking for a single chicken recipe. All of our favorites are in one section of our binder. eta: wanted to add that when I meal plan I take the recipes out and out them in a small binder we keep in the kitchen so we have everything we need for that week and don’t have to go looking for it. 7 different sections, though not by day of the week as we pick and choose what we’re in the mood for that day. Super helpful when making the grocery list as well. We got rid of most of our recipe books. I tried finding the recipe online because importing into the app is so easy. Otherwise I took a photo of the food photo and typed the recipe into the app. mich5481 We did this for a while too, just to get the books out of the house. You can use a ceramic cutter and neatly take only the page you want. But I like things uniform so eventually they made their way into Paprika. |
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Post by dewryce on Feb 18, 2024 19:31:08 GMT
We’ve been sick with flu around here so the little progress I had made all went to crud. I FINALLY got Christmas put away today. I didn’t get it reorganized like I wanted but it’s no longer spread all over the living room floor. Im hoping to make it to the Container Store next Saturday to get the archival boxes for my grandmother’s albums.I think they do free shipping over $75. Not only save you time and gas, but if you’re anything like me, a whole lot of money by not going into the store  |
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Post by dewryce on Feb 18, 2024 19:35:52 GMT
LavenderLayoutLady Wow, that’s a lot of progress! linda Thank you for posting from the CGP. I’m pretty excited because I should easily be able to get this done on all of the bathrooms this week since I just finished cleaning out the inside of all of the cabinets, drawers, and medicine cabinets. Decluttering, cleaning, and reorganizing!
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Post by dewryce on Feb 18, 2024 22:42:22 GMT
I didn’t expect to but got a wild hair and did some decluttering today. I used to go to a lot of scrapbooking conventions and classes. As well as do papercrafting at my sister’s house. So I have a good tote bag, coordinating tool caddy, an OTT travel lamp, and a hard plastic handled thing tote for paper when I purchase it. Well, it’s been years so I’ve decided to let most of it go. The bag is good quality and in excellent condition so it will go with the others I keep. If I need a tool caddy for classes I can always take out my jewelry supplies and use their caddy. Once I confirm I can still get lightbulbs for the lamp I’ll be keeping it because it’s good to have when I take my stuff to the dining room table. And the plastic paper tote is going. There are other things I can use. They may not be as handy but I don’t want to keep something only to use once every 5 years. Oh, and I’m getting rid of a necklace I made that I’ve been wearing as a bracelet. It doesn’t really add anything. eta: And I’m offering some invitations I made (blank inside) for the 4th of July to a friend. I made them at a Kaitlyn’s Promise crop about 20 years ago  |
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Post by natscraps on Feb 18, 2024 23:58:26 GMT
We’ve been sick with flu around here so the little progress I had made all went to crud. I FINALLY got Christmas put away today. I didn’t get it reorganized like I wanted but it’s no longer spread all over the living room floor. Im hoping to make it to the Container Store next Saturday to get the archival boxes for my grandmother’s albums.I think they do free shipping over $75. Not only save you time and gas, but if you’re anything like me, a whole lot of money by not going into the store We have one 10 minutes from DS’s play therapy group. I would have gone yesterday while he was in group but the snow was coming down pretty hard and the roads were crap. It works better than online because the time i have in there is very limited so it’s get what I came for and get out. |
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Post by lg on Feb 19, 2024 3:13:36 GMT
Dropped off to clothing recycler one pair of shorts, a bleach stained hand towel and a rug we don’t like any more (we are texture people and this one has lost its furry feeing after washing it one too many times).
Hubby also sold something and I sold something so that’s two more lots of stuff out of the house once I post them.
Added four more items to the “sell at the markets” pile.
Threw away some items out of my wedding keepsakes box (rusted staples, not needed etc), planning on having a look through what’s left and may get rid of some more items.
Got a free rug deodoriser shake and vac powder with an order I placed so actually used it on my rug. Whole room now smells nice (not my favourite scent but it’ll do especially as it was free!)
That’ll do me for today, off to school pick up!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 19, 2024 3:45:22 GMT
And I’m offering some invitations I made (blank inside) for the 4th of July to a friend. I made them at a Kaitlyn’s Promise crop about 20 years ago Seriously? You were at a KP crop? Now I wonder if we ever met? I went to pretty much all of them until the pandemic hit. Where was the one held that you attended? |
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quiltz
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,850
Location: CANADA
Jun 29, 2014 16:13:28 GMT
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Post by quiltz on Feb 19, 2024 4:34:46 GMT
I sold a sewing machine, an almost brand new Baby Lock Allegra. I had purchased it (Nov 2023) because it had a deeper throat that I thought would be great to do free motion quilting. I was disappointed with this machine. I had received many extras (special sale) when I bought this machine so this was enticing to the purchaser. All in all, I sold for $200. less than I bought it for.
I have some fine china to get rid of. I tried to sell to Replacements but I wasn't going to make anything substantial there.
I'm going to my favourite thrift store (out-of-town) this week so I have a few boxes of stuff to take there.
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Feb 19, 2024 5:15:41 GMT
quiltz, I had some nice dish ware my Mom had given my Grandmother. I kept a pickle bowl, took pictures of the rest and sold them. We list things in Kijiji and various local Kijiji groups. There is a local lady that buys and sells China. When I needed a piece for my set she had it. If you have older China with gold trim mention that in your ad. If you plan to donate proceeds from your sale to charity mention it. We went through a bunch of paper. Shredded some and recycled others. Will be going through a small box of trinkets tonite. Listed two things for sale and gave away two items.
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Post by dewryce on Feb 19, 2024 5:30:40 GMT
And I’m offering some invitations I made (blank inside) for the 4th of July to a friend. I made them at a Kaitlyn’s Promise crop about 20 years ago Seriously? You were at a KP crop? Now I wonder if we ever met? I went to pretty much all of them until the pandemic hit. Where was the one held that you attended? Very likely! I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the first year, maybe the 2nd or 3rd? I thought it was between 2000 & 2004, but I just checked and the first was in 2007. It was in The Woodlands, at a big church I believe. I stayed with KevinsAngel (April). I had no idea they were still doing it, that’s wonderful! |
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Post by dewryce on Feb 19, 2024 13:14:15 GMT
Daily declutter task from My Simpler Life Declutter Calendar:
Clear out one pile in a hallway.
If you don’t have a hallway or there are no piles, consider doing your entryway or another small area this week.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 19, 2024 14:51:46 GMT
Very likely! I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the first year, maybe the 2nd or 3rd? I thought it was between 2000 & 2004, but I just checked and the first was in 2007. It was in The Woodlands, at a big church I believe. I stayed with KevinsAngel (April). I had no idea they were still doing it, that’s wonderful! This is too funny! I was definitely at all the ones held at the church. I would have been sitting with Cara ( Cara in TX ) most likely and we tended to be a little over the top. Those were in the days that I actually scrapbooked. |
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Post by mikklynn on Feb 19, 2024 15:05:32 GMT
I am jumping in. Yesterday I cleaned and organized 2 kitchen cabinets. A lot of items that only get used a few times a year went to downstairs storage. When we need them, we need them but they were taking up a lot of space. I have limited cabinet space, so I needed to rethink it a bit. The next annoying area is the top of the fridge. I have cookbooks there, but I don't used them on a regular basis. Each one has a few recipes we do use, but I don't need the entire book handy. I thought about taking pictures of my favorite recipes, but I much prefer a hard copy when cooking. Looking on my phone is too hard. I have a small tablet so I could maybe try that, but often forget to charge it. Plus how do I get the recipes from cookbooks to my tablet in an organized way. How do you organize your cookbooks? How do you organize recipes etc.? Thank you. I have a 3 ring binder with page protectors that I use to store recipes. Just tear out the pages you want. Blasphemy, I know, to destroy a book. But, it makes more sense than keeping a book for 2 pages. |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Feb 19, 2024 15:41:05 GMT
Hey all - I'm super later to this party, but wanted to say you've all inspired me to actually get some deep organizing done. I am not much of a clutter person, but we've lived in this house FOREVER and there are too many drawers, and cupboards that haven't been thought about in years. Early in our marriage we moved a ton, which really helped keep organization in check.
I did have one question that I thought some of you organizing gurus might know. I use binders for recipes - which I noticed several people above mentioned. I have had the absolute worst luck with crappy binders. It seems like they always end up being slightly ajar and my plastic sheet protectors slip through and drive me crazy. Does anyone have a recommendation for high quality binders?
Thanks!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 19, 2024 15:46:01 GMT
Does anyone have a recommendation for high quality binders? Thanks! I stick with the Avery brand and have never had any issues. I prefer the ones that have the clear pocket panels on the exterior so that I can print my own cover/title pages and slip them in. |
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Post by alsomsknit on Feb 19, 2024 16:50:38 GMT
Does anyone have a recommendation for high quality binders? Staples has some that are super durable. They aren’t pretty, but they hold up well. HS boy, well. Binder |
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Post by smalltowngirlie on Feb 19, 2024 17:35:35 GMT
I am jumping in. Yesterday I cleaned and organized 2 kitchen cabinets. A lot of items that only get used a few times a year went to downstairs storage. When we need them, we need them but they were taking up a lot of space. I have limited cabinet space, so I needed to rethink it a bit. The next annoying area is the top of the fridge. I have cookbooks there, but I don't used them on a regular basis. Each one has a few recipes we do use, but I don't need the entire book handy. I thought about taking pictures of my favorite recipes, but I much prefer a hard copy when cooking. Looking on my phone is too hard. I have a small tablet so I could maybe try that, but often forget to charge it. Plus how do I get the recipes from cookbooks to my tablet in an organized way. How do you organize your cookbooks? How do you organize recipes etc.? Thank you. I have a 3 ring binder with page protectors that I use to store recipes. Just tear out the pages you want. Blasphemy, I know, to destroy a book. But, it makes more sense than keeping a book for 2 pages. Thanks, a few others suggested this as well. Sometimes just having others say it is ok, really helps. I have a cabinet I can put the books in so I can still access them, but it means getting the stool out, so I don't store much in there. It would be perfect for the cook books. Then a year from now I would feel more comfortable throwing them out knowing I did not miss a recipe. |
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Post by dewryce on Feb 19, 2024 17:56:56 GMT
Does anyone have a recommendation for high quality binders? Staples has some that are super durable. They aren’t pretty, but they hold up well. HS boy, well. BinderAgreed, they are literally the only type of binder I own, I replaced all of my others with these. |
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Post by dewryce on Feb 19, 2024 17:59:35 GMT
Very likely! I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the first year, maybe the 2nd or 3rd? I thought it was between 2000 & 2004, but I just checked and the first was in 2007. It was in The Woodlands, at a big church I believe. I stayed with KevinsAngel (April). I had no idea they were still doing it, that’s wonderful! This is too funny! I was definitely at all the ones held at the church. I would have been sitting with Cara ( Cara in TX ) most likely and we tended to be a little over the top. Those were in the days that I actually scrapbooked. Cara was definitely there the year I went. And it wasn’t that big yet so we likely did meet. Very cool! |
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Post by Linda on Feb 19, 2024 18:48:42 GMT
Does anyone have a recommendation for high quality binders? Avery heavy duty binders - they hold up to high schoolers, ime |
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-my parents and ILs generation have all passed away.
) we were 'suitcasing in' to a foreign assignment and I couldn't take any cookbooks. My solution was to type up all my favorite recipes and put them in a 3 ring binder divided by categories. Even with the new tech and apps, I still reach for that binder quite often. 
