Now for the next printable in this set I wanted to share with you today the To Do List- simple and easy matched our menu planner and a little something else coming later on this week. Comes in a stack of pretty colours for you to all print and enjoy : )

You might just be able to squint and see a little blog to do list I have running at the moment ; )

Now before you click on the links- please consider these printables take time, a lot of time in fact. If you would like to use these printables to alter in anyway it is courtesy to email Bianca or myself and ask first please. Thank you xx

Turquoise
Pink
Periwinkle
Lemon
Biscuit

See below evidence.

I am not perfect, nor is my home, my schedule, my life and my time management. I work, I get busy, I have two small children and million and one other excuses as to why there are times where areas of my life slip through the super organised cracks ; ) This is life people- just keeping it real.

SO I could not open these drawers, nor could I find anything. Things would fall out when I opened them and it was just a downright embarrassment. Come to the rescue some drawer dividers from Target and I was super motivated to get this disaster under control.

So to started to organise, I followed the very same steps I do every time I overhaul a drawer/room/ area whatever and it works every time.

1. Make sure you have looked at the drawer/room/ area and have a think about what is not working, why and what you can do to fix it- crucial step here- if you just tidy and dont fix the problem it will be messy again pretty quickly.

2. I knew looking at this that I needed dividers and that I needed to find another home for AL those cookie cutters. Find storage solution that work for your problem area is another key step.

3. Divide, sort, throw and donate. Get everything organised into piles to start looking at what you have.

4. Reorganise back into the space neatly and in a way that makes sense to YOU.

Sprinkles (note to self, do NOT buy any more sprinkles)

Cookie cutters (also do not buy any more of these)

And cupcake wrappers ; )

SO once I had everything in their sections and I had cleaned out the drawers with my trusty spray I got to work putting it all back in a way that it would remain looking neat and tidy and not the mess you see above. The cute white metal drawers dividers were from Target and a fabulous investment I need a few more packs for the rest of my drawers.

I made sure all of the small loose items candles and opened sprinkles etc were put into mini glad bags and placed into a drawer divider together to keep it all neat.

And all is right again in my world : )

I can find everything so very easily now and by clearing out I now have everything in one drawer instead of 2- bonus! I found another home for the bulky cookie cutters in a cute basket which is much more practical.

I even felt inspired to bake and at the request of Master Flynn I made some sunny yellow playdough right after my organising spree.

Care to share how you organise your baking drawer?

Best of all they are FREE. Yes I did say free and come in a multitude of colours to suit everyone. Todays printable is the first of a few which will be released over the coming days and weeks for your enjoyment.

So I will started with the pin board system I have decided to use in my home to make this work for me and my family. In my day in the life a few months back Jen captured a photo of the pinboard inside my pantry see below.

Truth be told it really was a bit of a mess,a dumping ground for cards etc and really was not used effectively. So the idea was born to use this pinboard to hold a few small A5 clipboards which would assist in keeping my life a little bit more organised.

The little A5 clipboard come completely plain from Officeworks for about $2 and they are just super cute and very practical for todays printable which is menu planning. The board also came from Officeworks a little while ago but you can use any board in your home or alternatively you could put holes in the wall to hold the clipboards, magnets on the fridge or just have them on your bench/errands stations- lots and lots of options this is just what works for me.

My handy husband added some hooks- although these are a little long so we need to pick up some shorter ones at Bunnings soon. Simon also drilled some super small holes in my clipboard for some metal labels holders at the bottom for a little added flair.

I just cropped some patterned paper to fit with the corners rounded and added the metal labels holder and a tag. This is easy enough to change over the paper when I get tired of it. You could also laminate the back patterned paper for extra durability.

So that is my system for the clipboards. I like the board as they are easy to take off and on, in a great accessible and easy to view area but can be hidden if I close the door.

Now to the planner.

Menu planning is super important for our family and we have been doing it for about 3 years now. It has seriously changed our lives, the way we eat and the way we shop. We go to the shops less, we buy more of what we need and there is no “what is for dinner” question. You do have to be consistent with menu planning and make the effort to make it work- the menu will not write itself and so as I have mentioned in the past we make an effort to do ours every Sunday night together. I often write in my planner and make out my weekly to do lists as well. It is a great way to start the week and I strongly urge you to have a day/night where you fill this out- keeping old menu plans from the previous weeks at the back is a great way to get inspiration when you are stuck as well.

Our menu planner is an A5 size so it is super easy to slip into a planner, diary your handbag or to store on your clipboard. There is a space for the entire week and also an area for a small shopping list and other shopping. This planner was mine from last week so you can see how I plan out my week. The small shopping list was the things I need to make my recipes that I didn’t already have.

Planning your meals based of things you already have at home in your pantry and freezer is super important to make it cost effective and also means less food wastage.

We have plans to make a full A4 page shopping list for when you do a large shop as well- look out for this soon.

Now to colour we liked them all and so we decided that in this range which we have called the whimsy there are going to be five colours, pink, lemon, turquoise, biscuit and periwinkle. If you are like me you might love them all and choose to print them all and rotate every week ; )

Printing tip- these print best in Acrobat.

And so here are the links for you to enjoy- as always if you download and use these printables Bianca and I would love to hear from you, how you used them and if they made a difference in your meal time planning.

PINK

LEMON

TURQUOISE

BISCUIT

PERIWINKLE

ENJOY : ) It is great to be back.

Tell me what you MOST want to organise in your life right now : )

This is my ALL day out bag. We might be going to the zoo or out all day Sat etc whatever the case may be this lives in the car for those days. I also have a smaller nappy clutch type set up I will show you soon for the quicker trips : )

Firstly the bag I use-

This was a gift at my baby shower from my gorgeous group of girlfriends and it was such a nice treat. It has lasted super well and after 12 months it still looks brand new. This particular one is made by Oroton and you can find it HERE. I like it as it’s a great size and fits in everything without being too big.

This is a look at everything laid out.

I do carry a LOT. I am the queen over over packing , being prepared and having everything that I just might need. I am not a “buy at the shop if I need it” kind of girl. The level of pooping through we have had with Oliver it make me nervous to go out of the house without a fulling stocked. Lets just say I have been the mum in the parents room hosing down my child in the sink…..the shame.

If I get stuck without something I need you will find it in my nappy bag the next time.

Here is a slightly closer look from L-R.

Toiletries in a clear case (this is great for seeing what I have also keeping everything else protected from spills or leakages)
Wipes
Bibs
A few small rattles for entertaining
Dummy on a chain
Spare change of clothes- full set including singlet
Muslin wrap
Hat

Keeping in mind this is just a nappy bag I do not carry anything for Flynn or any food or any of my own things in here. I just like to keep things separate. It is easy for my brain and how I organise my life.

And the other side -
More spare clothes
Nappy bags
Socks/booties
Fabric change mat
Nappies in a zip lock bag (I hate scrunchy nappies)

So this is it. This is what stays in the bag on a regular basis and I change this over and Oliver grows and the seasons change- I have just added a pair of jeans, a sleepsuit and a wooly hat since taking these photos as the weather gets cooler.

Now back to that toiletries bag. I love this solution for being able to grab quickly what a need for a nappy change or other situation whilst I am out.

Now this is what is in there-

Hand sanitizer
Nappy rash cream
Moisturiser
Powder
Tissues
Bath wash (see above for said pooping episodes)
Baby sunblock

And here is a look at everything all stacked in there nicely.

The little zip lock bags allow everything to remain together and neat. The sections in the bag also allow me to better organise everything and I usually keep all changing items on one side and spare clothes, bibs, toys etc on the other.

So there you have it.

Is this bag organising going to suit you all ?

No way. I am a working mum and so I keep my own stuff separate as moving it daily would be a nightmare- this may be different to you so you might add a purse, sunglasses etc. The key is though is finding what you need to carry, storing it neatly so that it doesn’t get too messy and making sure you re stock on a regular basis so that you don’t get caught out.

I hopes this helps those who asked and if you have any other great tips of what YOU carry in your nappy bag please feel free to share with everyone : )

I sure do. I am not exempt at all from having stuff in my home that I don’t need/want or use. Things I have bought I am not using, gifted with that I don’t need, old containers which are empty etc.

Firstly you need to be in the “mood” to clear clutter. If my head is not in the right space I usually don’t even start to organise. I need to be a throwing out sort of mood. I generally go in with an end goal. I think about the room before I get started- sometimes for weeks. I look at what is working, what is not and why? And I often even jot a few notes about a room first.

Identifying what is not working will help you create a space which will STAY organised. When I do a big room clear out I usually aim for it to be the last time I go in there and have to do it again for a long time so I want it to work. So for me my change table was a problem area and has been since I set it up 3 years ago. It looked neat and tidy which was great but in reality is was not really working to it’s full capacity.

What wasn’t working
1. Too much stuff in here
2. The canvas tub were too deep and things would get lost.
3. I didn’t know what I had which meant I often bought unnecessarily

So the first step for me was to empty ever single thing out of the shelves and throw out ruthlessly

All the things I haven’t used since Flynn was a baby or was empty or old etc went in the bin. You cannot donate opened toiletries so unless you have someone you know is in need there is a bit of waste here which is a shame and will help me in future to keep me knowing exactly what I have. Once I cleared out 6 bags of rubbish I knew what I had to work with.

This system works the same with absolutely any organising so read on even if you don’t have a change table.
1. clear out and throw out/donate what you no longer want or need.
2. Once you have your pile left sort it into smaller piles of the same items.
3. Look at your container situation and work out how you are going to containerize what is left.
4. Make sure you don’t just dump it all back or you will have the same organisational issues you had in the first place.
5. As above if it is not working change it- don’t just do the same thing again

Then I started to put it all back again. This time though with my newly cleaned out toiletries I put small tins inside my large canvas buckets so that I would be able to separate and find everything easily.

Looking a LOT better already.

So what is in each one? I will show you what I am storing in my change table keeping in mind everyone’s needs and situations are different. I tend to buy my toiletries in bulk on special etc as I like to keep spares on hand- this may not suit you.

And so what is in all of my tubs?

Bucket one-
* Baby powder. Top bucket lansinoh and the bottom bucket is nappy rash creams.

Bucket Two-
*Nappy sacks and baby oil. Top bucket Vapor creams and bottom bucket breast cooling pads and Milton tablets.

Bucket Three-
*Baby lotions. Top bucket disposable wash cloths and bottom bucket containers.

I choose to keep spare soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand wash, bubble bath and baby wash in our children’s bathroom. I will share my organising project in this room very soon.

Regardless of what you store and how you store it I hope the above tips might help you in the actual process in clearing the clutter in your problem area.

And here is a quick look at how it all went back together. We use this shelf for the items we grab the most on a daily basis.

I am a total change table girl. I know a lot of people do not use them or find value in them but I totally love ours. I love that everything we need is within easy reach and all kept neatly together. There are lots of laughs and smelly moments, giggles and trying to wiggle off the table at any given opportunity. Mostly it is a place we spend a LOT of our time and so having it well organised is crucial in our home.

The shelf holds from left to right- wash cloths and bibs, daily toiletries sanitizer, powder, cream etc. The bottom shelf holds our wipes warmer- great for winter and a little tin for smaller daily item like a tooth brush, comb, cream etc.

Now go forth and clear some clutter in your home today : )

Our holidays was the time to do it and so it went on the to do list. Firstly this is my process although I was so super focused and didn’t take any in progress photos.

1. Set yourself a block of time. Oliver was napping and Flynn was continuing on with a duplo village we had built earlier that morning. This meant I had a small amount of uninterrupted time to work on this space.
2. Set aside a space for donating and a throw out pile.
3. Sort through clothes folding and piling into sizes- making sure you donate and throw out as you go.
4. Once you have your sizes all folded put these into a storage tub. There are heaps of varieties of these from your discount store, supermarket, bunnings and Ikea. You need to look at the space you are going to be storing yours and figure out what is going to work best for you. You will be examples of mine below.
5. Make sure you label you boxes with their applicable sizes.
6. As you put back the clothes for this season make sure you organise them in a way easy for your children/husband to all put back. For example I have labelled my drawers and also the wardrobe to make sure everyone is clear on where everything goes- this way the system stays the way it starts.
7. Stand back and marvel at your hard work ; )

Ok now for how our space now looks.
The wardrobe-
Now for a little background. This is one third of Flynn’s wardrobe. When we built this house both the children’s rooms were built in with a 3 door robe. At the moment with just Flynn in this room this is all the space he needs. In 12 months Oliver will move into this room to share with Flynn and he will take the space on the right next to Flynn which is currently empty. The last robe on the very end right is currently storage for a baby swing, my wedding dress, tetra bed and a stroller- this just gives you an idea of the layout of the area.

A closer look at the top of the robe.

Now we don’t have built in robes so we have to make use of what space we have with additional storage solutions. One day we would like to get this built out but for now we need to make the most of a single shelf and a single rail.

So up on the shelf we have a series of white storage boxes that fit this area. I often get asked how I get my boxes the fit my spaces. These are used everywhere all over our home so often I take one from another space to see what will fit. If you are unsure you can do a few things- measure your space and then head off to the shops and get the boxes that based on your measurements will fit or you can just buy them take them off and take them back with they don’t fit. There is no magic process it really is just trial and error to getting it right as to what will fit for me.

These top boxes are very important to me as they store all of the clothes for the boys that are either too small or too big. I store by size and then label the boxes with the size on the side of the box. This makes it easier to regularly change around my sizes as the little boys grow.

Now for the super organising part.

Knowing that we needed to keep this system working I have labelled the shelf front with what order the clothes are hung in this robe.

From left to right the order we work in –
*Shorts
*Pants
*Short sleeved shirts
*Collared short sleeved shirts
*Short sleeved button up shirts
*Long sleeved shirts
*Collared long sleeved shirts
*Long sleeved button up shirts
*Cardigans and jumpers
* School uniforms
*Dressing gown
*Raincoat/ parker

And the bottom of the robe is simply his shoes lined up neatly. The basket on the right holds night nappies and then bags to the right of that.

For Flynn’s drawers I have labelled these from top to bottom with some little labels on the inside of the drawers so that we are all able to put everything away all in the right places each time the laundry is done.

For small baby clothes I use the Ikea drawer dividers to keep everything nicely together. See my previous post HERE for my details on these dividers. I still use and LOVE these for keeping everything neat. Don’t mess with what works is something I stick by with organising and so this didn’t change in my organising spree this time around.

Se the below photos taken of Oliver’s clothes.

On the top of Flynn’s drawers I had a wicker basket which I have shared earlier. When Flynn first moved into this room he was still in nappies and so this stored wipes, powder and creams etc. Flynn has been toilet trained for awhile now and since then this basket just became a catch all for “stuff and junk”. So it was all cleared out and I decided this would now work well as hat, scarf and beanie storage. This was just a simple and easy swap over.

I also added a small tin bucket on the drawers filled with Flynn’s hair conditioner and body lotion.

This storage of our children’s words and sayings, questions and life does not have to be super fancy or expensive- just a small easily accessible place to keep those things which make us smile.

At the moment Flynn is at the “why” stage. I am sure any of you who have a four year old know exactly what I am talking about. It is cute, wonderful, exasperating and knowledge building. But I won’t lie in saying often I deem the last 5 minutes of our hour long journeys “quiet time” just so I can hear myself think ; ) Don’t we all ?

Now onto recording these little beauties. After these millions of questions went on for a few days many which I quietly laughed about (on the inside of course) I knew I needed to start to record them all for future laughs generations. I grabbed this sweet think little notebook from my favourite stationary store Kikki-K and stickered away on the front. Obviously I was going for a very whimsical and child like look about this book.

Then on the inside black space for all those lovely gems. These were literally just this mornings questions and I do love this stage. Love that he is learning, questioning, wondering and exploring the world around him.

Some of the questions from this day-
Q- Why are transformers purple?

Q-Why are there so many trees?

Q- Why are we driving so fast (on the freeway) ?

Q-How do transformers sleep?

Q- Why do we need doors?

Q- Why do water monkeys come out?

And so my little boys deeper thoughts and burning questions are captured for many years to come. The back of this journal will be a place to store everything about Citti (Flynn’s imaginary sister). A fabulous picture of the time in his life right now.

A struggle for me for awhile now as I collect them from all over the place. Then I saw this cute recipe binder at Typo and I knew this is exactly what I needed.

Firstly a word on my old system as organisation is constantly evolving around here, what worked for me and the family 12 months ago just might not be valid now and so things are every changing.

The old system was for me to store my loose recipe in my Errands station-

I had a folder labelled just for them. And I would drop them here once I printed the and put them back when I was finished.

One of the problems with this system for me was spillages see below evidence of some damage on my favourite pie recipe.

SO I needed something where the recipes were well protected inside a sleeve and it also needed to look super cute so I could have it out in my kitchen. The Typo recipe folder delivers all of this. And as a bonus I just LOVE the colour.

There are lots of dividers in the folder which is great and covers all of what I need to be able to store in here. Note the little mumma’s boy in the back, he never like to be more than a metre away from me at the moment : ) Bless his heart.

So once lunch time while the boys were busy with crackers and such I got to work. Firstly I collected all of the papers and recipes in the kitchen and also in the recipe folder. Then I started simply slotting them into the folder in the correct section.

I love this folder because it can also fit in the Tupperware recipe cards which is handy.

There is also this great pocket at the back for smaller recipes as well or ones yet to be hole punched.

It was so great to hear from so very many of you on Facebook as to how you store, organise and collect your recipes. Hearing how others organise is a fabulous way to learn. So if you have an idea or system please feel free to share today as well : ).

So with this arrival I needed to do a full reshuffle of my work area. This is a really central location and as wonderful as that is and as much as I love being out with the family while I am blogging etc it also means it needs to look really neat- so lots of hidden storage is a must.

Cords have been an issue with me in this area in the past as with so many electronics and cords and cables etc it was a bit of a nightmare. Cue Pottery Barn to the rescue. This charging station holds an amazing amount of stuff in the hidden area to the back on this unit. The cords I have hidden in the back are- laptop x2, Iphone charger, Blackberry charger and a home phone charger. And yes somehow they all fit!

So now this is what my little space is looking like. (sorry for the reflection on the photo it is a glossy print which I need to get re-printed)

And a close up view. I added a little clipboard with a monthly calendar printed out on the top. This is command central for the family as well and so I use this calendar which I print each month to add the families main commitments so that everyone knows what is going on.

I am also charging my phones here, this is another great way to decrease phone time a little instead of having them charge by my bed like I used to.

And I use the space in the drawer for USB cords and my phone covers which I pop back on once they are charged.

My Errands station still takes pride of place in my work space. There is SO much stuff stored in this little tin and it keeps everything looking neat but within easy reach. Want a breakdown of my stash in here?

* Flynn’s Thankful journal
*Funny things Flynn says journal.
*Post it notes
*School interview book
*Permission slips for school
*Babysitter notepad
*Flynn’s Journal
*Oliver’s Journal
*Notebook
*Shopping list pad
*File folders
*Display book which holds all of my printables.
*Oliver’s daily schedule booked

So there you have a revamp of my little work station.