Living an Organized Life |
|
Get Organized!
A journal of organizing tips and commentaries by professional organizer Cyndi Seidler to help individuals get organized. |
December 29, 2005RecyclingHow Often We Recycle Gifts 74% Never 23% Occassionally 3% Frequently I'm all for it, however if you keep the gift around a little while, it may be wise to label who the gift was from so it doesn't get regifted back to them! This may sound silly to say, but it's happened! My own sister got her gift back one year later!
December 27, 2005New Year ResolutionsA New Year, A New Start This time, we can do it. This time, we can set our aim high and achieve those goals we want to reach. We can make those new resolutions and make them happen. We can do it ... this time. It's a decision, really. When you DECIDE on something and start taking ACTION on that decision, things happen. It's just too simple. Anyway, to give you an idea about how to envision the changes you want in life and make them happen, read this article. Or, how about creating your future? Developing new thinking patterns that will help you change conditions? Getting your life in balance? Happy new year ... and may you never be the same! December 20, 2005Environmentally FriendlyPleasing Mother Nature December 2005 Taken from an issue of Greentips online In the frenzy of holiday shopping, it’s easy to neglect the environmental impact of your purchases, but Mother Nature doesn’t have to be left off your gift list. Here are some thoughtful gifts that are environmentally friendly as well. Environmental news delivered right to your desktop! The Union of Concerned Scientists has launched an online service that will alert you to important environmental research and legislation. It’s easy and free—click here for more details on the UCS RSS feed. For food and wine lovers: Cooking or serving materials made from recycled glass or bamboo (a fast-growing grass). A selection of organic wines (available online and at many liquor and natural food stores). Membership in a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. The recipient will receive a bounty of sustainably grown produce throughout the summer and fall. For outdoors enthusiasts: Gift certificates for low-impact outdoor adventures such as rafting or canoeing trips. Membership to one or more state parks, or a National Parks Pass. The National Parks Pass, administered by the National Park Foundation, covers the entry fee to many national parks and monuments. Fleece outerwear (jackets, gloves, hats, scarves) made from post- consumer recycled plastic. For gardeners: A selection of seeds for heirloom and native (non-invasive) plants. Heirloom fruits and vegetables are grown from seeds passed down from generation to generation, helping to preserve genetic diversity. Native plants are adapted for the local climate and therefore require less water, fertilizer, pesticide, and maintenance than exotic varieties. Books on environmentally friendly gardening and landscaping techniques. For new homeowners: An energy efficiency gift basket including weather stripping, a water heater blanket, a programmable thermostat, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. A home energy audit to be performed by the local utility. For gadget lovers: Rechargeable batteries (available in most hardware stores). Wind-up or solar-powered battery chargers for laptops and cell phones. For all the other people on your shopping list, consider gifts that are locally made, durable, made from recycled or recyclable materials, or use minimal packaging. For more information: Organic Consumers Association—Organic Wine http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/OrganicWine.htm LocalHarvest—Community Supported Agriculture www.localharvest.org/csa National Park Foundation http://www.nationalparks.org Seed Savers Exchange www.seedsavers.org Native Seeds/SEARCH http://www.nativeseeds.org National Green Pages http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/
December 19, 2005Organize A Gift ExchangeGift Exchange Event Planner Hope this doesn't come too late! I just came across a Secret Santa online gift exchange site that allows people to create and manage gift exchanges.Secret Santa is powered by an email guest list. It makes matches, assigns a gift idea, and notifies participants. Participants can provide a "wish list" and a "do not need" list and secret givers can pose anonymous questions to get size info and color preferences. Another site that does this is Draw Names. Check these out and have fun this holiday with gift exchanges!
December 16, 2005Organize PhotosHave Fun with Scrapbooking I'm also pleased to see how organized she is about the endeavor, too. The photo albums are laid out with index sticker tabs marking pages with pulled out photos for scanning. What's more, the photos are marked on the back as to what photo album they came from. Who taught this child anyway?! For those who haven't organized photos into albums, but keep them in photo boxes or special drawers, scrapbooking can still make incredible family gifts ... with just a little time and creative juices. Try these places to get your creativity going: Scrapbooking Magazine and forum Creating Keepsakes Memories ... to name a few! And now back to the store for more scrapbooking items ... my daughter is relentless. December 9, 2005Stay-at-home ShoppersGetting Malled at the Malls Those who truly value their sanity are staying away from the holiday Mall shopping. My bank teller told me that she heard about this woman who drove around this mall parking lot looking for a parking spot, and just kept driving up and down the isles, watching other cars pull into newly vacated spots she just missed because the line of cars she got behind in the next isle got there first. Her stress level was rising and this was before she even entered the mall! Approximately 30 minutes later, she got into the building and the crowd of people were such that she felt driven to yell into a store at a clerk there and plead, "Just throw something out -- anything!" While the malls and large department stores might be a good one-stop shopping endeavor, it may not be worth it. I suggest, if you must go out and shop, to try retail stores in small shopping strips, or along boulevards with a variety of specialty shops. As for myself, I'm going to let my fingers do the shopping ... thank you Internet! December 6, 2005Gift Wrap Clutter Wrapping Gifts Made Easy Wouldn't it be nice to keep all your holiday wrapping in one place, nicely organized and easy to get to? Consider using a gift wrap station, like this one that stores all those wrapping products. It sure beats the clutter of gift wrap paraphernalia! For this item, click here to purchase. You'll find this and more items like it in our Product shop!
December 4, 2005Organize an EventStarting a Holiday Event The Easy Way Online services like Evite (www.evite.com) and Sendomatic (www.sendomatic.com/evites) are a simple way to manage this task. Of course, you'll need email addresses instead of postal addresses, however it is a great way to provide details of your event and have people RSVP. Evite even allows you to link your address for map directions (I haven't checked out Sendomatic for this). The rest is your own creativity. Food, music, games, whatever. I'm planning a Kris Kringle style Christmas bash where everyone brings a cheap gift for someone and gets a cheap gift from someone. No need to coordinate a big effort here -- just have guests initial their gift so they don't get their own gift back in the gift exchange! Have fun!
December 1, 2005Junk MailMail Box Filled with Catalogs? You may probably be seeing a diluge of catalogs this holiday season to entice consumers to shop without having to get in their cars. The only thing with this is the overwhelming accumulation of paper we end up with. To opt out (option to get out of) receiving catalogs, write to: The Abacus Alliance POB 1478 Broomfield, CO 80038 Or, email optout@abacus.us.com with your name and address. You can opt out mail solicitations (for free) by writing to: Mail Preference Service Direct Marketing Assoc. POB 643 Carmel, NY 10512 Include your name, address and signature. For a $5 fee, you can do this online at www.dmaconsumers.org.
|
