134 IHeart Wildtree & a GIVEAWAY!

This morning I chatted about organizing in the kitchen!  So let's hang onto that kitchen theme and talk about cooking in the kitchen as well!!

My pal Amanda, recently introduced me to Wildtree cooking products!

I was surprised I had never heard of Wildtree in the past, I totally LOVE what they stand for!

Wildtree offers the highest quality herbs, spices and culinary blends that are FREE of preservatives, additives, fillers and promote a healthier lifestyle!  And they believe in the value of making cooking a quicker, easier, more healthful project for those who are short on time, and a fun, interesting adventure for those who wish to be more creative in the kitchen!

Cooking with Wildtree is so easy and makes meal planning a breeze.  Simply add a protein and veggies to one of the delicious Grapeseed Oils and/or seasonings and you have a simple, all-natural dinner.  Wildtree's products are extremely diverse.  With just a few seasonings, you can create a multitude of meals without cluttering your pantry with a multitude of spices.  For example, the Rancher's Steak Rub can be used on steak, hamburgers, veggies, chicken, fish, shrimp, and pasta!}

Wildtree's products are completely all-natural - no MSG, food dyes, or chemicals.  And Wildtree is also very economical as it is less expensive per serving than most grocery store brands - no fillers means you use less seasoning!

So what do they offer?  Over 150 items which span breads, soups, culinary blends, sauces, dressings, salsas, marinades, sweets and the finest expeller pressed Grapeseed Oils!

Who is ready to give some of these products a try?

Today's giveaway will give you the opportunity!!

Here are the details:

• Giveaway is for one $50 gift certificate good towards a Wildtree order placed with Amanda!
• Giveaway is op to US residents only.
• Giveaway is open from Tuesday, August 16th through 9:00 p.m. central time, Monday, August 22nd, and the winner will be announced right here on Tuesday, August 23rd!
• One winner will be selected using random.org.
• Please ensure I have your blog or email address so I have a way to contact you if you win.

To enter {each entry requires a separate comment}:

• Check out Amanda's Wildtree website and leave a comment here letting me know what amazing products you would try if you won!
• For a second entry, "Like" Amanda's Wildtree Sand Plums Page on Facebook, and leave a comment back here stating you did.
• For a third entry, follow Amanda's blog {where you will find all sorts of great recipes, stay up to date on what's new with Wildtree and even get to peek inside her organized pantry}, and leave a comment back here stating you did.

So much to select from right?  Here are Wildtree's top selling items:

• 10226 Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil
• 10229 Natural Grapeseed Oil
• 10416 Rancher Steak Rub
• 10282 Natural Butter Flavor Grapeseed Oil
• 10768 Watermelon Lime Frozen Drink Mix
• 10697 Fiesta Salsa Mix
• 10759 Creamy Ranch Dressing & Dip Mix
• 10643 Wildtree's Alfredo Extraordinaire
• 10450 Scampi Blend
• 10575 Taco Seasoning Blend

And last but not least, anyone who orders with Amanda through the IHeart Organizing show will receive a generous seasoning sample!!

Thanks everyone and GOOD LUCK!

333 It's HERE! The Kitchen Cabinet Tour!!

Because the kitchen is typically the most used room in the house, it's extremely important to ensure that it's organized and functional for all the action that it receives!  This isn't always an easy task and often times takes some patience and planning!  Which explains why I received the following question from a reader, along with many other's just like it:

"Dear Jen, do you have any tips on how to organize kitchen cabinets for maximum storage and efficiency?  I would love to see the layout of your kitchen and behind all those cabinet doors!"

So I finally got off of my tush and went through our entire kitchen to take pictures of the insides of each and EVERY cabinet and drawer.  Go big or go home I say!  So I did!

First, let's start out with a little reminder of what our kitchen looks like:

Itty bitty.  It is really important to live with less and really maximize the way we utilize the space we do have.  I thought it might also be helpful to have a map layout of the room too?

And now for the picture tour!  Hold on to your britches kids, because you're in for a wild ride!

Let's start with our pantry!  {fun fact: I have a hard time typing the word, "pantry", it typically ends up as "panty", oops!} This tall cabinet holds all of our dry and canned foods, along with our snacks, breads and produce!

To really maximize our storage, we popped an organizer over the door as well!

My favorite tips for a pantry?  Add a clipboard with copies of your shopping list attached, so you can quickly add anything that runs out!

And unload your yummy snack foods such as pretzels and popcorn, into serving sized baggies for quick grab and go portioned snacking {update - we now use reusable containers}!

Right next to our pantry, we have our spice cabinet with magnetic spice tins:

And our junk drawer:

And storage container cabinet:

Next, you even get to see inside the fridge and freezer!

I really love to use clear storage containers so I always know what we have for leftovers, fruits and veggies!  And labeled bins {the freezer bins are these medium sized ones from The Container Store} make it super quick and easy to find anything we are looking for!

Above the fridge we have two smaller cabinets where we keep less used items, like our popcorn machine and special cooking oils and wines:

We turn the first corner, where we find our special kid's cabinet, where all things kid related in the kitchen get stocked:

Along with the majority of our drawer storage, including our cutlery drawer:

Our two baking drawers:

And our food packaging drawer:

I love to line my drawers with pretty paper and use clear acrylic dividers so that I stay motivated to keep the contents of the drawers to a minimum!

Next up is the stove.  We have our microwave above the stove, and above that, a cabinet that we rarely see the contents of....

The next corner contains all of our dishes and cookware, since it's the area in the kitchen we are using most:

Dishes and glassware above, pots and pans and roasters in our lazy susan below:

I used to keep our pots and pans in a typical kitchen cabinet, however, I found they were nearly impossible to get in and out without wanting to quit cooking before I even started, so they found a new home in the spinning lazy susan, which makes them SO much easier to find and grab!  There is never harm in switching things up when something isn't working for you!

Next to all the dining storage, we have our sink.  Below the sink I stash our cleaning supplies, extra rags and dishwasher pods.  We also keep our recycling bin tucked out of site as well!

Right next to the sink is a small drawer that holds all of our essential dish-washing items:

Where almost done!  Just a couple of cabinets left.  Literally!  To the left of the sink, we have more food storage!  Like nuts, peanut butter and side dishes:

Since I am on the shorter side, the labeled baskets make it super easy for me to identify the contents and grab down only what I need!

And last but not least, next to our dishwasher, we have our utensil drawer:

And baking cabinet!

I found an inexpensive holder for our bakeware and cutting boards:

And the top drawer pulls out for all of our mixing and serving bowls:

And that's a wrap!  The kitchen cabinet tour has come to an end. 

The pictures did a really good job telling the story of how I organize our kitchen space!  But ultimately, here is what has worked best for us in the past, its super simple:

1. Empty the entire contents of our kitchen onto your kitchen table and counter tops.  Start with a clean slate!
2. Think about how you use your space and plan accordingly.  Keep pots and pans by the stove.  Keep food storage by the fridge and pantry.  Keep dish-washing and cleaning supplies near the sink, etc...
3. Purge old food items frequently and only keep the kitchen gadgets that you really use or are multi-functional.  And don't feel sad saying goodbye to those one off pieces that only get used once a year.
4. Clear storage for food is AWESOME for doing quick visual inventory of your supply before heading out to the grocery store!  Plus, it keeps your foods fresh for longer!  Win win!
5. Remember, once you put it all away, it's OK to change things if they are not working!  If you find yourself frustrated with how something in your kitchen is functioning, switch it up!  No harm done!

Any surprises or "Ah Ha!" moments?  For those that had been waiting eons for this post, did this help a bit?  Did it spark any additional kitchen organizing questions?  What other tips do you have for keeping a super functional and organized kitchen space?

75 Back to School Organizing: Establishing a Sleep Schedule

Scary to type those words in the title.  Back. To. School.  Summer just started!  And now they have Christmas items on display at Target... not yet, but you watch... it will only be a couple more weeks!

I thought I would do a couple of posts on things we are doing around the home to get ready and organized to head back to school!  Sounds like a good time right?

This year I have three boys going to school.  Sigh.  For the first time ever, all three little P's will be heading off on the school bus each and every day.  And three separate school buses to boot.  I am already empty nesting...

And although school is roughly three weeks away from starting, we actually use this last couple of weeks to get in the routine and schedule that school brings!

This summer, the kids have been busy busy busy, and our schedule has been chaotic to say the least.  Sleepovers on weeknights?  Yep.  Last minute family movie nights?  Absolutely.  Popping through the front door at 9:30 from a late dinner or night at the ball fields?  You betcha!  We have had zero bedtime schedule or routine for the last, oh, two months now....

It's all well and good when mom is home and can let the kiddos sleep in.  But it won't be OK when that bus rolls up at exactly 7:43 a.m. a couple of weeks from now.  And I know from previous experience, switching up bedtime routines and sleep schedules doesn't happen over night!

So last night, we started our new routine!

First, I will mention that my goal is to have the younger two boys sleeping between 7:30 and 8:00, and our older son between 8:00 and 8:30.  Getting there is going to be a two week phase, since right now they are heading to bed around 10ish.

This week we are working to achieve a schedule about an hour earlier than what they are used too, next week, we will go for another hour earlier.  Trying to go two hours in one shot is a LONG shot for us.

Our nightly schedule this week:

8:00:  Get in pajamas, brush teeth, go potty, get a drink of water

8:15:  Family story time.  Sometimes this consists of all of us curling up in separate spaces to read quietly, sometimes this means we read a book out-loud, together.  Sometimes the boys read to one another.

8:45:  Hugs, loves, lights out!
8:46:  Put Parker back into bed
8:47:  Put Parker back into bed
8:48:  Put Parker back into bed
8:49:  Put Parker back into bed
8:50:  Put Parker back into bed...


I wish I were kidding about Parker...

To help us out, I created this quick chart to pop on the front of the fridge for the next couple of weeks, just so the kids are ready for their new nightly routine {you can click the link below to download your very own free copy if you would like}:

{click here to download your FREE copy}

And that's it.  And the goal, although it won't be incredibly easy, is to try and maintain the same schedule through the upcoming weekends.  This gives the kids 19 days of consistency to get ready for back to school.

Anyone else have a little one that gets out of bed 29 times before finally falling asleep {how do you fix that, I have tried EVERYTHING}?  Any other helpful ideas for transitioning into new sleep schedules?  Favorite bedtime stories or tips and tricks?

38 Basement Progress - A "Pinteresting" Studio

I thought today I would share with you the new blank slate that will be my future IHeart Organizing studio!

Shut the front door!  What did I say?  Yep, I am making myself a STUDIO!  Wahoo right?  A place to craft, blog, design, dream, expand... ahhh, I am SO EXCITED!

Sure, our cloffice is a great place to pay bills, write up a quick post and journal.  But it was all done as a temporary solution while we lived upstairs, since we lost our original office space last year in the flooding of the lower level.

When it comes down to it, I miss having a large space to spread out my crafting supplies and let my creative juices flow.  Plus, I have mentioned a gazillion times that have giant dreams of expanding my Etsy shop with all sorts of organizing goodies, and I definitely need more space for that!

I already shared some of the changes we have made to the lower level during the refinishing process.  We added pretty shelving and painted out our laundry room and tore out a wall in our master bedroom closet.  Why not make lemonaid from lemons, and turn the lower level into a space that functions fantastically for all of us!?  So we are, and that means switching up the layout and how we use the spaces.

I have big plans to figure out how to use floorplanner.com, and get a floor plan of our entire home created for you very soon... so hang in there as I try to explain the updates.

Back to the studio.  It once was actually our uber awesome playroom!

It was REALLY narrow for a playroom.  Loved everything about the room, but it just didn't offer a ton of room to really spread out with toys and train tracks and blocks... so the playroom is being relocated also.  To a larger, brighter area of the lower level {more on that in an upcoming post as well}.

It made much more sense for me to make my own playroom in this space instead....

Such a BLANK slate.

As you can see, we painted the green walls a gray blue.  It's Behr's Prelude, and yes, this gray blue paint color scheme I keep choosing seems to be a phase...

The doorway you see unfinished there?  That is storage under our stairs that is begging to be finished!  Or maybe I am the one doing the begging... did you read that hubster?

I have our old game table to use as a craft table.  That makes me super giddy!

And the wall above it is screaming for something fun!  A gallery of kids artwork and mug shots perhaps?

And the desk is great for our old computer tower {oh, it's so nice to have a full size screen again, working off of a laptop upstairs to create spreadsheets was a smidge of a nightmare}, however, it's lacking in all of the storage that I am needing...

Speaking of storage...

More will be a necessity for this space to really function well!

Budget?  Yeah, I have like zero...

So what does one do when they have a great blank slate and very little budget?

Why go to Pinterest of course!  So I did, and look what I found!!

How great would some art in the form of paint chips be?  I can't wait to take the idea and make it my own!

And a wall of pretty hooks to hang my camera and cardigan and office tote?  Yes please!

OK, so how am I going to add all that fantastic storage flanking each side of my desk, on a budget?  That will absolutely be a challenge!

But I could totally create a pin board out of an embroidery hoop, make some pretty floral art out of paper, drill out a piece of wood to hold pencils and pens and recover a drum shade for a statement ceiling fixture!

And some pegboard of some sort could be great for storing all of my wrapping and crafting supplies!

Were you wondering in the pics above why there was no door for under the stairs?  Well, that's because we are in major debate.  Open in and you take away oodles of storage space.  Open out and you crash into my desk.  Wouldn't a sliding barn door be magical?  I think so too!

Can you see it yet?

So how do I find a rug on a budget?   That's always my biggest challenge.  This space is begging for a huge area rug for my cold toes.  Or wait, maybe that's me again...

And the built ins surrounding the desk.  That idea is never cheap but that's what modifying inexpensive bookshelves is for right?

I can't wait to get started!  It's going to be SO much fun!  In fact, I am probably starting a pinterest inspired project right now.....