When the Peanut was a baby, I used to scrapbook.  During his naps I would pull out all the papers, stickers, embelishments, inks, chalks, pictures, etc.  I always had quite the scattered mess lying around and have quite a few half finished scrapbooks to show for my efforts.

As he grew and naps became less frequent, I had less time to work on these scrapbooks.  So, all the materials got packed away for "someday" when I have time again to complete the project.

In the meantime though I have kept all those little mementos through the years that should go in a scrapbook.  The problem is that they usually end up in some box or drawer somewhere, with no context to give a clue what or when they come from.

What to do with them?

It took way too long for the realization to hit me that a scrapbook doesn't have to be a Pinterest perfect project to be worth keeping.

Organizing and keeping those mementos doesn't have to be some sort of arduous task!

And so I created the World's Easiest Scrapbook for myself.

Jenn is being all helpful over at her blog and teaching us how to properly fold a towel.  Complete with video.

I have had the flu all week and my voice is doing the whole raspy thing so I will spare you the video.

But I thought I could teach you a little something too.

You see, awhile back I came up with a clever way to organize the kids toys.

Then I procrastinated for awhile.

Tried one way and it didn't work well.

Came up with a plan B.

And now I will show you my amazing system to organize and store the kids toys.  Something that will allow them to easily identify their toy storage so they can clean up their own room.

Too good to be true?

Let's find out!

I started with several cubes from the Target Itso collection.  I like these cubes better than the smaller cube shelf ones you see all the time because these are bigger.  Also the cubes are plastic and snap together easily and come apart easily.  This works well for us because we are frequently having to empty out the room when Gremlins attack.  Also they are more water resistant.

Fabric bins of various sizes and colors (Itso brand, the other brands are too small) work well in the cubes to sort toys into.
The problem is, all the toys end up thrown together randomly into the bins and then to find anything, everything gets dumped out creating a huge never ending cycle of mess.

Then I end up spending an entire day sorting toys into various cubes and trying to explain the system to two oblivious children who immediately go back to doing it the way they have always done it.  And all my sorting efforts are just wasted time.  Much like any other form of housework...

Obviously the bins need to be labeled.

But trying to write out cute little labels for the toys won't work well until my kids learn how to read.

I thought about little picture labels but they needed to be really specific for the kids to see what kind of toy when into each bin.

Pictures...  Hmm...  Oh, photos.  Right.  That could work.

But how to attach the photos.

My first attempt was to simply scotch tape the pictures to the bins.  That didn't hold.  The pictures ended up falling off and getting destroyed or lost.

Plan B.

If you guys are anything like me you flipped your calendar over to April and were greeted with quite a shocking realization.

One of the biggest holidays of the year is less than a week away?!  How could I be caught so unprepared?

Never fear!  It's under control.  Jenn and I are here to help you celebrate.

We had so much fun last year, we decided to do it again!

That's right.  It's almost time for the second annual...

Here are a few writing prompts.  Get creative!

-How are you celebrating No Housework Day?

-What do you do instead of housework?

-Tell us about that time you tried to clean something and it backfired on you.

-How did you become a Domestic Goddess / Domestically challenged

-Share your housekeeping/organizing tips and tricks

-Confess your mess…be brave and show us pictures of your messy house

-Tell us your most/least favorite chore

-Why you hate/love housework

-How to you make housework fun (or at least bearable)

-Do your kids help with the housework?

For the Domestically Challenged

Do you hate housework, are you no good at it, or are there simply just not enough hours in the day to do it all?  You’re not alone.  All over the country non-domestics just like you are sweeping the cobwebs aside (figuratively…we don’t sweep for real, silly!), stepping out into the world and declaring, “I hate housework!”.  We’re walking right past our piles of organized chaos and confessing to the world, "I am Non-Domestic" and “I have better things to do than dishes.” Join us on Saturday to link up any of your domestically challenged blog posts.  Show us what you do instead of housework, how you plan on celebrating No Housework Day, or tell us about that time you tried to clean something and it backfired on you.

For the Domestic Goddesses

If you’re reading this while wiping your computer screen with a special cloth…you probably need to declare a holiday more than any of us (put the cloth down and back away, you weirdo!).  Can’t take off a day of cleaning?  You might feel like you don’t belong here, but you couldn't be more wrong, my friend!  You are welcome to link up any of your housework posts…make us feel guilty and show us your tips, tricks, and lovely organized closets.  We’ll call you a show off and give you a ;) winky to your face and then we’ll probably talk about you behind your back…but seriously, you’re totally welcome to link up!

Start planning how you’re going to celebrate No Housework Day (or if you’re a non-domestic...procrastinate and try to come up with something at the last minute ;) ) and then meet back here at Non-Domestic Mama or at Coolest Family on the Block on Saturday to party! 

Sometimes the littlest things can make such a big difference.

This is actually a bit of a problem for me because I tend to be pretty oblivious to the little things.

I can't tell you how many times I have pointed something out to my husband and asked, "How long has that been like that?"  To the response, "Only the past year or so.  How are you just now noticing?!"

One of my mother's favorite phrases to me as a child was, "If it was a snake it would have bitten you."

The truth is that the snake not only would have bitten me but I probably would not have even noticed the bite until it was too late.

This is why the house often tends to get just a little messier each day.  If it's a gradual process I honestly don't notice many of the little things.  A pair of socks here, a scrap of paper there.  I step right over them without even noticing.  Then one day I look around and wonder how it got so messy again.

So, is it any wonder that, when I rearranged my dining/homeschool room/office/craft room, I didn't notice the obvious furniture placement solution?

A solution that my husband would have, had I asked him, noticed immediately.

Instead, I just stared at it for days and weeks and found myself frustrated that it just didn't quite fit the way I had originally envisioned.

 You see, the corner was a bit tight.

When I had planned on putting the desk against that wall, in my mind, there was plenty of space.  The desk, the drawer craft organizers, and then the lamp.

Unfortunately the lamp was pushed pretty tightly against the wall, and though it is not obvious, the lampshade was ever so slightly tilted.

Which bothered me.

A couple of weeks ago, bright and early on a Saturday morning, my husband and I packed the kids up in the car and drove the hour drive to his mother's house.  After dropping off my husband, the kids and I then drove an hour and a half back, past our house, to a birthday party for one of my son's best buddies.  (My son was rather dismayed that for some reason it took 2 1/2 hours to drive to the birthday party!)  While we were having fun splashing and eating cupcakes, my husband and his mother were in her van, driving the five hours to my parent's house.  They stayed for a few hours and then turned right around and drove back.

At around 1am I got a call from my brother asking me if my husband had arrived home yet.  I looked outside to check and discovered, to my surprise, a vehicle in the driveway containing my brother and sister-in-law!

At around 2am my husband arrived home.  He had dropped his mom off at her house and we would be taking her van back the next afternoon.

Why?

This year my son is officially starting Preschool.  Because his birthday falls in October he is one year behind all his friends who started Kindergarten yesterday.  Now rather than sending my little guy off to school, wearing a backpack that is bigger than him, taking tons of pictures, and crying all the way home, (cause you know I would) I'm cheating and keeping him home with me.  HA!  Yes, I am homeschooling.

Now, technically I homeschooled him last year too.  We did nursery school.  But that was mostly fun stuff and I made sure never to burn him out.  So if he got tired of something or didn't want to do it that day we didn't.    He really already knew the things he was supposed to learn anyway but I didn't want to push him and make him hate the whole idea of school.  I figured I would just use that year as a sort of practice year to get him used to the idea.  Some days we worked for five or ten minutes.  Some days he wanted to "work" all day.  And some days we didn't crack a book though we usually at least watched an educational video and read a book.  And whenever he sat down with a book to practice drawing his letters or numbers or puzzles or whatnot my daughter would sit down with him and draw or color.  Most days he would ask to "do school" so I consider the year a success.

This year is "for real."  Not that I plan on pushing him to the point of hating or disliking school.  The curriculum only calls for about 45 minutes a day 4 days a week.  I will probably add some fun supplemental stuff too.  If something is not clicking with him we will find another way of doing it or revisit it when he is ready.  I have already had him look through his preschool reading curriculum and it looks like he is actually ready for the kindergarten so I think we will just breeze through that and move on.

We will officially start the day after Labor Day because I have this firm belief that school shouldn't start until September.  Maybe because school started in September when I was a child or possibly because my birthday month is August.  Regardless, I refuse to start school in August!

Of course, as I am getting "prepared" (and by getting prepared I really mean thinking about and planning on getting prepared) I have been obsessively stalking Pinterest and anything and everything that will help me organize and set up my Homeschool Room.

Oh yeah.  I got it!  Doing my happy dance!

Remember the shelf I wanted so badly?  And the day I told you I was working on "a project" but wasn't finished yet?

Well I can't say I am entirely finished but I am going to just tell you about it anyway.  Because I know how you have all been holding your breath waiting and I just couldn't keep you in suspense any longer.

So, the shelf I wanted was a little more than I wanted to pay.  I considered getting the four tier shelf for $70, even though I really wanted the $80 five tier shelf.  So basically I just kept wishing.

Now that Easter is past and Summer is lurking right around the corner, I got the wild idea into my head that I might try out this "Spring Cleaning" thing I have heard so much about.  I thought that since we had company on Easter, which inspired a wild fury of cleaning, consisting mostly of hiding things, but did result in some clear spaces that are slightly wider than the normal paths, (my husband gets the majority of the credit for this) I could take advantage of this and motivate myself to do some actual cleaning.

Gulp.

I know big stuff right?  I have pondered this decision all day.  It's not something I can just jump into after all.  I really think this is the year to go for it!

I am faced with one slight little hitch in my plan though.  I am turning to my readers for help on this one because I am hoping you will be a little more familiar with the "spring cleaning" concept.  I have never done this before and am at a bit of a loss as to where to start.

Trying to come up with a plan of action I wandered about my house in a bit of a daze.  More and more confused I meandered from room to room looking high and looking low.

I have searched the whole house twice now.

I know it's a chaotic and disorganized mess so sometimes things are staring me right in the face and I still miss them.

Seriously though . . .

I'm posting a bit late today because I was pretty busy all day working on assembling a shelf for the kid's room.  I know what you're thinking . . . "It took you the entire day to put together one shelf?"  Of course not.  That would be crazy.  I actually put the shelf together about a month ago.  It has since been laying down right in the middle of the floor of the dining room.  We have been walking around it, tripping on it, kicking it, falling over it.  See, as I am apt to do, I got the sudden urge to put together the shelf before I really thought it through.  My husband then, as he is apt to do, pointed out the flaw in my plan.  We had not yet entirely finished the floor in the kid's room and so had no place to put the shelf.  So it sat there.

Shelf on the Floor

This weekend we finally put in the last few pieces.  What took us so long to finish it?  Well, we haven't had a free weekend for awhile.  We have had people in hospitals and bridal showers and birthday parties.  In all honesty though I might have procrastinated a teensy bit actually ordering the last few pieces.  Maybe because I kept forgetting or wanted to wait till payday.  Maybe because I knew once we had those last few pieces I would have to get serious about getting that room clean and back in order.  Hmm . . . probably mostly the latter.

Unfinished Floor

What did I spend today doing then?  I spent the day putting the back on the shelf.  Logically I realized that I should probably leave the back off the shelf if I was going to be leaving it lying in the middle of the room.  I figured the kids would be climbing all over it and step right through it.  It was a pretty good call I think.

I had the bright idea awhile back to use wrapping paper to cover the back of the shelf and make it all pretty like.  It was of course right after I had finished assembling the last shelf.  I attempted to take the back off but that was not an option.  Rather than the nails coming back out, the cardboard-like back threatened to rip right apart.  So I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Pretty Wrapping Paper

Today I did attach the pretty paper to the back of the shelf before I nailed it on.

Shelf with Pretty Wrapping Paper

Smart right?

Closeup of Shelf with Pretty Wrapping Paper

I am proud to announce the shelf is officially fully assembled.  I think it came out well.  It looks all pretty and stuff.

Pretty Shelf - See I can be all crafty like!

Once I get all the toys and books put up on the shelf it will probably cover it up of course.  But I will know.  It's all pretty underneath all that stuff.  I even have the pictures to prove it.

Like how I coordinated the colors of the paper with the lids?  Totally on purpose . . . ;)

After it was all finished I was exhausted!  Had to take the rest of the day off.  I'll work on the rest of the room tomorrow . . . maybe . . .

Yes, I do realize I just wrote yet ANOTHER blog post about a shelf.  Maybe I should have named my blog Shelf Obsessed Non-Domestic Mama?

<a href="https://nondomestic.blogspot.com/2011/04/no-housework-party.html/"><img src=" https://www.nondomesticmama.com/1bp/-1Zcs9oBbpGs/TZoGreVUCZI/AAAAAAAAAJU/AzSEldeMstE/s1600/nhwp10c.jpg "></a>

Today is "No Housework Day"! Welcome to the first annual No Housework Party blog hop hosted by the Coolest Non-Domestic Mamas on the Block …Jenn and Rachael!

Whether you never lift a domestic finger or you are a dedicated domestic goddess…we’re giving you the day off !




Link up any of your housework related blog posts.
Here are a few writing prompts. Get creative!
-How are you celebrating No Housework Day?
-What do you do instead of housework?
-Tell us about that time you tried to clean something and it backfired on you.
-How did you become a Domestic Goddess / Domestically challenged
-Share your housekeeping/organizing tips and tricks
-Confess your mess…be brave and show us pictures of your messy house
-Tell us your most/least favorite chore
-Why you hate/love housework
-How to you make housework fun (or at least bearable)
-Do your kids help with the housework?

Link up here or at Coolest Family on the Block Thursday April 7 through Sunday April 10 to party!


If for some reason you don't see the link up here let me know and I will be happy to add your link!





Want to post this linky on your blog? Click below to grab the code!
(Please include a “No Housework Party” button with a link back in your post!)
get the InLinkz code


You can also party with us on Twitter at #nohousework where @coolfamilyblog and @nondomestic will be tweeting links and housework related quotes throughout the day :)

Previously I mentioned that I enjoy a little activity I like to call Online Window Shopping.  In the spirit of wanting stuff I don't have, I thought I would start a little series entitled Stuff I Want.  This is where I get to tell you about all the stuff I wish I had. :)

I recently bought a bookshelf from Walmart for my kid's room and I love it!!

It was $25 for a tall Mainstays 5 shelf bookshelf.  Usually the little 2 or 3 shelf bookshelves cost more than that!  When I bought it I assumed it would be very narrow but I was happily surprised.  It is perfect for the kid's bedroom!  I am putting all their decorative items that I don't want them playing with up on top.  They have a couple of books I want to keep in good condition like a few signed by the author so I will put those on the top shelf.  Then I have baskets and plastic bins to organize their toys in for the rest of the shelves.  I am tempted to buy another one for their room.   I have also gone around the house finding all the places a bookshelf would fit perfectly.  I just need 7 or 8 more so far!  At that price how can I resist?