August Challenge: Organizing and Cleaning the Front & Back Entry Way

Hello!

It's August! Which means, if you are following along with the Delightful Order Monthly Organization Challenge, we are focusing on getting our front and back entry ways organized and cleaned up this month.

This month, I challenge you to:

Organize shoes, getting rid of ones that don't fit.

Organize jackets, scarves, etc. getting rid of ones that don't fit.

Create a place for backpacks, if you haven't already

Clean and organize entry closets

Dust Baseboards

Wash Walls & Windows

Scrub Floor

AND..

Since school is starting soon, how about creating an organized child homework message center area, complete with hooks for backpacks and all. (Read all about my original post here.) 

I sell many child message center digital designs in my Etsy Shop, right here.  They are sent to you via email as an instant download. Simply print your message center at your local photo print shop and frame it under glass to get you and your children organized for the school year. If you'd like, hot glue a clip to the glass to hold important papers, homework, reminders, invites and more.  I have used this system for about 5 years now and I still totally LOVE it! I just need to update my wall and add one more message center, since I've had another boy since originally creating this section.

Have a great month bringing Delightful Order to your entry ways!

This post is part of the Monthly Organization Challenge. You can join the challenge at any time. Go HERE to see all the posts and bring Delightful Order to your home and life this year.

To stay connected, you can sign up to receive emails when new posts are published or follow along on Instagram or Facebook. (Please note that Facebook has made some changes, and you may or may not see all the posts there.)  I also have a Monthly Organization Challenge board set up on Pinterest, so you can follow along there as well. 

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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View more of my Most Recent Projects HERE.
 

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Easy DIY Growth Chart Ruler

Hi all!

I've had this board in my garage for many years now.  It's been white and plain jane until today. For years,  I planned on making it into a semi cute growth chart ruler.  

I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it, as it is in my garage and it WILL get dings and markings and  wrecked by my five boys.  Believe me, I know, because my garage is so very trashed!  They have about a gazillion dings in my fridge and freezer out there.  

Well the other day, my husband was asking me when I plan on making the ruler.  It's been up for many years, but just as a white board and we've been marking our boys height on it with pencil.  Not to mention that when it's actually hung up on the wall it covers some of the damage the boys have done to the wall.

Today I was painting some frames with  this vintage blue color and I decided to paint the board and actually get to making the ruler today too. 

As crazy fast as I did this thing I questioned why I waited so long to make it.

It's certainly not perfect.  It literally was done in about an hour, so it's not my very best work ever, but like I said, it will get beat up on, so that's okay with me. 

We love marking our boys' height every so often and being able to compare from year to year.  It's really neat.

This is the paint I used to paint the board: 

After the board was dry, I stretched my tape measure out and marked the lines that I wanted with pencil.

Then using a ruler to keep straight lines, I used this painters pen to mark the line and the numbers so they are permanent.  A permanent marker will do the same thing.

For the numbers, I printed them out on plain paper, marked the back of each number with pencil, creating a transfer (scribble pretty hard on the back of the paper.)  Flip the number over and put it where you want the number to go and trace it and the pencil markings will transfer.  Paint over your pencil markings.  I use this transfer method a lot. 

When your board is all done and dry. Seal it with wax or poly and start marking your little ones height.

 

There you have it... a quick and easy DIY Growth Chart Ruler.

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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View more of my Most Recent Projects HERE.
 

Organizing Children's Papers, Memories and More

Hello all!  Hope you are well.

A few weeks ago, I shared my sister's laundry room/craft room/office all in one makeover with you.  I told you that we did a TON of organizing, in just a few short days, at her home and that I would share some more of the organizing that we did there.

Another thing we tackled in her home was her children's paperwork.

If you have children, then you know how quickly those art pieces, school work, photo memories and such add up.  It's fast! They bring home papers every day from school.  They draw, color and create masterpieces often.  Some (not all) of those papers you want to keep for memories.

BUT... if you don't organize their papers right away, they can quickly become out of control (especially if you have more than one child.)

So today I am sharing an EXCELLENT way to keep track of your children's papers.  

I've already shared my way of keeping my boys' papers, memories and such organized.  You can view my post here.  We basically did the same thing at my sisters.

We got file boxes for each of her children.

 ... and lots of hanging files and manila file folders for inside.

This system works great and I would recommend it to everyone that wants to organize your children's paperwork and memories.

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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View more of my Most Recent Projects HERE.
 

Child Keepsake Memory Boxes/Books

If you have children, then you understand that each child collects a lot of papers from school, awards, report cards, artwork, photo's etc.  

Some of these things I want to save for my boys' keepsake memory books that I will eventually finish as a graduation gift for each of them.

The keepsake memory books that I have started for each of my boys will take me years to finish.  They're part scrapbook, part project life, part baby books, etc. (I hope to share the albums with you all someday.  At the end of this post, I'll show you a little sneak peek of those albums.)

In the meantime, I have to have all of my boys' keepsake stuff organized.  This is how I keep it all together:

I've created a large file box for each of my boys. 
You can find these boxes in my Amazon Store Here.

 Inside each box, I have file folders organized by year/grade.

 As the boys come home with a piece of art work, a report card, etc. I simply slip it into the correct file.

 Setting this system up has made it so much easier to keep everything together.

 Sweet little hand prints from 1st grade is definitely worth keeping and adding to their keepsake albums.

 Diplomas, etc are worthy of keeping as well.

 I even slip photo's from the year into these files too.

 anything that I would like to add to their keepsake albums go into these files.

 I store the boxes in my office/craft room closet on a bookshelf.

You may remember a while back I shared this post with you all:

Organizing Children's School Papers

Well since then I have changed my mind and decided that it'd be much easier to have EVERYTHING all together and in one place, including school papers, photo's, art, etc.  So I no longer use this system.  I use the file box system instead and it's been so much easier having it all in one place.

The keepsake memory books that I'm creating for each of my boys look like this:

 Like I said earlier, it will take me years to finish these books.

Here is a little sneak peek at one of the inside pages.  

I am creating my own full page 12x12 scrapbook layouts and I sell them in my Etsy Shop Here. 

 You can find the Announcing You Page (shown above) in my shop HERE.

If you want to create a little simpler keepsake book/album for your child, I do have these digital sets in my shop too:

Aqua Baby Keepsake Memory Book

 ...and some extra pages for the set here:

and I also sell the School Days Memory Books (in digital format) too:

Simply click the photo's above to be directed to the items in my shop.

.. and that is how I organize my children's keepsake items.

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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View more of my Most Recent Projects HERE.
 

Back to School Home Organization Ideas

With summer coming to (an all too soon) end and school days fast approaching, I like to feel organized and ready to get back to schedules and such.

Here's a list of back to school organization ideas that you may like to apply to your home & life.

Create a Children's Homework Message Center with the 16x20 Red Damask Child Message Center or choose a different design from my Etsy Shop (there are many to choose from.)

 DIY Backpack Holder Wall Hooks

  Create a Homework Desk Area

Organize Children's School Lunches

Time Saving Tips for School Mornings

 Find a spot to hang the lunch boxes.  I have the perfect wall for that in my pantry.

Another thing that we do in our home is Chores.  Each of my boys have their own chores chart and we use it every. single.day.  During the school year, right after school my boys get a snack and are expected to get their chores done right after that.

I am a firm believer that chores are good for children.  It has seriously made our daily clean-up so much easier and there is never a question on who has to do what.

I have many chores charts in my SHOP.

Our  chore charts sit in my Back Entrance Storage Cubbies:

Wondering what to do with all those school papers that your child will be taking home in a few short weeks?  If so, you'll want to check out:

 Organize Children's School Papers


The 8 1/2 x 11 School Days Form printable page is available in my shop too.

Doing a 12 x 12 scrapbook for your child? 

This is the perfect school days pre-made scrapbook page.

Are you into project life scrap-booking?  I've been getting into doing this and I love it!!

I designed the School Days Too - 4x6 Journal Cards and have been using these for my boys now.  One of these days I'll show you some of my scrapbook/photo albums. I'm totally addicted! and I'm loving these journal cards!  I have a photo printer at home, so I just print the individual 4x6 journal cards at home, but you can have any photo lab print them for personal use only.  They turn out so cute!

or... you can create an entire 3-ring binder for those school papers, like I did last year:

Simply print this entire printable school days memory book packet from my Etsy Shop and add them to any 3-ring binder.

There's a Boys School Days Memory Book

 and a Girls School Days Memory Book

Want to see even more ways to organize your home?  View all my organizing posts {HERE.}

So that's it for today. Tell me, are you feeling inspired to get some back to school home organization projects complete?  Are you ready to send your children back to school?

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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Child Message Centers Available NOW as Digital Files

Hello friends.  Hope you are all doing well!

You all remember my child message centers, right?   If you missed the original post on these guys, you can view it RIGHT HERE.

They've been one of my most popular pieces that I sell.

Guess what?! In my brand new ONLINE shop, I'm now offering these as JPEG digital files that you print from your local print shop.  You get the file instantly, then simply upload it to your local print shop and order.  

Delightful Order Digitals are for PERSONAL, non-commercial use only. ©delightfulorder - original work and protected.  Have any questions about my terms? View my TERM OF USE page.

Here are the 16 x 20 sizes that I have available NOW: (click the photo below to be directed to the item in my new shop.)

There are a few different sizes to choose from too.  You can view all the child message center prints available HERE.

Interested in a different color option? Email me and I will see what I can do.

 

May you be a little inspired!

Until next time,
DaNita 
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