Funki and oh-so-helpful organizing & life-hacking tips by yours truly.  Like McGyver, who could dismantle a bomb with a roll of duct tape, a toothpick and a nail file, I am Ma-Gyver, organizer of everything and life-hacker extraordinaire.  From time to time I will be bringing you my tips and tricks for keeping an orderly house and mind. 

Remember the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding?  He thought that Windex was the answer to everything; it was his miracle product.   I am just like him, except I have 4 miracle products:

1.  Goo Gone: This product is perfect for removing any kind of sticky residue and I use it often.  You know the stickers that kids get at the end of a doctor’s visit?  Frequently they end up stuck to undesirable areas in my house.  Goo Gone to the rescue!  You can buy Goo Gone practically anywhere like Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and even the grocery store.

2.  WD-40: It’s actually a joke in my family and they make fun of me because pretty much any kind of squeaky hardware concern and I yell “Get the WD-40!”  They can laugh, but it works!  Squeaky door hinges?  WD-40!  Porch swing not moving so smoothly anymore?  WD-40!  As a preventive measure, I spray it on the screws of my christmas tree stand before I pack it away for the season.  Of course WD-40 can be found in hardware stores, but just about any discount store, like Target has it as well.  

3.  Folex Instant Carpet Spot Remover:  I love this product and (unfortunately) use it at least twice a week, and not on my carpet.  For some insane reason I bought kitchen chairs made from a gold suede-like fabric.   They are very lovely to look at, but not so lovely for 2 messy kids to eat in for every meal.  Yogurt, barbeque sauce, ice cream and salad dressing hit these chairs on a regular basis.  And guess what?  Folex cleans it up every time!  Just a little squirt, a quick rub and that’s it–the spot is gone for good!  You can buy Folex at Home Depot.

4.  Mr. Clean Magic Eraser: I’m not exactly sure what this is made of (and maybe I don’t know want to know), but in the rare times that Goo Gone has failed me, Mr. Clean has done the trick.  It does work just like magic, erasing all traces of a stray pen mark on the wall or some mystery spot on the floor that mopping just can’t seem to get rid of.   And when my daughter, the resident artist, is feeling creative, this happens a lot.  Mr. Clean Magic Eraser can be bought anywhere that cleaning products are sold.

Funki and oh-so-helpful organizing & life-hacking tips by yours truly.  Like McGyver, who could dismantle a bomb with a roll of duct tape, a toothpick and a nail file, I am Ma-Gyver, organizer of everything and life-hacker extraordinaire.  From time to time I will be bringing you my tips and tricks for keeping an orderly house and mind.  

In Part 1 of A Ma-Gyver Christmas I gave you some tips about being organized and stress-free during the holiday season.  I hope that you have had some time to implement a few of my organizational tips.   If not, maybe this post will inspire you to get ready and organized for next Christmas.  

Getting organized for next Christmas starts when you pack away your Christmas ornaments and decorations.  Most people are so tired from all the holiday celebrations, when they take down the decorations they just throw them into any box.  This is exactly how people end up buying boxes and boxes of lights each year that they don’t need; if you don’t clearly label your boxes, then you don’t really know what’s inside.  And I don’t just mean “Christmas Decorations” on the side of the box either; I type up a detailed list of what’s in that box and then I slip the list into a plastic sleeve and tape it to the box.   I buy those Rubbermaid red and green plastic tubs with lids to store all of my Christmas decorations; they are sturdy and easily identifiable.   If you look at this photo, you will see that some things on the list are highlighted; these are the decorations that I plan to use next year.   Because I change my color scheme each Christmas, I have many decorations and I don’t use them all every year.   By highlighting, I can tell at a glance if this particular tub holds the decorations that I need for this year.

Perhaps my best Ma-Gyver Christmas tool is my Christmas Report; this is the last tab in my Christmas Binder (I described the rest of the binder in Part 1).

Shortly after the new year I type up everything about the recent Christmas and try to be as detailed as possible.  First I write general notes about what we did on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and how I felt about it.  I comment on our Christmas card, where I bought it and how many I sent; I also attach a print-out of the address labels.   I write about our Christmas tree, where we bought it and how it looked, and I write about the decorations in great detail; I list how many ornaments were used as well as the color scheme of that year.  The report is pretty long; I write about how we honored our traditions, if we made any crafts, any activities we experienced, what I served for dinner and what I baked, and if we did any entertaining.  I think that most important section is Ideas & Notes for Next Year; here I list any decorating ideas, activities I wish to do or anything that I need to buy.  In early November when I open my binder, this is the section that I go to first.  Finally, I take photos of my Christmas tree and all the decorations outside and around the house; I attach them to the report along with any notes about what worked, what didn’t and what to try next year.

Are you ready to have a Ma-Gyver Christmas?  It’s not too late; if you start now, next Christmas will be a breeze!  All it takes is a little organizing now to be a lot less stressed next year.

This will be my last post for 2008 as I will be busy enjoying Christmas and the holiday break with my family, but look for a exciting guest blogger premiering this week on Funkidivagirl.com; I promise that you will love this guy!  If you are fiending for some funki reads while I’m gone, you can always check out the archives, The Best of Funkidivagirl.com or The 4 Real Housewives.  I have some great posts planned for 2009, so be sure to subscribe to Funkidivagirl.com via email or through a RSS reader like Google so that you don’t miss a thing.   Thanks for reading; I really appreciate your comments and community.  Have a merry Christmas, a happy New Year and as always,

keep it funki!

Funki and oh-so-helpful organizing & life-hacking tips by yours truly.

Although I am Ma-Gyver and pretty much organized all the time, getting ready for Christmas can even stress me out; there are so many details to think about!  Over the last few years I have slowly developed a system that helps to keep me focused, within my budget and virtually stress-free.  As a result, I get to spend more time with my family during the holidays and truly enjoy the season.  I will warn you: I am a bit crazy about organizing, so this may be too much for you to do all at once, but I promise if you implement some of these things this year and do more before next Christmas, you will be less stressed and have more time to spend with family and friends.

So, what’s my Ma-Gyver secret?  I have a huge binder that holds all my Christmas gift ideas, to do lists, magazine tear-outs, favorite recipes and craft ideas.

On the first page is a breakdown of the weeks leading up to Christmas, starting with the first week in November.  Here’s a sample of my “Master To Do List”: 

First Week in November

•       Make Santa appointment
•       Brainstorm gifts: look in magazines, online for ideas
•       Take photo for cards

Mid-November (before Thanksgiving)

•       Make gift idea lists & plan budget
•       Card list: purge, add & update addresses (send email)
•       Decide color scheme for tree, decorations & dinner table
•       Buy Advent things
•       Review past years notes
•       Decide dates for parties

Last Week in November

• Order gifts from catalogs & online
• Order Christmas cards

Thanksgiving Weekend

• Take out decorations & make a list of what’s needed
• Pull names for Secret Santa gifts
• Discuss Christmas with family (Christmas Eve/Day, Activities, Ornaments)

1^st Week in December

• Rent any tables & chairs needed
• Send gift wish list to family
• Make labels for cards & buy stamps.  Mail cards.
• Buy wrapping paper, bows & tape
• Buy any dishes, tablecloths, candles, etc.
• Buy Christmas tree, wreath, doormat & any other needed decorations
• Decorate the house & tree
• Make shopping lists
• Shop for pajamas (or order online) & our special ornaments

2^nd Week in December

• Make sure we have teacher gifts
• Send any gifts
• Check church services
• Plan Christmas Eve & Day menus, baking, grocery lists

Located behind the “Master To Do List” is a budget spreadsheet for this Christmas.  I actually created it last January, based on the previous Christmas.  It has headings that say “Projected”, “Adjusted” and “Actually Spent”.  I find that keeping track of my spending (cash only, no credit cards) helps me to set a realistic budget for the next year.  For instance, I have learned that I typically spend $50 on wrapping paper, tape and bows.  In the past, I might have thought that I spent $25, but I can see that it isn’t the truth.  The key is to put everything on the spreadsheet and not just gifts and decorations.  Some things that are not typically tracked by most people–logs for the fireplace, more groceries, outfits for the kids, stamps for Christmas cards, craft supplies–are the things that leave you scratching your head in January, wondering where all the money was spent.

Next in the binder is the “Gift” section.  In here I have created a table to brainstorm gift ideas and keep track of what was bought and still left to buy.  I have a chart for my son, daughter and a list of others that I need to buy gifts for like teachers, sitters and other family members.  Here’s an example:

Gift ideas for The Boy           

Also in this section is a list of my favorite places to shop in the neighborhood, online or at the mall.  One of the best things in this section is an Excel spreadsheet called “Gift Giving History” that I started in 2005 where I have listed all the gifts that I given each year.   I just don’t trust my memory anymore and would hate to give my mother-in-law the same gift as last year!  The idea behind this section is to make gift-giving fun, unique to the person, within my budget and stress-free.

The next section in the binder is titled “Decorating”.  A couple of years ago I decided to change my decorating color scheme every year, so here’s where I brainstorm and write down ideas for future decorations.  There is also a list of my favorite places to shop and a complete inventory of all my Christmas decorations; at a glance I can tell if I have 7 stands of white lights or 6 strands–without having to pull out the storage boxes.   This section has many magazine tear-outs of decorating ideas that give me inspiration every year.

I hope that I have given you some tools to become more organized this Christmas.  In Part 2 of A Ma-Gyver Christmas I will continue my Christmas organizing tips.  In the meantime, If you have a specific organizing or planning question related to Christmas, email me via the “Contact Me” button and I will address it then.

Like McGyver, who could dismantle a bomb with a roll of duct tape, a toothpick and a nail file, I am Ma-Gyver, organizer of everything and life-hacker extraordinaire.  From time to time I will be bringing you my tips and tricks for keeping an orderly house and mind, but if you have something specific that you need help with, just ask and I will try to help.  

*Funki and oh-so-helpful organizing & life-hacking tips by yours truly.

I’m not one to encourage people to be all domestic or anything, but I do like order in my home.  And in most of our homes, even when the rest of the house looks great, our closets are a mess….especially the clothes.  Not so at my house!  I hate clutter of any kind and the closets are no exception.  I have found two wonderful products that have helped me to keep our clothes in order.  Both of these products were invented by women; clearly without Mother Necessity, where would we be?

When my son first started doing his own laundry he had trouble folding his many t-shirts and his closet was becoming a point of contention for us.  Then I found FlipFOLD at The Container Store (I just LOVE that place!) and now he folds his shirts with ease.  His sister enjoys using it so much that she begs to fold her brothers’ shirts. I use it for my shirts and so does my husband.  Here’s a video of my son demonstrating what he does every week after doing his laundry:

And this is what his closet looks like:

Let me be clear, this is not an organized kid.  Last school year he lost a few jackets, several lunch boxes, his yearbook and ONE shoe (that he was wearing).  But his closet is organized!  If FlipFOLD can help him, it can help you too.

The other product, Huggable Hangers by Joy Mangano, is my latest find.  Previously I hung all of my clothes on plastic hangers and while they were fine, sometimes my clothes would slide off and my closet just didn’t look uniform.  I saw these hangers in Target, picked up a pack and now I buy some on each Target trip until my whole closet is converted (they are not inexpensive).  The hangers are so slim that now my clothes take up less space than before (more room for more clothes!) and hang securely without threat of sliding off.  I was excited to see the child-sized hangers and now my daughter’s closet looks so great:

Like McGyver, who could dismantle a bomb with a roll of duct tape, a toothpick and a nail file, I am Ma-Gyver, organizer of everything and life-hacker extraordinaire.  From time to time I will be bringing you my tips and tricks for keeping an orderly house and mind, but if you have something specific that you need help with, just ask and I will try to help.