31 Smart, Low-Cost Organizing Ideas

31 Organizing Ideas from Real Simple Magazine

I know so many people cleaning and organizing this week! I am going to start this weekend when two of my girls come to visit and help. My big tip is to buy at a Dollar Tree if you have one close by. They have many organizing products to use. My favorite is their HUGE bags to store things. I used to buy the Ziploc brand and spent about $4 a bag. Dollar Tree has all sizes, big enough for a twin bedspread for only $1, smaller ones are two and three for $1 and they all have handles.

Do you have any favorite cleaning or organizing tips?

Happy Wednesday!

-Molly

New Year Traditions - 2011

In our family, Eating Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Day is a definite tradition.

In the early 1980s, the original Black Eyed Pea Restaurant on Camp Bowie in Fort Worth, Texas, served a small sample portion in tiny bowls all day long on New Year's Day. This is when I discovered it only takes a few bites to fulfill the tradition, especially if black eyed peas is not a favorite dish. In that case you may like to try one of these lucky foods.

I made these 4-ounce sample jars to give the office staff where we live.

I made these are for my mother's lifelong hairdresser to give to customers today.

I'm going to make one more batch of a dozen for neighbors. I made the jar labels by printing on the winter theme scrapbook paper, using a corner punch and I ran them through a Xyron (or use double-stick tape). I printed the top text using an Avery circle label template and cut them out with a MS circle cutter (or use the lid, trace and cut with scissors). I already had the paper and ribbon. The beans and jars (bought jars at the grocery store too) for the two dozen samples cost me less than 75¢ each. A great gift and they take so little time to make.

Google will get you a ton of information, worldwide, but following are a few links related to New Year's Day.

New Year's ideas - Martha Stewart
New Year Quotes
the Rose Parade
Rose Bowl Game
Polar Bear Club annual swim - burrrrrrrr!
Old Lang Syne

Be safe and .....
Happy New Year, friend!
~Molly