Organization Week One....Hmmm....

Ok so I am not getting this posted very early but it's before midnight so it counts. It has been a crazy crazy day and it probably wasn't so smart of me to start this challenge only yesterday giving myself less than a day to get one area of my household done. If you are clueless as to what I am talking about go here and read how I am challenging myself to become organized in less than 2 months.

Now before I show you these pictures. This.is.serious.people. It's bad, very bad. And I chose to start in the worst area of the house, the area that needs the most organization. When I claimed this room as my craft room my crap literally got thrown in this room, it was never once organized at all, so it's only built up month after month and gotten so much worse. I really can't believe I am showing you this. I started on a bookshelf in my room, it was covered in mounds of stuff, good stuff too. Scrapbook papers, letters I have started, blocks finished and not, all kinds of goodies that should be displayed throughout the house, etc. I am nowhere near done, not even close, even with just this shelf but even though I said I would post my organization updates on Wednesday I will post the rest of this area in the morning sometime.

So I started here. Let me tell you I could not even get to the shelf. Boxes of stuff on the floor in front of it. Notice my pumpkins? Yea it's January, so bad I know. Hey New Year, New beginning, right?

After a little organization. Still nowhere near completion but it's definitely a start. I have nine of these baskets. I was lucky enough to score them off of craiglist for $20 for all nine and they match. They are a perfect fit for my shelf, 3 to a shelf. Obviously they won't be so junktified but it's a start.

I have TONS of these that I bought for about 10 cents a piece after halloween. I want to cover them in pretty papers or fabrics as they are really nice for organizing things in a cabinet or on a shelf.

I am not sure where in the world I am going to put finished things. These are not all finished but I have one cabinet in the room that I am thinking should be emptied so that I can store finished goodies in it that away they don't collect the dust :)

Sorry my pics are bad. I didn't have time to edit them. Remember this shelf? $10 garage sale find over the summer. Well believe it or not I did get it painted and hubby hung it for me. Now this shelf will NOT hold my blocks as it will be housing all of my candle stock but for now to get the blocks out of the way I had to use it.

Like I said I have TONS of work ahead of me in here but i'm trying and I know I will finish it. I have to, I can't stand it. I can't wait to be able to find things and get out all of my pretties!

***Now a few tips if your organizing on a tight budget***

1. Craigslist is Awesome for finding deals on baskets, organizers, shelves, cabinets, etc. I found the baskets above, I also found a set of 10 matching jars that I will show you soon for $5 and they are perfect for buttons, beads, all of my embellishments.

2. Check that clearance after a Holiday, look for clearanced buckets, boxes, anything you can use to organize in your cabinets or on your shelves. It doesn't have to be pretty if it's going in a closet or in a cabinet, but you can always alter it if you like.

3. Check your local thrift stores, and think outside the box. Old Mason jars are great for storing small items and they look pretty! Plus they have gobs of baskets there and cheap too!

Ok that's it! Though tomorrow is late I will show you more tomorrow anyway. Then Next week I will show you a new area and more tips and tricks for organizing on the cheap and thinking outside the box!

 

Ohhhh guess what???? It's snowing like crazy here, winter storm warnings and big beautiful flakes falling from the sky! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this weather. I get lots of hate mail and dirty looks for it too :) haha.