simplify your life Archives

Weekend Kids’ Closet Makeover With DIY Shelving (Easy Weekend Project)

February 4, 2021 / The Organized Home with Kids / 2 Comments

Wondering what to do with a small closet in your kids' room? Adding DIY custom closet shelving is an easy weekend DIY kids' closet makeover.

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Give Your Kids’ Closet A Makeover This Weekend With DIY Shelving: Looking for kids’ closet makeover ideas? Wondering what to do with a small closet? The best DIY closet makeover ideas don’t have to be expensive, take forever, or require the pros. This DIY kids’ closet makeover is a low-budget weekend project that’s easier than you’d think, and is great …

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The Ultimate Bullet Journal Gift List

November 23, 2018 / Stuff I Love / 26 Comments

Need the perfect bullet journal gift ideas for that BuJo fan on your holiday list (or maybe for yourself?). This list has you covered!

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Do you have someone who loves bullet journaling on your holiday gift list? Have you been thinking about starting your own Bullet Journal? Or are you a hardcore BuJo fan already? This bullet journal gift list covers all those bases and then some! I’m about to start my third year of Bullet Journaling. For all …

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Your Carsick Kid Plan-Ahead Survival Guide

Ever had a carsick kid? Trust us, it's not fun. This plan-ahead guide will help you be ready when disaster strikes while you're on the road.

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Have you ever had a carsick kid? If you haven’t been down that road yet, count yourself as one of the lucky ones. But don’t expect your luck will hold forever. All it takes is one episode to scare any car-owning parent out of their complacence. Trust me. Alas, we’ve been down this road enough …

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When Vacation Ends: Tips for Readjustment

July 6, 2018 / Traveling with Kids / 30 Comments

Readjusting to "normal life" after a trip is hard. If you find it hard to jump back in to your normal routine when vacation ends, give these hacks a try.

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Who dreads returning home when vacation ends? It’s not just that you’re no longer away from all the stresses and cares of daily life. Readjusting to daily life can be a major challenge – especially if you’re a mama. We’ve just returned from the first of several family trips this summer, and I’m already struggling …

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How To Start A Bullet Journal (The Easy Way!)

January 17, 2018 / Favorite Mom Hacks / 93 Comments

Want to start a bullet journal, but not sure how? This step-by-step beginner's guide to starting a bullet journal will help you overcome your mental blocks and get going!

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The Bullet Journal Quick-Start Guide, Step-By-Step for Beginners: Maybe you’ve thought about starting a bullet journal before, but don’t know where to start. Or maybe you’ve wanted to give bullet journaling a try, but you’re intimidated by all the beautiful bullet journal pages on Pinterest. If you’re afraid to start a bullet journal because you …

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How Bullet Journaling Has Made Me A Better Parent

April 2, 2017 / Favorite Mom Hacks, Lessons in Parenting / 9 Comments

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I’m now just over two months into my bullet journaling experiment. For those of you who’ve thought about bullet journaling – either to become more efficient and organized, or to help you juggle your competing to-do’s – yes, it’s made a huge difference in those areas. But I’m also surprised to discover another upside: Bullet journaling has unquestionably made …

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Ten Things to Purge From Your Garage NOW

March 10, 2017 / The Organized Home with Kids / 5 Comments

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Spring is nearly here, as my children keep reminding me. Time for some spring cleaning. Or making good on those New Year’s resolutions to clear out the clutter. Either way, here are ten things to purge from your garage NOW. If you don’t have a “garage,” substitute “attic” or “basement” or “junk closet” – wherever you stuff things …

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Baby in a Small Space: Five Hacks to Save Room (and Money!)

March 2, 2017 / The Organized Home with Kids / 3 Comments

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It’s a fact of life. As the crowded image above suggests, baby gear takes up a LOT of space. So how do you manage a baby in a SMALL space? We were facing this prospect when I was pregnant with Kimmie, and my husband and I were still living in his bachelor pad. We finally …

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Will BuJo Bring Back My Mojo?

January 26, 2017 / The Organized Home with Kids / Leave a Comment

Bringing back my mojo (that pre-parenthood illusion of control over my life) would be the ultimate parenting hack. Is BuJo the key?

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The ultimate parenting hack, if I could pull it off, would be figuring out how to bring back my mojo. That sense of bigger-picture control over my life that I vaguely recall feeling before Kimmie was born. In other words, the Ability To Get Things Done that I had before becoming a parent. Memo to self: …

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Comfort Food to Warm Your Winter

January 27, 2016 / Recipes for Kids / Leave a Comment

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It’s winter in the northern hemisphere, which is where most of you live, dear readers. Are you hibernating? Or are you out hunting for some comfort food? I recently stumbled across a collection of super-simple slow cooker recipes gathered for the New Year. As I scanned the pictures and titles, I could feel myself getting …

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On (Not) Being Responsible for Everything

January 13, 2016 / Lessons in Parenting / 1 Comment

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If you’re a mama who’s continued to hold down a high-powered position post-parenthood, without dropping balls on the job or at home too often, my hat is off to you. Parenthood has a way of thrusting a whole new level of being responsible onto unsuspecting grownups (holy cow, did they just let us walk out …

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Holiday Hacks: Ten Tips to Make Your Life Easier This December

December 9, 2015 / Favorite Mom Hacks, Lessons in Parenting / Leave a Comment

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Do you need a few good holiday hacks? I know I do. Barely a week in, my December is already bursting at the seams. My to-do lists keep getting longer, and some things (like this post) never get done until weeks later than I’d planned. What’s on your plate this month? Too many kids’ concerts, …

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My New Favorite Kitchen Tool: Our Immersion Blender

March 9, 2015 / Favorite Mom Hacks, Stuff I Love / 2 Comments

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Do you like smoothies, shakes, etc. but don’t have the storage space for a full-sized blender? (Or, alternately, do you detest taking apart all the pieces afterward to wash them by hand?) Do you wish you could make your own baby food from scratch, but don’t have the time? (Or, do you already do this …

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Thinking About Consignment? Five Tips to Help You Decide

January 27, 2015 / The Organized Home with Kids / 2 Comments

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What is consignment, and why should all parents consider it? Anyone who’s been a parent for any length of time knows the eternal dilemma of modern parenting. Namely, how to keep from drowning under all that baby stuff, toddler gear, and related paraphernalia you’re no longer using. At some point, containing the clutter and organizing …

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Mindful Decluttering: 5 Tips on Decluttering Your Home

January 8, 2015 / The Organized Home with Kids / 28 Comments

Is decluttering on your new year's list? These five mindful downsizing tips will help you get all areas of your life back under control, once and for all.

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How’d you do on your New Year’s resolutions last year? My New Year’s goal for last year is still an ongoing effort, but remembering to use the Calm Mommy voice when I want my kids to cooperate is becoming more second-nature. My goals for this year center around being more mindful each day, saving myself …

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Less Is More: Three Ways We’re Cutting Back and Living Better This Holiday Season

December 7, 2014 / Lessons in Parenting, The Organized Home with Kids / 13 Comments

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Even though the first week of December was rainy and dreary in our neck of the woods, the girls and I have had a super start to our month. Part of the credit goes to the fact that I’ve made some very conscious decisions to simplify our lives, both for the holiday season and beyond. …

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My Two Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets

September 22, 2014 / Favorite Mom Hacks, Stuff I Love / 2 Comments

Want to save tons of time and revolutionize your food prep? That's what these kitchen gadgets - my mandoline and my chain-metal glove - have done for me.

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There are two items in my kitchen that make my life oh-so-much easier. These kitchen gadgets take a lot of extra time and work out of food prep. In the process, they make it easier for me to cook healthy meals from scratch, AND help me save money by cutting my own produce (instead of …

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Supermom Doesn’t Live Here

September 12, 2014 / Lessons in Parenting / 3 Comments

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Recently I spent a rare kid-free day at a conference with a dear friend. Cathleen is one of those friends you wish you could share more cups of tea with. Nowadays, our paths don’t cross nearly as much as they used to before I was married and a mom, back in the days when I’d …

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The Organized Home with Kids: Why Baskets Rock

April 15, 2014 / The Organized Home with Kids / 13 Comments

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As I mentioned in a recent post, I adore baskets. Baskets were a part of my life before I became a mom, but in retrospect, I think my pre-parenthood self was only scratching the surface of their full potential. While I love an organized home, getting mine to that state is a constant, ongoing work-in-progress. …

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Keeping Your Home Clean (Even with Baby and Kid Stuff)

March 31, 2014 / The Organized Home with Kids / 18 Comments

Maintaining an organized home is always a challenge. These tricks will help you keep your home organized AND functional, even with kids (and their stuff!) around.

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First, a confession: Much as I might wish otherwise, much as I might aspire to live differently, my home does NOT look like a photo spread in Better Homes and Gardens. It’s a constant work-in-progress. And while I like to think I’m always moving forward, the reality is that keeping home clean and organized feels …

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