Organizing the Attic

  It's Thursday and time to organize! 

If you are just joining us, we have been getting organized using Jennifer Ford Berry's Organize Now book.  

 

It has some great info and tips on organizing various parts of our life and home. You can see past posts here:

Week 1 about Organizing Your Mind and Life Vision HERE,

Week 2 about Organizing Your Priorities HERE,

Week 3 about Organizing Your Schedule HERE

Week 4 about Organizing Your Cleaning Schedule HERE.

Week 5 about Organizing Your Personal Information HERE. 

Week 6 about Organizing Your Finances HERE. 

      Week 7 about Organizing Your Bill-paying System HERE.

        Week 8 about Organizing Your Receipts and Taxes HERE. 

Week 9 about Organizing Your Files HERE

                          Week 10 about Organizing your Magazines and Newspapers HERE.

                                               Week 11 about Organizing Your Email HERE

                                                Week 12 about Organizing Your Mail HERE

                                         Week 13 about Organizing Your Child's Toys HERE.

Week 14 about Organizing Your Crafts HERE.

Week 15 about Organizing Your Photographs HERE.

Week 16 about Organizing Your Purse or Wallet HERE. 

 Week 17 about Organizing Your Vehicle HERE.

                                                  Week 18 about Organizing Your Pet HERE.

Week 19 about Organizing Your Books, CDs and DVDs HERE.

Week 20 about Organizing Your Entryway or Mudroom HERE.

                        Week 21 about Organizing Your Family Room or Living Room HERE.

Week 22 about Organizing Your Kitchen Countertops HERE.

Week 23 about Organizing the Kitchen Cabinets HERE.

Week 24 about Organizing the Pantry HERE. 

Week 25 about Organizing the Refrigerator HERE.

Week 26 about Organizing the recipes HERE.

Week 27 about Organizing the dining room HERE.

Week 28 about Organizing the Laundry Room HERE.

Week 29 about Organizing the Bathroom HERE

Week 30 about Organizing the Medicine Cabinet HERE.

Week 31 about Organizing Your Child's Clothes and Closet HERE.

Week 32 about Organizing Your Child's Memorabilia HERE.

Week 33 about Organizing Your Child's Bedroom HERE.

Week 34 about Organizing Your Bedroom Closet HERE

Week 35 about Organizing Your Memorabilia HERE

Week 36 about Organizing Your Master Bedroom HERE

Week 37 about Organizing Your Jewelry, Accessories and Purses HERE.

Week 38 about Organizing your Home Office HERE 

Week 39 about Organizing the Linen Closet HERE.

Week 40 about Organizing the Basement HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

This week it's the attic. Since we don't really have a functional attic that we use in my house, it's another easy week for me. But maybe not for you. I know my parents have a pretty big attic and lots of stuff gets put there over the years. Is that you too?

 

 

 

This Week's Goals:

 

1. Put the items in your attic into four piles. 

 

Toss. Sell/Donate. Someone else's item. Keep.   

 

2. Throw out things that need to go. Make a plan to return items that belong to someone else. (this could be an older child who has moved out of the house). Donate or sell items that you wish to do this with. 

 

3. Categorize your Keep pile. Be sure that you really need to keep everything in this pile. If not, give it to someone who will appreciate and use it.

 

Kid/Baby items and toys

Clothes

Holiday Stuff

Memorabilia or heirlooms

 

Make a zone in your attic for each category to keep it organized.

 

4. Be sure to take items out of the attic that can be damaged by heat. 

 

 

 

Tips:

 

1. Secure poles to hang seasonal clothing in the roof slope between the rafters. Be sure to put the clothing in zippered garment bags.  

 

Do you have an attic? What do you store there?

 

Thanks for reading. Be sure to visit me on Facebook soon! :)

 

Rebecca  

Natural Cleaning Part 5 - Dish Detergents

We've made it to the 5th and final Natural Cleaning post - Dish Detergents!

The last few weeks I have shared how I clean my house naturally.

Part 1 was about my favorite household cleaner.

Part 2 was about my favorite scouring cleaner.

Part 3 was about my favorite germicide.

Part 4 was about my favorite Laundry products.

My husband and I de-toxed our home a few years ago and now use only three non-toxic cleaners for the whole house! It's so great to reduce and not worry!

So today it's Dishes!

Who likes to do dishes? Yeah, me neither. But of course we all have dishes to do. Unless you can afford to have someone do them for you. Or have a really great spouse or roommate who does them all of the time. Wow, wouldn't that be nice?

If you have read my past posts, then you can probably guess that I use Shaklee's dish detergents. Shaklee is the #1 natural nutrition company in the US and something I have known about all of my life as my parents have been using their products for 37 years now! The dish detergents are wonderful and like the other products I talked about, very concentrated so good for the budget too.

I love the Dish Washer Automatic Powder Concentrate. It works really well. You only need 1 scoop (2 tsp.) in the dispenser cup. In hard water areas you may need more unless you have a softener.

Cleaning Credentials:

Natural

Concentrated

Biodegradable Surfactants

No Phosphates

No Chlorine

So it is complete safe for you, your family and also the environment! Love it!

Side note: Once a month or so, I add a little straight Basic H2 Organic Super cleaning concentrate into the rinse aide in my dishwasher. This helps to sparkle up my glasses beautifully!  

 

For doing dishes by hand, I love the Hand Dish Wash Liquid Concentrate. This is a pretty amazing product as you only need a few drops per sink load and maybe a drop or so on your sponge per dish. I use this awesome and washable microfiber sponge. They say it's an exercise in restraint and it is if you are used to a ton of suds. I know many people feel that suds equal clean. But that really isn't the case. Too many suds can actually be bad for your pipes (both in the kitchen and laundry room). I like to put about a tablespoon per cup of water into a foaming bottle. Works great!

I love the light fresh scent of this product. And it is so gentle on my sensitive skin.  My parents have been using it for 37 years in their house that does not have a dishwasher! I know, I can't even imagine not having a dish washer!! So they use this product every day and do you know that they have only had a plumber to the house one time?! It is a degreaser so it will keep your pipes clean. No more use for toxic drain cleaners. Awesome!!

Cleaning Credentials:

Nontoxic

Natural

Hypoallergenic

Biodegradable surfactants

No Phosphates

Like all of Shaklee's products, these come with a 100% money back guarantee. And members or distributors save at least an additional 15% always. If you are interested in any of the cleaners, you may want to take a look at the various Get Clean Kits. You would spend $3400 with other cleaning products to get the same amount of clean with the Get Clean Starter Kit because the products are so concentrated!!

Thanks for checking in. I hope these posts have been useful to you. Stop by and visit me on Facebook soon!

Have a great day!

Rebecca 

Organizing the Basement

Happy Thursday! It's time to organize! 

If you are just joining us, we have been getting organized using Jennifer Ford Berry's Organize Now book.  

 

It has some great info and tips on organizing various parts of our life and home. You can see past posts here:

Week 1 about Organizing Your Mind and Life Vision HERE,

Week 2 about Organizing Your Priorities HERE,

Week 3 about Organizing Your Schedule HERE

Week 4 about Organizing Your Cleaning Schedule HERE.

Week 5 about Organizing Your Personal Information HERE. 

Week 6 about Organizing Your Finances HERE. 

      Week 7 about Organizing Your Bill-paying System HERE.

        Week 8 about Organizing Your Receipts and Taxes HERE. 

Week 9 about Organizing Your Files HERE

                          Week 10 about Organizing your Magazines and Newspapers HERE.

                                               Week 11 about Organizing Your Email HERE

                                                Week 12 about Organizing Your Mail HERE

                                         Week 13 about Organizing Your Child's Toys HERE.

Week 14 about Organizing Your Crafts HERE.

Week 15 about Organizing Your Photographs HERE.

Week 16 about Organizing Your Purse or Wallet HERE. 

 Week 17 about Organizing Your Vehicle HERE.

                                                  Week 18 about Organizing Your Pet HERE.

Week 19 about Organizing Your Books, CDs and DVDs HERE.

Week 20 about Organizing Your Entryway or Mudroom HERE.

                        Week 21 about Organizing Your Family Room or Living Room HERE.

Week 22 about Organizing Your Kitchen Countertops HERE.

Week 23 about Organizing the Kitchen Cabinets HERE.

Week 24 about Organizing the Pantry HERE. 

Week 25 about Organizing the Refrigerator HERE.

Week 26 about Organizing the recipes HERE.

Week 27 about Organizing the dining room HERE.

Week 28 about Organizing the Laundry Room HERE.

Week 29 about Organizing the Bathroom HERE

Week 30 about Organizing the Medicine Cabinet HERE.

Week 31 about Organizing Your Child's Clothes and Closet HERE.

Week 32 about Organizing Your Child's Memorabilia HERE.

Week 33 about Organizing Your Child's Bedroom HERE.

Week 34 about Organizing Your Bedroom Closet HERE

Week 35 about Organizing Your Memorabilia HERE

Week 36 about Organizing Your Master Bedroom HERE

Week 37 about Organizing Your Jewelry, Accessories and Purses HERE.

Week 38 about Organizing your Home Office HERE 

Week 39 about Organizing the Linen Closet HERE.

 

This week it's the basement! 

 

 

I was particularly excited about this week because we do not have a basement. lol. The above picture looks pretty nice though, doesn't it? (I was a bit of a pool addict in college so this brings back memories:) 

 

 I realize the basement can be an overwhelming task to organize. I am worried for the future when we actually have one as I am a pack rat by nature and I would be likely to store a lot of stuff there. Is that you too? Jennifer's #1 suggestion is to not dump everything into your basement to be organized later.  

 

 

 

 

This Week's Goals:

 

1. Go through your basement and put things into four piles.

 

Throw Away

Sell or Donate

Things that belong to somebody else

Keep

 

If you are having trouble deciding what to throw away, look for things that are broken, that cannot be used, are mildewy, etc. 

 

For selling or donating, basically things you haven't used in over a year. Let someone else love and use it. You can list them on craigslist or ebay. If your area has a freecycle.com site, you can give them away there or donate to places like Goodwill, which is a tax deduction. Be sure to keep track of what you donated and the value for taxes.

Make a date to return borrowed items.

Find a good and logical home for things you are keeping. Be sure that you really are going to use it in the next year.

2. You can zone your basement to organize things by category. Some suggestions would be holiday items, a work area or office space, a guest room, storage, a play area for your kids, gym equipment, etc.

3. Be sure that the things you are keeping will stay nice in your basement and won't be damaged. Clothing and toys can have mildew. Photos can also be damaged when stored in the basement.

4. Label storage containers and bins well. We use a lot of clear plastic storage bins in our house. It is easy to see the contents and also clearly label.

Tips:

 

1. Consider getting a quality dehumidifier. My parents use one in their basement in Wisconsin and it is a life saver to them to keep things from getting damaged.

 

Do you have a basement? What do you use it for?

 

Thanks for reading. Remember to visit me on Facebook.

 

Have a great day!:)

 

Rebecca  

 

   

Natural Clean Part 4: Laundry

The last few weeks I have shared how I clean my house naturally.

Part 1 was about my favorite household cleaner.

Part 2 was about my favorite scouring cleaner.

Part 3 was about my favorite germicide.

My husband and I de-toxed our home a few years ago and now use only the above three non-toxic cleaners for the whole house! It's so great to reduce and not worry!

Today I want to talk laundry. This is something we all have to deal with. Some more then others depending on your family size.

I try to do at least one load per day and usually always have more that could be done. I save towels and sheets for the weekends. 

What brand do we use that is safe, natural and effective for my family's laundry needs? Shaklee! No surprise, right? lol. We truly love the Get Clean laundry products. They are safe for my young kids, safe for the environment, concentrated, and work really well! 

Have you ever been around someone who smells like "fresh laundry"? You can just smell their clothes the second the walk in the room? Maybe that someone is you? And maybe you mistake that smell with clean. But did you know that the fresh scent you smell is actually chemicals? Chemicals that can be harmful to you and your family. The real smell of clean actually doesn't have a scent at all!

To be honest, I didn't really think about these things until I became a mom 4 years ago. Babies skin is super sensitive. Their clothing, their bedding, their toys...anything washable can leach these chemicals onto their delicate skin. Babies immune systems are immature. This makes it difficult for them to detoxify, metabolize or get rid of chemicals in their body. It also takes time for children to develop the barrier protecting their brain from chemical exposure.

All of this made me search for a company and products that I trust. Little did I know that what I was looking for was right under my nose my entire life as my mom has been using Shaklee cleaners and supplements for 37 years now! I really never paid attention to their quality until my son was born. Shaklee's cleaners fit our needs perfectly. Here are the laundry products we use and love....

Fresh Laundry Concentrate (powder or liquid)

My family has used both. The liquid is better for HE machines but we don't have one yet. So either works for us just fine. I have super sensitive skin and have contact dermatitis, which means my skin breaks out in an itchy rash or eczema after coming in contact with chemically scented laundry, lotions, etc. After switching to Shaklee's detergents, my skin irritation issues have disappeared. They reappear anytime we are away from home and sleep somewhere that does not use Shaklee's cleaners. Both come in a light fresh scent or fragrance-free. There is a pump that you can get for the liquid which is awesome because it measures it out perfectly for you. You just need 1-2 oz. depending on the size of the load.
I love using the detergents with my son's cloth diapers. We have been using cloth for 2 years now and the diapers still look new! Once in awhile I do a deep cleaning on them with the Nature Bright (listed below) and the germicide Basic G germicide that I talked about in my Part 3 post for deodorizing. Works great!

Cleaning Credentials:

• Biodegradable Surfactants
• Concentrated
• Hypoallergenic
• No phosphates
• No chlorine

I went back into my archives for a good picture of how well the Shaklee detergent works. My son will probably hate me for posting these when he is a teenager. But since he's just 2, I thought I would share.:) Warning: this isn't going to be pretty!

Here is a before picture of a diaper explosion when my son was a baby.

And the after picture. I sprayed it with Basic H2 and then I washed it in the liquid detergent because it also has a stain fighter in it. It worked beautifully! The Nature Bright, which I will talk about next, would also work well in this situation. :)

Nature Bright

Every mother's BFF. This is an awesome and safe alternative to bleach. Chlorine, which is in bleach, can cause damage to eyes, skin and other membranes. The Clean Air Act listed it as a hazardous pollutant in 1990 and it is among the top cause of accidental poisonings among children. 

Nature Bright is a safe alternative to bleach. It whitens whites and brightens colors beautifully. Perfect for diaper explosions, grass stains, and other difficult stains. It outperformed Oxiclean in removing grass stains! Love, love, love this product!!

We recently took this old blanket on a cabin trip and used it outside for a picnic with 5 young children ages 7-1. You can guess that it got pretty messy! It was hard to capture good pictures of this but here is the before picture when we returned from the cabin. There are some BBQ beans stained in the middle area.

And here is the after. I sprayed the stains with Basic H2. I keep this in my laundry room as it also is a great stain remover.  I soaked the blanket with Nature Bright and washed with the Powder Detergent. It looks brand new again. Considering this blanket is probably about 25 years old, that is saying a lot! lol The stains are completely gone and the blanket looks a few shades whiter.

Soft Fabric Concentrate 

I love how this helps to reduce wrinkles and prevent static cling. It is really concentrated and has a light fresh scent.  Because of my skin issues that developed in college, I could no longer use fabric softeners or dryer sheets. Until I tried Shaklee's! Awesome!! This is another one that you can get a pump for to measure perfectly. Love that!

Soft Fabric Dryer Sheets - Fragrance Free

These are so cool - they are veggie based and completely biodegradable. So recycle after you use them! You cannot do this with the leading brand's dryer sheets. I love how they soften clothes while reducing static cling.

So that does it for another cleaning post. I hope the information has been useful to you. I love these cleaners so much that I can't help but share them! Which products would help with your family's laundry issues?

Please be sure to visit me on Facebook soon! 

Thanks for reading:)

Rebecca

Organizing the Linen Closet

Welcome back. It's Thursday which means it's Time to organize. Are you still with me? Fallen behind? No worries, just jump back in!

If you are just joining us, we have been getting organized using Jennifer Ford Berry's Organize Now book.
 

 

It has some great info and tips on organizing various parts of our life and home. You can see past posts here:

Week 1 about Organizing Your Mind and Life Vision HERE,

Week 2 about Organizing Your Priorities HERE,

Week 3 about Organizing Your Schedule HERE

Week 4 about Organizing Your Cleaning Schedule HERE.

Week 5 about Organizing Your Personal Information HERE. 

Week 6 about Organizing Your Finances HERE. 

      Week 7 about Organizing Your Bill-paying System HERE.

        Week 8 about Organizing Your Receipts and Taxes HERE. 

Week 9 about Organizing Your Files HERE

                          Week 10 about Organizing your Magazines and Newspapers HERE.

                                               Week 11 about Organizing Your Email HERE

                                                Week 12 about Organizing Your Mail HERE

                                         Week 13 about Organizing Your Child's Toys HERE.

Week 14 about Organizing Your Crafts HERE.

Week 15 about Organizing Your Photographs HERE.

Week 16 about Organizing Your Purse or Wallet HERE. 

 Week 17 about Organizing Your Vehicle HERE.

                                                  Week 18 about Organizing Your Pet HERE.

Week 19 about Organizing Your Books, CDs and DVDs HERE.

Week 20 about Organizing Your Entryway or Mudroom HERE.

                        Week 21 about Organizing Your Family Room or Living Room HERE.

Week 22 about Organizing Your Kitchen Countertops HERE.

Week 23 about Organizing the Kitchen Cabinets HERE.

Week 24 about Organizing the Pantry HERE. 

Week 25 about Organizing the Refrigerator HERE.

Week 26 about Organizing the recipes HERE.

Week 27 about Organizing the dining room HERE.

Week 28 about Organizing the Laundry Room HERE.

Week 29 about Organizing the Bathroom HERE

Week 30 about Organizing the Medicine Cabinet HERE.

Week 31 about Organizing Your Child's Clothes and Closet HERE.

Week 32 about Organizing Your Child's Memorabilia HERE.

Week 33 about Organizing Your Child's Bedroom HERE.

Week 34 about Organizing Your Bedroom Closet HERE

Week 35 about Organizing Your Memorabilia HERE

Week 36 about Organizing Your Master Bedroom HERE

Week 37 about Organizing Your Jewelry, Accessories and Purses HERE.

Week 38 about Organizing your Home Office HERE 

This week we are talking about the linen closet. Is yours organized? We organized ours last year some time. It was great to go through and get rid of old sheets and towels that had seen better days. We put things in groups on the shelves - ie hand towels, bath towels, sheets, pillow cases, etc.

This Week's Goals:

1. Go through your towels, sheets and blankets. Throw out things that are in bad shape. Donate items that you don't use but someone else would be able to. You don't need more then 2 sets of bed sheets per bed. Some people like to keep a third set of flannel sheets for winter months.

2. Keep things that you don't use often such as extra pillows and blankets, on the top shelf. 

Tips:

1. Jennifer says to fold the sheets and pillow cases together in one bundle with the flat sheet covering it all. It makes it easier to take and make the bed with. I love this tip and will be trying it soon!

2. Cut up an old sheet to use as a cleaning cloth. It also makes a great cloth to clean out your flute or other wind instrument. (I couldn't help but add that since I tell that to my students all of the time:)

We don't keep much in our linen closet since we organized it last year. It needs a little straightening, but other then that is pretty functional for our family. :)
 

How do you organize your linen closet?

Thanks for reading! Come and visit me on facebook!

Have a great day!

Rebecca 
  

How I clean my House Naturally Part 3: Basic G

 Hello and welcome to another post about how I clean my house naturally! Two weeks ago I shared about the awesome Basic H2 super organic concentrate. And last week talked about Scour Off paste. I only use THREE products to clean my entire house so I am concluding the trio with....

Basic G!

This is a germicide that I mix the same as the Basic H2 general purpose cleaner. Just 1/4 tsp of the Basic G into a 16 oz sprayer of water to clean really germy stuff like the toilet, bathroom floor, garbage can, diaper pail, after cutting raw meat, potty training accidents, etc. I have customers who use it to clean the cat litter box. About once a month I use a little of the straight concentrate as a toilet bowl cleaner. When needed, I add a little of Basic G when washing my son's cloth diapers. It cleans, disinfects and deodorizes without giving me a headache! Awesome!! 

Basic G is very economical - 1 quart of Basic G makes 64 GALLONS of cleaner! Wow! And it is EPA registered.

 

I also love the Germ Off Disinfecting wipes for quick wipe downs in the bathroom, to disinfect toys, etc.

I recently received feedback from a customer who ordered the Basic G and Basic H2 from a distributor in my group. Here is what she said.... 

"I'm still loving my cleaning products. I find now that the scent of regular cleaners are incredible overwhelming. I'm also thrilled with how well they clean, and how much cleaner my house is in general since I can use the basic H everywhere. It really makes a difference when I only have to drag out one cleaner. Also, I love the basic G. It does a great job. I'm really thrilled with my Shaklee products. Thanks for checking in!"

Shaklee is the #1 natural nutrition company in the US and was started over 50 years ago as a family based business. I have known about Shaklee products all of my life as my mom has been using the cleaners and supplements for 37 years now! I really got back into using these wonderful products a few years ago when my husband and I had our first child. We wanted safe but effective cleaners for our house. Shaklee was the perfect fit for what we were seeking. After sharing the cleaners with other mom friends, I decided to become a distributor to earn bonus checks simply for doing what I was already doing - sharing products I love! My mom has been doing the same thing in her retirement and recently became a Director in Shaklee! It's a great way to help people and earn while you do it. You can read more about my Shaklee story HERE and the fun time my mom and I had at Shaklee's global conference recently HERE.   

   

 If you are open to hearing more about the awesome earnings and benefits plan, please contact me. I am looking for more motivated business partners on my growing team. :)

Thanks for checking in. please check in on my facebook page for daily updates, health and wellness info and tips.

Have a wonderful week! :)

Rebecca