My friend and I were chatting and she said she just had to share this nifty tip for clutter control. You know all of those cords that need to be corralled? There are extension cords, phone cords, computer cords, and many others I haven’t mentioned.

Anyway she used mini (about 4 to 6 inches long) bungee cords and they worked wonderfully well. As a professional organizer when I am clearing clutter with people I often use hair elastics as they are stronger than regular elastic bands and they are readily available if you have girls in your home.

Another way to corral cords is with strips that come with Velcro on the ends to keep them snug as a bug in a rug. When storing cords, a plain ole plastic bag works great. Be sure to label it so you’ll know what the cord is to be used for at a later date.

What nifty tip do you have for clutter control of those necessary but pesky cords?

One of my sinful pleasures is sweet potato fries. I haven’t found where I can buy these at a fast food “joint” so I have to make them at home. I cut the potatoes and put them in a bag with a little olive oil and shake them so they will be coated with the oil. Then I spread them on a cookie sheet, salt them and bake for 20 minutes at a 450 degree oven. YUM!!!

The part I don’t like is cutting them up—I’m just lazy I guess but that is how it is. I was in a kitchen store and they had this great fry cutter. I bought it on the spot and when it didn’t work—I needed the Incredible Hulk to push down on the lever it was so hard–I returned it.

For Christmas I was given the gift of the commercial one thinking that would be stronger. Nope, it didn’t work either. Sadness reigned in my kitchen. This one was also returned. Can you see my pattern here? When something didn’t work rather than let it become clutter I immediately was in the clutter control “zone” and I returned them.

I think this is probably a great product for white or yellow potatoes—not for sweet potatoes. They must be harder. I did try a white potato and it cut just fine.

For this product review I can’t say it worked for sweet potatoes but it did work for the white potatoes.

I’m done, I’m done, I’m really done and I’m really excited about the fact that I am done. (Can ya tell?) I am finished hooking this all wool rug. I have been working on it off and on for many months.

As a professional organizer I am always teaching everyone I organize with to go slow and take tortoise steps when clearing clutter. This is so you will enjoy the journey and not get burnt out so you never finish.
Look at these pictures. You can see the progress as I went along. That is just how it is when you clear clutter. By doing it a little at a time and just continuing to organize a room, place or things; keeping your goal in mind it will be beautiful (like my rug if you don’t mind my saying so) when you are finished. Don’tchathink?

What have you done lately to clear clutter–share something you have done by taking tortoise steps and then one day…low and behold you were done?

Happy St. Patrick’s day!

Here is an Irish blessing for ya…….

May your feet never sweat,
Your neighbor give you ne’re a treat.
When flowers bloom, I hope you’ll not sneeze,
and may you always have someone to squeeze!

(I didn’t write this, I promise)

Are you wearing green? If not you better get some on or you’ll get pinched. At least you would if I were with you. That was the tradition in our family and since my heritage is Irish we took it very seriously.

I also take clearing clutter very seriously. Why? I look at clearing clutter as a winning proposition for anyone wanting peace and harmony in their home.

•Clearing clutter saves money.
•It is easy to find things when there isn’t clutter around and piling up.
•If just plain makes us feel good not having clutter in cupboards, closets and on the kitchen counter.
•Clearing clutter gives us something to do when we don’t want to do something else. (Does that ever happen to you?)

So, what do you think? Why do you like clearing clutter from your home or in your life?

I have had this jewelry box since I was in junior high. I only keep jewelry in here that I want to keep but will hardly ever wear. Because I accepted the challenge to get rid of clutter in my jewelry box; which I had been meaning to do for a couple of years (really) I did it.

I took everything out—does that sound familiar? As I replaced each piece of jewelry I wrote on a note pad the memories I had of it. Getting rid of clutter was just one thing that made me happy. The other is that my children will know why this jewelry had special meaning for me as I have documented each piece. The first step is to type up the information and put it in the jewelry box. The second step will be to take a photo of the jewelry and give each a corresponding number to the written information.

I feel very accomplished as I have wanted to do this for such a long time. This was fun and I somehow feel lighter–that is just what getting rid of clutter does.

I have never before been so happy to accept a challenge. Remember last Monday I challenged you to go through your jewelry and see if you could get rid of clutter?

I accepted my own challenge and today I am on cloud 9 because I did. Four months ago after having our carpets cleaned I couldn’t find the bottom part of my jewelry box which held some very important rings. (My wedding diamonds included.) I had looked everywhere–except where I found it. The bottom half had fallen behind the night stand and I had the thought as I was organizing to check behind it. YEAH! I thought I had looked there before but obviously I hadn’t.

I organized an old jewelry box I have had for 41 years. I organized the drawers by bracelets, pins, and necklaces. I got rid of clutter by donating some pins and beads and things I will never use and have no meaning to me. Not only did I get rid of clutter but it reminded me of pieces I had forgotten. It also brought back wonderful memories of people and places I have been.

Did you accept this challenge? How did you do in getting rid of clutter in your jewelry box? Tomorrow I will show you another place I organized my jewelry on Show ‘N Tell Tuesday.

I was contacted by the inventor of the Purse Pleaser and asked if I would do a review on her product. This purse organizer can help clear clutter in your purse. I did a review a few months ago on a different purse organizer and this one is a bit different. It too is wonderful!

My daughter Cindy used this for two weeks and this is her review:

•The ivory color makes it easy to find everything.
•It forced her to keep her purse organized. It was no problem to clear clutter. Things had to be put back in their place, not just tossed in.
•The rigid plastic was no problem.
•Over all she recommends this organizer!

What didn’t work:

•Some items would not fit into the compartments. She put them to the outside of the organizer which worked fine. It was frustrating until she figured this out.

There is a video on her website that shows how to use it. It is short and informative. www.pursepleaser.com

At first Cindy was skeptical about this product but was pleasantly surprised how well it worked to clear clutter in her purse and keep it organized. She will continue using it.

I came across these movie Zingers from the silver screen and because we have just watched the Academy Awards or at least heard about them I thought it would be fun to quote some Zingers. And then because I am a professional organizer always thinking of getting rid of clutter I have come up with some of my own.

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a d—“—Clark Gable in gone with the Wind (1939) OR
“Frankly, my dear, I am going to get rid of clutter”.

“I’ll be back”. –Arnold S in the Terminator (1984) OR
“I’ll be back…as soon as I get rid of clutter”.

“Show me the money”!–Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Mcguire (1996) OR
“Show me the trash bags so I can get rid of clutter”.

“After all, tomorrow is another day!—Vivien Leigh in gone With the Wind (1939) OR
“After all, tomorrow is another day to reduce clutter”.

“I see dead people”—Haley Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999) OR
“I see it is time to clear clutter”.

What do you think? Will my “zingers” endure over the next 50 decades? Have fun this week getting rid of clutter.

I work with people all the time as a professional organizer setting up their offices and creating a filing system that works for them. As we clear clutter from drawers and other places we always create piles of documents that need shredding.

Shredding is easy to do if it is done a little at a time. As a professional organizer I recommend opening mail next to a shredder so it can be done sooner rather than later. If that doesn’t work keep piles to shred to a minimum so it is doable. When we put it off and think we will get to it later it becomes more than our small shredders can handle.

Here are two options for shredding:

•Call your bank or credit union and see if they have a shred day. In our community several do offer this service quarterly for free. Or if you are a member, some institutions allow people to bring papers in to be shredded any time.
•Office Max has partnered with Shred-it and you can take your documents to an OfficeMax retail location. They charge by the pound.

When you take your documents to be shredded there is no need to separate papers or remove paper clips, binder clips or staples. It is secure and once they have been shredded into confetti-sized pieces they are recycled for uses such as household paper products.

Do you have a favorite way to shred at your home to clear clutter?

We are planning a trip to Washington D.C. to see the cherry blossoms in April. (I am so excited!) I always take a lot of photos when I am on trips and as soon as I get home I slip them into a photo book and journal next to them.

Get rid of clutter if you have photos hanging out in boxes like these in the photo and get an album and slip the photos in the sleeves, write what the picture is about and there you have it—the easy way to get rid of clutter.

This is a fantastic way to get rid of clutter. If you have years of photos jumbled in boxes to catch up on here are 6 terrific ideas to organize your photos:

•Separate by year
•Separate by person
•Put them in a photo box that have dividers, or make your own dividers (Write on the tab the year, place or person or all there).
•Purchase some albums to slip photos into.
•If you have photos of children who are now married give them their photos to do with them what they would like. Or make them an album and give it to them for Christmas.

•Work a little at a time, maybe start with 30 minutes at a time so you won’t get burnt out. They will wait for you.
It is fun to show and tell photos when they are in albums but not so much when they are jumbled in a box. What have you done to get rid of clutter when you’ve had piles of photos?