Marilyn Bohn | Creative Organizer

I was thinking about knots the other day. There are a plethora of different kinds of knots. There is the art of tying knots all related to the sea. Some of them are the clove hitch, bow line, loop knot, and eye splice to name a very few.

Men’s ties have two different knots, the Common knot and the Windsor knot.

The knots a doctor uses when stitching up a cut or a surgeon uses to secure the ‘thread’ used in an operation.

How about the knots we get in our stomach when we see a scary movie, or watch our kids giving a talk or singing in a concert, or going to an amusement park and riding on the rides. Of course these aren’t literally knots, but that is how they feel.

Do you ever tie yourself up in knots thinking about getting organized? Does your stomach tie up in a knot just thinking about all you have to do and you don’t know where to start? One way to get rid of those knots is to start with one simple, easy thing you already know how to do.

•Make your bed, by doing this you have organized a part of your bedroom. After making the bed, hang up your clothes that came off the bed.
•Scrub the sink in the bathroom, a part of your bathroom is now organized. Now start putting the things away on your vanity.
•Start with simple things that you are comfortable with doing and then move on to larger tasks.

Knots can save our lives, can make things attractive, or they can hurt. If you have hurtful knots in your life, start today by taking one baby step to get rid of those knots. What kind of knot have you had in your stomach lately and how have you gotten rid of it?

3 reasons to keep the bathroom organized:

•When the kids won’t leave you alone and you want to get away, go to the bathroom and crank up the music so you can’t hear them.
•You can draw a bubble bath and pretend you are somewhere else, I think there used to be a commercial where the woman said, “Calgon, take me away”. Does anyone else remember that or did I just make it up?
•When company comes they always need to use the bathroom.

Keep the vanity clear by containing things in baskets, use toothbrush holders, soap holders and have a candle you can light to freshen the room. (The candles in the metal tins are safer in bathrooms). If you use a votive candle holder put a little water in the bottom so the candle doesn’t stick when it burns down.

For the tub area keep things off the rim of the tub by having holders for the soap, shampoos, salt rubs etc.

Here are some before and after photos:

Photo of tub before the corner rack.

Photo after with the rack.

Photo of the shower head rack.

A caddy hangs over the shower head and a rack that holds everything else fits in the corner. This keeps the tub free and clear and uncluttered. What tips and ideas have you used to free your vanity and tub?

Did you know every 3 seconds a baby is born? My daughter had their baby girl April 16. We were glad she wasn’t born on tax day. Congratulations!! It wasn’t until the next day they decided on a name. It was hard for them to choose a girl name. Her name is now Addison Debbie and she weighed almost nine pounds. Mother, baby and father are doing well. In fact she has slept longer at one time than her two year old brother was doing at seven months.

To get ready for this new baby they borrowed a bassinette, bought a new dresser and added a bookshelf in the baby’s room. On the top shelf are her books, the other one holds toys. Their two year old was not ready to move to a less restricted bed. That is to say the parents aren’t ready for him to be in a regular bed as he is a ‘go getter’ and he would have too much freedom if he wasn’t in a crib at night and nap time. There is no rule about how long a child is allowed to sleep in a crib—relax, it is up to you.

The changing table has baskets which hold diapers, changing pads, burp bibs and other incidentals babies need. On the bottom shelf there are larger toys she will want as she gets older.

One tip is to keep the size of clothes the baby is wearing in the most convenient drawer or place in the closet. As they grow out of them rotate them out and put in the size they are wearing now. Label the containers with the size of the clothes in them so you don’t have to separate them again.

A friend of mine said “If I would have known grandchildren were so wonderful I would have had them first”.

I just have to say I go all agog when I go to The Container Store. (We don’t have one here in Utah). I know, it’s sad but true. I use containers all the time in every room. Maybe I could go so far as to say I love containers. They are great to store things in, contain things in, make things get magically organized and stay that way.

Having said all of that here are two containers I suggest not buying:

This type of shoe rack—-

The reason is: the shoes just won’t stay on, I finally figured out by putting them on backwards they will stay. Even then they have to be placed gingerly on the rod for them to stay on. Everyone in my home finds that to be a bother. They just want to slap them down and be done. Don’t get me wrong—I like shoe racks of all kinds. I just found one in The Container Store catalog that holds 30 pair of shoes and fits on the back of a door. There are other over the door racks that hold fewer, there are free standing ones that work great as well as some that hang from the rod inside the closet.

Here is my other container I say not to waste your money on:

Now these look wonderful and you can sort and file by month, date and alphabetically but they are a pain. Why? Because they take two hands and the chin and shoulder to get anything in or out of them. Knowwhatimean? It is a waste of time to me and I don’t like wrestling my containers. If I need a wrestling fix I will turn on the T.V..

In the February/March 20089 issue of Shop Smart magazine they list four NOT SO HOT organizing tools that just add to the clutter.
1.Accordion files. (enough said)
2.Space bags. (I agree)
3.Cardboard Boxes. (not good in humid climates)
4.Plastic containers with rims (can take up valuable space)
5.There are a plethora of containers for all of our wants and needs. Buy what you need and what you like, don’t just buy to buy as then it becomes clutter rather than containers.

Do you have a container you would recommend NOT buying and why? We would love to hear from you.

Two weeks ago I was at the National Association of Professional Organizers Conference in Reno. Wow, how time flies, it feels like yesterday. I think my favorite part, besides meeting old friends, learning, learning and learning some more from all the classes was meeting new friends.

Among others, two new friends I made were Monica Ricci who writes YourLife.Organized.com and was awarded the Founders award. Yeah Monica Just hearing all she has done was an inspiration. She said her first job was four hours from her home and when she pulled out the dirty, greasy fryer she wondered what on earth she had gotten herself into. We all laughed as we have stories of our own we can relate to—starting with our own homes at times.

Also John Trosko of Organizingla.com John got two awards. One was the shining star award—way to go John and the other one was the President’s award given to NAPO-Los Angeles Chapter where he is the president. They had a real glitzy organizing awards night. They showed clips of the event that was fun to watch on the big screen T.V. It was just like watching the Oscars.

Next year we’ll all get together in Orlando Florida. What have you and your friends been up to lately?

Earth Day is Today. I hope you Breath easy:)

I googled to find out more about Earth Day and I was treated to a beautiful eye full. The Nature Conservancy site is a wonderful place full of interesting articles and facts. Its mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. I highly recommend you take a look here for more information: www.plantabillion.org/
They have a campaign to plant one billion trees in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. This forest is at 7% of its original size. These tropical forests are the lungs of the earth. They help regulate the atmosphere and stabilize global climate. They store enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and releases oxygen in a never ending cycle of life.

I took the opportunity to buy 10 trees. As of April 6 there were 241,236 trees purchased. It was fast, easy and secure. The Nature Conservancy is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible.

I was in the store the other day and a can of Campbell’s soup stopped me as it was green and a little white instead of the red and white label I am used to seeing. Green is in.

What green thing are you doing? Share your success, favorite project or thoughts on organizing for a green globe.

Elvis reportedly ate it with bananas, smashed between two slices of fried bread. E.T. was entranced by an artificially flavored candy version. However you serve it, peanut butter is loved by people ― and perhaps aliens ― everywhere.
But this classic spread poses a sticky situation for those striving to be green and clean. Polish off a jar and you’re left with a messy container that seems like it might take more of Earth’s resources to clean than are saved in the recycling process.
Patrick Gonzalez a scientist with the Conservancy’s Climate Change Program and an avid recycler, answers: “Your first step is to check with your local recycling program and find out if they require items to be washed.
Some recycling programs do not ask you to wash containers, so you can conserve water and energy by depositing your containers unwashed. These programs likely send their glass and plastic to facilities that rinse the containers before processing. Recycling plants cannot fabricate high-quality products from glass or plastic material that contain too much food or other organic matter.
But many cities ― including my current home of Washington, D.C. ― do ask residents to wash containers before placing them out for collection. They ask people to wash for two reasons. First, to avoid sanitation problems with rats and other vermin. Second, some recycling facilities do not rinse glass and plastic before processing.
You can efficiently wash your containers by adding a small amount of water and shaking the container to rinse the interior. This will use less water than rinsing the container under a running faucet. You can even easily wash that peanut butter jar: Place some water and a bit of dish soap in the jar, close it with the lid, shake it, then let the jar sit overnight. Most of the peanut butter will eventually dissolve”.
I thought this was an interesting question about washing out peanut butter jars. I just put it in the dishwasher with my other dishes. Our small acts of recycling will save energy reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help conserve nature. We have recycled for years in our home and I just found out this week I can get curb side recycling from a local company until our city approves it. They take everything where our city doesn’t. To read more about the earth, conservancy and recycling go to: http://www.nature.org/
Do you have a favorite recycling story? How long have you been recycling? Do you have any tips for recycling?

Identify theft is a serious crime. It occurs when personal information is stolen and used without our knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes.

According to the Federal Trade Commission here are the Common Ways ID Theft happens:

1.Dumpster Diving. They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it.
2.Skimming. They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
3.Phishing. They pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.
4.Changing Your Address. They divert your billing statements to another location by completing a “change of address” form.
5.“Old-Fashioned” Stealing. They steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records from their employers, or bribe employees who have access.

To avoid ID theft we need to Deter, Detect and Defend our identity. The web site www.ftc.gov/idtheft is a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you deter, detect, and defend against your identity theft.

To find out more read my article that talks about each of these in depth.

When I had over $10,000 stolen from my checking account it was a heart stopper, time waster and scary to me and my family. Because my credit union was federally insured I didn’t actually have to pay this money back, but it hurts every consumer when something like this happens to any one of us.

Have you experienced identity theft? What happened and how did you get it resolved? How has it affected you life?

I have liked playing games my entire life. As a kid we would play Monopoly for hours. Sometimes my mother would have to make us stop as we would start to fight, but to this day that is my favorite game.

The cardboard boxes games come in lose their shape, bend, break, tear and fall apart. Pieces are easily damaged or pieces turn up missing due to a damaged box. We were forever taping the ends of the boxes. Now I am happy to say here is a solution:

GAME SAVERS—Plastic containers for board games (As seen on HGTV’s Mission:Organization) Check it out in my Fun Finds!

•These problem solving containers are revolutionary, unique, useful and very reasonable priced.
•Game Saver Awards: Creative Child 2004 Seal of Excellence and Family Review Center 2005 Top Product.
•Have more fun with less frustration with Game Savers.
•The attached, snap tight lid will keep container together and contents secure.
•Interior Compartments strategically sized and placed interior compartments provide organized storage of large and small game pieces.
•Pre-printed exterior labels are included with each game saver. Once affixed, allows for quick and easy identification of game stored inside.

I have used these for my games for over a year and I give them for gifts. They truly are game savers. What has been your worst experience with the cardboard box games come in?