Made it Monday: A Big Mess and Something New!

My first Made It involves making a BIG mess!  This is an understatement of the century.

I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up when I was on vacation.  It was AMAZING!  Now I'm a little obsessive when it comes to cleaning and organizing, but sometimes things in my house appear clean and organized...but don't open any cabinets or doors :)  

The author is a little quirky, and I'll save you the money and tell you how it is different than anything I've ever read. You do a mass cleaning by CATEGORY!! Not by room smile emoticon She has about 4-6 major categories. I came up with 21 for my house. 

You start with the easiest thing. For me that was food and cookware (because it is all in one place in the house). She suggests clothing.  When you start getting into categories like office supplies or books, they are all over the house. Pretty much you do a mass purging. Dump everything on the floor and starting going through it.  IT IS A HUGE MESS!!!!

I was going to post a picture of my kitchen floor, but it is WAY, WAY, too embarrassing!  My son kept saying, "you will never, ever get this mess cleaned up!"  However, I did get it cleaned up...in one afternoon. 

Now this is where it gets a little odd: You thank things for bringing you joy as you get rid of/donate them. According to the author you keep things that bring you joy. I'm also keeping things that I kind of need. Pots and pans bring me no joy, but I need them wink emoticon

It is pretty tiring because you have a giant mess to sort through- which is why I don't think anyone wants to go through it again (that's why it works). WARNING: If you are slightly OCD...this will make it worse or better (depending on the perspective of you and your loved ones).

My husband is on board after seeing the progress I have made.  Even though you are supposed to do it quickly, we are busy having fun doing family stuff.  I'm going to keep going with my list of 21 things, then we will tackle his closet and 19 years of paperwork when we have a rainy Saturday.

I made two new items to help with back-to-school (which for me is in less than one month)!!!  

My friend wanted dinosaur labels, so I made these for her, and I put these in my store as a freebie!  Please let me know if there are additional labels you would like to have added!

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