School Area Organization

 

I love for things to be neat and tidy. Unfortunately, I have 7 little people who don't feel the same way. ;-) I kept seeing chalkboard labels in various places and decided that they might help me solve my lack of neat and tidy problem. Most of the labels I saw were expensive and had high shipping cost as well. I knew that eventually I would need several so I began researching how to make my own.

 

I began with Avery name badges. I liked the scallop edges on other labels I saw but wouldn't find labels that were already scalloped. I purchased the above label and used an e-xacto knife to remove the brown edge.

Then I got out the big gun. I love this chalkboard spray paint! It covers well. I've made several batches of labels and still have a lot of the can left.

Armed with my labels {with the edges removed} and a cardboard box, I headed outside. Painting, neat and I don't go together! :-)

The labels dried in the sun for a couple of hours and were ready to use.

 

I carefully peeled each one off the back and removed any stray flakes of paint that stuck to the edges. Then I used a chalk pen to write my information on each label and placed them on the containers. I wonder how long before they get thrown back in the school cabinet?!? If I ever need to relabel the containers a wet cloth is all it takes to remove the current writing.

Jewelry Organization and Amazon Mom

One of my favorite places to shop is the discount jewelry store. Of course, frequent shopping also means my costume jewelry collection is rapidly expanding. My sister brought me this shadow box a few years ago from Hobby Lobby.

It does a fabulous job keeping my necklaces and thinner bracelets straight. The shadow box has a foam back in to which I inserted straight pins. The pins hold two - three necklaces with ease. The other nice feature of the shadow box is the hinged lid. This keeps everything covered.

 

The shadow box left me needing something to hold earrings. I recently used a command adhesive hook to hang this 37 compartment jewelry organizer that I purchased from Amazon. It is double sided and I have one pair of earrings in each space. This is also wear I store my watch and bracelets that are too wide for the shadow box. Both the hanging organizer and shadow box live in my semi walk-in closet.

Speaking of Amazon, Have you joined Amazon Mom yet? Right now, all new subscribers can receive $10 off a box of diapers! Amazon will also notify you of special discounts in the baby center. I have used Amazon Mom for the last 2+ years. I order diapers, wipes, shampoo, conditioner, snacks, paper towels, washing machine cleaner, diaper rash cream, detangler spray and lot more items using their subscribe and save program. The subscribe and save program can save you up to 15% off the regular Amazon price. On diapers you can save 20%! The UPS man drops everything off at my door for even less than what WalMart charges. There is also no tax in my state which adds to the savings. {I am not an affiliate for Amazon, I just really, really, really like their program and service!}

Want some more great tips? Head over to We Are That Family and join in the Works For Me Wednesday fun!

You can also checkout Raising Homemakers for some great homemaking tips.

{It seems I am frequently asked how I do various tasks. I'm a member of a wonderful online community and have friend who are always willing to share their successes {and failures}. I plan to share a few of the things that work for me over the next few weeks. Most of my ideas are not original creations, they have morphed from places like Pinterest and Facebook. There is no reason to re-invent the wheel and I'm more than willing to share how I made it work for me. If you would like to know how I do something, leave a comment, send an e-mail, etc. I'll be more than happy to work up a post on the topic. You can e-mail at Stacy at TheresRoomForMore.com .}

Bringing Home the Bacon

Recently some friends brought it to our attention that Sam's Club sells meat by the case at a discount. Last year we purchased 80 lbs of hamburger meat. On our last Sam's trip we decide to try out the pork. A case of pork chops contains 80-90 lbs. The case I purchased had 91.5 lbs. The price per pound was only $1.35. This made pork chops less than chicken breast or even ground beef!

Walgreens Deals - 2/20

I hit Walgreens early this week. I wasn't very impressed with last week's {or this week for that matter} deals but it didn't matter. Our family came down with the flu! 6 out of 8 of us have been quite ill. In fact, the only reason I snagged Walgreens deals this week was because I needed to get a script filled, we're going through Kleenex faster than toilet paper and my register rewards were set to expire this week.

Transaction #1

Arnicare {I may try to purchase two more this week, we use this stuff like crazy. I keep it in the van, diaper bag, Kent's office, in-law's - basically anywhere the boys go! LOL }, Goody's hair rubberbands - 27 pack and Goody's hair rubberbands - 12 pack {on clearance for .75} . $1.69 out of pocket - Savings of $15.04! I also earned $8 in Register rewards.

Transaction #2

Seven boxes of Kleenex {the other reason I went in Walgreens}, Arnicare, Children's generic Tylenol, Goody's hair rubberbands - 27 pack, Infant's generic Tylenol, Fusion Proglide razor. $13.03 out of pocket - Savings of $34.50. I wouldn't have bought the Tylenol except it was a needed purchase. I spent $10.29 plus tax on those two items alone. Without the Tylenol I would have spend less than $2 out of pocket. I also earned $13.50 in Register Rewards.

Walgreens Deals 2/11

There are some great ladies on a board I frequent that have been bragging about the great deals they get at Walgreens and other drug stores. I've been wanting to give it a try myself for some time and decided to jump in. This is my 3rd week to shop the deals and I think I'm getting the hang of it. Everything I buy isn't necessarily items I would normally buy but I get some of them free or more than free and I can use the overage to buy things I do want {plus we get some "treats"}.

First Transaction:

I have Madisyn with me so sometimes I have her check out separately so I can get more of the things I really want. The above was what I bought. 2 Colgate toothpastes, 2 tubes of Ritz Crackers, Cranberry juice, Lysol automatic soap dispenser, Gummy bears {shopping with the 3 middle boys leads to impulse buys ;-)}, 2 Halls cough drops {all they had}, Hand sanitizer, and 2 Hershey's drops {which are really good LOL} .

Total out of pocket ~ $3.98 . Total saved ~ $45.36!

Second Transaction

This was Madisyn's. I try to make her transaction simpler with less coupons. She purchased 2 Hershey's drops, 2 bags Planter's trail mix, Hand Sanitizer, Cranberry Juice, and 3 Halls Cough Drops.

Total out of pocket ~ $4.12. Total saved ~ $28.95.


It takes quite a bit of planning to figure out what to buy as there are several "rules". They were out of a few of the things I wanted so I had to recalculate in the store and that is getting easier. Between the two transactions I earned $23 in Register rewards which are like additional coupons that come off my total after store and manufacturer coupons.

In past weeks I have purchased shampoo, razors, Arnica, Nyquil, Kleenex, etc. Once I build my coupon stash up a little more, I should be able to get even better deals.