The 5 Minute Solution

Our home has changed! We have changed five minutes at a time. This is the greatest parenting discovery since 'Head to Toe Baby Wash.'

I got so frustrated with harping on my kids to clean their room. I nagged and bugged and usually ended up going in and doing the cleaning myself. My kids are all tidy children who enjoy an organized living environment, the problem was that by simply telling them to go clean their room they were extremely over-whelmed. They didn't have a clue about where to begin, they were also depressed about the prospect of spending a large chunk of time on the chore.

The Solution: Every morning and every evening I set a digital kitchen timer for 5 minutes. I tell the kids they have 5 minutes to clean their room. I loudly announce "On your marks, get set... GO!" and start the timer. They rush into their rooms and clean until they hear the timer go off. It is a small amount of time, over before they have a chance to get bored. I tell them that they must find something to clean. If their room is already tidy then they can straighten books on the shelves, clean out their sock drawer or organize their toys.

We have been setting the timer now for over a month. Their room looks fantastic ALL THE TIME! I am never worried when they ask if their friends can come in to play. When I go in, to clean their room, once a week, I need to do little more than dust and a quick vacuum. They have also not complained about cleaning time, ever! Can you believe that? Not one complaint in over a month! I love this system!

I also think that cleaning for 5 minutes, twice a day is establishing a great routine and habit for the rest of their lives.

If you are frustrated by kid clutter, try 5 minute cleaning intervals. It might take a few days to get the room as clean as you'd like, but it will happen. And best of all, it will stay clean!

Chip Clip Alternative

Last week at my mother-in-law's house, I had an "ah-hah, I can't believe I didn't think of that" moment. My husband's mother uses clothespins as chip clips. She uses them to keep bags of chips, candies, cookies or crackers fresh. I loved this idea. I never have enough of those handy plastic clips in my kitchen for all of my clipping needs. A quick on-line shopping search showed me that you can purchase 50 pins for less than $3. That makes them a very frugal alternative and they work just as well as the plastic versions. Great idea!

Hair Band Organization

In a home with long-haired girls we have hair accessories... hair accessories of every kind and color. They are coming out of our ears. One of the things we use the most are small, colored hair elastics.These little things could drive me absolutely to distraction. They are a one use product, after a day in the hair they are thrown away, but it is before they make it to the hair that they are difficult. They are so small and they scatter everywhere. When I want 4 yellow bands to match an outfit, I don't want to sort through all of our hair accessories to find them. A couple years ago, I picked up a small craft organizer. It is the perfect solution for the hair elastic craziness. Each little section holds a different color and keeps them organized and within easy reach. I don't know how I ever survived without this for the organization of our colorful hair bands!

For the time and frustration it saves, this little craft organizer is definitely a Favorite Thing!

DIY: Coat and Hat Hook Rails

Our little house doesn't have a coat closet. With six people, I got extremely tired of having coats and sweaters strewn around the house. I started looking for a Coat and Hat Hook Rail to hang on an unused stretch of wall behind the front door. I quickly realized that this was not going to be an easy task. The rails I found that were the size I was seeking were all about $20, and I needed two of them. I also found that the hooks were all really close together, I didn't think that was such a good idea for children hanging large snow jackets.

After looking for a couple months, I began a discussion with my husband about the possibility of him making me two coat and hat hook rails. He decided that this would be an easy project and went about creating them for me. He started with a long piece of wood that was 1/2 " X 2 ". He cut this board into two pieces that were each two feet long. He routered the edges with a very simple bit, painted them white, then drilled holes in them and mounted four evenly spaced double hooks on each board. Each rail is attached to the wall with two sunken anchors.

This Coat and Hat Hook Rail is PERFECT. The total cost of doing the project ourselves was less than $15, a big DIY savings. If you don't have the ability to saw and router your own wood, your local home improvement warehouse store will make simple cuts for you when you purchase a piece of wood. Then you can have a simple unroutered version with just some paint and a drill, and that is a DIY project anyone can do.

And just like that my issue of not having a coat closet has been solved!

Mason Jar Storage

I was inspired last week and talked super-husband into playing along with my whim. I decided that I needed three nifty little shelves hung in my kitchen to hold mason jars filled with pantry supplies. A $3.60 piece of wood and 6 thirty cent brackets later, and I had my shelves.

I love, love, love them! They hang on a wall in my kitchen that was previously bare. The jars hold things like sugar, baking soda, macaroni, pinto beans, oatmeal, powdered eggs, coconut and cornmeal. Easy access to cooking and baking supplies within arms' reach. I also think they look pretty cute!

Another simple storage idea that helps make a very small kitchen so much more manageable.

Cabinet Door Spice Rack

I came home from a girl's weekend a while back and my wonderful husband surprised me with this addition to my kitchen. These super simple little racks attach to the inside of your cabinet door and hold all of your spice bottles. They are fantastic for helping to maximize your cabinet space. Without them, that space on the inside of the doors is completely unused space. I love these. As I've mentioned before, I have a tiny kitchen with only a few cabinets, these help the storage situation. The best thing about them is that they are very cheap and totally adjustable to fit the spices that you have and the setup of your cabinet.