As much as I don't want to admit it, summer is over. In my house, that means we are over our heads in all that is 'back to school'. Over the years, we've offered tips and thoughts on getting through the back to school season...with a shred of sanity!
This year, I'm sharing with you (and your budding fashionistas) my Back To School Trend Report. Many of the things in this year's report are easy to find at your local Goodwill Store. Some things to look for include:
Slogan t-shirts - those t-shirts with sayings on them.
Anything Embroidered - if you are crafty, maybe you can add some embroidery to an old jean jacket or pair of jeans to give it new life
Fair Isle sweaters - remember the old 'ski sweaters'? You know, the ones with all the print and detail around the shoulders? Well...they're back!
What are your kids loving for BTS this season? What do you wish they'd leave home? I'd love to commiserate with you!
When the kids head out the door for the first day of school, many moms start the cleaning and organizing! Fall is the perfect time to embrace an "out with the old - in with the new" attitude"...especially with your kids stuff!
This week, our organizing expert, Lorie Marrero shares some organizing tips on getting the grade and finding the Secrets of Back to School Bliss!
And remember, if you need a few more back to school wardrobe basics - including school uniforms, Goodwill is a great place to shop!
(transcript of the video)
Hi. I’m Lorie Marrero, creator of the Clutter Diet book and on-line program, and today we’re going to talk about getting in the swing of things with back-to-school time. So when you’re getting ready for back-to-school, you have to think about, of course, gathering all the school supplies and clothes you need, but you also need to think about creating new routines to go with the new schedule that you have.
So let’s start with weekly planning – we call it Sunday Planning – at the end of the weekend, sitting down with your calendar looking at the week ahead, figuring out who needs to be where, and making some menu plans for the dinners every night for the rest of that week.
So the next thing you should think about is your morning, afternoon, and evening routines so that your day goes more smoothly. So, of course, in the mornings, it can be chaotic trying to get everybody ready and out the door. Make that as easy for yourself as possible by thinking through it carefully. Who needs what and when? Are you getting yourself ready before you get the kids ready? Get a head start on them. Get up a little earlier. Also, we recommend having a destination station, which is the area where you enter and exit the home most frequently and you put things there that you need to take with you when you leave the house. So you establish this station, you can hang your keys there, your purses and backpacks go there, and anything else that needs to go out the door in the morning.
The afternoon is a little more complicated because maybe you aren’t there. Maybe the kids are by themselves. Maybe the kids have a sitter in the afternoons. Maybe they’re somewhere else in the afternoons. But you need to have a routine and some policies and rules around several pieces of what happens during that time of day.
So first of all, homework. Do they need to start their homework immediately? When is homework supposed to be done and where? Snack time, screen time, and general play time also need to have policies established around them so everybody understands what’s supposed to happen. Now, you may have homework being done at the kitchen table – this is this classic kitchen table dilemma of the multiple functions that are often going on in this space – so you may be setting the table for dinner while your children are trying to do homework here. And what often I see that people need is extra storage in this space. So, one of the greatest solutions that I’ve seen lately are these premium cubes that are available at Home Depot by ClosetMaid, and they look so nice with the rest of your furniture. They don’t look like they’re inexpensive and they belong in the kids’ playroom. They belong in the common areas of your house. They look great with these faux leather premium fabric drawers that they have. And so you can have extra storage really close by that looks good, and you can put things in it like a pouch full of school supplies for their homework time, like a calculator, extra notebooks, post-it notes, index cards, all the things that the kids need so that they can get them out and put them away quickly and easily when it’s time to shift to dinner time.
So, you can also use these cubes for other things you need around the kitchen table. So for example, you can put your cloth napkins or things like that, that you need for your eating along with the school supplies. So, establish those afternoon policies and if the kids are older, you can even do that with them and even write them into a formal contract. Sometimes, it really doesn’t hurt to get everybody’s very formal agreement on how that’s going to go.
Then, let’s talk about your evening routine. So that is crucial to making your morning go more smoothly. If you’ve got little kids, you probably have bath time. You may want to lay their clothes out for tomorrow. There’s a lot of activities that have to do with setting the stage for the morning. So clothing’s great, but also sports equipment, of course, their backpacks and any homework they’ve gotten done needs to be packed up and ready to go in that destination station area. And you may want to pack lunches the night before to save yourself a little bit of time and hassle in the morning.
So all these routines are fantastic to think through ahead of time, but remember, routine does not equal rigid. You want to plan some flexibility into the process, and don’t make it painful and frustrating for everybody. Have a little bit of leeway here and there, but use this as a basic outline for your day and for your week.
If you’d like to have more back-to- school tips, we have a countdown calendar for three weeks leading up to the first day of school and you can get that calendar at clutterdiet.com/countdown.
See you next time, and may you always be happy and grateful for having more than enough. You may have been searching for stress free school schedules or how to ease back into school.
Back-to-school season means back to the daily grind of controlling paperwork, keeping track of schedules, checking homework, figuring out meals, and corralling the backpack clutter in the home. Thankfully, it is easy to create a DIY Command Center for your family on a budget and even in a small home. Today I want to showcase eight ideas for command centers that would work in small spaces, or in a larger home, and how you can utilize Goodwill for some of the supplies for your project.
Let's get organized!
Transform a Door
One of the most inventive ideas I have seen for a command center comes from Tatertots & Jello. She utilizes a screen door for creating a command center for her family. For families that don't want to mount anything on their wall, this command center created from a door can be propped up anywhere and I could picture this project even as a command center in the garage.
To create a place for jotting down notes, consider heading to Goodwill for a picture frame that you can transform into a magnetic chalkboard and check their baskets section for a basket to gather shoes or for paper storage!
Use a Folding Chair
Not everyone has a large space to create a command center wall. I adore this idea, from Nalle's House, of creating a mini command center for your family by using an old folding chair. Check the furniture section of Goodwill for this project and with a little chalkboard paint and a basket, you have a spot to jot down messages and to tuck those small & important items like wallets & keys!
Dedicate an Unused Corner
Unused corners in our home can be the best place to create a small command center. The best part about a small command center is that it is an easier space to manage and clutter can be tidied up quickly. This command center from Hi Sugarplum showcases an unused corner that she now has made into the family's command center.
With a simple basket, a wall-mounted file folder, a small bulletin board, and a charging station, you now have an organized hub for your family.
Dedicate a Wall
If you have a wall that you can use for your family's command center, I absolutely love the cohesiveness of this wall command center from The Caldwell Project. They utilize beautiful free printables in picture frames to track things with dry erase markers, they have great storage for cell phones and commonly found paper clutter in the home, there is a spot for the mail, and a place to jot down notes.
If you want to create this on a budget, consider spray painting picture frames from Goodwill all one color and utilizing the free printables to keep your command center on budget. Be sure to visit this post for their free printable resources for your own command center.
Use a Cabinet Door
Although Domestic Imperfection actually built this beautiful command center out of wood, a cabinet door from Goodwill would work perfectly in creating a command center for a small space. I love that she decoupaged a map of somewhere special on her door to create this command center. To keep it on budget, stop at the visitor's bureau to snag maps of the places you visit for a special and personal touch.
Again, this command center is perfect for limited wall space and I love that you can personalize this one to your own needs!
Create a Chalkboard Wall
This chalkboard wall command center, featured in BHG Magazine, illustrates that you don't need a lot of space to create a command center that functions well for your family. I love that everything is on one wall and that you can chalk captions on the wall to remind people where their items are and that items can be switched out based upon your family's needs from year-to-year!
Make It Fun
The Homes I Have Made has the happiest of all happy command centers that I have ever seen. It makes me so happy that I want to replicate this one for our own house. She chose an eye-catching color scheme and adds beautiful details to make this a cheery place to organize and drop your belongings. A handmade bunting brightens the space and the happy pieces of art in her color scheme make this place feel whimiscal and not utilitarian.
Use Open Framing to Organize
One last idea that I love is this command center made with open frames created by Wid Kids. Picture frames are a great item to find at Goodwill and utilizing just the framing of them creates a unique and open detail to your command center for creating with. In this case window frames were used, but you could utilize whatever type of frame you can find at your store and replicate this same concept in your own home.
I love that it adds a fun detail to the wall and is open and airy enough to make the space not look cluttered.
Do you have a command center in your home? What do you do to keep your family organized in this space?
You are invited to join us at a BACK-TO-SCHOOL Fashion Show at the Rochester store! The show will feature some amazing local kids showing their unique style for this school year. The show starts at 1:00 pm. See you there!
I have an 11 year old daughter who has strong opinions about her wardrobe (don't all 11 year old girls?). Her opinion and mine are vastly different when it comes to school clothes. This back-to-school season I decided I was done arguing about her clothes every morning. She and I went to Starbucks and had a "fashion meeting".
Truth is I want her to show her individuality in her wardrobe. I'm glad she isn't uber obsessed with fashion (I couldn't afford it!). At our "fashion meeting" I explained to her that I am concerned about things fitting properly, being age appropriate and not unisex (I insist she wear 'girls' clothing, not sports wear that are for gals and guys...at least to school). She agreed and we developed our school-clothes rules.
They are:
Things must fit (not too small and not too big)
Be cool, trendy (whatever that definition is in her 11 year old world)
Not look like she is wearing her old-mom's clothes. Her clothing must be age appropriate.
Must not be uni-sex. Must be clothing for girls.
Based on our new agreement (or fashion rules), I then decided that we should choose a style for her. She got to tell me what her personality was through her clothes. She showed me things online she liked, and we went to the mall and she pointed out things in stores she thought was cool.
Some of today's trends in kids clothes make me take pause when I consider what our kids clothes are saying about their personality. But, we as responsible parents, need to know what is fashionable (or what "all the kids are wearing") so when we have these conversations with our teens and pre-teens about wardrobe choices, we are doing so from an educated viewpoint.And of course, to show our kids that we are still cool (*wink*).
Here are 2 big trends in kids clothing this fall. Or in other words - the stuff your kids are going to be begging for...if they haven't already!
FUR
This can be a tricky one because pieces that kids like are EXPENSIVE! Try this: get a great hoodie, denim jacket, or puffy vest from your local Goodwill store. Then put on your "crafty" hat and DIY! This tutorial shows you how to get in on this trend in just 5 easy steps.
MOTIFS Camo and skulls are still big in kids fashion. Camo has been around a while, look for it this season in bright trendy colors. For some of us, the camo thing can be a little much for little ones. Consider a DIY Camo sweatshirt!
I would love to hear how you've calmed the 'school clothes' battle in your home! Any suggestions for the rest of us?
A boyfriend jacket is simply an oversize unstructured
blazer.I have many photos (that should
be burned) of me and my girlfriends proudly wearing the boyfriend jackets with
our granny boots and miniskirts. Yes, we thought we were amazing…Big hair and
all!
LOVE
IT:
Then bring on the pins! The best way to don your boyfriend jacket this season
will be to accessorize it with a plethora of pins and brooches a la 80’s style.
CAN’T
DECIDE: Go basic with black or grey. There are some
styles that have a bit more structure.
photo credit: http://www.seventeen.com
Super
skinnies
The super skinny is here to stay.This season if you want to embrace all that
is 80’s then do it with a granny boot and a boyfriend jacket. This trend takes on a new twist this fall with vibrant COLOR!
LOVE
IT:
Bring on the skinnies in hot neon colors!
CAN’T
DECIDE: If you aren’t sure the skinny jean trend is for
you then skip it!This trend brings a
lot of attention to the bottom ½ of your silhouette.
CONFESSION: I loved my 80’s granny boots and
wore them with everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING!I am very happy they are back!
LOVE
IT:
Get a few pair with varying hardware.Maybe a black pair with strong military details and a chunky heel…then
add a brown pair with a slim heel, more feminine.
CAN’T
DECIDE: all of the discount shoe stores will have a
variety of this style in the Fall.Try
Photo Credit: http://www.looksandbooks.com
Boat
shoes
When I say Sperry Topsider, what do you
think?I remember a time in the 80’s I
fondly remember as the ‘gator bowl’.No,
not a football event, but rather a ‘preppy’ contest between me and a few
girlfriends.Boat shoes were key to this
middle-school event. Boat shoes of all colors!
LOVE
IT:
There are some of the cutest boat shoes I’ve seen out at the stores this
season. Everything from a dressy metallic to a sporty tartan. Be sure to pick
up a pair in your teams colors!
CAN’T
DECIDE: this trend is one that you can be safe in
trying.I promise it’ll work well for
you!Especially at those times a tennis
shoe is appropriate, but you just aren’t in the mood for an athletic shoe.
Big shoulders always make me think of the days
of Dynasty and Dallas…and if you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you
are probably under 35!
LOVE
IT:
Layer up your shoulder pads! Be sure to get some that you can add into every
shirt and jacket. Remember the big shoulder trend refers not only to the padding, but also the details.
CAN’T
DECIDE: the good news is that shoulder pads have been
making a come back for several seasons…and you probably didn’t even notice!
In less than one week, my two sweet kids will be boarding their bus and heading off to their first day of school. It is hard to believe that another fun summer is behind us, but if this picture offers any indication, I am just a tiny bit enthusiastic about getting back to our daily routines and having time to work without carving time away from my attention to them. We truly have much to celebrate and be thankful for in our family – including our school milestones – and I always try to make these days as special as possible with a fun celebration dinner for the kids.
Today I want to share some easy ideas for fun school-year celebrations you’ll enjoy all year long.
Create a School Picture Tradition
I love to see how much my children grow each year and I’m always trying to think of a new way to capture this big moment in their life. Create a sign that says what year they are going into school or search on Pinterest for free back-to-school printable signs to use for your big day. To really take your sign to the next level, visit Goodwill to find a cute picture frame to put your sign in and spray paint it for a pop of color. You could also hunt for a small chalkboard or create your own chalkboard using chalkboard spray paint and jot down their school year. Try to capture the big things, like that growth spurt that seemed to happen overnight, and then capture the little things like their fancy new school shoes or their cool character backpack. Even if you might have missed the moment on the first day of school, there is an opportunity to capture this all year long and no one will be the wiser that it wasn’t your kid’s first day back. I promise that these pictures will later be a treasure to you and to your kids when they can look back and see how much they have grown and changed.
Create a Celebration Plate Tradition
One of our wedding gifts when we got married was a Celebrate plate that my mom picked up at our local greeting card store. This tradition was handed down to me because when I was growing up, any time we had a celebration in our family, the special recipient got to eat on the special plate. You can create your own Celebration plate that you decorate together using a plate from your local Goodwill store and a porcelain paint set that you can find at the craft store. Use a waterproof marker pen to jot down the date and the exciting occasion you’re celebrating together on the back of your plate for a sweet tradition that can sit sweetly in your family budget.
Create a Fun Decorating Tradition
Our balloon wreath isn’t just for celebrating birthdays anymore. I now hang this wreath in our doorway anytime there is a celebration to be had in our house including those school year celebrations. You can make your own balloon wreath by covering a straw wreath with two large packages (of 72) balloons and attaching them with greening pins (in the floral aisle of your craft store). This wreath can be used for any of life’s little celebrations… big or small!
Create a Fun Meal Tradition
Nothing says celebration like a big plate of your favorite food. In our house, the most requested dish is my spaghetti and meatballs. When celebrations arise, whether it’s a great report card or the first day back to school, let your children make the dinner selection for the night. We have had everything in our house requested, from our favorite sub sandwiches to a taco bar night to homemade pizza. Not only will you not have to plan dinner one night, but the bonus is your kids will eat it and love it! Whatever you do, I can assure you that your children will long remember and appreciate! I wish you many celebrations all school year long! Looking for the perfect recipe for homemade spaghetti & meatballs to celebrate your kids and their first day back? I have you covered with this easy sauce and baked meatballs that rival any Italian restaurant. Double or triple the sauce and meatballs for delicious meals that you can eat all week long!
Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs
For Sauce:
3/4 cup chopped onion (we omitted because we don’t like onions)
For Meatball (this recipe will make enough for a double batch, half to eat and half to freeze):
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 cups grated Romano (or Parmesan)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound Italian turkey sausages (remove the casings)
1 pound ground beef
To make sauce: Saute onion and garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, and sugar. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer one hour and thirty minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and meatballs and simmer thirty more minutes. Gently break apart the tomatoes with the back of your wooden spoon. Five to ten minutes before serving, add in your meatballs and then serve over a big bowl of your favorite pasta.
To make meatballs: In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, and the salt and pepper. Add the turkey & ground beef, then gently stir to combine. Make your meatballs the standard size and put them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes. When done cooking, drop in the baked meatballs for a few minutes. This will be just as delicious with a lot less mess and fewer calories.
It is hard to believe that summer is coming to a close, but our children will be heading back to school in no time flat. The month before school is always such a busy season of preparations as we stock up on our school supplies, pick our cool character backpacks, get our new school shoes, and select our school uniforms for the year.
Goodwill might not be the first place you think of when you are doing your school shopping, but if you are a family on a budget, it can be a fantastic resource for families during this expensive season in our lives.
Today I wanted to share with you just a few ideas for items to look for at your local store that you may not have thought of before.
Stock Up on a Back-to-School Wardrobe: Goodwill carries loads of name brand items that can get your kid's year started out in style and with your budget in mind. Name brand jeans, t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, coats, dresses, pants, and leggings can all be found at Goodwill for a lot less than you would pay at the mall.
For stylish girls that need a little persuading to shop at Goodwill first, I recommend having them pull together a style file or poster board with their favorite looks from their favorite magazines for this year's season. Encourage them to come up with a list of their top pieces that they would like to start the school year out with and challenge them to replicate the looks that they created in their style file with pieces from Goodwill. Issue a fun reward for them if they come under budget like a gift card to their favorite store or even an actual piece from the style file that can add that extra sparkle to their Goodwill wardrobe.
For children that are required to wear uniforms, like my own, Goodwill often has uniform pieces for a fraction of the price than you would pay retail. I keep my kid's clothing sizes on my phone so when I see a particularly great deal on an item at the store, that I know exactly what sizes to buy when I see them.
Embrace Refashioned Style- Refashioned pieces and handmade accessories are the latest rage this year. You may not think of Goodwill as a fabric store, but I do! No matter what the size of the item, look at the pieces as material to create chic back-to-school accessories out of items that you purchase from the store.
Consider using pieces from Goodwill to make items like a fabric flower pin that could accessorize your daughter's hair or clothing, try using fabric to create rolled rosette rings for a cute accessory, whip up cute ruffledt-shirts from the clothing at your store, or add a leather label to your son's backpack or hat with his initials burned in.
Half of the fun for me is thinking outside the box with items that might be overlooked and creating new pieces that will make your children the envy of their classmates. The possibilities are endless at the store and every day is a brand new day with daily donations coming in.
Get Those Back-to-School Papers Organized- The one thing I dread the most about school starting is the unbelievable amount of papers that come home and the homework paper trail that comes with it. Start thinking now about what types of systems you would like to use to control the paper chaos in your home and jot down the items you would like to find at your Goodwill store.
Items like magazine organizers, binders, hooks, storage ottomans, and baskets can be found at the store and I love to really hunt on the sale days for these items. When doing the rest of your back-to-school shopping this year, be sure to visit the Housewares section of the store to see what you can find to house the paper chaos in your home.
Stock Up for Teacher Gifts- I love to spoil our teachers, but I also love to do it on a budget. Goodwill is my favorite store to look for cute elements to add to our teacher gifts throughout the year. The store offers a plethora of gift baskets, mugs that can be painted and filled with treats for our favorite teachers, jars to package our favorite drink mixes, and adorable plastic containers that can be filled with bath salts for a fun gift to give.
You may also be surprised to find that there are many fabulous items that are new and still in their package that could be stored away in your gift closet for the holidays or Teacher Appreciation Day.
I hope this entry gives you just a few fun ideas to begin saving for the back-to-school season with Goodwill. Be sure to take advantage of their wonderful sales and find new ways to save at your store today!
What items do you buy for the back-to-school season at your local Goodwill? We would love to hear what you love to hunt for this time of year! Please share!
It is hard to believe that summer is coming to a close, but our children will be heading back to school in no time flat. The month before school is always such a busy season of preparations as we stock up on our school supplies, pick our cool character backpacks, get our new school shoes, and select our school uniforms for the year.
