I am a huge fan of Command adhesive hooks and I use them often throughout our house. Recently they asked if I would try out a few new products and of course I was all for it! They sent me some fun goodies, but for now I’m going to share with you the new Command Picture Clip. The picture clip is simply a small plastic clip that you attach to the wall and can essentially clip up anything you want like a photo or a note. I especially love this idea because my kids are constantly wanting to hang things up with tape and of course tape can peel off the paint on whatever it is attached to. So far I haven’t had that issue with Command products.

For me, the best thing about trying out new products is finding alternative uses! When I first saw the Picture Clip I knew another one of my problems would be solved….

That’s right socks! My laundry room counter always has a small pile of miss-matched socks waiting to find their mate and quite frankly I hate seeing them just laying around. I put up a few of these new Picture Clips then clipped up our mate-less socks and well… problem solved! Thanks Command!

So tell me, what do you do with your miss-matched socks while you are waiting for the mate to show up?

Since tax time is almost here I thought it would be fun to do a quick poll to see where you stand with your taxes. For some, this is one of the most stressful times of the year. Please take the quick poll to let us know where you fit in and keep on reading below for a giveaway!

[polldaddy poll="2985271"]

By simplifying our finances and going paperless, it has been rather easy for us to get our tax information in order. By April we have usually filed and already received money back. Here are a few things we do in order to make tax time easier to manage:

1. Keep a file folder designated for any documents you will need for filing your current taxes… Every time we make a donation to Goodwill we drop the receipt into the tax folder. If you have any charitable donation receipts or anything out of the ordinary that you may be reimbursed for, designate a folder to collect these documents, instead of letting them float around for you to try to find later. If you have a considerably large amount of these types of documents an accordion file that you can categorize will work better than a single file.
2. Store your regular receipts in monthly envelopes. This year I am keeping all of my business related expenses in a 13 pocket accordion file folder until I get the chance to scan them.
3. Look to your previous years tax return as a guide for what documents you need and as they come in file them in your current tax file.
4. Go paperless in as many ways as you can, this helps keep things organized and requires little maintenance.

This giveaway has ended thank you, everyone for entering! HopiQ from Heart and Home you are the winner! You will receive an email from me shortly.

Need help getting your documents in order? Enter to win a set of organizational products from Carolina Pad to help you get it together!

That’s right Carolina Pad sent me a great package of products to try out and they are offering up the same to one of you! Carolina Pad’s Hot Chocolate collection might be just what the doctor ordered at tax time. No more boring office supplies!

Here is what they are giving away!

13 pocket file folder…12 pack of file folders…26 pocket file folder with handle…8 pocket folder…decorative binder clips and paper clips… all worth a total value of $44!

You have until Monday, April 6th at 12pm central time to enter. You have … ways to enter:

1. Subscribe to us and/or leave a comment!

2. Check out Carolina Pad and let us know what your favorite product is. Come back here and tell us about it.

and for the fine print… if you have won a prize package from Carolina Pad in the past 90 days you are not eligible to enter.

This giveaway has ended thank you, everyone for entering! Carla from Twitter (@carlastamps) you are the winner! You will receive an email from me shortly.

Since my first son was born I started collecting yearly ornaments for him, a tradition that has grown as our family has.  When my children leave the nest I plan on passing on to them their ornaments and perhaps other decorations I save for them over the years. In all these years I have been on the lookout for the perfect box to keep these ornaments in.

There are several options out there for storing ornaments and I almost settled on a clear plastic bin, however I really wanted this collection to be special and wanted a box that was of heirloom quality. That is why I was so excited when Sterling Pear contacted me and informed me about their Signature Ornament Storage Box an offered one for a review. I was more than excited! This was exactly what I had been looking for and by the pictures on their website it looked like the perfect option for me. In all honesty though, it is hard to see something online and know what quality you are getting and when this particular item regularly costs $149.00 I might have passed on the basis of not being able to see it first hand before ordering.

With that being said I have to let you know that when this box arrived it met and beat all of my expectations! I was floored. Now I can get pretty excited about storage but this one is special. My husband sometimes snickers about my love of storage but even, he was impressed by this box. What’s so special you ask?

First of all you can see from the photos at the beginning of this post that this box is absolutely beautiful! If you didn’t have hidden storage space this ornament storage box would be pretty enough to leave out on a shelf or under a table.

This box holds up to 52 ornaments and as you can see leaving ample space for each ornament. You can’t tell by the pictures but the bottom is padded slightly to protect the ornament. I might add a little bit of bubble wrap for the smaller breakable ornaments but even without it the box itself is sturdy enough that is won’t cave in on the ornaments. The sides and corners are reinforced and while I don’t suggest standing on the box and jumping on it, my daughter did start getting rough with it and sat on it a couple of times and nothing gave.

We have three floors of storage here! The top section for smaller ornaments has it’s own lid and fits perfectly on top of the other sections. The middle stores slightly larger ornaments and the bottom houses sections with dividers that can be moved for larger ornaments and decorations. I will have more than enough room for all of my children’s ornaments and then some. They will have a nice collection by the time they are ready to fly the coop and will have enough room for some of their own decorations as well.

Attention to detail was taken when making this box right down to the ribbon handles for the inside compartments. I am so very pleased that I now have a quality storage option for collecting our children’s ornaments in. We will be getting boxes for the other two kids as well. I want them each to have their own box and I don’t doubt that this one will be strong enough to pass on to the next generation as well.

When we thought about the cost compared to the quality we were pleased with the price in the long run. We figure we generally spend $10-15 dollars for each of our keepsake ornaments and it is well worth the money to store this collection properly over the long term. I am very pleased with this heirloom quality ornament storage box!

Now for the super fun part! Now is your chance to get your very own Signature Storage Box valued at $149.00! I hope you are as impressed with it as I am. You have 4 ways to enter…

1. Leave a comment on this post.
   
2. Follow me on Twitter. Come back here and let me know you did so.
   
3. Become a fan on Facebook. Come back here and let me know you did so.
4. Subscribe to the blog for more great storage finds and organizing tips!

You have until Monday, December 21st to enter. I will choose a winner on Tuesday the 22nd. Happy Organizing!

*A Signature Storage Box was sent to Complete Organizing Soltuions for free for this review. Luckily we liked it so much we will buy more! :)

*Warning, longer than usual post about my purse obsession and how I found the most wonderfully organized purse, so keep reading! :)

I am always on the lookout for the perfect bag. I get this honestly from my Grandmother.  We are bag ladies. I’m not talking high end bags here. We look for a good deal. We look for form and function. We’re not afraid to take it back if it’s not working for us either.

I don’t need a bag for every outfit but I need a bag I can use every day. My order is large right now, because the perfect bag for me still needs to hold a diaper or two and maybe a sippy cup. I really wanted to be able to carry my laptop around with me too, but I quickly realized things were just getting to heavy and I didn’t need to have Mac with me all the time. I know, GASP!

There has been quite a buzz about the Butler Bag among professional organizer’s. Those that could afford so bought one or multiples because they loved them so much. Then there were those of us that were on the frugal side and watching those sample sales.

I’ve had my eye on the Butler Bag for years! Seriously if I saved a dollar a week I could have bought one already. Two things were stopping me, the price and online buying. I  determined the size I needed was the hybrid and it costs $165. For what you are getting, the price is not all that bad but I have never paid that much for a handbag. The real deal breaker for me was paying $165 for a bag I could not touch first! I’m just saying it better feel real good and meet all of my needs for that price.

What’s so special about the Butler Bag, you ask? The compartments. There is a place for everything and everything has a place. Seriously!

Right before Christmas an organizer mentioned seeing the Butler Bag in the Kmart flyer.  What? No way, impossible. For real? Turns out Butler Bag put out an Essentials version of the bag. Essentially replace the top grain leather with vinyl and you get the idea. I really wanted to see if this whole compartmentalized thing would work for me. There is a Kmart near my mom so she was sweet enough to stop by and pick up a black one for me on Christmas Day! The hybrid size was on sale for $20 normally $30. For real!

My mom brought it over and I was soooo excited and then I saw it and I thought wow, it’s shiny! It’s really cool and I’m excited but it’s shiny. Now, if I would have opened a box that had a bag that I paid $165 for and had that response I would have been crushed. But all that was lost was $20. (My mom didn’t make me pay her back since it was Christmas and all, Thank you Mom!) So there my Butler Bag Essentials sat on my dresser for the next month, just because I wasn’t all that keen on the look of the outside. From the Butler Bag’s website I can tell that some of the Butler Bag do have a shine to it, but I’m not sure how it compares to Kmart’s vinyl bag.

Then I saw this post from a fellow organizer and it gave me new hope! She too was concerned about the shine. Since I had a blogging conference to go to I figured I would put the shininess behind me and give it a try. Let’s just say I have not put it down since. I put my other bag away. I’m sold. I love it. Right now I don’t care how shiny it is and yes, if she doesn’t hold up I will pay for the real leather.

This picture shows what I had in the bag the day after conference, and it all fits perfectly. A book, 2 diapers, a stack of business cards, phone, contact solution, makeup, pens, pencil, wallet, tissues, 2 steno pads, camera (not shown in picture because I was using it). And yes I can still fit a sippy cup or bottle of water in there!

Another good thing about this purse is that the bottom is flat so it will not fall over. I can leave it open next to me in the car and find exactly what I am looking for without fumbling through things. I actually do find myself carrying this bag everywhere with me, even in the house. It allows me to keep all of the essentials close by all the time. Now if I can get my hands on one of those mini laptops I saw at the conference I can have a computer close by at all times because it would fit!

Butler Bag most definitely works for me and has my two thumbs up!