Thirty-One August News

Here is the updates for Thirty-One in August:

The August special says that when you spend $35, you can get a new Girl On The Go Collection purse for 50% off!  Awesome deal.

The new Fall catalog is set to come out in September, so that means the retirement list has rolled around again.  Do you love the Lotsa Dots print?  What about the Easy Breezy Tote or Skirt Purse?  They are retiring, along with many other prints and styles!  If you've been meaning to add to your collection, NOW is the time!  Check out the retirement list HERE.

If you and a friend(s) have an order that totals $200 or more, I can call it a party and you can get some hostess rewards!  Win win.  Check it out and place an order with me today!

I still have spots open for parties in the next couple of months.  The hostess exclusive products that are set to come out with the Fall catalog are AMAZING.  You'll definitely want to browse the new Fall catalog as soon as it comes out and plan when you're next party will be!

Everyone's Favorite Weekend Project...Closet Organization!

On Monday, I had a client who was in need of some closet organization.  She just moved into a new home and her previous methods weren't working out for her, so what better time to start with a clean slate?  We figured out some new organizing products that fit into her budget and got to work!

If you're on a tight budget and looking for some organizing products that are going to make your closet organizing product a snap, here are the basics I'd recommend to get your started:

• A set of nice, new hangers.  They can be plastic, nice felted ones (my favorite because your clothes won't fall off!), or top of the line cedar...whichever you choose, go monochromatic.  It gives your closet a much neater look.
• Shoe organizers.  Count up your shoes and find an organizer that fits your closet, budget, and style.  Digging through shoe piles in the middle of your closet floor can really ruin a morning.
• Hanging sweater organizer.  You shouldn't hang your nice knits because it will stretch them out.  Get a hanging organizer (seen above) to nicely fold your knits and keep them in plain sight for easy retrieval.
• Plastic garment bags for rarely worn items.  Isn't it the worst when you pull out a dress or suit the morning of the big event to find it covered in dust and lint?  Eliminate that problem with a cheap solution.  Buy some garment bags that hold several items and hang them in the back of your closet.  They will be fresh and ready whenever you need them!
• A laundry sorter.  An absolute must in my house, these handy 3 bin organizers allow you and your family to sort the laundry as you throw it in the bin.  Voila!  No more tedious sorting on laundry day!  

What are your favorite closet organizing products??

Thirty-One Mystery Hostess Catalog Party!

Do you love Thirty-One products?  Then please...read on!

Today through July16th, I'm hosting an online catalog party where you have the opportunity to win free and discounted Thirty-One products.  All you need to do is visit the SHOPPING SITE, browse through the catalog, and place your order!  You'll be entered to win the hostess benefits the party earns. The higher the party total, the more hostess benefits there will be for the taking so tell all your friends and family to place their order too!

Don't forget that the July Special is 31% off for every $31 you spend!  This is a great sale to make the most of your money!  Order by the 16th to take advantage of both of these amazing offers!

July Thirty-One Special

In July, get 31% off all styles and prints when you spend $31!  Ends July 31st.

Take Charge of Change

Someone, somewhere, at one point in time decided that the first week in July was going to be “Take Charge of Change Week”.  I tried to do a little digging into it’s origin and history and came up short.  Regardless, just the title is inspiring, isn’t it?  So I thought I would try to inspire you a little more and challenge you to take on an organizing dilemma in your home.

What drawer, closet, or nook of your home haunts you as you lie in your bed at night?  What bookshelf, cabinet, or wall in your garage nags at the back of your mind as you go through your day?  This is the week to tackle it head on.  It is the week of our Independence Day, after all.  Our forefathers tackled their oppression head on and so can you.  Granted, your clutter may seem like pebbles compared to the huge boulders they moved, but pebbles still make it hard to walk through your day.  Why not take the plunge and take charge of change in your life.

 Start small.  No matter the task, figuring out where to start can be daunting.  Pick a spot in your house and start by de-cluttering.  Get rid of trash, donate things you no longer use, and set aside things that can be repurposed or need to be saved.  I promise that as you clear up the space, a whole new vision of what it can be will motivate you to continue. 

If you still need help, I’m here!  Only a phone call away.  And to give you a little more incentive, I’m offering a special take-charge promotion.  This week only, I’m offering 3 organizing hours for only $75!  That’s 50% off.  That should motivate you to get going…nothing stands in your way now.  Take charge of change!

Who Needs a Large Utility Tote?

YOU DO!  This month, Thirty-One is offering their very popular Large Utility Tote for only $10 when you spend $35 during the month of June.  This is HUGE savings...think 70% off savings.  Who can pass that up - especially when you're saving on such a versatile, helpful organizational tool?!  Oh, and it comes in 23 prints...icing on the cake.

I have a few of these myself and I am continually finding new ways to use them.  I have one for grocery shopping - the cashiers are always amazed at how much it holds!  I use one for summer activity stuff for my son and myself.  It's super easy to throw anything you need for a picnic, get together, road trip, etc. into this handy bag.  It also doubles as a great closet organizer because it holds a lot of your off-season items and still looks cute on the shelf!

A perfect and almost necessary pairing with the L.U.T. is the organizers that fit right in.  It divides the space so you can separate items (you can get them in thermal material for the grocery store, picnics, etc.) and it also helps them hold their shape very well.  Here's a couple more ideas!

Take advantage of this sale while it lasts!  You might think it couldn't get any better than this, but wait.  ORGANIZING abc's is having a promotion that doubles your benefits!  Schedule a Thirty-One party with me in June or July and get 2 organizing hours with me for FREE!  That's right...you host a party (super easy), get free and discounted items (you could get your L.U.T. for FREE!), and get professional help with your organizing project just for having all that fun with your friends.  Take a look at the website for all the details about the promotion and my organizing services.

I can't wait to help you get organized with these totes.  You will wonder why you didn't buy this thing sooner.  If you're already a fan, share how you use your tote!  I'd love to discover all the uses I haven't thought of yet!

Thirty-One May Special

May is an exciting month for Thirty-One fans.  Not only has the new summer catalog been released (with all sorts of new products and awesome prints!), but this month's special is a fan favorite.

Through May 31st, get 1/2 off ALL thermals when you spend $31 or more.  Everyone loves the thermals!  They are high quality and cute to boot.  They are great for kids sports games, picnics, grocery shopping, and trips to the beach.  They come in all sorts of great prints and sizes.  There is certainly one to fit your needs.

Don't forget that if you host a party, you can earn thermals and all of our other products for free and 1/2 price.  What an awesome opportunity!  Head to my site to place an order or host a party!

Moving Month

Did you know that May is Naitonal Moving Month?  This year, the Department of Transportation estimates that 35 million Americans will move and a majority of those moves will happen in May.  Moving can be quite stressful!  Not only do you have to pack up ALL of your belongings into small boxes, but then you also have to find new homes for all of it in your new house.  For those who are not fond of organizing, this can mean sleepless nights, fighting with loved ones, and overall high stress levels.

To help with your stress, you should check out my Pinterest board for moving tips before you start packing.  There are lots of good links to labels, hints and best practices, and even schedules to keep you on track.

Hiring a Professional Organizer to help you move can also be a great way to reduce the stress and anxiety that leads up to the big day.  I can help you pack up in a way that helps you unpack quickly, efficiently, and more importantly helps you start a new, organized life in your new home.  When you get to your new home, I can help you set things up for success.  No need to start a junk drawer...everything will have it's place!

I think the best part about moving is an opportunity to start fresh!  If you are moving this month or sometime soon, I wish you the best of luck and lots of love in your new home.

Kitchen Pantries - A Place for Everything

I think one of the favorite sayings of all professional organizers is "A place for everything and everything in it's place."  It applies to every organizing situation and if you only remember this strategy, it can put you on the right track.  But I think this is especially poignant for kitchen pantries.  Kitchen pantries are one of the most used areas in a busy household.  Whether you like to cook or not, people have to eat and they need a place to put all their food in the meantime.  Food comes in, food goes out.  It's a mini grocery store, but most people don't organize it like that.

I recently worked with a client who needed some help with her pantry.  It was stressing her out, but she didn't even know where to begin.  It had been ages since she'd cleaned it out and the top shelf had become a catch-all that stalled any intimidated attempts that she made.

We started by taking everything out.  We put it into piles that would help us reorganize later - dinner items, cleaning supplies, dog items, stuff to put some place else, recycling, etc.  Since it had been a while since she had done this, we were able to cut out a lot of the clutter simply because the food item had expired.

Then we revamped her existing pantry shelves.  She had the simple wire shelving that many homes have.  While shelves of any kind are a necessity, sometimes the wire shelving for a pantry can be troublesome.  It doesn't allow things to slide easily and sometimes causes jars and cans to tip over if they aren't positioned just right.  To remedy this, we used foam board and contact paper and fit it to her existing shelves.  Not only does this allow things to slide easily, it cheered up her sterile pantry space!

Then I bought some clear pantry/fridge bins in a couple different sizes.  Bins that fit the depth of your shelf and slide make it easy for you to access things that must go in the back of the pantry.  I also bought two, stand-alone mesh shelves to make use of vertical space.  I created cute chalkboard-esque labels that matched the motif of the contact paper and put them in the proper places.  Labels are a must in a pantry that is accessed by more than one family member!  How can anyone help you keep things organized if you are the only person who knows where things go?  Labels make it clear to everyone that SALTY SNACKS GO HERE!

We put all of the appropriate items back into the pantry and voila!  A beautifully organized space to help nourish her family.  I'm happy to report that the messy top shelf no longer appears in her nightmares.

Organizing Work Materials

Working from home can be a true blessing...no commutes, more family time, more flexibility...but it can also mean a lot of extra "stuff" in your home that might not otherwise accumulate.  What do you do with all of it?

I recently worked with a client who is a Corporate Trainer for a living.  When she isn't traveling, she works from home.  Thus, all of her training material has to be kept in her basement.  Now, we weren't talking a banker's box worth of materials...we were talking binders upon binders upon bags upon boxes of stuff that littered her basement and left her feeling overwhelmed.  Because she didn't have an organizational strategy for housing her materials, she would end up searching for the ones she needed for a class for an unnecessary amount of time and would just throw them on the floor of her basement when she was done with them.  This was not a great plan for helping her reduce stress and maximize efficiency.

This client was working with a small budget, so we decided to repurpose some organizing tools she had in her house already.  We also bought an inexpensive, ugly grey filing cabinet on Craigslist and I revamped it to suit her tastes.  We determined a strategy for organizing her training materials - binders that weren't used often went on a bookshelf, training modules that required a lot of material stayed housed in the company training bags and put on a shelf, and smaller, frequently used materials were bagged and filed in the filing cabinet for easy retrieval.  It all fit in one closet in her basement and everything became a cinch to access and put back in no time at all.

My client said "You created organization heaven out of my trainer material hell!"  I was happy to help and even happier that she reports less stress and loves how easy it is to take out and put back her materials after a long business trip.

What about your work materials?  Do they cause stress or help you be effective?  Have you figured out a system that works for your day-to-day needs?  I'm always a phone call away if you aren't quite there yet!

April's Special Promotions

This month, in honor of ORGANIZING abc's launch, I am offering a money-saving special.  When you book 3 organizing hours, you'll get your 4th hour free!  This offer is only good until May 4, 2013, so be sure to book your free consultation with me soon.

Thirty-One also has a special promotion for April - when you spend $35, you can get the Jr. Rec Duffle for $10 or the Pro Duffle for $25.  If you host a party, you could get them for free!  Contact me about your order today.

As a running incentive - when you refer a friend to ORGANIZING abc's and they book organizing hours, you will BOTH receive $25 off your next session.  I value my customers and love good word of mouth because it means I've done my job well!  Keep it coming!

Thirty-One

As part of ORGANIZING abc's mission to organize with style, I decided to become an independent consultant for Thirty-One gifts and organizing products.  I love their products - they are stylish, easy, and cohesive.  It makes organizing a room and pulling all the decor together a cinch!  This addition to my business felt like a perfect fit.

Thirty-One works like many other independent consulting companies like Pampered Chef or Lia Sophia.  You can order directly from a consultant from the catalog or you could choose to host a Thirty-One party for all your friends and family to get in on the action too!  Hosting is really easy and it allows you the opportunity to get free products!  Why wouldn't you host?!

Check out my direct website for the catalog and product information.  I'd be happy to place an order for you if you see something you like!  I'd love it even more if you wanted to host a party!  The site has my contact information so you can get in touch with me.

This month, Thirty-One has a special going on!  From April 2nd - 30th, for every $35 you spend you get the new Jr. Rec Duffle for $10 or the Pro Duffle for $25!  Don't pass up these awesome savings!  Perfect for all those spring sports!

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

"Where do I start?"  This is the question I asked myself as I thought more about the nagging voice in the back of my brain telling me to start professionally organizing.  How would I even go about that?  And just like any good organizing task set before me, I took it one step at a time and made a lot of to-do lists.

There are probably three hobbies I love most in this world - organizing, planning, and crafting.  I love it.  I'm great at it.  It makes me happy.  The problem is that I only have so many things to organize, plan, and craft plan at home without driving my husband crazy.  I needed an outlet and making some income while I'm at it was a big added benefit.

For any big organizing project, it's important to break it down into manageable goals.  Your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant/realistic, and timely/time-bound (in other words, a S.M.A.R.T. goal).  If you can meet these requirements, your goals are sure to be motivating and rewarding.  I know you probably have heard of this cheesy acronym before and I'm not usually a bit fan of things like that, but this is actually really helpful.  It an easy way to make sure you are going to be successful.

Have a lot of clutter smothering your house?  Have guests visiting soon?  Break it down:

Let's start in the basement because that's where the guests will be staying (specific and relevant).  This weekend (timely) we will go through all of the holiday decorations (measurable) and decide what we want to keep, throw away, or donate (attainable).

I think that's doable in this busy life so many of us lead.  And if you break down all of your organizational dilemmas into smaller goals, you'll be clutter-free in no time!

The Launch of ORGANIZING abc's

I am so proud to announce that ORGANIZING abc's is open for business!  ORGANIZING abc's offers professional organizing services for anyone looking to de-clutter and reorganize with style and beauty.

My name is Ashley Clark and I am founder and Professional Organizer of this new venture.  I live in Bartlett, IL with my husband and young son.  We have two dogs and one cat, although it always seems like I am caring for a zoo-full.  I went to Illinois State University for my undergrad and graduate degrees and worked in higher education for several years before having my son.  At that point, I decided that my new family was priority #1 so I chose to be a stay-at-home mom.  I have been loving every minute, but I also sensed I needed another outlet for my adult brain and creativity.  Thus, ORGANIZING abc's was formed.

I am here to teach you the skills you need to solve a lifetime of organizing problems.  I can help you take control of your surroundings, your time, your papers, and your systems for life.  I do it all with regard to your personal tastes and aesthetics because I believe that you will be more excited about your newly organized life if it's also nice to look at!

This blog will be a journal of my adventures in clutter.  I plan to post helpful organizing tips, inspiration photos, and business news and updates.  I hope you'll subscribe to the blog or check back often!

Find out more about my services at MY WEBSITE and schedule a free consultation today!  I can't wait to organize with you!