FAVORITE TOOLS FOR ORGANIZING OR WHATEVER

Some things are more talented than they seem, for instance:

NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS.  A fingernail saver.  Especially good for all kinds of stuff in the kitchen, even pulling that nasty plastic stretch inner lid off the little cup of chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

A long, narrow GADGET THAT THREADS ELASTIC thru waistband, or wrists or whatever.  There is an ugly rumor that this gadget is no long manufactured.  Give presents to anyone who will lend you one.  An extremely long crochet hook might work, but don't count on it.

SWEATER DRYER - I have one sweater that's washer-okay, but not dryer-okay, so these mesh things up on little legs are essential.  Also for my little stretchy liner sox for inside walking shoes. I once knew someone who dried her cashmeres on towels on the carpeted floor, so I'm convinced most knits may not need the cleaners.  CAUTION:  cats think this thing is a bed.

PLASTIC PUSH PINS (the ones that look like a little spool with a pin in one end)  Besides bulletin boards, you can pin the head-liner of your drive-to-work car up where it belongs so it won't fall on your face  in traffic.  My daughter taught me this.  You can hang up anything smaller than a cat with these little pins. Okay, almost anything.

A NOTEBOOK WITH SEE-THRU PAGES I can stuff in torn off corners of envelopes with return addresses and file them sort of alphabetically. Remember how easy it is to keyboard these addresses all wrong, thus losing the guy forever. Judging from letters I receive, most people transpose house numbers easily.

The THREE COMPARTMENT STAND-UP ORGANIZER my daughter put in my car  trunk so coolant bottles and other things don't roll around and leak.  (In LA, this would have been super handy  due to having to brake every five minutes for maniacal drivers.)

Those SETS OF PLASTIC POCKETS THAT HANG OVER DOORS so you never lose stuff like your expensive ear buds or backup stock of your prescription.

That wondrous little PLASTIC OR NYLON KNIT SCRUB GLOVE from the 99 cent store that keeps me from dropping the soap in the shower.  I admit the texture is exfoliating.   You could probably wash dishes with those things, too.

CAN'T THIN OUT THAT WARDROBE? Try this

Every day I see young women who could look a lot better than they do.  Older women, too.  They forgot to do one urgent thing before they left the house. . .

Check their rear-view mirror!

I've had some clothes that I probably would have gotten rid of immediately if I'd seen the back view.  . Right now, I have to hold up a mirror to see the back before I go out.  It's worth the effort.

But even holding up the mirror, I miss one important thing:  the rear view in motion!  With buns like mine,  I could use at least a light control panty even in the indescribable Texas humidity.  If only I can find one.

No matter how thin you are, if some clothes make you hate to walkout of a crowded room, give them the acid test.  Ask a friend you trust to use your new tiny video camera and shoot your back view as you walk away from her.  Just in case, insist she use your camera; then she can't yield to temptation.  Yes, I know you trust her.

And don't ask Mom, or you'll get some announcements with your photos.

When you've seen the video, donate those clothes you don't ever want to walk away in.  See how spacious your closet suddenly looks?

TRAIN YOUR BATHROOM TO CUT CLUTTER Part Two

Stop!  Before you hang those coat hooks for easy towel hanging, before you even buy the hooks, I must confess I forgot the basic planning step.   It's no use having wonderful towel catchers in the wrong places!

Whoever finished the interior of the bathroom may have seen a nice flat wall somewhere, and happily hung a bunch of towel racks on it.  Are there towels on the floor? Then don't put your new towel hooks where the towel racks were.

As I've written before, the cardinal rule is:  put things where you use them.  Most wet people will find a towel, somewhere.  But the usual procedure is:
1. Get wet
2. Dry off
3. Let go of towel.
The hook must be right where the hand lets go.  If kids are involved, see step 3a.

3a.  Or, put a hamper right where hand releases towel.  There are soft, mesh hampers now, for crowded spots, easy on the toes, easy on wrestling kids.  These softies have open tops, a necessary feature.

Say goodbye to the cute hamper with a lid.  People who just showered are often in a rush.

Caution:  I don't urge dropping wet towels right into the clothes chute, if you're lucky enough to have one. Green things are in the air, at the bottom of the even the cleanest clothes chute, waiting for something to nest on.

DESK STUFF - you'll never guess these organizers

My desk is tiny, and full.  I have a basket for the little stuff, since there is no drawer.  In the little basket are two things that help organize it all.

One is - an empty plastic glass from a Starbucks tall iced coffee.  Pencils, pens, a plastic sleeve of stamps, and a tiny ruler all stand at attention.

I also use these empty plastic glasses in my "portable bathroom" basket to keep toothbrushes standing, and keep floss from disappearing.  (Why didn't I save that for a bathroom post. . .)

The other wonderful helper is a tall,skinny plastic envelope with a snap top.  Maybe pens came in this; if so, you can find one.  It SAVES me because only my latest flash drive goes in it.  Ever.  The snap top makes it easy to find among all the pens, markers and whatever.

The moral?  Neither one costs money, unless you buy pens you don't even like, just to get one of those envelopes to promote to Flash Drive Holder.

Train your bathroom to cut clutter

Why are all these towels on the floor?  Since I'm a Droppit, I'm practically an expert on why towels are on the floor.  My decorating jobs, however, fiercely motivated me to do something about the bathroom floor, the edge of the tub, and all other flat surfaces.

The thing about standard towel racks that seem to come with every bathroom wall is that the towel is hard to hang unless one actually FOLDS it.  Way too slow. And some of us have not mastered the art of nice folding.  Solution?  In one or more bathrooms, I've used towel rings--at least slightly forgiving, and at least the towel isn't on the floor.

HIGH SPEED solution?  If you can find them, good looking coat hooks, single or in sets, will catch the towel as one rushes past.  Certain family members may not notice these hooks unless clearly notified that the hooks are new and are for towels.

CAUTION:  Small children left unattended too long may attempt to hang other things like chairs or small siblings--even cats on the hooks, just to see what will happen.  But then, those are the same kids that tried to chin themselves on the old towel rods.