True confession time: I’m not so great at taking photos. In fact, I suck. Horribly. There are entire years of my childrens’ lives that have gone mostly unphotographed. I know. It’s truly terrible.

It’s like I was born without the proper photo-taking gene. I believe my sister got every last ounce of that gene in our family, unfairly leaving me with zero. (Which is odd, because I’m older, but who am I to question the way these things work?)

But, I do very much want to document the first year of my son’s life by taking a photo of him every month in roughly the same place and position. We’ve all been inspired by Nicole at Making It Lovely, right?  She’s done this for both her kids and it’s a wonderful way to watch them grow.

Today, I found this product, which I think will make the project easier for me. It’s called Sticky Bellies.  It’s a pack of 12 stickers that you can stick on the front of your baby’s onesie or shirt each month. They’re adorable. They’re designed to look sewn on, for that handmade vibe we’re going for with these photos. They make it easy to tell how old baby is in each photo.

And, at just $15 for the pack, they are a great shower gift for any new mom.

I hope Sticky Bellies makes a million dollars on this product, because it’s such a genius idea.

Related posts:

1. The Genius of AquaNotes or Why I Think Best When I’m Wet
2. Loads of Artwork and Not Enough Wall: how to organize your kids artwork
3. How Penelope keeps herself sane when the kids are out of school

Isn’t it true? All the other blogs out there are doing these fantastic posts with great holiday shopping guides (here and here to name just two), or clever ways to wrap your Christmas gifts. Really cool stuff. And here I am, blogging about battery organization. The excitement is dizzying, I know.

Buuuuut, as we get ready for the holiday, we really need to get totally stocked up on batteries. The WORST thing is to get stuck on Christmas morning not being able to get your toys and gadgets up and running because you’re out of batteries. Buzz kill!

I’ve long had a place in my supply closet where my batteries lived, but I’m considering upgrading to this battery organizer from The Container Store.

Nifty, right? I said nifty, not sexy. It’s not sexy. You’re not getting this out and putting it on your dining room table when your mother-in-law comes to Christmas Dinner. But, it’s useful!

It gives you lots of space for all the different battery sizes you need to have in stock, and offers a handy place to test the battery life left in each one.

For me, having sections for each size battery helps me instantly recognize which ones I’m running low on and need to replish.

There’s also this cute, cheaper number from Organize.com. That’ll do, too.

So, whether or not you want a specific product for organizing your batteries, remember to stock up this week for the holidays. Don’t forget to buy some of those weird, little, flat, round lithium batteries, too. More and more things are requiring those. You’ll be your kids’ hero when they get that favorite toy and you can jump up and hand them just the batteries they need to get it up and running.

I realize batteries and their organization is mind-numbingly boring for most people. But I’m curious, and I bet other Penelopes are, too:  how do YOU keep your batteries organized? Where do they live in your home?

Related posts:

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I’d love to keep a diary. There’s so much that appeals to me about it. The daily regularity of it. The ability to use a beautiful notebook. Seeing pages and pages of neat handwriting. The potential for a system of color-coding my moods of the day.

Endless Penelope joy, right?

But I just can’t do it. Not because I couldn’t keep up with it, more because I can’t stand the thought of the vulnerability of it. All those honest thoughts, spread out for all the world to read should something happen to me. Because you gotta believe my family, my daughter at least, would read it after I was gone.  I know I would.

No, I can’t put myself out there like that. I’m too nutty in the head.

What I can do, and have done for 10 years now, is to keep a book journal. Every time I read a book, I write down the title and author’s name, the start and end dates of my reading, the source of the book recommendation (my sister, a review in the NY Times, etc.) and my star rating, 1-5. (Very, very few books get a 5 star rating.)

I then follow that info with a few sentences about what I thought of the book. I don’t get into a lot of plot detail, just whether I liked it or not and why. Since I read a lot of mysteries, I’ll add one line describing the victim in the book. Helps me recall it when I read it back later.

Finally, I’ll try to sneak in some small detail about what was going on in my life while I was reading it. This last little detail gives me my “diary” fix. Each entry takes me no more than 5 minutes, tops.

And you Penelopes will totally understand this: on the last page of the journal, I keep a tally of how many books I read each year. I love counting them up every Dec 31st and making that entry. The current journal I use, by the way, is one my daughter and I picked up at Target. I always use a spiral bound notebook because I hate to write on the left side of hard bound journals. Makes my writing all wonky and I get cranky.

The Book Journal serves two purposes for me:

1) People ask me for book recommendations all the time (which I love) and the journal helps me to be able to give them a line on books they might like. I couldn’t store all that data in my memory.

2) I can read back through my little sneaky notes and get a sense of what was going on for me at different times. That’s comforting and useful to me somehow.

And, someday, my kids might want to have these journals and maybe go back and read some of the books I read. I like that these “diaries” of mine would serve as a guide.

If you didn’t want to keep a handwritten Book Journal, you could use a website like Good Reads to keep track of what you’re reading. Lots of cool functionality there.

What about you? Do you keep a journal of any kind?

Related posts:

1. More summer sanity solutions: three ways to get kids reading over summer vacation
2. The Legacy Letter: Journaling for the next generation
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I’m a scarf girl.

Maybe it’s because I hate coats (we rarely need them in the SF Bay Area), maybe it’s because I’m a knitter, but either way, scarves are my favorite accessory.

I’d struggled, though, with a nice way to keep my scarves organized. Seemed like any way I did it they either got lost in my closet or felt so cramped that I couldn’t really see all my scarves. I’d forget about some of them entirely.

And then, one day, while idly perusing the aisles in my local Container Store, I found the perfect solution: the Classico Chrome Accessory Rack.

These suckers are cheap for how large and sturdy they are. At just $2.99, I decided to spring for two.

I came home and put them to work, hanging these chrome s-hooks on two hooks installed on my closet wall (though they could also easily go on the regular hanger rod). They’re a perfect fit and they are super easily accessible. Now I can get dressed, grab my Scarf o’ the Day and get myself on the road.

Three cheers to small things that give me a happy, little Penelope moment every single morning.

Have you found a solution to a (relatively) small organizing problem that brings you happiness each day? Share, share!

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I deal with a huge amount of email in my job. But one day, I realized that every morning, when I logged in, I was deleting upwards of 100 emails that I just didn’t want or need. These weren’t classic “spam” emails offering enlargement of various organs, my filter deals with those. These were emails that at some point I’d actually subscribed to legitimately, either in buying something or when I was interested in a specific topic.

An email from J. Crew that now will not land in my inbox

One by one, those subscriptions added up to a very full email inbox each day. But it was easier to delete them quickly than to take the time to unsubscribe to them.

At the urging of my husband, who kept hearing me grouse about this, I decided to start unsubscribing to 10 emails per day. By the end of 2 weeks, my daily inbox was cleaner, lighter and clutter free. And, as a side benefit, unsubscribing to my emails from J. Crew and The Gap meant that I was much less tempted by that new cardigan or those new Curvy Jeans. I was actually saving money and time. Color me a happy Penelope.

Your assignment:

So, not surprisingly, your assignment is to do just what I did: each morning, go through your inbox and take the time to scroll to the bottom of 10 of those emails and click on the “unsubscribe” link. Follow that and do what you need to do to make them stop sending you emails. It’ll take about 10 minutes per day. Do this every day until you’re not receiving these kinds of emails anymore. In no time, you’ll be feeling clearner, lighter and email-clutter free.

After you’ve done this, maintain it over time by paying attention as you make online purchases to the little check box most retailers append to the bottom of their purchase screens. Select the option that tells them you don’t want to be on their mailing lists. (Unless you do, of course!)

Just one more way to live a less cluttered digital life.

Related posts:

1. Assignment: organize the bookmarks in your browser
2. The biggest time suck of my day or, why email haunts me
3. Assignment: purse de-clutter, or do this now, you’ll be glad you did later

Seriously, I think my first crush was the Mr. Clean man on the Procter & Gamble logo when I was about 11. He was so big and brawny and…tidy. I thought he’d make the perfect husband. Granted, he was quickly replaced by Tom Cruise in “Top Gun”, but for a second there, Mr. Clean was my man.

He still is, really, especially with his Magic Eraser. You guys have one, right?

When you see the commercials, this white foamy pad seems too good to be true. But I’ve used it for more than a year now and it’s still my “go to” tool when there’s something – anything- in my home that nothing else will get clean. I use it for a scratch on my bathroom tile floor, nail polish on my (crappy, old, got-it-at-Target) dining room table (thanks, 15-year-old daughter) and for the of marks that appear mysteriously on the inside of my refrigerator. And, there are many more uses than I can possibly list.

Really, every time there’s some weird little thing marring the perfection of my (fill in the blank), I grab my Magic Eraser and it’s gone. And they last forever. I’ve used one sponge for 6 months. They just sort of re-puff after they dry and and are ready for the next use. Now, granted, I’m sure there are several things on which you should NOT use the Magic Eraser, so do proceed with care. But I’ve not had anything but success with it, yet.

In fact, I’ve been known to get into cleaning jags and Magic Erase my house for extended periods of times, roaming around just looking for things to use it on.

I realize I need a new hobby.

Let me say that the good folks from Mr. Clean are not paying me for this blog post. In fact, they don’t know I exist, nor, I’m sure, do they care. I, however, love this little wonder so much that I had to make super sure you all had one.

So, what’s your Wonder Tool? And let’s keep it clean, Penelopes.

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One question I get all the time is how I handle my kids artwork.

Confession: I wish I were more sentimental about my kids artwork, I really do. They work so hard on it and, when they’re little, they’re so cute when they stick out their tongues as they concentrate on that perfect dinosaur drawing.

But, when they’re in that “artwork phase”, and that phase lasts for years, there’s just so darn much of it that piles up. The Penelope in me wouldn’t let me keep all of it, or, even, much of it, but I always ALWAYS felt guilty about throwing anything they made away.

Here are a few tips to keep both the Mommy and Penelope sides of you happy:

Create an Art “Gallery”:

With these cute artwork hangers from The Land of Nod, you can create a rotating “gallery” of your little Monet’s drawings. If you put it low enough on the wall of their rooms, the little ones can even learn to change out the artwork themselves. The art gets its time in the “The Gallery” and then gets recycled as new art takes its place. No guilt, you’ve done your part for the art.

Artwork Banner from The Land of Nod

An easy DIY of this item would be just to hang some yarn and use either cute clips available at Michael’s or Target or just painted and decorated clothespins. Would take just a bit more work, but accomplish the same thing.

You could also deem your refrigerator “The Gallery” and treat the whole family to the Artwork of the Moment.

Create a “Best Of” Album or File:

For those true masterpieces, create either a “Best Of” photo album or an expandable file, with pockets labeled for each of the kids. Or, each child could get an expandable file of her own, with each pocket labeled for a year of her life.

This way, those truly special items can be saved for posterity. Just make sure to “containerize” this (we’ve all read Organizing from the Inside Out and know about containerizing, right?) and not let the “Best Of” items grow larger than the space allotted.

Scan the Art and Have A Book Created for You:

Another tip comes from a Penelope named Michelle, who reminds us that you can scan the artwork and save it on your computer. When you’re ready, have it all made into a photo album by a website like Snapfish.com.

Create a Book of Your Child's Artwork

With any of these options, you’ll give your kids the attention their creativity deserves, and do it both stylishly and without a lot of stuff piling up. Perfect.

I’m sure the Penelope community has many more tips for how to control our kids artwork. What works best for you?

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Today, a guest post from a super clever Penelope, Jennifer. I love her ideas for expanding the use of office supplies into the kitchen.

Two of the things I can’t live without in my kitchen originally came from the office supply store: a Sharpie and binder clips.

I keep the Sharpie in my silverware drawer (not in a random kitchen junk drawer!) so I can easily pull it out and write the date on jars that I open. Spaghetti sauce, that interesting but slightly odd salsa we tried, half-used cream cheese now stranded without a bagel in the house–the sort of thing which can sometimes sit there for a while. Having the date on there just makes it easier for me to see at a glance if a jar might still be viable or needs to be cleared out.

I use binder clips instead of those silly, giant clips to keep bags closed. I used to use clothespins, but I hate when they flip apart and I have to maneuver them back together. Nope, binder clips. They don’t take up much space either inside a cereal box or in their container on my windowsill–plus they’re super strong, never fall apart and they’re inexpensive.

Thanks, Jennifer. I love these ideas. In fact, my chip clips have been mysteriously disappearing. Now I’m just going to grab a binder clip and use that, instead of making a trip to Target for replacements.

What about you? What clever things are you using in places or in ways they weren’t originally intended? Unique and useful ideas could very well end up as guest posts here on Penelope, so let us hear from you!

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I went into a McDonald’s the other day (for the sole purpose of going to the bathroom on a road trip) and was annoyed to find that there was no place whatsoever to put my purse while I was in the stall. What do they think we’re going to do with our bags? Put them on the floor? Of a McDonald’s restroom? One shudders.

I ended up managing to do what I needed to do with my bag never touching that floor, but I was so irritated when I left that I forewent a cheeseburger. That’s me taking an intense stand because I love me some McDonald’s cheeseburger. I railed on to my husband for 5 minutes about this afterwards and today, he brought home this handy little item for me:

Over The Door Hooks from The Container Store

So smart! It’s the Over the Door Hook from the Container Store. They come in packs of two so I was able to slip one into my purse and give one to a Penelope friend. Somehow I feel empowered knowing I’m no longer beholden to the designers of bathrooms in restaurants and movie theaters.

This made me remember that my sister-in-law carries The Handbag Hook with her so that she doesn’t have to put her purse on the floor when she’s in a restaurant. Clever.

The Handbag Hook from the Container Store

I’m not usually germ-phobic, but I do care about where I put my purse.

And I’m also weird about shoes. I obsess about what I’ve stepped in while I’m out and about and don’t want to track that into my house. Ick. I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

Tell me you feel the same way.

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1. Assignment: purse de-clutter, or do this now, you’ll be glad you did later
2. Assignment: purse de-clutter, or do this now, you’ll be glad you did later
3. A Tool for the Penelope on the Go: Cascading File Tote

I happened upon the Post-It Flag Pen/Highlighters during one of my “shopping for the kids’ school supplies” trips to Office Depot.  (Any excuse to fawn over office supplies, right?)

I love these little guys! As the name so aptly suggests, they are a pen, that’s also a highlighter that also includes Post-It flags on the cap.

And the cheerful, slightly 80’s design makes me giggle.

Post-It Flag Pen/Highlighters

My favorite uses for these All-in-One Wonders:

1) My day job is in publishing, so when we’re in “proofing mode” these pens are life-savers. Being able to quickly jot a note, highlight a line of text and flag that page for our editor is such an efficient, time-saving way to work.

2) For Penelope Loves Lists, I’m often reading books that I want to review later for the blog. I can make sure not to miss any unmissable nuggets with this tool.

No question that we ALL can find uses for this kind of pen, right?

Three cheers for the 3M company! They’ve brought us so many useful things – Post-Its, Scotch Tape, I could go on. Don’t you just bet 90% of their workforce is full-fledged Penelope?

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