Here is a very quick and super simple tip for controlling the chaos in your closet. Set up a donation station! A donation station is really just a bin labeled “Donate” that you store on your closet floor.
How does it work? Simple: the next time you put something on and get that “What was I thinking when I bought this?” look on your face, you simply take it back off, like you always do, and drop it in the donation bin instead of hanging it back up.
Now that your donation station is in place, take a good look at your closet. Every time you get dressed in the morning, try on something you haven’t touched in the last year or three and see if you still like it. If the sleeves aren’t quite right or it is one size to small or big… let it go instead of hanging it back up!
Our staffer Alex Porch has begun his journey to Haiti and his backpack is a lot heavier thanks to you! Mabel’s Labels donated $34 worth of literacy supplies for every $34 “Write On!” Stationery Kit sold between April 20- April 27, 2010. Stay tuned for the next installment of The Alex Porch Project!
I posted a blog recently about the value of saying “No” to kids. The gist was:
1) Your kids will be fine if they don’t get what they want all the time.
2) If you’re going to say “No” then be sure to follow through – unless you like to lead the double life of parent and white noise machine.
I just discovered another good time to say “No”– when it comes to buying them nice things. Ya know why? Because they don’t care.
Months ago, in spite of my no pet policy, my cheeky friend promised the kids a fish. She arrived at the house with a tank and all the fishy trimings. We negotiated that a fish could join us only after we moved into the new house in March.
March arrived and we moved into the new house. It is just lovely – big enough to suit our family, sitting on a quiet court and backing onto fields and ravines. The kids’ days are full of road hockey, catching tadpoles, chasing deer and trampolining. Soon summer will be here and they’ll be passing their days basking in the pool, enjoying all the water fun summer has to offer.
On moving day, the kiddos had all been shipped off to various locations. When they arrived home to their beautiful new house that evening, they screamed in unison:
“Did we get the fish??”
Daddy-o and I looked at each other, rolled our eyes and thought: we just bought a new house, and all they care about is that stupid fish!
And that is not the end of it. I had decided (OK, my bank account decided) that we would not be buying new furniture for the house. I made one little exception. With the three girls sharing a room, I thought it would be nice to ditch the garage sale beds they had been using, and replace them with three new little beds with fresh and fun bedding. They excitedly picked out the beds that were being used by the athletes in Olympic village.
So you can imagine my frustration when I go into their room at night and this is what I find:
So if you are the kind of mama who worries about your kids doing without stuff, I think you can stop. Just go buy them a fish and let them to sleep on the floor. Clearly, that is all they need.
Mabel’s Labels Date Mates are featured in the May edition of In Style Magazine. Our snazzy new labels are featured as a “smart extra” for inside your fridge. Pick up a copy of In Style the next time you’re at the grocery store check-out; it’s the issue with Scarlett Johansson on the cover (Mabel keeps such stylish company!).
Mabel’s Labels participated in the Community Clean Up today to celebrate Earth Day 2010. Everyone in the office helped out by putting on gloves, grabbing a garbage bag and breaking into teams. Each team headed off in a different direction to clean up litter and made our local community a little brighter today!
Getting organized for the Big Clean
Heather, Seth, Alex & Janet
Matt, Kim, Martha & Samantha
Diane, Dori & Dolores
Dolores, Alex, Janet, Seth & Heather are on the look out for litter!
"Wow, there is a lot of garbage down there." "Alex, go get the tire!"
Our brand new Mabel HQ bike rack!
Hurray for Earth Day from everyone at Mabel's Labels!
The fabulous Community Relations Committee! Deanna, Kim, Caitlin, Sue, Dori, Julie & Mary-Ellen
Thank you to our wonderful staff for helping beautify our streets and to the Community Relations Committee for putting together another great event.
The Mabelhood is the sum of all blogs, combining posts from Mabel Labels' bloggers Julie Cole, Caitlin Madden and a cast of guest bloggers. The Mabelhood documents the daily dramas of a group of people raising families and a label making business, plus everything else in-between.
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