A label maker will change your life!

I haven't been doing much decorating this week.

First of all, my other half is on a business trip in China and Japan, so that doesn't leave a lot of time for mommy fun. Boo to that.

And secondly, I don't know about you, but I find it hard to take on new decorating projects on top of chaos. The Christmas season always seems to leave my home in a state of disarray. Christmas activities trump regular household duties, so everything falls behind. The laundry piles up, and the things that do get washed end up being stuffed into drawers and the linen closet haphazardly. That's fine for a few days, but after a few weeks of it, it all becomes an insane mess.

Our playroom storage, pre-Christmas.

And then there's the toys. Oh the toys. With three kids, and two of them still babies (twins..ahhhhh!), we were already at capacity for toy storage. But Santa always seems to have faith that there's room somewhere in the house for more.  And usually, he's right.  It just takes a lot of imagination and organizing patience!

So the past week has really been one of re-organization. And by that, what I really mean is I've spent a lot of time with my label maker! I remember laughing at Kate Gosselin on an episode of Jon & Kate Plus Eight (side note: I watched that show faithfully as it always makes my life feel so much more sane, haha). Anyway, she had hired a professional organizer who introduced her to 'the label maker'. When Kate started labeling, it was as if the heavens opened up, and the angels trumpeted. And I thought, I could really use one of those!

So last year I purchased this lovely, shiny label maker, and it changed my life! Truly. I know you are laughing at me right now, but seriously, people, once you start labeling things you won't be able to stop! It's an obsession. Last year, when I was really sleep deprived when the twins were tiny infants, I even thought about labeling them so that I could tell them apart in the middle of the night. Don't worry, I didn't ;).

Here's a few of my latest labeling projects:

American Girl Chaos

Let's see how long this neat room lasts!

Each doll now has her own bucket...and label!

The Groovy Girls have been rounded up!

The linen closet got a makeover too!

So if I have one solid piece of January advice, it's this: Get yourselves a label maker!

Trust me on this. With a label maker, all will be good in the world again.  ; )