Rubbermaid - Adventures in Organization

Festive Holiday Containers

Halloween has come and gone. So, I bet some of you are already thinking about the upcoming holidays - what to give, what parties to throw or attend and what tasty treats to bake for your loved ones.

I'm not much in the kitchen but I AM quite the planner. I've already ripped out my halloween costume "to buy" list from my planner and inserted a new list: Treats for the Neighbors. This year I plan on baking and packaging tasty (we'll see) goodies for my neighborhood.

You see, growing up my mom (who is MUCH more in the kitchen) did a fantastic job of baking tasty treats, wrapping them in festive paper and handing them out at the door when neighbors came to call. My childhood neighborhood was always very involved in exchanging goodies. By the end of the year we always had a different dessert from just about every neighbor within 3 blocks. Our counter was overflowing and "dangerous to your waistline" as my dad would put it.

And what did we give our neighbors? Peanut Brittle. Every year. It's a showstopper and has come to be expected of my mom.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 cup peanuts
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS

Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peanuts. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.

Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter or margarine and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces.

Since mom and I live in different cities, I figured it would be okay to use her recipe to spread joy in my own neighborhood. Only I'm adding a new twist: Easy Find Lids Containers. When wrapped in pretty ribbons and bows, they make excellent "packaging" for the holidays (also check out the color of the lid). They are also reuseable - for when my neighbors are finished DEVOURING my tasty gift.

I'll use the 2 cup container for my peanut brittle. It seems ot be just the right size for the goodies and for reuse after the goodies disappear. Extra small containers are really good for small mints, or maybe hot chocolate mix! Use larger containers for cookies and brownies. See another cookie recipe.

What this blog has taught me about organization

It's been about 9 months since the Rubbermaid Adventures in Organization blog launched. When we started we had a fuzzy idea around blogging about working at Rubbermaid, how products get developed, how we use our own products to get organized at home and in the office and other subjects related to organization. Never did I expect I'd show you videos and photos of my super messy garage and the project I undertook to get the chaos in control.  My wife never expected to see her messy desk drawer published online next to my neat desk drawer (I still don't think she forgives me :).

I have to admit this blog has been great motivation to get organized around my home. I've made changes in my life which have made a positive impact on my families quality of life. No longer are my water bottles falling out of the cabinet and I can always find a lid for my food storage containers. Oh... I can't forget about my linen closet.

Someone recently asked me, "What's the single most important thing you've learned so far"? Without a doubt it's understanding to get organized you need to carefully think about how you live, how you use the space that needs organizing, and what steps to take to allow the space to stay organized.

For instance, when I organized my garage I made a conscious decision NOT to hang my children's bikes on the wall. Why you ask? Because I knew my children would never hang their bikes up. They were too heavy and bulking for them. So I had to organize my garage to accommodate for that.

When I organized my kitchen cabinets I took a step back and tried to identify the source of the problem and then determine if there was a solution to solve the problem.  In my case I was keeping my frequently used food containers in a cabinet that was not very accessible and very deep (the lids would always get lost). The solution... I switched cabinets with my pots and pan and everything works perfect (+ the Easy Find Lid food storage containers helped tremendously).

Now I want to be clear.  Carefully thinking about your life, space and how you use your space is very important but IT'S NOT THE ONLY thing you need to take into consideration when getting organized.  This I've learned through people who have commented on my posts as well as a great group of professional organizers who I've come to count on for advise and assistance. Another great thing I've learned is organization is not a one-time event. You need to stay on top of clutter so you can maintain the organized space. One of the professional organizers I know, Eva Abreu, sends out Twitter reminders every Friday to take 5 minutes and clear out some clutter and get organized. You'd be amazed at what you can get accomplished in 5 minutes. I even made my kids take 5 minutes and clean out the junk in their book bags last Friday.

So the short of this post is.... I've learned a ton, I've had fun, I'm meeting great people, my life is getting more organized, and I don't have the foggiest idea where this blog is going to take me but I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Thanks to all who have participated and to all of you who will participate in the future. Happy Organizing!