A Spoonful of Sugar...

"A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down..." and, pretty paper motivates me to be more organized! I wish I could say that I was one of those wives and moms who keeps her house running like clockwork, but I'm really more of a juggler. One of my biggest headaches has always been meal-planning. Isn't one of the worst questions ever, "What's for dinner tonight, Mom?"??? Uggghh... I wish I knew. Well, I've learned the hard way that spending some intentional time on the weekend to plan the week ahead's meals is much less of a pain, than the stress of wondering each day what I will put on the table for my family that night, or worse yet, making daily trips to the grocery store to get all the ingredients I need once I finally come up with something.

Today, I want to share with you one of my secrets for making these tasks more enjoyable... PAPER WORKS printables from my favorite blog, Jones Design Company. If you've followed me for very long, chances are you've heard me mention more than once all the inspiration I draw from Emily and her beautiful blog. Paper Works is her monthly collection of stylish original designs to help keep you organized. You can subscribe for a small fee to a digital (print on your own) version or for a little more she now offers a pre-printed choice that she will mail to you. April's package is available now, and here's a peak at it:

Click here to go to Jones Design Company and see more details on all that's included!

I loved March's collection, with it's pretty script font, buntings, and green ombre theme. She always includes an original art print each month, and since I have several frames floating around that I like to change with the seasons, I especially look forward to her timely designs.

I used this month's print to update the frame on our mantle from a bit of new year's inspiration to a touch of green for St. Patricks's Day. The birch trees were perfect!

A couple of the items I use to help with my meal planning are the weekly menu and the grocery list with categories. I post them both on our refrigerator.

This seriously cuts down on the number of times Shine asks me what's for dinner and gives him peace of mind that I have a plan and he won't starve to death. Shimmer has caught on to adding things to the grocery list as we run out, and I start it as I add meals to the weekly menu. Making only one trip to the market makes me one happy mama!

I leave a more general shopping list on our island to keep track of things that need to be bought somewhere other than the grocery store (my Target wish list). And, to help with future meal-planning, I keep a monthly dinner menu in the top drawer of our island (where after each week I write down what we had actually had for dinner). This is a great reference on those weeks when I'm at a loss for ideas, and a good reminder of when leftovers are a possibility.

The last printable I've been using more lately is the weekly calendar. Since Love helped me complete a custom pinboard project for my desk earlier this year, I now have a place to hang this pretty reminder of all the places I need to be. As a bonus, the bottom to-do list helps me set a few goals for the week and be intentional and accountable for them.

The monthly subscription includes so many more cute things, like chore charts; note cards; and, even wallpapers for your electronics. Actually I printed one of those as a 5x7 and slipped it into a frame on my desk for St. Patrick's Day. Time now to open up my downloads for April!

Thank you, Emily for all the beauty you bring to my corner of the world...