I’m FINALLY getting through these questions.  Thank you all SO MUCH for asking them!  As I said, I wish I had more time to dedicate to your concerns.  I appreciate each of you, and I try to foster a connection where you feel heard.  So, again, thank you all so much for the questions, now let’s dive in!  I will answer the first 5 questions in this post.  And then there will be follow up posts until I’ve completed all 20 (+1 bonus).

Question 1:  Do you have a link or tutorial for how you do your nails?

I cannot afford to get my nails done professionally, neither from a money nor a time standpoint.  My natural nails are thin and my nail plate has very little surface area which doesn’t help my short, stubby fingers.  So, I opt to apply my own false nails.  I used to use press ons, but for the past 8-ish months I’ve applied acrylic nails using gel glue and then finished them with a gel polish.  I, personally, enjoy doing them myself.  It gives my brain a breather, kind of like some me-time.  Now, here’s how I apply them.

I start by lightly buffing my nail plate.  Note:  I don’t do full nail prep like you should.  I just don’t have time.  So rarely do I push my cuticle back, apply cuticle oil, etc.  Actually, for some reason, I’ve found the nails don’t stay on as well when I do the full prep.  I’m not sure if it’s just coincidence or what.

After I buff my nails, then I apply a coat of this gel glue https://amzn.to/3FpMxfw to both my nail plate and the back of the nail https://amzn.to/3ThybDt.  After that, I press the nail firmly onto my nail plate under my mini lamp https://amzn.to/3ZYvsRI for about 15-20 seconds.  Note:  I HAVE to use the mini lamp for application because I can’t see if I’m applying the nail on straight under the full lamp.

Once I’ve applied all of the nails, I stick my hands under the full lamp https://amzn.to/42eVZMk for 1 minute to ensure the glue has cured completely. 

After that, I paint them whatever color I choose, cure them, apply a top coat and cure them for a final time.

That’s it! I store all of my supplies in this carrying case: https://amzn.to/3ZKX9Oj

You can find all of my nail supplies here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/organizedchaos4?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_aipsforganizedchaos4_J906TMQY6WVAGMS0N6AZ

Question 2:  Where is the best place to go to find ALL of your content?  Your website?

I have a lot of ideas, probably too many.  I like utilizing different social media outlets because I’m able to sort my content into categories and then funnel it through different platforms making it easier to find what you’re looking for. 

So, in short, my Facebook https://www.facebook.com/organizedchaos4bus is more personable.  I feel like I have a more personal connection with my followers on here.  We can connect more.  My IG https://www.instagram.com/organizedchaos4bus/ has more grocery and food content with a mix of DIY projects, etc.  My TikTok https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdMCcSND typically contains videos I also post on my Facebook.  My YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@OrganizedChaos4 is great for finding playlists and eventually will house longer, more daily life videos.  My Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/organizedchaos4bus/ is a great look into my DIY/Martha Stewart brain.  My Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/organizedchaos4 has custom PDFs I’ve created.  My website has my free PDFs, as well as article versions of the videos I create. 

To sum up if you want a double dose of Audrey—follow me, everywhere!

Question 3:  One area where I have no organization is with cards, notes, etc. that my kids make for me or that I’m given by others (like a birthday card from Grandma).  What do you do with paper that you want to save for yourself?  And if your kids make you a card, do you put it with their work that you keep, or is it stored somewhere else?

Before I get into this, let me remind you:  1.  Getting rid of an item DOES NOT remove the memories.  2.  Before you begin, remove the emotional attachment.  Saving their stuff won’t keep them little. 

Our kids are our life.  But, as you all know, they make a lot of stuff!  You can’t be responsible for keeping everything.  After my husband and I go through our children’s paperwork from school each week, we decide if we are saving any of it.  Sometimes I’ll save it in my “ongoing storage” (see my article on the Bag Method for more info: https://organizedchaos4bus.com/2023/02/08/the-bag-method/ ), if it’s an assignment or test that they struggled with and we need to work on at home.  If it’s attached to a memory, I’ll save it.  For instance, one year when my daughter was in 2^nd grade she spelled “avedl” on a spelling pre-test when the correct word was “every”.  Now, this was hilarious to my husband and I because she’s incredibly bright.  So, the fact that she had a brain fart that big was gut busting to us.  That pre-test was saved and even now, we like to tease her about it, or her to us.  Another example, my son has struggled with learning.  He has some speech issues that really slowed his development.  So, once in Kindergarten he wrote the alphabet with really neat handwriting and I saved it because it was a huge milestone for him.  What you keep will be completely decided by you… what is most special??  Now, when my children complete projects I typically just take a picture and toss the project.  It sounds harsh, but it’s not.  We still have the memories and even the visual, just not the project itself.  Now, everything I keep gets stored by child and by year in these file boxes. https://amzn.to/406YuP7  My daughter is 10 so we are on our 11^th folder.  If they made me a bracelet or something small (but not paper), I keep it.  I have a large tote where I store their non-flat items.

You can find more of my storage room organization here: https://amzn.to/3FoIMHa

Question 4:  What’s your garage organization like?

I will need to revisit this later this year.  My husband recently had a shed built and while we are saving up for the proper doors for it, we have a lot of extra stuff sitting in our garage.  I will say, though, 95% of the items in our garage are my husband’s (tools, equipment, etc.).  I don’t store anything of mine in the garage.

Question 5:  Will you show us your basement storage room and gift wrap area?

Again, I will revisit this—probably next month—to give you a better look.  I need to update my labels, so once I complete that project I will post updated pics.  I have accepted the fact that my storage room will never looks aesthetically pleasing.  I wrestled with this forever.  But, I’m not going to have uniform totes and empty floors.  It’s just not practical.

I actually have quite a large storage room, I’m very grateful for that.  That was done by design, when my husband was finishing our basement I asked him to make it as large as he could without taking up too much of the main living area. 

As far as what I store in here—

Decorations:  You know I LOVE decorating for holidays, especially Christmas.  All of my decorations are stored down in the storage room.

Containers:  Typically, when you buy containers, they come in a set.  I don’t always need them all right away, so I keep them down here.  In my house, we call it “shopping” when we come down to get a container for something.  My daughter, Isabella, loves it.  Sometimes a friend at school will express envy with an organizational system she is using so she’ll say “when I go home, I’ll go shopping and bring you one”.  Just today, a friend wished she had a container in her desk for her markers like Isabella does, so Isabella went “shopping” and brought her one.  What good is having stuff if you can’t share it!?

Sports:  During the off-season, we bring sports supplies down here.  That may be golf, or soccer, or basketball, or baseball.  All of it gets stored in the storage room.

Gift Wrapping:  I love party planning.  Everything about it gets me excited.  So I needed an area with balloons, streamers, signs, helium, electric pumps, archways, gift bags, tissue paper and everything in between.  I store it all on this metal shelf.  Truth be told, I could probably use a bigger station.  But it works.  The gifts bags you see are recycled ones.  I always save the gift bags from my kids’ parties, etc.

Again, my storage room supplies are here: https://amzn.to/3FoIMHa

Okay, there are our first 5 questions answered!  I LOVED taking the extra time to address these.  Hopefully they’ve helped answer some questions you’ve had.  I plan to tackle the next five before the weekend. Thank you all so much for your support, I SO appreciate you!

-Aud