Oh no! The countdown continues! 26


Let the chaos be cleared!

Andee thinks she is leaving for a major excursion across China in mere days but this is the current state of the blog kitchen! Oh no! Please give Andee and Taylor some hints on how to clean this room and clean it fast. All comments on this blog will be entered into a drawing for some special prizes.

Don’t let the blog team go without making their space gorgeous! The rest of the MMS team is not wanting to clean up their projects so let’s encourage these two to clean up! I’ll post a photo of the blog kitchen on departure day. If it isn’t clean you can give them the Razzies!

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Oh no! The countdown continues!, 5.0 out of 5 based on 2 ratings

About Tina

I started thesage.com in 1996 with the help of my husband. Now I get to help people make all kinds of soaps and bath and body products. I think my favorite things to make are lip balms and lotions/creams. Of course I get most of the soap technical support questions because that is my strong knowledge area. Glad this blog is here!

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26 thoughts on “Oh no! The countdown continues!

  • Denny

    I get inspiration from the FlyLady website when I need to get moving to get things cleaned up. I set a timer for 15 minutes and get moving! The timer means that I must focus on this task until the timer goes off. No distractions! Start with the big things. You’ll see progress right away! If it’s not done in 15 minutes, take a little break, set the timer again, and go for another 15 minutes. As you’re getting the last little bottles put away, start running water to get hot enough to wipe up oil and glycerin spills. It really won’t take that long with focus. When it’s all sparkly, reward yourself with a treat. Mine would be chocolate something!

    Another option is to get a few big boxes, put all the stuff from the blog kitchen in there, tape it shut, put my address on it, and ship it here. I’d love to have the stuff to make that mess. Well, for a few days . . .

    Good luck and have fun!

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  • Connie Henrie

    Nice to hear from you Tina. That looks the the work area of right brained peopled. I suggest you get a left brained person to help them. The problem will be that after the organization they won’t be able to find anything, right now they probably know where everything is.

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  • Joyce Speer

    Throw a beautiful paisley sheet over it all, turn off the lights and walk away quickly-shutting the door behind you πŸ˜‰

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  • Lynda

    Tina, I suggest they put on some happy loud music, grab their favorite beverages and start stacking and organizing. They could also whistle (whistle while you work…) which might help the cleanup go faster!!

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  • Cecelia

    Hi Tina
    I would offer Andee and Taylor a prize (maybe lunch out at their favorite restaurant) by giving them the ‘prize’ if the blog kitchen is cleaned up within a given amount of time (2 hours for instance). Divide the mess in half and clear this chaos girls! Lunch follows at noon! Wish I was there to be a little bit of help. Good luck!

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  • Judy

    I have a very simple solution to tidy up your space – send all of that stuff to me!

    Or hide Andee’s passport underneath one of those stacks of white buckets and have her clean as she goes in order to find it!

    Seriously, if you come up with an organizational scheme – oils and butters in one place, fragrances in another, emulsifiers in a third, colorants in a fourth, etc. this should come together pretty quickly. The main challenge will be to clear off that counter workspace – I’d love to have a dedicated surface like that.

    Safe travels to Andee!

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  • Christine

    Hey girls, I’m sure there are shelves for all those buckets and containers. Put stuff back to where it came from and clear those counters. If there are beakers and buckets you’ve been working with and mixing stuff in, throw them in the dishwasher and push the ON button. Don’t forget to wipe those counters clean and sweep and mop the floors! If you get right on it, it should take you no more than 15 minutes to have the place spic and span!

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  • caren

    You could always take the smaller containers that have product in it and send it out with orders if there is no room in the cupboards. Or do what I so when I have mostly used stuff, make a soap or lotion with the leftovers, I call them suprise soaps or lotions and use them for myself.

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  • Becky Sands

    Ask them if they would like to be seen on an episode of The Hoarders!

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  • Lori Hartshorn

    I usually work on one corner and clean that up first. That gives me the space to organize and put away the rest of the items I have to clean. Or, in worst case scenarios, I push (put) everything that is out into as small of a pile as possible, which clears most of the room, and then start putting things away one at a time. It makes the mess appear much smaller and is motivating because so much of the room is clear and clean before I put a single thing away. It is just having it scattered around the entire room that makes it seem so daunting.

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  • Nina

    When my house was in total chaos, I did the baby steps on flylady.com. You’re supposed to do them in a month, but I did them in about three days…our house went from completely messy and overwhelming to showing-ready in a week! Now to sell it, lol…

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  • Deb

    Hmmm…kinda depends on if it has to really be clean or just look clean. LOL Could do like some people I know do (and no I’m not one of them…if I can’t “clean” it sits out till I can LOL), and just shove it into the cupboards, so it’s out of sight, out of mind….or rush around, putting things away in “their” spots. If not everything has a spot, then that is more of a problem, but I have a solution for that too…just cart it off to the shipping department, and send it to me! *giggle* Course it would have to go to our new address, cause we are in the process of moving to a new farm out of state. :-))

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  • Anastasia

    Make lots of stuff to use up the ingredients!!! πŸ™‚

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  • Ana B

    This looks familiar!! My kitchen looks like this every project I do!! The only way to clean it up is to finish the project, listen to some tunes, and keep the caffeine level high! LOL! Good luck!!

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  • Dani

    Wow and I though my house was bad, hats off to you girls. My house did get cleaned today, but Eric had to nag my girls all morning to get it done. Not sure if you want to nag them though.

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  • Cindy

    Actually, that doesn’t really look bad at all (can you tell I’ve cleaned up worse)? Here’s the fastest and easiest way…have me come in and clean it all up an organize it for you…yeah, I know and then what would Andee learn from that? However, those kinds of tasks are fun to me…I love organizing and cleaning up things. As far as I can see, like things should be put with like things, if everything is going to be used again, put them where they can be accessed again, but out of the way until that happens. Oh Andee is going to have such a great time. I’m sure she will be missed, but her time will fly by for her. Good luck! Cindy

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  • Becka

    I suggest loud music and teamwork! Always easier to get through a big mess when you’re having fun with some friends! πŸ™‚

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  • Leilani

    LOL, you think that’s messy? ;-). No I agree, loud music, lots of coffee and just get down to it!

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  • Kinky Witch

    I’d definitely have to say upbeat music! That always gets me going when I need to clean and organize. Then pick a small area to start. No sense in feeling overwhelmed from the get-go, right?

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  • Laura D

    Offer yourself a prize (go home early, favorite restaurant, etc.) and then get to it! I like to do things by category. I’d go around and toss all the trash, if there is any, then gather all the FO & EOs and put them in their spot, then all the colorants, etc. etc. If they don’t have spots… um… that’ll be your next project!

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  • Emily J Martin

    Wow that is A LOT of product πŸ™‚ INSPIRE, CREATE, & SAMPLE baby SAMPLE! All joking aside, I would look for some big boxes/storage bins and sort & box all non perishables for storage, OR send out econo sized samples. I think some great music is the motivator here as mentioned above. It is always a job to dig out of the accumulation that sneeks up on all of us-GOOD LUCK GALS!

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  • Tammy

    I just finished cleaning and organizing (reorganizing) my work room. I took tubs and placed similar items in them, labeled the tub and placed it on the shelf. I have all my soap making oils on the bottom shelf near my work table and all the packaging together ect. I have tuns for various sized jars and bottles, drawers for shrink wraps, ext. I even alphabetized my essential oils and broke them into 6 drawers (in a dark cabinet of course). You get the drift.
    I feel so much better now that things are organized, even though I knew where everything was in the mess! My suggestion to getting ‘er done? Just decide to do it. Put on a book to listen to, or some music, whichever floats your boat, and go for it. Procrastination will get nothing accomplished except time being wasted. It took me almost a whole day to get my space done, but it is done and then I rewarded myself, of course! Lol. So figure out what reward you enjoy the best (dessert, good meal, wine, a new outfit ect) and plan for that, if that’s what it takes you.

    Of course, it may work better if it is a punishment instead of a reward. OR better yet, a punishment and a reward! Say they do NOT get it done before they leave, then they have to SERVE the rest of the staff for a whole day…..while dressed in evening gowns and high heels, including a luncheon that they have to make or purchase….. You all could get really crazy. The more crazy, the more motivation they will have to do it! And if they DO clean it, then they get a special treat of some kind. Be creative! Have fun with it!

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  • Carolyn in Salt Lake City

    Seriously? My whole house looks like that! I read your post and tried to think of a great hint, and came up with….nothing. I guess that’s why my whole house looks like that!! I guess the only thing that helps me is to invite company in, and then I’m forced to do SOMETHING with all the stuff. But then I can never find it for weeks until I stumble upon it.

    I can see I’d better get organized if I want to be a serious soapmaker!

    Blessings to all of you, and have a safe and wonderful time in China!

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  • Ana B

    I got some seriously cool goodies in the mail today!!! Fragrances and essential oils and botanicals and … oh my! Just loads of good stuff!! Thanks MMS!!! I am in heaven!!

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  • Caren

    WOW, is what I have to say, WOW again!!! All the product that was sent, now I have to get my lab coat on and start inventing new stuff to make with all the product that I now have, some of it, I have been wanting to try, yipeeeeeee!!!

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