Cindy
My friend gave me some holly from her bushes, and I have that in a vase on the table. Looks nice.

Cindy,
Any clippings from evergreen trees are nice. You can mix in a few pine cones, red berries, feathers, decorative balls, whatever you have on hand. You can use clear vases or larger clear glass candle holders filled with fresh fruit (apples, oranges, pears).

DD set up the 2 bookcases last night. I still need to get them anchored to the wall, though. I called my friend's husband and left a message asking if he could do that for me. Once they are anchored, DD can put her things on the shelves.

Bless, I just sent you a PM with a link to the furniture latches I use.

Thanks, Kimberly. The bookcases came with the anchoring hardware. I just need someone who knows what he is doing to install them for me.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll try the holly. I am going to put my battery candles in my lantens and surround the holly. Simple andmaybe put a snowmam in the bunch.

Sent Am Vets an email since the number didn't work. I have a bunch to donate. Then I bagged up chex mix to fix. That cleared the shelves pretty good. It's little stuff but it will add up to the bigger picture.

The meeting today was sooooo boring!!!!! We wanted to scream. The only blessing was we had a great lunch. We got to eat like normal people do and had time to enjoy it and visit.

Now I need to get ready for tomorrow. Seems DD isn't going to go into labor tonight. Oh well...some day soon.

Cindy

Cindy
I cannot believe how long the holly branches are lasting in the vase! I got them the beginning of Dec., and have had them around ever since. I left up my crystal like decorations, trees, wreath, and some silver ornaments in a large glass candle holder. Looks really nice without being christmasy. Also left the silver deer up on a shelf with some greenery around them. They are maybe 13" tall and 10" wide. One looks like she is eating and of course the male deer is watching out for her while she eats! They are so simple but nice.

Oh, wow, a grandma again. Pray all goes well for DD.

Sorry but I am confused a bit by all the discussions/plans to follow that come up when I search Room of the Month? Is Branches and ROTM done as two separate things, and they are part of January productivity and I pick a room but follow the Branches list for upkeep of other areas? I am getting a bit overwhelmed but I think that may just be because I am playing catch up with the guidelines...any suggestions or clarification would be great!

sweetpea, happy to see you. No need to feel overwhelmed. We use this site and GONer friends to stay motivated. Some of us have projects that are on going for example, our garage issues seem endless. Ours has seasonal storage added to its other multi functions.

Branches motivates me to deep clean a specific room on rotation. The rest of the place only gets maintenance. 'Productivity' is an accountable feature. Use whatever tools work for you. We still do a 9 PM ETE, everyone pitches in for under 5 minutes to get stuff put away and to the door if needed tomorrow.

Sweetpea, sorry for the confusion. The ROTM is really for decluttering when you first begin. The Branches are for when you are decluttered and just keeping up with the house, a room a week (kind of like spring/winter cleaning).

First DECLUTTER, that makes the Branches work easier, and I can understand your confusion. Let the branches go until you are all decluttered.

I have been working on my basement about two years! Doing a little each month. Things are much much better. Had tons of mom's stuff stored down there, and as the years go by I am finding I don't need all my "stuff", omce i cleared out most of mom's things,so hopefully will finally finish the ROTM. There is no time limit on the ROTM....it can continue (me as an example ) until you complete it.

The branches are useful for keeping the clutter under control, deep clean blinds, under beds, closets, etc.

Hope this clears things up for you and other NEWBIES who are returning.