Home Organization, Hope Wissel, Travel Tips

TOP 10 MUST HAVE to Be Spring Ready

Springtime is here – well maybe finally!  I know it has been a mix bag of weather here in NJ….

Whether you are planning a spring break getaway, a casual day out, or an at-home room refresh, Thirty One has your warm weather organization needs covered.

Check out these new spring faves and more in Thirty One’s Spring Catalog!

FOR ALL KINDS OF GETAWAYS

1. Deluxe Travel Tote:  This new fave keeps your spring break travel accessories clean, dry, and organized. Pack it with the outfits and swimwear you need for your trip. A bottom compartment makes packing travel extras easier than ever before.

2. Day Away Backpack:  Stay prepped on your next hike with this brand-new go-to. Interior pockets and snap tabs for extra space mean you always have room for out-and-about essentials.

3. Insulated Bottle Crossbody: Cool water – yes, please! Make sure your water is always crisp and refreshing with our new insulated design. Bonus: The travel-friendly crossbody means you can stay hydrated without the hassle.  These are a HOT item and on the TOP 10 for must haves for the Spring.

4. Packing Cubes:  Organize your suitcase with cubes to keep your clothing safe and secure. The front mesh panels add breathability, so your items stay fresh over long trips.

FOR DAYS SPENT OUT & ABOUT

5. Fold-Over Lunch Bag:  Take snacks on the go with this new lunchtime fave — while supporting a great ­cause. For every Fold-Over Lunch Bag purchased between March 1, 2022, to August 31, 2020, Thirty-One is donating a portion to our partners at Girls on the Run®. (You can learn more about the impactful work GOTR does here.

6. Pick Up & Go Tote:  Get to the seaside early with packing and pick-up ease. This new fun fave helps you stay organized on your next spring beach day. Bonus tip: fill it with towels to keep your sand setup put together and dry.

7. Insulated Bucket Tote:  This on-trend spring essential takes snack storage on the go. Have healthy snack options on hand whenever you need them, whether on errands or your next midday meeting.

FOR REFRESHING YOUR HOME OASIS

8. Small & Medium Rope Baskets:  New rope baskets –available in two sizes – keep at-home accessories together with ease and style. Fill them with notebooks, sunglasses, hand towels, and more to make sure everything has a designated place.

9. Mini Carry-All Caddy:  Your desk has never looked so organized! Use this fave to keep all your pens, pencils, and other home office essentials in one convenient place.

10. Small & Medium Reversible Bins:  Get ready to have two on-trend looks in one. Now you can stay organized and stay on top of home style trends with reversible style options.

Feeling overwhelmed by all of the options?  Have a budget and don’t know where to start?  Email or message me on Facebook and I will be happy to help you.

Be sure to email on my Thirty One email by signing up on my website, find me on Facebook at Hope’s Purse Closet which is my VIP group or on Instagram.  Click to be a part of my MONTHLY GIVEAWAY by answering the survey

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

 

Products shown are from Spring 2022, available from March 1, 2022 – August 31, 2022. For more information about product availability, go to my website:  www.partywithHope.com

Clear the Clutter, Home Organization, Unclutter Your Life

How to Spring Clean Your Closet

Show your closet some TLC

The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and it’s time to dust off those shorts – spring is here! You’ve spring cleaned your bathrooms, your pantry, your kitchen (pretty much every surface now smells lemony fresh and you’ve worked up a sweat), but there’s still one last space that needs a refresh: your clothes closet.

Giving your closet a good spring clean is the perfect way to declutter your wardrobe and go into the season with a fresh slate. Follow along with us as we take stock, make some small changes and get our closets spring ready.

Step 1: Clear everything out and clean your closet

Pile them on the bed, the floor, the desk – just get those clothes out so you can see what you’re working with. You’ll probably find that some non-clothing items have snuck their way into your closet, things like holiday decorations, books and knickknacks. If you have the space, store or display these elsewhere so your closet can be a one-stop getting dressed shop.

Once everything’s out, it’s time to clean. Wipe down shelves and drawers and use a broom or vacuum to sweep the floor. Most vacuums have a wand attachment that’s especially handy for reaching dusty corners, high and low.

Step 2: Put your winter wardrobe into hibernation

Those scarves, gloves and fuzzy hats have served you well, but the snow is long gone, and your sandals are just begging to be unboxed! It’s time to say goodbye to cold weather clothes to make room for spring essentials.

Start by going through all the clothes you took out of your closet. Things like heavy coats and sweaters can be folded up and stored in bins in the basement or hall closet for next season (a few Deluxe Utility Totes can handle the job). As you go, set aside anything that you didn’t wear or only wore once all winter. If these don’t fit or just don’t fit your style anymore, donate them or sell them to give them a second life.

Step 3: Take stock of your spring wardrobe

Time to repeat Step 2, but with your spring clothes. Take them out of storage (or from where they’ve been squished at the bottom of your dresser) and go through them. Set aside anything you didn’t get much wear out of last spring, that doesn’t fit or that’s a style you’ve outgrown. Add these to the donate and sell pile.

Step 4: Now for the fun part – organizing your closet!

The first step to getting your slimmed down spring wardrobe into your closet is figuring out what to hang and what to fold. This can vary depending on what clothes you have and your space, but here are some tips to start.

Hang things like blouses, dress pants, jackets, dresses and any pieces that wrinkle easily. You may also want to hang favorite items that you reach for frequently. For everything else, folding will do just fine. You can fold t-shirts, jeans, shorts and activewear. When organizing your hangers, pick a system that works best for you. You can organize your clothes by type, color or even by how dressy or casual they are.  

Another idea is when you hang your clothes, place the hangers in reverse or backwards.  Once you wear and wash an item, place it back in the closet with the hanger facing correctly.  Then at the end of the season, you will be able to which clothes you actually wore.  It will make cleaning out the closet easier each season.

 

Step 5: Bins are your best friends

A few good storage bins are all you need to pull off a mini closet makeover! Bins are helpful for separating clothes, storing folded items or organizing accessories. The Your Way® Cube in canvas is the perfect roomy storage cube for jeans, t-shirts, pajamas, activewear and more. You can also find this bin in some fun neutral prints.

We love the Canvas Storage Caddy for accessories – its pockets make it perfect for sunglasses, belts and scarves – while the Felt Display Bin is a cute way to keep your purses and wallets all together. The finishing touch to any Thirty-One storage bin? Personalization! Add embroidered words to label what’s inside or go for a fun monogram or phrase. 

Step 6: Last but not least, upgrade your hamper 

When it comes to laundry hampers, choose one that’s large enough (to avoid clothes all over the floor) but not so big that it takes up valuable closet space. We like a soft-sided hamper like the Stand Tall Bin – interior metal rods add support and structure without being too rigid or bulky. Plus, the long straps make carrying heavy loads so much easier. This is another great place for personalization, so have fun with it!

Say hello to fresh starts

Spring cleaning doesn’t have to clean you out – just take it step by step. Soon your closet will be refreshed, full of clothes that bring you joy and so organized that getting dressed will feel like a total treat. For more bins and caddies to tackle your spring cleaning projects, check out our bestselling organizing styles.

Looking for the prefect solution to your organizing challenge?  Be sure to comment below or reach out to me.  Want to know how to get your #wishlist for FREE or at a deep discount? Let’s do a BINGO & Bags virtual social…..

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Home Organization, Hope Wissel

10 Tote Lover Personalities

Customers love our utility storage totes – that’s why they’re always top sellers for us – but have you ever wondered what it is about our totes that draws you in? We think that everyone has a “tote personality” based on all the fabulous features of our totes, so we took some time to think about it. In the end, we came up with 10 distinct tote lover personality traits our Customers possess. How many of the 10 do you have? Read on and find out!

The Planner

You like to get things ready for any possibility, so you probably prepare by loading up Large Utility Totes with essentials for your family’s many activities and adventures. No matter what the occasion – kids’ sleepovers, softball practice, camping trip or car trunk emergency supplies – you have a tote at the ready for every purpose.

The Mover

You’re always on the go, with kids, for work, to the grocery, etc., and portable totes that can hold a lot and are easy to carry are essential to your busy life. The Journey Backpack is a great solution for you. With its hands-free backpack straps, top handles and plentiful pockets, it’s the backpack tote for life in the fast lane!

The Environmentalist

You’re concerned about the planet and want to make sure it remains beautiful and unpolluted, which means you probably love our reusable totes. Plastic bags are a no-no in your household, so when you head to the grocery, you grab something sustainable, like our Essential Storage Totes with eco-friendly graphic messages.

The Fashionista

You NEED a tote that can hold a lot, but you WANT a tote that has style and looks good when you’re out and about. Lucky for you, our totes were made for the practical-thinking fashion-forward types. With delicious details, trend-now colors and prints, and fabulous, functional features, you’ll always find a tote to suit your style, like the New Horizons Tote. Its slouchy, oversized proportions make it the perfect beach bag, shopping tote or travel bag!

The Artist

You want a tote that’s all personality…yours! No worries, we have personalization designs you can add to your favorite tote to make it truly unique. Depending on the type of tote you want to personalize, you have the option of adding monograms, names, phrases, Icon-Its™ designs, or even photo images. Let your creativity flow and design a travel tote, storage tote, shopping tote and more for yourself or someone else.

The Pragmatist

Reliable and sturdy, that’s what you look for in a storage tote for home organization or a portable tote for carrying everything from sports equipment and camping supplies to books and tools. The Deluxe Utility Tote was designed for large loads. The hard bottom provides added stability, while metal grommets and reinforced, stitched handles give it  strength and durability.

The Space Saver

You’re all about space and efficiency, so you love to have things neatly stowed away but easily accessible for when you need them. That’s why you love our Top-A-Tote® and Deluxe Top-A-Tote® lids made especially for our LUTs and DUTs. Not only do they make your favorite storage totes stackable, the clear PVC on top lets you view the contents inside without having to remove them first!

The Stylist

Mix it, match it, you love to coordinate looks in your home and in your personal style! Our seasonal tote prints and colors are designed to work together to create a look that is cohesive and stylish. Create a color scheme that works with your home décor or find a tote print that fits your mood. There’s no wrong answer!

The Minimalist

Out of sight, out of mind is your motto, so when you have a few of our totes that aren’t currently in use, no problem! Our Foldaway Totes tuck inside of themselves so you can stow them away in a pocket, purse or handbag until you’re ready for shopping. Our Large, Small and Deluxe Utility Totes all collapse down to a flat position so you can easily hide them away in a closet, drawer or under a bed when they aren’t in use.

The Giver

Need a great gift idea? Our totes make the perfect gifts, gift bags or both! If you’re the type that loves to give unique, thoughtful gifts on special occasions, or just to say thank you to a friend or neighbor, consider filling up a Tiny Utility Tote or Small Essential Storage Tote with lots of small items. Make it even more special by personalizing their gift tote with a monogram, name or meaningful phrase.

 

How much do you love our totes?

Do you have a mild obsession or are you full-tilt gaga? How many personality traits describe you? Your score will tell us how big a tote lover you are!

1-3: Heart palpitations! Your love is in bloom, but there’s plenty more to come!

4-6: You’ve got tote fever! Our totes are your passion, enjoy the romance!

7-9: Swoon… you feel faint! You’ve got it bad! Romeo & Juliet have nothing on you!

10:  Full-scale obsession! Nothing can keep you and our totes apart!

Looking for more ideas or need help picking a product perfect for you????? Send me a message or comment below and I will be happy to help you.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Making a Difference

Actually, I Can Movement

I don’t know about you but I am my own worst critic.  I tend to believe things which simply aren’t true. You know those horrible inner gremlins which want to keep you from feeling the JOY of every day.  What if you WERE good enough, just the way you are? What if failure wasn’t an option? What if you believed, “Actually, I Can”?

STOP right now and take a minute to think about all the things you’re capable of .  I BELIEVE you can do anything you put your mind to!  NOW share the positivity with the women around you.

Thirty-One is launching an ALL IN campaign this fall to inspire others to believe in themselves. When we take time to better ourselves from within, we inspire others to believe – “Actually, I Can.”

 

Write a love letter to yourself

 

Play this fill-in-the-blank  game to get yourself in a positive headspace! Without reading the story, fill in the blanks with a word of your choosing. When you’ve filled them all in, read it back to yourself and feel the love.  I would love to have you share YOURS with us…

 

Wear your confidence close to your heart

 

Design an “Actually, I Can” charm to wear (or gift!) as a reminder to keep moving forward, no matter what life tosses your way. Our Personalization Studio makes it easy to create a custom piece of jewelry that makes a statement, like a personalized Just Write™ Rectangle Charm on a long Dainty Rolo Chain.  I have two of them I were every day – “Just for Today” as a reminder of my recover after relapse and “Courage” because it is my word for this year.  The both remind me of how far I have come over the last 16 months…

 

Pin up these mantra cards

 

Are you a fan of mantras?  Did you know when you repeat a positive mantra every day for 21 days, if will actually become something you believe in?  Positive energy draws more positive energy so why not give these mantras a try.  Use these fun, printable mantra cards to spread the love and keep the positivity going! Hang them on your mirror or leave them for others to find as a reminder of all the amazing things you and others are capable of.

Help survivors of domestic violence
I have shared my story before of being a child of domestic violence – something not talked about back then but it was.  Whether it is physical, emotional or verbal – more than 1 in 3 women will experience some form of domestic violence in her lifetime. This fall, Thirty One is  standing with survivors by supporting an issue which affects so many.

Throughout the entire fall season, Thirty-One Gives wants to empower women to believe in themselves, find safety and rebuild their lives. During October and November, you can Round Up! your Thirty-One purchase to the next nearest dollar (after tax and shipping) or make a donation of any amount to support survivors of domestic violence through our partners: National Network to End Domestic Violence in the United States.

Funds raised by the Round Up! campaign will go to specific programs run by these organizations to help survivors of domestic violence get back on their feet.

In the United States, funds will support the Independence Project through National Network to End Domestic Violence, a credit-building microloan program that helps survivors of domestic violence rebuild after experiencing financial abuse. Women can receive a zero-fee, zero- interest loan of $100 to boost their credit scores. By paying back just $10 for 10 months, she can get approved to sign a lease, buy a car and get started on her new, safe life!

Share your giving heart this season by participating in Round Up! this season – your donations will make an enormous difference in the lives of survivors of domestic violence.

Have a blessed day!

Relax, Reflect, Recharge

In Want or in Plenty: Real Ways to Create Contentment in Your Life

Thank you Kathi Lipp for today’s message…

On that sunny August day, I thought my life couldn’t get much worse.

Recently separated from my husband and with no support from him, I was teetering on the financial edge. My kids and I had just moved in with my parents, and I was desperately looking for a job to support my two middle schoolers.

I thought about our old life where the only thing I needed to get them ready for a new school year was a debit card and a couple trips to the mall. With school only a few weeks away, I didn’t know where I’d get the money to buy clothes and shoes or pay for annual physicals.

That was fifteen years ago.

Today, I do have enough, but the dread of not having what I need can still make me sick to my stomach.

We live in a tiny house, but one that is situated in the most expensive county in the US, with plenty of food, enough money to buy clothes we need and go out to dinner occasionally. Even take an occasional vacation.
This is the land of plenty. No doubt about it.

But what I’ve discovered? There are benefits and drawbacks to both.

When I was in want, we pulled together what we needed with the help of my parents, hand-me-downs from friends, Goodwill, and a small amount of surprise money that showed up in our mailbox. We didn’t have extra, but we had exactly what we needed.

Living in want is a scary place to be, whatever your want may be. But the other thing I discovered about living in want? It gives you plenty of room to see and experience God’s provision first hand, evidence of God’s care and provision for me and my kids.

Now, living in plenty? Whew! Finally, you can be relieved of the day-to-day worry about how you’re going to pay the rent, or the next car payment. But there is a drawback to living in plenty: You can forget to notice all the miracles around you.

We falsely believe we are making things happen—and that can even turn into thinking if only people were as ______________ (conscientious, hard-working, smart, etc.) as us, they would not be in want.

And suddenly we forget about the love, graciousness and strength only God can provide in both of these times.

So how do we stay content in a world that actively works to keep us discontent?

Limit your time around agents of discontent.

Where does your discontentment grow? For me, it’s looking at Pinterest or home decorating sites. I see all-white country chic homes and am transported into another world—until I have to come back to earth and see my stained carpets, saggy couches and 1970’s bathroom. Not only can I become dissatisfied, I can project that dissatisfaction onto my husband, who works hard to provide for me.

I’ve learned to limit myself when it comes to my house. Currently, we are replacing our carpets with flooring. Instead of spending months perusing different websites, I’m heading to Home Depot. No muss. No fuss.

Get radically, ridiculously grateful.

This is an exercise I do when I need to recalibrate my gratefulness. Notice how many things you have directly around you.

As I write this, within a foot of me are:

2 Bibles
A notebook and pen
A coffee cup with hot coffee in it
A banana peel from the banana I just ate
A tray a good friend gave me
A couch I’m sitting on
A quilt my mom made me
My dog cuddling with me
Just noticing the blessings in my immediate surroundings changes my perspective.

Here is what I know from reading God’s word: We need to set our hearts on God and not our circumstances. We must learn to live both in want and in plenty.

God will meet us, no matter our situation. Our ability to be content is not determined by our circumstances, but our connection to Him.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!