photos

How NOT to save your photos or donate books

By Hazel Thornton | March 26, 2023 |

Have you ever hidden anything in a book? Maybe used a photo as a bookmark? I don’t recommend it as a way to save your photos! Here’s why: I volunteer weekly for my local Friends of the Library. We price and sort donated books for our monthly used book sales (at which I also run…

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Are you and your clutter ready to “Go With the Flow”?

By Hazel Thornton | March 13, 2023 |

  Looking for a new, fun way to get clutter-free in ’23? Inn-tro-du-cingg…(drumroll, please)…the long-awaited release of my latest project: Go With the Flow! The Clutter Flow Chart Workbook        

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What’s a photo without the story?

By Hazel Thornton | July 19, 2020 |

UPDATE #1: Mystery solved! (scroll down) UPDATE #2: I was so taken by my grandmother’s “bathing beauty” photograph that I used it on the cover of my 2021 book — What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy (click to learn more). The book is not about my family, per se,…

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Mom’s Boxes Part 8: The Gangster Hideout

By Hazel Thornton | May 23, 2019 |

READERS: This is the sort of story I intend to write more of over the next few years to share with my family. It’s also the sort of story I encourage you to write about your own family! It doesn’t have to be fancy, with links to articles and such. Just capture the memories for…

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Climbing your never-ending family tree

By Hazel Thornton | April 29, 2019 |

Your family tree is never really finished! It is forever growing on both ends. New descendants of your ancestors are continually being born (even if not to you, personally), and no matter how many branches and leaves you’ve added in the past, there are always more for you to discover.

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Embrace the Clutter!

By Hazel Thornton | July 18, 2016 |

Embrace the clutter! Why on earth would I, a professional organizer, say such a thing? Well, think about it. What’s the opposite of embracing something? Fearing it? Ignoring it? Avoiding it? Doesn’t it seem like anything you fear, ignore, or avoid persists? It doesn’t go away, it just nags at you. Doesn’t it? Maybe not…

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10 Silly Things Organizers Argue About

By Hazel Thornton | June 10, 2016 |

When professional organizers argue, it’s often just a matter of semantics. And when I say argue….well, that’s just semantics too. Disagree and misunderstand might be more accurate terms. We are, mostly, a congenial and supportive bunch! Sometimes we don’t even truly disagree, but we’re playing devil’s advocate; or exploring a new twist on an old…

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