I wanted to share a blog that was originally written for our sister site Get Organized regarding dorm room essentials.

Dorm rooms have the basic furniture essentials; such as a bed, desk, and closet. But what other items are needed to make the next 9 months away from home the most comfortable. Here are some essential items that every college student needs to help their transition from home to living on their own.

Having an organized desk and the right materials is the first step to achieving higher grades in school. Organize your desktop with the 4 piece Mesh Office set. Includes 1 paper cup holder, drawer organizer, pen cup & letter holder. Metal mesh construction with silver finish.

Closet Doubler I know I had 3 suitcases worth of clothes when I moved into my dorm and only one stand alone armoire. This is the perfect space saver for keeping your closet clutter free for storing all of that excess clothing. The bottom bar is also height adjustable and the added hooks are ideal for hanging either your ties or belts and even purses!

Convertible Shower Caddy
Convertible shower caddy hangs from the shower arm or flips over to hang from the door or wall. Adjustable deep shelves let you customize to fit larger bottles. Suction cups affix the caddy to the wall for added stability. You can even hang it on your closet door to dry out when you are finished. Soap, razors, washcloths and more are kept tidy and out of the way.

This is probably the most essential item of all because if you miss class and oversleep Mom or Dad isn’t there to wake you up. Talking Alarm Clock starts your day with a friendly voice rather than a startling buzzer. Time and temperature are promptly announced at the programmed wake time, eliminating the straining to read the time in those first groggy moments. Digital display also includes date and day with a dimmer function for the blue background. Loud alarm feature also included.

Recently, we have taken a hard look at our Earth and decided to keep it clean for ourselves now and for the future. So much action has been taken in this Go Green campaign between reusable fabric grocery bags, to recycling bins in restaurants, to people even making solar houses, that there is a “green” option for just about everything we need. Becoming more aware of what we use and how we use it is not only an investment for the future of our children, but an investment plan to help us save more money as well. To help the cause this year, you can “go green” by simply using solar powered holiday lights to decorate your house this holiday season.

Christmas lights and Christmas decorations are always so pretty to look at; it is something my mom and I look forward to every year during the winter. While some of us enjoy sight-seeing and looking at all of the holiday lights, others (perhaps yourselves included) really enjoy decorating the house for the holidays. Of course, it all comes at a price, and I’m sure we all are looking for different ways to cut the cost. Solar holiday lighting is an excellent alternative for your Christmas decorations this holiday season.

Today we have the option of using solar Christmas lights to decorate our houses for the holiday season. There are so many different solar holiday light options to choose from – just because they are solar does not mean they are boring by any means! You can find solar string lights, solar net lights, solar wreath lights, even programmable solar lights. The solar lights are not just white bulbs either, decorate the house with lots of colorful bulbs.

Right now we have been sacrificing things that we love in order to get what we need. This is the holiday season, and we should not need to sacrifice our love for great, bright holiday decorations for Christmas! Go green, and save green – go solar with holiday lights this year!

I have a new favorite product. I never thought I would get so excited over hangers, but these soft grip hangers are the best thing I put in my closet since my shoes. I keep talking to my boss about how much I love them, so of course, I needed to let you all know about my new love for the soft grip hangers.

Recently I moved and during my move I decided I needed new hangers for all of my clothes to hang in my new closet. My co-worker purchased the soft grip hangers and told me how great they were, so I bought a set to test them out. My clothes hung nicely on the soft grip hangers, and even the softest and silkiest tops did not slide off. I purchased several more sets of the soft grip hangers to replace every single hanger I had in my closet. Since the soft grip hangers are so thin everything in the closet stays organized and neat and I can see every article of clothing that hangs.

Now, I am happy to look in my closet and actually see the clothes instead of having to dig through them to see what is there, and even when I move the hangers the clothes do not fall off! I gave my boyfriend all of my old plastic hangers during my soft grip hanger switch. He can keep the plastic ones; I have upgraded to smaller yet better hangers for my clothes.

Buying gifts for dad, I think, is a difficult task. If your dad is anything like mine, he is very happy with no gifts, but of course, as the “child,” I like to give my dad something tangible to show him I appreciate him being my dad.

A few years ago my dad and I were watching TV together and we really liked the tie the news reporter was wearing; so while it may be “cliché” I found that tie and gave it to him for Father’s Day. After that I realized my dad is more into fashion than I ever realized, so buying him nice clothes and ties is actually something he really likes to get! However, I do get bored giving the same type of gift every year, and I like to mix it up. So, if you need to spice up you gift for dad this year for Father’s Day, I have put together a list of some different items your dad might enjoy.

For the family-oriented working dad, the Monitor Corner Frame could be a great gift! You can put pictures of the family in the picture frames. The Monitor Corner Frame sits on dad’s computer monitor, and he will always be able to look at his kids all day long. My dad has lots of pictures of me and my brother in his office – and it still makes me happy to know he likes to have them there.

The Foldaway Hammock is the perfect gift for the dad who likes to relax, and for the dad who needs to relax. This easy set-up Foldaway Hammock is an excellent way to say to dad, “You have worked so hard with me, I am giving you just what you need to take some time to yourself”.

One of my favorite gifts that I gave to my dad is the Micro Cool Mini Fridge. I bought it for him because people at his office take food out of the common refrigerator that does not belong to them (his lunch was never safe). The Micro Cool Mini Fridge also is very portable, and can even be plugged into a car’s lighter outlet to keep food warm or cool on road trips!

If your dad has too many gadgets, and therefore too many remote controllers for those gadgets, a useful gift for him might be the Remote Organizer. The Remote Organizer will hold his controllers, so he will never be on a search for the TV remote again.

And last, but not least, for the dad who likes to play games, give him what he really wants…a pool table! Dad with love the Fold Up Pool Table to play pool with you, his friends, or himself. A great gift for dad is one that he can use with his family.

These are just some of my ideas on gifts to get for dad for Father’s Day. What have you gotten for your dad in the past? What is your gift plan for this year?

A summer road trip can be a time of bonding for friends and family. Getting yourself organized for a road trip is often a challenge. Organizing your car for practicality and fun during your extensive drive is important.

Practicality is important when packing your vehicle for a summer road trip. Remember to keep many liquids in a cooler. Consider a soft, insulated cooler to hold all of your drinks. Soft coolers are usually flexible and do not take up much space. You can also find an electric cooler that plugs into your cars power source and act as a mini refrigerator. If you have a lot to store in the way of snacks and drinks, you can use an insulated cooler that hangs over one of the car seats. This stores enough for the, and saves you from time-consuming stops along the way.

A head rest hanger can keep things well organized. This two pronged hanger comes off of your headrest, and can hold just about anything while keeping it off the floor. A floor free of debris is essential over a long trip.

For entertainment, ask yourself if you want to bring books, music, video, travel games, or anything else to make the ride more enjoyable. You can store your CDs and DVDs in a large book to hold a wide variety. Make sure that this case is organized in a way that anybody can figure out where to find disks, and where to put them back.

Books and games are difficult to store. Hanging a bag on a headrest hangar can work, but if too much is hanging up, the seat can become cramped. If you drive an SUV, then try a trunk organizer. This simple tote will keep your luggage separate from the items you want to get to.

With the right mix of practical organizers, and organization tools that can enhance fun, you can be well set towards a trip that will be memorable for the entire family.

It’s Mother’s Day weekend this weekend, so make sure to remember about all of the moms you know and wish them a Happy Mother’s Day. Also, show your mom (or any mom) how much you appreciate her and give her at least a card – my mom loves getting cards. If you want to give her something extra special you can do chocolates or flowers, or get creative and maybe give her a jewelry box.

There are many different jewelry boxes to choose from. So whether mom has a little bit of jewelry, or loves her silver, gold, platinum, and fashion jewelry, there is a perfect jewelry organizer for her. There are jewelry armoires that open up and have several compartments and drawers. Mom might like something to hang on the wall with a mirror to save some space, and there are certainly wall jewelry organizers with mirrors. For the more simple mom, she might want a basic jewelry box with felt inside.

The choices to jewelry holders are endless. I’m sure mom loves her jewelry and wants to make sure it is kept safe. By organizing rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelery she will be able to wear it longer. This year, whether for Mother’s Day, or another holiday, or just to give because you love her, think about giving mom a jewelry box that she will enjoy.

Most busy women do not have as much time as they would like to have for fixing their hair. With all of the responsibilities to work, family and friends in today’s fast-paced world, many women opt for a ponytail, or wearing scarves and hats to hide their neglected coifs. There are many solutions out there such as the new Bumpits and EZ Combs to make hair styling simple.

With women spending millions of dollars on products to style their hair each year, hair products have become a big business. Save money and aggravation by staying away from products that have long and complicated instructions to follow. Purchasing tools designed to help women create hairstyles with greater ease is critical to the success of no mess-no stress hairstyles. There are quite a few such tools available for sale today and new products are debuting all the time. The Bumpits are a new As Seen on TV hair styling tool to give your hair some lift and volume in seconds. EZ Combs are another As Seen on TV hair product which allows you to pull hair back for an all-day comfortable hold.

Spending a small amount of time in the morning on your hair is a luxury most women would love to have. Complicated hairstyles when you have little time or patience for them are just not worth the headaches and struggle; especially when it is possible to have a hairstyle that is easy to manage and quick to style for the looks you want. The wide range in products to help women create no mess-no stress hairstyles can bolster your options for easy and fashionable hairstyles that your friends will envy. Why not try a new look today with the Bumpits or EZ Combs? You might never want to deal with difficult hairstyles ever again. Spend less time in front of the mirror trying to get your hair to behave and more time enjoying yourself with family and friends, while looking great.

Have you ever wanted to test out any of these As Seen on TV items to see if they actually do what they say the will accomplish? Cardiogirl has done just that. She has taken some top As Seen on TV items, used them, and then reviewed them. Her latest As Seen on TV item adventure was the Sham Wow. She gave the Sham Wow 3.5 Cardio Stomps out of 5.

The Sham Wow is a towel designed to be super absorbent. The Sham Wow can also help to clean windows, cars, and dishes. Cardiogirl put the Sham Wow to the test and performed her own Sham Wow experiments. Cardiogirl’s Sham Wow tests included picking up liquid from a couch and rug, drying a bathing suit, on her hair, and more. Cardiogirl says, “I give it 3.5 Cardio Stomps out of 5. One point five stomps were removed because it doesn’t work well for me when its dry and it did drip a bit. But overall I was very happy.”

You can read the full Sham Wow review by Cardiogirl by visiting the Sham Wow Review. Have you tried the Sham Wow yet? What do you think?

I heard on the radio into work the other morning that our new First Lady, Michelle Obama, plans to create, and maintain, her own vegetable garden and give those vegetables to the chefs in the White House to use. We can use Michelle Obama as our motivation to get outside this spring and start growing our own vegetables as well.

So, while First Lady, Michelle Obama, may have a horticultural skill, others may not. Therefore, we have tools to help us in our vegetable garden adventure.

The Awesome Auger is the As Seen on TV garden tool from last year that will never go out of style. The Awesome Auger attaches to any size drill, and can help get your ground ready to plant your new vegetable garden. While the Awesome Auger has many other uses as well, it will help a great deal in the beginning stages of your garden.

You may find it difficult to remember to water your vegetable garden, or have the confidence that you give it the proper amount of water. Two (out of many options) that you have are to use a sprinkler system, or the very popular, Aqua Globes. A Portable Sprinkler System attaches right to your outdoor spigot and the 3 sprinkler heads can be positioned however you want. The Portable Sprinkler System is great because you can also use this to keep your whole lawn watered regularly as well. A second option to making sure your vegetable garden gets the water it needs is to use the well-known As Seen on TV item, the Aqua Globes. The hand blown Aqua Globes are designed to properly water the plants with the correct amount of water – not too much, and not too little. The Aqua Globes also work great if you decide to go away and you want to make sure your vegetable garden is maintained. With these watering options, you can relax when it comes to watering your garden.

If you decide a full backyard garden is not for you, you still have the option to grown your own vegetables at home with the Topsy Turvy. The Topsy Turvy now has 3 varieties to grow plants, vegetables, herbs, and flowers at home even without a yard. The Topsy Turvy hangs and grows your vegetables up-side-down, so even the apartment/condo owner can enjoy fresh vegetables as well. Try out the Topsy Turvy Tomato Grower to grow tomatoes, other veggies, herbs, and flowers. Also try the new Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter for strawberries and herbs, and the Topsy Turvy Hot Pepper Planter for the hot peppers to spice up your home-cooked meals.

Will you decide to join First Lady, Michelle Obama, and start your own vegetable garden? What veggies will you decide to grow this year?

If you rarely wear jewelry, it still is a good idea to keep it organized. You can lose items or misplace them during infrequent use, but an organization plan can alleviate these problems. A proper jewelry storage system can display your earrings and necklaces while serving as a decorative element of your room.

Place small hooks on the wall or along the inside of an armoire to store all of your necklaces in an easily visible location that is also safe for your jewelry. This can free up space in your drawer for the rest of your jewelry. You can also drape necklaces over cups, small bowls, small plates, or other similar items. This provides enough space to avoid tangling.

If you own many rings, you should use a see through storage container which can make it easier to find the ring you want to wear. A popular and easy way to store rings is to purchase an organizer with posts that hold each ring individually. However, these can take up a great deal of space, and sometimes it is better to buy a ring box designed to hold each ring separately. One can even find boxes with clear tops in order to display rings well.

The important part about storing earrings is that they are kept separately in order to avoid having them get misplaced or damaged. There are many ways to accomplish this, ranging from simply buying a cushion and having the earrings rest in the cushion, cushioning the entire drawer so that rings can easily be stored within, or buying an earring case with compartments to store each pair of earrings separately.

There are ways to go beyond the drawer to store your jewelry. Well-designed jewelry armories come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles. Some models are very simple like a hinged mirror cabinet with a compartment to store the jewelry. Others are more elaborate and can store hundreds of items in a very attractive way. Most of these products come with built in hooks and compartments to make it easy for you to divide your jewelry well.

A good system can help keep your jewelry away from harm, untangled and easily accessible. Beyond that, jewelry storage can provide decorative elements to brighten any room. Be willing to invest in quality storage products, and your ideal jewelry display can become true.