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Give Away at the Forum: The Coupon Binder- CLOSED

February 24, 2010 By AmyF 5 Comments

If you have not heard, I am gearing up for a coupon class at my church. I am so excited about doing this! One of the topics I am going to talk about is organization. To get the full potential of savings, I believe you need to be organized. There is many ways to do this and there are no right or wrong ways of organizing it either. You just need to find what works for you. What works for me is a Binder system. I have everything in one place and within easy reach.

Jennie, over at The Coupon Binder, has generously donated one of her wonderful binders to give away here. Here is a little about the Binder she offers:

What I like about The Coupon Binder is the convenience. It is built for you already to use and start that instant savings. This 3 Ring Clear View Binder is not wimpy one either, it a sturdy one. On the outside of the binder in the back is place for a insert. Jennie has not left that space empty. You will find Sorting Mats that help you do just what the name says- sort your coupons. In the inside pocket, you will find a few tidbits of information that will either be new to you or review. The Main Characters of this Binder will surely impress you.

*50 Ultra Pro 9 pocket pages
* 30 Pre-defined Category Tabs (installed to match the general layout of a grocery store)
*5 Customizable Category Tabs
* 1 Set of Coupon Sorting Mats that correspond to the Category Tabs
* 1 Pencil Pouch
* 1 Highlighter and Pen
* 3 Store Envelopes
*Spiral bound Notebook
And you get a stylish reusable bag also because The Coupon Binder is also committed to helping the environment.

To enter this contest you must do the following two things:
1. Be a member of the Forum (REGISTER HERE)AND
2. Post here on how you save money in homeschooling.

Because of the cost,Only avaible to ship within the Continental United States.
Winners will be announced at the Forum on evening of March 3,2010.

Good Luck and I can not wait to see your answers at the forum, see you there!

Information can be found about The Coupon Binder at http://thecouponbinder.com

Doe the Nexte Thynge

October 29, 2009 By Bethany 5 Comments

What should I do next? That question has often left me in a tizzy trying to figure out which item on my very important list of things to do right now ought to be the next thing to receive my attention. Yes, I’ve read the books on prioritizing. Yes, I usually make a physical, written list of all that needs to be accomplished in a day. But, my lists always seem to have the word urgent beside each item. How do I choose what to do next?

to-do-list

A few months ago as I was cleaning out some files, I can across a copy of a page out of an old devotional book that was sent to me by my mother years ago. It contains an ancient poem that sums up what one must do on those occasions when it seems impossible to do anything. It simply says to do the next thing. I’m going to take the liberty of quoting the poem in its entirety here. The original author is anonymous.

From an old English parsonage down by the sea
There came in the twilight a message to me;
It’s quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,
Hath, it seems to me, teaching from heaven.
And on through the hours the quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration: “DOE THE NEXTE THYNGE.”

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, guidance, are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, doe the nexte thynge.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all resulting, doe the nexte thynge.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering, be they demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as he beckons thee, doe the nexte thynge.

Still not sure where to turn next? Isaiah 30:21 makes it clear that God will show you which direction to go, if you listen to him. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’” (NKJV). Is your hand empty? “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you’” (Isaiah, 41:13, NKJV). Did you have plans that got shot out of the water before 9 a.m. today? Yep, so did I. “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9, NKJV).

So, what’s next? Is the baby’s diaper emanating a stench? Change it. Is your fifth grader stuck on the mysteries of making equivalent fractions? Teach her how. Will your hubby be home for dinner in an hour? Put supper in the oven. Find the next thing to do, and then do it. The longer you spend agonizing over what to do, the more time you waste. Just do it!

Bethany has been married for 16 years, homeschooling for 9 years, and organizing forever. She homeschools her two girls, grade 6 and grade 10, in North Carolina. She is also a partner in Codex Publishing, publisher of The Tutor and classic book reprints. When she isn’t homeschooling or driving the family taxi, Bethany enjoys reading, music, church activities, editing, writing, history, and keeping up with friends.

Organizing Tips

September 19, 2009 By Tracy 6 Comments
Moving as much as I have, has forced even my naturally organized self to become even more organized! When you move from place to place and live on a one income budget, you have to figure out ways to make things work! I had a friend ask me recently to share a few things about organizing that I have learned along the way.

One great thing, {I read somewhere} for kitchen items was to take everything out {say cooking utensils} and put them in a box. Everytime you need something go get it out of the box, use it, wash it of course and put it BACK in the normal spot, or drawer, etc. Keep doing it. What is left in the box in say a month or two, get rid of because you don’t use the items! For clothes, hang everything in the closet with the hanger facing backwards, where you have to work to get it around the pole. Hang it the “right”, normal way after washing. At the end of a few months, what is still backwards you DO NOT WEAR! Evaluate why it never gets worn. Too small, too big, wrong color, nothing to wear with it. Solve the problem or get rid of it! Do this every season.

hangers

Speaking of clothes, another great tip I have learned, is to put up a wire shelf with a rod in the laundry room, or buy one of those free standing racks. On wash day round up all the empty hangers and put them on the rack. Take clothes right out of the dryer and hang them up. Then carry the hung clothes to the proper closet! No more piles all over the couch until someone folds them, and THEN puts them all away. Little to no ironing needed as well! You can also assign certain colored hangers to each child for them to easily recognize their items. Just fold towels and non hanging items right out of the dryer as well, then carry to proper place and your job is done! Board Games, clean out and organize all your family’s board games. Put a rubber band or a piece of yarn around each game. Have the kids remove the rubber band or string when they play the game. After 6 months or so, check the games. Whichever games still has them, are not being played. Evaluate if you should find a new home for them!

Home_Photo_books

Books and Videos, I know with homeschoolers this is a very touchy subject. After having to pay out-of-pocket for extra weight on our moving allowance, because of a lot of book boxes, I realized that the library can “hold” my items just as well a I could! So, we have 3 book cases. If new books come in, they must fit on one of the bookcases or it’s time to clean out the old ones! For Videos, we have a dresser with 4 deep drawers and our entertainment center has one more. No new videos come in the house, unless we clean out to make room for them in the drawers.

Toys and Stuffed Animals, how about giving the rotation method a try. Separate out all the kids toys into 2 or 3 piles, depending on the amount of kids and toys of course. Then box up one pile (or 2), storing away in the attic, basement or garage and find places for the items in the other pile, back in the play area. Rotate the toys out every 6 months or so. The kids will feel like they are seeing old friends and discovering new favorite toys. Growing up my parents always had us do a big clean out in the fall, “to make room for the new stuff” we would get for coming holiday gifts. This always helped get us in the mood to get rid of things we really didn’t use, like or play with anymore.

~A place for Everything and Everything in its place ~

These few tips and having a couple of yard sales a year help keep the clutter down. I would love to hear any tips that have worked for your family.

Tracy is first and foremost a Christian, a military wife and mother. She grew up as a military brat all over the USA and is married to her Air Force, pastor husband of 15 years. They have 2 beautiful teenage children that they home school. She is photographer, and owns Shots From the Heart Photography and loves to do what she calls “Capturing the Fingerprints of God!” in her images. Tracy also created a workshop called Mommytography, where she teaches Mom’s how to take better pictures. You can visit her at her blog: Lighthouse Academy Home & School

Garage Sale Tips and Tricks

May 26, 2009 By LisaV 1 Comment

Every year we take a break from our regular homeschool studies to participate in the citywide garage sale. The boys learn lessons in pricing, marketing and work, while spending a few days outdoors. This is our sixth garage sale year, as we attempt to purge our house of old toys and clothes and other miscellaneous items. We often coordinate our sale with the neighbor’s sale so that we benefit from the increased traffic on our otherwise quiet street.

garagesale2

We’ve learned a few garage sale tips and tricks over the years, including:

  1. The early bird gets the worm. The citywide sale is advertised on Saturday, but the early shoppers come out on Thursday and Friday. We run our sale from Thursday to Saturday. The earlier we start in the morning, the better. We’ve had people parked outside our home at 8 a.m.
  2. Coordinate with your neighbors and friends. The more sales on one street, the more likely shoppers are to stop and check them all out. This year we had two other families bring stuff to sell at our garage sale and a total of six garage sales on our street.
  3. Use garage sale signs to direct shoppers to your sale. We put signs on both ends of our street and a sign in our yard.
  4. Pull the big stuff out on your driveway so people will stop and shop. Things that have worked well in the past include a couch, a dining room set, a Little Tikes playhouse, and bicycles.
  5. Clean and repair items before you sell them. They are more likely to sell that way.
  6. Find free ways to advertise. I put an ad in the citywide sale one year, but in other years I simply posted an ad in our homeschool group’s Classifieds and emailed all my local friends. This year I noted our garage sale on Facebook while a friend posted it on Craigslist. It’s nice to see familiar faces amidst a sea of strangers.
  7. Greet and make small talk with the shoppers. Everyone likes to connect and feel like someone cares about them. It helps to increase sales too!
  8. Post a “Cash only, please” sign at your cashier’s table. A friend related that a sweet elderly lady came to her garage sale and then bounced her check!
  9. Price a little higher the first day and then drop your prices by the last day of your sale. Know how much you are willing to negotiate on price. There should be a little room to bargain, but you don’t have to give your things away.
  10. When your sale is over for the day, keep your garage door closed or people will walk in!
  11. Know what people want. If they start asking for jewelry, get your old jewelry out and price it. I’m glad I did!
  12. Play beautiful music in the background. We’ve used Pachelbel in the past and this year we played Beethoven.
  13. Include your children in your garage sale by having them find items to sell, price the items, set up tables, work as cashier or security, and market the garage sale. This year our 8-year-old helped type our ad for our homeschool group and our 11-year-old hauled the TV from the basement to the garage.

Are you doing a garage sale this year? Do you have a garage sale tip to share? Do you enjoy shopping at garage sales?

lisaLisa (aka Morning Rose) has been teaching her two elementary-aged sons for four years and incorporating study, work, service, and play into their homeschooling days. She enjoys reading, writing, and photography and blogs publicly at Pockets of Time and privately at Scooter and B.

Let God Get You Organized!

May 19, 2009 By Leslie 9 Comments

Many of you are aware that I have been working on getting my home overhauled over the last few months. This process has taken a bit longer than I originally had planned for a variety of reasons; work schedule, lack of “homes” for stuff, loss of motivation, illness, and my attitude. Last week I posted on the Total Home Overhaul group about how God has been working on my attitude. This was a turning point for me. Prior to this change, my mind was consumed with the organizational changes I needed to do before anything else. Budget and down trodden thinking put a damper on this. I kept justifying why I couldn’t move forward because I didn’t have this or I didn’t have time to complete the other. As God worked me through my attitude issues, my eyes were opened to what I CAN do right now to get it together. When God answers, He answers BIG!

One of my biggest obstacles to overcome was lack of shelf space. Like many homemakers, homesteaders, and homeschoolers, books take up a LOT of space in our home. I had an entire hallway that was just piled with books; piled HIGH! When I couldn’t pile the books any higher, I started piling them in my office. After that they got piled in boxes and such in my office closet. I didn’t stop there because every flat surface was a potential space for piling books and notebooks. The hubby and I had been pricing different bookshelves, both pre-made and supplies for building them into the wall. To be honest, as much as I needed those shelves, I couldn’t bring myself to take money from our savings to complete the project. But each week brought more grumbles from me about how I could barely breathe in our home. It never occurred to me to stop buying books or look for other resources for shelves. I had been looking at yard sales, but I kept coming across those 2 level particle board shelves that bow when any weight is put on them. I wanted what I wanted and anything less just wouldn’t do. No surprise that God wasn’t answering me with that attitude! Once I allowed God to come in and transform my attitude, a solution was found.

book-stack

The hubby asked me to come to our local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store to search for a small TV stand. Long story short, we had a big screen TV that had been sitting broken in our living room for almost 3 years. It took up a lot of space and since it didn’t work our bedroom became the living room; which drove me absolutely nutty. How many of you know how short a drive that is? But, I digress. The hubby had found a smaller flat screen for an absolute steal, but we had no place to put it; thus his idea to visit the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.

These stores sell used furniture, appliances, linens, housing supplies, remodeling supplies etc. They sell pretty much anything but clothing. At any rate, we get there and the sparkle shown in my eyes immediately. The hubby said, “You are like a kid in a candy store!” That was true. Here’s how God answered my prayers for an inexpensive TV stand. Quickly my hubby located a piece that fit the bill and I said yes right away. It was perfect! However, I also found a treasure trove of other pieces, including two large shelving units that would fit our hallway and solve my book problem. Here is the final list of what I wanted: 2 large shelving units of solid wood, one round pillar table for a game table, a stand for our TV, a prayer chair, and an upholstered chair. The total for the furniture was tallied @ $320; which was a good deal as purchasing shelves for the hallway cost more than that, but of course I wasn’t satisfied with the price. I talked them down to $120. Yep, you read correctly; they came down $200. We came home with our pieces and I quickly set to work. But that is NOT all!

Our book pile issue is solved. Our game area is now solved with the use of the pillar table and 2 dining chairs that I had sitting in the garage that I had picked up for free on the road side during one of my evening walks. Our TV has a home and we now use our living room for living and my bedroom for uh…sleeping. I was able to place this darling and most comfy chair in my bedroom for a prayer chair (Prayer space for me complete!). Then I turned around and sold the broken TV for $50. Total cost of the overhaul of 5 rooms: $80!

The point in telling you my story is to inspire you to give your home issues to God. He is there for everything in your life. We often overlook these issues in our times of prayer and fellowship because they seem so mundane. But the reality is that the state of our home affects our lives. In the last week I have done so much overhauling with the help of my daughter, son, and his friends, that I can’t believe we are in the same house. There are still projects on my To Do List, but it is not overwhelming and I don’t feel as if I am drowning. My mind is in a better place. Just in time as one of my daughters was in need of undistracted Mom time this weekend. I was able to give that to her, because my mind wasn’t spinning in different directions due to clutter all about. I was able to concentrate on praying with and for her.

happy-woman

Let God work through you as you tackle organizational issues in your home. As you open yourself up and broaden your relationship with God by including those mundane issues you will find Him transforming you in fantastic ways. God will lasso much of the chaos allowing for the much needed simplicity to flow through your life and afford you the opportunity to truly walk with Him. When our homes are less cluttered, our lives are less chaotic. The result is that we are more able to focus on devoting time to Him and His purpose for our lives; and we are better be able to listen.

leslie1Leslie Valeska is the wife of Thomas and homeschooling mother of four children who reside in SW Florida. Her family operates Fresh Gear Solutions, LLC and enjoys RVing. She is the founder and director of Simple Journey Ministries which was established to encourage, inspire, and support women on their journey to Godly womanhood. Leslie is also employed as a vintage seamstress by Vintage Vixen.

Review: Brainpop.com

May 14, 2009 By Karin Leave a Comment

Today’s home educator has many more options available to them than earlier homeschoolers did. Certainly computers and the availability of the internet has added more exciting options and multi media learning opportunities. One exciting option available on the internet is Brainpop (grades 3 and up), Brainpop Espanol and Brainpopjr (K-3) which offer animated educational content, lesson plans, games, quizzes and downloadable worksheets through their respective websites. Ideal for both group and singular learning, Brainpop can be used in a variety of ways from introducing a lesson or topic, to illustrating complex subject matters and reviewing material. No downloading, special hardware or software installation is required. Simply log on through the member sign-in and begin. Navigating the website is both quick and easy. Older children may enjoy navigating the website and activities themselves. There are a variety of online activities and downloadable materials.

In our homeschool I use Brainpop to introduce a topic. I have found this is a wonderful way to  grab my children’s attention and I’m amazed at how much they pick up from the animated shorts. In addition to the animated movie there are a variety of supplemental activities available for each topic titled: Game, Activity, Belly up, Pop a joke, Word wall, Quiz, Read about it, draw about it, write about it, and talk about it, in addition to an easy or hard quiz. Though I am not a fan of Belly Up or Pop a Joke, I can see why it would be entertaining for children, and it certainly isn’t harmful.

Please watch the animated video tour here for a more detailed introduction.

Online Features include:
Educators Activity Pages
Graphic organizers
Curricular tie-ins
Posters, bookmarks, stickers, certificates, and clip art

If you are interested in learning more about Brainpop and how it can help you in your homeschool, sign up for the free trial membership and test it out yourself! If you have used Brainpop previously or are signing up for the free trial membership, please leave a comment below!

karinKarin Katherine is a proud stay-at-home mother of four. As the 7th of 8 children, Karin feels blessed by her average size (in her mind anyway) family and wouldn’t mind a few more – God willing and her husband notwithstanding. Her biggest homeschooling dream is to one day homeschool across the United States in an RV. Please visit her blog Passport Academy.

My Method to Tame the Madness

May 1, 2009 By Debra 4 Comments

“Mom can I just do [fill in the blank] and then take a break?”

“Do I have to do ALL of this now?”

boywriting

Do you hear these words every day like I did? I wanted my kids to know what the daily expectations were, but I still wanted them to have a say in how and when they met them. As a result, I found that I often dealt with a lot of negotiating. This exhausted me and I began to spend my summers preparing a new and more elaborate way to cut down the negotiating and make the expectations plain and clear. I tried many different methods, but one of the simplest, The Station Box, is one approach that has stuck because, for us, it works.

The Station Box is simply a portable file box with hanging files inside. Tabs mark where one son’s stations end and my other son’s stations begin. Inside the station files I have placed regular, colored pocket folders. Each colored folder is matched with an academic discipline. They change every year depending on our objectives but this year they look like this for each child:

Red Folder = Penmanship practice

Blue Folder = Critical Thinking/Language skills

Green Folder = Reading

Yellow Folder = Grammar/Writing

Black Folder = Math

Purple Folder = A topical project based on our unit study

Each day the boys find in every folder what they need to complete its contents. I have very distractible kids so I take great efforts to simplify. I rip out the math page(s) for the day and include two sharpened pencils (because you KNOW they’ll lose one) in the black folder. In their green folder I include the book they are reading (either to themselves or aloud to me depending on which son it is) and any follow up phonics exercise or reporting sheet (like a journal or book report form). In the yellow folder I include the manipulatives my youngest needs to learn about pronouns and my oldest receives instructions on how much of his writing program he needs to accomplish that day.

Do you get the idea? It’s all there so that I don’t have to go wandering off looking for paintbrushes or dry erase markers while they … for lack of a better word… spaz out. And because it only contains the one thing they need to focus on, they don’t get overwhelmed by all the other pages in the math book or lose their place in the Latin book and spend the morning looking for it again.

filefolders

In addition to this Station Box we also incorporate three other things: Bible time, Read Aloud (I read to them) and a lesson (social studies or science) based on our unit. This portion of the day requires my complete involvement. However, once we’re done with this portion they can pick and choose from The Station Box what they want to accomplish and when. Some days we even start with The Station Box.

Because the contents of our Station Box tend to follow a certain pattern (or curriculum) each week, they actually know what to expect and this gives them a greater sense of control. If math just isn’t clicking then they can choose to set it aside until later. If they are excited about what we’re building for our purple station then they can begin there. Because they have this sense of control they usually pace themselves fairly well. And once it’s all done they have access to the privileges they enjoy the most.

It’s not foolproof, because we all have days when everything seems to take forever, but I’ve found that it’s helped all of us stay focused, remove undue stress, and know exactly what needs to be accomplished. And who wouldn’t benefit from that?

debraDebra Anderson has been married to her true companion for 14 years and has three sons under age 10. Debra’s passions are education, art, her husband, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has served as her co-op’s coordinator in Portland, Oregon and loves connecting homeschoolers in relationships to one another. Debra has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education and has always home educated their boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at www.emergent-homeschool.blogspot.com.

Week 7 and 8: 8 Ways to a More Organized Homeschool Carnival

April 30, 2009 By AmyS 1 Comment

Thank you so much for your participation in this carnival, it has been a blast and quite the learning experience.  We have decided to combine the last 2 weeks of the carnival in this post since we only receive 3 entries for “week 7″. Please scroll down to find the winner of the prize package.

Organizing your Activities

Organizing your “Heart”

  • Erin from Delighting in His Richness provides inspiration for those really tough days — like a wheat seed, if we die to self through offering ourselves a living sacrifice God can multiply our harvest for generations.
  • Molly Green from Econobusters says as stay at home moms who blog, work, homeschool, and do social networking, our priorities can get WAY out of line if we allow them to. In order to organize your heart, you have to have some balance in each area..
  • Jamie from Rose Cottage encourages us to let go of the illusion of control and learn to accept God’s Will even when it isn’t convenient, in her post Inconvenient.
  • Fran from Happily Ever After writes about the need to appreciate how our husbands love us “in the little ways”. It’s not about presents and material things, but about honoring us and being there for us when we need them.
  • Lori from All You Have To Give writes a beautiful devotional on the quote, “One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”
  • Christine from Fruit in Season discusses not allowing yourself to become a burden to your children by doing for them what they can do for themselves, in her post Lightening the Load.

Previous Weeks:
Organize your physical space
Organize your morning
Organize your school schedule
Organize your records
Organize your projects
Organize your kitchen

Congratulations to…Tammy from Garden Glimpses!!! You are the winner of a $170 prize package loaded with organizational products!! Prizes include:

  • A $30.00 Gift Certificate to In the Hands of a Child
  • A $25.00 Gift Certificate to CurrClick
  • The Schoolhouse Planner by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine ($39.00 value)
  • The Master Plan e-book by Julie Forsythe ($39.95 value)
  • The Co-op Planner e-book by Julie Forsythe ($19.95 value)
  • Organized Kids: Easy Solutions for Clutter-Free Living by Debbie Williams ($14.95 value)
  • Kid Chore Organizer by Molly Randolph ($5.00 value)

Week 6: 8 Ways to a More Organized Homeschool Carnival

April 24, 2009 By The Amies 2 Comments

Welcome back to the SIXTH week of our 8 Ways to a More Organized Homeschool Carnival. Our sincerest apologizes for such a long break in the middle of this carnival. Vacations, conferences and illnesses seemed to keep getting in the way.

Week #6 is all about organizing your kitchen.

Remember, anyone can submit! We welcome posts, old and new. Everyone who submits a post will be entered for a chance to win an amazing prize package, currently valued at over $100!

Links submitted by our readers:

Kendra Fletcher from Preschoolers and Peace explains why she labels everything.

Lisa from Stretch Mark Mama says “if you can never find the spice you need, or end up knocking 43 jars over on the quest to obtain one—then this pull-out drawer solution will work for you!”

Molly Green from Econobusters shares her invaluable tips, and reminds us that: The kitchen is probably the busiest room in my house and that means that it is often the messiest! However, I have found several good ways to keep things organized and decluttered. I hope some of my tips help others!

Kristen H from A Day in the Life shares the benefits to making monthly menu plans and step-by-step instructions for creating your own menu plans.

Tammy from Garden Glimpses shares a few tips to help your kitchen keep a steady smooth heartbeat.

Angela’s favorite links:

Today’s Tip: Organize Your Kitchen Spices

5 Ways to Organize Your Coupons

Kitchen Storage Tips: How to Organize Your Kitchen

Organizing Your Kitchen Cleaning Supplies

Helpful Home Organization Tips to Organize Your Kitchen

How to Declutter Your Kitchen

Organize your kitchen drawers in an afternoon!

Simple Menu Plans: Considering Your Options

Organize Your Meals

Top 6 Ways to organize Your Fridge

Great Way to Organize Recipes

Don’t forget to send us your submissions for next week’s carnival: Organize your activities – field trips, co-ops, etc. Due by 4/29, posted 5/1. When submitting, please remember to follow the requested format explained here.

Fun with Photography Featuring Lightroom 2: Easy Editing with Presets

April 7, 2009 By Dawn 1 Comment

Okay, so how many of you read last issue’s column and either purchased Lightroom or downloaded a 30-day free trial? You can refer to that post for information about applying for the academic discount you qualify for as a homeschooler.

In the coming months we’ll cover many of the organizational and editing tools in Lightroom; however, this month I want to show you an easy way to get some amazing editing effects: Presets. The graphic above the title of this article is from the Lightroom interface and represents the five Lightroom modules. To edit your photos you will need to be in Develop (on my Mac, typing “D” takes me to the Develop module).

Creative:

  • Aged Photo
  • Antique Grayscale
  • Antique Light
  • B&W High Contrast
  • B&W Low Contrast
  • Cold Tone
  • Cyanotype
  • Direct Positive
  • Selenium Tone
  • Sepia

General:

  • Auto Tone
  • Grayscale
  • Punch
  • Zeroed

Sharpen:

  • Landscapes
  • Portraits

Tone Curve:

  • Flat
  • Strong Contrast

Don’t worry if you don’t understand all of these terms; just play with the Presets and see what you like.

One of the most important things to remember in Lightroom is that it provides a non-destructive workflow, meaning Lightroom doesn’t alter your original image. You can crop and edit to your heart’s content without worrying about overwriting your original.

Here’s an example of different effects created simply by using the Lightroom Presets. (I want to note here that when I use some of the Presets – Antique Photo, Antique Grayscale, Antique Light, B&W High Contrast, B&W Low Contrast, and Sepia – my photos are often overexposed, or too bright/light. I simply drag the Exposure slider on the right side of my screen to the left until the photo is properly exposed. It’s an easy fix.)

These effects are just a mouse-click away with Presets:
Original

original
Antique Light

antiquelight
Antique Grayscale

antiquegrayscale
B&W High Contrast

bwhighcontrast
Sepia

sepia

Beautiful and easy, aren’t they?

Although I love the built-in Lightroom Presets, most of my favorites are free downloads from Matt Kloskowski’s Lightroom Killer Tips blog (http://www.lightroomkillertips.com). Look in his sidebar under Browse Categories and just click the Presets tab to view his preset archives. You can view a sample of each Preset, and download it for free. Matt has even recorded a video on how to install Presets.

Questions? Comments? Feedback? Suggestions for future columns? Email me at dawn@heartofthemattermagazine.com

Recommended Resources:

Check out my article on page 44 of the funky flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.

dawnDawn has been homeschooling her eight children–ages pre-K to college–since 1993. Her interests include photography, and both graphic and web design. She is the owner of Barefoot Blog Designs, and also blogs at My Home Sweet Home, her photoblog and The Homeschool Post.

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