Small project, turned BIG! Part 2

Yesterday I shared with you how I decided to do a quick makeover in my master bathroom cupboard, that turned into three more spaces being dealt with! Here is project #2. Our 2nd bathroom {guest/kid's bathroom} has two cupboards, so each of those got a new look as well. I was in a hurry to deal with this issue and forgot to take before pictures, but they looked much like the master bathroom one. Piles of stuff. Ugh. 

So here is the new, organized look at the first side: 

The kids have a step stool now, so I needed to keep that tucked away some where.
This worked perfectly. 

Doesn't that seem to work so much better? :) I'm very happy with it. Although, again, I was really annoyed by the plumber's lack of concern for my need to organize these cupboards! 

The other side was full of my cleaning supplies, which turned into project #3, again, I'll share that one tomorrow. ;) But the overflow from both the master bathroom and the other cupboard in this bathroom needed a place to go, so this cupboard was where they needed to be. The benefit of freeing up this space was making room for other things that were always "out." The kid's bath toys now have a home and so do their toothbrushes, toothpaste and mouthwash. I also can stash away extra bottles of toiletries upstairs now, rather then having to keep them in the basement. All around this little makeover has been a HUGE improvement to our use of space in both bathrooms.

View of the 2nd cupboard:

And remember this? 

 Now it looks like this:

Are you starting to see why this took me a lot longer then the time I was thinking?!?! ;) This brings the count up to 4 cupboards getting a makeover. AND, I'm still not done...one more tomorrow. Don't you want to know where I moved all those cleaning supplies too?

Small Project, turned BIG!

Do you ever start a project thinking, "oh this will be real quick." Then a week later you're still trying to finish that really "quick" project. No? Oh, well, it happens to me...all. the. time. Maybe it's because I get too easily distracted by other really "quick" projects that I should do. You know, while I'm there, I might as well change up a few more things, right? My other "excuse" are the two little people that live here, for whatever reason, they seem to need my attention, a lot! Is it normal that they think they need to eat at least three times each day!?!?  Just wondering... ;) Okay, all kidding aside, this really does happen to me and it just happened AGAIN this week. Let me share {hey, it's my blog and sharing is what I do on here! ;)}

It started out as a quick project to re organize the bathroom cupboard in our master bathroom. For one main reason, I was sick of looking at this every day:

Ugh! Piles of stuff every where!

Or this problem...constantly a cluttered counter.

This unit was a clutter collector.
*I actually want to get rid of it, but for now, can't replace it.
Gonna have to deal a little longer.

I found some more organizers at the store and figured I'd give it a QUICK makeover! The makeover part worked out really well, just not the quick part. :)

All the hair "stuff" put into ONE bin.

A look at the new cupboard. Everything is neatly placed in it's place. :) 

The other side. 

By the way, a little side note here. Is anyone else annoyed by the GIANT pipes under their sinks?!?! I guess they do serve a purpose and it wouldn't be a sink without them, but really, did they have to be so big and so obnoxiously placed?!

Look at how much space is being taken up by that pipe.
I can't put anything near it because NOTHING fits around it well! :-/ Ugh!!

Okay, moving on. The end result has been lovely.

The finished look! :)

This cupboard by itself wasn't what took me a week to finish. It actually only did take me about an hour, but the mess that was left from all that didn't fit back into this neatly organized space, created project #2, which led to project #3. I'll be sharing those with you in another post! :)

Is it always like this?!

The first day of preschool for our oldest has come. Is it always this bittersweet? I'm guessing yes. It's the story of every mother.

She is BEYOND excited and has been telling everyone {even strangers} how many days until she goes to school. It's such a fun thing for her and I'm so happy for her. This is a BIG milestone in her life and it's meant to be celebrated. There is so much to be thankful for. She is healthy, smart, loveable, social and SO ready for school.

I'm actually really ready for her to go to school on some level too. Mostly because I know it'll be good for her, it'll help her grow and she'll have a chance to explore and use her little brain in ways she just can't do at home. It'll also give me the chance to have some one-on-one time with my little man, which I'm excited for. He's never really had all my attention to himself on a regular basis, so this will be good for us too. Of course, I'll also be back to having just ONE child to keep track of for 3 hours every other day! :) Do you think that should double my productivity level again?!?!

Then, I look back at her sweet little baby pictures and I'm just not ready for her to be going to school yet. Really, how did she go from that squeezable, pudgy cheeked little bundle of pink I was carrying every where to a little girl!? Her cute little pig tales sticking straight out the side of her head had to have been one of the cutest things ever! I'm just not sure I'm ready for her to be out in the world all on her own yet. She's still my baby girl.

Dave Ramsey $1 Deal!

I just needed to share with all of you that you can get two downloads of Dave Ramsey books for $1!

Highlights

• Two audio downloads from the industry’s top finance expert
• Learn to manage, save, and spend money more wisely
• Teach kids the importance of saving for things they want

Details

• Includes: "Cash Flow Planning" and "The Super Red Racer" audio MP3's
• Cannot be combined with any other offers
• Downloads only compatible with broadband connections & can be burned to CD (up to 10 times only)
• Limit (1) voucher per transaction
• How to redeem: Online
• Expires February 28, 2012

See the fine print that applies to all Mamasource deals

Follow this link and you'll be on your way to your downloads for only $1.

5QF

Happy Friday!


We are busy this week with all sorts of happenings. We're still working on getting ready for our vacation. It seems the more people you have in your family the longer it takes! ;) Either that or I just start earlier and earlier because I'm so excited! :) No matter the reason, it has been another full week of preparations. 


Added to the week were a few hang outs with girlfriends for play dates, a little more preparations for Miss Princess to go to start school next Monday, having a little good bye party for my sis who will be moving overseas for a year (sad, but exciting for her), and all the usual "stuff". You'd think the kiddos could go a few days with out having to eat at least 3 times, but for whatever reason, they don't really go with that idea too well! ;)


So in honor of Friday and a crazy week, we'll do a Five Question Friday day! :) 

1. Did you make any fun purchases this week?

Yep, a bunch of stuff for our trip. For the most part it was food/snacks sort of things since we'll be making most of our own meals there to keep the cost down for both families! I did get a few little travel surprises for the kids though, so that was fun. I rarely, rarely buy the kids toys or fun things like that, so this will be a special treat for them. Of course, I have some selfish reasons too, I'm hoping they'll be more likely to entertain themselves with some new toys and let me get a little vacay in too! ;) Wishful thinking?!

2. If you could go to any musical concert, what would it be?

I'm not a huge concert type girl, but I've always wanted to go to a concert at Red Rocks in Colorado. So if/when I go to any kind of concert {other then my hubby's}, it'll most likely be there. 

3. What is your least fav/ most fav house chore?

Only one?!?! Haven't you all heard me tell you yet that I really want a cleaning service?! :) If I haven't said it on here, let me just say that again. I could SO use some help in the cleaning department. It is NOT  my thing. I can organize and put things away, but cleaning, ugh! But, since we're choosing our least favorite, I'd say its a tie between washing the dishes {I just hate putting my hands in that dirty, floaty-filled water, ick!} and putting away clothes {seems like I'm ALWAYS putting clothes away--not fun}

4. Would you prefer new appliances or clothes?

For now, clothes. I always love a new outfit. I think at some point, we'll be getting new appliances, but I'm not feeling anxious to do that any time soon. Well, except for the dishwasher. It's a piece of junk. Note my last answer: dishes. It doesn't help when you have a dishwasher that doesn't actually DO it's JOB! But, I'd still take a new outfit for now! ;)

5. Miracle Whip or Mayo?

Mayo. 


I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! 


P.S. I have NO idea why this post is in two fonts. It's annoying, I know. Sorry. Can't figure out why it's doing that. 

Ways to Save this Month!

I found this chart from LearnVest to be really helpful, so I'm sharing. :)

What to Buy in August

	Trees, shrubs, plants Prices decline steeply after midsummer, so go toward the end of August to get great deals. Store your plants according to package instructions so you can plant them next spring. Otherwise, consider buying bulbs, which you can plant at any time.
	MP3 Players Some stores may put these on sale to make way for the latest models. They’ll want to sell the current models before October, when the holiday rush starts.
	Flip-Flops Even if you wear flip-flops inside the house all year round, they’ll be harder to find later in the year—buy them now, when retailers still have tons of cheap flip-flops in stock.
	Camping Gear This usually goes on sale in August and September to make room for next year’s items. Look for good deals on folding camping chairs, tents, camp stoves, lanterns and other outdoor gear.
	Lawn Mowers And Swing Sets These are summer items, so stores are trying to get rid of them now to make room for fall products.
	Dehumidifiers Dehumidifiers typically go on sale in August, just as the heat and humidity begin to calm down.
	Athletic Shoes Back-to-school sales offer good deals on tennis shoes for children and adults.
	Linens And Storage Containers These tend to go on sale for the off-to-college crowd.
	Computers As back-to-school sales begin to take root, you’ll see more and more sales on computers.

What I'm Diggin' Today

Photo Credit

In honor of the "What I'm Diggin'" Blog hop, I'm going to tell you all what things I'm really enjoying right now. I've had a full week with all kinds of great things going on around this house, but I'm really digging right now is that it's going to be in the low 90's all week. Yes, I know some of you think I'm crazy, but I LOVE it! L.O.V.E. summer weather. I have so many things to do this week, but I can promise you I'll find a way to get outside as much as I can every single day this week to soak up the sun for as long as I can. You can call it end of summer all you want, but when it's still in the 90s, I call that summer weather and I'm SO digging it! :)

Photo Credit

What are you diggin' this week?

Round Bouquet

When I decided to paint my daughter's room, several other projects made the list too. One of them was to make some decorative balls to hang on her wall. This weekend, I took on the last one and it turned out to be easiest of all! 

Here's how I did it.

1. Gather the materials needed

1 bunch of artificial flowers
1 styrofoam ball

2. Pull the flowers off the stem.
3. "Pin" the end of the flower into the styrofoam ball
      By pin, I  mean you just push the end into the ball, like you would a push pin.
4. Continue around the ball.
5. Attach ribbon to one end of the ball using a corsage pin.

The project took me less then 5 minutes!

Finished Ball of Flowers

All three of them hanging on the wall
(they are actually all different, but it's hard to tell in these pictures)

White one is done with white tissue paper
The middle one is the flower ball
The one on the far right is a store bought ($0.88!) wood flower arrangement

A closer look at the store bought one.

There you have it. A real simple project to dress up any wall! :)

Linking up to all these parties!

Mission Accomplished!

Taking a little break from the computer worked! :) I was able to knock of everything off my to do list. Of course {as all you mamas know} these lists are never ending, so I've promptly filled a new one. BUT, the great news is that I had finished EVERY THING that was on the one for the weekend list. :) So, I'm back. Can't promise a lot of posts from me this week, but I'll do my best.

Too busy...

Alright, here's the truth. I have way too much to do right now to be sitting in front of the computer. Some of it is really fun stuff like getting ready for our vacation. :) Other things like getting ready for our vacation are stressing me out. Yes, I did say that correctly. Yes, I do know I said getting ready for our vacation is both fun and stressful. Can't anyone relate?!?! There is all the fun planning the outings you'll take, thinking and dreaming of all the fun you'll have. Then you look around your house and realize you are SO unprepared to leave in a matter of weeks. There is so much cleaning/projects to finish, getting all the back-to-school craziness taken care of and...packing. Yep, it's a pain.

So, rather then spending a lot of time telling you all about the stuff I've been doing or should be doing, I'm just going to go ahead and DO my to do list! :) Good plan, don't you think?!

Don't worry, I will fill you in! I promise...you'll just have to be patient. I'm signing off until Monday, hopefully that'll give me enough time to kick out a bunch of my list. Have a great weekend!

Decorated Letters

As part of the makeover for our daughter's room, I wanted to make letters of her name. I found this super easy way to create them and I couldn't resist! :) Of course you know by now, that means I get to share this find with you too.

The supplies you'll need:

Oops! I forgot to add the ribbon, hot glue gun and the exact o knife.

Step 1: Choose some of your favorite scrap book papers for each letter.

Step 2: Trace each letters with a pencil on the back of scrapbook paper chosen for that letter.

Step 3: Cut out each traced letter with an exact o knife.

Step 4: Mod Podge each scrapbook paper letter to the wood letter. 

Step 5: Use the exact o knife to perfect the letters.

Step 6: Glue a piece of ribbon to the back of each letter.

Step 7: Hang them!

After giving these a try, I'm hooked!

I linked up to all these fun parties! 

Household Binder

I've been interested in making a Home binder for a while and finally got one finished.

I got most of my printables from this website.

I already had the binder and a lot of the supplies, so all I had to pick up where the page dividers, a couple folders and some clear pencil holders. I don't think it cost me more then $5 to put it all together. 

I have placed every checklist in a clear cover so that I can use a dry erase marker on them and simply wipe it off when I'm finished. That way I'll save on all the ink and paper, and will still have the lists on hand when I need them. 

Here are my categories: 

1. Emergency

Under this category I have all our emergency contact phone numbers (the police, poison control, doctor's numbers, that sort of thing). I will also be adding some basic information about what first aid and CPR. 

2. Cleaning & Chores
This category has several checklists. A master to do list, to do lists for each season (for example I put changing out our batteries for all our smoke detectors on the fall and spring lists, specific lawn care that takes place at the end of summer on that list, that sort of thing). Then I included a weekly chore chart and added jobs that are "regulars" for each week. I also have a chore chart for each of the kids.

Here are the print outs I used for this section:
-Master To Do List
-Fall & Winter List
-Spring & Summer List
-Weekly Chores
-Kid's Chore Chart

A picture of my checklists. After taking the pictures, I filled them all in! :)

3. Kitchen
The first thing I have under the kitchen tab is a clear pencil case that I put a RECIPES label on. I plan on keeping recipes in here that I'll need throughout the week/month that are specific to the menu plan. I may also throw some in there so I remember to try them too. Just behind that I have a favorite recipes.

Here are all the checklists I have for the kitchen. Not all of them are filled out yet, but I'm hoping to get on that soon. :)

-Favorite Recipes (I'm hoping to use this list as a quick resource as I finish my menus)
-Recipes to Try
-Pantry Inventory
-Freezer Inventory
- My monthly menu planner sheets that I've been putting together throughout the year. (Not every month is done yet--hopefully this time around! :)).

4. Phone Numbers
This section I'm quite excited about. You know all those random phone numbers you have written some where to your favorite salon, the best local plumber, the guy that does blows our your sprinklers each year, your babysitters. Maybe you're like us and have a pile of random business cards laying around too. Well these handy little sheets are meant to get rid of those piles! :) I'll be gathering them all up and filling out my nice little sheets now so that they are all in one central location. Great, isn't it?

The lists:
-Family Yellow Pages
-Family Phone Book
-Important Phone Numbers  (some of these are a little repetitive, but I suppose you can't have some of those numbers in enough places!)

I like having these in here for two reasons:
1. A babysitter can find all our important numbers really quickly.
2. In the event that I can't find my phone (where ALL my memory is stored and all these important numbers) I'll still be able to call all the important places from someone else's phone. :)

5. Events
I'm sure this section might grow with time, but for now I have these two lists in it:
-Picnic Checklist 
I decided to print this one off as a quick reference for larger picnic type events or birthday parts to make sure I've thought of all the necessary food/paper supplies.
-Yard Sale Checklist

6. Traveling
For this category I did print off the available free printable for the packing list, but then I also created my own from one I've seen at the store. I love how it turned out and I'm giving them away to you now too! You can chose between the black and white version or the color version. They will also be available under my tutorials and printables tab too.

-My packing list printable (Color) (B&W) *Please note: these are legal size


*UPDATE NOTE: I'm having trouble getting the files to load properly, but if you are interested in printing off the packing list, you can do so by clicking on the picture above. I will try to upload the B&W version the same way to hopefully help get it to you! :) Please let me know if it's still not working. Thank you!


-Travel Packing List
-Pre-Travel List
-Camping List
Again, I just like having a second "brain" to browse while I'm thinking through all I have to get finished before a trip. I'm certain I'll have my own written lists around the house, but this serves as a launching pad and also as a place other members of the family can reference for ideas of ways they can help.

7. Birthday & Anniversary
The first thing I have is a card and gift card envelope. My plan is to stock up on gift cards when there are specials at stores that I know family and friends enjoy or are popular places. I'm also planning on getting a few while out shopping at stores that I know I'll be able to use for gifts. This way when we have the last minute "oh no! We forgot to get them a gift!" moment, I'll be prepared! :)

This one will be filled with cards and gift cards that I can grab for any occasion! :)

Right behind there I have these lists:

-Birthday & Anniversary Calendar
-Party Planner
-Guest List

8. Kids

First I have these lists:
-Behavior Chart
-Reward Chart
-Potty Training Chart
I like having all these sorts of things on hand! :) I will also be adding some specific directions for a baby sitter under this tab so there is a quick resource for them too.

Then I have a folder for each of the kids. I'll keep their school or activity calendars and information in them. Pretty much anything that pertains to each of them will end up in the folder! :)

Finally, I have a folder for this little piece of the world wide web. :) I have a Blog folder where I'll keep some of my latest ideas and plans.

There it is! :) My very first home binder. I'm looking forward to putting it to use.

You can see my list of link ups here.