Toy Organization

H   a   p   P   y       S   a   T   u   R   d   A   y! 

School is back in session so it's time for schedules and organization! If you haven't noticed, I'm an organization FREAK. We have limited time to do things so I'm kicking it in high gear to make our lives easier! Next week I'll share one small organizational purchase i made that I think is going to change our lives for the better. 

I've been working on both my kids' rooms and closets and did this a loooong time ago. It helps keep the toys organized in the bottom of our kids' closets. They know where everything goes and it really helps keep their bedroom floors tidy.  

Road Signs As Wall Decor!

TGIF! Have you been doing anything around your home to decorate or change things up lately? I surprised my little one with these wooden wall signs last week and he LOVES them! Our kids' rooms are themed and they are my favorite rooms in the house. We really try to have fun with them but this one has been a slow process. I originally found a big metal stop sign at Hobby Lobby but then after browsing the interwebs found all these wooden ones for half the price. So do you think my child will pass the road sign test when he turns 16?!? Happy Friday to you! Do your children have themed bedrooms?

 

 

First Day School - How To Keep Track Of Each Grade!

Happy Tuesday! Yesterday was our son's first day of school and it was exciting to see how excited our little guy was about it(minus the sugar high he had at 11:00 the night before because he snuck candy from a goodie bag into his room without us knowing). LOL! 

I'm not that great at keeping up with firsts and the baby book, though I do try. This year I jumped on the bandwagon to "try" to keep up with first day pictures for school.

I had a slate sign I just picked up at Michaels this week. It was $1.99 with a 40% off coupon. BAM! How's that for cheap. I also ordered a chalk board marker off ebay for a buck and some chump change and made this super quick sign yesterday morning for our son! I'm going to try to keep this up each year!

He held it all ready and packed for his first day of school. It's a great little marker and a nice touch to his first day picture!

When he got home, I had decorated the outside of the house to welcome him home. :) Nice touch, eh?!?! Hope your little ones and big ones have great first days of school. So far we're off to a great start! Happy day!

After Beadboard

Good Morning on this gorgeous Friday! This morning has been great. Got in a good workout and grocery store visit before the kids or hubs ever woke up (well except that I purse dialed the house from my cell phone while in the check out line at the grocery store! OOPS). This week has bee a little busy trying to deal with some repairs on our home and keep the kiddos happy. I hope this finds everything going well in your home! 

I'm still catching up on projects I did when my parents kept our kids over a week this summer. Here is another thing I updated with an easy change. I added beadboard(bought and cut at Lowes) to the back of this cabinet in our kitchenette. The piece of furniture was given to us and was used as a microwave stand before. I changed out the natural wooden knobs for some brushed nickel ones and this summer I added a little bead board as a nice and simple decorative backing to add a little something something to this piece. I still want to add a little something else to it. The basket came from the upstairs bathroom. One of the handles had broken off of it and I wanted to repurpose. I added the wooden "H" for a simple little touch.  

Below is another picture before I added the beadboard!

I think the beadboard adds a nice casual look to the piece!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend if I don't talk to you!

Beach House Vacation Check List

TGIF! Hope you have a great Friday! My family just got back from a vacation at the beach and here is a simplified guide to help you when packing for a vacation at a beach house! I think it has most of the specifics covered. I didn't get down to the exact items on groceries but it differs between families! We packed so much in coolers that we only had to make two small trips to the grocery store for food, which was heaven when it comes to lines at the grocery stores at the beach! Surprisingly we gauged it pretty well and took just the right amounts of things, minus a few items that we didn't touch and brought back home. Now we know for next time! Hope you have a great weekend! 

Save Money Using Appliances At Night

How is your week going? Laundry for me has turned into a two day process. Reason why? To try to save a little money, honey! Anywhere I can cut costs, I try to these days. So now I start laundry Sunday night - running two loads through the washer and dryer, folding them Monday morning. Then I finish the loads Monday night to try and conserve energy. We'll see if I notice a difference but I'm trying "fo shizzle". Happy Tuesday! 

 

 

More Space For Spices

Good Morning! Something that needed my attention was our spice cabinet. Spices were EVERYWHERE! Several years ago I redid our spices and organized them in baby jars but the baby jars were small and didn't fit the spices well. Some spices came in such big containers that they didn't fit in the baby jars. I still had spices in containers they came in. Below is a BEFORE picture. My label maker is what was used to make the labels.

Below is the more improved organization of my spices. I found some 8 oz canning jars at Wal-Mart and they seem to fit the spices well. There is plenty of room in the jars. I got a pack of 12 so I've got four more to use but ran out of labels. The labels are removable labels also purchased from Wal-Mart. I was out of ink for the label maker so used these other labels. It works.

The cabinet cleaned up nicely!

Cleaned Out Some Canning Jars - Why? Coming Soon!

Happy Sunday! WHATTTUP? Cleaned out these canning jars and I'll share what I'm doing with them very soon! Until then - Talk Atcha LATER!

Saying No To Stuff Can Be Hard But It's A Great Philosophy!

It's funny, I'm currently reading a book my father gave me years ago (but shhh! don't tell him that) and it's really hitting home with me. It is Dave Ramsey's book - Financial Peace - Restoring Financial Hope to You and Your Family. I am almost finished with the book but I'm referencing back at the beginning where Dave Ramsey defines "Stuffitis".  He defines it as a deadly disease where the bearer has an insatiable desire for only "good stuff". He's pretty blunt in handling money and from his experiences I think it is very helpful. He is also religious, though doesn't make it a focus in the book but I think it is great that he relates money, whether it is spending or saving, to God and the Bible. I quote the book here, "Our forefathers may not have intended this, but they put a reminder on our currency to avoid "stuffitis" - "In God We Trust." Please notice it did not say "In Stuff" We Trust.

 

 

I don't like to admit that I get caught up in "stuffitis" but just like most people, I do. If I as much as go into a store and see new patterns or the latest trends or designs of something, especially house decor, I'm taken. I've been working on paring down our stuff and probably sound obsessive talking about constantly weeding through our things to donate, consign or outright sell... I lost my grandfather at the end of the year last year and it was truly an eye opening experience watching my parents and other family members have to go through all of my grandparents' belongings and sell off two cars, their house and everything that filled their home. It took half a year or more to get it all done and my grandparents were not by any means hoarders. It was a very emotional thing on top of a lot of work.

 

Saving money and not spending is a wonderful thing and I try to go through things so I only have one of everything and set my limits on not bringing more into the house without getting rid of things but it is a little tough with children. It's something I'm working on to teach them though too. If the purchase is something useful, that is a little different, just trying not to do any impulse buying. It is hard though because I LOVE pretty things and there are so many pretty things in stores. I just have to keep it in check and remember it is just stuff! :)

 

My current motto is - Say No To Stuff and Yes To Life. I am at a point in life where I would rather have life experiences and do things rather than have to keep organizing things we own or have to deal with useless possessions. It doesn't mean I don't want to continue decorating my house or changing things up but I have to set limits. Shopping just to shop used to be a hobby and I'm trying not to let it be anymore. It is hard though. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy to shop, I just don't want it to get the best of me. Maybe if I keep reminding myself of this, it will sink in eventually. LOL! Does anyone else go through this? I hope you have a wonderful weekend and get to do something FUN!