Recap: Beyblade Birthday Party

I'm backtracking to last month's big Birthday party. My son wanted a Beyblade Birthday so I did it up Beyblade style. Weeks before his party, I didn't even know what a beyblade was. It's a cartoon and they are spinning toys that battle until one stops. Little boys go nuts over them.

I did my research and we had a beyblade tournament for his party. As each child walked in the door, my son and I greeted them with these Beyblade lanyards I whipped up on the Cricut. I looked for trading cards to laminate but instead I used the cricut with a marker and did a pattern of the letters and used ribbon and velcro to make the lanyards. I wanted it to look somewhat official to get the kids hyped up.

I made 10 of them and did two sets of ones, two sets of twos, and so on. We gave the first child who walked in the door a number one. Then the next child a number one, then the next a two and so on. The ones battled each other, the twos battled each other, you catch the drift. The winners battled until we had an ultimate winner. Sure in my mind it would work, but in reality these kids just wanted to play and the tourney kinda of fizzled. It was fun though! That was the most important thing!

We set up two arenas for the kids to battle it out. They played in them at random. That wasn't so organized!

"Let It Rip" is what you say when you pull the zipper off the beyblade to make it spin so "LET IT RIP" was my mantle.

Party favors were a few pieces of candy and a small trophy for each child.

Red and Blue Streamers - No Birthday is complete without streamers!

Red and Blue confetti make a fun addition to a balloon. I was a little worried the stars would pop the balloons from the inside but they didn't. However the kids popped all the balloons by accident, so we wound up with a confetti explosion and stars all over the carpet. I am still finding stars!

More red and blue decor. Cut outs with the Cricut!

I think all the kids had fun but next year we are keeping it simpler!

Craptastic!

Crap, crap and MORE crap! My six year old would say, "That's a bad word, Mommy."  I usually don't say that word at home because of little ears but I found Craptastic fitting here. To finish off my last post, I am stoked about having all our papers filed. Working to keep on top of it now!

To simplify the filing cabinet, I made a tiny change to simplify even the most minor thing about filing. I used to keep all my tabs in different positions 1-5 on the file folders. If I had to make a new folder then I would spend time shifting all the tabs around. How ridiculous twas thee!

So I moved all my tabs front and center to keep all files uniform. Not a big deal, but yes a big time saver for someone who is way too particular for her own good.  Please don't judge!

This is a picture of the piles of crap I had collected around the house before I did the filing session. Nice huh. Laundry, two bags of paperwork, a small bin of paperwork... all the crap in the house that didn't have a home. I did however find a home for everything.

Here is a picture post crap. Post(after) my piles of crap, post the droppings of crap from our sick cat. I haven't been posting my projects this week because I've been trying to nurse my 14 year old cat back to health. Poor guy. A lot of people can take cats or leave em but my cat is my baby. He's been with me for years. Anyhow tonight I steam cleaned the carpeted rooms where he has been sick and this is probably the cleanest the carpet has been in a while.  How was that for random!?! Hope YOU are having a better than craptastic week!

What Style Are You? Take The HomeGoods Stylescope Quiz!

I just took a style quiz at HomeGoods and my result was "Sassy"! See two images below.

I think "Sassy" fits more of what I want to be but I'm more of a chicken with color and fall into the category of classy. Heck I'm like that with the design of my blog too.  Take the HomeGoods Stylescope Quiz and see what you are! I'd love to hear!

Cricut CrAzY with Vinyl!

Yesterday we had a large crowd for our son's Birthday. I got a little carried away with vinyl and my Cricut cutter. Uh I think I got A LOT carried away! Just Scroll down.

See which tea was most popular!  I hand washed so I could leave the stickers on for a while. Whatever you do, Do NOT run through the dishwasher!

Can't believe I am showing you the next pix because it was overkill but I thought it would be helpful because people usually can't figure out our kitchen trash can. The trash can opens when waving your hand over its sensor. We didn't buy it for the sensor, it was  a purchase because of its shape. It's easy to shimmy a full bag out! We're dorks and research minor things like this.

Self-explanatory.

Yeah it was overkill but my dorkiness took over. I took the wall "help" down as soon as the party was over. My hub's buddy was making fun of them, that he half expected to see a sign in the potty room saying flush the toilet. Nah it would have read, "leave the seat down!"

WHAT NOT TO DO!

I'll just go ahead and say it. I am an idiot. Or I feel like one at least. Queen of STUPID. Got myself into another situation!

If you have been reading along please take note because I offered some simple advice on an easy way to clean your car's floor mats.

Stupid is as stupid does! It worked on my cars mats but NOT on my husband's. Crap and now I have to make sure I didn't totally just ruin our washing machine. Please say a small prayer.

You see, my mats are smaller and have a fabric backing. His have a rubber backing and are pretty big and MELTED onto the inside of the washing machine. So now, at a desperate attempt, I am running the machine with warm water and vinegar to try and help loosen the rubber stuck to the inside of the tub. I am scrubbing and scraping to get the gick off. This is worse than accidentally washing a disposable diaper in the washing machine. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has ever done that!

See the black rim! I think my heart was in my throat when I noticed this. Doh!

These are actual flecks from the rubber backing. Oh I could kick myself.

let you know how it goes. :(

A Quickie DIY Burlap Curtain For A Block Glass Bathroom Window

Oh I am up WAY too early on a day off so what better to do than show you what I did yesterday. My husband is a little under the weather and so I have been taking care of the kiddos all weekend but I was able to fit in a little home decorating fun. We have a tub with one of those big block glass windows over it. I'm not crazy about how these types of windows look but I guess it skews things from the outside if looking in. ; )

When we bought the house, this bathroom was pale pink with a hand painted flower vine border around the top of the room. As soon as I could I changed it to make it my own. There were also big hooks on either side of the window with a piece of fabric draped along the top of the window. It reminded me of I Dream of Jeannie so I quickly took it down.

I hung a brushed nickel spring pressure tension rod and inserted inside. This is great because there is no drilling and if I change my mind about the curtain, it's easy to change out. I used a pack of silver curtain rod clip rings that I have had for a while. I hung a piece of burlap I had to see how long I wanted it.

I started cutting the length I wanted. No real system here. After I began cutting I took the burlap and using my t-square cleaned up the edges. I glued the wide strips of ribbon only after trying stitch witchery, which did NOT hold.

 

How is that for a quick DIY solution? I like the way the valance turned out. It still lets the light in and is a very casual addition to the room. Have you ever used burlap as a window treatment? What kinds of fabric makeshift piece have you used in lieu of a store bought solution?

Have A Heart OR Not! Turning Country Into Cutesy.

Updating a YUCKY old country wooden shelf, found covered in dust and cobwebs was FUN! Plus I got to post about it in peace! My whole family is asleep so I have the entire downstairs to myself and it's sooooo nice for a change! GRINS ear to ear!

 Here is the AFTER because I am so excited to share!

BEFORE - ICK!

When I was a few states away visiting my folks several months ago, my mom asked me if there was anything in the garage I wanted. I found this baby that she used in the 80's and thought I would do something fun with it for the kiddos!

I pulled out the knobs, painted and sanded and glued them to get 'em back in their holes! I had to do a lot of sanding to the pegs to make 'em fit!

Using painters tape I masked out the areas I wanted to paint. I used leftover wall  paint, which was awesome because I knew it would flow with the colors we have in the house! I had these cute little wooden cars from a craft store. They cost about a quarter a piece. I hot glued them to cover the hearts.

I hung it in the play room so the boyeeeeeeees can hang their medals and awards! They love it! What boys don't LOVE cars, helicoptors and buses! It goes great on the pale yellow walls and they love to display their medals!

This cuddly little creature is my furry friend. I call him my little dust bunny! Teehee! He's my baby and he actually stayed out with me tonight to enjoy the quiet!

Soooo what kinds of things have you updated lately?

Saying "Goodbye" to Facebook but NOT to my friends!

Happy hump day! Hope your week is going well! Things are looking up on this end. Trying to get in a good routine, get organized and have some fun with a newbie kindergartener, which means lots of work for this working momma. Lets just say I struggle to juggle a bit but make the best of it! I have to give it to all the stay at home moms out there though... I seriously don't know how you do it!

Right now there are sooooo many things on my To Do list of things I want to do, on top of my TO Do list of things I have to do! Gotta Birthday party coming up, consignment sale, Halloween costumes, decorating for the holidays, making changes to the house... the list goes on. I have a notebook full of projects to share with you and I can't wait! I'm getting back in the groove.

Having said that I have decided to say "Goodbye" to Facebook. I don't see it as a negative thing but more of a positive and I can put more focus on more projects. Facebook has been fun and has allowed me to stay in touch with people plus make some wonderful new friends and I am so excited and grateful for that. Everyone I have met has been so supportive and I hope to keep those friendships alive. So I'm not really going anywhere just leaving Facebook but I wanted to give anyone who might follow the chance to bookmark me and continue to read along for lots more home decorating and organizing fun!

It may take me a few days to sign off completely but I wanted to give all my friends a heads up! We can chat through the blog and you can still find me on Twitter and Pinterest. Have a good night and we'll talk soon. :)

Cleaning Car Mats the LAZY (But Effective) Way! YAY!

WOW it was a whirlwind of a week. I have got to tap the brakes and try and slow myself down. SERIOUSLY.

This was a first for me and somewhat alarming but Thursday I rushed to the doctor from work mid-afternoon after experiencing sharp pains in my chest. My neck was bothering me, I was achy all over... Quite scary when you google the symptoms! Come to find out I must have injured myself trimming our bushes Monday night and strained the joints in my chest.  Hurts like a mug if you have never had this happen and it takes a couple of days for the pain to set in after the injury. The name for it is Costochondritis. I've always tried to be a tomboy with yard projects but I guess I overdid it trying to hack the bushes like the HULK with the trimming shears. ; ) How do I always do such stupid things? It never fails, I feel like the Queen of STUPID yet again. So now I am on anti-inflammatory meds for 2 weeks. Thankfully it was not my heart just a minor, self-inflicted injury!

On to the car mats! I am excited about this one. Tonight I washed my car for the first time in months and man did it need it. It was horrifying how many raisins and cheerios and smashed up food littered the floor boards. Before kids I washed my car every other weekend and took so much pride in it. Nowadays I don't have time to wash the car because I'm always running but tonight it sparkles and shines. The car is 12 years old and I really enjoy it and especially after it gets a bath like this. No "new car" fever here!

The interior is not the best color for dirt and grime and spills. It is tan and shows everything! While I was vacuuming I told my husband I wanted new floor mats for Christmas, I just couldn't look at them anymore. Then I jokingly said I wondered if I could just throw them in the washing machine. So a light bulb came on and Google it was!!!!! Cleaning car floor mats just got easier! I added a few steps to this process but it worked like a charm!

I only washed two at a time and turned mats carpet-side-in to avoid damaging the backing. Each mat was placed on opposite sides of each other. I washed on "hand wash" cycle using warm water.

It's jumping the gun but below is a picture of how clean the mats got!

Below is a before shot. GROSS!

I pre-soaked using a generous dose of OxiClean powder and warm water and scrubbed.

I covered the mats with the OxiClean and warm water mixture and let soak for about 15 mins before throwing them in the washer.

I used liquid detergent and OxiClean in the actual washer too. The mats came out super clean. I sat them out to air dry.

My car is going to feel like new! Can't wait to get them back in place! Do you have carpet or rubber mats and how do you clean yours?

MISC! Label Another Basket

How have you been? It has been a while. I usually try to post a couple of times a week but for a while now it hasn't been happening. Just too much going on. Getting ready to send a child off to Kindergarten and so leave it to me to run around like a chicken with my head cut off b/c I waited until the last possible moment to purchase school supplies.

MISC! I soooooo try to get away from this word in everything I do. Miscellaneous  just seems like the file ALL our crap gets dumped into. Miscellaneous to me is the L-A-Z-Y that I become when I don't want to label something for a specific thing. This little basket is my hub's dumping ground when he walks in the house each day though so I found it appropriate to label it as such. Plus it makes a great statement and looks mighty cute across the room from the etc basket of toys!

All you need for the look:

-small wooden letters
-acrylic paint
-glue gun

I think it cost me $1.00 for the letters. They are so cheap! You can buy them in the color you want but I had to buy them in white and paint b/c there weren't enough black ones. Until next time!