Up-date + De-cluttering

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been a little pre-occupied with our beautiful baby girl. Labor and delivery went as wonderfully as can be hoped for. We are all adjusting quite well. Thanks to grandpa & grandma, the nursery was all but finished when she arrived. I will start posting those pictures really soon!

Lately I have been inspired by all the amazing people who have been working hard to simplify their lives and homes. Check out Pancakes & French Fries 31 Days of William Morris and Apartment Therapy's The 20/20 Cure.

The main thing I am learning is de-cluttering, organizing, etc. takes time. It's all about doing a little something each day.

Plastic Bag Dispenser

When we went camping my mother-in-law had a kleenex box full of plastic bags. I thought it was a little funny at first but I really love the idea now.

Dry Erase Calendar

There are tons of things I still can't find from the move. One I miss a lot is our calendar. I am so used to checking the calendar and writing in important dates. I have been paranoid about forgetting things lately.

So, finally I decided to make one. I purchased these two 8 x 10 frames from the thrift store for a dollar each and had my hubby spray paint them white for me. I kind of like how you can see the woodgrain. Then I designed and printed blank calendar pages to go in the frames. Click on the image below to download a free printable.

Did you know you can write on glass with dry erase markers? My friend Mandi showed me this trick and it works like a charm. Just be careful not to erase anything important. :)

Clean Up!

I am finding one of the most rewarding projects is free... cleaning. It is not my favorite part of putting the house together but it makes things oh so nice. This photo is from cleaning the rocks around the fireplace. Yuck!

Cleaning can save a lot of money. We thought we needed to replace the carpet in the basement when we moved in. However, we couldn't afford it. So, we decided to clean all the carpets so at least we knew they were ok for the kids to play on. Between spot cleaning and the machine they cleaned up pretty well, saving us a lot of money.

Family Time Schedule

I have been wanting to get on a good schedule for years... You know a balanced day where I play with the kids, get work done, and keep the house clean. It's never works. So rather than schedule every moment of my day I thought maybe I would just plan one thing a day. The most important thing is family so that is what I want to focus on...getting the kids out and spending time together.

a creative mint

Monday - Family Night (lesson, games, & treat or other special activity)
Tuesday - Library Day
Wednesday - Story Night & Free Play (whatever the kids want... toys, wrestle, hide-n-seek)
Thursday - Playdate &/or Park (weather permitting)
Friday - Shopping & Craft Day
Saturday - Movie Night
Sunday - Church & Family History (color a picture, write in a journal or look at photos)

My goal is to make each day a little more fun and special for my family. What do you think? Any suggestions?

Get to Work

We have a small two bedroom house and it seems to be getting smaller. I felt like the solution was we need to move to a bigger house. I would still like to get a bigger house. But then I remembered I need to be happy where I am at! Who knows whether we will move soon or not?So I have decided to try my hardest to make the best of my current situation. Who better to help me clean and de-clutter than the FlyLady? She has a great way of cleaning and de-cluttering and keeping it that way. It works like a charm, as long as I get to work and keep working!My favorite cleaning solution right now is baking soda. Use it instead of comet, ajax, etc. It feels good to clean with something you could eat. I learned this tip from my friend over at Tiffany Kay Designs.

Make it Pretty

Sometimes I put up with ugly things because I forget...I can make it pretty! These storage boxes have been above our bedroom closet for a long time. When I saw this idea from the Make It and Love It blog, I decided to make my storage boxes look pretty too. I used pretty paper to cover up the ugly. Much better. Here is my label. You can scale it down and make some of your own. The bedroom is getting closer...