These Plans They Are A Changin'

Soooo, we over here are infamous for our change of plans.  That being said, my first post has become null and void as we are embarking on new terratory in about a week.  We are a small family of four with a not so small dog...my inlaws, whom I love dearly, recently sold their home which just happened to be around the corner from our cozy spot...the news is...we are headed into a large rental home all...YEP ALL 6 +1Molly Dog all while renting out our house.  Our plan is to enter into a temporary home location that will comfortably accomodate all of us and see if we can make it work.  A little scary but very excited we move into our new temporary home on April 15th...

Good thing I didnt spend all that time on all of those big ideas I had.  And yes, there will be some decorating that needs to be done!

A Touch Of Spring...

                     And a much needed touch of Spring it is!!!

The Girl Room Projects...

My daughters room is my next project.

I have LOTS of fun ideas in my head and can't wait to see how they turn out.

Here are some of the things that I have started on...

before

This is the only before and after picture that I took... I LOVE how this turned out!

I picked this up for $2.40 at Hobby Lobby.  Wasn't nuts about the decor but had big plans for it.
No more jammers left laying around on the floor!

after!!!

                                              and a couple other things...

To put all of the BIG bows in...

A great deal that I picked up for $1.

Spray painted white and grabbed some fabric scraps to add some pizaz!

This was also a super deal in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby.

It was a pastel pink and didnt go with our color theme...

Some purple spray paint took care of that!

Still have a few more projects to work on.

Her 5th bday is at the end of April and I am hoping to have everything done by then.

If only I could stop being distracted by the other projects that I find myself doing!  ;)

Craft Space!!!!!!!!

Well, it took long enough for me to get my pics up! There are still some things that I am interested in doing but I need to wait for all of those garage sales to start popping up all over the place so I can look for the rest of my "needs" at great prices.  So for now I am complete with my space for projects.  And projects I have been doing!!!!
P.S. My super cute chair I picked up for $3 at Goodwill!!!

Ummmm...

Ok so I know it has been awhile since I last posted something but that doesn't mean that I haven't been working!  My craft/work space reveal will be coming soon!!!

Where I Started...

I have decided that first and foremost I really need to work on some of the easy organizational things

around the house before I tackle things like repainting the downstairs or rearrange the entire laundry room.  Something a bit more basic and very much needed.  I am going to work on decluttering our house!!!  I have been having a blast!  Those who know me will understand my excitement in getting things around here under control.  Before we had kids there was a place for everything and everything was in its place.  Oh how I LOVED it!!!  So after spending more time checking things out in the Blogging World I found this site, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/. It was love at first sight!  The author of the site is having a 21 day organizing challenge. This challenge started in the beginning of the month but I am having no problem catching up!  I took some pictures of the before and after and here are the pics of what I have done. 

                                                        No judging allowed please! :)

Linen Closet Before

Why didnt the previous owners paint this inside of this door when they painted all the others?!?!?

Me? I am waiting to purchase new doors and trim so for now brown it is!

Linen Closet After

Ella added the heart decor to the mirror.

Both kids are very excited about the mirror that we have owned for 2yrs

that until now was always on the floor behind my bedroom door.

Coat Closet Before

Coat Closet After

I purchased a shoe organizer today.

Just ran out of time to put it together. 

It will be installed and fully functioning tomorrow!

P.S. We owned 10 packs of playing cards. 6 of them were new!

Tupperware and Baking Cabinet Before

Yes, those are some CD's and even 2 portable phones with bases.

Not sure how I intended on using those as Tupperware OR baking!

Also had 2 gallon sized Ziplocs full of cookie cutters that I hardly ever use.

Pulled about 1/2 of them aside for garage sale this summer.

Tupperware and Baking Cabinet After

I purchased the hanging basket for about $6 at Target. 

A bit more than I wanted to spend,

 but it holds more than I thought it would

and the end result makes it worth it.

Under The Kitchen Sink Before

Under The Kitchen Sink After

One of my great buys today was this basket for $3 at Goodwill!

My husband HATES all of the plastic bags stuffed in this cabinet.

Now they are all neat and tidy "stuffed" in a basket where you can't see them!

In addition, today the kids and I took a field trip to Goodwill to see what great buys we could find.  We found plenty...$40 worth to be exact.  WAY MORE than I wanted to spend but I did find some great deals.  Among them are a bunch of good sized baskets for $2-$3 as well as a couple small ones for $1, a great lamp shade and lamp for $5 to go in Michael's room (Much needed as I accidentally broke his when I was opening up his curtains a few weeks ago. Knocked the poor thing right off the dresser!), 2 beautiful large jars with lids to hold small items in the laundry room $3 each, brand new packet of clothes pins that I am going to decorate with scrapbooking paper $1, new throw rug for the front door $3. 

Next we were off to Target to grab a couple things for groceries and I wanted to check out their selection of organizational bins.  Well, they had tons.  The kids were troopers to spend that long looking at the variety of plastic bins!  I again spent more than I wanted to but I got a bunch of them that were on clearance and the $1 section had some great plastic bins with handles.  I know I will be able to use them and what I don't use I will take back!

Well,I definitely have some improvement needed in the "Spent More Than I Wanted To" area!!!  But I really think I have all that I need to finish out this organizing frenzy.  At least I hope I do I am not spending any more $$$!!!  Tomorrow I am thinking of starting on the overhaul in the laundry room.  Time to pack up some of those wedding gifts that are beautiful but haven't been used in the almost 6yrs they have been around.

#1

Ok, so here it goes.  I decided after spending two days (ok a day and a half) browsing through the wonderful world of Blogger that there is definitely a need/want/desire to give it a try.  I am keeping my expectations low. But in joining the bandwagon I am hoping that I will awaken that Creative-Outside The Box-Go Getter-Me that has been asleep, well, since my youngest Ella was born 5yrs ago.  There are so many thing that I cant wait to start on.  BUT, I feel as if I need to pace myself!  I have two adorable children and babysit twice a week.  Also, in the fall I will accompany my husband as we start a new journey with our daughter...homeschooling.  Yes I am busy but so is everyone else.  So here is my challenge: with my husband having finally agreed to take over all of the bills this year (definitely a bittersweet something)...I am on a BUDGET...for real this time!  But we have been in our house for almost 2yrs now and I am just bursting at the seams to get a move on making it Mine...I mean Ours.  I am among the best of them with our champagne taste on a beer budget.  But after all of my hunting I have been greatly inspired to be able to  keep going with our new 2011 budget at hand.  With all of those great, thrifty ideas out there I can't wait to start.


So, here is my TO DO LIST.  I thought it would be best to arrange my ambitions by room in hopes to not overwhelm myself.  But, WOW, some of those lists are long...


Kitchen: (in no specific order)
-finish caulking the hideous crown so as to make it look a little better.
-fix leaky drain under the sink
-organize under the sink
-make coat hooks to mount by door
-find that perfect shelf to go above said hooks
-touch up paint on outside wall
-fill hideous screw holes on window trim of the door
-new lighting in kitchen
-new hardware on door
-paint awful tile backsplash


Living Room
-take down sheers and old curtain rod
-raise other curtain rod and reattach curtain with rings
-fix trim above door
-re wire phone jack
-fix old trunk
-find out what is going on the wall above the couch


Family Room
-PAINT!!!!!


Laundry Room
-organize and box up things that we have not used in the past 6 months; move items to crawl space
-drywall the outside wall
-find preferably free cabinets to mount above washer and dryer
-remove some of the shelving that is no longer needed to accompany our new work space
-set up said work space


Lower Bathroom
-find new lighting
-reorganize under sink and in linen closet
-new tub spout and drain?
-new vanity and sink?


Upstair Bath
-what to do with the brass shower doors
-put together towel hook idea
-shelving above the toilet
-refinish vanity
-new sink?
-trim around mirror
-new lighting
-paint


Michael's Room
-anything would be an improvement but details are still to be determined


Ella's Room
-finish painting trim
-paint closet doors
-paint flowers and butterflies on outside wall
-paint picket fence and mount on wall


My Room
-PAINT!!!!!
-fix door/casing
-mount mirror on back of door
-find a great deal for a chair to go in the corner
-choose pictures for frames
-white curtains


That's about it so far...I know that I need to finish some things in Ella's room before I can jump into anything else. Tomorrow's mission: choose 1st project!