Decorative Storage

Chickie and I went garage saling yesterday. Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE having her home again! Anyway, we hit some awesome sales and I picked up this guy for 50 cents.

I was looking for some kind of storage because these are a permanent fixture in my living room. Legos are one of Johnsie's favorite toys and mine too. Open ended, creative toys are the best. But, they aren't the cutest to have sitting out.

So, now the legos have a new home. I added in some puzzles and tanagrams. I like having some quick and easy toys handy for us.

I tucked him under our coffee table. This is so much better.

Quick Fix

It seems like most garbage companies out here in NY are small and independent. And for that reason, I assume, they offer us no garbage can or recycling can rental. So, that meant that we had to purchase a couple of new cans.

I priced out some that had the recycling symbol already on them and they were seriously super spendy. So I purchased 2 of the same plain old black cans. Lids connected of course.

"Who cares?" says you. Well, no one, but me really. See, we were now having issues with the fam being able to tell apart the garbage can from the recycling can and stuff was getting mixed up.

So, I printed out a recycling symbol.


Traced it out onto some contact paper.

Stuck that contact paper on one of the cans. And sprayed on some plastic friendly paint.

Ok, so my contact paper didn't stick the best and it ran a little. And, I was a little over zealous with the paint and it went over the edges of the contact paper. But, I am not complaining. It is a garbage can for goodness sake. One that will sit outside through rain, sleet and snow.

I am just happy that I won't have to sort our garbage from our recycling anymore. Here ends that debacle.

Flylady-My Hero

About a year and a half ago I was introduced to the Flylady. For those of you who don't know who she is she calls herself, "Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home." She uses the acronym FLY for Finally Loving Yourself. Her goal is to help you maintain order in your life and not live in CHAOS-Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. (been there and am doing it)

When I first started using her I really did begin to get organized and I was able to keep a moderately clean house. I don't know about you but our house seems to get overrun with paper. Ugh. Anyway, I hadn't really been able to get into the full swing of things before we learned we were moving. So, the Flylady kinda took a backseat.

Now, that we are in the new house I am definitely feeling overwhelmed. I think that if we had moved into the house after it was fully finished life wouldn't be as chaotic, dirty and messy as it is now. We won't even talk about the dust I have and will really have once Ryan starts sanding the drywall in the basement this week.

I really don't know where to start. So, I said to myself, "Duh, Cindy, get back on the Flylady's schedule." She tells you what to clean on what days and even has a checklist for what to clean in each room. Each week you will work on a specific "zone" of your house. You can even request to be sent a reminder email to help you stay on task.

Here is how she breaks the month down:

Zone 1: First few days of the month until the next Sunday: Entrance/front porch/dining room

Zone 2: First full week of the month: Kitchen/ back porch/laundry room/pantry

Zone 3: Second full week of the month: Main bathroom/extra bedroom/ kid's rooms/ craft room

Zone 4: Third full week of the month: Master bedroom/bath/closet

Zone 5: Last few days of the month from Monday until the 1st: Living room/den/TV room

I can't wait to start. Granted tomorrow is Sunday and she calls Sunday "Renew Your Spirit Day." So, I think I may work on last weeks zone, which was the living room. Next Sunday I can renew my spirit. I am too anxious and I just need to start.

Check her out!

Family Memo Board

A couple of weeks ago I made this memo board to help keep track of all the goings on in our family.

In our old house I just taped a calendar to the side of our fridge and I would paper clip things to it. Well, here I can't do that. Our fridge is sandwiched between cabinets and plus it always looked really messy.

This baby hangs in our mudroom.

I bought this cork board from the thrift store for 99 cents. It is a big one, 24" x 36". I painted the frame and distressed it a little. Covered it with some fabric I already had by using staples and then I glued on some ribbon.

Of course, since my cricut is finally out of storage I just had to use it.

I found a little white board calendar at Staples and then I also printed out calendars for the next 6 months. That way when appointments or practices are scheduled during the coming months I can keep track of them.

Once school, football and hockey start I foresee this guy getting lots of use. This is where I plan to hand field trip notices, supply lists, etc.

I am hoping this helps us to run like a well oiled machine. Or at least one that isn't in a dire need of an lube job.

Dollar Store Bins

I am trying to be super, uber organized in this house. Like we all know and I have said it before chaos breeds chaos. So, this is what I did under my kitchen sink.

The Dollar Tree has these stackable bins in 2 different sizes. They worked perfect.


I purchased a bunch more to use under our bathroom sink.
When I am organized I am so much happier.

Operation Organization

In case you missed it, Melinda over at Coming Clean is hosting an 8 week long Organization Challenge. This is week 4.

I was all ready to post yesterday but, for some reason the computer was not being agreeable and would not let me post.

These 2 areas were pretty easy clean ups. I did get rid of a ton of old hand towels. I am not sure why we accumulated so many.

My scrapbooking area is next. This place is so disorganized. It needs a lot of help.

Operation Organization Week 3

In case you missed it, Melinda over at Coming Clean is hosting an 8 week long Organization Challenge. This is week 3. I was supposed to post this yesterday but I just never got around to it.

My challenge last week was to clean up my laundry room and craft supply area. It was messy,
messy.
The top of my dryer was covered with unfolded socks. I loathe folding socks. So, I sat down and started folding. The 2 little garbage cans on top of the dryer will be used to put socks in. One for kiddos and 1 for hubby and I. My daughter painted the flowers on the one.

This is my basement linen closet, where I keep all of our sheets and blankets. Another thing I loathe is folding fitted sheets. I just can't make them neat like my grandmother used to. UGH
These are the cabinets that are above my washer and dryer. They were a mess. Now I actually have room to put other stuff in there. I will probably put some of the stuff that is under my kitchen sink in here.

Under my kitchen sink. MESSY. I obviously can't keep anything clean and organized. This is my challenge for next week.

Along with the upstairs linen closet.

Operation Organization- Week 2

In case you missed it, Melinda over at Coming Clean is hosting an 8 week long Organization Challenge. This is week 2.

I am so excited. I was this week's random winner of a $10 Target gift card. Thanks Melinda.

My challenge this week is the Laundry Room. First and foremost I need to organize my craft area. I watch 2 little boys (2 & 4) during the year along with my own 3 yr old and we do lots of crafts. However, I find myself rushed many times throughout the day and I just throw things on the counter. I always tell myself I will put it away later but, I never get to it and sooner or later things pile up. As you can plainly see.

Anyway, hopefully when that task is done I will go on to another part of the laundry room. Like say, the top of my dryer. It is full of socks because I really don't enjoy folding socks. Ish.

Operation Organization

Melinda over at Coming Clean is hosting an 8 week long Organization Challenge.

I am really up for this challenge. My mantra is Be Positive and Keep it Simple. Well most of the time I can stay pretty positive but, keeping it simple is my downfall. And that isn't just with clutter in my house. Just ask my husband. He will tell you that when I am explaining anything to him, I for sure don't keep it simple. He is always telling me I give him way to many details.

Anyway, on to the house. After almost 17 years of marriage and 3 kiddos we sure have our share of junk. I swear junk breeds in my house. Let's just say I will get rid of bags of toys, junk, clothes from a closet and when I come back the closet is just as full. What the heck? Ugh.

Well, I'm like most people and not all that happy about how messy my house can get and it is one thing to say that but it is another to take a picture. Well, here it goes. This is our dresser in our bedroom. Notice the large amounts of my husbands clothes draped over it. Hmmm. I'm not saying he's the only one with junk on there but, hey buddy, hang up your clothes. And what's funny, see be positive, is that a few years back I bought an over the door rack so he can just hang up his dress pants and shirts there until I can actually hang them up. He so rarely ever uses it. Another Ugh.

Here's the after picture and I do have to say that it put me in the mood to clean the rest of my room. Ahhh. It is so awesome to go to sleep in a clean room. The older I get, the more satisfaction that brings me.