Coolness

I wanted to share two really cool websites I have been stalking lately! (My wonderful friend Angie told me about both of them. We like to call her "Martha" as in Martha Stewart and try to listen to what she tells us.)

The first is A Bowl Full of Lemons:

This site is dedicated to cleaning and organizing, and it is awesome! Toni, the author of the blog, has a whole section devoted to making a "Home Management Binder," which is not a new concept, however I could not get over how incredibly CUTE her pages were! She uses this free printable for her weekly calendar and is fortunate enough to be friends with the creator of Clean Mama Printable (check out her etsy shop here!)

She has also just started some "Weekly Challenges" that you can take part in and has a 21 Day Organizing Challenge...it's awesome!

The other site is Knock Off Decor:

It has a TON of tutorials based on high end decor like, Ballard, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Crate and Barrel, etc.

My FAVS so far are...

This one

Burlap Mr. and Mrs. Pillows

and this one

Antique Book Bundles

LOVE this one

Sunburst Mirror

Check these out and ENJOY! Happy Monday!

Crazy Girl Gets a New (well, updated) Room

So here, as promised, are the "after" pictures of The Crazy Girl's room. We still have a few things to do, which I will tell you about along the way, but this is what we have so far!

Also, let me say this re-do was a desperate attempt to get my extremely headstrong girl to stay in her room and LEVE ME ALONE in the middle of the night and early morning. Apparently, however, she can not be bribed, and continues to wake me up. Boo.

So, let's just remind ourselves of the before. And, yes, I did leave the bed unmade on purpose!

 Harper's bed before was really high (another failed attempt to get her to stay in the bed.) I took off the box spring, so the bed sits much lower and you can really see her pretty bed frame (which is from IKEA by the way.)

 I had this "Harper" banner I had made left over from her birthday party and decided to tie it to the headboard. It was either that or Harper was going to have a butterfly and flower birthday party for the next five years so I could re-use that banner! It took a long time.

 

The frames above her bed I got from Target on clearance. They were $1.74 each! Go Target! I had some leftover fabric from who knows what (I am kind of addicted to buying fabric for projects that I will probably not do and then later use that fabric for something totally different.) I simply used some photo spray adhesive to the glass and then stretched the fabric over. Super easy. I thought about crocheting some flowers to glue on but decided I liked them without anything.

This bookshelf was just plain white until I mod podged some bright pink tissue paper to the back. (I'll post that tutorial later, although I pretty much just explained everything you would need to do.) The "H" was just a chipboard letter I also mod podged tissue paper to and then hot glued it to an 8x10 canvas I covered in fabric. Harper wanted me to tell you that the owls' names are Penny and Joy and she loves them.

 I loved the canopy Harper had over her bed before (another IKEA buy), so I decided to keep it in the same place and make it into a little reading corner. Crazy Girl LOVES to read!

 The canopy was just a sheer, so I hot glued some turquoise flower and butterfly ribbon I had bought for Harper's birthday party and then never used. (I got it out of Michael's $1 bin.)

 Can you see my Sweet Boy crying in the mirror? His sister wouldn't let him sit in her new reading spot.

Crazy Girl got this sweet bow holder from her favorite Sunday School teacher, Miss Dee! It works perfectly in her room!

I made these photo frames for Harper's last room. It was simply square pieces of cork that I bought at CVS in a four pack (yes, I said CVS) and then layered with scrapbook paper and a black and white photo (which needs to be updated) and then two button sewn on with twine.

So here is where some updating needs to happen. I am going to change out the knobs on the Dresser and I would like to paint and antique the mirror...I am thinking a green or aqua color. I would like to do the same thing with the dresser but it's a pretty cheaply made piece and I'm not sure what it could handle.

The letters were Hobby Lobby and I just hot glued some buttons on them (I love me some hot glue!)

LOVE this sign! Found it at Hobby Lobby in there 66% off aisle (I also love me some Hobby Lobby!)

This cabinet is actually from the Hot Doc's college apartment. I hated the glass front so I backed it with some fabric (hides a mess well!) The butterflies were more leftovers from Harper's birthday party that I tacked on the wall.

I love the flower's hanging in the corner, one of my favorite parts. 

So, there has been big debate in my house over the paint color of this room. I was wanting to keep it kind of gender neutral, since when we have another baby (no, we are not pregnant, and we probably won't be pregnant soon...well not too soon, but we hope to be blessed with at least one more baby while living in this house and) I would like Harper and Luke to share a room. However, some very persistent girl has decided she wants pink and one head over heels daddy has said to "give her what she wants," so...

I love the idea of these wide horizontal stripes. Do you think all the way around the room would be too much? Maybe just on the "headboard wall"? I kind of love the idea of breaking up the pink...

This is Martha Stewart "Carnation." We have used Martha in the other painted rooms in our house and love how it turns out. If we decided to do stripes I think this is the color we would use...maybe... 

Here is my dream room for Harper! LOVE the lamps! Enlarge the picture if you can't see them well, they are so cute! I also adore this pink. I think if we do the ENTIRE room one shade this might be it, although I have no idea what color this is...

They made me take this picture. What you can't hear is both of them saying "cheeeeeeeeese!" And why Crazy is holding Sweet's head like that, I have no idea. They literally make me laugh out loud everyday.

Hope you enjoyed the "progress" pictures. I'll post again once the room is painted, which will be soon...I promise! Anyone have an opinion; stripes or one all over color? What to do?

Just a Little "Appe-teaser"

A lot of projects are in the works over here! Here is a little of what's going on, and a couple "before" shots to keep you on your cute little toes!

First, check out new items (like the one below) on the New Millie page.

Flower Headband with Lace and Fabric

Go to The (Almost) Organized Life page to get your complete weekly cleaning schedule. And not to get too crazy, but get ready for the ZONE cleaning schedule coming soon...Look out!

Okay, get ready for some tempting "before" pictures comin' at you!

Harper's Room Re-do

Bookcase Makeover 

Antique Store Buy meets Chalkboard Paint

And, what has made this little man so dirty and happy?

Come back soon to check out the "afters." Like really soon. Like maybe tomorrow.

Cleaning Schmeaning: A Confession

Okay, so who did their Monday cleaning? I DID! Holla! (Just kidding. I don't really say "holla.") But I will admit it was with a bit of tweaking. Something you should know about me, or already know about me, or don't care to know about me, but you're reading this so you're going to find out anyway; I am not a perfectionist. Okay, wait. I take part of that back. I am perfectionist when it comes to crocheting or sewing or crafting. I will take something apart in a second if I don't feel like it is "just right." But most anything else, I can let things go. So on Monday that's just what I did. I did manage to do all of the actual "Monday cleaning," but slacked a bit on the "Daily Cleaning." Beds were not made, toys were not picked up before nap and no laundry was done.  But weirdly, my house seemed (and still does) "feel" cleaner. Which is really a change from how I normally do things because, like stated in the previous post, usually things are picked up and wiped down, but good old fashioned cleaning isn't always consistent.

Today, however, my "Tuesday Cleaning" was not done. It was cold and rainy this morning which led to cuddling and coffee drinking on the couch. Since my kids are little and we don't "have" to get to school or other things (except on Bible Study morning) I'll let them snuggle with me as long as they want. Sometimes, there is no snuggling; they wake up and are right to playing, but some days, like this morning, we get a fire going and get under daddy's big blanket and watch "Sid The Science Kid" or "Mickey Mouse Club" or "Super Why," or Harper brings me book after book and we read and read and read. It's lovely. So with a leisurely morning, came running late errands, having a late lunch, and so on and so on, and no cleaning. So I will do "Tuesday's Cleaning" tomorrow. The upside about the schedule is that there are only 5 days of cleaning, so if you need to (or want to) skip a day, you can always push it back.

I'm going to go ahead a post all the chores for the rest of the days of the week, just in case you wanted them. I know you all just jumped for joy, "Yay! She's posting a whole list of cleaning chores! This blog is so exciting! What exhilarating thing will she think of next?!" I promise I do more than clean, or think about cleaning, or write about cleaning (well, sometimes).

But before we do that, we would just like to say...

There are A LOT of January birthdays in our family! Also, Happy Birthday Auntie Cheri, Dana and Papa! This is the part where most of are thinking, "but, it's February." Why, yes it is smarty pants reader, but something else you should know about me...total PROCRASTINATOR, that's just how I roll (I'm kidding again. I don't really say that either.)

Okay, back to the "un-fun"

Monday's Schedule

Tuesday- Living Room and Playroom

Dust 

Vacuum

Wash any frequently used blankets

Wash pillows (as needed)

Organize toy buckets (Throw away broken toys/add to "give away" box)

Clean mirrors and TV

Sweep and Mop entry tile

Wednesday- Master Bedroom and Bath

Dust

Vacuum

Sweep and Mop bathroom

Wash and change sheets

Wash bathroom Rugs

Wipe down counters

Clean toilet

Clean shower and tub

Tidy up closet (which really means, "stop throwing your clothes on the ground or laying them over the hamper and actually put them on a hanger"

Thursday- Kids' Rooms and Office/Craft Room

Wash and change sheets

Dust

Vacuum (including upstairs landing)

Organize craft items and desk

Take out trash

Friday- Upstairs and Downstairs Bath

Wipe down counters

Clean toilet

Clean tub

Sweep and mop

Wash Rugs (if needed. Barely anyone uses my downstairs bathroom)

Clean mirrors

Take out trash

Good Luck! I'll keep you updated!