Casual Fridays

Snow Much Fun

Today the boys and I made snowman pillows, an idea I found on Pinterest. The idea was not linked for me to give credit as it was just a picture. I knew they would love them so I headed out to the stores to get the supplies. I had to guess a little as there was no supply list or instructions. This was a super cheap project! I got the pillows for $5.58 each, a set of two pillow cases for 3.58 the Santa hats for $2.99 each, I had the ribbon, and I had the foam for the eyes, nose, and buttons. So each pillow cost about $10.00.

I had the kids put the pillow case on their pillow. Then they held the pillow up while I tied the ribbon, and their little finger helped me to double knot it! I also tied up the top of the pillow to make it look more rounded like a snowman. I used the foam sheets that have a sticky side on the back. I cut out the eyes, nose and buttons and the kids peeled the paper off and stuck them on. Lastly I safety pinned the hats on. The kids had fun and so did Mommy too!

One Word

My one word for 2012 was change. Well I guess you can say that was a perfect word for me. The biggest change for me was our address. We moved this year to a beautiful new home. In my previous post about my one word for 2012 I can say I continued to carry a 4.0 GPA, I did make more time for me (as much as I could), I learned to say no (that was big for me as I was always saying yes to everything and everyone). There are so many things that I changed in my life this year but I still have more to change.

Now as 2013 is just around the corner I am starting to think about my one word for 2013. Reflecting back on what the purpose of the one word challenge is. One word that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live or what you want to achieve by the end of 2012. I am now asking myself what the word is for the answer to that sentence for 2013. What is your word for 2013??

The Elf on the Shelf

Do you have an elf?? This is our third year with our elf Roddie. The kids love him and become angels when Roddie shows up. Chores get done with out asking, dinners get finished, the talking back stops, it's great! We have found our elf in some fun place in the morning and thanks to Pinterest I think Roddie will have even better spots! Thought I would share with you some of Roddie's places we have found him over the past three years.

Roddie hanging out in my pots and pans.

Roddie wanted to help me decorate

Roddie need a nice relaxing bubble bath!

We have so much fun with Roddie. It is a holiday tradition for our family. When does your elf show up? Ours shows up right around Thanksgiving or right after. Has your elf forgotten to move? Ours has but we just assumed that was a spot he liked and wanted to stay there one more day. Has your elf ever been touched? What did you say or do? Nathan touched Roddie one year and I knew right away as I found him on the floor and not in his spot. I asked Nathan if he touched him and he started to cry and said yes. So I left Roddie there for 2 days! We then wrote Santa a letter about how sorry Nathan was for touching Roddie and can he please give Roddie his magic back......it worked! The next day Roddie was in a new spot! What are some creative spots your elf has landed in? I would love to hear all your stories and ideas!

Hangers

I have been starting small on the organizing project in my new home. I would love to dive right in to so many projects but I am trying not to overwhelm myself. Besides the holidays are right around the corner and I am in a pretty tough class for school so my time is limited.

We finally have a nice walk in closet so of course I would like it to be neat and organize! However this is what it looks like with all our miss-matching plastic hangers.

I am in love with the slim line hangers!! I bought a box of 35 for $10.00 at Costco and tried them out. At first they were a little bit of a pain because they have a felt fabric around the hanger and it really grabs the clothes but it's a plus on my tank top style shirts! No more need for hangers with the indent or slots to place those spaghetti straps! You have to adjust the clothes a bit to have them hang right on the hanger, but wow what a difference!

I have converted almost all of the closet over. I have to grab a few more boxes to finish the rest this week! They really do maximize the space and I love that all the hangers are the same color! I organize my clothes by color, as you can see, but I also organize by sleeve length. Spaghetti strap tank tops first, then thicker tank top straps, short sleeves, 3/4 length sleeves, long sleeves, and finally sweat shirts or fleeces. I have mostly black clothes (what women doesn't) then my colors run white, brown, red, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and grey. I hang all my jeans and pants and again by color and length (pants, or capris). I also have a section for sweats. I am a stay-at-home mom so I have lots of sweats! So I organize the sweat outfits by color as well.

How do you organize your clothes?

Were in! Let's get organizing!

Wow that 19 days went fast since my last post! We have been in our new home for a week now.....swimming in boxes trying to find a spot for everything but we love our new home. I can't wait to organize it and show you what I have done. First spot (because it's the easiest and I need to start small) my mud room. Any suggestions as to what I should decorate the cubbies up top with? I have bins for the 5 cubbies below for the shoes, and two smaller bins for a cubbie up top to hold keys and sunglasses. Am I missing anything? Coats, backpacks, shoes, keys, sunglasses????

19 days and counting

I can't believe I will be in my new home in 19 days! I can't wait........seriously I can't wait. I am going a little crazy with all the boxes. I can't tell you how many times I go to look for something only to realize it is packed! The chaos in my house is getting to me but I just take a deep breath and think about all the organizing I will get to do when we move in, and that calms me. I know, clams me, really? Yes, I am weird and love to organize stuff, and make it neat and pretty! I think the kitchen is my favorite space and the first room I will tackle to organize. Any organizational tips for the kitchen please leave me a comment, I would love to hear how you organized your kitchen and what is working for you.

31 days and counting!

OMG I have been so busy with packing and getting ready for the move. On top of school, state test, kids and life in general. We are officially 31 days out and I can barley stand to wait! Even though I feel a little overwhelmed I am still organized. I am to the point where most of the house is packed and I will only have the last minute packing of stuff we are currently using or need. My organization system is working out great! Here are a few new pictures of the house!