52 Weeks of Organizing – Week #5

Remember the empty shelf in my craft closet after I organized that I was so excited about ? I found a use for it! Yarn!

You can find lots more ideas on how to organize your home over at Organizing Junkie!

Cupcakes!

There is something so intrinsically sweet about cupcakes. Here are a few of my favorite finds:

What littler girl wouldn’t love adding these adorable cupcakes to her “kitchen?” You can purchase the .pdf pattern to make these cupcakes from Too Cute for only $5.00.

These cupcake cards and boxes are so sweet – you could use them for birthdays, valentine’s day, or everyday! Just change your papers and embellishments – the possibilities are endless! Best of all, the patterns are free to print at Mel Stampz!

This hair clip from LexiLou is very cute, don’t you think?

Or this one by Dee’s Doodads?

This Cupcake Soap and Washcloth set would make a sweet gift for your little girl on Valentine’s Day and it’s only $2.50 from Fun4Kids!

A cupcake dish anyone? From Angel Heart Designs.

And, finally, here is a sweet apron from Meech Boutique. Who can resist a cupcake?

52 Weeks of Organizing – Week #4

Last night, with a burst of energy I decided to tackle my craft closet which was… more than a disaster. I didn’t take before pictures because it was just too much. It took me less than an hour to pull everything out and put everything back and it looks SO MUCH BETTER. We can find our stuff now!

52 Weeks of Organizing – Week #2

I had a burst of energy tonight… I guess snuggling in bed with sick children watching a good movie is refreshing after all! So, after cooking supper and cleaning the kitchen, I decided to tackle one of my kitchen pantry cabinets.

I don’t usually show before pictures, just because, well you know. It’s embarrassing! But, I figured this would be good for the soul. Last year was incredibly busy – even for me. So, while the main areas of the house stay reasonably neat, the closets and cupboards are another story!

This is one of the cabinets that I store my bulk foods in.

\

As you can see it was very disorganized! You can also see my peeling paint with the old yellow paint showing through. This has to be one of the biggest discouragements for me ever! I spent weeks painting my kitchen and all the cupboards inside and out only to discover after I was done that the paint was peeling because the original paint was oil based. I haven’t had the energy or the heart to redo it. Oh well.

I finished the cabinet fairly quickly and I feel really good about the end results!

What have you done this week to organize your home? You can find lots more ideas over at Organizing Junkie!

Project 52

Photo Credit: lesterhead

Writing notes or letters has never been a strong suit for me. I struggle with it. I don’t know why. It isn’t that hard. I think part of my problem is that I am unorganized with it. I have stacks of note cards in my sunroom, in the secretary in the living room, etc. And then my address book is in another spot… and then where are the stamps?

When I read this 2011 project to write one letter a week, I thought to myself, “Surely one letter a week is manageable!”

So, I have added it to my “New Year’s Resolutions” list.I am hoping that having a goal will encourage me!

Want to join me? Do you write letters or send out cards on a regular basis?

Preserving the New Year

I will be busy canning this week! You can see what I have already canned this year on my sidebar. Preserving foods is one of my passions! I am going to see how many recipes I can come up with for all of this food chilling in the garage:

4 pounds of mushrooms

5 bushels (or more) kiwi

12 bushels apples

1 bushel oranges

1 bushel red, orange, green bell peppers

1 bushel beets

1/2 bushel turnips

1  bushel sweet potatoes

I think that’s everything… Should keep me real busy!

Have you canned anything this winter?

52 Weeks of Organization – Week #1

I have mentioned in the past few weeks my quest to live a simpler, uncluttered life. When I came across 52 Weeks of Organization over at Organizing Junkie, I knew this was exactly what I needed to participate in! My quest is not only get organized, but to also make my home work better for me. You know how you move into a house and your organize your stuff where you think the stuff should go and then as time goes on you realize that the glasses would be better in another cabinet and that you really don’t like your Christmas stuff in the large attic but want to move them to the smaller attic? I have been feeling that way about my whole house the last few weeks. I am on a mission to streamline my home!

So, here is my list:

Scratched Out – completed.
Italicized - in progress.

1. Organize bulk foods in kitchen cupboard.
2. Rearrange dishes in butler’s pantry.
3. Organize two refrigerators and one chest freezer and plan menus to use up older food.
4. Clean out linen closet.
5. Reorganize shelves in green bathroom.
6. Clean out blanket chest.
7. Clean out bedroom closet.
8. Sort all clothes in storage/attic by size and purge unwanted items.
9. Reorganize holiday decorations.
10. Sort and organize recipe collection.
11. Clean out my dresser.
12. Clean out and organize Hannah and Laura’s bedroom closet.
13. Clean out small dresser in yellow bathroom.
14. Clean out drawers in dressing room.
15. Reorganize downstairs bookcase.
16. Clean out and reorganize craft closet.
17. Clean out and reorganize school closet.
18. Purge cookbook stash.
19. Reorganize laundry room.
20. Reorganize china cupboard.
21. Make a dedicated spot for writing letters.
22. Clean out and reorganize card catalog.
23. Clean out and organize yarn basket and find a better way to store them.
24. Sort, organize, and purge old music records.
25. Clean out office cabinet in bedroom.
26. Organize scrapbooking stuff.
27. Clean out, reorganize, and purge game closet.
28. Clean out, organize, and inventory storage closet.
29. Inventory and organize fabric stash.
30. Donate old toys to Community Center.
31. Donate magazines to hospital.
32. Reorganize food storage.
33. Better organized home canned foods.
34. Organize the junk drawers.
35. Organize cupboard in laundry room.

I am thinking this list, should I pull it off this year will make me quite happy. And seeing as some of these chores will take me more than one week, I think I will stop there for now. You never know though, I may add to the list later! Phew!

Happy 2011!

I always look forward to the new year. Well, sort of. I don’t really appreciate having yet another year fly by with me another year older and my children another year closer to leaving the nest.

However, along with the new year brings 365 possibilities. I also look forward to the quiet winter months. This is the time of the year when I whip my house back into shape after nine months of near non-stop evangelism and (church related) traveling.

This is the time of the year when I like to look back on the previous year and evaluate where I am in life and where I want to be. It’s refreshing.

I have a few goals to work on – some of these I have tried to work on in the past with less than favorable results. So here are my goals for 2011:

1. Live a simpler life. I have been working on this for the last couple of years and am slowly getting there. The key word being slowly. I want to ramp this goal up into full gear. To start with I am going through every closet, drawer, attic space and cabinet and purging everything I don’t either love, cherish, use regularly, or truly need. Our church started a community center – the Appalachian Community Service Center – this past spring where we give away clothing, food, toys, and more to the needy in our community. I send all of my donations there.
2. Live life with less stuff. This goes along with living a simpler life. I want to live with less stuff and buy less new stuff. In fact, I want to avoid shopping as much as possible. I want follow the old adage “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
3. Live life with more joy. The things I enjoy the most aren’t things at all – my family, my home, my animals. I want to find even more ways to enjoy them.

What are some ways you are looking forward to the new year? Do you have any resolutions? Share them with us!

Owl Cupcakes

I love creating fun food for the kids to eat at my house. When I saw these sweet little owl cupcakes, I thought, “Now there is a delightful idea for our Thanksgiving get together!”

These owl cupcakes are just too sweet for words! The recipe is found over at Catching Fireflies. I think you could make these with a carrot cake recipe for a healthy dessert!

I also found these Owl Cupcakes over at One Charming Party and they are pretty cute, too!

Handmade Kindle Cover

If  you have friends and family who have a Kindle, why not make them this sweet gift? Candace over at Made with Love had kindly shared her tutorial with us!

« Previous Page — Next Page »