WANTED....

lost socks:
* white sock with cupcake and pink edge
* pink and brown poka dot
* pink with flowers and swirls
* stripes with a hippo
.......ETC

These are just descriptions of some of the lost socks in our house. Everytime I do the girls' laundry it seems as though several go missing. I'm worried the dryer might be eating them???? Where could they possibly be???

I refused to put the unmatched sock in the sock drawer for fear it would be forever lost all alone. So I started laying them on a shelf in Emma's closest. This was definitely not ideal. So during a recent blog surfing expedition I found this and this. What a great idea!!!

So last week during an unexpected day off this is what I did:

When we remodeled our 1/2 bath we stained tongue and groove floor boards and put them on the ceiling. We had scraps just laying in the basement that worked perfectly. I painted over the stain with crackle then topped it with off white paint. I didn't like how that turned out. So then I painted it with a greyish tan color....much better. I stamped the clothes pins with brown swirls so they didn't look so plain. I used my Cricket to cut out the letters and Viola!!!!!!

I hung this in the upstairs hallway next to the bedrooms.

****Since this photograph was taken 5 missing socks were found (in Emma's bed between the sheets and in the dress up drawer). Off course after the latest laundry washing 3 lonely socks were found and added to the board. I believe this will be a never ending mission!!!!

Scrapbooking Room

This post is a little overdue. Some of my readers have visited my house and have seen this room, others have asked to see pictures. When we moved into our 4 bedroom house several years ago we quickly realized that the spare bedroom became a dumping ground for lots of miscellaneous items. To me is seemed like wasted space. Only one time in 3 years did someone spend the night and use it as a spare bedroom. So my bright idea was to make it into a scrapbooking room for me and the girls. As always Sean was a little skeptical of my idea. So September 2009 we got to work.

Here is BEFORE:

The walls were a Navy Blue. The room is small to begin with and the dark walls definitely made it seem smaller. There isn't a closet because the previous owner closed it off and opened the wall in the other bedroom to make a closet.

So after several layers of primer and a few layers of much brighter paint, here is the new room:

Of course I had lots of scrapbooking supplies and arts and craft supplies to fill the room.

When my scrapbooking stuff was in the basement I already had the drawer cabinets. Sean made a countertop to put on top and extended it around the wall so the girls had their own work space. We added wall cabinets and shelves. Now everything has a place.

The girls love the room and all the fun stuff they have to use to create. I love that we can all be in the room at the same time and all have our own space.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my room. I love that I can find everything and it is all organized. The room gets quite messy sometimes but that is ok....proof we are enjoying and creating in our wonderful space.

50 days til Christmas

Have you started shopping, have you planned your menus, have you made you gift list, have you planned any parties, have you made your Christmas wish list?????

If you haven't...better get with it. The stores have already sent out the Wish Books, Christmas music will be heard on the radio soon and Santa will be arriving at the malls in just a week or so. Crazy how every year the Christmas Season starts earlier and earlier. October thru December is my favorite time of year and the busiest.

About a month ago I made something to help me stay organized. It will hold ALL MY LISTS in one place and it is small enough to fit in my purse.

In this planner I will keep my Christmas gift list for my family and friends, family Christmas party info, receipts (in the envelope), Christmas to do list, Christmas traditions/memories, misc. Christmas shopping list and our fun stuff to do list. I can't take full credit for this idea. I did see something very similar on another BLOG but do not remember which one (if I did I would definitely post the link and give them credit). I did however make some changes so that it worked for me.

So WELCOME the the Christmas Season. Will keep you up to date on our Christmas adventures.

Problem Solved

If you remember a few posts back I was having organizational dilemmas. Trying to organize all the school calendars, school papers, to do lists, etc. So after much thought and lots of BLOG/web surfing I came up with a few ideas. I knew how I wanted it all to be set up just didn't want to spend a lot of money. I found a desk at Sears (online) that I really like but it would of cost $200 with shipping....way over budget. So I figured I would give Kmart a shot (since they are owned by Sears). I found a great deal.... a console table on clearance for $55 (originally $129). Then while shopping at AC Moore I found large poster frames on sale which reminded me of this idea I saw with a picture frame on Creative Crate Blog.

It was all coming together. We moved the "Command Center" from the kitchen to the dinning room. Sean helped with the grid lines and calendar. He drew it on poster board and then I added stickers for the days. We put the table together and rearranged the dinning room.

So here it is:



The top frame is a weekly calendar. The bottom shows the current month and has room for notes. I have the girls school papers on the left in the slotted organizer and misc papers on the cork board to the right. I got two baskets with lids (one for each girl) and put an accordion file folder inside each one. I labeled the file folder with the months for all of their school work and art.
I love it. Even Sean admitted afterward my crazy thoughts turned out nice. Of course the girls love it.

So wish me luck on better organization!!!

Lists and Calendars

I LOVE LISTS. I love to make a list, complete the task and then scratch it off the list. I have TO DO lists, HONEY DO lists, SUMMER PROJECT lists, WEEKLY MENU lists, GROCERY lists, WHAT TO BLOG ABOUT lists, SCRAPBOOK PAGES TO DO lists, HOME REPAIR lists not to mention all the lists and notes I scribble down on post-it-notes. When I am at work sitting at my desk I often write myself reminder notes or make a list of things I need at a certain store or a lists of area yard sales I find on CraigsList. Sometimes I look at my desk and it is covered in yellow....post-it-notes or paper from my small yellow tablet. Then when you look in my pocketbook there are more lists for things to buy or things to do. (I'm not even considering all the notes and lists I have for work related things). What is very frustrating is when I need a list and I don't have....example at the store.

Do you get the picture.....my lists ARE EVERYWHERE. Sometimes this is overwhelming.

This is not to mention the calendar situation. I have a date book I carry with me. There is a monthly calendar on our bulletin board in the kitchen, then Abby will get a monthly calendar from school and I am sure Emma will as well.

I consider my self an organized person but the lists and calendars make my head spin. I need more organization in this part of my life. Now that the girls will be going to different schools and doing more activities I feel like there needs to be a BETTER SYSTEM.

Currently in our we use this:

This is in our kitchen over the counter. It has worked in the past but I am feeling that it is no longer adequate for our busy life. I have found several ideas I like but they are either toooo expensive or won't work in our house.

The first one is an old door with chalk board paint...this is really cool. The next are chalkboard wall decals....I do like this idea but they are expensive you can find all kinds here.

As you know I like to read BLOGs and have read what other people do. This is a popular topic this time of year with school starting. Some people have BINDERS that they keep all their lists. That is great but I am certainly not lugging a binder everywhere with me. This is a good idea for a stay-at-home mom. Check out the Organizing Junkie...there are great ideas here for tons of stuff .

So I am looking for ideas or inspiration. I hoping I figure something out soon, as school starts next week and there will be much more to keep track of. Wish me luck.