Organization- clean it up and clear it out.

I have been following A Bowl Full of Lemons Home organization for a while. But a few weeks a go I decided it was time to give it a try. I am very pleased with the results. I cant tell you how happy it makes me.  You see I live in military housing and have little if no leeway to create my dream house. I have standard kitchen cabinets, hospital sticky tile floors, ugly wire shelves and the list goes on. So after living here for over two years I am taking control of my home... It will be mine, I will work with what I have and make it beautiful to me. Although, I must confess, I drool over Toni's house over at a bowl full of Lemons. I love her kitchen and her style. Clean, simple, pretty and uncluttered. I even love her white walls. Here is another confession- I am terrified of color! I love the look in the magazines, and blog land. But I really am afraid of color, or maybe I just love white!

So here are my ugly wire shelves in the Laundry Room. New Baskets and Labels really do tame the clutter. I still don't like looking at the wire, so I am going to find a fix. I don't like ruffles and no curtains-so these are out of the question. Does ANYONE have any ideas?

Baskets

 Labels

 I need to fix the top shelf

P.S. I will show the whole laundry room once I am finished and the kitten has adapted to his new litter box. One is really stinky and the other EMPTY! I don't know if it is going to work. The directions said place both together and don't clean the old one. I am on day two... and I had to remove some of the little offenders that were assaulting my nose. Pray for me!

Blessings

Pretty Fridge...

So here is the back story...
I was reading a post on Frolic about making your fridge pretty (Imagine: Confetti poppers raining down around me).  So I set about making a pretty fridge. I loved opening the door, everything was pretty. It made me want to forage, gaze and even think about cooking (I have been in a minor slump for about a year).
But all my hopes were dashed by my two wonderful fridge wrecking adult children. They did not feel the vibe, the creativity, the inner artist. Instead they shoved, crammed, rearranged (hurricane style). Can you believe they even put ugly plastic containers in this beautifully styled fridge!
So now, my beautifully styled, magazine worthy fridge looks like a normal, boring, unappealing fridge. What a shame! I am glad I have a photo to remember my vision of a beautiful life. :)
I guess my slump will continue...

Blessings

A new look

A fresh new look for the winter months... Well more like the new year.  I was playing around with the wall art and liked this one the best.  How about you? What do you do? Rearrange furniture, photos, place simple flowers on a table?

Blessings~

Winter Closet

A little fall nesting was in order. I prepped the entry closet for winter. Switching out summer jackets and sweaters for thicker warmer coats is a must around here. My car looked like a giant icicle this morning.

Blankets stored for easy access.

Warm coats and scarves all ready for extensive use.

A large basket for unused slippers.

A basket for small items.
A storage bag for larger items.

Mittens, gators, and hats all within easy reach.

All ideas are from Martha's Nov. issue.

What do you do to prep for winter?

~Blessings~

Laundry day...

I have a million things I should be doing, the movers will be one week from today. My house is a wreck. Things everywhere!!! Junk everywhere!! However, I took a moment to enjoy life... I love washing delicate garments, I don't know why. Well I truly find it relaxing. So today I chose to indulge myself in a little luxury...

Washing...

Rinsing...

drying...

Enjoy your day, try to find something that brings you joy.

All is peaceful

The end of the holidays, brings the start of winter. A cozy fire, hot coffee, and sweater pants so toasty am I. The house is almost back to normal, just some laundry left to do. I am looking forward to some quite time to reflect on the wonder of our Lord, and just enjoy the peaceful company of my children. The girls returned home today, I cried, but I am sure Josh is happy to have them back home with him. Blessings to all.

List of work accomplished today:

bedding laundered

tree down

boxes tucked away

floors cleaned

window sills dusted

errands ran

family loved

Homing

Today was an eventful day. I finished some projects for Audrey's etsy shop. I will post them in her shop tomorrow. I finished staining the book case. Yeah! Maybe it will find its way inside tomorrow.
Menu:
Baked chicken,
warm pasta salad,
whole wheat rolls,
and a green salad

Tomorrow will be white chili, peperjack cornbread.

I took Audrey to get her new running shoes, she is up to running 2 miles, she is very pleased with herself. I am so excited for her, I will start my running on Monday, if you can call it that. Have a blessed day

New towels

I love white towels.... I love that they can be bleached and made dreamy again. Today I purchased four new white towels for the home. Ready to be put away, don't you wish you could jump in with them. Ahh, if only life where that sweet.

When choosing new towels.....
"Look for dense, thick, firm towels with high pile, even selvage edges, and small, even hem stitches. Hold terry-cloth towels up to the light to check the quality of the underlying weave. Feel it for softness and resilience."
-Cheryl Mendelson, Home Comforts

Yikes!!!

Should I really complain about the mess Odd makes???? The blanket will be done this weekend (hopefully). Believe it or not the paper is actually some chemistry homework I was working on. I must have add, I jump back and forth during my study time. LOL When my head starts hurting from "overload" I crochet to let it rest. But I can see where Odd gets her mess making abilities from. LOL
blessings

frugal fixes- Water marks on table

Have you ever had water marks on your wood tables. You know, when you place a glass on the surface not using a coaster, or from hot items setting on your table. There is an easy, no cost fix to remove the marks from your tables, with out painting or tossing.

Step one- break out your steam iron, and a bath towel. Set on steam, or high. You need the steam for this to work.
Step two- place the towel over the marks on the table. Now here is the scary part, take your iron with the steam on and place on the towel over the mark. Hold over the area for a few moments, ( maybe a min. or two) I lift the towel to check to make sure I am hitting the right area. Continue until the mark is gone.

How do I know this works? Two years ago the cute guy gave me a dining room table, and a hot pan left a mark on the table. I was so upset so I googled and found the procedure and tried it. I was so nervous, I didn't want to make it worse and cause more damage. But to my amazement it really worked. There is no sign of a mark on my table, two year later. Yey! I don't know how it would work on wood laminate, my table is cherry wood. Now that is a really cheap frugal fix.

Tomorrow is our final cake class. I will post a picture of the finished cakes, at least Audrey's.

Frugal Fixes- The swiffer broom

Do you have a swiffer broom, do you get tired of spending money to use of the those quick fixes. I sure do, but I love my swiffer. Here is some money saving advice, that will give you a better bang for your buck. I purchased this particular one, but you can make your own. It is a simple flannel rectangle cut the same size as a disposable cloth. I have also purchased the microfiber cloths at the dollar store and used them. I love the way microfiber works so well on dust. I just toss it in the wash when I am done, and voila ready for the next time.

The flannel cloth for a swiffer.

Look, it works just as well. Sorry this was from my bathroom after blow drying my hair. I didn't even show the dirtiest part. Yuck!!!

Enjoy!

Ironing day...

Today was ironing day.

Audrey did the ironing of pillowcases. She's so sweet.

The finished job. Clean, fresh and waiting for tonight's dreams.
blessings to all

Portions for her servant girls

photo by Sara Nicole (my daughter)

Proverbs 31
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.

I don't know about you, but at this house if the bell rings, I answer it. If the floor is dirty, I clean it. If the laundry is piled up, I hide it. Not really, but you get the picture. I don't need to travel far to bring food home. I also don't have servant girls to care for, or do I? Sometimes it seems hard to relate to the past, our lives seem so different. Yet there is wisdom that can be applied to your present day life. Do you have a washing machine, a dryer, a refrigerator... then you do have servant girls or maid servants. Even though we do not need to provide food for them, we should provide maintenance for them. I am sure that we have all experienced a time when one of these just quit working. Panic set in, dollar signs filled your eyelids, life was forever doomed. Atleast until the repair man fixed the problem. So remember to treat your servants well, and they inturn will keep you happy. So go find one of your maid servants, appoligize for negleting her and clean her. Remember to clean your dryer lint tray, every load, not only will it help her last and prevent fires, but it will help cut down on your fuel cost.

Today: Fridge cleaning, check the temp gauge on fridge. Pull out and remove dust from back, make sure you have pleanty of space behind for ventilation, clean the dust collector at the bottom of fridge. Enjoy your day

Frugal Fixes

Have you ever had a smell in your washing machine. The kind that offends your nostrils each time you lift the lid? Well, with our wonderful apartment we got the use of some "lovey" machines courtesy of the landlords. They are small, the ones in my garage are big and nice. But they wouldn't allow me to remove the said machines and replace with my own. Needless to say, the said machines came with some serious funk. So I ran them with bleach, and hot water trying to kill the stench. I couldn't get it gone. So I did what any good, kind, loving, domestic woman would..... I googled. I found many products to treat this condition for lots of $$$$$, and also needing monthly treatments to follow to keep the offender from returning. So I resorted to a little old fashion trick. Baking Soda, and 1 cup of $ store vinegar. It was gone, not to return. Well I should say I repeat this trick on the 1 of the month (usually). Well that makes this lady one happy lady. I now deem this product a frugal fix.

Home Tour- Laundry Room

I figured I would start with the laundry room. It is my "girly" room. I love going in my laundry room. I know, call me weird, but I can't help it. I made it pleasing to the eye, lets face it there is nothing pleasing about stinky socks and dirty undies. The other reason I love this room is because I only have two rooms in my apartment where you can see the outside world, green plants and a lush lawn.

I keep all of my cleaning supplies in a cute iron basket on top of the dryer for easy access. Right now I also have my fluffy bath mat waiting for the drying rack.

I keep a hand towel next to the washer to dry my wet hands off. I also like the cheerful color it brings to that side of the room.

I have the most wonderful smelling linen spray. I use it to iron my pillow cases, they are the only bed linen that get ironed. I also give my bed linens a spritz in between washing, just to keep them smelling fresh. Finally I enjoy burning a candle while I am working on laundry. Right now it is apple cobbler. All and All I am happy while washing out our dirty laundry. :)

Fresh Start

Today I felt the need to dig into a deep cleaning. I cleaned out the Icebox, I love a bare fridge. Well not bare, I went to the market yesterday. Lot's of fresh veggies. I did our laundry, and have one load drying as I write. I dusted, and dusted, and dusted. Where does all that dust come from? LOL The floors are clean, and the kitchen is fresh. I love the smell of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day counter spray, geranium scent. So the counters got a small spritz, and it smells wonderfully fresh. I ran a few errands today, and while I was out washed the car. Oh, to live in a house again. We aren't allowed to wash our cars here at the apartment. I signed myself and Audrey up for a Wilton's cake decorating class, course one. I was lucky they were having the class for $17.50 and then a $5.00 coupon, so we paid $12.50 each. Wow! I am excited to take this class with her. While running around I found a "Faux" orchid, in a dusty valentines pink. Very springy. Just a touch of color to brighten up the house. I am still waiting on my camera, I will post a photo when it finally arrives.
Menu For Friday
Sweet n Sour Shrimp
rice
and green veggie

Tired!!!

Today I almost finished cleaning up the last of the garage. I have been putting this off for - lets say 6 months. Messes drive me crazy. After a move from a larger home to our smaller apartment, and the rooting around and dismantling of the neatly stacked boxes for the holiday items, it was somewhat overwhelming. I don't like clutter at all, although I do have my secrete stashes of clutter in the house. Finally, I am down to a few small piles: trash, thrift, you get the picture. I still have to reorganize what is out there, but at least bulk of the work is done.
I did find some treasures while sorting, yeah! I found some items that I can turn into wonderful gifts for next year. Hidden in the deluge was huge basket of yarn, with my knitting and crocheting books, yeah for treasures. I also found 2 unfinished small wall quilts. It should hold me over for a while. :)
I finally got my camera cable and memory cards, but alas my camera was just plain tired... So the Cute Guy (hubby: that is what I call him) kindly purchased a new one. He love his wife. :) So I wait.... hopefully only until Thursday.

I always try to decide what is for dinner the night before. I check out my menu and decide on the dish to prepare. I usually make a menu every two weeks, but don't assign them a day... I like being very flexible.. Like today I was going to make a roast chicken, but the time got away so I had to make an alteration to Swedish meatballs. (only because they were a quick rescue)So I will post the menu for the next day on my blog... :)

Menu for Tuesday:
Slow roasted Chicken
rustic mashed potatoes and garlic
homemade rolls
steamed broccoli

many blessings