Playroom Makeover

A couple times each year, I do a major clean-sweep in my kids' playroom.  They pick up their toys themselves and I don't really go in there for long periods of time, so things rarely end up where they're intended to go. 

After finding some new storage boxes at IKEA while organizing a friends pantry, I thought they would fit in well in the playroom closet.

When I realized the playroom looked like THIS, I decided the room and closet needed a complete over-haul.

I like how it turned out. The games and puzzles are contained in wire baskets, the stray dress-up items are stored in the rolling bins on the floor, I rotated some unloved toys up high and, now that Jason's crawling, I found higher shelves for toys and games with small pieces.

I have a feeling that today is the only day this room will be this clean.  Until I do another clean-sweep after the Christmas gifts are opened...

Another Pantry Makeover - How it can look when you purchase all-new containers

This month, I helped my sweet friend, Alison, do a complete makeover on her HUGE pantry.  She practically gave me free reign (I was giddy) and we worked together to create a functional and beautiful space.  The goal of every good organizational project should be that it's functional, but because they're getting a glass pantry door, it obviously has to look good too, because everyone who walks by will be able to see inside.

I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of us.  Alison saved up some money to spend on new containers and bins for each of the "zones" I suggested.  Honestly, most of her groceries were pretty much in zones before we started, but lots of non-food, non-cooking items had found their way into this giant space over the years.  Decorative items, toys and crafts, games, even electronics...the first step was to get rid of everything that didn't belong.

Next, I made lists of the logical groupings of items in the space.  Breakfast items, beverages, baking, canned goods, dinner, snacks...you get the idea.

At this point, I would usually gather whatever containers, bins and baskets that could be repurposed to hold like-items, but in this case, we put a date on the calendar to go shopping.

Unfortunately for us, we had to make two trips to IKEA, two weeks apart (mostly because of annoyed kids and lack of room in the car to bring everything home), but it worked out just fine. Yesterday was our final trip to purchase the last of what was needed to finish the project.  With two full shopping carts and four loud kids...checking out was interesting!

Here is the result of all of our planning.  The total hands-on time that we spent on the pantry itself (including removing everything, mopping and wiping down shelves, assembling, washing and filling the new canisters, rearranging to decide where things would go, etc) was about 4 hours.  So, except for shopping time, this huge project was done by two sets of hands in 4 hours...including multiple kid disruptions.  Just wanting to encourage you that, whatever the size, you DO have time to give your own pantry a face lift!!!

Alison purged some of her cookbooks and only kept what she uses and loves.

She uses the top shelves to store rarely-used appliances and serving pieces, which were mostly in their original boxes before the makeover.  I thought the boxes looked tidy enough, but Alison suggested taking them out of the boxes and I was shocked that it looks SO much better. Plus, with things out of their boxes, she'll be more likely to use them.

There were some items that made sense to put in the same bin.  Like baking supplies, for example.  Now, when she makes cookies or cupcakes with the kids, all of her icings and sprinkles are easy to grab and put on the counter.

We also picked out these really cool acrylic canisters for her baking staples, like flours and sugars. They have a pour spout and measuring cup AND the back part of the canister shows how many cups of each item is the container.  She also got glass jars for chocolate chips, nuts and raisins. (you can see them in the back, with the silver lids)

Here are some of the snack bins and her candy section, complete with a dessert jar for the kids.

The can shelves and the two Oxo Lazy Susans were  both from Target, but the rest of the items were found at IKEA:

- Rationell Variera Small and Large Boxes- Red bins holding snacks and other like-items
- Small, Medium and Large Burken Jars - Glass jars displaying candy, chocolate chips and trail mix
- Raritet Food Savers - the plastic, divided containers holding Chex Mix, pretzels and other snacks (in the 2nd picture up top)
- Raritet Jars with Lids - for flours and sugars
- Small and Large IKEA 365+ Jars with Lids - cereal containers with pour spouts, we also used them for oats and granola
- Slom Jar with Lid - the largest size for the spaghetti noodles
- Lekman Boxes - Storage bins for extra groceries
- Vessla Storage Crate with Casters - the white bins with lids (on the floor, under the bottom shelves)

I had so much fun transforming Alison's pantry.  It just energizes me, for some reason. After IKEA yesterday, we each went home to nap our kids before putting everything away.  I bought the last few items I needed for my kids' playroom and was on such a roll that I spent most nap time organizing at my house.  That post will be coming up next...

By the way, here's what our kids were doing while we were setting up the pantry. Dressing up is a favorite pastime, no matter where they are.

101 in 1001 update

I just looked at my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list and it's disappearing right on schedule! With exactly one year until my goal date, I've completed 65 of the 101 goals.  Here's a few more that I've made progress on lately...

#24 - Sell my old bedroom furniture that I had as a kid - I sold one of the two pieces last weekend at my mom's garage sale, but I decided to keep the other one in my craft room.  I'm considering this one DONE!

#32. Figure out digital picture frames - I messed with them, found out they need a memory cards. I got annoyed, gave up and sold them at the garage sale.  Considering this DONE...is that cheating???

#47 - Go jogging on the beach - As of our vacation...DONE!!!

#67 - Visit Desert Botanical Gardens - I bought an annual pass for the family (I found a deal that made it cheaper to do that than to buy a one-time pass), now it's just a matter of getting over there!

#91 - Talk Mike into getting a professional massage - Okay, this is going to seem like cheating, but technically, I did this. He didn't GET one, but I did talk him into it, which is how I phrased the goal. While we were on our stay-cation a few weeks ago, they had a killer deal for a couples massage, plus we had a 30% off coupon for any spa services. Mike didn't want to do it at first, but I was able to sell him on the idea if we forfeited our expensive dinner plans and ate at a cheaper restaurant. Unfortunately, when I called to book the appointment, they said we could either take advantage of their deal OR use the 30% coupon, not both. And that was much more than we wanted to spend, so we axed the idea and ate at the fancy restaurant on top of the mountain instead. So technically, I did this one!

The things left on my list include:

7. Take a short vacation with another couple, no kids allowed - hoping to do this next year, no plans in the works, but I've thrown it out there to a handful of "couple" friends.

9. See the Grand Canyon - almost did this for our 10 year anniversary, maybe for our 11 year???

10. Take a trip back to Kansas City - no plans here...I hope to cross this off sometime next year.

14. Open savings accounts for the kids - soon, very soon.

15. Teach the kids to tithe weekly - I should have set a time limit on this, because the kids DO tithe, but I haven't figured out a way to consistently get it into our pre-church routine to get their offering money then put it in the bucket when we check them in. It just needs to become a new habit. Working on it.

17. Put wood floors in my scrapbook room - this may or may not happen...we'll see.

18. Hike to the top of Camelback Mountain - hoping to do this when the weather cools down.

19. Share my faith with a stranger - this one has proven difficult...I had the opportunity the other day, but chickened out and in hindsight, I think I could have potentially turned the person OFF to my faith if I'd have responded the way I wanted to.

22. Develop a workable system for paperwork in the office - in the process of managing the kid's papers, then will move on to the piles of OUR paperwork.

25. Recycle our unused electronics - hmmm...I don't even remember what electronics I was referring to here. I might need to go on a hunt for unused electronics hidden in our house.

26. Do 25 random acts of kindness - 16 out of 25.

28. Go to San Francisco with Mike - I would far prefer that THIS is how we spend our 11 year anniversary, but the plane tickets are not cheap!!!

31. Put cabinets and countertops in my craft room - not even sure I want to do this anymore. I might start doing digital scrapbooking sooner than I ever thought possible. I never thought I'd see the day, but it may be inevitable. I just don't have the time to sit and play with pictures like I used to...

33. Learn how to use my MP3 player - just got an iPod shuffle for my birthday, so once I figure out iTunes, I can cross this one off my list. Instead of selling the old MP3 player, I'm going to download kid songs and let Ryan and Kaylin have them in the van.

37. Volunteer at a homeless shelter - apparently the homeless shelters in Phoenix are scarier than in KC, so my hope of doing this as a family won't come to fruition before Sept, 2011. I might have to do this one with Mike.

39. Visit a friend in the hospital - When my BFF has her baby (2nd baby since starting this list) I plan on crossing this off. Considering I had a cold when she had Jack last fall. Stupid germs foiled my plans. (to both visit my friend recovering from a c-section AND cross this off my list)

43. Figure out how to record home movies to DVD using my computer - our video camera bit the dust since making this list, so I doubt I even need this item anymore.

44. Call a locksmith to unlock our empty file cabinet - dude...locksmiths don't come to your house for cheap! $50-150 for this one. I've decided it can stay locked for a while.

46. Build a snowman with the kids - this winter!

58. Hang curtains on the office window - I have the fabric, I just need to sketch my plans and solicit help from sewing friends and family.

59. Install crown molding in the bedroom - could be costly, nothing in the works yet, but we'll see.

70. Camp by the Christmas tree - will do this December.

75. Take a hot air balloon ride - I've been hinting for this as a future gift idea from Mike, so we'll see.

78. Purge old paperwork from our file cabinets - this has been in the works for a while, but I still don't consider the project "done."

79. Give myself a pedicure 3 months in a row - not that difficult, still can't seem to make it a priority every month.

82. Take a spin class (without leaving in the middle) - I think I could do this now, but the spin classes are during Jason's naptime, so I have to wait until he naps later in the mornings to attempt this one.

85. Teach Ryan to make a full dinner all by himself - recipe suggestions? Anyone...?

87. Attend Kick Boxing every Saturday for 3 months - ugh, my favorite kick boxing instructor quit while I was pregnant. His class helped me shed the last pounds after having Kaylin, so I'm severely bummed. All of the new instructors are horrible, but I still plan to attempt this goal.

88. Attend a Yoga class once a week for 3 months - doing this weekly has proven to be difficult, but I'm trying!

93. Plan an international trip with Mike - at the rate the economy is going, I can "plan" all I want, but we're not going to be "going" on an international trip until 2020...

94. Watch Gone With the Wind - this requires a trip to Blockbuster...this may be the next item that's crossed off.

96. Go to bed at 9:00 every day for a week straight - this should not be as difficult as it has been. My typical bedtime is 10:00, not midnight. Why can't I hit the sack an hour early for seven straight days??? I need to try this challenge again soon.

97. Research an inexpensive, good quality skin care regimen and stick to it - I've always been horrible to my skin. I need to get on the bandwagon soon or I'm not going to be pretty to look at in a few years...

98. Get Lasik surgery on my eyes - I need to man-up and just do this. Once I convince Mike that it's worth the extra pennies.

So that's everything! I think I can do the last few dozen things in the next 365 days. Probably not ALL of them, but most. Any guesses on how many I will leave un-done in September, 2011? 

I'll even make it interesting and give a prize to the person who correctly guesses the number of items NOT done by September 27, 2011...or gets closest.  Leave a comment on THIS post to tell me your guess.  Remember to leave your first name and email address (entered with spaces between the @ symbol to avoid spam).

Meal Plan 9/27/10

I'm in a bit of a cooking rut, so I'm trying some new recipes this week.  Can't wait!

Monday - Stir Fry with brown rice
Tuesday - Vegetarian Lentil Soup with Whole Wheat Bread
Wednesday - Chicken Taco Stew
Thursday - Chicken Pot Pie
Friday - Spaghetti Carbonara with salad
Saturday - {Crock Pot} White Chicken Chili
Sunday - Spinach Rice Casserole

Desserts I want to try this week:
Double Chocolate Toffee Cookies
Crock Pot Rice Pudding
Slab Apple Pie

I'm also going to try making Candied Walnuts in my crock pot to throw on my salads for lunch.  That should spice up my life, right???

Friday Favorites - Top 10 Websites

Continuing on with my Friday Favorites kick, here are my Top 10 Favorite Websites...

Craigslist.org - Any free website that allows me to buy and sell items without a surcharge is going to be high on my favorites list! I'm also a fan of eBay.com, but being that I live in a large city, there are plenty of local people who want my second hand stuff without me having to lug everything and everyone to the post office to ship it. I've also become a recent fan of Freecycle.org. (a play on the word "recycle") It's like Craigslist, but everything's free.

MoneySavingMom.com and TheGoodDealGal.blogspot.com - These two ladies have saved me hundreds of dollars and countless hours of my time. By adding them to my blog roll, I find out about all of the cheap/free deals on groceries, dining, products, you name it. You can re-invent the wheel and do all of the research yourself or you can go on their sites and see how they've matched sales with printable coupons. Seriously, they are awesome.

SimpleMom.net - I long to have a simpler life and Simple Mom is a breath of fresh air. She now has "sister blogs" that are written by like-minded people: SimpleKids.net, SimpleBites.net, SimpleHomeschool.net, and SimpleOrganic.net. All of the sites encourage uncomplicated living and a very back-to-basics type of lifestyle.

Facebook.com - As addicted as some have become to Facebook, I really think it's a phenomenal resource. I communicate with new and old friends with ease and can get to know people on a different level. Thankfully, I haven't been sucked into Mafia Wars or Farmville.  I did have a long stint with Facebook's first version of Scrabble, called Lexulous, but I finally admitted that I had a problem and ended all of my games.  (*sigh*)

Delicious.com - All of my recipe links are catalogued on Delicious.com, but I've also started keeping other link ideas here. You can tag links by whatever category you want and search for items with little effort. I can search for new recipes when I'm meal planning, decorating ideas during the holidays, organizational tips when I'm in one of my current moods...this is another great site to organize random websites or blog posts that you want to track.

FoodTidings.com - For those of you who have ever offered to take a meal to someone who just had a baby, had surgery or lost a loved one, THIS SITE IS AMAZING. Instead of making a list  of dates and having everyone "reply to all" to choose when they will deliver their meal, you set up a page for your friend and others sign up for their delivery date all on their own. The site even sends you a reminder email...it's genius. You can put in the receiver's address, directions, allergies and food preferences, they've thought of everything!

CreativeOrganizing.typepad.com - When I need organizational inspiration, Aby is my go-to girl. The pictures on her website are eye candy...she's not only a professional organizer, she also scrapbooks. So you know we're like-minded individuals!

BeckyHiggins.com - This should be no surprise to anyone, since I reference her blog often. I've always followed Becky in the scrapbook world, but her blog is equally as inspirational sharing recipes, home decor, photography and fun mom ideas.

Gymboree.com - Since discovering that the high-quality clothes at Gymboree are actually affordable last year, this is where most of Kaylin's wardrobe comes from.  I love shopping online because you can search by size, they offer suggestions to complete the outfit, shipping is almost always $5 on any purchase,  there are 20% coupons in every Parenting magazine imaginable, and you can earn Gymbucks ($25 off your next $50 purchase) which I use to buy clothes for next year at the end of the season.  They also have a Gymboree Rewards program that gives you gift certificates after $250 (I think) in purchases. I'm a huge fan of Gymboree: their clothes wear well, they don't shrink or fade after washing and they're super cute.

Swagbucks.com - It took me a while to understand why I should get into Swagbucks.com, since it's just a regular search engine, similar to Google. The difference is that when you search on this site, you are randomly awarded "Swag Bucks" that you can use to buy gift cards and prizes. Swagbucks makes money off their feature ads, then passes along some of that revenue to me and you through the gifts they offer.  You get 30 Swagbucks just for signing up and when you refer friends, you get additional Swagbucks. (So if you sign up, make sure you mention that "ktksu" referred you!)  I'm saving my Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards to use to buy Christmas gifts...can't wait to save some money this December!  To sign up, click here.  I highly recommend searching the internet with Swagbucks...why not get rewarded for something you do anyway? Everyone searches the internet! (Update for my international readers: Swagbucks currently only services the US, the UK and Canada.)

So that's it.  Those are my Top 10.  Did I miss any amazing websites out there?  (other than my blogs, of course...) 

Leave a comment if you want to share one of your favorites.

Q&A Wednesday - Getting Ready for Fall

Dawn asked, "Can you post any photos of your fall decor and any crafts/costume ideas soon as I'm getting ready to decorate my house this weekend. Thanks."

After seeing this comment, I came to the realization that I wasn't in love with my fall decorations. I went around the house, taking pictures of this and that, unimpressed with most of it. The next day, I took Kaylin and Jason out to search for some new fall decor that is more my style.

Unfortunately, the only items that were in my budget that day were these little pumpkin place card holders from Hobby Lobby. A 40% coupon sweetened the deal even more. Aren't they adorable?


They had pears too, but I decided on the pumpkins and am using them as picture holders.


I have lots of fall pictures around my house right now, mostly to break up the monotony of the photos that have been displayed all year. I rotate in fall pictures until December, then Christmas and snow pictures through January, then I put out my standard, year-round pictures until fall again.

(This pictures was a friend's pumpkin carving party when Ryan was 3 1/2. It's one of my favorite Halloween memories...he was grabbing handfuls of pumpkin guts and throwing them into a nearby trash can as fast as he could. It makes me smile every time I see it.)


(This is a goofy picture of Mike and me at a church hoe-down a while back. Bandanas, braids in my hair and corn hanging out of Mike's mouth. It says, "fall" to me for some reason...)

I still wanted a few more touches of fall in my front room, so last weekend, I called a friend on a whim and begged her to drop everything and go shopping with me for an hour. Together, we came up with these fun pieces. They're versatile and can be exchanged with seasonal wreaths, candles and filler throughout the year, so I don't feel as guilty for the splurge.

(on my dining room table - the hurricane is from Home Goods, the wreath is from Holland Boone, I had the pillar candle already...I buy clearance candles at the end of each season for the next year.)


(currently on my kitchen counter, may be relocated if it gets in my way every day - both the candle holder and the filler are from Holland Boone)

I also found some fall leaves at Pier 1 that I interchanged with the little white flowers that I've had in this floor vase for years. I'd like to get some berries for Christmas, use the flowers through spring and summer, and I love the way the leaves look for fall. The flowers and swizzle sticks were also from Pier 1.

(in my front hall)

I split a 36 lb. case of Washington apples with a friend (from my produce co-op) and had to find places for more than 50 apples, so I decided to decorate with them.

(on my kitchen island - I picked up the cool canister from my mom's garage sale recently)

I got the below idea from Becky Higgins. (see her fall decorating ideas in this post) I happened to have three pumpkins to stick on the three empty candle holders on my fireplace. I like how they turned out.

The photo below isn't fall decor, but I finally updated the frames above the desk hutch in my office with current pictures of the kids. (Ahem...please excuse the piles of papers in the cubbies. I still haven't figured out a good system for paperwork in my office, unless you count loosely-labeled cubbies that get papers crammed inside.) I usually have sepia toned pictures here, but decided to print them in color this time. I think they turned out cute!

The second part of Dawn's question had to do with costumes. I had an AMAZING family idea, but no amount of bribery is working to get Ryan to cooperate.

Last year on November 2nd, Kaylin announced that she wanted to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz this year. Thank goodness that's what she still wants to be, because I borrowed a beautiful Dorothy costume from a friend and found sparkly ruby red slippers at Target. I decided to make this a family affair when I saw a 12-18 month lion costume for $5 at a consignment sale. I gave Ryan the option to be either the scarecrow or the tin man and was going to ask Mike to be the other, while dressing up as the good witch myself. But Ryan's not in. At all. He wants to be Darth Vader.

How sad, right?

As it turns out, a friend called last week offering a hand-me-down "Squirt the Turtle" costume for Jason from the Finding Nemo movie. I think it's even cuter than the lion and no one else seems to want to participates in my awesome Wizard of Oz theme, so Jason might be a turtle named Squirt.

Anyone else have fall on the brain? For me, it's wishful thinking; it was 100 degrees yesterday...

Pantry Makeover

I've had organizing on the brain lately. In the last 10 days, I've re-organized three pantries and a laundry room. This morning, I realized that my extra supply of spaghetti sauce should be out of Jason's reach, and within minutes, the contents of my own pantry were all over my kitchen and I was rearranging everything.


(It occurred to me about 1/2 way through to snap "before" pictures, which are really more like "during" pictures. Just know that my "before" wasn't all that bad to begin with.)

Most people open my pantry door and say, "Wowwwww...this looks like a grocery store..." But although it looked nice and was fairly organized before, I decided to take the advice that I've been giving my friends lately and do a little rearranging:

1. Keep like items together.
2. Gather unused containers and baskets from around the house and use what you have before buying anything.
3. Move kid-friendly snacks onto lower shelves and things that could be a messy disaster (ie glass spaghetti jars) out of the reach of toddlers.
4. Store unopened extra packages behind currently used items. (For example, my 1/2 used bags of sugar and flour are behind the white canisters in the pictures below.)

Here are the before/during and after pictures of the whole pantry. (I listed what was in the empty sections in the "before" and how I grouped items in the "after.")




"Before" of the top two shelves...


"After" of the top two shelves...

(Top shelf: snacks, beverages and extra flour. Next shelf: nuts, seasoning packets, dinner items, oils & vinegars.)


(The "lunch box section" - on the lowest shelf)


(The "baking section" up higher - the plastic white basket on the left is from Walmart. I think they sell those big ones 2/$1 and the littler ones 3 or 4 for $1. I use them all over my house, mostly in drawers as separators.)

By the way, before and after pictures of my other friends' pantries will be posted after our scheduled trip to IKEA next week. One friend is buying just a few items and using mostly baskets that she had around the house while the other had a huge garage sale to fund her complete face-lift, which will result in a pantry fit for a magazine cover. Stay tuned!

(FYI...if you're local and need some organizational help, I'm for hire! I have no idea what to charge, so once we're done, you can just pay me whatever you think the project is worth. I'm not officially starting a business, but I'm very open to helping where I can and bringing in some extra cash for our household where I can. My friend's husband has decided to move into their laundry room, so my referrals are excellent! Just sayin'...)