a few things to make my life easier

I have come across a few products in the last month that have made my life a little bit easier... in a little way.   And in my crazy busy life, every LITTLE bit helps:)

The first product is called "Awesome."  Awesome is an all-purpose cleaner and de-greaser.  My sister in law told me about it because she uses it as a stain remover for clothing.  She said it gets her son's clothes really clean and even gets dry-erase marker out of clothes... Awesome!  When I went to my local Family Dollar to pick some up, the ladies at the store told me it was great to remove grease and great as a carpet cleaner.  I used it in my Hoover steam cleaner to clean my carpets and it did a fantastic job.  I have been using it to clean my bathrooms, kitchen, etc. 

But the best thing for me, has been my grout!  I have tried several things I have found on Pinterest and none of them have worked very well.  I simply spray the awesome on the grout, wait 5 minutes or so, brush lightly with a toothbrush and it comes clean!  I then use a mop bucket and rag with just water to mop up any left-over awesome!  As you can see in this before and after picture, my tile looks awesome!  And the great part is that it's super cheap!  It's $1 for a spray bottle and $3 for a half gallon at the Family Dollar.  I've also seen it at Walmart.

 The second product is the Bounce dryer bar. I just happened upon it at the grocery store and I have loved it!  The clothes are static free, smell great.... and.... I don't have to throw away a stupid dryer sheet!  I hate throwing away those stupid dryer sheets.  (here's my disclaimer... I have read bad reviews on other blogs.  I haven't had any problems with it falling off the dryer or ruining my clothes... I've had it for about 2 months and it's been great for me.  It is kind of expensive... I think I paid $7 for a 4 month refill, but it's been worth it to me.)

Now, if I could just find a way to have more time in my day, I'd be set!

Toilet Paper Tube Snowflakes {tutorial}

I am in LOVE with these snowflakes... in fact, I'm a little obsessed.  Last year I came across toilet paper tube snowflakes on Pinterest.  I thought they were awesome... so I started saving my trash... toilet paper tubes, paper towel tubes, empty wrapping paper tubes (along with my glass jars, tin canes, etc... I love to collect trash).    I had my students make some snowflakes, and my aide made some really awesome ones, then I found some time to make some... and now I can't stop making them.

So, here's a little tutorial....

1.  Gather your supplies.  Toilet paper tubes, scissors, hot glue and hot glue gun.

2.  flatten the tubes and cut them into 1/4" pieces.

 3.  Here are some of the basic shapes that I used in my snowflakes...  I created these shapes by folding the tube strips.  I also cut some of the strips for a few of the projects.

 4.  I started most of my snowflakes by taking 6 (yes, all snowflakes have 6 sides, not 4, not 5, not 8... kind of a pet peeve of mine) of the basic flattened oval shape and making my center.

5.  From there I tried to get creative.  I folded the shapes in different ways and hot glued them together.

 Some of the shapes were cut open to overlap each other.

 I kept adding to get the look I was looking for.  I found a lot of my ideas by looking on Pinterest and doing google searches.   Some of my favorite snowflakes were these snowflakes from The Crafty Sisters. I even searched for pictures of actual snowflakes and tried to copy those.

Here are some of the different snowflakes I made.

I then spray painted them turquoise and added a little glitter.  They also look awesome white or silver... and glitter is the best finishing touch!

I hung mine in my living room window.

Now, start saving your trash and have fun!  But don't get too obsessed:)

The Boys' Bathroom!

I have been so excited about this bathroom.  I have been wanting to re-do the boys' bathroom for a long time.  I had all of my plans... but I needed an excuse to do it.  Moving was a great excuse.

Let's start with an overall picture of the room... the colors make me smile:)

I found these free bathroom printables over at Over the Big Moon.  I just loved the simplicity of them.  I had to make a few adjustments because they didn't quite match the colors in my shower curtain.   I changed the colors in photoshop to what would work better for me.  Also, I wanted a little something different for the "wash" one and I found a cute old fashioned tub clipart that worked great!

 My oldest son was complaining that the toilet paper was too far away in the drawer, so I had to put a basket on the back of the toilet to store some extra rolls:)

 I found the shower curtain at my favorite store... Target.  I think it was part of the dorm stuff and it was on clearance for only $10.  It was perfect!

 We took the towel bar down and put up hooks... I love hooks for towels... who wants to take the time to fold a towel?  Plus the towel rack would only hold two towels and I have 3 boys.  I also really love the white towels at Walmart with the color stripe.  They are inexpensive and they come in many colors. And I really just like white towels better...

 My favorite part... and what I based the whole room on, was the scrabble wall...(the funny thing was that it was the last thing for me to finish).  I got the idea from this blog, but I can't quite figure out where the original link comes from.  I bought very thin wood at Home Depot... I think it's about 1/4"  The wood is 2.5" squares.  Then I painted it with acrylic paint and put the letters on in black vinyl.  To attach it to the wall, I used command strips.  Now that it's done, I kind of wish I would have added WIPE!

Dining Room

Moving is sooo much work.  I don't know how long it will take me to get completely organized (ok, I probably never will).  One of the most fun things about moving is decorating.  I didn't want to post pix of my house until I got some things decorated.  Decorating takes time and money... so it will come slowly.

This is the fabric that I chose for my living room, dining room and kitchen.  I was looking for something with black and brown because my furniture is black and brown.  I also really wanted something with turquoise.  The other colors just happened.  I love the purple and green... it's different than what I'm used to, but so fun.  And I really am tired of red.  It was on clearance, so that's a huge bonus!  

Here is my dining room.  It's probably the most used and most looked at room in my home...(I stare at it  while I'm cooking.)    I've had the dining table for several years.  But I had to spray paint the chairs.  That is one of my favorite parts.  

I have always loved this look of mis-matched chairs from my favorite TV show Friends. 

So I got to work painting my own chairs.  One green, one turquoise and one purple.  Technically I need one more chair, but I haven't found one at a yard sale yet.  Plus, we only have 5 people in our family.

 I made the curtains and bought the rods at Ross.  I had the dresser in my craft room years ago.  I've been using it in my boys room, but it was way too girly!  Even though it's in front of the window, I love it!  It's the perfect place to put all of the kids coloring books, and coloring supplies.  As well as their homework.

Most of the accessories on top are garage sale treasures.  Of course, I spray painted the balls on the bird baths.

I think I pulled everything together nicely.  I do need to make a table runner for the middle of my table and some sort of bowl with balls for the center as well.  What do you think?  A table runner out of my fabric, or doilies painted in the colors of my fabric?  Also, do you think I need to hang anything on the walls?

Half Table {repurposed furniture}

My Father-in-law does property management.  My hubby gets the fun opportunity of hauling off the "junk" that people leave behind when they move.  Most of the time it really is junk, but sometimes he brings things home to see if I want them.  A few weeks ago, he brought home a drop leaf table just like this...

(I did not take a "before" picture of the actual table because it had a disgusting black banana stuck to it... seriously people leave gross stuff behind).  We had been looking for a small desk to put in our living room for our laptop.  We wanted something in a central location so we could monitor the kids.  I had seen a few "half tables" awhile back on Pinterest and thought it was kind of a cool idea.  As soon as he pulled it out of the truck, I said, cut it in half!  He thought I was crazy... he always does, but he goes with my ideas any way.  We took the drop leaves off, and we cut the table in half.

 The first half we are using as a laptop desk in our living room.  It leans against the wall nicely.  We secured it to the wall with a "L" bracket under the table.

 Here's the side view.

 Here it is with a chair that I redid... an awesome yard sale treasure.

My hubby requested that he got the 2nd half to use in the office... it makes the perfect printer stand.  And I think I'll use it as a charging station as well.

I've moved!

We recently moved!  It was only a few blocks away, but a move nonetheless... lots of work!  I want to post pix of the house, but I feel like I have to post in baby steps... I want to post the rooms after they are decorated... well, partially decorated.  

 I'm starting with the entry.  This is my front door... it's quite pretty.  On the right is a coat closet.  I have a vase there with fake flowers sitting on the floor.  I have plans for that corner... stay tuned.  The left side is a alcove type thing.

 I decided it would be the perfect place to put my seasonal decor... since I have a lot of it.

I have a white mirror hanging in the back.  Then, I strung a banner across the opening.  I have a different sign there for each month.  I put a wreath on the right... it can change seasonally.  I know the wreath looks weird in the pic, but it is a willow wreath layered with a fall berry wreath in front... and a big black spider on it.  The candle sticks on the left can hold candles or other objects.  In the center, I have wood blocks for each month.   Then I can put whatever fillers I have.  I love the balance of the objects and I love changing out a spot seasonally.

Shhhh....

I never made a quiet book for my kids... I thought it would be too hard... huh... Well, I got the bright idea of making a quiet book for my sister-in-law's Dr. Seuss baby shower.  I ended up making most of it myself and it was kind of fun... but it was a LOT of work!

 I got the idea for the cover from Serving Pink Lemonade.    I made it fairly similar.  I used eyelets to make the holes in the book and used rings to hold it together.  I have the flap close with a large button.  I thought it would be fun to have the cover a little different, so I just appliquéd the letters "shhh" on the front rather than having it say "quiet book."

 I didn't do a ton of pages... there are only 3 front and back.  But I figure my sister in law can add more if she wants.    I made the pages out of Pellon as was suggested by Serving Pink Lemonade.  I think it was a wise decision.  I glued everything to the page first with a felt glue, then I sewed everything with clear thread.  I thought that would be easier than changing colors all the time.  It worked out great.

 The first page is the art paint pallet.  I got this pattern from Serving Pink Lemonade as well.  I did make a slight change.  I thought it would be fun to have the colors come off and on with a button.  (It was very difficult for me to figure out how to sew the button hole exactly where I wanted it to go, so I finally got smart and sewed the button hole in the felt first before I cut out the paint swatch.)

 The car page also came from Serving Pink Lemonade.  She had cute signs on hers, but I didn't quite get to that part... I think it's okay without them.

 I also got the tree idea from Serving Pink Lemonade.  I changed it just a bit.  I thought a less detailed tree would be easier.  There are flowers, fall leaves and summer leaves that snap on and off.

My favorite page is the tent page... my family are big campers.  I loved the idea of having a barn with animal finger puppets from Serving Pink Lemonade, but I really liked the tent idea on Laura Thoughts. So I combined the two ideas and created my tent.

When you open the tent zipper, there are forest animal finger puppets inside.  Aren't they cute???

I created a pdf file with the template for the tent and finger puppets.  You can download it here.  (I'm not sure the best way to share files, so let me know if the link does not work)

I got the shoe template from Made by Me... Shared with you.  Her's was a lot more detailed and way cuter, but I think mine looks okay:)

It turned out great and I'm excited for my little nephew to be able to use it... he finally came into this world on Oct. 2nd... but I'm sure it will be awhile until he's old enough to enjoy his quiet book!