Stuck On You

Progress!  I made progress!  Last night I cleared off our table in the front hall.  There are no before and after pictures.  Just picture a pile of mail vs no pile of mail.  I think I may put a vase of flowers and a bowl for keys on the table instead of the tray that's there right now.  The tray encourages the piling.  So if there are pretty things in the way, maybe we will be less likely to pile.  Here's hoping.

And I cleaned out one of the kitchen cabinets.  My cabinet with pots and pans drives me crazy.  It's not a very big cabinet and I have a lot of pans -- muffin pans, mini loaf pans, cake pans, and cookie sheets.  Things are always crashing down on me when I open the door.  Or more accurately, sliding out on my toes.  Not cool.  So, this is what we started with.

Before

Okay, that is just ridiculous.  And yes, that's a deviled egg plate in with the baking stuff.  I know it doesn't make sense.  To be perfectly honest, I had already pulled the pot lids out because I had a plan.  In the end, I pulled everything out.  And I had a plan.  I'd seen a couple of ideas how to better store my lids.

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I really loved the first picture with the rail, just resting the lids inside.  Perfect and beautiful.  However, the doors on that cabinet are fairly narrow and that just wouldn't have worked at all.  So I went with the hook method.  I grabbed a couple packs of hooks at Dollar General, spending a grand total of $2 for this improvement.  I just held the pan lids on the door and positioned the hooks.  Perfect.  And it makes it so much easier to store and access my pots and pans without things crashing down on my toes.

 

Ignore the saw dust.  I need to vacuum my cabinets, my drawer sheds saw dust every time I open it.

 

On the top left, I stacked muffin trays together.  Then the mini loaf pan is next to those.  Cookie sheets of the same size stack together.  Larger items -- big cookie sheets, a platter and cutting board are stacked in order of convenience.  And another cutting board and collapsible collander lean against the right side of the cabinet.  On the bottom shelf are other baking pans -- a deep dish pizza pan, three layer cake pans, and an angel food cake pan.  On the back right area ll my skillets and the rest of the pots go in front.  I think this is a system I can work with and keep up.  Hopefully.

How do you organize your pots and pans?  Any great systems I should try out?  Or do you pans crash down on you too?

Spring Cleaning

Spring is a super crazy time of year at our house.  It seems like all the big projects build up over the winter, the ones that it's too cold to do outside.  But I also settle into my spring laziness.  It's so nice out.  All I want to do is set out on the deck and drink lemonade while reading a book.  Well, that'd be great if there weren't a thousand other things to do.  I of course, have given into my whims of laying about, enjoying the spring and let my house become a disaster on the inside.  Our guest room is truly mortifying at this point.

Over Mother's Day, my mom told me she and my dad planned to come to our house this weekend to help us paint the outside.  I'm pretty sure this is a sign I better start cleaning.  Most of the house is okay, it's just those areas that are unseen for the most part that I tend to pile things.  And I always make these great goals, I'm going to be better at house work.  Then I fail miserably and end up feeling guilty.

I want to have one of those houses that is always company ready.  Not one that I have to work for hours to make it presentable for guests.  So, it starts now.  I know, shocking, another grand cleaning plan.  I'm going to try some new things.  It's going to be just great, I know it.  And like all great projects, it needs a name.  Are you ready......

 

So, what are you guys up to?  Anybody else trying a mad spring clean?  Or turning over a new leaf?  This will be the year I get the problem areas under control.  The master bedroom, the guest bedroom, the laundry room, and the front hall table.  What are your clutter spots?  Anybody else want to jump on the Clean in 2013 bus with me?  It's going to be a fun ride.

Pinterest Spring Challenge

I'm not really sure why I thought right in the middle of state testing was the time to tackle our bedroom.  Apparently I've lost my mind.  However, crafts keep me happy.  Man, I love crafts.  So it seems like it was actually the perfect time.  I wish I had the total reveal today but I hit a hiccup in one of my projects but hopefully it will be finished soon.  It just requires the purchase of some Mod Podge.  I know, I know.  Somehow I'm out.

So this is part of the Spring Pinterest Challenge over at Young House Love, I of course, am linking up over there.  Go check out all the gorgeous projects.

Anyway.  So I had a vision.  White, yellow and grey.  Our walls were already grey-ish blue.  They were supposed to be more grey than blue but the paint came out a little differently than I had originally imagined.  We're working with it though.  And we're off....

I love baking.  Especially cupcakes.  So, this piece of art was perfect.  And even husband approved.  I've been eyeballing it for ages but just couldn't ever justify buying it.

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Super cute, right!  So I grabbed a wooden plaque at JoAnn's the other day.  I had some re-positionable letters that I'd bought a while back.  I eyeballed the placement and stuck the letters to the wood.  Then I just painted over the whole thing.  I peeled the letters off and was left with woodgrain and black.  Perfect.  Now it hangs between our bedroom and closet doors.

And I redid the art over the bed.  What I had just felt too dark, it was weighing down the room almost as much as that black comforter.  I had a couple of ideas I wanted to work in.

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I can't find the source for the other one guys.  Super bummer!  If you know the source, let me know and I'll l ink it.  So, I knew I wanted our initials and that great confetti art.  I wanted to try the confetti art with punched out circles this time.  I've done art like that before and painted it and it's always a giant pain in the butt.  So I picked up a couple different sizes of circle punches.  I already had glue dots on hand.  And I grabbed a couple of wooden letters from the craft store.  I'm still not 100% sold on how I did our initials but it's not a big deal to change down the road.

And get ready for some more pictures because I didn't end with just new wall art.  I made some more fun updates.  I think I'm really happy with it.  Still have to get the husband seal of approval when he gets home from work.  

I feel like it looks so much bigger now.  Not that it could ever look huge, but it just seems airier to me.  I really wanted pillow shams that were white, yellow, and grey chevron print but I couldn't find any I liked or any good fabric.  Rats.  So I'm settling for these yellow leaf print pillow cases from Target for right now.  And I got the comforter at Target, those are my favorite comforters.  They're super cheap and so cozy.  The pink one in our spare bedroom is just like it.  

How did your guys Pinterest projects turn out?  Anyone else have multiple projects you attempted and have one crap out on you?  Overall I'm pretty happy with mine.  Fingers crossed my second try of the last one works out.  I'm super excited about it.  I'm thinking it's going to be my favorite.

What a Snore

Okay, maybe not really.  But I thought it would be fun to look back at how I've decorated my bedroom.  That is after I went on a massive treasure hunt to find old pictures.  But, mission accomplished.  Mostly anyway.  I wish I had pictures of my bedroom as a kid.

In third grade I got to pick my bedroom color.  I moved into my very own bedroom and IT HAD TO BE PINK.  I loved it.  And I picked out a cream bedspread with an attached burgundy dust ruffle.  The bedspread was covered in burgundy and hunter green roses.  Then I graduated to cream colored walls.  So much more grown up you know.  With a hunter green and cream plaid comforter.  Man, the 90s were awesome.  Somewhere along the way my walls became plastered with posters of Christian rock bands.  In high school I convinced my mom to let me paint my walls blue and spray paint clouds on the walls.  It was truly amazing.  My mom is fantastic BTW.

So, let's fast forward to about 2006.  Apparently this is the point when I became obsessed with taking pictures of where I lived.  Ha ha.  Anyway, here we go.  Basically in chronological order.

My first apartment completely on my own.  After college. 

 Yes, lots and lots of color.  I was going for a beach theme.  Everywhere in my apartment.

Same apartment.  New comforter.  And the bedding buying problem begins....

I moved to Kansas City and kept the same bedding.

Then there was new bedding.  Which I somehow never took a picture of.  There was a boy living there too (my husband, obviously) so I felt like it was time to move out of the pink and brown.  So I went red and brown.  If you pay close attention, this is the exact same bedding that's in our guest bedroom right now.  I like to recycle.

When we got a new bed, I once again had to buy new bedding.  Okay, honestly we used the red comforter for a while.  It was ridiculous and too small for the king sized bed.  I'm cheap though.  Well, I finally found a set I liked and bought it.  I didn't give it much thought.  Or spend much money on it.  

All black.  I like it.  But I'm feeling like it's too dark.

Our bedroom is pretty small.  I'm not really sure on exact measurements.  But it's small.  Especially with the three dressers, TV cabinet, and king sized bed.  So I think some lighter bedding may be just what the doctor ordered.  

So, how do you decorate your bedroom?  Anybody else working with a tiny bedroom and too much stuff?  What's your opinion on bedding colors?  Should we go white?  

Leaves and Twigs

No, this post does not refer to nature at all, but muffins.  My oldest sister makes what we fondly refer to as Leaves & Twigs muffins.  Why do we call them that?  She shoves in every healthy thing she can think of.  Well, I had some bananas leftover from throwing that wedding shower (don't worry, they've been in the freezer, not sitting on my counter this whole time) and I wanted to make banana bread.  I knew I wanted some oatmeal in them too to make them a little more substantial, so I called my sister for her leaves and twigs recipe.

 My sister and me on vacation a few years ago.

And let's get ready to cook.  I ate two of these for breakfast this morning with a yogurt and man they were delicious. 

Hearty Fruit and Oatmeal Muffins
2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/2 c buttermilk
1 cup sugar
Fruit*

Mash your fruit.  Combine fruit with sugar, buttermilk, eggs, and oil.   Stir in soda, flour, and oatmeal.  Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Makes about 18 muffins.  You could also make it as a loaf, but why.  Muffins are nice and portable.  Make muffins.

*I used about three bananas.  I also sprinkled a couple of chocolate chips on top of each muffin.  Next time I'm thinking pumpkin or strawberries.

Let me know if you try these and what you think.  I definitely feel like they're a little healthier breakfast choice.  What are your plans for the weekend?  I'm hoping the snow is melted by tomorrow, yes, snow in May in Missouri.  Not impressed.  I'm going to be working on my Pinterest Challenge project.  Squee!!!!!!!

A Plan

I am seriously jumping up and down inside my head.  I have a plan.  I'm so excited.  I love plans.  I'm tackling something on my Spring To Do List.  Or if you go with my typo yesterday (awesome) my Sprint to do List.  Ug.  Seriously, Mary, not cool.

Anyway.  If you read YHL, you know it's time for the Spring Pinterest Challenge.  I love the Pinterest Challenge.  Any season.  And this time I'm tackling it hardcore.  Cue dancing.  I have big plans.  But, I'm going to keep it uncharacteristically quiet. 

Even though I bought supplies last night.  And may have completed one project.  Here's a hint:  the colors involved are going to be grey and yellow.  It's going to be great.  But I'm going to wait for Wednesday for the big reveal.  You know, build some anticipation.  And that way if it's a total crap fest, it's not all out there.  But I'm hoping it's not a total crap fest.  That would be disappointing.

I think I need to make a habit of doing a little crafty project or a little DIY every night after work.  I'm in such a better mood when I do.  Like a noticeably better mood.  And that was even after shopping for quite a while.  I don't always love shopping.  I was fairly successful though, even though I couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  I think I got things that will work.  Or I can return and try again.

Are you guys participating in the Pinterest Challenge?  What are you going to make?  Somebody spill, it may kill me keeping my mouth shut.

Spring To Do List

We've had four gorgeous days in a row.  Gorgeous.  I'm in love.  And it's supposed to get cold and rainy again tomorrow.  Man, this weather is such a tease.  But since I'm so desperately ready for spring, I'm busting out with a spring to do list.

1.  Finish painting the house.  We started last summer and only got two sides done.  Super classy, right.  My parents are coming to help soon.
2.  Demo the old sidewalk and put in stepping stones.  The stepping stones that have been stacked beside for our garage for a year.  I'm dreading this project because I know it's going to be seriously hard work.  Yes, the old sidewalk is broken up and in terrible shape, but that's a lot of concrete to haul out.

3.  Re-stain the deck.  Yup, re-stain.  Ug.  It looked so pretty last summer.  But the winter was not kind and I'm going to have to put a new coat of stain on all the flat surfaces.  I'm thinking two coats this time.  I want that business to last.

 

4.  Keep plants alive.  I bought three hanging plants yesterday from our FFA kids, they do a spring plant fundraiser.  They are all gorgeous and in full bloom.  The goal is to keep them alive.  And I figure hanging ones, Rowdy can't eat.

5.  Finally decorate the master bedroom.  This is driving me up the wall.  I've rearranged furniture and it's better.  But we just have a big pile of crap.  It's not relaxing.  It's not serene.  We only go in there to sleep.  There has to be a better design plan.  I just have to get there.  This is what we're working with right now.

I'm thinking a new white duvet.  And some pretty throw pillows.  And maybe new art over the bed.  

6.  Paint the windows.  All of them.  We still have the original windows our house was built with.  They look pretty rough and should honestly be replaced.  But that is a project for another day.  So, for now they all need to be painted.

7.  Build an air conditioner cover.  Right now we have this little picket fence rigged around the A/C.  It looks terrible but we needed something after Rowdy ate the air conditioner cord last summer.  I want something like this.  So much better than what we have!

 

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What's on your spring to-do list?  Are you guys as ready as I am to get outside and get the projects going?