Organize It Party!

Well howdy! Hope you had a fantastic weekend and President’s Day! Did you get any purging done? Organizing? Getting rid of STUFF?? :)

If not, hopefully you’ll be inspired to do just that after this shindig!

One of my favorite little tricks of late is a bit of a decluttering/organizing combo. I’ve discovered a new love when it comes to organizing, and it’s not rocket science.

It’s the good old Ziploc bag:

This certainly isn’t anything new – I’ve seen folks all over blogland use them often. But it was just recently that it clicked how AWESOME they are for the kid stuff.

I have a love/hate relationship with the boxes that the Bub’s toys and puzzles come in. I love that they are so easily stacked and put away, but hate that they fall apart so easily and take up SO MUCH space:

Especially those memory games – the actual pieces take up so little space in that big box.

So, I started using bags instead, and I LOVE IT:

It’s such a simple thing! They’ve made a difference though. It must be something about seeing the pieces, or just the ease of getting to them -- but the Bub seems to want to play with his games even more now, and is so helpful when it comes to putting everything away.

Now, we just toss the baggies in big bin, which helps the clean up too:

I now have 14 different games in that one bin – there’s no way 14 boxes would have fit.

This makes Momma HAPPY. And you know when Momma’s happy, everyone’s happy. :) Ha!

But really…it’s the truth. For reals. YouknowwhatI’msayin’.

I also used the baggies to organize the little addition I showed you in our living room:

I pulled the former changing table/former office storage dresser into the room last week and LOVE it.

Like I mentioned, even though this is our “formal” living room, we use the space pretty much every day. I thought the dresser would be a great spot for all of our puzzles.

Oh, the puzzles. And…puzzles. Big ones, little ones, so many puzzles:

:)

But you can see that I could barely fit four large boxes in one drawer, and that wasn’t going to work at all.

Baggies to the rescue again:

Four boxes took up almost the whole drawer, and now six big puzzles take up just over half of the space:

Do you hear the singing? I. love. it. It’s just such a satisfying mix of decluttering and organizing – getting rid of the bulky, torn up boxes, but still having everything separated and easy to get to.

I’ve got the little puzzle pieces in bins, but am planning on putting them each in their own bags as well:

For the floor puzzles, I cut out a picture off the box so we have something to refer to when putting it together. :)

Someday when we’re done with these, I’ll just donate them in the bag – I doubt the box will matter that much to the next family. It’s working out GREAT for us!

So…let’s see what you’ve got! Link up any organization ideas, decluttering tips, even cleaning suggestions. Anything that will help us get our lives under control is perfect for this party!

Make sure to link up to your post – not your blog. The party will be open through next Monday evening.

Have fun and enjoy! (I accidentally made the boxes a little small, sorry about that! Tried fixing it but can’t for some reason.)

Do you love Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs?
You’ll LOVE Knock Off Decor!

February Before & After: A pretty pitcher

Hello all! I’m back this month with a very simple but beautiful (I think so anyway) before and after project!

It started with a recent trip to Goodwill – I don’t go as often as I used to (see my STUFF post), so I haven’t found nearly as much good stuff as I used to. (You have to go fairly often to get the good pickins.)

But that day, the heavens shined down on this beauty on the top shelf:

Ummm…OK, well the shape was beautiful. I guess the flowers weren’t that bad, they just weren’t what I was  going for. :)

But the size, the lovely lines, the beautiful spout – they had me at Hello.

I knew I could spruce her up with a few coats of spray paint. And a “few” coats turned into about eleventy billion. Or so. Maybe about seven. Whatever.

It took five coats of spray primer to get those purdy flowers covered up. I did an additional two coats of a glossy white on top.

After trip to Trader Joe’s for some (fairly) cheap tulips, I was able to bring my vision for this cutie to life:

Oh SWOON. Just…swoon. I am so ready for tulips people. I actually don’t mind the snow that much – but we’ve been hammered with it and ice over the past couple of months (way more than usual) and I’m really starting to miss green grass.

Will I ever see it again?

I don’t care what Punxsutawney Phil says, I think it’s gonna be awhile.  :)

Even with the meeeellion coats of spray paint, this is one of my easiest and favorite spray paint transformations yet:

I wish I could have gotten some shots in the daylight, but we got home from dinner too late. I’m ready for more photo taking hours in the day too, while we’re talking about spring. :)

I absolutely love the pretty shape – looks like it came out of a Pottery Barn catalog doesn’t it?

Only their version -- $39. Mine? A whole five buckaroos. :)

WHOO HOO!

Now, I won’t be pouring any lemonade with mine – it’s just for holding beautiful flowers. And I’m totally OK with that.

I just LOVE IT.

Soooo…my before and after for the month – a Goodwill find transformed with my beloved. My BFF. Spray paint:

Now it’s time to see what you’ve been up to!

Be sure to link up to your post, not your blog. And I’d love it if you’d include this pretty little button and a link back to this post:

I’m trying a new linky this time, so I hope this works! :)

Have fun – I’ll leave this open for a week, so link. it. up!

 

February Before & After: A pretty pitcher

Hello all! I’m back this month with a very simple but beautiful (I think so anyway) before and after project!

It started with a recent trip to Goodwill – I don’t go as often as I used to (see my STUFF post), so I haven’t found nearly as much good stuff as I used to. (You have to go fairly often to get the good pickins.)

But that day, the heavens shined down on this beauty on the top shelf:

Ummm…OK, well the shape was beautiful. I guess the flowers weren’t that bad, they just weren’t what I was  going for. :)

But the size, the lovely lines, the beautiful spout – they had me at Hello.

I knew I could spruce her up with a few coats of spray paint. And a “few” coats turned into about eleventy billion. Or so. Maybe about seven. Whatever.

It took five coats of spray primer to get those purdy flowers covered up. I did an additional two coats of a glossy white on top.

After trip to Trader Joe’s for some (fairly) cheap tulips, I was able to bring my vision for this cutie to life:

Oh SWOON. Just…swoon. I am so ready for tulips people. I actually don’t mind the snow that much – but we’ve been hammered with it and ice over the past couple of months (way more than usual) and I’m really starting to miss green grass.

Will I ever see it again?

I don’t care what Punxsutawney Phil says, I think it’s gonna be awhile.  :)

Even with the meeeellion coats of spray paint, this is one of my easiest and favorite spray paint transformations yet:

I wish I could have gotten some shots in the daylight, but we got home from dinner too late. I’m ready for more photo taking hours in the day too, while we’re talking about spring. :)

I absolutely love the pretty shape – looks like it came out of a Pottery Barn catalog doesn’t it?

Only their version -- $39. Mine? A whole five buckaroos. :)

WHOO HOO!

Now, I won’t be pouring any lemonade with mine – it’s just for holding beautiful flowers. And I’m totally OK with that.

I just LOVE IT.

Soooo…my before and after for the month – a Goodwill find transformed with my beloved. My BFF. Spray paint:

Now it’s time to see what you’ve been up to!

Be sure to link up to your post, not your blog. And I’d love it if you’d include this pretty little button and a link back to this post:

I’m trying a new linky this time, so I hope this works! :)

Have fun – I’ll leave this open for a week, so link. it. up!

 

It’s a Christmas Tree party!

It’s here! The final party in our Holiday Home series is finally upon us. :)

I hope you’ve enjoyed the parties as much as we have!

Year after year, my hubby and I waffle back and forth on whether or not we should get a fake tree. EVERY. year. The conversation usually starts about January 2nd, when we’re hauling a massive, shedding tree out the front door, and trying to get it back on the car to take it to the recycling. With a needle trail following us the whole way…

It basically comes up when we are over. it. :)

This year, we decided to finally take the plunge and go faux – and we headed to Lowe’s to get the BIG honkin’ tree we had been eyeing for weeks. It was gone, so we called two other locations  -- gone. Called one more, and they had the display available -- “Come and get it!” Lowe’s guy said.

We drove ten minutes to the store and walked in to see someone else wheeling it out. GAH. It was nuts! Did I mention it was still November?

Sooo…we decided to go for a real tree again, and hubby insisted we go BIG. (So THERE!) ;)

And big we did. She’s tall and fat and chunky, just how we like ‘em. Twelve feet tall to be exact. It’s go big or go home around here!

The theme of our main tree is always traditional, always gold and red, and always has lots of sparkle!

I used the ornaments we’ve had for years:

Those cheap glitter ball ornaments are so great – they look fantastic and the price can’t be beat!

Because we usually purchase a nine to ten foot tree, we didn’t have quite enough ornaments to fill it. Well, we did…but I like lots and LOTS of ornaments in there. :)

I got a few more at Big Lots for a STEAL:

  

I love sparkle!!

I picked up a new one from the Rockettes show over Thanksgiving:

I like to get one new ornament a year to signify something special, and this one is perfect. :)

I stick all kinds of stuff in the tree every year, like the twirly sticks and some gauzy stuff from Hob Lob that positively GLOWS:

I love my poinsettias placed here and there:

All that filler stuff is great for hiding empty spots, cords, whatever.

The Bub helped me this year and the bottom of the tree is dripping with ornaments:

I let him put them wherever he wanted, and I didn’t move one afterwards. :)

Every few minutes, an ornament he had just put on the tree would plop on the floor, and I’d hear a little voice yell, “It’s otay Mama!!”

I heard that many, many times that day. ;) Ugh, I could squish him!!

The other night, I walked into the living room and found hubs sitting in there, staring at the tree. We LOVE it. And we do love our real trees – maybe next time we’ll plan ahead and go faux. But for now, that smell is pretty amazing.

And of course, it’s best with the lights low:

I can’t wait to see your beautiful trees!

You are welcome to use this cutie little button in your post to link back:

Have fun – I’ll leave the linky open for a week for those of you who need a bit more time. :)

P.S. I have to send a hollaaa out to Wendy G. and Alexis C. – thanks for the love on Facebook!! ;)

Thank you to my sponsor!:

It’s a Christmas Tree party!

It’s here! The final party in our Holiday Home series is finally upon us. :)

I hope you’ve enjoyed the parties as much as we have!

Year after year, my hubby and I waffle back and forth on whether or not we should get a fake tree. EVERY. year. The conversation usually starts about January 2nd, when we’re hauling a massive, shedding tree out the front door, and trying to get it back on the car to take it to the recycling. With a needle trail following us the whole way…

It basically comes up when we are over. it. :)

This year, we decided to finally take the plunge and go faux – and we headed to Lowe’s to get the BIG honkin’ tree we had been eyeing for weeks. It was gone, so we called two other locations  -- gone. Called one more, and they had the display available -- “Come and get it!” Lowe’s guy said.

We drove ten minutes to the store and walked in to see someone else wheeling it out. GAH. It was nuts! Did I mention it was still November?

Sooo…we decided to go for a real tree again, and hubby insisted we go BIG. (So THERE!) ;)

And big we did. She’s tall and fat and chunky, just how we like ‘em. Twelve feet tall to be exact. It’s go big or go home around here!

The theme of our main tree is always traditional, always gold and red, and always has lots of sparkle!

I used the ornaments we’ve had for years:

Those cheap glitter ball ornaments are so great – they look fantastic and the price can’t be beat!

Because we usually purchase a nine to ten foot tree, we didn’t have quite enough ornaments to fill it. Well, we did…but I like lots and LOTS of ornaments in there. :)

I got a few more at Big Lots for a STEAL:

  

I love sparkle!!

I picked up a new one from the Rockettes show over Thanksgiving:

I like to get one new ornament a year to signify something special, and this one is perfect. :)

I stick all kinds of stuff in the tree every year, like the twirly sticks and some gauzy stuff from Hob Lob that positively GLOWS:

I love my poinsettias placed here and there:

All that filler stuff is great for hiding empty spots, cords, whatever.

The Bub helped me this year and the bottom of the tree is dripping with ornaments:

I let him put them wherever he wanted, and I didn’t move one afterwards. :)

Every few minutes, an ornament he had just put on the tree would plop on the floor, and I’d hear a little voice yell, “It’s otay Mama!!”

I heard that many, many times that day. ;) Ugh, I could squish him!!

The other night, I walked into the living room and found hubs sitting in there, staring at the tree. We LOVE it. And we do love our real trees – maybe next time we’ll plan ahead and go faux. But for now, that smell is pretty amazing.

And of course, it’s best with the lights low:

I can’t wait to see your beautiful trees!

You are welcome to use this cutie little button in your post to link back:

Have fun – I’ll leave the linky open for a week for those of you who need a bit more time. :)

P.S. I have to send a hollaaa out to Wendy G. and Alexis C. – thanks for the love on Facebook!! ;)

Thank you to my sponsor!: