Conquering the Clutter

Since its spring I thought I'd show you what I have been up to the past couple of months. Downsizing. Serious downsizing. Do I need to? No, but if I'm not using it, why store it? I remember when we went through all of our baby items that we donated or gave away to friends. We aren't having any more kids, so instead of sitting in our garage why not let it bless others? I was really surprised as we took that last truckful of donations how I felt an emotional burden lifted off of my shoulders that I didn't even realize that I was carrying! I felt like I had lost 10 pounds just looking at the garage!

I wrote about purging and the 40 trash bags in 40 days challenge in September. You can read that post again here. Sarah at Clover Lane is doing it again this year.

As I look at those empty buckets, I feel such gratitute to see them empty. The items in those boxes are blessing someone somewhere.

The Nester blogged some great thoughts on all of this. In this link she talks about the finding a good deal syndrome. In this link she puts her final thoughts on it.

Super Easy Whole Wheat Bread

I absolutely love homeade bread, but I don't do long complicated recipes. This one is the easiest I have ever seen, and it tastes great.

Whole Wheat Bread

6 cups warm water
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp yeast
around 8-10 cups whole wheat flour


If you have a standing mixer like a Bosch or Kitchenaid, pour in the warm water. Add the yeast next. Continue with gluten, oil, honey, and salt. Add flour until it doesn't stick on the bowl. Continue on medium speed for 7 minutes. (You can also knead by hand if you do not have a mixer)

Let rise for 30 minutes (I just put it in my oven at 170 degrees), then turn the heat up to 350 degrees and cook for 30 minutes more.

That's it! I typically put in a cup or two of white flour as well as whole wheat, but I've done it both ways. This is very moist and definitely not a "glorified hard rock" as some loaves do. I prefer white wheat flour to hard red wheat as it has a lighter texture.

More Trash to Treasure from the Curb

Well, I just got back from spending a week in San Diego during my kids spring break visiting family. Between that, figuring out my taxes (UGH!). I also finished the bookcase for my boys room - now if only my camera would cooperate and stop taking grainy photos! I think I need to change the ISO.

On with the post, I was driving on one of the highways near my home when I spotted this bookcase as well as two taller ones on the side of the road in front of a locally owned printing shop. I went inside to make sure they were free (which they were) and then proceeded to load it into my minivan BY MYSELF. People driving by must of thought I was crazy.

I had told my oldest son that I would build him a bookcase next that was extra deep in order to hold more of his larger lego creations. I figured that I would put this free one in his room as sort of a prototype to see if it would work out before building him one. But its been a hit so I think I'm going to put that project on the backburner and whip out another bookcase for the living room since he doesn't mind at all having a free bookcase in his room. You see the airplane on the top right shelf - that gives you an idea of how deep it goes!

CSN Giveaway Winner

Thanks for all your comments on this giveaway! And congratulations to comment #10, the Domestic Diva! I'll be getting in touch with you!

Surprise Giveaway from CSN Stores

I'm really excited to be hosting my first giveaway! CSN Stores marketing team contacted me and is offering a gift certificate to one of you lucky readers! Never heard of CSN? They have over 200 online stores where you can find everything from kids' swing sets to stylish furniture to cute cookware and more!

One lucky reader will receive a $15 gift certificate to any CSN store to purchase anything they would like! Here are a few things you need to know before you enter:

• Must live in the US or Canada. (CSN ships to those countries.)
• Does not cover any shipping costs but you can use it on ANY product at ANY one of their sites.
• You can gain an extra entry by leaving an additional comment on what you would love to have from the site listed above.
• Ends on Tuesday the 8th at midnight PST.
• I'll announce a winner on Wednesday the 9th and will use Random.org to pick the winning entry.

Enjoy!

Birthday Freebies

The popular website Frugal Girls did a great post on birthday freebies with the links to sign up. All the places are in alphabetical order and there is seriously a lot of places, 50+! Don't forget to sign up your spouse and kids too!

Spray Painting: Upright Freezer

I got this full upright freezer off of craigslist for 60 bucks, plus they brought it to our house 30 miles away for only 25 dollars, so 85 total. We had a chest freezer that we had outgrown since we have 3 growing boys (plus you never know what is on the bottom of the freezers without emptying the whole thing out) We sold it for 75 dollars via craigslist, so all in all this exchange came out to us being out of pocket 10 dollars. Sound too good to be true? Well, lets take a look INSIDE this lovely freezer.

It needed a good scrubbing, plus there were spots that the finish had been chipped off and rusted in its place.

Here is a closer look at what I am talking about. Lots of rust.

And the paint chipping on the bottom.

Spray paint to the rescue of course! Here's a before of one of the grills...

And here it is after. Looks like new again! I had some white gloss paint in my spray paint stash, so I used it, it definitely needed to be glossy so it would clean easily in the future.

And here is where the paint was chipping off big time. Looks WAY better.

And here is the fridge after. It seriously looked almost brand new again.

Another reason I LOVE spray paint.

And the bottom looks so much better! That was seriously gross the way it looked before. Spray paint to the rescue again! (And a really good scrubbin beforehand)

Organizing Ribbon Storage

This is my before photo of my ribbon storage. Not really working. I got a great idea from Simple Mom's blog to use a paper towel holder for ribbon storage. I can't find the link so here is one from Real Simple.

I realized that unfortunately that wouldn't work for me personally because most of my ribbon is not on the individual spindles like when they were bought. So I decided that sandwich ziploc bags would work instead to keep all the ribbon separate. This is a plastic case that is meant to hold 12x12 scrapbook paper that has been holding a variety of craft essentials the last few years.

With the lid shut its much better to see each individual ribbon instead of one big tangled mess. Much better indeed.

Confessions of a Spray-Paint-A-Holic

I love spray paint. That is no secret around here. But I wonder if I crossed the line when the first two words are....Princess House. I received a set of Princess House plates complete with a serving platter and dish, bowls, and a pitcher. A family member was moving across the country and gave them to me as she was radically downsizing her house. Since space is at a premium in my kitchen, I really make sure that I only have things that I use. This large bowl was sitting in the back of the cabinet and if I was going to keep it around I wanted to make some good use of it. It's definitely a pretty pattern, but I knew I would use it a lot more if it was solid white as a decor dish. So I did just that.

I used Kilz spray primer - it took two coats for the pattern to fully disappear. I had a can of almond appliance epoxy spray paint laying around so I decided to use that since it would give it a really hard finish.

And here is the completed bowl! I love the change.

And here it is sitting complete with its current inhabitants - more yarn balls. I've been doing different colors and I've been throwing them in there as I finish them. I am loving that turquoise color, I'll definitely be making more of those! I'm definitely looking forward to spring colors coming soon!

Bathroom Vanity Mini-Makeover

I think a lot of us who either own or rent have bathroom vanities that look like this. Our home was built in 1992, and we bought it in 2007. So previous owners/tenants can make a mess inside, and you really don't know what was in there beforehand. Even if you're a renter this is something you could do without it being a permanent change and having to ask your landlord for permission.

This is our guest bathroom. It is literally the size of a closet. The width of the vanity? That's how wide the room is - the tiles are 12x12 so you can see its quite a small space. It's perfect for guests because its always clean as our family uses the other two full bathrooms in the house. Now I probably could of gone to the store and picked out some contact paper or something to the like but I wanted to see if I could pull it off without having to spend anything and just shop my own house.

I wanted the floor of the vanity covered up because of the various water stains and such that have happened over the last 18 years. I took an old towel I had and measured out what the dimensions were and cut accordingly.

Then I grabbed my stapler gun and started stapling the towel down on all 4 sides. It looked unfinished/raw with the staples showing through that I went into my ribbon box and found some ribbon to make it look more finished.

Much better. I also stapled the ribbon as well but since the ribbon is patterned the staples blend right in.

The main reason for this little mini-makeover was that I wanted a place to put towels, toiletries, and the like for guests in all one place so that when we have friends and family stay, they have the things they need at their fingertips and don't have to feel awkward looking through our cabinets for a clean towel, toothpaste, ect. This is what I included: Towels, washcloths, travel sized shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, lotion, soap, facial cleaner, chapstick, his and hers razors, shaving cream, baby powder, dental floss, a few toothbrushes, and most definitely feminine hygiene products. I know how embarrassing it can be to ask your host for a pad or tampon when the lovely "time of the month" comes. I also had an extra blowdryer, curling iron, and flat iron that I rarely use so I put those in there as well.

I had this small white plastic bucket that was being unused and it fit all the loot perfectly! I did not go out and buy any of this stuff separately, they were all things around the house that I corralled. The travel sized shampoo, conditioner, and lotion were from hotels that we had previously visited. I grabbed a metal tin that I wasn't using that I had previously spray painted and put the blowdryer and curling irons in it.

And here is my completed guest bathroom vanity! I can put those white towels on a clean surface finally!

Yarn Ball Tutorial

How to make yarn balls. I love these things-and no they are not cat toys they are for decor :) They are really simple to make - I think one of the reasons that I love yarn so much is that it reminds me of my Grandma who crochets loads of blankets, potholders, ect. Can I crochet? I've tried it several times over the years, but I'm too much of a perfectionist when it comes to making uniform loops to truly enjoy it plus it takes a long time! I definitely admire those of you that can crochet! I start with these foam balls that I got at a local dollar store, then my yarn of choice and some tape. (I used packing tape because that's what I had around). I've also used a tennis ball and it worked great as well - you can get those typically in a 3 pack at the dollar store too.

Although you can barely see it, I stuck a piece of tape over the beginning of the yarn to hold it in place. It'll be covered so it really doesn't matter what tape you use, just that it can hold the yarn in place for a bit.

Start wrapping yarn all over the ball. There really is no right or wrong way to wrap. Then when I finish wrapping the ball I tie a knot in the end and tuck it under some of the yarn strands. That's it! This is also the same way that I made my yarn balls that I stuck on my headboard (which are still there cause I love them so much.) You can read that post here.

Got Pillows?

I got back home this evening after spending a few days in San Diego. My husband was there for work for 2 days so the boys and I tagged along since they don't go back to school until Monday. When we walked into the hotel room these pillows stopped me in my tracks. I always love good design, but these pillows...WOW. I have never seen pillows this HUGE!!!

Here is the TV remote propped up against the pillow to show you some scale on just how massive these things were.

And here's another photo of me (cheesy grin and all, couldn't help it) Have you ever seen pillows so big?!?

To My Readers

Can you believe its the first of the year already? Amazing. First off, I want to thank each and every one of you who read my blog - especially the 50 awesome followers that I have. Each time a new person follows my blog it really makes my day. I know that there are a lot of wonderful blogs out there so it really touches and humbles me each time I get new followers. Truly, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

Here's to a great 2011!!

Creative Ornament Storage

I loved this idea I heard somewhere about creative uses for everyday things. We pick up apples regularly at Costco, and they come in this plastic case aka whatever-you-call-these-things. These cases actually make perfect ornament storage! I was excited to try them out this year, and I'm pretty impressed, they work great!

Another tip that I loved was that when you pull out your Christmas decor, put the decor you are taking down for the season and put them in the Christmas storage boxes. That way when you're ready to take down the seasonal decor and put your regular display items up they're already stored together, and you didn't have to find extra space on a shelf somewhere (like I did this year but definitely not next!) Genius.

The Best Macaroni and Cheese Ever Recipe

I've learned that tried and true recipes are like a good hairdresser - worth their weight in gold. My sister in law gave me this recipe and it has been a hit ever since. I have had a lot of requests from friends for this recipe! Best thing is, its super easy!

I did not like mac n cheese growing up, the powdery cheese mixed with noodles...blech. I even tried some homemade ones over the years and I still didn't care for them. Until now. This one is awesome! In fact, one of my sons ordered some mac n cheese off the kids menu at a restaurant and after tasting it told us it was gross (I warned him beforehand) - after you've tried this you'll understand what I mean, there is no going back! In fact, my middle son Derek turned 8 today and this is what he requested tonight for his birthday dinner!

Macaroni and Cheese

2 cans evaporated milk (the lowfat cans works great too, done it multiple times)
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground mustard
4 Tbsp cornstarch
4-5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
16 oz pasta noodles

Cook pasta according to package directions. Put the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan and whisk together BEFORE turning on the heat. (This is a crucial step as the cornstarch will clump if it is not cold or room temperature) Stir almost constantly over medium high heat until boiling/thickens. Add shredded cheese. When melted, pour over noodles in a 9x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

We also add smoked ham when we have it from the BBQ Pit in San Diego - its the shredded meat that falls off the bones. It is awesome!