Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!   Our day is going to be busy around here.  Kids have a half day at school which means their parties will be in the morning...so we will be lucky enough to spend the afternoon with our overly sugared up kiddos before sending them out to get even more sugar!  If you have an extra second, you may want to say a prayer for me ;)

The thing that I enjoy about Halloween is that it is a stress free holiday for us.  Just time for fun with our family.  No worrying about cooking or getting the house ready for guests.  I hope you get to enjoy a relaxed day with your families as well!

And one of our favorite traditions is heading up to the firehouse to trick or treat, so be sure to check out your local station!  And, you also might want to give a little word of thanks to the firefighters who are on duty that day and missing getting to take their own little ghosts and goblins out to trick or treat themselves :)  This is the first time in several years that my husband will actually be off on Halloween so we are excited to spend it together!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Inspire Me Mondays


Happy Monday!!  So glad you are joining us this week! You all had some great posts for us last week so I can't wait to see what you have this week! 


Don't forget that you are posting on FIVE blogs when you link up today!  Each week we will be featuring the post that had the most views, as well as each co-host will be featuring their two favorite posts.  So be sure to stop by each site each week and see if you were featured!!


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Rachael at Diamonds in the Rough
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Kori at Just Another Mom
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The post with the most views from last week's party was

Are you ready for Turkey Day? We've rounded up some wonderful Thanksgiving crafts and activities for tots
Thanksgiving Crafts and Activities from Super Mommy Club

A couple of my favorites were:

Adding Personal Touches in Decorating from Little Brags


 DIY Halloween Craft (Treat Cups & Free Printable) 
DIY Halloween Craft from U Me and The Kids

PLEASE share our party so we can continue to grow and gain more traffic to your wonderful sites!!



Monday, October 20, 2014

Inspire Me Mondays


Welcome to another week of Inspire Me Mondays!  We are so glad you are joining us!!

Don't forget that you are posting on FIVE blogs when you link up today!  Each week we will be featuring the post that had the most views, as well as each co-host will be featuring their two favorite posts.  So be sure to stop by each site each week and see if you were featured!!


FaceBook     Twitter     Google+     Pinterest

Rachael at Diamonds in the Rough
Google+    Twitter    Pinterest     Instagram

Kori at Just Another Mom
FaceBook    Google+    Twitter    Pinterest    Instagram


The post with the most views from last week's party was

Homeschool Kids' Favorite Books
Homeschool Kids' Favorite Books from A Little R & R

A couple of my favorites were:

Spooky DIY Halloween Footprint Window Clings - An easy Halloween decoration the kids can make!
DIY Footprint Window Clings from I Heart Arts & Crafts

Sugar Cookie Solar System
Sugar Cookie Solar System from A Moment In Our World


Thanks again for partying with us today!  Have a great week!


Monday, October 13, 2014

Inspire Me Mondays

Welcome!! So glad you are partying with us today!  Before we get started, I shared how I hide all of the TV cords in my living room this week.  If you missed it, you can check it out by clicking on the picture.

Now onto our party! Don't forget that you are posting on FIVE blogs when you link up today!  Each week we will be featuring the post that had the most views, as well as each co-host will be featuring their two favorite posts.  So be sure to stop by each site each week and see if you were featured!!

Emily at Simple Life of a Fire Wife

FaceBook     Twitter     Google+     Pinterest

Rachael at Diamonds in the Rough
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Kori at Just Another Mom
FaceBook    Google+    Twitter    Pinterest    Instagram

The post with the most views last week was
10 super easy ways to drastically lower your grocery budget! I've saved thousands of dollars doing these over the years. GREAT ideas!
10 Ways to Reduce Your Grocery Budget from From This Kitchen Table

A coupe of my favorites were:
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from A Sprinkle of This and That

I Love Baskets, Boxes & Bags from Sandra's Ark

Be sure to grab a button from the page at the top of the blog!!

Look forward to seeing all of your posts this week!

...See More

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Hiding TV Cords

Happy Thursday everybody!  I wanted to pop in real quick and share an idea with you on hiding all those TV cords in your living room.  I recently replaced a shelving unit in our living room.  The shelf before did a great job of hiding all the cords coming down from our TV above the fireplace to our cable box, etc. but this new shelf had them displayed quite unattractively!  So I got a little creative and came up with this solution!  I love it!  But here's a little disclaimer: my firefighting husband is not endorsing this idea-he is not as happy with this solution as I am, but until I find something else, this is going to have to work for us ;)


See that pretty little turquoise box on the bottom shelf?  That's my new favorite thing :)  That's where the magic is taking place!  


I found this cardboard photo box and just cut a little hole in the back.  I didn't make it too big because I didn't want the hole to be visible at all from the sides.  But it perfectly fits our power strip of cords!  Now, my husband is less than thrilled that this is a cardboard box, so I told him I would continue to search for something a little less flammable, but for $2.99 I think it's a great fix!!




Pop the lid on, and no one knows my little secret :)




Linking up at:
http://saving4six.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/


Monday, October 6, 2014

Inspire Me Mondays!


Happy Monday!  Hope you had a great weekend!  We were so excited to see that our party was growing last week!  Thanks so much for helping us spread the word :)  

Don't forget that you are posting on FIVE blogs when you link up today!  Each week we will be featuring the post that had the most views, as well as each co-host will be featuring their two favorite posts.  So be sure to stop by each site each week and see if you were featured!!


FaceBook     Twitter     Google+     Pinterest

Rachael at Diamonds in the Rough
Google+    Twitter    Pinterest     Instagram

Kori at Just Another Mom
FaceBook    Google+    Twitter    Pinterest    Instagram

In case you missed it this week, I shared a couple organizing ideas here on the blog.  Click on each picture to check them out.

STORING TOYS IN THE LIVING ROOM

DITCHING THE PLASTIC UTENSIL TRAY!

Now on to our party!  The post with the most views was
How Profitable is Blogging
How Profitable is Blogging? from Sarah M Schultz Designs

A couple of my favorites were:
Quick Homemade Pizza Crust - the dough is ready to be sauced and cheesed in just 30 minutes! We love to have this on nights Mama forgot to plan for dinner (oops!) because we almost always have flour, yeast, sauce and cheese in the house.
Quick Homemade Pizza Crust from Blossoms and Posies


Soft and Chewy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies from I Thee Cook

Hope you have a great week!  Thanks for partying with us today!



Friday, October 3, 2014

Ditch the Plastic Utensil Tray!

Happy Friday!  Today I am going to try to make you give in to a little peer pressure-the good kind though ;)  See, as much as I love things to be nice and organized, I also want them to look pretty.  That is why I am going to give you these five words of advice: DITCH THE PLASTIC UTENSIL TRAY!!  

As much as none of us want to admit it, we have all experienced the nasty and grimy plastic utensil trays.  And even for the cleanest person, those darn things somehow always seem to collect crumbs in the bottom (which I don't at all understand since you are putting clean utensils in them...If anyone can explain to me how this happens, please do!)

A couple years ago I finally had had enough and went on the search for a better option and found these metal mesh trays from The Container Store.  And while my drawer certainly does not look like it belongs in a magazine, it feels so much cleaner than my old plastic organizer.  I will say that my only complaint with these is that my continental sized knives do not fit in the typical knife section, so I had to put them in the longer slots.  But, I can live with that :) 



Since I have additional pieces in my set (appetizer forks, dessert forks, long tea spoons) I used two trays and just flipped them the opposite way and put them back to back.  Works great!


And my knife sharpener just hangs out at the back ;)

A quick and cheap change that makes a BIG difference.  I wish I had a picture of the before to show you what a change it really is, but just take my word for it ;)  And if you take the plunge and toss the plastic tray, I would love to see your before and after pics!


Linking up at:
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Storing Toys in the Living Room

With four kids, we certainly have had our share of toys in our house!  Now that my three oldest are able to play on their own, it is easy to keep their toys out of the main living areas. But my youngest still needs to stick around where ever we are so having toys, books and puzzles on our main floor is a must. I also want to maintain an inviting spot for guests though (and honestly, I don't want to be staring at toys all day every day...I have this little cleanliness OCD things that kicks in ;) )  so I keep her toys on the main floor discretely tucked into this little basket.


I found something that would blend into our decor so it wouldn't stick out and scream "toys live here!"  I also love this solution because it keeps control of how much is in the space-if it doesn't fit in the basket it stays in the play room or her bedroom. Over the years I have used different baskets and storage items that have fit in with our room at the time, but I especially love this one for the size.  It can store a lot but not to the point that it feels like you are going into a black hole when looking for something in it!




My favorite part is that when she is done playing, we are having people over, or when all the kids are in bed for the night, we can quickly toss it all back in there and still feel like we are in an adult space and not in the middle of a toy store ;)



Thanks for stopping by today!

Linking up at:
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/