:: Happy St. Patty's Day::

Top of the mornin' to ya! I made these fun rainbow pancakes this morning, after finding the idea on Sumo's Sweet Stuff

I also served up some "golden" orange slices to go with our rainbow!

I love how colorful they turned out, don't you?

::Sewing and Beading::

I've been trying my hand at sewing lately and have really begun to like it. I have made 2 skirts and 2 dresses for my little one, and a really funky necklace that she LOVES wearing. Here are the projects I've been working on lately:

This super cute peasant dress I got the tutorial for from Whimsy Couture.

I loved how there were a few different options on how to make this dress, and it was super easy. I'm definitely going to have to try another version! The fabric and buttons are all from Joann's.

I finished this right before Christmas, so my little girl calls it her Christmas dress!

This "fancy" dress I got from Whimsy Couture.

This was so fun to make, even though it was a little more tricky and I had to have my Mom the master sewer help me out, I did finish it in one night! We call it the "fancy" dress because all the fabrics together look like something Fancy Nancy would wear, don't you think?

Of course I had to make a matching headband to go along with the "fancy" dress. I got the tutorial on how to make this headband from Sumo's Sweet Stuff.

I loved how they both turned out!

This funky chunky necklace was my own creation. My little girl kept seeing all the necklaces I was making for myself, and asked if I could make one for her. I knew she would want something girly, and over the top so I found these super fun beads at Hobby Lobby and just threw it together. She LOVES wearing it, and has even worn it to preschool a few times!

More fun projects to come. Happy sewing and beading!

Linked up at:

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

:: Entry Way::

I am so excited that I am finally getting this done. I have never liked how I had my entry way since we moved in. I put of redoing it because we are going to start a major paint project and I thought I would just wait. But, I couldn't take the bare wall with huge holes in it anymore. So, this last weekend, while celebrating my 5 year wedding anniversary, the Hubs and I headed on over to Home Goods in search of the perfect mirror for our entry way. I found it. It is perfect! We hung it up last night, and put the fun pics of our little sweetie up around it. There are a few more items that I want to purchase to hang up there, but I think it turned out real nice. What do you think??



I got my idea for this from this blog, she has such great ideas. I really like the idea of her using the first initial of her last name as a decorator piece, I'm definitely going to have to get an N. Do you have an entry way you are working on?? I'd love to see pics, or hear your ideas.

I Linked up here:

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

::Organization day 9::

Day 9 was toy organization. I dread this so much, because my little 3 1/2 year old has a lot of toys. Most of them are in the toy room, but some are in her room too, so I just organized the ones in the toy room. I started out by making piles of donation, garbage (there was a lot of random garbage down there for some reason) and what we were keeping. Then I separated the toys by like items and put them in the black boxes we have (purchased at Ikea). Then I went to my computer and printed up some "labels". I just made signs that said what was in each box with a picture to help my toddler who doesn't read yet. Then I had them laminated and placed sticky Velcro on the back, so I can change those out if I need to in the future. It is a lot nicer now, and I feel like it will stay this way more often! Here is a before pic:

And after, notice the signs. Here is a list of the ones I did:

Purses

Jewelry, Tiaras, & Shoes

Dress ups

Baby dolls, doll clothes, & blankets

Balls

Cars, Potato Heads, & pails

Stuffed animals

Now I am ready to move onto the Laundry Room. This one should be quick and easy, because my laundry room is part of our unfinished basement, so not much to do with the room. I'm excited to get it cleaned out though.

I linked to these blogs:

Today's Creative Blog

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

::Organization Days 7, 8, 12 & 19::

Yes, I know I skipped a few days between 8 and 19, but if you saw the post The Hubs then you will understand shortly why I had to skip a few days there. Day 7 was THE PANTRY!!! I have to admit, I was dreading this one a bit. Our pantry and I have a love/hate relationship. I love how big it is, and how I can fit other things in there that I need to, but it never stays organized the way I want it too. So, I finally took everything out, and cleaned the shelves, then put it all back in an order that made sense to me. I put some of the food that was extra in my food storage downstairs, and moved some of the other things to my pantry cupboard. It looks so much nicer now...take a look:
before:

after:

Since I have a large cupboard that we use for spices, canned items, and until recently Tupperware, this is where I moved some of my food from my pantry. Now it is all nicely organized. Hopefully it will stay that way, it rarely does. Here are the pics:

before:

after:

Day 8 was the coat closet. The Hubs got to this last week, so I was lucky, I just had to weed out the coats I don't wear and organize my basket of hats, scarfs, and gloves. Super easy, now it looks a ton better, sorry no before pic on this one!



Day 12 was the spice cabinet, so that is another day checked off! *see above*

Day 19 was the master closet. As you all know now, The Hubs started this one for me too! He did everything on his side, so since I didn't want to be left behind, I did my side too. I went through and got rid of all the clothes I never wear, and keep telling myself I will wear one day. (Let's be honest with ourselves ladies, that is NEVER going to happen!) Toni from A Bowl Full of Lemons says that if you haven't worn it in the last 3 months, get rid of it! I got rid of a ton of shoes too. Now my closet feels so much better, I can breath and it is so nicely organized. We'll see what happens when I unpack the spring/summer clothes, I'll have to be tough and get rid of some of those too I'm sure! Here are the pics of the closet:

before:

after:

before:

after:

I added one thing to my master closet day, because it only took about 5 minutes. I cleaned out my nightstand drawer. The Hubs had already done his, so I decided to do mine as well. It looks a lot better and now there is no junk in there! Its crazy how much junk and garbage piles up over the years. Here are the before/after pics:

before:

after:

Well, stayed tuned, next up is Toy Organization!!! AHHHHH! That is going to be a fun one! I think I'm going to have to have a donate box, garbage bag, and storage box for sure for that one!

:: The Hubs::

Bragging time! While I was at work on Monday, the Hubs took it upon himself to clean out and organize his side of the master closet, his coats in the coat closet, and his night stand! I couldn't believe the pile of clothes he had to go to the DI, which half ended up going to my nephew! I can't believe that he did this on his own, I'm so proud! Here are some pics of what he did, sorry no before pics!

Look at that pile! I didn't realize he had that many clothes to get rid of!

Ok this cracked me up, he even organized by style and by color! I've done this, I don't know how many times, and it never stays that way. So I'm impressed that he did this himself.
As you can see in the closet pic, he organized his shoes. He put some away and got rid of some, the pile of his shoes used to go up so high in there, they didn't all fit on that shoe rack!

Also, we have those awesome shelf units from Ikea in our closet (one day our whole closet will be cool like that) he went through his side and organized it as well. I couldn't get a good enough angle for a pic though. Now my side looks terrible! I might have to skip ahead and do the master closet before anything else!

:: Organization day 5 &6::

I was actually dreading having to do day 5, under the kitchen sink, but it really only took me about 10 minutes to clean it out. That is the main thing I needed to do, was wipe it down, and throw away old stuff that was sitting there, not being used. I am a little embarrassed to show you this before pic, but here it is:

I just need to get some contact paper to cover up the stains I couldn't get clean. But I think it looks a LOT better!

*Here is a pic with the contact paper in. I don't love contact paper, but under the kitchen sink it makes it feel so much nicer and clean. I found this one at WalMart.

Next up, my dresser! These pics aren't the best to show you how unorganized and jam packed it really was. I went through every drawer and weeded out the clothes that we don't wear, and put them back in in an orderly fashion. Hopefully it stays this way. (Side note, my top drawer was never closing right, so I pulled it out and saw that the track had fallen off! So, I found a screw and fixed it! I was really proud of myself!)



This is the after, again sorry not the best pic!