Quick Update: Dining Room and Kitchen Paint Upgrade... Colors Decided!

So the winner is.... Ozone!

This week I've been painting our kitchen and dining room with Behr's Ozone (UL220-7).  Which has been a challenge with two little boys running around!  The color is quite a change from the very neutral light brown we had before.  

I will be posting my progress shortly, along with lots of before and after pics.  Stay tuned and let me know what you think of the change!

Click here for the before and after pics!

As Always,
Sandra

Garden Labels

This spring, I will be putting in a garden.  In previous years, I have used scrap pieces of wood or whatever was handy at the time to label the plants in the garden.  Not very pretty!  

One year, I got a little creative.  I labelled a recipe card with a name of garden plant using a Sharpie.  I then inserted the card into a Ziploc bag and stapled the bags to wooden stakes.  I thought I was protecting the recipe cards from moisture by placing them in the Ziploc bags but stapling them to the stake made enough of a hole for the moisture to find a way in and ruin the labels.  Some of the bags made it though the season but many ripped off in the wind.

So this year I'm trying a new idea...

I've already bought my seeds for spring.  You can see my seed organizer idea here.  Since I knew the names of the plants, I used excel to make some labels.  I used the same process for the hallway labels.  After printing the labels, I cut each label out and placed them in the laminator sheet.  Next, I ran the sheets through my laminator.  Cutting out each label after laminating, I made sure to keep the seal around the outside.  Hopefully no moisture will get through this time!  

I bough some little white plastic garden stakes from Home Depot and used some heavy duty double sided tape to stick the laminated labels on the stakes.  Soon I'll see if the tape will hold up to the elements.  Fingers crossed!

The picture above has a pair of scissors in it for a size comparison.  The stakes are small and will be low to the ground, so hopefully the wind won't rip the labels off the stakes.

I'll let you know how these garden stakes hold up this year!  (Click here for an update!)  What do you use to label your garden?

As Always,
Sandra

Free Grocery List Printable!

Here is my very first printable I've created...

Download Here... Grocery List

This grocery list can easily be clipped to the fridge or inside a cupboard.  The list has lots of space to add in an item if it is not already printed on the list.  The size is 8 1/2" X 11" letter paper.  

You can also access this printable on my new "Printables" Tab at the top of the page.  I hope to share new printables with you in the future, so please check back soon!

As Always,
Sandra

Obsessed!...

Yes, I know I've posted about this utensil holder before.  To see those posts, click here and here.  I was never totally satisfied with how it turned out.  Today I decided to do something about it.  

Here is my latest stab at the utensil holder makeover...

Very simple changes!  By changing the scrapbook paper and ribbon on the container, the whole feeling of the kitchen changes.  I wonder how long this design will last in my kitchen before I change it up again!

As Always,
Sandra

Spring Purge

I'm slowly going through our house finding things donate, sell or trash.  In the summer, we plan to have a garage sale to clear out some of the unneeded and unwanted items in our house.  For the last few weeks, I've been going through items in the kitchen and asking:

1) Do I use this item often?

2) Is this item in good working condition?

3) Do I like this item?

If any of the answers are "no", then I seriously ask myself why I have the item and if I can live without it.  Asking myself these questions, I've packed 3 diaper boxes and 3 Rubbermaid tubs full of stuff for the garage sale.

Last night I looked through my clothes closet.  Using the same three questions above, I managed to get rid of two piles of clothes.  Sometimes I found myself asking why I still have the item of clothing.  Why didn't I get rid of it sooner???  

I find it easier to get rid of items if I take baby steps.  For example, last night I purged the closet and this morning I found a few more items from the closet to add to the pile.  Sometimes it is easier to do a quick purge then add more items after I sleep on it.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas that you use purge items in your home?

As Always,
Sandra

Laminated Sheets for Kids

My oldest son is interested in learning numbers and letters...  

A while ago, I jotted down some letters, small words and numbers for him on a few sheets of loose leaf paper.  He liked to practice typing these sheets on his computer (an old laptop my husband and I used before it got too slow for our needs).  My son would practice typing these sheets of paper every day so they got a little tattered and torn.  

I've since redesigned the papers using Microsoft Word and added a little clip art to some of the sheets.  After printing them out, I laminated them to help them stand up.  

I also made some number flashcards.  I printed sheets of letter size paper with numbers 1 to 50, cut the numbers out with the paper cutter, and glued them to blue construction paper.  After the cards were assembled, I quickly laminated the cards to protect them.

My son loves these cards!  He likes to try to put them in order.  To help him focus, it is easy just to take out most of the cards and let him concentrated on numbers 1 through 10.  As he grows and learns, I can add back the numbers as he needs them. 

So much prettier to see shiny laminated sheets of typed printed paper covering the kitchen table opposed to my chicken scratch on mangled loose leaf paper!  

As Always,
Sandra