A clean garage, bench, scripture case, and a father's day keepsake... a busy weekend.

Remember our garage a few days ago?

Here is a reminder...

What a difference a day makes.

It is even cleaner today since the garbage and recycling truck have come and gone. :)

Even the garage floor is happy to be clean!

BTW we LOVE our hanging shelves! We made them last summer.

SO nice to have everything off of the floor!

We started construction on the wooden swing set too.

This is what we got done...

It only took us 45 minutes.

Hmmmm.

This is what our kids did while we worked on the 45 minute bench...

I also worked on some (very last minute) Father's Day gifts.

My hubby wanted a camo duck tape scripture bag...

And, I loved this idea for a Father's Day keepsake so we make our own version of it...

All in all a very productive weekend!

How was your weekend? Work on any projects?

Today I am learning how to use the nail gun for the next step in the girls room, WAHOO!

I can't wait!

From LAZY to cRaZy!

Have you ever started a project that triggers another project and snowballs into what seems like endless things to do?!

It all started with this shed my hubby is building.

It's obviously not finished but we got it to the point that we can start putting things in it while we finish the outside. YAY!

So we attacked the garage with a vengeance and pulled out all the Rubbermaid's full of holiday decorations, clothes my kids have outgrown, and tons and tons of JUNK!!!!

We've spent the last several days in this garage sorting through everything and deciding what goes in the shed, stays in the garage, and (my personal favorite) goes in the GARBAGE!

Of course in the process I came across 6 of these boxes:

You KNOW I had to sort through all the boy boxes and all the girls clothes boxes too since this is our last baby and I'm ready to give the girls clothes away (yes, it was kinda sad but mostly it just feels so good!).

And, with all of this mess going on summer officially began last week so we have some new projects like this wood play set we bought in hopes to keep our kids outside and away from the TV.
I've heard they take 40hrs to put together! Tell me it ain't so...


My girls love to craft with me so we have a list a mile long of all the things we want to make this summer. I can't wait to show you some of our projects!

Happily we did check one craft project off the list yesterday...

Duck tape bags!

The girls had a blast spending the afternoon in the craft room with friends creating these beauties.

(Tutorial found here)

Meanwhile, I figure why not add to the craziness and start on the girls bedroom!

This is what I have so far...

I MADE the curtains! Go me! I love them and I'm so proud of my little non-sewing self for being so brave and even adding cute fuzzy-ball trim!!;)

And here is where we are with the room itself...

Wow, we have a long way to go.

Gotta focus on the vision.

focus, focus, focus

It's going to be great!

Save the Date Intro.

It's the Christmas season.

It can be so hectic, overwhelming, and expensive!

Our families are stepping back this year and focusing on simplifying, spending less, and feeling the meaning of Christmas more.

For that reason nannygoat wants to share ideas with you for Christmas that will be simple, inexpensive, and meaningful.

First, we have to get organized. This binder is something Melissa and I came up with a few weeks ago after we had this conversation:

K: "What should we get mom for Christmas this year?"

M:"I don't know. What did we give her last year?"

K: "I can't remember... has she mentioned anything she might like in conversation over the last... ummm... year??"

Our conversation then led to how we have dropped the ball on birthdays this year too and next year we want to do better at sending a card or calling or emailing or at least doing SOMETHING on everyones birthday.

So we started brainstorming and came up with something that I think will change my life forever :) and of course we want to share this idea with you!

This is great for getting yourself organized and it is a PERFECT gift idea to give to someone you love. It will bless their lives and like we said this season we are focusing on meaningful, simple, and inexpensive ideas.

(sorry to my friends who have been waiting for me to post this for weeks)

This is the binder cover.
We will have the files for you to download all of this in later posts. This is just a preview.

A tab for every month with a list of birthdays and holidays for that month along with extra pages full of information to help you remember everything.

Now some of my favorite pages.

THIS is what makes this organizer different and what I am so excited about!
Fill out these sheets with all the information you need to remember your loved ones special dates. It includes all the ways you can get a hold of your loved one (address, phone #, email, facebook, etc) to tell them "Happy Birthday". Oh, and when you BFF mentions to you that she loves that thing she saw at the store today hurry and write it down under "gift ideas" so when her birthday or Christmas comes along you know exactly what to get her!

This page is great for this time of year to keep track of who is getting what. I also write on it where I am hiding stuff so I don't forget that gift I bought on sale in July that is tucked deep under my bed and also how much I've spent on each child.

Just make sure the kids don't get a hold of this information! We also have a page for Christmas exchanges like with family, friends, neighbors etc. so you can keep track of who is on your list and you don't forget teachers, bus drivers, mailman etc.

I LOVE this page. I have it under every month that has a holiday and it reminds me of what traditions we do and any new ideas we may want to try for that Holiday. My family is young so we are still trying out new traditions. Some traditions stick and some don't and this way I can keep track.

THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO SHARE.
I'm so excited about this. It is just what we need and we hope it helps you too!
We will post the files and detailed instruction soon so stay tuned!

and

It's a miracle!

I've tried it all when it comes to cleaning my gas stove top grates.

I've soaked and scrubbed and sworn (j/k, I would NEVER swear ;0)

those nasty grates over and over and when I'm finally done with all that they don't look much better...that is, until last week ...

BEFORE: Now that's just gross people.

I put the grate in a zip lock bag, sprayed some ammonia in the bag, sealed it, and let it set over night. The next day the gunk just wiped off like nothing... I'm serious!

AFTER

Yep, it's pretty much a miracle.

Dry Erase Calendar

I have been mulling over this to-do list on MakeItandLoveIt here. I used the basic concept but tweaked it just a bit:)

(one of my very favorite craft blogs!!)

I have a terrible memory and am notorious for planning 2 things at the same time due to my forgetfulness. I started using a planner which did wonders for me but am having a hard time keeping it up since the little one came along.... here I am back to double booking myself.

We desperately needed a calendar that was always visible and easily accessible.

I simple drew the calendar with black permanent marker on the INSIDE of the glass. In order to not have the days of the week backwards, I wrote them on the outside with dry erase and then turned it over and traced it with the permanent marker on the inside.)

There you have it. Now I have NO more excuses for forgetting an appointment or being double booked!!

I love it and I even spotted my husband looking at it to confirm an appointment time... SUCCESS!

Stair Baskets

I've been eyeing these pretties for 2 years now (seriously, 2 YEARS). I could never bring myself to pay the regular price ($30 each at Micheals... that's like $100 for 3 baskets + taxes!).

Good things come to those who wait and finally this week they went on clearance. Waa Hoo!

I snatched up 2 of them then rushed back the next day to get one more and I'm thinking I should get another one for when my baby gets older so they will match.

I put a name tag on each one so I can sort the toys/ shoes/ clothes/ junk! according to who needs to clean it up. I'm also going to use them to put their clean laundry in. And sometimes I think I will surprise them with an empty basket and just a love note or maybe a treat inside. I have great kids and I don't do that kind of stuff nearly enough.

Every evening it is each child's responsibility to grab their basket (there is a handle attached to it {giddy}) and put everything away.

Aaaahhhh, my house feels cleaner already.

Refrigerator Box Tutorial

The verdict is in... You guys want a tutorial for the refrigerator box Kathryn and I made.

We say...

Ask and you shall receive!

On a single piece of cardboard without any bends or folds, cut a rectangle out 13in x 7in.

Then also make 4 more cuts as see on the above diagram in pink.

You can see those cuts above. Next you will want to fold along the dotted green lines.


Use a boning tool (I don't have one so I used the rounded end of my sissors:)) to rub along the green dotted lines to make folding easier.

Now it can bend easily.

This is the trickiest part... peel off the 1st two layers (if you are looking at the side with the measurments written on it) so that you are left only with the one layer as seen above.

These are the two layers you just peeled off... STOP peeling at the dotted line!

Now cut that off at the dotted line.

Now do that for all 4 corners.

Now is time to assemble the box.

I just use a glue stick to cover the corners. Start with 2 that are across from each other.

Fold the side up and press the flaps firmly onto the the main section.

Now repeat for the other side.

There you have it.

Now just Mod Podge your favorite scrap book paper over it, add some magnets to the back and you have yourself a super cute and personalized fridge box to store your delicious recipes you are going to use for the week!!

If you are not up to making your own fridge box (totally understandable),

Carrie said that she found some magnetic containers here that look like they would work perfectly.

I also found some here that might work.

We wanted to give a big THANK YOU to you, our readers, who have given us some great ideas and tips on how to make the 30 meals even better and again for sharing all of your great recipes with us!!!