{ Cleaning, Organizing and new book shelves }

Since we've bought this house, we have had a running list of projects we want to do, things we want to change and organize and so on.  We our whole lives to do them in, and we plan on working slowly through that list, but in saying so, there is also excitement in knowing that all the ideas and plans we had over the last 5 years, are finally allowed to be put into action.

There's a big difference between dreaming of what you would change or do, when you rent a house, and actually having the freedom to go forth and do it.

So as much as we want to take it slow, we also have small things that we can't wait to go ahead and get done.



Saturday morning we took Jasmine to work, then stopped at Tractor Supply for some mouse traps.  Yes, you heard right, mouse traps....and I just shivered from head to toe saying that.

We haven't had mice in this house for about 3 years now.  All of a sudden, we have mice again and I'm left wondering why.  Then again, we live in the country so it's pretty normal to deal with these little buggers.  By the way, for the longest time people would think that mice only stayed in a house if it wasn't clean or tidy. 

I'm here to tell you that is a total lie.  It doesn't matter how clean your house is, if they want to come in, they will come in.



But anyway, after we picked up the mouse traps, we were headed back home and decided to stop at a local thrift store.  It was one of those spur of the moment decisions, we haven't been to this store in about 2 years and had no intention of going, until we drove by it and both said "we should go in there, we haven't been in a while"

I guess God knew we needed to pop in there, because low and behold, we came face to face with some bookshelves we had been wanting, for a while.

If you remember, I had those white shelves in the green living room, one of which had never been finished.  I started painting it and then left it with the intention of finishing it off, and 5 years later, here we are, unfinished bookshelf and none the wiser.



Of course, that meant, removing the old bookshelves and all it's contents, and cleaning, and organizing and trying to figure out where to put the shelves, then putting it all back together.

We decided to put them in our bedroom.  Our bedroom is huge, and we had a lot of empty wall space.



Curt anchored them to the wall as they're a bit wobbly.  I packed them all nicely with my books, crochet and such, and I love the way they turned out.  But, alas, they're still not fully painted and look awful.  I will be painting them black this week to match the rest of the bedroom furniture.

The wall color?  Still that ugly salmon/peach that I've disliked since we moved in.  That will be painted white within the next few months, you can take that to the bank.  Haha





The new shelves in the living room were just what I had wanted.  They are tall, sturdy, and just perfect for all my books.

We put all the books on the shelves and I added some of the other decorations here and there, but they are not organized at all.  I need to go through the books this week and organize them, probably by color again (like I had them previously), or by author, not sure yet.







I just love seeing things come together, and rooms taking shape.  I am still very unsure on the green walls, I said previously that I will probably just leave them and work with them, but I just don't know, I may end up changing the color altogether.

The couches have gone back to their original state.  I don't like the way they look at all, they are very 70's looking, but the slipcovers I bought for them last year, were cheap and so they ended up tearing and going really gross in no time.

Will I get new ones?  Probably because the couches are still in good shape.  I would love new couches, because our recliners are also really old and torn and falling apart.  There is only so much you can do to cover that up, and pretty soon no matter how many blankets we cover them with, or throw pillows we add, they will need to be replaced.





I'll share everything we change, as we go.  I'm not doing it because I claim to be some sort of decorating guru, I honestly have no clue how to do any of that, I just put things together that I love, or that I think look pretty.

Key words here "I think look pretty."  That's the thing with decorating our homes, likes and dislikes are very personal and what I may like for my home, may be completely different to what you would have in yours, and vice versa.  I see a lot of homes that are beautifully decorated, but yet I would never want the same look in my own house.

So, yes, I'll be sharing everything that I do in my home, mainly for my own record because this is my little spot on the web and I take immense pleasure in going back over the years, seeing what our previous houses looked like, and funny enough, how my own tastes in decorating have changed over the years.

Goodness, I feel like I've just rambled about nothing in particular.

I better get on out of here and get the house ready for bed.  That means, closing curtains, locking doors, making sure the kitchen is clean, letting Marley out for the night and so on.

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend.  I will be back in the morning with our Happy Homemaker Monday, until then, stay blessed and have a restful night :)

{ Bookshelf organizing and even more rain - Blogtober 2018 }

The past two days have been nothing but rain.  The raindrops non stop pitter pattering on the roof, the sun constantly hidden behind the clouds and the temperatures remaining quite low.

It may sound dreary, but you all know how much I enjoy this kind of weather and since we are in Fall anyway, I think it's exactly what a Fall day should look like :)

{ Clean out the fridge }

I've been eyeing out my fridge for the past few days and thinking that it needs a really good clean and organizing.

I try to keep it clean but the past few weeks, between Thanksgiving and Christmas and get togethers and such, I haven't had a chance to get in there and it was really starting to irritate me.

Since I have to get groceries this weekend, I wanted to have it clean and ready, but I didn't exactly want to sit and do it the day I was shopping, especially since I wanted to really get in there and pull shelves out, wash and wipe and give it a good clean.

So, today was the day.  It took me about 2 hours which is not too bad, but I was able to get it done.

I reorganized and tidied up, I threw out items that were expired (which actually weren't too many), and I got rid of leftovers that never were eaten.

It's always such a joy to see it all clean and fresh.....let's see how long it lasts.

OH and on Saturday morning before I go shopping I'll give it a quick wipe down, but I don't think it will get very dirty until then.

Let me show you the before and the after pictures.

BEFORE:::

As you can see things are just randomly thrown in, mostly thanks to hubby and kids.  Let's face it, I'm the only one who cares about a tidy fridge, they are not worried about such things.

The doors weren't any better.  Condiments galore, some of which I threw out and bottles and things just put anywhere.

The cheese, ham and butter drawer was a jumbled mess, again things are taken out and then just thrown in.

My vegetable drawer wasn't any prettier.  Usually I package things when I bring them home, switch them to ziploc bags, wash and cut etc., but with everything going on it was just a jumbled mess.

I was actually scared of opening some of those bags hahah

I pulled every shelf out and gave them a really good scrubbing and washing.  Even pulled out the glass inserts and washed and dried those out making sure to remove all sticky spots.

Next I pulled every single item of the fridge and looked through it.  Anything expired went to the trash, and everything else was put back in a neat fashion.

I had a bag of celery that had seen better days, but there were still a few stalks that were green and good.  I cut those up and placed them in a Tupperware container.  I did the same with the last few carrots I had.  Now they're all cut up and easily accessible to us and the kids as a snack.

I had a carton of eggs that needed using, so threw those in my Pressure Cooker and made some boiled eggs to keep in the fridge.  My Nicholas loves hard boiled eggs as much as I do, so it's a quick breakfast or lunch item on hand.


AFTER:::

It's amazing how nasty and yucky these side shelves can get, all those condiments dripping onto them.  Gross!!!

It all got a nice clean and wash and I reorganized it all by how much they're used and also like items together.

In the top are my eggs, right underneath I have the sandwich condiments as well as ranch dressing which we use for salad and for sub sandwiches as well.

Next shelf holds the other condiments I use regularly, and the third shelf has the jams, boysenberry pancake syrup, whipped cream, some juice, egg nog and my chai tea concentrate. 

On the very last shelf are some drinks like wine, mud slice, rumchata and my cooking wine.

I rearranged the shelves and what goes where.   On the top shelf in the green basket, is yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese and that little bowl of fresh blueberries.  Right next to it is a jar of salad that I made up real quick for me for lunch.  I'll have it some time this week.  Behind the jar is actually a jar of pickles and some leftover mincemeat filling which I'll be using this weekend.

There is a smaller jar of salad, and right in front the boiled eggs I made. 

Next shelf will hold my leftovers.  In the Temp-Tations casserole dish is my Mexican Pasta leftover from last night.  To the right, the celery and carrot sticks.

Below is my milk, creamer, green tea, chicken stock, coconut milk and the last coke that the kids left in the cardboard pack.  I don't know why they don't just pull it out, but I guess I should be thankful that this time they didn't leave the empty carton in there LOL

My drawer is neatly organized.  I put in a plastic little organizer.  I get a ton of these from the Dollar Tree and they are great for organizing every room in the house.

To the left my cooking margarine and in front Ham and pepperoni.  In the plastic tub are all my cheeses, sliced, shredded, cream cheese and cheese wedges.

I emptied all the vegetables from their grocery store bags and placed them either in ziploc bags or bowls for easier access, like my limes and lemons.

In my blue organizer I have onions and some parley which needs using up this week.

In the ziploc on the bottom left is my ginger (I'll be cutting it up for my winter tea mix), some green onions which I also went through, threw out the ones that had gone bad and cut, clean and bagged the others.  Tomato, lime juice concentrate, an orange, cucumber and some fresh green beans.

The very bottom drawer holds just one romaine lettuce and that will be for dinner tomorrow night.

I love having salads in mason jars.  It is quick to put together and makes an easy and healthy lunch during the week.

So there you have it, fridge is clean and organized.  I did my freezer the other day so didn't have to today. 

I know it's not exactly one of the most enjoyable or fun chores to do at home, but it's needed and once it's all clean it does make you feel better.

I must say that there has been a lot about homemaking that I stopped caring about, the past 2 years have not been easy and since moving to Texas I've been so busy with so many different things, that I kind of let it all go.  I wasn't homemaking, I was just going through the motions and doing the very of basics to get by.

It's going to change, I'm ready to get back to what makes me happy, and believe it or not, homemaking and puttering around the house is it :)

Thank you to all who have stuck around even through the horrid blogging years, but I'm glad you did and this year is a come back to what it used to be.  It's quite exciting.

If you haven't yet done so, be sure to follow Diary of a Stay at Home Mom over on Facebook so you don't miss any posts.  I've republished the page and am hoping to keep it updated and interactive.

Right, I think I'm going to make myself a cup of tea with my chai concentrate and work a little more on my newest crochet project.  I'll leave you with a sneak peek below.....

{ A little organizing and such }

Had a busy Saturday, some errands to run, a quick bite to eat, a quick stop at Walmart and then back home.

And after relaxing for a few minutes, I was suddenly bit by the organizing bug and it was directed at my refrigerator.

I have said so many times that I have a small fridge and can't fit anything in there and yadda yadda yadda, but today I was proven wrong and boy was that a lesson.  My only thought right now is "why on earth didn't I think of this earlier?".  

The answer is simple, I didn't discover the joys of Pinterest until very recently.  Oh this place has totally fueled my creativity, has gotten the brain juices flowing and has provided me with idea after idea after idea for my home.

I wish I could take credit for this because it's so easy to do and so simple, yet it makes such a difference.

Anyway, let me show you what I'm talking about.

Here's my fridge before:

It looks cluttered and full doesn't it? I'm not ashamed at all to show you this picture, it clearly needed some help and some cleaning.

So I got to work, first thing I did was remove everything shelf by shelf, ditch what I no longer want which is usually shoved to the back while it grows and develops into something that can attack you when you reach for it. Thankfully, I don't have much of that going on anymore, over the years I've learned to be good about keeping the fridge clear of weird looking stuff. LOL

Next thing, I gave it a really good wipe down and then I pulled out my $1 see through Walmart containers, which reminds me, I am getting more next time I am at the store.

And here is the after:

It looks SO much better.  I even put a little tray in the drawer, in there I have the kid's snacks

Veggies

My breads

My dairy, sour creams, cream cheese, yogurt etc

Other cooking stuff

My baking container...a girl can't ever have enough butter right?

This is hubby's container, these are all the jarred meals for his week lunches, fruits and desserts on the right....salads etc on the left.

No more crowded, messy refrigerator and I'm shocked at how much room I have in there, plus it's so much easier to find what I need.

Another plus, if something starts leaking, guess where it will leak into?  That's right, all I will have to do is rinse out the container, no more nasty sticky, wet spots on the shelves.

So, there you have it, super easy project for a weekend and the results will make you smile.  It got a huge thumbs up from the family.

I guess organizing the fridge got me in the mood for making things....I've been meaning to make another one of those mason jar potpourri lights, so I quickly got one done for the kitchen.   I have more lights just need to pick up more potpourri so I can make two more, I want them for the bathrooms, I love having them in there lit at night, it helps the kids when they have to go the bathroom in the middle of the night....it's also great if you have guests staying over :)

I think these would make really cute Christmas gifts, don't you?

Well, that's a little of what I got done today to beautify my home. I'm always working on little things here and there, I feel like it's my contribution to the home :)

But now, I'm going to go climb into bed with my new Mollie Makes which just came in the mail this afternoon, I literally skipped all the way from the post box to the house.

By the way, my house is permeating with the scent of cinnamon, pumpkin pie and other fallish stuff.

Nicholas says it's starting to smell like Christmas, I have to agree ♥ ♥ ♥

{ Those dreaded chargers and cables }

We all have them in our homes, they make everything look cluttered and unkempt and if there's one thing I really don't like, it's the feeling that things look messy even after I've tried my best to tidy up.

I have been putting up with cellphone, nintendo and ipod chargers for far too long and have always been on the lookout for a solution, but until today, nothing had come to me.

Then this morning I was reorganizing my bathroom drawers and cabinets and came across an adorable little box that used to contain bath products. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. YES, this is exactly what I was looking for.

Now you can buy boxes especially made for this, but honestly, not only do I not want to spend the money on them, but they look very officey (I know that's not a word) to me, not welcoming at all in my kitchen.

So here's what I did.

I started by going through my chargers, getting rid of any old ones not needed anymore. Own up, I wanna see those hands raised for those who still have chargers laying around for cellphones that ceased to exist years ago? Come on now, we're all amongst friends here.

Once I got through those, I took the ones we actually do still use, then cut out a small label, wrote who it belongs to on there, like "Sandra's Cellphone", "Jasmine's camera", "Curt's Ipod" etc.

Rolled them up nicely and popped them all into the box.

I found an area right below the plug and that is where I set my box, now when something needs to be charged, we just grab the charger from inside, plug it in, shove the excess cord back in and close the lid. Now mind you, you can always move the cord to the back so that you don't see it, but really, I'm just so thrilled with the outcome that the tiny little bit of cord peeking through doesn't bother me.

It doesn't look perfect, but I would say it's a HUGE improvement from the endless ugly black cords plugged in all over the counters. It's a way to keep them from getting lost too.

And when it's done charging, just unplug, roll it back up and pop it back in the box. Out of sight!

Hope this inspires you to get rid of your charger and cable clutter!