New Year Organization: the bathroom drawer

With this New Year has come the desire to organize different parts of my house and create spaces that work better, make things easier to get to and hide some of the clutter. I don't claim to be a great decorator, I don't think anyone will ever walk into my house and say it looks like a Pottery Barn magazine, but I do enjoy (yes, enjoy!) finding new places to put things and new ways to organize. When my house is in order and I know where to find things and where to put things, I feel like my life is a little bit more in order... at least as in order as it can be with 3 little ones running circles around me. So over the next few days or weeks (we'll see how far I get), I thought I'd share a few things I have done to organize various parts of my house. Many times after I've put things in new places and figured out something new that works I pat myself on the back... and then I realize that I have simply done exactly what my mom has done! She is the queen of organization and I have to give her credit for most of my organizational successes! :)

I'm starting with the bathroom drawer. A place where bobby pins, elastics, earrings and Q-tips can get lost in the back corners, never to return for years. The solution? A simple utensil tray. Perfect for storing makeup, pins, combs, jewelry, whatever it is you might have in your drawer. One tray worked for me only because I don't have too much to put in there, but you could easily have one drawer with a tray in it for makeup, another drawer for jewelry, one for hair accessories, etc. And these trays are perfect for kids bathrooms too. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, bows, elastics, floss... all would fit perfectly into one of these and make things easy to find. In a desk drawer: pens, tape, stapler... try it in any drawer in your house for that matter!


Unfortunately we don't have a drawer in our bathroom, so this tray has found a place under the sink where it can be brought out and set on the counter when I'm getting ready.

Felt flower frame

I wanted to share this idea because there a lot of fun things you could do with it. I made this frame for my sister-in-law for Christmas by gluing felt flowers to an old frame. You could also buy a simple frame (like this one, for example), then add felt flowers, or any kind of fabric flowers for that matter. This site has some cute felt flower tutorials. Makes for a fun, thoughtful gift!

10 things to keep your toddler/preschooler entertained while traveling

Flying with 3 little boys is always an adventure. Especially when you're by yourself and 6 months pregnant! We flew to Seattle for Christmas and Pete had to come home early for work. With or without Pete there, it's not easy to keep little ones entertained for an almost 5 hour flight, so I tried to be as prepared as possible. Every kid is different as to what will keep them busy and happy, but these are 10 things I brought that worked for us. The night before we left, I spread everything I had prepared out on the table and let each of the kids pack their own backpack. Not only did that get them excited to travel, but it helped them be more independent on the flight since they knew where everything was and knew exactly what we brought.

1. Pom pom container
I made of few of the toys we brought, this being one of them. Pete kept calling me a little elf when he saw me cutting and taping and trying different things. This pom pom container was a winner for my 2-year old. I used a baking powder container, cut it in half to make it smaller so it wouldn't take up so much room, cut a small square in the lid, and filled it with pom poms. Joe loved pouring them all out then pushing them through the small hole over and over again.


2. Snack packet & water bottle
I gave each of the kids a gallon size ziploc bag to fill with snacks. We included fruit snacks, fruit leather, mandarin oranges, raisins, squeezable applesauce, and animal crackers, to name a few things. In addition, I brought a few things for us to have for lunch (bagels, string cheese, apples). Then a small empty water bottle for each of us that we filled up after we were through security.


3. Cheerio necklaces
Another homemade container, made from a cocoa container, then filled with cheerios and shoelaces to be strung.


4. Art pocket
Drawing is one thing that can keep my kids busy for a very long time. I bought these clear zipper pockets for $1 each then filled them with markers and colored pencils.


5. Small sketchbook
I found a small spiral bound sketchbook to work well. Stays open while drawing and doesn't take up a lot of room.


6. Small board books or Touch & Play Cards
These touch & play cards are one of my favorite things, and they're good for a lot of different ages. Joe likes to just take the cards out of the box then put them back in, John and Dan can go through them and find the cards that match. Even better they're educational!


7. Stickers
Is there any kid that doesn't love stickers? I bought small sticker books for the kids, but for Joe I prefer these circles because he can get them off by himself.


8. Small bowl
I didn't know a simple small bowl would be so useful, but it sure was! Great for keeping little snacks in.


9. Magnetic army guys
Another toy I made. I cut a hot chocolate container in half, again not wanting it to be bigger than necessary, then glued army guys to a magnet. After seeing that one broke when I dropped it on the ground, I taped it on to the magnet as well. The magnets stick to the metal parts of the container.


10. iPhone
I downloaded a few new games onto my phone before leaving. We don't normally let the kids play the games on our phone, so being able to play is a special treat for them. My favorite game as of late is 123 Color. I think Dan could play this game all day every day if I let him!


The key isn't to bring a million things, but to be thoughtful about what you do bring. Quality over quantity, things that will keep your child entertained, busy and happy the longest. Good luck in your future travels!

30-minute stockings

I thought I better post these stockings before Christmas is over. Well, I guess it pretty much is over, but better late than never, right?! We have been using random stockings over the last few years... I made mine and Pete's when we were first married, and the kids stockings were given to us by family... none of them matched of course. So I decided to whip out some matching stockings for the whole family (and the newest member-to-be.) I made these in November, just when the Christmas busyness was beginning, so decided to keep them as simple as possible. They literally took me less than 30 minutes each (which still added up to 3 hours, but I thought that was pretty good!) And I even have some fabric left over in case of any later additions to the family :)



I didn't take pictures for a tutorial because I thought they were pretty self-explanatory, but here are the instructions in a nut shell.

What you'll need:
* Quilted fabric
* Bias tape
* Sewing machine

Instructions:
* Trace an old stocking for your pattern. Cut two stocking shapes out of the quilted fabric. With right sides together, sew them together, leaving the top open.
* (I didn't do this, but if you want to add a lining, it would be super easy at this point... simply cut two of the same stocking shapes out of a thinner fabric, sew right sides together leaving top open, then insert into the quilted stocking. You could then sew the tops (the quilted fabric and thinner fabric) together... then continue on to the next step.)
* Sew bias tape around the top. Make a small loop with the bias tape and sew on one end of the top of the stocking so it can be hung.

It really is that easy! I was able to take a picture of our stockings on my parents' mantle... sadly we have no fireplace in our house, so had to hang them on hooks that we stuck to the wall. Someday!

Christmas cloth napkins

I was making our family some cloth napkins to use this Christmas season and thought they would make fun gifts as well. I'm always on the lookout for gift ideas that people can actually use and won't just take up space, so I thought these would be perfect! I gave a set of 8 to my sister and sister-in-law who both have kids, in hopes to make their meal times a little more festive. I originally got the idea from my friend Nicole (thanks Nicole!) and had never even thought to make cloth napkins before, but our family has loved using them. I didn't post a tutorial, but they seem pretty self-explanatory. I made mine double-sided, with green on one side and red on the other, cut them into 10.5"x14" squares, and sewed them basically the same way I made my burp cloths. Thinking ahead, they would make fun Mother's Day presents as well! But with a flower pattern of course.

Homemade ornaments

Last week the kids and I made these ornaments for our Christmas tree and to give to grandparents. Dan helped me make them while John was at school and Joe was sleeping... Dan's becoming my craft/baking buddy in the afternoons, I love it! He loves following me around and helping me with whatever I'm doing. Then the next morning the kids all got busy painting them.



Here's how you make them:

* Combine 4 cups flour, 1 cup salt, and 1 1/2 cups water in the mixer and knead for 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 15-20).
* Roll dough out and cut out with cookie cutters or use kids hands to make handprints (if you need to roll out dough a second time you can add a little water to soften it a bit).
* Use a straw to poke a hole in the top so it can be hung and prick with a toothpick to prevent air bubbles.
* Transfer shapes to a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray and bake at 300 degrees for about 1 hour (times may differ depending on the thickness of the dough).
* Paint away!
* You can glue felt or cardstock to the back for a more finished look, then hang with a piece of string.

A simple Christmas card display

I love getting Christmas cards from friends and family and am always trying to come up with a good way to display them. This was the solution this year. I ran two ribbons from the top of our pantry door to the bottom, using a flat thumbtack to secure them. Then I simply have to staple the cards on to the ribbon as they come. It doesn't take up counter space (which is very limited in our house) and makes it easy to see all the cards.



What do you do with your cards?