Valentine's Wreath

With February right around the corner, I thought I'd share this Valentine's wreath I made last year. It only took about 5 hours to make (blah! I really hate spending that much time on a single project, but now that all is said and done, I guess I can say it was worth it). I made the felt flowers using this tutorial, then glued them all onto a styrofoam wreath. Pretty simple? Yes, it was. Making all those darn flowers just takes forever, so if you're going to attempt this project, make sure you have a few good movies to watch!

Heart banner garland

I got this idea off of Etsy and thought it would be perfect hanging across the window above my sink. Nothing too fancy or bright, but something for me to look at when I'm doing the dishes (which seems like a constant chore these days.) I used canvas-type material, printed paper, string and a glue gun. That's it! No sewing required. And I was even able to finish it in one sitting while the kids ate breakfast one morning. Felt like a productive way to start my day.

A dress-up mirror

I got the book The Creative Family by Amanda Soule for Christmas and have loved all the new ideas! I finished it in a few days and feel inspired to bring more creativity into our home. I thought I'd share one idea I got from the book that is so simple and easy to do and encourages the kids to use their imagination: putting a mirror next to the dress-up box. John especially loves to dress up, and invites his friends to join him whenever they're over. Pirates, super heroes and ninjas are the latest. And a mirror makes dressing up and becoming a different person that much more fun!


Gotta love unfinished basements... not very pleasing to the eye, but with 3 little boys, it sure is nice to have a place they can run around without me worrying about anything breaking!

New Year Organization: the office closet

With our computer and desk in our front living room, this closet organizer is a must! When we first moved into our house, we knew we wanted the computer in the main room so that it was easily accessible, we could play music from it, watch movies, and not have the kids locked up in a room or the basement playing games on it. What we didn't want was all the "stuff" that goes along with the computer and office space to be in the front room. So to try to keep the living room as clean and simple as possible, this is what we came up with. One of my favorite organizers in the entire house, hands down. Since we don't have an official "office closet," we simply hung it in the coat closet that is just a few steps away from the desk. Everything is easily accessible and can be seen in a glance. I put a few of the kids things near the bottom (sunglasses, card games, flashlights), and things I didn't want them touching near the top (permanent markers, scissors, stamps, etc.) We've turned this into something much more than your average shoe organizer!

New Year Organization: the morning routine

This isn't really house organization, but I thought I'd throw it in here anyway, because I love what it has done for us. This list of things to do has made it so I don't have to nag my kids all morning to get dressed, make their beds, brush teeth... blah, blah, blah. John, who loves routine and lists, has especially taken to it and has rubbed off on his brothers. If the kids want to watch TV or play the computer in the morning I simply ask them if they have finished the things on their list, and that distracts them... honestly, pretty much all morning. It doesn't take them all morning to complete these things, there are just always toys they run into along the way or other things they find to do before they ask about screens again. I'm hoping that we can stick with this long enough that it will just become habit for the kids to get themselves ready without me telling them to... doesn't hurt to wish, right?



Everyone probably has a different routine in the morning, but you can print this one I made below if you want to. I made little illustrations to go along with each task for the non-readers in the family, so I don't have to read it to them.

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!