Thursday, September 8, 2011

A peek into my workspace

I have been wanting to re-do my office for some time now, but before I do that I had to do a major clean up first! {I didn't think about taking pictures until I was almost done with the office, so sadly I can't show you how it looked before} But this way I can start from here on out. There is a lot that I would love to do to this space...

1.) Paint the room
2.) Add a shelves
3.) Get a soft rug
4.) Build a long desk perfect for me and the workspace I need
5.) Get/create more storage
6.) Get a new computer x) {what? I need a bigger screen for my Netflix}
7.) Create a "Bow Wall" for customers that drop in to see my new stuff
8.) Lighting! Lighting! Lighting!

My space is pretty little so this is all I could come up with for now. But good start I must say! So here are some photos of my space currently.

Enjoy!

{the map on the wall has pins for every place I have shipped an order to!}


This is my "shipping/printing" area. Not my Favorite, But I do like that it's simple & organized {for now}


Under the "shipping/printing" desk, I have shipping boxes & basket's with bows ready to take to my next craft fair.


Oh! I don't know if you noticed, but i made my own magazine holders out of post office boxes to hold important things! How neat, I know! x)


I printed out labels and ran them through my sticker maker. Not sure if I'm going to jazz these up or not. I kind of think they give the area a cute shipping feel. haha, that & it makes me feel better about being too lazy to do something to these.


My little pot that holds all of my old printer ink. So that when I know I am going to my local Staples I can just grab these up and take them in. I use to do a lot of searching or coming home and finding one or two I forgot to take before. No more of that!


Okay so I am still working on this little area, but this desk is next to my work desk. I made some paper slots for receipts and orders. {yes those are post office boxes I made them from!}




I have little baskets that I keep all of my almost finished bows and my pieces of ribbon that need bows!


I use this rack for orders ready for pick up.


tutu's ready to go out! =)


Basket full of flops!


I really want to paint this white, but not to sure just yet. This is basically the only storage I have right now. Yeah I know..... I'm working on it.


If you don't know yet, I have a love for all things Mason Jar! I love rummaging the thrift stores in search of these! I keep my loose ribbon in these lovely jars.


This is what I call my bottle cap corner. All things bottle cap like go here.


My little Issy likes to make pretty little bracelets for her friends and to sell at my craft shows, so I made her a little corner until I can make her a little spot of her own in my office.


Under my desk I keep my scrapbook paper and scrap book paper scraps. {I hate it but again I NEED MORE STORAGE!!!}




And last but not least....My ribbon holder. I'm looking into making a bigger area on my wall because this is just not cuttin' it!


So that's it as of today. I know it's a little blah, but I'm not really going for anything spectacular right now. I just want to be organized. Then little by little work on making my space GLORIOUS!

P.S. I just made a HUGE chalk board out of a piece of wood. It will be going on a big blank spot on my wall. I just haven't figured out what I want to use it for yet!

I wanted to show you another idea I had for the magazine holders, since this is sitting right out side of the door from my office. My brother and sister get some of their mail here, & we are always looking through huge piles of mail. So I decided to simplify this part of our life, and I have to say it's working great! It takes me 2 seconds to look at mail and put it in a mail bin!







Monday, August 22, 2011

Organizing: Play date Back Pack


I make lunch for Isabel & Ray every night. {One less thing to do in the a.m.}
I also get all of Sophia's things together that she is going to need for her play date the following morning.
It usually doesn't take long, BUT I always end up looking for something else I forgot to pack in the morning as I am scooting Sophie out the door.

Sooo when I found this backpack on sale I just had to grab it!

It was too cute and was too small for Isabel so I knew it would be perfect for my little ninja.


Don't worry, she looks at every one like that...

Sophie wearing her Sophie bows =)


Okay, okay, back to the pack...

Here is what is inside:

Plain & Simple right? {makes me want to reorganize my purse.....hmm...}


First things first for me is a change of clothes. Sophie is a tom boy and loves to get dirty or spill anything she can get her hands on. I just pack her some shorts and a shirt I got for $1 at Carters this past weekend! It was 70% off and then they were doing an extra 20 % off! Any who, her hair is also long enough to put in pigtails. {not long enough for a pony tail} So I have an extra set of pink Sophie bows in her bag.

If you were wondering, yes I make them, and yes you can find them here {cause I know you are all wondering about the bows!!} ;)


Since we live in the great state of Texas and it has been in the 100's all freakin' year {more like a month, but if you don't live here you don't know what we go through, so don't judge! (0; ...} most of our play dates consist of pool's or splash parks. I found a BUNCH of swim suits for $5 at Target so I snagged a couple so that when I have to take this one out to get washed I can put another in it's place.


Toys! Toys! Toys!
I had to pack Sophie's car keys because she always wants to play with mine.


I found this pencil box at Target for about .11 cents or so. Isabel already picked out a pencil box but I knew I would use this for something, and her lala loopsy's and cars fit perfect. {yes.cars. she is a tom boy at heart, I threw the lala's in there hoping she would play with them over the cars lol}


a couple of pampers & wipes, but of course!


After it is all folded and put away this is what it looks like. I still have plenty of room, but I like that it isn't jam packed. That's when things start falling out everywhere when I go searching for something. So no jam packing for me anymore.


Her back pack is hanging at the door ready to go with her on our next adventure!

If you have a little one, and have been thinking about finding some other mommies with little ones the same age I would really recommend Meet Up. I joined a meet up group on here and have met some amazing mommies and their littles.

So this is our new play pack. Do you have a great organizing tip for when planning a day out with your little?! =)



Sunday, August 21, 2011

Organizing: Back to School Edition


Tomorrow my little Isabel starts the 3rd grade. {Excited face!}
I have been reading this new blog that has inspired me to re-organize my life. I have always been the type of person searching for something right as I'm trying to walk out the door. Her amazing photos have inspired me to take a little time out of my day and organize. My organization has started with Isabel and Sophia's room.

Here are some cute tips & tricks for organizing for back to school.


I have started to do this with all of our snacks and chips. They are in one easy place and I can just grab a snack bag and make lunch in less than 5 minutes! Read more about this here


Keep all of your child's important papers sorted by grade. This idea is too cute!
This is a must! Here is the whole blog post all about it.


This Idea is very cute and simple.


No more searching for something to wear in the A.M.! I got these little bins {purple of course!} for the girls. Isabel loves the idea, she had fun getting her clothes ready for school and putting it in the basket. Now she can either get ready in the room or just take the basket with her to the restroom and get ready there! Simple and easy!
Read more about it here =)


Love this!


Making this for Isabel!


I already have this saved on my computer, I just need to get a frame from the craft store and decorate it for Isabel's homework desk. {Need to make a cute one of those too! (;..}

I hope these give you great inspiration for the school year!

I hope everyone's little's have an amazing first day!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

DIY: Newspaper Nail Polish

I'm a couponer,
a sales rack lover,

a clearance isle stalker.

The thrift store is my second home,
I would wake up every morning at 4 a.m. to hunt for the best yard sales if I could.
I figured I would let you guys in on some of this just in case you didn't already know. ;)

I can spend Hours online looking for awesome DIY crafts and Ideas. If you want to see some

of the cute ones I have found and Will try one day check out my Ideas to create board on

Pinterest.

So with that being said here is one that I just found and knew I had to try it. Now I am a girl, and of course from time to time I love to get pampered at the salon. But most of the

time I would rather just do it myself. Spending $70 every 2 weeks to get my nails and little

toesies done is just not going to happen. So usually I just do them myself, which is what I was

going to do today anyways when I found this
The adorably cute idea!



Can you see my nails?!


This yellow I have is really thick but I really wanted to use it. Next time I am going to use another kind of nail polish.

Supplies:
Nail Polish
Newspaper
Scissors
Alcohol {the tutorial I read said that vodka works the best so that is what I used, but if you try rubbing alcohol or anything else and it works well let me know. I would rather drink my vodka, not dip my nails in it ;)... }

The How To:
Cut out a bunch of little words from the newspaper to have ready.
Paint your nails just like you would any other day.
Wait for nails to dry.
Dip your nails in the alcohol, then place the newspaper strip on top of your nail.
{After I put the newspaper on my nail I would dip a finger in the alcohol and then just put it on top of the paper so it gets all of the paper wet}
Let sit for a little bit, then carefully peel off.
Finish off with a clear coat & ta-da!!!!

You are done!

Easy and cute huh?!



Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Bucket List- Recipe Edition

I have been extremely addicted to Pinterest lately. (If you haven't joined yet, its a must) I have tons of things pinned & for me the majority of my pins are things I want to
Buy
Make
Dream about buying
Dream about making...

You get the picture ;)

I am in the middle of making my life list & so I thought I would make a version of this list but with food. I love baking & trying new recipes. I don't get to do this as much as I would like to so with this list I can push myself to try new recipes! I want to break it down into groups so that I can try a variety of things. I'm already really exciting about this!

Goal: To make at least one recipe a week. I think this will give me enough time and NO EXCUSE not to do these.
{p.s. I linked all of these just in case you want to try a few!}

Breakfast

1.) Early Morning Open Face Egg Sandwich
2.) Tone it up Pancakes
3.)
Never Fail Fluffy Pancakes
4.)
Bacon & Egg Breakfast Salad
5.) Stuffed Breakfast Pepper Bowls
6.) Banana Nut Bread
7.)
Sweet Potato Donuts
8.)
Banana Nut Pancakes
9.)
Whole Wheat Waffles
10.)
Fruit & Nutella Crepes

Lunch/Snacks

1.) Broccoli Cheddar Soup
2.)
Mozzarella Sticks
3.)
Chicken Tortilla Soup
4.)
Tyler Florence Mozzarella Grilled Cheese
5.)
Quick Mini Peperoni Pizza's
6.)
Caprese Bruschetta
7.)
Cheeseburger Flat Bread Melts

Dinner

1.) Brooke Dean's Homemade Meatloaf
2.)
Creamy Artichoke Lasagna
3.)
Healthy Spinach Lasagna Rolls
4.)
Chicken Broccoli Supreme
5.)
Kaytucky Chicken
6.)
Lasagna Soup
7.)
Enchilada Lasagna
8.)
Empanadas
9.)
Mini Lasagna Cups
10.)
Crispy Shrimp Pasta

Dessert

1.) Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
2.)
Oreos from scratch
3.)
Twix Bar Cookies
4.)
Red Velvet Brownies
5.)
Giant Rainbow Cookies
6.)
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes
7.)
Rainbow Layer Cake
8.)
Blondies
9.)
Oreo Pops
10.)
Mini Cherry Pies


Cocktails

1.) Strawberry Mojito
2.)
Skinny Tequila Sunrise
3.)
Sex on the Beach
4.)
Skinny Kiwi Appletini
5.)
Skinny Sangria
6.)
Pina Colada
7.)
Skinny Cosmo
8.)
Beer Float
9.)
Kiwicha
10.)
Harvest Cooler

I am so excited to try these recipes.
Did you see that colorful layered cake?!!!
Oh My!

Wish me luck!