Mother’s Day cleaning

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Tarah

I hope y’all had a great Mother’s Day! I had breakfast made for me, watched a movie with my 2 little boys, giggled with my sweet little girl and they gave me a beautiful new purse. It’s stunning and has purple accents! I love purple!

While I know most mothers relax on Mother’s Day, I suddenly felt the urge to do a “mother’s day cleaning” of the banisters of our stairs. I have been going up and down those stairs, noticing them getting dirtier and dirtier. I rarely have that “urge” so I ran with it. However, after going through the cleaning supplies, I found that I didn’t have any “all purpose cleaner”.

spray bottle
2 cups warm water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 TBSP dishwashing soap

Directions are very simple – mix it all together in the spray bottle. See, very simple.

I started cleaning with a paper towel, the graduated to a sponge and followed with a paper towel. Now, there’s a before and after picture. Don’t judge. Remember, I have 3 young children that go up and down these stairs at least 50 times a day.

I found a few “recipes” for this all purpose cleaner. I just went with the one I had all the ingredients for. Cottage Sweet Cottage is the one I chose to use. Big Box Detox also has one that’s similar. Any of these will work. I think it worked very well and I love my clean banisters

I finally used the white vinegar for what it SHOULD be used for instead of, I don’t know, plotting to seriously injure my husband.

Pin There. Done That. Kids’ Artwork Storage {Whitney Edition}

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Whitney

I have been meaning to organize Logan’s artwork/paperwork for some time now. Especially now that he is in Kindergarten, the cute crafts and writing samples just keep pouring in. Everything has been scattered throughout my house–in the guest room, in the cabinets, in drawers, some of it on the walls as display. But still very scattered. And driving me crazy.

I saw this pin a long time ago and thought I re-pinned it. Apparently I did not, so I had to go back and find it again today.

Source: iheartorganizing.blogspot.com via Whitney on Pinterest

I was in need of a file storage box but I had a few hanging folders to at least get me started. After a quick (are they ever quick?) trip to Target, I was able to get started. I will say I am glad I started now–I can’t imagine going through everything after more than 5 years. Logan has already built up quite the stash. I will be starting one of these with the new baby ASAP.

I had a lot of artwork from before Logan started preschool–either done at home or with his sitter (from when I taught full-time), so I added a file for those years. (BTW, how much do you love this picture? Cracks me up everytime I see it!)

He went to 2 different preschools (one at age 3 and one at 4) but I combined them in one.

Ah, Kindergarten. This file has art, writing samples, report cards and other miscellaneous items I (or Logan) couldn’t part with.

And now it is ALL in one place. Nice and neat. It will go in his closet, easy to get to but out of the way.

All the printables I used for the front of the files are available here. There are also printable file folder labels, but I didn’t use those. I may go back and get some later and use them, but for now I will call it good.

I also made a file for all of Logan’s Santa letters. I have saved them since 2008 (the first year he could actually scribble). I will add hanging folders for every year and hopefully be able to keep it contained to one box–maybe that will be my goal so I can weed things out appropriately as we go along.

It feels really good to have it all organized and safe. My nesting phase has seemingly kicked in early and this satisfied that urge today.

Do you have your kids’ artwork organized? How have you done yours?

Also, see how Brittaney organizes her kids’ artwork here!

Bring on the Laundry! Or, How I Almost Died.

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Brittaney

Finally. A room reveal. The laundry room/area! It’s not the laundry room of my dreams, but it’s what I’ve got to work with. It’s A LOT better than it was. Our bathroom & closet are up next. Golf Guy is laying the floor as I type this.

Before….I know, I didn’t even bother to clean up.

bathroom door before

laundry closet before

laundry room doorway before

Look what he does on his day off! Ahhh….he only thought this part was bad….just wait.

golf guy demolition

Then, I asked him to repurpose the top part of our entertainment center we no longer needed into a folding table/countertop area. I couldn’t stand to just throw it out.

There are no pictures of the day he constructed it. I’ve only seen my husband really mad/frustrated a handful of times in 13 years. That was one of them.

I’m pretty sure he had thoughts of killing me in my sleep. At least prison is DIY free. Yes, he was THAT mad.

repurposed entertainment center

So here’s the finished product. Except the fug floor. That will come later. Later, later.

backpack hooks wall organizer

Yes, the doors don’t match. It bothers me. Doors are expensive so I have to live with it.

Our bedroom door on the left, bathroom door on the right.

Our bathroom door and laundry area.

The folding table that nearly got me murdered. It was worth it. Almost.

The counter had to be put high since it had to go above the water connections so we wouldn’t see that ugliness!

View of leaving the laundry room.

Right by the washer & dryer is the giant life-size ruler that measures the kid’s height. It’s one of my most favorite things!

Just got summoned to help…have a great Sunday y’all!

Thoughts on another blog conference

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Heather

As I’m sitting here waiting for Haven Conference tickets to go on sale in a few minutes, I’m remembering what I did right and what I did wrong to prepare for Haven last year. Here are our helpful tips if you ever decide to go to one!

1. Take business cards. If you have a blog and you show up without business cards or something with your blog name on it, just forget it! People were trading business cards like they were gold last year. Now, I was the only one in our group who took business cards – I was the only one with a really active blog at that time – and I passed out several and received several. One helpful hint might be to take a hole punch and a binder ring and keep them together that way – I will definitely do that this time. This year we will be taking cards for RCHOTX, you can bet on that!

2. Don’t decide to start a new blog WHILE you are at a blog conference! You’re looking at our brainchild from Haven right here. I had good intentions to keep using my Lazy Wife blog as well as this one, but that hasn’t really worked out – so now all of those people who took my business card are being sent to a blog that hasn’t been updated in months! Oops. While you may be gung-ho about a new blog when you’re talking about starting one, actually doing it is a whole different animal. Bloggin’ ain’t easy.

3. Don’t let one person ruin your conference experience. I learned that some people are really nice and excited to meet you until someone better comes along. There was one blogger that a couple of us were excited to talk to and hang out with (and we thought she felt the same way), and she just completely dissed us because (in my opinion) we weren’t “big” enough. To this day, I’m still annoyed with her and will probably avoid her this time, since I’m sure she will be attending. It’s unfortunate that some people are in this for the publicity and name-dropping – that’s not why we are in this. Her strategy got her pretty far this year, so I guess it paid off for her. However, she lost a faithful blog reader in me. I won’t say she ruined the conference for me, but she definitely left a bad taste in my mouth about it. There IS a way to network with the “big guys” and still be nice to the peons (me).

4. Socializing/networking. This one was tough for me. I was with a group of 6, and 4 didn’t really care about the blogging part of the conference. I would have liked to meet more people, but I also wanted to spend time with the people I came with. It didn’t help that the hotel ballroom that the “social events” were held in was teeny tiny and it was more than a bit warm with all those people! Add that to the fact that I am more than a little bit claustrophobic and it makes for a bad scene. This year, I will be attending with only 1 or 2 other housewives, and we are all interested in networking/blogging, so maybe it will be different this time.

5. Pick your sessions ahead of time and have a strategy. We did do this, and it worked out great. Because there were so many of us (6), we basically got every session that we were interested in covered. I did not attend any of the blogging sessions, because I was more interested in the DIY aspect. This year, though, I think I will be more interested in the blogging sessions and will probably try to do a little of both. I learned so much last year, and I intend to learn even more this year, now that I know what I’m doing with the blog thing!

6. Prepare to ship stuff home. I sent a 33 pound box home from last year’s conference. Let me just tell you, these conferences give away a LOT of stuff. There is no way I could have fit everything in an empty bag to take home with me – just plan on spending the bucks to ship it. I can tell you which post office in Atlanta to avoid if you need me to

7. Enjoy yourself. We ate dinner at different places every night (with Haven, you’re on your own with dinner) and loved them. We weren’t afraid to leave the hotel, and we found some great places! Some sponsors will “host” dinners during blog conferences, but they are invite-only. I am not planning on being invited to any of those, but who knows?! I will certainly go if I am! We did a little shopping and sightseeing while we were there as well. We will rent a car again this year and do some exploring, because Atlanta is a pretty neat city.

8. Dress comfortable, but cute. Everyone there was dressed nicely – not fancy, but put together. I will definitely be saving some extra money to buy some nicer clothes for the conference. Wear comfortable shoes, but not flip flops. Too many people there, too many power tools laying around. You don’t want to lose a toe!

Well, the three of us got our tickets (me, Tarah, and Sars) – Tarah and I were able to get the early bird discounted ticket (saved $25!) and those 50 sold out in under a minute! I feel quite sure the rest will sell out pretty quickly… 50% of your Real {Cheap} Housewives of Texas will be hitting up Atlanta come August 1!

heathersig

Printable Calendars for 2013!

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Heather

As you all know, I am a sucker for printables. Big time. And yes, I also use a paper calendar. I know, I know, take a minute to catch your breath on that one. I’m old school and proud of it.

The geeky part of me is so happy this time of year, because there are always so many awesome printable (FREE!) calendars floating around the internet and this year I get to share them with all of you! You’re welcome!

This one is from My Owl Barn. It is really customizable – as in, you pick the picture and the month it goes on. They also have the option to download/print the premade calendar.

This one from Creative Mamma is great, especially if you need to actually write on your calendar (like me). It’s easy to read, not too fussy, and pretty!

TomKat Studio has been a favorite of mine for a few years. This calendar is one of my favorites, because I love the colors and the fonts (yes, I’m a huge font dork).

This one from Love vs Design is just pretty. I like their style (obviously)!

The Twinery gives you two options on size – 1 full sheet or 1/2 sheet! I like this idea!

Elinee Journal got me with all the cool fonts at the top! How many calendars does one girl need?!

This is a really pretty one from Blooming Homestead – I like that they all coordinate, yet they are different. Very nice!

Miss Tiina likes bright colors just like I do! Happy and simple.

Kristi @ I Should Be Mopping the Floor made a colorful, bright, one page calendar that I LOVE. I should print several out – these one page calendars are handy.

Well, I think that’s about all I can do tonight – I rang in the new year typing on the blog! Is this indicative of the upcoming year for me? (Probably).

Tarah, Sars, and I are buying our tickets for Haven Conference tomorrow morning. I’m hoping we can get them before they sell out! Cross your fingers for us

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Love from all of us at RCHOTX.

How NOT to make a paper organizer

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Heather

So, I have this little problem called “craft hoarding” if you haven’t figured that out yet. This post concerns scrapbook paper, and scrapbook paper only. I start twitching if I think about more than one thing at a time when it comes to organizing.

Previously, I was keeping all of my scrapbook paper in a chest of drawers. Worked great. However, there is only so much room in a chest of drawers and my love for paper outgrew the size of the drawers. I emptied out the chest because I was going to paint it anyway, and I had to take my stash to a Pinterest Party, so I dumped it into a rather large Rubbermaid container. (Truth be told, I left some at home, so technically I filled up 1.5 huge Rubbermaid containers).

I’ve been home from the Pinterest Party for, oh, two months. The paper is still in the plastic bins. They have been serving as an excellent ottoman at my craft table, so I will be sad to lose them but it’s time to go.

Now I was left with the question of what in the hell to do with all this paper. Working with a non-existent budget, my options were limited. I found all kinds of neat ways to do it – but none of them were what I was looking for.

Until…

(Not my picture – if you click on it, it links to the post where I found it).

Hello! Priority Mail boxes! If you buy stuff online, you probably have some. This size is 12x12x5, I believe it says “large” on the side. I used these boxes, but I would highly recommend NOT using them for a couple of reasons – 1) the Feds might bust down your doors if these aren’t used for mailing (so use recycled ones!), and 2) if you’re a perfectionist like me, you’re not going to like the brown cardboard insides. Ugh. Container Store sells good boxes, although the ones I’ve seen are still brown inside. I hated the brown, so I tried spray painting the inside – guess what? Cardboard soaks up spray paint like crazy. Don’t bother. I ended up covering the insides of the boxes with white paper and Scotch Super77 spray adhesive. What a beating.

Anyway, I wanted 15 “spots”, so I cut out the “front” of each box so it left 3 sides. I taped 5 boxes together vertically with packing tape, and then did that 2 more times for a total of 3 columns of 5 boxes each. THEN I taped the 3 columns together to make one large piece. After that, I wrapped it (another beating) with some cute wrapping paper I found at Target.

That’s the finished product. Now I have to find the energy to separate and organize all of my paper! So glad to have this beast finished – I spread it out over THREE WEEKS because I was so annoyed with it.

I would never, ever, ever do this again. I hope you take my word for it

Silhouette in your kitchen!

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Heather

Source: remodelaholic.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I can never, ever, EVER remember measurements. Even with my smartphone (dumb user), I still have to call my husband and ask him how many quarts are in a gallon, or whatever. I have a mental block against measurements, obviously. This would be so much nicer than my current ghetto fabulous 1980′s magnetic thing I keep on the fridge. Heck, maybe I’ll just silhouette it onto my fridge. Look at that, I just made a new verb. Silhouette.