Just got a little more time on my hands

So I quit my part-time school year job. Got a little more time on my hands to finish up house projects. With the kids in school, I am enjoying the quiet hours of getting things done without interruption. Okay, well maybe I haven't quit started that list yet as I did just quit three days ago, but I did make a list. Here's what I hope to accomplish by the end of the year.

• Clean and rearrange my closet [later post]
• Curtains for the family room
• Curtains for the lower level
• Spray paint Pottery Barn desk [find a chair for said desk ~ refinish?]
• Finish mudroom decor [already did board and batten] just need to finalize
• Paint walls, touch-up woodwork, trim
• Paint stairs and stain landings
• Design foyer architectural detail [thinking board and batten]
• Wallpaper powder room
• Sort and rearrange gift wrapping closet
• Sort and rearrange boys' linen closet
• Sort and rearrange storage area in lower level

Looking at my list, I feel like I didn't do anything over the summer! Lots of organizing and shuffling around, hopefully not spending too much money since I'm not working and all.

Iced Coffee ~ homemade version

I don't pay Starbuck prices for drinks. I think it's ridiculous; however, I do love their stuff. Take 1 pound of coffee, any flavor, any brand, and add 1 gallon water, stir and let sit overnight or at least 8-10 hours. You want this to be really strong.

Carefully strain the coffee through a coffee filter or paper towels into a pitcher. I used a collander to make the straining easier.

Fill cup with ice, add Coffeemate to 1/4 of the cup and fill the rest with coffee. YUMM-O [and cheap]. I'm addicted.

pantry makeover

it all started here. oh, that mrs. smith, she did it to me. made me realize i needed to do this too. just look at her pantry.

so here's mine. blah, blah, blah. the shelves were all silver from cans being slide across them. the shelves had finger and toe prints from my monkey climbing them. it had to be painted.

{before}

i also realized i needed to clean/rearrange/find a better storage solution for one of my cabinets.

old storage containers with white lids, just didn't use my space well. i took measurements, went to walmart and found exactly what I needed, introducing the 3 new containers with red lids. see how nice they fit on my shelf below?

perfect for grab and go. okay, done with that cabinet, onto the pantry.

take everything out and put it on your dining room table and live like that for a week.

oh, lovely new silver/blue paint. i did the shelves in a light color i had leftover.

here's the wall color - yum

in order not to have my pretty shelves get all scratched by the cans again, i lined the shelves with clear contact paper.

i used everything i already had on hand except the flour and sugar jars [walmart]

i've actually had my pantry like this for 2 months. i wanted to live with it for a while to see if we could really keep it look nice and neat. i did add one metal basket from hobby lobby to store my bags of lunch size chips, but other than that, everything has stayed the same.

love, love, love that mrs. smith and her jar labels. you can buy them here at wonderfully wordy. thank you shelley for your inspiration.

the messy mudroom

home from vacation, the suitcases don't even make it upstairs. 9 loads in one day and still going. does this happen to anyone else?

for the birds ....

2 packages of gelatine to 2 cups of water; bring to a boil until dissolved

add birdseed, left over cereal, nuts, dried fruit to gelatine mixture

put mixture into tins, sprayed with pam or something similiar. I put a small cup in the middle so I had a ring design as I wanted to hang with a ribbon. I set in the freezer for several hours.

sometimes it's the little changes

before ....
after ....

doesn't paint on a table do wonders? and a new rug and new curtains and a new lamp from homegoods?

1~1~11

New Year

Fresh Beginnings

Winter Smells & Sounds

Embrace & Enjoy

Surrounded with Love