Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 Top 5!

Wow, can you believe that we are already at the end of 2014?!  Seems impossible!  I want to take a minute to just thank you so very much for all of your support, likes, shares, comments, etc through out the past year!  I truly appreciate each and every one of you taking time to visit my little space on the internet.  Your presence here means the world to me.

I thought to wrap up the end of the year I would share the top 5 posts from 2014.  If you missed one of these be sure to check them out just by clicking on the pictures!  Here they are in order, starting with your most favorite:






So there you have it!  I am looking forward to the new year and sharing some fun new things with you!  Hope you will join me in 2015!!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Elf on the Shelf: Minion Banana

Minions are a daily part of conversations around here.  My youngest son especially has an unhealthy obsession great love of minions!  So we knew that our kiddos would really get a kick out of this next trick by our elf, Zinkle!



There were lots of laughs at this little guy this morning!  If you want to check out some of the other tricks our elf has been up to just click on the pictures below!



Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Elf on the Shelf: Grocery List

Well, our silly elf, Zinkle, was a little calmer last night...we he must have been tired from all of his other tricks this week!  Last night he did change into a schnazzy Christmas sweater though and made his own grocery list for us.  The kids sure wanted me to take that list to the store when I was going grocery shopping! 






To see some of the other silly things this guy has done, just click on the pictures below!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Elf on the Shelf: Hiding in the Fridge

Happy Saturday!  I thought I would share the latest trick our elf, Zinkle, has done!  The kids searched and searched for him this morning and could not find him anywhere.  They even started saying that they were worried that he had not come back last night.  Finally, my oldest son ran to the refrigerator and threw the doors open.  He almost didn't see him, but as he was closing the doors he saw him there in the door, wrapped in a dish towel.

They laughed so hard at their funny little friend!  They loved reading his sign and couldn't get over the fact that he even had the lid off of the whipped cream!  Ha!  The little things kids pick up on :) 

This may be my new favorite trick that Zinkle has come up with!  




If you missed when Zinkle hid candy canes in our house a few days ago, you can read all about it here!

I can't wait to see what this funny little guy comes up with tonight!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Elf on the Shelf: Hiding Candy Canes

Are your kids as into the Elf on the Shelf as mine are?!  They are so excited to come downstairs every morning and see what our silly elf, Zinkle, has been up to the night before!  I will share a few more naughty things that he has done over the next couple of weeks, but here is a fun one that is new for us this year! 


Our kids had a whole big conversation at dinner tonight about candy canes.  Zinkle was by the table from the night before so one of my boys even looked over at him and said, "Zinkle, you need to bring us some candy canes because we don't have any on our tree!" I actually had already planned on doing this with him this year so I had candy canes hidden away in a cabinet, so the timing seemed perfect for tonight!  I can't wait for them to rush down the stairs in the morning and see that Zinkle really was listening to them :)  



While we make sure that our main focus at Christmas is on celebrating Jesus' birth, we also love these special traditions and memories while our kiddos are little.  Can't wait to share more of our adventures with Zinkle with you over the next couple of weeks!  And if you've got any great elf ideas I would love to hear them!!  Especially quick and easy ones for those nights that we may or may not forget to move him and have to rush first thing in the morning before the kids get out of bed....!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Hiding TV Cords


See that pretty little turquoise box on the bottom shelf?  That's my new favorite thing :)  That's where the magic is taking place!  


I found this cardboard photo box and just cut a little hole in the back.  I didn't make it too big because I didn't want the hole to be visible at all from the sides.  But it perfectly fits our power strip of cords!  Now, my husband is less than thrilled that this is a cardboard box, so I told him I would continue to search for something a little less flammable, but for $2.99 I think it's a great fix!!




Pop the lid on, and no one knows my little secret :)



Friday, October 3, 2014

Ditch the Plastic Utensil Tray!

Happy Friday!  Today I am going to try to make you give in to a little peer pressure-the good kind though ;)  See, as much as I love things to be nice and organized, I also want them to look pretty.  That is why I am going to give you these five words of advice: DITCH THE PLASTIC UTENSIL TRAY!!  

As much as none of us want to admit it, we have all experienced the nasty and grimy plastic utensil trays.  And even for the cleanest person, those darn things somehow always seem to collect crumbs in the bottom (which I don't at all understand since you are putting clean utensils in them...If anyone can explain to me how this happens, please do!)

A couple years ago I finally had had enough and went on the search for a better option and found these metal mesh trays from The Container Store.  And while my drawer certainly does not look like it belongs in a magazine, it feels so much cleaner than my old plastic organizer.  I will say that my only complaint with these is that my continental sized knives do not fit in the typical knife section, so I had to put them in the longer slots.  But, I can live with that :) 


Since I have additional pieces in my set (appetizer forks, dessert forks, long tea spoons) I used two trays and just flipped them the opposite way and put them back to back.  Works great!


And my knife sharpener just hangs out at the back ;)



A quick and cheap change that makes a BIG difference.  I wish I had a picture of the before to show you what a change it really is, but just take my word for it ;)  And if you take the plunge and toss the plastic tray, I would love to see your before and after pics!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Storing Toys in the Living Room

With four kids, we certainly have had our share of toys in our house!  Now that my three oldest are able to play on their own, it is easy to keep their toys out of the main living areas. But my youngest still needs to stick around where ever we are so having toys, books and puzzles on our main floor is a must. I also want to maintain an inviting spot for guests though (and honestly, I don't want to be staring at toys all day every day...I have this little cleanliness OCD things that kicks in ;) )  so I keep her toys on the main floor discretely tucked into this little basket. 


I found something that would blend into our decor so it wouldn't stick out and scream "toys live here!"  I also love this solution because it keeps control of how much is in the space-if it doesn't fit in the basket it stays in the play room or her bedroom. Over the years I have used different baskets and storage items that have fit in with our room at the time, but I especially love this one for the size.  It can store a lot but not to the point that it feels like you are going into a black hole when looking for something in it!




My favorite part is that when she is done playing, we are having people over, or when all the kids are in bed for the night, we can quickly toss it all back in there and still feel like we are in an adult space and not in the middle of a toy store ;) 



Thanks for stopping by today!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Organizing Mail Supplies


Hello!  Sorry for my absence around here lately!  With summer ending and school beginning, we have been in go-go-go mode!!  I'm so happy to be back here sharing with you today though! 

Something that seems to get spread all over the place in houses are mailing supplies.  So today I am going to give you a quick peek at how I keep everything organized around here.

I have a drawer in my office that is devoted to mailing supplies.  It is so nice when I need to mail something that I know exactly where to go and don't have to dig through multiple drawers trying to find an envelope, card or stamp! 


At the front of the drawer I have two orange file folders.  The front one keeps our return address labels and stamps.  The second one holds my address book-not that it needs a folder, but it just keeps it from flopping open in the drawer and keeps it right up front for easy access.

I used a cheap little basket that I have had for years to put bulk cards in.

And I absolutely love my card organizer that I got from The Container Store several years ago!

On the right I have a box of regular business envelopes and some bigger mailing envelopes as well. 

Simple enough, right?  But such a time saver (and headache saver) when I need to get something in the mail quickly! 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Taco Casserole

Hey guys!  I am so excited to be guest posting over at Table for Seven today!  Erin is an amazing food blogger and the creator of Share Your Stuff Tuesdays!  Such an honor to be asked to post there today!  Please stop by and be sure to follow her if you don't already-your mouth will water every time she posts!

I am sharing an easy weeknight recipe-Taco Casserole.  Click on the picture to take you to it.


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Chicken Scampi

Here is a quick and easy weeknight version of Chicken Scampi!


I originally found this recipe from Campbell's a few years ago, but have made a couple tweaks along the way to make it just right for our family.  Here's how I put it together:

You will need:
2 tablespoons butter
4 small chicken breasts (or 2 larger breasts cut in half)
1 can (10 3/4oz) Cream of Chicken soup
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons garlic powder 
1 package angel hair or spaghetti pasta

Directions:
1. Boil water and begin cooking pasta according to the directions on the box
2. Melt the butter in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat
3.  Add chicken and cook until lightly browned on both sides, then remove and set aside
4.  Add the soup, water, lemon juice and garlic powder into the skillet and mix well.  Once the mixture is boiling add the chicken back in to coat.  
5. Take the drained pasta and toss it in the sauce mixture until coated before plating 

ENJOY!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Nail Care Organization

I'm definitely a girly girl at heart.  I love makeup, jewelry, shoes, purses etc.  And although there are many days that my nails are not looking fantastic, I sure do feel put together when I look down and see nicely painted fingers and toes!  I keep all of my nail care items together so when I am ready to pretty them up, I just pull one basket out from under the bathroom cabinet and am ready to go!


I got this blue basket at the dollar store and it works great to store everything!  I bought some other cheap plastic organizers to put inside (I already had a couple of them actually...don't look too closely or you will see that they don't all match 100%...).  A quick little tag cutout from my Cricut and tied on a little label (because really, what good is a basket without a label?!)


I use a toothbrush holder to hold taller items like nail files and a cuticle pusher.  I have my "egg" callus removers in the front because I am a barefoot girl and the bottoms of my feet take quite a beating! 


I actually use a lipstick holder for my polishes.  I limit myself to what will fit in this.  I'm pretty boring when it comes to nail colors so I don't need a whole rainbow anyway (but if I really were feeling bold I could raid my 12 year old daughter's stash-she's got some interesting colors ;) )



All my 'tools' are together in these little bins...these are the two that don't match...don't judge ;) 




And that's it!  I can easily take the whole basket out and put it on my bathroom counter then tuck it back in the cabinet when I am done!  I've been using this system for years now and it has been a winner for sure!