Car Emergency Kit

This is a ___ project....if you said Pinterest, you get a cookie! Just kidding about the cookie, but it is a little something I found on Pinterest, where I find most of the things I do. I tweaked it for what I needed in my car.

 

Use and empty wipes box or shoebox to store your kit and put in it things that you might need while out and about. Notice, I don't have any wipes in my kit....that's because I carry around a package with me already with two small kiddos, along with a backup diaper or two just in case. 

Here's what's in my box:

2 sandwich zip bags

mini lint roller

small first aid kit- bandages, ointment, alcohol wipes, a few Benadryl

Tyenol

Tissues

Lotion

Shout wipes

Small sewing kit- has tiny scissors, needle, thread, safety pin, etc

Hand sanitizer

Bug repellant

Pen and notepad

Hair elastics

There's still a little room in my box in case I think of something else tiny that might be useful to have on hand. This handy little box and fit under a seat or easily in a floorboard or trunk. Just be sure when it's 2000 degrees outside that you don't have anything in there that might melt!

Pinned from Rips in My Jeans

A Little Spring Cleaning Idea....Kids' Nook

Before

 Since I am a Pinterest junkie, I have seen these cute ideas for children's reading nooks and making little couches and things for them to have a little corner for themselves. My kids don't read to themselves yet, but they love books and, like every boy, they love hideouts.

So, my "office" is in the corner of our living room (which is one huge open area...living, dining, kitchen), and they like to play right by me when I have some work do to. I needed to do a deep clean on the area anyway...you know, clean all the dust bunnies out really good from under and behind the desk and untangle all the wires, not to mention straighten up the top of the desk.

After

I decided to turn the printer cabinet the other direction at the end of the desk, move the desk down a few inches and there was room for a little nook! 

I eventually want to make this cool little couch made out of all sorts of pillows (or at least find a little small couch or cute armchair to replace Spidey), but for now, stuffed animals, Spiderman chair, and a few random pillows from the kids' room are a big hit!

Mom's Garden Book

Have you ever, like me, found yourself dog-earing the pages of your favorite magazines or cutting out randon things that you want to keep for reference, only to find that you never remember you have it?? I began cutting out recipes years ago and putting them in a recipe book, but had never done so with gardening stuff. I remembered that I had a random sticky page three ring album that my grandma gave me and I thought I might use for something. These sticky page albums are not always acid free for photos, but they work great for magazine clippings! The three ring type allowed me to also put two sided pages in page protectors and add to the album. This is a great way to keep your ideas and notes handy when you need them and the same concept can be used for home improvement, recipes, and much more!! 

A Little "Kitchy" Idea

I've seen this somewhere and finally managed to do it myself. My spice cabinet is the perfect spot to use this handy reference board and it only costs about $10 or less to do. After constantly pulling out my cookbook for the same three recipes, I decided to try this.

All you need is:
1. Cork--you can get small tiles, large tiles, or rolls. I got the large tiles so I can use some for other projects
2. Dry Erase Board--this one was about $3.50 and is magnetic- you can keep a list of things you need- especially handy if you have it in the spice cabinet where it's easy to forget when you use one up.
3. Tacks--the small ones if you have thin cork


Use this to hang frequently used recipes for easy reference, grocery list, cooking notes, menus, you name it!

"Spring" Cleaning Epiphanies

Ok, so I have totally thrown my original blog plan out the window and will now post whatever I  feel like, whenever I feel like it. So, today, instead of crafts, it's just a few organizations things that I've discovered in the last couple weeks while doing a total spring cleaning thing on my house. This has been a major undertaking seeing as how it hasn't been done in a couple years- In my defense, I am usually a total neat freak, but I had a baby in May and gall bladder surgery in August, so deep cleaning wasn't exactly a top priority! I'm sure most women can relate!
Anyway, it's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate if you don't go through it on a regular basis...sad actually. So, at this point, I have managed to get it all done, except for one closet...the dreaded storage closet where I keep all my craft/scrapbook/wrapping supplies and boxes and boxes of photos...oh, and a few sets of sheets are in there, too!

So here's a few things I've discovered:

1. I thought I was going to need to buy a lot of storage containers to get everything organized neatly. It turns out, as I got rid of things I no longer needed, I found that I had several containers to use. So, don't go buy any, until you do some clean out! For example, I cleaned out my closet (it was horrible!!!) and ended up with several empty plastic shoe boxes.

2. You CAN have too many shoes.....seriously...I hate to admit this, but I had shoes in my closet that I've had since probably high school (that'd be about 13 years ago) and hadn't worn in years!

3. If it's the third time, you've looked at something you haven't used in a while and think to yourself , "I might use that someday", then you should probably get rid of it! Especially clothes!! Our church has a Love Closet every 3 or 4 months which is like a free yard sale for clothing, bedding, and baby stuff for our community and my car is full of stuff to take there now! If it's not used up, someone else can probably use it!

4. You wouldn't believe the space you will have in  your kitchen cabinets if you get rid of old small appliances that don't work! I learned that those old appliances and electronics can go on the scrap metal trailer so you can actually turn some trash into cash! Woohoo! OR, you can take them to Goodwill and they will get them there, too, and they get the money for it. (Just be sure if you do computers, to destroy your hard drive)

5. When you do a cleaning out, you WILL find something you were either looking for or forgot you had!

Don't try to do it all in one day! Make a list of things to do in each area and slowly, within weeks, you will have it all done! Happy Cleaning!!

Happy New Year!!!

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Cor. 5:17

Wow!! 2011 has came and went and like every new year, most of us are beginning to think about a fresh start to the year and our "resolutions". I have abandoned the whole resolution thing myself and now I find that it much more gratifying to make a list of goals for myself for the new year.

I break them down into categories and what I want to accomplish each month. Some of the monthly ones are repetitive so that I can make them a habit and some of them are specific for the time of year. It's very customizable...you can decide what you want to do and set a deadline for it. You can type it, scribble it, or write it out on monthly sheets on a legal pad (like I did)....just be sure to write it out in some form and keep it where you can see it often. It doesn't have to be plastered all over your house, but you can keep it on one bulletin board, your laundry room (if you spend a lot of time there like me), out on your desk, etc. If things from one month don't get done, you move them to the next one or squeeze them in somewhere. Don't be afraid to re-evaluate your goals when you get to each month because a lot can change in a year!

I'll share my list for the first month of the new year:

January 2012:

Our Business-- 

Prepare payroll tax forms & send payments by 15th, year end reports by 30th

Me Time--

Print photos for scrapbooking by end of month

                 Begin sewing project-casserole dish carriers

                 Finish a book for my own personal spiritual growth

  Get blog book printed 

     Blog twice a week

                 Read my Bible at least 15 minutes every day

Kids/Family & Education-- 

Date night with hubby at least once this month (twice if we can swing it)

Begin reading book about teaching reading to kids

                 Work on speech exercises for 30 minutes 2x week at home

                 Go through 2 learning books/activities per week at home (short and fun ones!)

                 Get a big learning calendar for four year old

          

Home/Garden---  

Get all the Christmas decorations put away by the 5th

                 Get a cube storage thing for the utility room and organize that space

   Clean out craft closet

 Get the baby gate out of storage and move some things around in the house---baby proof!! 

Money--

Save $400

   Do monthly budget for Feb

Health--

Exercise 2x week (even if just 15 minutes)

            Count Weight Watcher points closely!!--Goal is lose 3 lbs by end of month

Limit eating out (lunch or dinner) to no more than twice a week

As you can see, these are very specific and personal to me and my life. It's important to set goals that are for YOU, not just vague, general ones, like "lose 10 pounds this year" or "get organized"....they must be SPECIFIC (and reasonable), and WRITTEN to be ACCOMPLISHED!!
Happy Goal Setting and Goal Reaching!!! Happy New Year!!!