2012 Wrap-Up - 10 Most Popular Posts!

I like having Christmas behind me.  Not that I don't love the day, but sometimes it seems like such a production that I hardly get to relax and enjoy it.  Maybe that means I've become an adult and maybe it means that I'm a procrastinator and I was finishing up someone's Christmas stocking on the afternoon of the 24th.  Either way I do enjoy that last week of the year when we have no plans or obligations.  No school or work.  It's a good time to think about what we've done over the whole year. Here's a rundown of the most visited posts of the last 12 months!

1.  Lotion Bottle Cellphone Holder!

This one was a first for me - first Pinterest project, first ModPodge project...

2.  Improved Kitchen Storage!

A quick & dirty fix for a most annoying problem - storage of cookie sheets and trays!

3.  Finally!  A Lamp Refurb!!!

This was a most delayed project - and I was so glad to have it done.  

4.  Check out my Can!!

This was a super easy project that I'm sure I'll be repeating.  Seriously, there's something very satisfying about watching glue dry.

5.  It's Curtains for You (or me actually)!!

A post where I confess to having no pretty window treatments in my bedroom after living here for 5 years.

6.  Getting my Mod Podge on!

I still sorta miss this shirt...

7.  Things are looking UP!

I think this should probably be considered phase 1 of the big-girl-bedroom redo... 

8.  Snowflake Ornament

This was seriously fun.  I may do another ornament next year.  Or I may just post the second one I did already ;)

9.  Halloween Felt Board

The kids really enjoyed it, but it didn't last... Mr. Destruction had it ripped off the wall within 2 days.  Next time I will figure out a more secure way to attach it.

10.  Make It BLUE!

A recent post about repainting the dining room.

So that's it!  The top 10 most popular posts of 2012.  I'm already excited about 2013 :)

So what to do if you lose power for a few days...

As I sit here there's a powerful storm churning out in the Atlantic Ocean.  And for the past 2 days I've been hearing all about it from the weather guys who love to hype up a weather event.  This time around it's really starting to sound like being in a mid-Atlantic state ha put us in the path of what they're calling the frankenstorm, and while we aren't likely to get major damage or flooding at our house, there's a good chance we might lose power for a while.  If that happens I'll probably freak out a bit because I'm pretty plugged in most of the time, but we'll survive.

Here's my contingency plan for how to beat the boredom -

Batteries & flashlights.  Or a lantern!  We actually got this great LCD lantern thing from my parents at Christmas last year.  It has 4 mini-lanterns that come apart so you can wander off to the bathroom to with a nice light.  A lantern really fills up a room with light better than a directed flashlight does.  And face it, when it gets dark at 6:45 PM, I'm really not ready to just go to bed.

Board Games!  Scrabble, Monopoly, Boggle or old fashioned card games are great for the adults.  Memory, Candyland, Old Maid, and Go Fish are good for the little ones. 

Keep electronic devices charged.  OK, so that's not quite "roughing it", but face it, when your books are on a Kindle, you have games on an iPad, and your only means of communication is a cell phone, it would be a good idea to do what you can to have those things available to you.  Bonus points for a portable DVD player.

Decluttering - after spending 2 days in my grandparents house in June going through closets, drawers, and attics, I know that electricity is a "nice to have" feature of decluttering rather than a necessity.  A lantern and trash bags are the only essentials!

Crafts!  Make sure you stock up on crayons, paper, markers, coloring books, scissors or anything you frequently use for crafting at home for either you or the kids.  Don't count on a glue gun as the power may go out.  I also stock up on new coloring books to break out on rainy days.

Alright folks, that's it for tonight.  I've been working on my indoor prep, tomorrow is outdoor prep - gutters, yard cleanup, un-decorating (no need for Halloween decorations to become projectiles!).  Hopefully this whole shebang amounts to not much more than a few rainy days!
 

 

 

I Love Martha

I was in Staples today for the first time in a zillion years and as I was perusing the back of the store, I came across a huge display of Martha Stewart paper products, office supplies, and desktop organizers. I practically swooned.   Everything was so pretty!

Now because I was at Staples to pick up back-to-school stuff for Sarah's first day of Kindergarten tomorrow, I resisted the temptation to clear the place out.  Also, we don't have a need for this stuff (yet), so it's good that I didn't just buy for the fun of it.

I did leave with a super cool stick-on dry-erase board.  Where might I put such a thing?  How about the fridge!?!?  I just gave the fridge a good wipe down with a Clorox wipe to make sure it was free of anything gross and stuck the dry-erase surface right on there.

Check it out:

In addition to the great self-stick, removable dry erase surface, I also snagged a pack of fine-tip dry erase markers by Quartet.  Here's why those rock.  They have a built in eraser in each top PLUS a magnet.  So yeah, my markers stick to the fridge and they erase.  I love them.

I figure we'll use this to write down important memos, phone numbers, and grocery items as we think of them.

So did you buy anything for yourself while doing back-to-school shopping?  Clothes?  Shoes?  School supplies?!?

An Un-Glamorous Update

So sometimes the best project/change you make all week is the least exciting.  Well, I'm excited, but you may not be.

As part of the Big Girl Room redo, we have moved the tv she watches (and the DVD player) down to the basement.  It's not a finished space, but one day it will be.  Jason wired up cable, an outlet, and a light switch to make sure stuff was safe and secure (stuff was sorta dangly down there, and that sort of wiring is scary).

Sarah has been watching tv down there occasionally.  She's got a little table & chairs for now - later we'll move the bedroom rug down there so it's a little fuzzier and maybe we'll put her beanbag chair there too.

Anyway, a few friends were down there yesterday watching Power Rangers, and one came out and said it was "cweepy".  I asked why he thought it was creepy and he said the basement was "full of cweepy stuff". Touche.  So I guess we need to do a reorg down there.  We had TONS of stuff, boxes, paint cans, tools, hardware, etc.

Today I was at Ace picking up some ant baits (yeah, I have ants, lucky me).  And I saw this awesome plastic 5-tier shelf on sale for $40!  Regular price was $60 - good savings!  It was exactly the thing I need to help organize our dumping ground basement.  (Actually, I should have bought 4 and done the garage too).

Check it out - made in the USA too.

Here's what it looked like before.  It's almost too embarrassing to share, but this is reality, right?

The shelf was assembled super quickly and without tools.  And I'm not positive, but I think it's made to have multiple shelving units kinda lock together...seriously, I may need a few more of these things.

Once it was up and ready to go, I started filling her up with all the random tools, paint cans, battery chargers, etc. that seem to be generally scattered all around the garage.  And (surprise, surprise), I found more than a few things that would be more useful in a trashbag on the curb than in the basement.  So out they went!

Here's the "reveal", LOL. I know, it's still a pretty grubby basement, but I love how we have all the paint cans low and out of the way, stacked up tools, so they're easy to find.  Oh and battery chargers (I'm positive we have at least 2 more of those), drywall stuff, etc.

I was able to relocate a few items, buy there still things on the future finished side of the basement - electrical stuff, random lumber, more tools (of course), and other stuff. Maybe once I get that cleaned up and over to the "dirty" side, J down the street wont' think the basement is so "cweepy".

Let's hope!

One last look - isn't it nice to have a tidy space:

Here's where I've linked up: