Mommiedom

I have two sets of these charm packs and i had a lofty idea of making a rag quilt out of them before I realized I need much bigger squares for it so I decided to make some other things with it.

First I made a throw pillow using 10 of the 5x5 squares in the charm pack and 8 solid black charms from another pack (that was going to be the rag quilt back). I just sewed them together in a simple pattern, sewed the two sides together, and stuffed. Did a quick whip stitch to close it up and I have a cute mod inspired pillow.


Than I got started planning out a purse. Yeah I know I need to make another one like I need a hole in my head. I spent about an hour getting it ready and sewing it together. I than stepped away when I had the outside all done. I did some other stuff and than started on the lining which took like 15 minutes to sew, stick in and finish it up. Overall it was a simple bag to make of my own design. I have some kinks to work out if I wanted to maybe sell a version of it. We will see.

Yep I tackled that finally after years of dreading it. I sort of felt like Monica on "Friends" who had her secret closet filled to the prim with all sorts of things in there. I honestly had wedding presents in there that I had never used because I didn't have a good place for them ( yes I know married almost ten years). Now with the living room redone, I put some of the stuff out. 

I also got those space bags to put all
of the actually linens in that we don't use on a regular basis. Those are so smooth to work with were fun to suck all the air out of them. I used three extra large ones, two large ones and two medium ones. I also took a bunch to good will of things I no longer need like sheets for a full bed I no longer own. I think it looks so nice and I stuck all that extra stuff in my closet looking for a home in there as well (I tackled our closet to but didn't take pictures of it). 


I feel so much better now that these are done and am going to work hard at keeping them organized, especially my own closet. 

Here is a link to this week's article: http://leaguecity.macaronikid.com/article/251326/mommy-confessions

I talked on Tuesday about how I organized my pantry which gets so out of control so fast. It got me thinking about all those little tips that I use to organize our lives that I think work really for us. So I figured I would share them with you all.

1. Have separate laundry bins for all of your clothes. I bought three bins from Wally World that re nice a tall and fit a lot. They even come with their own labels of whites, darks, and lights. I have found since I got this, it has made laundry so much easier to get a handle on.

2. A basket on the stairs for all that stuff to go up. I have a decorative basket that I put at the bottom of the stairs to take up all those odds and ends like toys, and dirty kitchen towels (I have a second floor laundry room). The kids have actually learned to take it up and pull their stuff out of it. It is a easy way to put all that stuff in with out cluttering up the stairs.

3. Menu Board which I made here which helps me to plan out the weekly meals. I only do the weekdays because the weekend is fluid at our house. We may go get a big lunch on Saturday and just eat a light snack for dinner. I mark down everything I am going to make which helps me to plan what needs to be defrosted instead of standing at the fridge trying to figure it out at 4:30 each evening.

4. Kitchen chalkboard to mark down messages, and grocery lists. I got a decal one from one of the craft stores and put it on the front of my fridge. It is so nice to have because we will instantly write down anything we are out of and my husband has been so good at it to. It helps to make sure I don't miss anything when I go shopping. I just take a picture with my phone and I have an instant list with me.

5. My new favorite online tool in the Family Calender you can create at Cozi Central . I created our calendar and add all those important dates on there. I get a weekly email from them as to all of the goings ons and I can add to have email and text alerts to me when I really need to remember things. It also goes to my husband as well each week so he knows what is going on. When ever we need to go somewhere, I add it on to the calendar. There are also lots of other wonderful features on there as well that you can use. I have found it so nice to have plus there is a mobile version which I also have so I can instantly input data in.

6. Spend 15 minutes cleaning each day so that you don't have to do a marathon cleaning at the end of the week. I notice that when I do the big stuff like wiping up the floors, that goes really quick. I also pick an area to work on for the 15 minutes like one of the kid's rooms where I pick it up, dust, and do whatever needs to be done. At the end of week, I don't have all this stuff I need to do and the house is pretty neat and clean. Plus I get the kids involved in it as well and they now automatically do it without being asked very often.

Okay I know this might be hard to believe but both my kids ate the Salmon Burgers and loved them. My husband told me this was a winner of a meal and honestly it was super easy. I went to the grocery store and bought premade salmon burgers with a mixture of jalapenos, tomatoes, corn, and onions. They took like 8 minutes to cook (4 on each side). Now when I can make something the kids like, it is easy, and it is healthy is a major plus.

The actual thing I made was the Sauteed Veggie pasta which Miss O asked for three servings of it. I took zucchini, mushrooms, and red bell peppers. I sauteed them with some olive oil until they were soft. I than took some butter and oregano and added into make a light sauce. I than tossed it with some cooked small style noodles. It was a warm dish that the kids loved. It both had a starch which I like to serve as well as our veggies . Plus it was a great way to make use of the veggies from the co-op that I am in.

I got this fabric for Christmas from my mother in law and have been trying to figure out a good use for it. I thought that would be a really cute apron to make it. I loved all of the coordinating fabrics in the fat quarter pack she gave me. I went to work creating an apron I love and the little bee pocket is super cute on it.

I am going to start a special series that is all about organizing your life. Spring is right around the corner, okay about here for Houston, and I thought it would be a great way to give some tricks as to organizing our lives. I try real hard to be organized and for the most part I am put yes I do have areas where I fail like the pantry which is the focus of this first post.

I try and try to keep it organized and have almost on a weekly basis pull things out and reorganize it to fit this week's groceries in. I about had it today when my husband open the door and asked me where the peanut butter was in the midst of all this chaos. I told him to look low like where the kids would put it. I decided that it needed to get done especially after i saw the amazing pantry on Pinterest the other day as well. Mine doesn't look as nice but it is organized and I hope it stays this way.

I started out with going to both the dollar store and Wally world to get containers to put like stuff in. I hate all the boxes of oatmeal floating around as well as the spices falling off the shelf all the time. So after the shopping spree and about 70 bucks later, I had all the stuff I needed.

I pulled it all out and as you can see from the picture, this was a lot of stuff. I have like ten boxes of instant potatoes in some form (Scallop, mashed, etc). I also had so many packs of oatmeal and a variety of pasta that needed to be put together in one home. So like two hours later and lots of figuring it all out, my pantry is cleaned out. I feel so good about it. The blue and green bins hold the kids snacks, pasta/rice sides, coffee and teas in them.

I have all the baking items like flour, sugar, etc in their own bins as well as the cereals and pasta in containers as well. I feel so much better that I can see it all so I won't be buying the same thing over and over again to add up to a ton of things.

Here is the finished pantry all organized and let's hope it stays that way!