Organizing Day 8: The Coat Closet

Well.... what a nasty thing our coat closet turned out to be. Dear goodness I was shocked to finally take a look!

This is the top where the coats are hung every which way and junk is piled up on top. Not too bad right? Well, just look at the bottom.

Cat not included! :o) She thought it would be neat to investigate. She didn't stay long. Not even Claws wants to fight the mess.

All the coats are out and some of the junk off the top.

Oh my goodness this is what is left on the bottom (and no that isn't my Christmas tree still up. I bought a cute little tree that was just decorated with some greens and flowers so we are keeping it up all year. It is a fancy decoration)  Not at all because I want to keep up some kind of tree all year long and no there are no ornaments on it.

We pulled out all the coats and some junk. Look the guitar for the Wii was in there....

This was the bin that used to hold gift bags and ribbon and such. Obviously it didn't survive.

All the bags I pulled off of the top of the basket when we pulled it out. We had a picnic blanket and some more board games I thought I had picked out and organized in the hallway linen closet the other day.

Still more stuff in it! When will it all end?

All swept out. I even found a glass top for a small table in there. I had NO idea that was in there!

The coats are now hung up from largest in the back to smallest in the front. Much better.

This section has a 3 drawer organizer, the wrapper paper organizer and my yoga mat.

The organizer has bows and ribbon in the top drawer, gift bags in the second drawer, and more gift bags, a few boxes and the tissue paper in the bottom drawer.

On the shelf above the coats is the basket with our workout jump ropes, weights, and elastic bands.

In the middle is the purple container with scarfs on the left and gloves on the right.

The last basket has all of our winter hats. We had 12! Who has 12 hats? Apparently us.

At the bottom are our winter boots and an overnight bag that Emma uses when she spends the night with Grandma.

The entire closet makeover cost just $14! The plastic wrapping paper organizer I already had. The 3 drawer organizer came from Wal-Mart for $11 and the 3 containers at the top on the shelf came from the Dollar Tree for $1.00 each for a combined total of just $14! Not bad for a much needed closet redo.

Remember that Monday, January 17, 2011 at midnight is the last day for FREE SHIPPING for NEW members! Click the picture below.

Organizing Day 9: The Toys!

Luckily we organized most of the toys for the girls in each of their rooms a long time ago.

Some of the baskets are even labeled.

BUT.... we do have a kitchen in the middle of our living room that looks absolutely horrible

I found an adorable little red basket to put the fake food in and wiped down the whole thing with my Basic H

and started purging random things the girls had thrown in there.

I put the basket to the left of the little kitchen so when you first walk into my entry you don't see it. Also, there is a little more room on that side under the little counter top so it fits a little better.

Remember Monday, January 17th is the last day to get FREE shipping on your 1st member order. Also spend $70MN (member price) and get the Shaklee Cinch Sample Kit for FREE

Click HERE to start shopping!

Our New Lunchbots Bento Boxes

We have been looking at the stainless steel lunchbots for some time now. I think I had held off because they can't be put into the microwave. Then I stopped and thought... how much do we really put food in them that need to be microwaved anyway? Well, we don't!

I do not love our plastic bentos only because I am always afraid of them leaching plastic. I know the ones we purchase are BPA free but I always have that irrational fear.

We ordered a lunchbots duo and uno from Amazon and had them in 2 days. I then filled one for Emma to take to school and one for Eryn to use at home with Grandma.

This top one with the blue lid is the duo. It has a divider in the center. The card that came with the bento box says that the divider is not liquid tight. On the left we have red seedless grapes with a small pink dog pick and Snikiddy chedder cheese fries. The right side has sliced deli turkey with a yellow elephant pick. The pink silicone cup holds 1/2 a Shaklee Cinch Peanut Butter Crunch Snack Bar. 

Eryn has the same thing in her bento box as well just not with the metal divider. This orange bento is done using the Lunchbots Uno.


Honestly I like the Duo better for regular lunches since the divider helps contain the small items. I think a little 1/2 sandwich and Snikiddy fries might fit into the Uno.

We ordered a larger one and three smaller Lunchbots for snacks. Can't wait for them to come!

Last Day for FREE SHIPPING for New Members to Shaklee!

Members receive 15% off the purchase price and NEW members who join and put in an order before midnight tomorrow (January 14th) will receive FREE SHIPPING! This can save you a minimum of $7.99!
 You must become a member to get in on this deal. Membership is $19.95 and you save 15% off on ALL products from then on!

Now might me your chance to try my favorite Basic H2 at the member price of $10.35 plus FREE shipping! Remember just one 16 oz bottle of Basic H2 makes 48 gallons of all purpose cleaner!

Divide that by the price and we're talking $.22 a gallon! That is incredible! Most cleaners are packaged in 16-24 oz containers and organic cleaners are priced anywhere from $2.99 for Seventh Generation to even more!

Or purchase my favorite scrubbing paste Scour Off for just $7.25 with FREE shipping! Plus I think it smells like Twizzlers (don't ask)

Click HERE to become a member or a distributor.

My Dirty Garage Door!

All of us who "DIY" things that you get dirty! The floor gets dirty, your clothes get dirty, and usually your entire garage or craft room. For me, most of the real dirty work gets done in the garage since we have no craft room.

Today is a snow day (yeah!) and I decided to put away some tools I had still floating around the house here, there and everywhere. As I was putting away the tools I reached for the garage door and what do I see? EEEEWWWWWW! Just look at that door! I don't even want to know how long that has been that way (and please don't tell me if you know).

 After I gasped and shivered at the sight, I grabbed my bottle of Shaklee H2 (mixed for the all-purpose cleaner) and sprayed away. A little wipe with a rag and voila!

 

Now that it is so clean I find myself seeing the horrible paint job the previous owners did and wondering if I should repaint my garage door too! Great! Now I've got one more DIY project. 

To find out more about Shaklee products visit My Website

My Organization Station + a FREE Printable Calendar

I first saw this great idea on House of Hepworths and then went to check it out on A Bowl Full of Lemons. Here is my own take on the great organization station.

I started off with my messy counter. Don't judge me it isn't pretty. Everything gets dumped on the counter when we get home. Everything also gets piled there when we clean off the kitchen table. Yup, more than one place to drop your stuff.

I took everything off and trashed some of it. I put the Christmas decorations back in the new red box I purchased in the garage and put the tools back in the garage too. I put the toys back in the bin in the girl's rooms and then  threw away any outdated coupons or empty envelopes.

Then I sprayed the counter top down with my new Shaklee Basic H. 

Then I took a file box from Target (my favorite store) and hanging file folders and the sticky tabs from Post it and created my own organization station. I also used the FREE printable calendar from SWITCHEROOm She will email you the printable calendar when you comment on the post. It is adorable I promise.

I put the binder clips on to hold up the calendar and filled the box with the following categories:

1. Bills (ones from the mail I need to pay)
2. Coupons (ones I print out, newspaper inserts, and ones that come in the mail)
3. Shaklee (anything from the mail, pending orders, etc)
4. Chris (anything paper wise he has dumped on the counter)
5. Emma (anything school or project related she has)
6. To File (bills already paid or things from the mail I need to file)

I have no file for myself or Eryn because my file is mostly the Bills/ Coupons section and well Eryn is three and she doesn't go to school so no papers for her. I need to add a PTA/ School file for myself since I do a lot at the school I teach at and want to keep it organized.

Household DIY Goals for 2011

My husband and I do not make New Year's Resolutions but we do sit down and make goals (when I can get him to sit down).  I We have come up with some projects to do this year to improve our home as we save up the money. We also have a list of financial goals as well so some of these tie in.

#1: Remove all TOXIC CLEANERS from our home entirely!

I have used 7th Generation and some Method cleaners for years. I tried the vinegar and water and making our own laundry detergent (that didn't go well). I even did a basket for our Valentine's exchange of "Green Cleaners" with directions and materials for all the girls to make their own. Since all of that I have discovered Shaklee.  I still have a little bit of 7th Generation cleaner left but the smell of it is so off-putting I hate using it. I still do have some actual TOXIC cleaners in the house and am in the process of purging them all! My husband and I have devoted our home to Shaklee and are loving it!

#2: Get rid of our ugly KITCHEN FLOOR!

Our house was built in the mid 90's which means that most things should have been pretty updated. Well, let me tell you whoever picked out the kitchen floor wasn't thinking 90's. This ugly linoleum combination is enough to make anyone grab a hammer and crowbar! Also, the person who put down our Pergo (before we purchased the house) put it down wrong. They matched all the seems so it looks like a bunch of plywood. It doesn't help that it is light wood either. I'd love for both floors to match but that means replacing our kitchen, dining room, living room, and hallway floors all at once. We'll have to save up for that chunk of change.

#3: Buy a New KITCHEN STOVE!

Our kitchen stove is original to our house which makes it about 16 years old. It has really seen better days! One of our burners doesn't want to always work and our oven is now finicky (it is just so temperamental) HA!

#4: New CARPET in the bedrooms!

Our bedroom carpet is also original to our home and was originally a light gray (from what I can tell).  It is now a disgusting gray even after we steam cleaned it to death. The only carpet in our house is the 3 bedrooms and there is none in the new bedroom we are currently creating a room.

#5: Finish the 4th BEDROOM MAKEOVER!

We tore apart a wall between a HUGE walk-in closet and our laundry room to double the room size and hopefully move the washer and dryer to the other side of the wall (the garage) and make this room the 4th bedroom the original house plan called for. We're working on it but not a lot right now.  It looks much better than this picture. There is no mess left on the floor. The wall is still open like that for now until I cut drywall. :o)

#6:  Figuring Out What to do with our KITCHEN BACKSPLASH

We put up this crazy stainless steel tile squares up as our back splash but I am SO reconsidering it. I just haven't decided what to change it too. We have also discussed painting the kitchen cabinets. My husband says no but as I reminded him he wouldn't be the one doing it, it would be me. So.... we'll see.  You can see the lovely back splash behind my Shaklee Basic H2. If you look really closely you can see we didn't finish the edge of it either. I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I'm fickle like that sometimes.

#7: Whatever else I can find to do :o)

I am SURE I will find something else to do this year. I'm just like that!








One of our financial goals for the year was to produce more income without losing time with our children. My husband and I have taken the plunge and are now Shaklee Distributors! Take a moment and check out our site: Pembroke Lane Shaklee