DIY Plastic Bag Dispenser

Want to make your own plastic bag dispenser?  I used a kleenex tissue box {not a really skinny one}.  My husband used a screwdriver and two short screws put through the back of the box {from the inside} to attach it to the inside of a cabinet door in my kitchen.  It works great and I love that it is hidden from sight!  Plus it was completely free!  :-)

Master Bedroom Makeover

For our 4th anniversary, I sewed some curtains for our bedroom and did a bit of decorating to surprise my husband.  That was back in August, and I'm just now finally posting this...better later than never, right?

This was my first time making curtains and I ended up doing the two-tone curtains since there wasn't enough fabric in the blue color I wanted.  I love the way they turned out!  Really the curtains weren't hard to make, just sort of time consuming.

Since our budget is really tight, I didn't spend money on anything except for the curtain rods and the candles.  I still have plans for a few other pieces of artwork when our budget allows hopefully at some point.

Here are a few before and after pictures of our bedroom and some pictures of the new curtains.  Enjoy!

*Just a little side note though:  I'm sorry that these pictures are not the clearest and the lighting wasn't great (thus the flash-which I don't like using)...oh and most of them are sort of crooked too...I guess that's what happens when you try to take a few pictures really quick and you're in too much of a hurry to get back to the screaming kids in the other room.

Before:

 Entering the bedroom

The corner and wall to the left

Doesn't that green just make you feel sick?  Me too...trust me, it gets better!

Looking back towards the entrance

After:

Entering the bedroom (closet is to the right)

The corner and wall to the left

The bed

(yes, the comforter was white once upon a time...we really should have bought one of those duvet cover things you can take off and wash.)   I hope to hang something over the bed eventually.

Another corner

Looking back at the entrance

The wall at the foot of the bed

I hope to eventually put photos all around the verse in the middle

Well, that's it!  We love our "new" room!!

Clearing clutter and getting organized

You'd think I was nesting if you saw me lately.  I've been going crazy on all the clutter in my house and cleaning things that haven't been cleaned in a while (ie. baseboards and cabinet doors).  Oh and I've been purging my closet, organizing all the girls' clothes, re-organizing the pantry area, and cleaning windows and glass doors.  Whew!  Maybe I'm a little bit obsessive, but I really love a clean, organized house and I just can't stand clutter.  So, I've been busy with that.

Because I am such an organizing fanatic, those tendencies leak into many areas of my life...like cooking.  Friday the girls and I spent most of the day at my sister's house cooking up a bunch of meals for our freezers.  All the cousins played together, ate together, napped together, and pretty much kept us multi-tasking (ie. changing diapers, settling arguments, kissing boo boos, etc.).  I wish we had taken some pictures of it all!

A super busy time of year is fast approaching here.  In the next few months we will be celebrating a whole bunch of family birthdays, plus Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  That means a whole lot of planning for me.  :-)

In which I ramble about clutter and money...

I'm tired of clutter (what's new?)...and I'm longing for the simple life.  We really have too much stuff.  So I've been doing a lot of sorting...and organizing.  I seriously have some mental connections with the clutter in my house.  The clutter's not that terrible really, but maybe it's that I have an obsession with organization and perfection.  So I can be in bed trying to go to sleep and can't because I'm thinking of all the things I want to organize, and paint, and decorate, and sell.  See, I told you I have problems.  The biggest of which is that my brain is WAY faster than my abilities to do all this stuff.  Not to mention a serious money shortage.

Tomorrow I'm selling some of my clothes at a consignment store that pays cash on the spot.  Soon I plan to have a yard sale too.  And I'm already planning for the bi-annual consignment sales this Fall.  We don't need this clutter...but we do need the money, so I figure it's good all around.  :-)

What do you do to get rid of clutter?  Do you turn it into cash?

DIY Clothespin Photo Display

I'm always looking for pretty, frugal ways to display photos in my home, so this idea was perfect.  I saw something similar to this on another blog one day, and I fell in love with it!  These pretty, clothespin photo holders only took me a few minutes, and I didn't have to spend any money at all!

Here's what you need:

clothespins (I already had these sitting around my house)
masking tape
photos

I used masking tape to mount the clothespins, because I didn't want to damage the wall or the paint if I decide to take them down again.  I just tore off a piece of masking tape, folded over both sides long-ways, and stuck it to the back of the clothespin. 

You can use as many clothespins as you like, depending on the size of your wall, and how far apart you want them to be spaced.

Next, I stuck the clothespins to the wall.  Simple as that!  You could measure if you want, but I just eyed it.

Now grab some photos and stick them in the clothespins!  Voila!

I love that you can change them out super easy whenever you want to put in some new photos.

Hope you enjoy, and have fun!!  :-)

Eat From The Pantry Challenge - my plan

I haven't been very good about posting about the Eat From The Pantry Challenge so I thought it would be good to update.  It is going great here!  We have had plenty to eat so far, and I don't even feel like we've had to ration ourselves or anything.  Actually I feel so much lighter just knowing that we're not spending as much money!  This has made me want to be even more frugal and even tighter with our grocery budget.  So that will be challenge # 2, I guess.  I'm working on a new plan for our budget for next month.

I've been working on a list of meals for the rest of this month from the food in our pantry, fridge, and freezer.  Here's what I'm planning on for the next few weeks.

January 11-17
Pinto Beans, Rice, Potato Rolls
Chili-Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas, Fruit
Leftovers
Pizza, Salad w/Homemade Dressing
Fettuccine Alfredo, Whiting, Biscuits
Baked Potatoes, Salad
Tuna Cheesies


January 18-24
Lentil Chili, Whole Wheat Bread
Bean, Rice, & Cheese Burritos, Chips & Salsa
Spaghetti, Garlic Bread
Black-Eyed Peas, Cornbread, Collard Greens
Leftovers
Minestrone Soup, Salad w/Homemade Dressing
Grits, Eggs, Biscuits


January 25-31
Costa Rican Pinto, Chips
Pizza, Fruit Salad
Pinto Beans, Rice, Greenbeans
Leftovers
Mac & Cheese, Salad, Fruit
Lentil Soup, Pasta Salad
Baked Potatoes, Salad w/Homemade Dressing


Check out Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom for more Eat From The Pantry Challenge fun!

New Year's Resolutions

I'm making some, are you?  It's time to step back, re-evaluate, strategize, plan, and hopefully execute some new goals.  Here are some things I am planning to do/work on next year.

- Read through the entire Bible
I'll be using this really neat plan.  If you click on the link you can print out a copy to use for yourself so that you can mark it off as you go.  I love that this plan has the books of the Bible divided up into four categories (Psalms & Wisdom Literature/Pentateuch & History of Israel/Chronicles & Prophets/Gospels & Epistles) and has you reading something from each category each day.  That way it breaks up the new and old testaments which makes them easier to read through, in my opinion.

- Stick to an exercise routine
You might not think I need it if you look at me, since I'm not overweight or anything, but I am definitely out of shape.  I feel like I have lost most of my muscle tone, so that is really something that I want to work on.  Also I know how important exercise is for overall health, and I really want to be healthy.  So, I'll be starting off using a book called 8 Minutes in the Morning.  I found it at a used book sale some time back and thought it looked good.  What I really love about it is that it is simple, short, and that it is based around two basic moves.  I mean, 8 minutes a day should be pretty easy, right?
 

- Read through 12 books
This was my goal last year and I am sad to admit I fell short.  But...I am going to try again.  I think it is reasonable, I just need to do better at sticking to it.  So we shall see how it goes.  Oh yeah, that's not counting all the books I'm reading for my NANC Counseling Certification.  I'm not going to list all of the books right now, but the first one I'll be tackling is Lessons Learned from Years of Homeschooling.

- Memorize more Scripture
 I am really excited about making Scripture memorization a priority this year.  I so much want to have God's Word hidden in my heart so that I can meditate on it throughout my day.  Also, so that I am able to share it with others when I don't have my Bible nearby.  And I want for my children to be immersed in it...to see me memorizing and meditating on Scripture...so that they will want to memorize too.  I'll be posting more on Scripture memorization soon to share about how we are doing this in our home. 

- Make a Will
We said we were going to do this last year, but we didn't.  I feel terrible about it.  After all, it seems pretty simple and I don't think it will take all that long to complete.  So my goal for this year is to have it done by the end of January.  No more putting it off.

- Finish up some projects around the house
We have a few major projects around the house that need some doing.  The master bathroom needs a ceiling job, and both of the bathrooms need to be painted.  We also need to do a little dryer duct repair under the house (hopefully my hubby won't need my help for this one!).  And the spare bedroom needs to be finished organizing and making a final set-up (for now, at least).  I'm also on the lookout for a cheap sewing table so that I can set up a little sewing workspace for myself in there.

- Gardening
We have some big plans for this year when it comes to Gardening!  Last year we were blessed to reap a bit of fresh produce from our garden.  This year we're picking a new spot and going bigger than before!  Right now we're in the planning stage, mostly picking out our crops and marking on the calendar when they need to be planted.  I'm so excited to start reaping more fresh, pesticide-free produce this year!

- A new photo blog
I'll be starting a new blog.  A photo blog, that is.  It will be specifically for photos and photography related stuff.  I'm planning to do a Project 365 this year on my photo blog, which means I'll be posting a new photo every day.  I know it will help me to learn a lot and to get to know my new camera.  Yep, I got a new Canon Rebel XTiand I am having so much fun with it!  But more on that later.  I'll have a link to my photo blog up by tomorrow, so stay tuned!

- Debt reduction
The title pretty much says it.  Nothing fancy, but we're still plugging away at our debt.  We still have a student loan and our mortgage to pay off.  I'm pretty sure there's no way that we'll knock either one out entirely this year, but we're working hard to make them disappear very soon!


What are some of your goals for the new year?

Kitchen Organization - Cabinets

I've finally become tired enough of my messy kitchen cabinets to do something about them.  Actually, I've been looking for a chance to reorganize my cabinets for a while.  I don't mind doing it...as a matter of fact, I enjoy it.  I took some before and after pictures to share with you, because well, I know I love before and after pictures.  Enjoy!

Before

After

Before

 

After

Before

  After

Organizing baby clothes

Imagine a huge mountain of clothes. That's what I had on the floor of our living room for a good part of the day. I really should have taken a picture. I was sitting right in the middle of it, sorting, and sorting, and sorting. What can I say? My girls just keep on growing and they're about at a size change...so I had to empty all the drawers of too small clothing, then fill them up again with the next size up.


Of course, I also had to organize all the too small stuff into boxes categorized by size, and make sure they were all labeled and easy to find for the next girl who will join our family. No, I'm not pregnant. But we do want more children and the way it looks right now, I think we're pretty good at making girls! :-)

I was so thankful to have my husband around to help out. It made my job a lot easier because I didn't have to be constantly pulling the babies off of my organized stacks.



A few times during the sorting I got a little overwhelmed. I just sat and looked all around me at all the clothes, thinking "this is just too much stuff!" But the truth is I am very thankful that my daughters have all of these nice clothes to wear. We have been blessed to be given most of this and really haven't had to buy much for the girls yet at all.


You can see my baby clothes organizing system in the above photos. I have tried the trash bag thing, but I really like this one better. I like to find creative ways to reuse stuff around the house, so what better way than repurposing diaper boxes?

I just fold the flaps like so, then label, and you're good to go!