Monday, January 17, 2011

Organizing Under the Bathroom Sink: Tidy Tips

Underneath the bathroom sink can be a scary place. Lotions, hair products, curling irons, it can all get very messy, very fast. I am not a fan of clutter (who really is though?) and am constantly trying to rethink the way I organize. Recently, instead of just throwing my straightener and blow dryer underneath I came up with a way that makes me feel less cluttered. I really need to start taking before pictures, someday I will learn. The first trick to organizing blow dryers, curling irons, and straighteners is cable management. It isn't good for the cords of those items to be wrapped around themselves because it weakens them. I got a nice new blow dryer for Christmas and one thing it said in big bold letters, "DO NOT WRAP CORD AROUND BLOW DRYER." This trick is an oldie, but a goodie, that you have probably seen before, my Mother has been doing it for years. It makes me feel less cluttered and it's free. The solution: empty toilet paper tubes. Use you empty tubes and neatly tuck your cords into them. I do this EVERYWHERE at my house, it isn't the prettiest solution, but the places I have the cords are usually out of sight from guests, so I don't mind. My blow dryers cord was too large to fit in the tube, so I used an old, stretched out hair tie, it works well. The next trick I did was to put some hooks inside my cabinet. I just used some gold hooks we had in a kit, and they worked perfectly. My blow dryer and straightener both have specific places to hang them from a hook, and I totally love it!! I only hung the 3 items I use most, large curling iron, blow dryer, and straightener. The other items I put in a small basket (you know how I love storing things in baskets.)
Ahh, much better for everything to have a place, rather than just thrown under there.
Lastly, to organize all your bathroom supplies, I read this trick in a magazine. I *think* it was Better Homes & Gardens, but I can't remember it was a few years ago. You put a lazy susan underneath your sink. That way everything is easily accessible with one simple turn and there are no explosions when you open up the cabinet. Make sure you face everything with the label facing out, so you (or your husband) can easily find what you are looking for without having to dig. This has worked really well, and until recently, I did it under every sink with cleaning supplies, etc. Now I have a mobile baby, so I have come up with a safer solution. We have a child lock on our bathroom door, so I am not too worried about these.
What are your solutions for under the bathroom sink?

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Spice Up Your Boring Lunch! : Weekend Website

Why is it that whenever you are trying to lose weight, all you can think about is food? One of my sister in laws visited Japan recently and was telling me about bentos, which are single portion Japanese meals. I decided to look into bentos and found this charming website, Crouching Mother, Hidden Toddler. Kelly makes such fun lunches for her daughter, they are super easy, and healthy! She gives tips on how to make fun lunches, and most of these are pretty quick to put together using a cookie cutter. When my baby starts eating more than just finger foods I hope to make some of these once a week. I received a dinosaur sandwich cutter as a gift and am excited to use it! If you have a picky eater this may be an option to try. Happy Weekend!!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Friday Freebie

Found myself this cute little black lampshade, sitting by it's lonesome, on the curb.



I knew I had a special lamp that it could be added to, just sitting on a shelf in my garage. This lamp needed some work though...



I got it for a steal on 50% off day at the Goodwill~just under $2.00!



I love, love, love the roses, but the gold had to go.



I taped up the cord, and the light bulb socket.





Out to The Spray Paint Place for some primer, paint and poly...



I paired them up and popped them up on top of my piano.



What a great team they make!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Party Plannin'

2011 is going to be a year full of party planning for me. I have a baby shower, my son's first birthday, and my parents 50th wedding anniversary this year, thankfully I love party planning! My lovely sister in law is due with her first baby, a boy (yay for boy cousins!), in about 6 weeks. We are planning her shower the first weekend in February and I am SO EXCITED! A few weeks ago I was browsing one of my favorite websites, Bake It Pretty, in search of some straws for my son's first birthday party. Yes, I do realize that my son's first birthday party isn't for another FOUR months, but what can I say, I am a planner, and have a very tight budget, so I am starting now!! ANYWAY, though I found some super cute straws, I actually found some cute ones at my local kitchen specialty store for a lot cheaper. I did however come across these....Mustache lolli molds!!! I HAD to get them, plus they were on sale. I thought they would be perfect for a little man party, and having a son, I know we will have one of those one day. I was tempted to change my first birthday party theme, but I love the ideas I have for that! I decided these would be PERFECT for my SIL's shower though! I am having a little man themed shower and SO excited!! It will be fun to share all the details after the shower. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

One Dollar Wednesday...Once there was a teapot

I have to admit, I'm coming up a little short at the Dollar Tree lately. I need to get out to some other Dollar stores, and see what they have to offer. Luckily, I still came up with a one dollar project for today.

Once there was a teapot...a scuffed up ugly teapot. Thank goodness he needed a makeover or I wouldn't have gotten him for just 50 cents! Actually, if it hadn't been sale day at the thrift store I may have still given him a chance for his original price of 99 cents.



After a super HOT, sudsy bath, I taped up his vital parts really good, and sent him out to the Spray Paint Place for a coat of metal primer.


Then I added some color with these vibrant yard sale stickers I picked up at The Dollar Tree...


A couple coats of a pretty Valspar glossy spray paint, and a little drying time.



Pulled off all the stickers, and finished him off with a quick coat of poly. Now he's all ready to get to work.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Milk Steamers

Ugh, January, my least favorite month of the year. Don't get me wrong I love the new beginnings that the new year ushers in, but I do not like January. I spent 6 years in the desert of Southern Utah where I grew accustomed to the lovely desert winters of the bitter cold 50 degrees. :) Though I have now lived in Northern Utah longer, (going on 8 years), I am still in no way used to the long, drab, bitter cold (really this time, 20 degrees or less) winter, and by January I am done. I enjoy the snow for Christmas, but then getting through the very long month of January, where you are stuck indoors due to cold and the worst air quality ever! I guess that is enough of a rant about my loathing of January, but one thing I do like to do when I am stuck indoors is make milk steamers. It is a good alternative to hot chocolate, because sometimes I get a little burnt out of hot chocolate. It can also be a fun, albeit, messy activity to do with kids, I had my nephew and niece over and we made these. Here is the amazingly simple recipe of milk steamers:

Heat milk in microwave until hot, do not boil
Add 2-3 Tablespoons flavoring syrup
Froth for 30 seconds

I usually heat my milk in a glass pitcher and then pour it into mugs to froth. If you are letting kids do this, only pour about a fourth of a cup of milk in for less mess. I really like the Torani flavorings, you can get the sugar free and they taste really good! If you are looking for a milk frother, you can get them just about anywhere.

What do you do in January when you have cabin fever? Does January give you the blues or is it just me?

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Dinner Ideas and More!: Weekend Website

I find myself quite often thinking, "What should I make for dinner tonight?", most of the time I am tired of the same staples. If you're anything like me, you need to check out my friend Janey's blog, My Daily Cuisine. It's a food journal of sorts, that goes way beyond dinner recipes, like the photo above, Christmas Morning Rolls, YUM! Janey has a great palette, and you should find photos of all kinds of different cuisine. I have started doing her "Healthy Habits" to try to get rid of my baby body, and I am a big fan of healthy habits vs. dieting. In my opinion, diets don't work, unless you want to eat like that for the rest of your life. I highly recommended you check out this lovely blog, it is one of my faves. Have a great weekend, I am off to the gym! :)
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