Organizing Bills

There's nothing better when I open my mailbox and see it empty. Meaning, no bills. But alas, it can't stay empty forever. Bills are a part of life. 

 The worst is when I have a pile of envelopes here, there and everywhere. I try to keep things organized, but sometimes it's difficult when there isn't a specific place for bills. 

  So to Pinterest I went. 

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  After looking at these pictures, I decided to whip up something of my own design.

 I was cleaning up my kitchen and was going to toss some cereal boxes in the recycling bin, but decided to use them for this project. 

  
After cutting the tops off, I glued and then duct taped them together. 

 I picked some scrapbook paper from my craft room and covered the boxes with Mod Podge. 

I made tags from old paint chips and put stickers on the tags to mark "Paid" and "To Be Paid".

 

 

 It leans perfectly on the small bookshelf in my craft room. 

 Now I know what bills need to be paid and what ones need to be filed. Once I open the envelope, I check the date of when the bill is due and I enter it into my iPhone calendar so I get a reminder a couple days before it's due. 

 Organization bliss. The best part? Free. $0.00  

The only thing better would be to figure out how to keep the bills from coming...

  If you haven't entered the giveaway,
make sure that you do before the end of today.
It's easy. Just click here and follow Melody's directions.

Good luck!

Transforming an Armoire

My husband and I have limited amounts of furniture in our house. We are choosing the pieces we buy or make carefully, so we don't end up with any unwanted misfit pieces. We do however own a beautiful armoire that sits in our bedroom. And although this armoire is quite large and has great storage, it is not that awesome to look at. 

As you can see it is a natural pine, with a clear coat finish on it... which makes my job a whole lot easier. That's right, I am going to refinish this piece of furniture. It is has been my dream, since I first laid eyes on it, to give it a nice coat of paint. Something along these lines... 

via referans.wordpress.com

I am excited to get started on this project, and I am hoping it won't take me too long to complete. Obviously I will be sharing pictures of the in between stages, as well as the finished product on here, so stay tuned and wish me luck! 

Have you ever painted furniture? If so, what was your favourite method, paint, tool, etc? This is my first time refinishing a piece that is so large, but I am excited to see the transformation. 

Also, don't forget to enter our giveaway! Click here for all the details on what you could win and how to enter. Good luck!

Giveaway - A little something for you!

I was trying out a new pattern yesterday and I thought to myself that I have waaaay too many cowls, so I should do another giveaway! We all like free stuff, right?

Here is what you could win:

There are a few ways you can enter:

1) Start following our blog OR let us know which one of posts you liked the best.
2) Follow us on Facebook OR post about us on Facebook.
3) Follow us on Pinterest

Leave a comment for us letting us know which one (or all) you've done. You get an entry for every one :)

The contest will end Sunday, January 8th at 12am EST.

If you'd like to make your own cowl, here is the pattern that I followed:

                                                                    Source: goodknits.com via Melody on Pinterest

Chain 80 to get the length that you need. Continue in the pattern until the cowl measures 12-15 inches. Sew on two buttons and you're done!

Good luck everyone!

The List.

  Every year, when January comes around, I love getting my home back into normality after the hustle and bustle of Christmas. When we take down all the Christmas decorations and set the dried out Christmas tree outside by the curb, I always feel like our little home is so spacious! 

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Once the clock turns midnight on New Years, my mind starts turning onto changes that I can make to our home in the new year. 

When we moved into our home a year and a half ago, we had fun dreaming about all the different things that we wanted to change or do in our home. 

This is what our list looks like: 

As you can see, we haven't really accomplished much from our list. My husband has ripped everything out of the basement so it's now a blank slate ready to be finished. In the summer we did a little bit of landscaping, but it was somewhat difficult to do with a newborn. 

I've been pinning a lot of pictures that have given us ideas for our current home and our dream home. We would love to create a home that is welcoming and comfortable for our family and friends that visit. 

Here are a few pictures that are our inspiration for our home and list: 

source, source, source, source 

source, source, source, source 

   source, source, source, source 

source, source, source, source

There is no timeline on these ideas. Who knows what we'll get done this year, but I'll keep you updated along the way!

  Do you dream about refreshing your home as soon as it strikes midnight on New Year's Eve? Who else has a long "To Do" list for their home? 


 * I'll be linking up to the Nester's 2012 Home Goals Party. If you want some inspiration, stop by and see what others are dreaming about for their home *

Chaaaarge!!!

Sometimes I find things on Pinterest that almost seem too easy to do. Well... this is one of those things. If you are like me, you have about 10-15 electronic items around your house that require some sort of a charger cable. And if you are really like me, you only know where about 3 of those chargers are on a daily basis. If it's the charger for your laptop, digital camera, or cell phone, knowing where they are in your house can sometimes be a bit of a chore, and remembering which room you left them in last can be frustrating. Thankfully there are labels and wicker baskets for such an occasion. 

via justsomethingimade.com

If you looked at this pin before, and thought the same thing I did, then yes, it is that easy to do. Maybe I want to organize my house because it is the new year, or I am just in the organizing mood, but it didn't take me too long to round up our cords and wires and slap a label on them. 


First: Locate all chargers in your house. 

Second: Label them.

Third: Put them in a basket, container, or drawer where you know they will be easy to find and to and use.

Such a simple way to keep track of which charger is for what camera, and of where to find them. What other organizing ideas have you found on Pinterest that have changed the way you run your home? I know there are a ton more ideas that I have found and want to try out in this year ahead. 

Introducing... Our New Basement!

I would not wish a basement flood on anyone. It is a terrible thing and very stressful, especially if it happens around the holidays when you just want to be sitting and relaxing. But since we were planning on renovating our basement this winter anyways, it seems that it was a blessing in disguise since it forced us to get going. Thankfully my husband is a very handy man and I have lots of wonderful family who pitched in and helped us finish it in time for our New Year's Eve party. It was touch and go for a little bit but it is now mostly done! I took some pictures this morning so that you can see how it looks. I didn't find any before pictures but trust me that it is a huge improvement!

Our new wall colour, wainscoting & tile

Our main area where we watch TV. I'm going to be getting some charcoal grey slipcovers for the sofas. Since this is our family room, I don't want to invest in couches that will be ruined by my girls or our dog who tends to sleep there.

The bar table that Seth made for us for last Christmas.

The new area rug that I love. It's like a hug on your feet.

The bookshelf that Seth made me for Christmas last year

The tile and the carpet. I spent 2 hours learning how to do grout with my Dad. Now I have that skill as well as bruised knees, but it looks good!

Our DVD rack that matches our bookshelf.

As we keep finishing things down there, I'll post more pictures. I still have a bathroom and an office that needs to be completed... as well as stair treads, a few places that still need more tile, & pictures on the wall. Let me know what you think! My husband especially wants to know what everyone thinks of his "man cave" furniture. Did everyone have a good New Years?