Thursday, November 29, 2012

Gift Giving Organization

I always head into the gift giving season with the best intentions of staying organized: Receipts in this envelope, Little Dude's gifts in this box, Lists updated...That all lasts for roughly a week. Then poof, as if I'd never attempted organization at all, it's all a hot mess. And I find myself scrambling at the last second trying to pull things together.

This year, I'm proud to report, is turning out differently. I created a spreadsheet (loooove my spreadhseets) to keep track of not only how much I'm spending, but who I'm buying for and what I'm buying.

Check it:
 

Last year, because I was super pregnant during prime holiday shopping time, I did nearly all of my shopping online. I didn't keep good track of things and with shipping times, I forgot about tons of stuff that I ordered and inevitably over/under bought for some people -- oopsie poopsie. 

Using this, I've managed to keep track of everything. As soon as I buy something (online or otherwise), I write it down. Boom, done. 

Happy Holiday Gift Giving and Happy Organizing ;-)

<3 dani




Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Weekly Cleaning Schedule

The Hubs and I pride ourselves on how tidy we mange to keep our house. Before Little Dude, we had our cleaning schedule on lock. Saturday morning, bright and early, we'd bust out the entire house. Top to bottom, deep clean etc. Then throughout the week, we'd just pick things up as we went along.

But now, you ask?! Oh my how things change with a ten month old running around.

The house has remained pretty tidy, but I regularly have an internal meltdown thinking about how much I have to do.

Pinterest to the rescue!

I started searching for weekly cleaning schedules and came up with a few viable options. Including THIS one that I pretty much straight-up stole.
** disclaimer: the original is waaay cuter than mine. **

Here is my version:


There are certain things that get done every single week, so those things I permanently added. There are also things that get done each day, come hell or high water, like the dishes and wiping the counters. Those things I didn't add to the chart, seemed redundant.

I did leave room on the top for things that I'm pulling from THIS calendar each week (do yourself a solid and check out that link).

So, here's to trying to clear the stress of staying on top of my cleaning habits. Try it.

<3 dani

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Keepin' Those Baby Legs Warm

Even before I got pregnant, I so badly wanted a pair of baby leg warmers. But first I had to get me some baby legs. Well, I have the baby legs now, but sadly Little Dude is not a fan...especially when the leg warmers are clearly for a Little Dudette.

Luckily for me though, my besties in California just had a Little Dudette.

Here's how I made these adorable little things.

Start with a pair of long socks. The length is dependent on how long the baby leg is that you're trying to cover. I prefer they scrunch up a bit, so I bought knee high, tweenager sized socks. 

Then you just cut 'em up.


Turn the right sides together of the foot portion that you cut out and sew on one side only.


Then flip her right side out again. 


Now, fold her in half. This is going to be your ankle cuff.


Stick the long portion of the sock inside the cuff, then sew around (the only difficult part of this whole project). 





Flip the cuff down and boom.


And my super compliant model, Little Dude, is less than thrilled...okay, so he doesn't look pissed, but trust me!




Try it. I did three pairs while Little Dude took his afternoon nap.

<3 dani

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Living Room Updates with Finner Paints

In the last week, I've painted my living room twice and within this next week, I"ll be painting it one more time. I needed to brighten things up in there. We've had the same color for five years. I was bored with it and in my head I have the perfect color picked out, so it should have been simple. Nope.

If this new color doesn't make me happy, I'm convinced that the color in my head doesn't exist. Hopefully by next week I'll have a finished product to share with you. Unless, of course, I've jumped off the proverbial decorating bridge...I'm getting close. I'll take suggestions on the best gray/blue from Valspar...

First Try
 
Second Try (looks waaaay too blue on the wall, really pretty though)

 Third Try, maybe...hmm

And my third choice, on a wall...looks good. BETTER WORK!

So on to a happier topic: New Art!! Along with the changing color of the LR, I had to update the artwork too. I've been dying to get Little Dude working with finger paints and found a baby-safe finger paint solution: water, food coloring, flour. Easy.

My plan was to strip Little Dude down to his diaper, put him on the grass with some paints and canvases and let him go wild. But it's too hot outside and my damn hormones turn me into a raging evil hot beast when I'm in temperatures over 74 degrees. Instead I covered the kitchen floor with newspaper and let him go wild in there. As parents, it's inevitable that we'll make some poor choices. This was definitely one of those. Keeping this kid contained to a pile of newspapers is next to impossible. Trust me, do this outside.

Little Dude did make some fantastic pieces of art though.







Even The Dog got in on the action. 

Soon, I'll have them hung on the freshly painted (again) wall.



Fun, messy project. Love it. Try it. 

<3 dani