THE CLOSET!

Those of you who visit my blog regularly know that my closet has been the topic for a few posts last week. You know, the pants, the coupon?!
I really have learned some valuable lessons and in the process have given you all a few giggles.

So would you like to see some before and afters?
Of course you would.

They call this a walk in closet. I'm not buying it. I've seen other people's walk in closets and this my friend is no walk in closet. And in my perfect closet world, this one would have those fancy organizers and shelves and drawers and stuff to make the space more usable, but that's not going to happen any time soon because it's not a perfect world, so cleaning and organizing with what I had was my only option. (Wow, that my friends was the world's largest run on sentence!)

I have to tell you that the before pictures are kind of embarrassing. The only remedy would be for you to tell me that yours STILL looks like this but you are now motivated to clean it out! Okay? Okay!
*Deep Breath*
Here we go!
Before Picture One!
You see that humidifier box on the shelf? Yeah, silly me, I thought it actually had a humidifier in it. Comes to find out it had not one but two unfinished afghan projects in there. Oy!

After Picture One!
Before Picture Two!
Can you tell what this is? Besides a big mess?

After Picture Two!
There's a shoe rack under there that was used for everything but shoes.
I don't even like half these shoes so I don't know why I have them. The flip flops I wear are on my floor by the bed! LOL. They NEVER make it on the shoe rack!

Before Picture Three!
It's sad really! *sigh*

After Picture Three!
Do you see my fuzzy happy face slippers over there on the left?
I told you I love em'!
So there you have it. My tackle! My huge, yet enlightening tackle.

On a completely different note. Right now I have 199 followers and I'm a round number kind of gal. So who wants to round out that number for me? I'd greatly appreciate. It just kind of bothers me. LOL!!

Now go tackle you something or go to 5 Minutes for Moms and see everyone elses.

Happy Tackling My Friends!
HUGS!

Tackle It Tuesday! My Office!

Okay this tackle was definitely Tackle it Tuesday worthy.
You remember how I hung my head down in shame as I showed you the before pictures of our office last week?
Well December was a busy month of crafting and such and most of that goes down in the "office".
So it got bad, REALLY bad!
For those of you who might have missed the before pictures I'll show you once again.
I'm all about being real, even if it means showing you the second most messiest room in the house. Okay the 3rd messiest. Our sons room is second and our closet has got to be the worst. But that's another tackle in the making.
So here they are.
The BEFORE picture.
The whole view of the office.

The after.


The before picture.
My desk.

The after of my desk.
I'm pretty sure you could have figured out the before and after pictures without my commentary but it wouldn't have been as fun right? Right? Cause those of you who have seen my Vlogs now have my voice in your head (so sorry) as you read my posts and it makes it more real doesn't it? DOESN'T IT? LOL!
Well there you have it. Pretty good eh? It took me 3 days to do this. Three VERY long days!
If you want to see what other people tackled head on over to 5 Minutes for Moms.

HUGS TO YOU MY FRIENDS!

Trash To Treasure! Well Sort Of!

I'm sure I could link this post up to Tackle it Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday, Make-Do Monday and whatever else they got out there. But since it's Tuesday I guess I'll link it up with Tackle it Tuesday and then erase that tomorrow and link it up with Works for me Wednesday! LOL! Oh how I kid. I honestly don't think anyone (but you all) cares about my tackles anyway! LOL.
But just to get that one extra comment I'm going to link it up. I wonder who that brave soul will be?
Aaaaaannyways...you that read my blog know that I'm doing a face lift in my kitchen/dining/awkward space, right? RIGHT? It all started with last weeks lamp makeover and since then I've bought curtains, fabric, paint etc. But today you are only getting another small glimpse. I know for a fact that this is going to give you chills. Yeah, it's that good. Okay, it's really not but I feel pretty good about it!

First off I must confess that before I gave these a face-lift we had actually used them the way they were for many years. We didn't just find them in the trash. No, we accepted them the way they were and I didn't realize just how ugly they were until I started my little makeover so they were at the top of my list of things that had to either go or be made pretty. I chose pretty!

So without further ado, our ugly pair of bar stools.
Now after a little love, they look like this!
All you need is some sandpaper, some batting to put under the fabric, some coordinating fabric and some coordinating paint and you have a "new" pair of stools. The only thing I had to buy is the fabric. I had all the rest of the stuff. So it didn't even cost that much!
Please tell me you see a difference! LOL!!
Are you interested in someone elses tackle today? (Probably not!) But if you are head on over to 5 Minutes for Moms and check them out.


HAVE A HAPPY DAY!

Lamp Makeover!

Okay it's been almost 11 years but I have finally found inspiration for my kitchen and awkward living-dining space attached to it. But you are only getting a small glimpse of this "makeover".
Let's just say that I'm letting a couple of my obsessions be the inspiration!
If you read my blog regularly I'm pretty sure you will guess it. Go ahead, guess!

So here's what I tackled yesterday. I had a lamp that by all means should have been dealt with a long time ago but for some reason I just let it sit there being functional, yet ugly. But with my new found inspiration it had to be made over.
So here is the before picture.
Boring, ugly, hard to look at.....(insert your own thought about it here ________)I looked at just buying a new lamp but they are expensive so I opted to just give this one a face lift. I started out with this. A can of primer and "chocolate" colored paint. Make sure you always spray in a well ventilated area and wear a protective mask.

All I had to do is buy a pretty lamp shade and spray paint the base and I ended up with this.
Come back next Tuesday to see Part 2 of the "Inspired Room" makeover!

I'm linking up with these gals today!



HAVE A MOST GLORIOUS DAY!!

Tackle it Tuesday- Spring Table Decorating

I am just a stickler for making my house seasonably fun. My kids love it too. It just makes a house homey. So I got the spring bug yesterday and went to work on my table. Not only was this inexpensive but EASY!!
I'll show you the pictures first and tell you what I did after just in case you hate it and want to end your time at my blog now and move on to your next destination. LOL. Aren't I thoughtful? Cute huh? I made this for under $5.00 I could have made it for almost free had I used my husbands handkerchiefs, but since they were mostly blue, black, and camouflage and the fact that he does USE his, and the fact that it would have been really really ugly, I opted against it.

Here's what you need.
4 or 5 springy handkerchiefs. I found these at Wal-Mart for a $1.00 a piece. I only needed 4 and my table is average size.
A couple of votives for some tea light candles. Use what you have. I had these but they were pretty plain so I just grabbed my acrylic paint and just added a splash of color.
I didn't go for perfection. I went with just having some fun and they came out cute I thought. No one will be critiquing your paint job I can assure you.For the center piece, I just added a simple vase and some fake springy flowers. I'm sure you have an extra vase or two lying around somewhere. My husband is good about buying me wild flowers every month so fakes will definitely be replaced with those soon. But for now they looked cute. Also my flip flop salt and pepper shakers is what inspired me on the color scheme. Find something you have already and then work around it. This goes with any kind of decorating project.

To sew the handkerchiefs together you just overlap each end about an inch and sew a zig zag type stitch to connect them.
Here's what you DON'T do.See the folded corner sewn all nice and neatly onto the back side? Yeah, don't do that! You don't want that to happen. That causes you to sprout a few gray hairs and make you wonder why you have a sewing machine in the first place. But I'm kind of glad I did it or I wouldn't have taken a picture of the stitch so you could see it. Now remember this is the backside. You aren't going to have that over lap showing on the right side.
Well there you have it. Come back tomorrow as I'm going to have another springy decorating idea ready for you.
But for now, why don't you go check out more Tackles over at 5 Minutes for Moms.
Feel free to ask me any questions about this project!
Have a most excellent day!

Tackle it Tuesday-The PURGE week 1

Well last weeks tackle was the beginning of what I affectionately call the New Years Purgefest!
So here is what we have purged so far. And we aren't even done yet. My husband still has his workshop purge to do and I have about 2 closets and 2 more rooms to do but here is what we've purged so far.
This is mainly a toy purge. Though I did manage to part with some sweaters that I haven't worn in FLORIDA since the 80's LOL.

This was the garage and craft stuff purge. There are blankets in the green bin. The way I see it is, if they've been in a bin for over a year we obviously don't need them, since we live in FLORIDA, where we almost had to turn the air on yesterday!
This is just a closer and more intimate look at our JUNK! Because I know you want to see it! LOL. My daughter actually purged her dresser and came out with a garbage bag full of clothes. Sweet huh? Wait that means she will probably need more clothes! Ugh! When do they stop growing? Hee! Hee!
This is an after picture of my crafty area in the garage. You will have to get a mental before picture as I had temporary memory loss and completely forgot to take a before picture. I know I know. Just picture a bunch of junk piled up in front of the workbench and stuff piled all on top of it so I couldn't even see it. Oh, I know just mentally throw all the stuff in the above pictures in front of this, add a kids John Deere rider, a wagon, and 2 bikes and you will have the before picture!Anyone else purging their stuff? I wanna see!
For more Tackle it Tuesdays go visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Hugs.

Tackle it Tuesday- Do we really "need" all this stuff?

Today and probably the rest of this week, I'm tackling clutter and extra "stuff". I could probably survive on half the stuff that I have and be happy. Probably happier because I would then have more space and less "stuff" to clean or move around. We don't live in a great big house, it's average size, and when things like "I wish we had a bigger house." , start coming out of my mouth, I know there is work to be done. We don't need a bigger house we just need less stuff. I mean do I really need 30 coffee mugs? Hmmm, do I? My guess is no. I don't even have 30 friends to invite over for coffee at one given time. So with that said let the purgefest begin. I am going to purge from every room of the house. I am going to then pile it all up in the middle of the room, take a picture (of course) probably blog about it next week and then off it will go to Good Will. Is anybody with me? Who wants to purge with me? Mmmm that sounds inviting doesn't it? Should I start a MeMe for that. Call it" Let's Purge Thursdays"! LOL. Okay sorry, that's what happens when I haven't had my coffee in one of my 30 mugs yet.

So that's my tackle for the week. Come back to see glorious, glorious pictures of my stuff later on in the week.I know you will be sitting by your computer in anticipation! But for now you can find more tackles at 5Minutes for Mom .

Have a most EXCELLENT day!
HUGS!

Tackle it Tuesday

Well I finally finished my Christmas dress, I mean apron. It looks like a dress it's so long and large lol. Oh well. It's still pretty and I'm going to wear it by golly!
So here it is modeled by my wonderful daughter who just woke up and didn't want her face in the picture. Why didn't I model it? For the same reason lol!!!!

I am also going to be tackling, Christmas Cards, making a calendar for Mom and Dad, finish decorating and planning for our Christmas party! Pretty much all fun stuff.
What are you tackling today? To see more tackles go on over to 5 Minutes for Moms.

BIG HUGS!!

Tackle it Tuesday -Christmas Apron

Well this Tuesday is a tackle in process. I'm tackling a Christmas apron this week. Here is how it's going. First off let me tell you that I'm not a great seamstress. I'm still not sure why I even try sometimes lol. I have learned to slow down a bit and "enjoy" the process though. Maybe I'm just trying to check things off the Proverbs 31 list. Ha! Ha! I've got the 21st verse pegged, since it doesn't snow in Florida LOL.Proverbs 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household:.for all her household are clothed with scarlet.Wow did you see that rabbit? Okay back to my tackle.

I had to reconfigure the pattern pieces on the fabric as my fabric was not as wide as the pattern had indicated. I'm not one to stray off the beaten path of sewing as I'm not that great at it lol. But I think it's okay so far.

Here are the pieces all cut out. I just have to mark them and take off the pattern pieces.
Here is the fabric I chose. I like it. Duh! I wouldn't have chose it if I didn't. Sometimes I write the stupidest things! I guess I could just backspace and pretend it never happened but I get on a roll and then there's no stopping me so just hang with me.
Here is what I HOPE it looks like when I'm done with it. I'll be sure to post it when I'm done. Cute isn't it?
So what are you tackling today? Hop on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see what others are doing today.
Blessings and hugs!

Tackle it Tuesday- Non-Toxic Oven Cleaning

Today I tackled my oven. I know it's going to be a shock to some of you, but I've never cleaned an oven in my life. I just found it easier to move! But since we've been in this house for 10 years I figured I better give it a go. There is this charcoaly stuff left over from an over flow of sweet potatoes and marshmallows from Thanksgiving.............about 6 years ago! It smelled really good the first 10 times I turned on the oven but now it's just a charcoaly mess! So I figured once every 10 years isn't to bad to clean an oven. What do you think? lol! I can't say I haven't tried but I just couldn't stand the smell of those cleaners and would give up before I got started. Anything that takes a gas mask and thick rubber gloves should be a dead giveaway NOT to use it. So with that said, I know you just can't wait to get a look at my yucky oven, so here you go. To better enhance your viewing experience you should click the picture to enlarge. I want you to fully appreciate the job I did. Ha! Ha!

Here is the before! Duh!

And the after. There is still a twinge of black sweet potato mess left but it was determined to stay so I felt sorry for it and let it. Now how did I clean this so "easily" and non toxic?
Here is the miracle worker. I had just gotten this hand held steamer cleaner in a combo pack with the steam mop. I wasn't sure what I was going to use it on but I filled it with water and plugged it in. I was zapping everything with it. It was breaking up messes that cleaners couldn't touch. I was now a woman on a mission. Looking around to see what else I could blast, it was like a light from heaven shining down on my oven with the Hallejulah chorus in the back ground, I knew what I was to do next. Me, me, me it seemed to say. Clean me. I lowered the door and in I went. I started spraying like a mad woman and the grease started to break up and I was able to wipe it off with ease. No messy chemicals or smells. The only thing I used on the stubborn charcoaly mess was some scrub stuff from Shaklee which is a non toxic cleanser. With a little elbow grease I was able to get almost all the mess up. I highly recommend both of these two products and I'm sure the steamer will be a Works for Me Wednesday star some time in the near future. I want to play with it more first.

This just in. I've had most of the comments say something about their self cleaning oven. Well mine is a self cleaning oven lol. But it just never seemed to get this horrible black stuff off so I had to use drastic measures and do it myself. Plus like Debra said in her comments, the fact that the self cleaning thing gets so hot it kind of intimidated me.

So there you have it. My tremendous tackle for this Tuesday!
For more tremendously, tough, terrific tackles, go check out 5 Minutes for Mom.
Blessings my friends.

Tackle it Tuesday -Thanksgiving

I'm excited about this month. I love Thanksgiving. It's such a time of reflection and looking back (which I'm thinking would be a reflection right?) at all the things that you have to be Thankful for. So this weeks tackle is all about Thanksgiving.
First off my menu. I posted my Thanksgiving Menu on my Cooking Blog. Today I will start posting recipes from it to share with you and maybe convince you to try something new.

Next I would like to share some wonderful links that I have found.

Thanksgiving Holiday Planning Book -This is custom made to what you pick to put in it. With a click of a button you have a wonderful little planning EBook to help you through the holiday.

Thanksgiving Crafts and Ideas for kids- Here are some nifty projects to keep the little ones busy while you are busy in the kitchen.

Here is a nice little check list to keep you on track during the weeks before.

Do you want some silly treats to offer your friends. Click Here and Here for some fun ones to share.

Need to know how to carve a turkey? This video can show you how.

Well I hope these little finds will help you tackle your Thanksgiving with a little more ease.
Check out 5 minutes for Moms to see what everyone else is tackling today.
Blessings.

Tackle It Tuesday

Hello everyone! My tackle for today was my storage container cabinet. Oh this cabinet has bugged me for quite some time now and I finally decided to tackle it. Here is the before.
One thing that I decided to do was to put all the lids in one storage bin. I then organized each container based on shape and size. So there will be no doubt where things are. I couldn't stand not finding the proper lid to a container and so forth. You'll be happy to know that because of this I will be able to sleep better at night! Alright, fine! I wasn't having any trouble sleeping but it sure did bug me when I was awake.
Here is the after picture.
Please tell me there is a difference!
For more tackles hop on over to 5 Minutes for Moms and check them out. Though I doubt you'll find anything as inspiring as this right here. LOL!
Blessings to you my friends.

Tackle It Tuesday

Today's tackle is something that has irritated me for sooo long yet I put it off and put it off. It's..............the junk drawer in the kitchen. You know the half functional half catch all drawer. You know the one, you have one yourself and it's probably a mess just like mine WAS, lol. Here's the funny thing. It only took me all of about 5 mins. to organize it. Sad isn't it. May I motivate you to go tackle your junk drawer today. It just somehow clears the brain for other more fascinating activities. Okay maybe it doesn't do that but it'll make you feel a bit better.

Are you ready for this? Here is the before. This picture really doesn't do it justice. I mean there was stuff underneath all this stuff that I hadn't seen in YEARS. Many years! This is just the first layer. I should have taken a second picture of the stuff on the bottom. Oh well, you get the idea. Why am I trying to convince you that my junk drawer was horribly messy? It's like I'm in some sort of competition. LOL. It's the my drawer is messier than your drawer syndrome. Moving on....

Here is the finished project. You CAN tell a difference can't you? Seriously this tackle was so fast I didn't even have to dig out my traffic cones to block off my work zone. So if I can do it so can you. Show me your junk drawer! Alright I'm done. Didn't this just blow your mind. I know most of you are so glad that you follow my blog because this is the kind of stuff you don't want to miss!

For more fun tackles head on over to 5 minutes for Mom.
Blessings my friends.