Keeping It "Bare"

While I was cleaning up all my Christmas decor, I had a couple of days with my island "bare"..."empty"... At first, I couldn't wait to bring up my bin to decorate this "bad boy". But, as the days passed, I started to enjoy the "bareness"...it felt clean.

I actually could make all my kids sandwiches in one {swish}...boom boom boom. Having guests over for dinner turned out to be a breeze. I wasn't scattering around trying to find a "hiding" spot for all my decorations to lay out the food.

I can't tell you how much I like it...it's simple and clean. It even makes my kitchen look bigger. It's amazing!

a Spring surprise...

{My garden area last summer}
Last year, my friend was in town {whom has a green thumb.... an amazing one!}, I was telling her how I wanted to grow flowers in this "shady" patch in my backyard. It is very hard to find flowers or any plant that is colorful for a shady area. She told me about these amazing flowers from Lowes that comes in a box for "shaded" areas.

So I tracked over there and bought me one. I planted them right away and waited.... waited... then waited some more. It was August and NOTHING! Absolutely nothing!

Fast forward to now...it has been a crazy couple of weeks and normally I am out doing yard work but I haven't. I finally walked out in my back yard and long and behold...I see this...

and this...

Huge Spring wild flowers...yellows, purples, pinks even little white ones. I think I chuckled out loud...they have totally taken over this area. Some are higher than my bird bath..

It was a nice Spring surprise~

You can't do a garage sale...

without a cup of "Starbucks"!

It was Thursday and my garage sale had started at 7:50a.m.-of course, the sign said 9:00a.m. but the early birds can't Read! As I sat there, I realized that I did not have a coffee. It was early and cold!

Holding a cup of coffee and having a garage sale goes "hand in hand". It's like pancakes go with "syrup" or lemonade goes with "picnic" or even hotdog goes with a "bun".

So Mr. Sandy Toes graciously went to get me a "latte"...with his list notepad paper. Yes, my coffee is "complicated" even on the morning of a garage sale...

{no whip, fat-free, carmel latte, one squirt only with a green "mermaid" topper}

Where are my shoes???

I have read...watched...cut out... even "googled" ideas for how to organize shoes. I have "racked" them...

I have "hung" them"...

I have "left" them....

(maybe even got "rid" of them)

With 10 feet to "shoe"...we have a lot of shoes.

But, with the shoes comes the ONgoInG "saga" of little ones wearing their Sunday "best" to bike ride then use the front toe as a break to stop.

I had to come up with a plan!

So I have now done the "bucket" idea. I have been doing it for months so I can say for this family it works...it keeps this mama "smiling".

Each person has TWO buckets....One that says "Play Shoes-Gym Shoes" the other bucket says "Church Shoes-School shoes". The children just put their shoes in the correct bucket at the end of the day. If they are out side playing, they cannot get shoes out of the "church bucket".

I took cheap plastic buckets...sprayed one "front" with chalkboard paint. Wrote the "labels"...stuck them on a metal shelf out in the garage. I also have one bucket that says "Time to Grow" which are shoes from my 2nd child that will go down to my 3rd child.

It's not "beautiful" but it REALLY has worked! "Working" is good here!

Some Silouhette "fun"

Nine years ago, we were at Disney with my son and had a silhouette done. From that point on I have always been in love with "silhouettes". I have ones of people I don't even know but they "tickle" me happy.

A couple of months ago, I saw a blogger who had "large" silhouettes of her children on her mantle over the fireplace. Well, last week, I was at a "store" and found the greatest large frames for my master bedroom {I am sprucing it up a bit} and thought they would look "perfect". Then as I was checking out...it was like a "lightbulb" moment. I could do silhouettes of my kids..BIG ONES.... I was so excited I called my girlfriend in line while paying for them.
{Yes, I am that lady who talks on the cellphone in line and everyone gives evil looks to..it's me!}

This weekend....my kids and I went into my craft room..turned off the lights....used a flashlight...and drew some face silhouettes. My kids were full of questions and couldn't understand why I was doing this.

After some tracing, cutting, matting....and some ribbon {that is something I added but like}..it was done!

What do you all think? My bedroom is black, floral and "sandy" walls....I think This is Just Fun!This Works For Me....check out all the other wonderful ideas here!

My Home...Room By Room

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice....

Today, this post I am featuring my girl's room. My girl's rooms are full of stuff....I am always organizing...binning....tossing stuff...sometimes I wonder how it all "grows" more and more. I didn't even touch the whole "American Girl" area...that is a post all by "itself"...

There is something "magical" with my girls rooms...sometimes I will sit in their "tiny" chairs and watch them play. They both are full of imagination...one day their bedrooms are classrooms with them being the "teacher" and the next day it's a little "boutique" shop with fake money and old grocery bags full of stuff for shopping.

They have even been known to have a lemonade stand at the entrance of their room with "real" lemonade {water from the bathroom}.

Sometimes, after the girls are sleeping...I will sneak into their rooms and fix up their dollhouses. No, I am not "playing"...I am organizing...smile~

My girls and their spots...

One day...I will have to do a post on the nightstand drawers...it's amazing what I find....salt and pepper shakers...my jewerly....my lotion...calulators...q-tips...tons of papers...even old receipts...I think I have a couple "garbage" pickers on my hands~

My Home....What is Your Style? Part 3

I can be very influenced by the decorating shows and magazines I read. Honestly, I am drawn to many styles and colors. The shades of red is one of my favorite colors to decorate with but you must be careful. I have used a dark "reddish" color in some of my main rooms but this house I decided to do my Laundry Room a "cranberry" red...yes, you read it correctly RED!
If you are like me, you spend a lot of time in your laundry room. I fold better, I wash better {I don't iron better..b/c I don't iron} when the room is freshly painted and organized. I have NEVER in the past use black "accents" but I have enjoyed all my black pieces. What is truly wonderful about decorating with black woods or metal is that a Black can of Paint can make anything you want! My cupboard always has a black can of spray paint...if I am low...I pick up another one.I guess the point of this whole 3 part series...is that don't feel stuck in one style. There are ways to incorporate a few. After many years of collecting primitive and Early American pieces, I am not going to throw them out. But, in rooms like laundry or bathrooms, I am able to decorate a little different and change things up a bit.

What about you... What is one type of style or color you would like to try but you are scared???

Some of my FAVORITE decorating blogs are
Nesting Place
Shabby Nest
Restyled Home
Joys of Home
....After one look...I bet they will be your favorite, too!