New Ebay ID!

I have decided to start selling pre-loved clothing on Ebay! I've sold instruction ebooks for years (for hair bows, pettiskirts and more) and I used to design little girl's boutique clothing and sold it on there, but that's soooo much work and the market is now saturated with hair bow makers and pettiskirts from china, that I needed a new direction to go with.

I LOVE to thrift store shop and we were cleaning out our closets anyway, so now's the perfect time to start!

Here's my shop! Take a look! I plan on listing new pre-loved items every Sunday and sometimes on Thursdays. I will ship within 3 days of payment. All items are freshly washed and pressed!

Just call me Wear*It*Again*Sam!!! (Officer Hubby came up with that one!)

Re-using Artwork Frames

I am in the process of redecorating my whole downstairs.  BIG job, I know, but I started thinking about it and I used not like sitting downstairs because I didn't feel like I could relax.  If there was a mess in the kitchen or toys on the couch, it really irked me.  

My whole downstairs was decorated in reds, golden yellows and black and we had a whole "Frenchy" Eiffel Tower and cheetah print thing going on.  Now to read that, it sounds like a brothel, LOL, but really it all went together nicely.  I wish I would have taken before and after photos of the whole thing, but I got all gung-ho and painted all the walls before snapping away with my camera. 

Here's one shot that shows the yellow we had in our formal living room and dining room:

See the artwork hanging, all of our art was French-ish pictures like that.  I love it all and just packed up all the red accent pieces just in case I want it back, BUT it wasn't relaxing at all!

Now, one place I can relax was my master bedroom.  It's painted a sea glass green (thank you previous owners) and I covered the windows with flowing white sheers.  My bedding is an old quilt that has light pink, baby yellow, sea glass green, and a grayish blue. I also have a cream matelasse cover too.  It's my sanctuary.  It's my place to unwind. It's my place where snuggles are done and the whole world just disappears.  THAT's what I want my whole house to feel like.  

We also have a family beach house.  Whenever we go there, you walk in and all your cares just melt away.  It's the one place I can go and the need to do something all the time goes away.  I actually will just sit and relax there.  Officer Hubby thinks it's crazy!  At home, there's always something that NEEDS to be done right now and I never just sit.

I was doing the dishes one morning and it hit me...why not bring those colors and the beach house feeling down here.  I mean, I have to spend alot of time down here with Officer Hubby sleeping during the day, so why not be able to relax and enjoy my home.  It doesn't need to be decorated perfectly and be stuffy.

I began by picking out these two colors:

 The family room and kitchen will end up being the blue. The formals are now the tan and already, the mood has changed!  I have so many plans, but let me get to what I did yesterday...

I had two pieces of artwork with awesome frames that I wanted to use.  OK...I wanted to go cheap and thought....I can just put new prints in there.  SO...I ran to Hobby Lobby and found two coordinating prints.  Here's how to change out your artwork:

Start with the framed piece and flip it over.  Cut the paper off the back with an Exacto knife:

Make sure your freshly pedicured toes are in the picture :)  You can throw this paper away.  It won't show!

Then using a flat head screwdriver, bend the staples up. Be careful not to pry too hard on the edge of the glass because you can shatter the whole thing. 

Pull out the board. My prints were mounted to that board, so they are still there, but behind the new one. 

Unwrap your PREMEASURED print (make sure you measure your frame BEFORE you go to buy a new print!) and lay it in the frame behind the glass.  Put your board back in and fold the staples back down.  Find a new place to hang it and WHA-LA!  You have new artwork!  

  

I have already painted my family room and thought these would look great in there!  I found the prints at Hobby Lobby and they were 50% off!  So for $14 total, NEW FRAMED ARTWORK!!!   (the other giant frame over on the right is another project in progress)

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Goals for the SUMMER

Summer's here!  Well, for us, we have 6 school days left. When I took on the job as a "cafeteria lady", it seemed so simple.  I would work from 8:30-2 and wouldn't have to worry about finding child care.  I'd also have the same holiday schedule as the kiddos.  And it is about that easy.  BUT....that doesn't leave me with time to get stuff done without the kids.   They are in school from 8-3, so I do get that hour before I pick them up to do some quick errands, but as far as cleaning and laundry....that's fallen to the wayside.

When I was a stay at home mom, my house was always clean. Not saying that every house should be that way all the time, but at least the bathrooms were clean and the dishes were done and we weren't living out of clothes baskets.  That makes me HAPPY. When things are in order. When the trivial stuff of life is tackled and I can find two matching socks in the morning.  With Officer Hubby going to school and me doing it ALL, I'm just too exhausted to pick toothpaste off the sink and haul the laundry baskets upstairs.  Not that I would trade him going to school at all because I am soooooo unbelievabley proud of him, but I am ready to be at home for several days straight with no where to go and the energy to get my house back in order!

I have however gotten quite a bit of help from #'s 1, 2 & 3.  I was nervous about the little guys loading the dishwasher, knives and glasses and all, but they've done AWESOME!  Most nights, it's with a bunch of whining, but they really have helped me out alot! We have a rotating kitchen "job" where one unloads the dishwasher, one loads it and the last one wipes the table and sweeps up the crumbs.  Just having someone else (or three) do this one little job of cleaning up the kitchen after dinner has made my evenings way easier!  That saves me that little bit of energy to pick out clothes for the next day or put away a basket of towels.  You would be amazed at how much 10 and 6 yr olds can actually do!

So for this summer, I have a few goals. They may change and I may not get them all done, but if I don't have a list, I will never get anything done!

1. learn to garden. I want to be able to walk in the backyard and pick my own salad.

2. running. Officer Hubby has agreed to help me out on this one. He wants to get back in shape too, so we are going to work on becoming runners.  I've never been able to run, even when taking dance classes 6 days a week, so that's one thing I would love to say that I can do!

3. Clean my house from top to bottom. Clean the carpets, scrub the tile, pressure wash the outside...you get the drift

4. Paint my shutters and get solar screens. We have those fake shutters on the front of our house and they are the same color as the brick. They totally blend in, so I want to paint them (and my wicker furniture) exspresso brown. 

5. swim, relax, snuggle and have fun with the kids. I don't want to be the mom that over schedules the summer.  I want LOTS of lazy days!

6. Start my clothing resale business on Ebay.  I've sold ebooks on Ebay for over 6 years now, but I really LOVE to thrift shop and I think clothing could sell really well. I'm starting off this weekend with things from our closets! 

7. Restyle my wardrobe. Since becoming the "lunch lady" and wearing a really stylish uniform to work every day, NOT, I am seriously lacking in the style dept!  I USED TO BE the one EVERYONE looked to for cute outfits and stylish trends.  Now it's usually a green polo, black pants and Sketcher Shape Up work shoes or yoga pants and ill fitting tee shirt.  I want a cute, countryish, floral-y, floaty, skirt filled wardrobe with lots of cute flower clips and headbands. OH and some cute sandals and maybe a pair of cowboy boots. NOT just my jeweled flip flops. 

That's all I can think of for now, but I may add to it. Oh...I want to make bread and homemade yogurt too!  See....lists....I LOVE them cause then I can use this...LISTS! (the scratch thru thingy!)

linking up here:

Easy Peasy Teacher gifts

Well, the end of the year are upon us! With three kiddos, I wanted something easy, that would not break the bank to give to their teachers. I didn't want to go with the traditional candle or coffee mug. I found this printable on The Best Part of Believe.

I resized it to fit in a 4x6 frame which was purchased at Wally World for $.96!  Added to a $2.46 easel, this made a really cute gift for their desks!

I wrapped it up in cellophane and tied it with curling ribbon (all of which I had stored in that "scary" closet that's full of good stuff).  And there ya go!

Here's all three done and ready to go! We have 7 days of school left, so I will send them on their way soon!

I'm linking up here:

where'd i love to live...

i LOVE my house. i LOVE my town, but....i live 30 minutes from this:

 within 5 minutes, i'm on a major freeway to go to the mall, walmart or the grocery store.  it hasn't always been like this here, but in the last 10 years, our smallish suburban town has really grown.  i mean, when it takes you 30 minutes to get to soccer practice across town (like 5 miles away) at 5pm, it's really too crowded.

here's where i would LOVE to transplant my house:

I would LOVE to live on some small country road with neighbors that have known you since you were born.  with people that really watch out for others and that are not strangers living next door to you.  I would LOVE to live in a town that looks like this:

that you could walk down a SIDEWALK to the grocery store (the piggly wiggly!) to get a loaf of bread.  a town where there weren't 4 Walmarts within 15 minutes of you in every direction.  a town where there's not a gucci store in the mall and where our school district has 5 high schools.  a town where you'd see this while sitting on the curb:

a town where these two would wave to you while walking down the sidewalk and then gossip about you after you pass by! 

 THAT is where i would LOVE to transplant my exact house to!!!  how 'bout you?

Dinner, Dinner, What's for dinner???

 

That's the question you hear every night!  

Have I mentioned I HATE COOKING???

You would think since I've worked as a "cafeteria lady" for the last two years I would know how to cook.  The truth is....I really don't enjoy it at all! The mess. The waiting. The clean up....I would rather just go out to eat and have someone else wait on me!  BUT...since I do LOVE being a houswife, cooking is part of the deal.  I do wish I loved it, really I do! But I don't so I am always looking for an easier way to get it done.

I have done menu planning for several years and I will say, that is the key for less stressful evenings. BUT...there's only so many things my family will eat and I get tired of making the same things over and over!  So...I am trying ideas from Make 5 Dinners in ONE hour!

I signed up for the free trial week and made my list, grocery shopped and tomorrow, I will get it "all together".  I will let you know how it goes, but so far, it looks easy.  

 

New Beginnings...

Wow, once again, I haven't blogged since Dec. I can't believe how busy we've been for the last couple of months. Hubby's been going to the Police Academy during the day and working full time at night, so I've been doing it ALL lately. BUT, it hasn't been bad and he will graduate at the end of this month! I am so proud of him!

So...with so much going on (me, hubby, kids...yada yada yada), I feel like my head's going to burst at any moment. I did sit down last weekend and organize my new planner, so I kinda feel like I have it together, but there's still part of me that feels like I'm going to drop the ball somewhere.

I've used a planner before (and tried many different types), but when it gets to be the middle of the summer and we have nothing going on, I end up tossing it aside and not planning like I need to. I have tried many types, but the one that I have found that works the best is having the full month on one page (this is where I write down things that will happen on specific days) and then have a weekly planner behind it. Each day is a square that is big enough to list all the things I need to do that day or a small list for a store or whatever. Then, if there's something that I don't get done, it will roll over to the next day. I'm a huge list maker and to cross stuff off make me do the happy dance!!! I also have several list pages in the back for on going lists.

I have been scouring blogs for organizing tips and trick lately. I love seeing how other people organize things and themselves! I found this article about organizing your mind and this is totally something I NEED to do right now!
http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-organize-your-mind.html

Ok, enough for tonight...but...I will be posting more regularly I hope! I will be creating a "blogging schedule" for myself and over the summer I am hoping to get many more readers and to really make this something fun!