Its early morning, I have my shoes on and I am not going anywhere...Day 2!

It's day two of fly lady and I am ready to go......I am showered, dressed and I have my shoes on and I am not leaving the house anytime soon. Even though I don't wear tennis shoes very often and I don't ever wear them in the house, I do feel like I am ready to get some things done! Mission accomplished!

My Fly Lady Challenge: Day 1

As I have thought about New Year's resolutions and all that I want to accomplish this year, I am painfully aware my efforts will be in vain if I do not get more organized and disciplined. I am a little bit of a free spirit and I love spontaneity but when it comes to running a household efficiently, its not such a great thing! I totally see the purpose and value of being a regimented individual.....I just tend to be laid back about things like putting the laundry away, changing the sheets on a schedule, keeping the mail clutter from turning into a papery mountain, etc. The practice of being super disciplined seems almost confining to me but I recognize its my own way of being in control in a rebellious "I don't have to do that if I don't feel like it" kind of way. My lack of organization has been nagging away at me for a long time...I have taken baby steps in the right direction but its time to get into gear.....enter Fly Lady! About 9 months ago I looked into fly lady but I wasn't ready to make the plunge so I started today and I am determined to stick with it. Keeping my house clutter free and neat is just the starting point as I venture towards a more purposeful and effective lifestyle!

So, with the explanation out of the way, Day 1's task is to shine your sink! It is the end of the day, the dishes are being washed in the dishwasher, the table is cleaned off, the sink has been shined and there is a clean dish towel for tomorrow! The kitchen is ready and waiting for breakfast!

Using things from outside for my table setting: a last minute design idea!

For the last couple of years, Thanksgiving has been at my home but it has been very informal because of the busyness of all the little ones. I was overwhelmed enough with taking care of my four little ones and getting the Thanksgiving stuff ready that I didn't bother to create a table arrangement. At the very last minute, the day before, I decided it would be nice to make a simple table setting. I didn't have much to work with and I didn't have the time or budget to go out and buy something. (Of course, if I was a more organized person, I probably could have come up with something much nicer and much more creative a few weeks ago) I found an old small crate that was actually part of a Melissa and Doug food set my kids got a couple of years ago.....I quickly did a light coat of white spray paint so that it could be the base of my centerpiece. I used some small pumpkins we had left over from halloween, some festive hazelnuts and other nuts in the shells to fill in the crate. I used a small plastic plant that I already had sitting out in a simple white ceramic container as the main part of the piece. Then I had my kids go outside and get some sticks and some little acorn type nuts that fall off of a tree we have out in our front yard. I hot glued the acorns to the sticks and put them into the top of the greenery of the plant. I then used the rest of the acorns to hot glue onto a folded ribbon and some burlap strips I cut up for the napkin holders. It was a simple table design that added a little fall festiveness to our Thanksgiving meal! Oh, and the little cutie making a sneak appearance in the pic is my oldest son, who was so proud of what he helped me with!

Healthier meals for the holidays and link to a giveaway!

I love Thanksgiving and I enjoyed time with my family and friends yesterday! One of the many things I am trying to implement into my cooking is less processed foods and more nourishing foods. This is a slow process for as my hubby and several of my kids love processed foods! I have utilized many resources in my slow growth towards eating healthier more nutrient dense foods. Kelly The Kitchen Kop is doing a great giveaway for an e-course for Healthy Holidays! Check it out here!

Great design blog with a great pottery barn giveaway!

I found a new blog this week that I really like called, Urban Farmgirl. I love design blogs that have amazing ideas that are actually attainable b/c they incorporate frugal ideas, do it yourself ideas and creative ideas! I also really like Urban Farmgirl's style! Anyway, she is doing a Pottery Barn gift card giveaway at her site, so go check out her site and maybe you will win a great gift card!

My new found love, Part 2

My husband and I found this file cabinet that looks like a dresser at a garage sale. It is a very heavy solid wood piece of furniture. It was originally a very nice piece but a dog chewed on the lower corners and on the legs, it was scratched up and had some permanent marker drawings on it....other than that, it was in great condition. To our astonishment, we snagged this piece for $15. Our office is also our guest room so I thought this file cabinet would be perfect.....totally practical for our office needs but nice enough to to go in our guest room. I decided to make over this piece, so here is the before.

Here is the file cabinet with a light coating of spray primer.

After priming it, I painted it white, distressed it and then did a light glazing. I finished it off with a polyacrylic coating. The picture below does not do it justice, I am super happy with it. My hubby did not see my vision but was really happy with the end result!

I Love Painting Furniture!

I have developed a new love.....painting furniture. I don't have a budget to go out and buy new pieces of furniture (or at least I don't have a budget to pay much for furniture) but I love how painting, distressing, and glazing can make an old or ugly piece of furniture something totally great! We had a small dresser/nightstand that my husband had years ago as a teenager. We hung on to it but had it relegated to our guest room that has always been on my "to do" list of things I want to decorate and I just have never gotten to it. I was in a mood to change things up and I decided this piece would be the perfect thing to makeover and locate in a completely different area of our house! So, here is the before, notice the orange toned wood stain and the lovely brass hardware!

I used a spray primer so that I would not have to sand it much, then I painted it an aqua color. I did some distressing and then I glazed it with a brown glaze to tone down the brightness of the aqua! Then I sprayed on a polyacrylic coating and voila! Oh and I spray painted the hardware in bronze so they would be a lot more muted! This is now in a hallway near our kitchen and family room and I am thrilled with it!