It's Another One of My Favorite Things Tuesday - Unexpected!

I woke up this morning with a lot of excitement and jitters!

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I had a phone consultation scheduled with Karianne @ Thistlewood Farms (isn't her home awesome) to help me with my blog and hopefully, better inspire my readers.  

whew...

She didn't disappoint - understatement!  

But that wasn't the unexpected part - I was fully expecting to be charged up and motivated...all you have to do is read one of her posts and you will get the picture.

The unexpected part of my day came when I hung up the phone.

My youngest daughter, Katie showed up and told me she brought me something.

  

Even though she's 24 now, I still never know what surprise she has 

lurking around the corner.

And when I reached the kitchen, there they were.  

PINK TULIPS!

Just because...

Aren't they beautiful!  

Are pink tulips my favorite flowers?  I can't really say that I truly have a favorite flower, there are so many that I love.

Receiving them from my daughter,

                         just because, 

                             now that is TRULY one of my favorite things!

Hope you are having a beautiful day,

Kim

What's in your Wallet?

Over the years, I have struggled with the best way to stay on a budget.

I've tried a couple of different ideas recently, but admittedly, failed miserably!

I was recently looking at a A Bowlful of Lemons website, when I came across a tab titled "Budget".  

You can read more about it here.  

In one of her posts, she talks about cash budgeting and why credit card purchases anesthetize the pain of paying.   In another post she discusses a cash envelope system.  I have actually tried a cash envelope system  in the past nd there were a lot of things I DID like about it.  However, the one thing I DIDN'T like...well let me just share an experience I had...

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Picture this:  Your standing in line at the grocery store checkout and your cashier has just given you the total. You smile, and oh so studiously, proceed to go into your purse to get the cash.  You've got six different envelopes that all look the same and you just need to find that one labeled "Groceries".

Searching....and searching....why is it that things go into a black hole once they enter our purses?

Jeopardy music is now ticking in your ears because you've got four people in line behind you.  You smile, and say "I know its in here, I just need a second".  

Here comes the sweatballs...

And then, you stumble across the old faithful credit card.  The voice in your head starts talking...."I shouldn't"...."the people behind you are getting aggravated"..."just do it...you can pay it back later"...  

Before you even stand a chance of thinking about it again....swipe away!

And just as you are pressing that last green enter button, there it is...magically, you're "Groceries" envelope rears its pretty little head.  

No....you don't dare ask her to void the charge and start over...

Are you getting the picture?

As I read on about the "cash envelope system" that Toni @ A Bowlful of Lemons uses, I had renewed faith that I could possibly make that "Cash System Budget" work!

She featured a pouch from Etsy at www.atime4everything.

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Without hesistation, I chose my favorite pattern and ordered my new pouch.

I opted for bright colors so it would be easy to locate in my purse.  I love that I can zip it closed and know that everything will stay intact.

It comes with six clear tabs but you can order more if need be. 

I received it in less than a week and have already written my categories on the tabs. I used a fine point sharpee to label my tabs and  I can change them if needed, by using rubbing alcohol and a tissue. Now I just need to fill them up with moolah!

And, if the renewed cash budget system fails again, well...I might have to look into Shopaholics Anonymous.

What type of budget system do you use?  How is it working for you?  

Happy Organizing!

Kim

Reader's Space: Travel Essentials Container

One of my readers sent this to me and I just had to share with everyone.

She and her husband do a lot of traveling to the beach and decided that they wanted an easy way of bringing staple items on each trip!

 Here's what she had to say:

"Whenever we were traveling by car we realized that we were always having to pick up a lot of the same basic items for our stay once we arrived.  So we decided to make up a travel container that we could keep the items in one location and then just grab and go!"

Their bin consists of the following:

Paper Towels

Toilet Paper

Utility Knife

Batteries

Extension Cord

Pot Holders

Dish Soap

Dishwasher Soap

Laundry Detergent

Dryer Sheets

Aluminum Foil

Plastic Bags

Trash can Liners

Salt & Pepper

Plastic Cups

"We use a flat bin because after unpacking everything, it conveniently stores under the bed until its time to retrieve it and take back home to replenish for the next adventure."

Thanks so much for sharing.  I was just looking for a reason to go to the beach and now I think I have one. You would agree with my logic, right?

Have a great weekend!

Kim

Label Searching on Pinterest

Pinterest is such a great place to find lots and lots of ideas for projects to do yourself.  They have recently changed the format with larger images, design changes and a web analytic tool that provides data to approved and verified websites that will let you know what your followers are like!!  If you aren't already following me on Pinterest, I would love for you to start following me now!

Over the past few days I've been working on my kitchen pantry and looking for the perfect labels for my new containers that I shared on Facebook yesterday.

How about these?

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Soooo many choices!!!!  Which one would you choose?

I think I know which one is my favorite!

Happy Organizing!

Kim

Too Busy for a Lizard

Let me first preface this post by saying that it would be an understatement to say I have a terrible phobia of lizards…..I hate them so much I’m considering therapy!

When I last posted, I certainly didn’t plan to be gone for a week...but so glad to be back!

I guess sometimes our lives get busier than we can anticipate, no matter how organized we are.

I knew that last week would be busy; for starters, I would be putting the finishing touches on my refrigerator makeover.  I also knew that I would be changing our cable, internet and phone service. Additionally, I knew that I would be going to New Orleans for a quick day visit with Kelly and to bring her some containers that came in for her refrigerator makeover.

What I didn’t know was that I was going to lose a FULL day of internet service.  I also didn’t know that the containers I was bringing to Kelly weren’t going to arrive at my house until 7 pm that evening. And, I definitely didn’t know that when I got to Kelly’s we were going to Annie Sloan 3 pieces of furniture, yes I said “3”, rearrange the master bedroom, and go on a shopping excursion.    I should say that Kelly didn’t know that either…it just kind of happened, which, by the way, I’m not complaining about!!  Thank goodness I packed an overnight bag just in case!

Side note:  We were in such a hurry to go shopping for new items for her bedroom that when I changed my clothes, I put my shirt on inside out, only to have a lady in line at the store inform me of such!

Here I am trying to hide that fact that had just been pointed out to me!!

Unfortunately, I managed to leave her house without taking A SINGLE after picture of the three pieces of furniture or the bedroom.  When I get the pictures from her, I will be sure to share.  Everything came out really nice and I’m anxious to show it all off!

Likewise, I’m just as anxious to share my newly organized refrigerator!

Here is my refrigerator before I got started.

And here it is after.

After reading A LOT of blogs about Fridge Coasters, I knew I had to have them.  They are super absorbent “liners” and are easily installed into the fridge. They come in 3 different sizes and patterns and help keep the shelves clean!

 I love how they provide a consistent look in the fridge!

After doing an inventory of my staple items, I decided which ones I wanted in food storage containers and then determined where I would place them in the fridge. 

Love these for our yogurt and cheeses.

Look at this little guy!  Don’t you hate an opened stick of butter and no where to put it!

Love this one for bacon!

Fruits and vegetables BEFORE

and AFTER

If you are interested in purchasing Fridge Coasters you can go to their website here.

All of my containers were purchased from The Container Store and some are currently on sale at the time of this posting.

How is your Kitchen Makeover Challenge progressing?   Have you found any great items to help organize your kitchen that you would like to share with us?  Please post your comments!

Oh yeah, about the lizard….when we were getting ready to go shopping I heard a loud scream from the other room, which was followed with “Mom, there’s a lizard in the house!”  OMG!!!  I guess when we rearranged the master bedroom, we must have disturbed our little house guest!  Thank goodness for her next door neighbors’ son who was more than happy to catch the sucker and remove him!  Yuck!  I’m getting goosies just writing about it!

Happy Organizing!

Kim  

Kitchen Cabinet Storage

While organizing your kitchen this month, are you having any dilemmas as to how to reorganize some of your cabinets?

Just so you know, you aren’t alone.

Today, let’s break down the cabinet that houses Tupperware/Rubbermaid/Martha Stewart or any other type of plastic food storage containers.

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The first thing you will want to do is take everything out of the cabinet .

Remove any containers that don’t have matching lids!  For that matter, remove any lids that don’t have matching containers as well!

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Consider another area that these containers without lids may be used and move them to that area.

Remove any containers that have been melted and/or stained that you really don’t want to keep anymore.  You know the kind I’m talking about!  Go ahead, let them go!!

Take an inventory of the remaining containers and determine if you need to purchase new containers and if so, identify sizes.  Here are some options for replacement.

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Some people prefer to have the lids attached to the container while being stored.  If you have enough space available, that’s a great option.

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You may already know that my favorite containers are Martha Stewart’s collection, which I used here when this pantry was reorganized.  

For those of us, who don’t have plenty of storage space for our containers, the lids are better stored separately.

Here are some interesting items to keep these containers and lids in order.

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Now that our food storage containers dilemma is solved, what’s our next victim???

Happy Organizing!

A Gift that Keeps on Giving

This past Christmas, my daughter, Katie pleasantly surprised me with this interesting table.

Why interesting, you ask -  (assuming, of course, that you are asking).

Let’s start with where she found it.  Katie has a friend who was renting an old house in Baton Rouge and there was some furniture that was left behind in the house.  That make's for some mystery as to the origin of this table which, for me, is very interesting.

Her friend was moving out of state and didn’t want to take the table with her and Katie just knew I had to have it!!

However, the table came with a disclaimer.  Katie wanted me to know that the table was in need of repair and that she wanted to be a part of refurbishing it!

I was skeptical about changing anything about the table because it was just so unique.  However, I knew that she really wanted to do this with me and I will never shy away from time I can spend with my children.  You empty nesters out there can relate!

About a month ago, she and I discussed planning a day to work on the table. Not putting two and two together, we scheduled it for April 4th (the one year anniversary of Mom’s passing).

I woke up that morning, feeling sad and missing Mom.  Wondering, why did I say this day to work on the table?  Shouldn’t I be spending it doing things that would remind me of Mom?  I didn’t really know how this day was going to turn out, but I have to admit I wasn’t very optimistic!

And then Katie showed up and it was as if my mom had tapped me on the shoulder or nudged me in the heart and said, “Spend this day with your daughter and enjoy every minute of every second you have with her today.”

So, after a trip to a local decor shop to pick out the paint colors and a great lunch (very "undiet" like) we headed home and got started.

 How about that for color?

We started out painting the table Barcelona Orange.  WOW!!! I wasn't too concerned because I knew I had the blue that I would be covering the table with later.

After the blue paint dried, we randomly sanded to distress the table and bring out some of the orange (a little bit) and the natural wood.

This picture was taken after we finished waxing one drawer with the clear wax.  You can see how much it really changes the color.

It was one of the best days I’ve had with Katie in a long time.  Now when I look at the table, which sits in my keeping room and kitchen area, so I see it a lot, I think about that day and I am so glad it happened just like it was suppose to!

Thanks Katie, for a gift that keeps on giving!

Linking up to http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com , http://www.alderberryhill.com