Organization in 2016

I've decided that I need to become more organized in 2016!! (Among other things!)

In our new house we have a butler's pantry which I LOVE! It's a great space to store extra stuff and to organize bills and other paper work. There is a nice big blank wall which I use to organize our lives. I love this system. It's from Pottery Barn and I got most of it from Craig's List!!!!


We have our bills and to do bins! A pin board - since I don't like hanging things on my fridge!!! It gets too cluttered too fast!!! And the must needed calendar! I use a separate color for each child to try and keep us a bit more prepared.


How do you keep your family organized? I can't wait to get more organized in 2016!!

Painting Stripes Quickly

This is my third time painting striped walls! And I liked how they turned out in Little Man's last bedroom I replicated them in his new bedroom. The difference this time I was I decided I wanted six big stripes instead of eight smaller ones. 

Before I started painting the stripes, I looked for tips to paint stripes quickly, because I needed to finish this project in as little time as possible. We were hosting a house warming party soon and I had a babysitter for my daughter. (She isn't the best helper with painting!) 

I used green frog painters tape and I read some tips that if I used this I could just trust that my lines would turn out crisp. Well since I had such a limited time and was using a dark color on a light wall, I didn't want to take the risk. So after I used a level to get my tape on the wall, I used my base paint (the light blue) and painted right over the tape to seal the tape. I only used this technique on the top two stripes, since the bottom stripe won't be seen with the bed and the shelf. 

After two coats of my dark navy paint (which is my absolute favorite!!!!!) I removed the tape while the top coat was still wet. Since I didn't do the extra bottom coat on the bottom stripe, that was the first one I removed the tape on, and it was horrible!!! The line looked horrible. It had bled so much under the tape I was so disappointed!! And so nervous about my other two stripes. Luckily you can't see the bottom stripe, so it is ok. See below for how much it bled! 

With my fingers crossed, I slowly removed the tape on the top two stripes and they were perfect!!!! So in the long run my extra step of painting the bottom coat did save me time, or I would have spent a lot of additional time fixing the bled. 

So save yourself some time in the long run and do the extra step of painting your base coat over your tape, even if you have the best tape out there! 

Free Chalkboard Valentines Day Printable

While binge watching "Making of a Murder" I decided to make one more Valentine's Day printable.... that's the perfect time to create a Valentine's Day printable right??

I decided my gold printable would look cute with a chalkboard background.

Free Valentine's Day chalkboard printable

Free Gold Valentines Day Printable

I finally took down my Christmas tree over the weekend and wow does the house look bare!! So it is the perfect time to start decorating for Valentines Day!!

A few years back I made a printable for Valentines Day and I still love this one but am currently obsessed with gold, so I updated my old printable and made it gold! Again, these are "I love you" in many languages.

This is my favorite frame! It's a 25 in by 25 in Pottery Barn frame! I love big square frames! I wanted something subtle and so I love how this turned out! Did I mention I am obsessed with gold at the moment!

Download your free 8 x 10 gold Valentines Day printable! 

Happy Valentines Day!!

Easy Hot Dog Bar with Printable

I have now planned 3 parties where I have served a Hot Dog Bar. You would think because of that I would remember the toppings and types of hot dogs served. NOPE!

Because I know I will be hosting a party in the future where I will serve a Hot Dog Bar, I am finally going to blog this, so next time I simply refer to this and a party is planned! Hot Dog Bars are so simple. Most people, including kids love Hot Dogs and adults like trying crazy different toppings on them! Plus you can prepare everything ahead of time so you can enjoy the party!

I usually serve the ingredients for guests to make Taco Dogs, Chicago Dogs, Tex-Mex Dogs and a Chili Dog. I usually serve nachos as a side because all of these toppings are also great nacho toppings!

The key to a hot dog bar, is good all beef hot dogs. They are a must!!! I always plan at least two hot dogs per adult. (If not 3) And its always nice to have a package of veggie dogs on hand too!

Create some simple labels to indicate your toppings, and your party is all set!

And here is the printable I used for my most recent party!

Hot Dog Bar Shopping List
The shopping list is everything on the above printable and All Beef Hot Dogs, veggie dogs, buns, Nachos and Nacho Cheese.

Happy Hog Dog Party!

DIY Upholstered Headboard with Cardboard

I decided it was time to finally give Little Man a headboard! Besides the fabric this project was FREE!! Got to love that! I decided to give the cardboard backing headboard a go! Using cardboard has its pros and cons but for now it works! 

I used a big Pottery Barn box I had. My box had a fold in it. In the end it doesn't seem to matter but it would have been easier to assemble without the bend. I used two pieces of cardboard, which is why the entire thing is lined with duck tape!  Not shown, but I used two layers of the eggshell mattress pad cut to size, and then a layer of quilt batting. I stapled the quilt batting down before I added my final layer of fabric. As with any headboard I use a lot of staples!

 

My biggest concern with using cardboard as a backing was how would I actually attach the headboard to the wall. For my attempt I used string and put about 50 staples in to hold it in place. See below. This did hold it. And probably would have been fine, however, after I made the below changes, I decided to change how I hung it as well.

Once my headboard was hung, it drove me nuts how the fabric and the batting bowed out when you viewed it from the side - and this is your view when you enter the room. I should have glued the eggshell crate to the cardboard and to each layer before I added the quilt batting. This would have solved the problem from the start! 

However, I was not going to take the whole thing apart unless I had no other solutions! So I took the whole thing down and decided to add tufting!! This is one of the huge advantages of using cardboard instead of wood, this was SO easy to add. You need a long upholstery needle and embroidery thread. I made my buttons using extra fabric and a button kit. With a long needle this was SO easy! 

I added 8 buttons and it looks so much more finished than before! And it solved my bowing problem! I also decided to hot glue 3 D-rings to the back to hang.

I am much happier with how it turned out. I still wish I would have made it a little shorter, but again I am not going to go back and change it! I measured for a bed that wasn't against the wall. Being against the wall it should have been the exact size as the mattress, not any longer. Oh well, Little Man LOVES it! He even helped!