Saying Goodbye to our "Old" House

Almost one month ago we left our "old" home and moved to our "new" home. It was a bittersweet couple of days. I didn't cry the day we moved, I was too busy and I think that was a good thing. The following Thursday the four of us went to clean our outside closet and after we were done and looking around inside one last time I lost it. It was harder leaving than I thought it would be. I love our new home and we've all adjusted well and we have so much more room but I still think about our little house. It's the first home Daniel and I bought together, we brought both girls home from the hospital to that house, learned to be parents a first and second time and filled that home with love. I know I'll think of that house often and I'm thankful for the wonderful memories I have of it.

Below are some pictures I took during our last few days at our "old" house. Sweet memories!

The girls have the best time playing together. They enjoy making these chairs into a train. 

Naomi is trying her hand at play-doh for the first. It went well for about 5 minutes then she put it in her mouth. And got it in her teeth. And all over her hands. We'll try again another time. :)

Naomi loves pushing Nyla on her tricycle. She's pretty good at pushing by herself too. Sweetie pies!

It's Been Quiet Here...

It's been quiet on our blog. And for good reason. A week ago we moved into our new home! We've been busy caring for our girls, packing up our home and lives, moving, unpacking and settling in. And we're here and mostly settled! I promise pictures will be coming of our new place. I have before and after pictures and it's quite a difference.
For now enjoy the photos below. The girls are playing dress up, exploring our new yard, loving on each other and saying goodbye to our first home. It's been an emotional couple of days saying goodbye but I have wonderful memories and more to be made in our new home.

31 Days: Minimizing & Organizing

I love the simple life! As if you didn't already know that, right? I'm always looking for ways to make our life even more simple. Yes, I do think it's possible.

Last night while Daniel and Nyla headed to church (Naomi was a mess so she went to bed early) I cleaned out our master closet. It's needed it. I've been putting it off. I don't like clutter. But clutter happens occasionally. Enter our master closet.

Last year when we found out we were having baby number two I quickly went to work in cleaning out our extra third bedroom and closet. It has a spacious closet and it was pretty packed. Daniel paints, I like to craft, extra baby items and just a bunch of stuff that wasn't getting used was in there. I knew I need to minimize quite a bit because what was in that extra closet would be coming into our closet. And no, we didn't have room for ALL of it. Nor was I going to make room for things we weren't even using. I probably got rid of 4 large boxes of stuff. Between extra paint and craft supplies, games, puzzles, baby clothes that we had too many of, and so on, we had a lot. Minimizing our lives has been a work in progress. One I'm still learning.

As I was clearing out our closet last night it felt like all our things had multiplied. Does anyone else feel like that? I'm fairly good about getting rid of stuff immediately if it doesn't go with our way of life. I like the "one in, one out" rule too. I always have a pile going to give to Goodwill. But stuff still gets shoved on top of the fridge or in the back of a closet. It just happens.

I've been minimizing our lives since we got married. We lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with spacious closets and bathrooms and a bigger kitchen than I have now. I knew when we moved in I didn't want to pack every corner of that place. I packed up stuff for Goodwill right after I moved in and took it away and continued doing that every three to six months. Before we moved 2 years later I did that again. When we moved into our home I did it again. I hated that we took over quite a few boxes that eventually went to Goodwill but I've learned I don't want to be spur of the moment in giving away things. I don't want to have any regrets. And minimizing takes time. My rule of thumb is if I haven't used it or worn it in 6 months I think it's time to give it up. (This doesn't include maternity clothes or baby items that are expensive to replace) My rule used to be 1 year but now 6 months is good for me. If I'm unsure about something I'll hang onto it for another 6 months and revisit it. If it rarely got used I let it go. This works for me. It won't work for everyone.

I have people ask me frequently about my minimizing efforts. Here are my tips:

1. Take one room at a time or even one closet at a time. 
Remove everything. If it's clothes, try it on. If you're like most people you wear 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time. Keep that 20% and get rid of the rest. It's so freeing to look in your closet and know you won't spend ten minutes looking for an outfit. If you're unsure hang onto it a bit longer and revisit it. That's okay!
If it's "stuff" (childhood memories, crafts, etc) get out 3 boxes. One for "trash," one for "keep" and one for "Goodwill" (or your choice of place). Go through all the items and put them in a box. If you have a friend in need make a box for them. Once you've completed this process start putting things back in one at a time. And if it doesn't belong in that area, put it where it does go.

2. What do I do with sentimental items? 
This is always a big question. If you have room and you're not sure what to do with it, keep it. If you think someone else in your family will want it, pass it on. If these don't work for you because you don't have the space but you're somewhat attached, take a picture of it. Make an album for things like that. You will always have that picture but not the clutter. For us, we don't have the room for everything. Nor do I want it all. I like taking pictures of the girls in certain clothes or playing with a toy. And I still have a hard time letting go of some things. I don't beat myself up about it. And I keep it for awhile.

3. De-clutter once a month.
Grab a laundry basket or box and start going through your main rooms (kitchen, den, entry hall) and fill that basket up. You'll be surprised how much stuff you accumulate that you don't really need. Just this past week I tackled the top of our refrigerator. I had PILES of pictures, Nyla's school artwork, papers and junk up there. I took everything down, piled it on my counter and went through it over a couple days time. I put our photo books in my closet away from the dust and put the paperwork where it belonged. I feel so relieved that my fridge is cleaned off.

4. Ask for help.
When you first start de-cluttering you may have a hard time letting go of things. Bring in an impartial party to help you. They can help you sort through things and you'll really look at it and decide you haven't worn it, you don't love it and you really need to get rid of it. And then get rid of it.

5. If you have a pile ready to go, get it out of your house immediately!
I can't stress this enough. I think of how many times I've gone through our home, had a huge box of stuff and then it just sits for a month or two. Then when I get ready to put it in the car to take to Goodwill I start looking through it. And then I think I need to keep some of the things I thought I wanted to give away. But wait. Haven't they just been sitting in a box for two months and I haven't touched it? Yes! Get rid of it within a couple days.

That's all the tips I have today. I'm going to tackle our hall bathroom closet now. It's a disaster!

What are your tips for staying organized and having minimal items in your home? 
Or do you struggle with de-cluttering?

Homemade Bubbles

Nyla and I have been blowing bubbles everyday for the past 10 days. At first she was unsure of the bubbles having never been around them but now she says "bubbles" everyday. So out we go to blow bubbles and she gets a hold of the container and dumps them out, of course! 

As a mom of two it's not easy for me to get out to the Dollar Tree just to buy bubbles so Daniel looked up homemade bubbles for me and they really work! I used our empty bubble container and went to work. All the ingredients you probably always have on hand. Enjoy!

Homemade Bubbles

2 cups water

1/2 cup dishwashing liquid (I had a knock-off of Ajax)

2 tsp sugar

Dump all ingredients into a container with a lid and shake to mix. It will be very bubbly so give it a few minutes before you start going crazy over the bubbles. They work just like the store bought bubbles!

BIG Laundry Oops!

Everyday I try and do 1 load of laundry so I stay on top of the laundry that gathers around here and yesterday was no exception. My basket was full so I threw it in the wash before I went to do some mission work with my church. Right before I left I went to hang/dry my clothes. Well I open up my washing machine and see ALL my clothes (about 8 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of socks, 4 pair of underwear and 2 sets of pj's) covered in this paper crap. I didn't know what happened until I saw the culprit.... a coloring book! Yes an entire coloring book (some pages were colored) somehow got into the wash. I don't know if Nyla threw it in my basket in our closet or if it fell from our coloring stuff that's kept above the machine. But it was in there and it made a big ol' mess!!!

I left to go do my mission thing and would deal with it when I came home. It ended up being a bigger mess than I thought. Every piece of clothing was covered in hundreds of pieces of paper. I called my mom (because mom's always know what to do right?) and told her what happened. She told me to let everything air dry overnight and then brush it all off the next day. Let's just say I went to bed pretty upset with myself.

Today I tried to go in with a good attitude and conquer this huge mess and just get it all done. I start taking each piece of clothing one by one and start brushing it off. Sometimes brushing it works, sometimes it doesn't. After shirt number five I was furious again. So I quit for a bit. I came back to it awhile later and just couldn't get it done. My jeans are the worst looking. They must have been by the coloring book the whole time. They have tiny pieces and big pieces and those pieces are just sticking to the jeans. So annoying!

I, again, left it for awhile and came back to it. Brushing it off obviously wasn't working. And picking it off piece by piece? Forget it! I decided I'll throw small loads in the wash (after I've shaken them out a good bit) and try washing again; then I'll dry it in the dryer and go from there. So far, one load has done well with this. I have 2 more loads to go and I have I have as much success!

Piece of advice: Look in your washing machine before washing anything. You never know what you may find!!!

What big laundry mistakes have you made?

Here's one shirt covered in the paper. This picture doesn't really do it justice but you get the idea. It's not just the outside of the clothes, it's the inside too!

And here's the inside of the washing machine AFTER I took all the clothes out. It was a huge mess and it was everywhere! I'm mad just typing this!!!

Our House: After Pictures

Here are the "after" pictures of our house. You can follow the link here to see the "before" pictures. There are some pretty big changes, unfortunately it's hard to tell from pictures. But we, of course, saw a big difference and are so thankful for them!

I tried to do them in order of how I had them on the "before" picture blog. I hope that helps you envision the changes. :)

In the rock corner is where the giant fireplace used to live. When we moved in our entertainment center was in that corner and our couch and loveseat faced that area. Unfortunately, it was awkward and the loveseat didn't fit great. I was sitting there one day thinking about how I could make the room better. I thought I could move the table and chairs where they are now and move the couches around (you'll see what I did in another picture). And it worked. And I do love to rearrange so that was even better. Hubby actually helped me too because he thought it was a great idea. And we're very happy with the way it all turned out.

The kitchen. Don't mind the sweet girl at the bottom having her snack.

As you can hopefully see we lightened up the wall color and this past Spring redid the kitchen. We got new countertops, more shelving, I painted the cabinets (that was a chore!), got new hardware for the cabinets, new sink and new faucet. We also added an extension to the counterop. Over on the left, to the left of the window you can somewhat see some open shelving above and below the cabinet. This wasn't there before. It was just a giant hole. And the countertop ended as well. It was so awkward. When we moved in I had a bakers rack there and stored some stuff but it wasn't functional and I had hardly any counter space to roll out dough and do prep work for meals. When we were discussing new countertops my mom suggested extending the counter to the wall and adding shelving above and below. Genius! I have a place below to store my mixer, bread maker, crock pot, mixing bowls and my Fiesta serving pieces and above to store my cookbooks, knives, small oven, and some decorative pieces. And it's perfect. The extension added 2 to 3 feet of extra counter space which is great for such a small kitchen!

I didn't have a picture of the other side of the kitchen but here's one. It has our desk with our computer and our small table. The table and chairs were my Great-Grandmother's and we got them recovered with some cute, retro fabric that matches our curtain colors. It's round but has an extension and 4 chairs, though we only use 2 of them plus a different one for the messy girl. :)

Here's a shot of the entire den. Over in the far right corner is where the fireplace was. As you can see we lightened up the bottom half of the wall and it's SO much better. I feel like we have a separate living area and dining area and I love it. It makes our room feel so much bigger. Yes, it's odd to have 2 sets of tables and chairs so close together but we'll probably get rid of the ones in this room and make it a playroom or something. We'll see.

After of the sinks. We chose this look for both bathrooms, it was just easier. New countertops, new sink, faucet, mirror, light fixture, paint for the cabinets and hardware too. It's way better than the crap that was here before.

This is the hall bathroom. I love the black cabinets!

New tile in the master. Remember the gold? It went bye-bye! We chose a more brown tile with flecks of gold-ish. I like it and wish we had done it in the hall bath too.

The master bath sink area.

I didn't take a picture of the hallway in the "before" pictures but any suggestions on what to do here? I've found a picture on Pinterest that I like. It's of different color and size frames and it rotates kids artwork. That might be kind of fun. But I don't know. Suggestions are welcome!

Next I'll do before and after of our bedrooms and closets. The closets are surprisingly awesome for a 1970's house... they're all walk-in's. They helped sell us the house!

Our House: Before Pictures

Here's our cute little house, or rather before it was cute. It was just a little house in these pictures. :) We did some major overhauling in the house and I'm thankful. I'm not sure I could've lived with such dark walls and ugly fixtures and weird sinks. I know, I know. I would've managed but I'm glad I didn't have to. And when we moved in it was all ready and nothing had to be done after the move which is nice. I can't imagine workers being all around our stuff.

Here are some before pictures, tomorrow I'll show you the after pictures. :)

This is "the Beast" of a fireplace. It was gas and unattractive so we got rid of it. If it was wood burning I would've considered keeping it to help heat our home. But don't you love the big rock detail? I sure do. It adds character in our home. See what we did in the after pictures to spruce this area up!

This is the kitchen. See the dark cedar around the window and above the cabinets? It seriously was so dark in these two rooms. We took down all the dusty blinds since Hubby and I don't do great with dust. My mom made curtains for all the windows and I keep them open pretty much all the time to let the light in.

Den and "the Beast" of a fireplace. And more dark paneling. Eek!

Thankfully the floors were in great shape in most places. The kitchen has nice tile, this laminate flooring and the carpet are all in great shape. The only floor we changed was the master bath. Gold tile didn't suit our tastes. :)

Hall bathroom sink, not horrible but not great either. We changed it for deeper sinks and a prettier faucet. All updates in both bathrooms included new sink, new faucet, new hardware on cabinets, plus paint on cabinets, new countertops, new mirrors and new lighting. We kept them similar but painted the cabinets different. Black in the hall bath which looks great and a mocha in the master bath which I could go a little darker eventually.

Gold tile in the master bathroom. Yikes! That was ripped up and changed into a prettier tile.

And the master bathroom sink. Isn't it awesome?! I didn't stay of course. :)

It really threw you when you first walked in. It just made me laugh. I'm sure lots of people are thrown by some of this stuff but it was the style back in the day and it can be changed. You just have to look past it and be open to new possibilities.

And the toilet paper holder and towel bar were replaced with a stainless steel and it's much nicer too.

Come back Thursday for the "after" pictures. Thankfully it looks much better now.

"After" pictures.

Dear Bleach

Dear Bleach,

I have to say, I used to not like you. You smell, you burn my nose and throat when I use you and you're just a lot to handle.

Up until Sunday night, I didn't love you. Now, I do.

You see, I have tile in my shower. I'm not used to tile, so I didn't know how to really clean the grout and get all the black moldy looking stuff out. Yeah, that's a lot to admit, it wasn't horribly gross, but it bugged me. But then, I put you into a spray bottle and you changed my life. I sprayed you in my tile shower after I showered and let you go to work. The result you ask? The next morning I looked in the shower and it was all clean and wonderful. All black stuff gone and you looked great. And no back breaking work.

Now, you do still burn my eyes and nose and you smell and I need to use you when I won't be back in my room, but you do a wonderful job.

So here's to you bleach! You do a great job. Thanks for you hard work, so I don't have to.

Sincerely,

Ginny

We're Homeowners!!!

Yes, we're homeowners!

We're very excited!

We closed Friday, May 21st at 3:00 p.m. and were over there cleaning and prepping walls for painting by 3:45! Can you tell we're a little excited?

We're hired some people to renovate some items in the house, they start Monday and should be done within 2-3 weeks. Actually, they have to be done in 3 weeks, that is what we worked out since Nyla could make her appearance soon after they finish their work. We have got to get moved in and her room and our room set-up, just in case she comes 4 weeks early. I am very prepared and organized, so yes I will be ready in case she surprises us by coming early.

We took "before" pictures when we got to the house yesterday, so I'll post them soon so you can see our sweet little house, that we are very excited about.

Another good thing, we had 3 people stop by and tell us "hi" and "welcome." We had been there a matter of hours and all those people came and introduced themselves. That is wonderful and amazing! It makes us want to move in now! They were all very nice and so excited to see the house sold (been on the market about 6 months and empty) and they were excited to see a young couple too. The whole cove seems nice and they've said it's really quiet. There's an older couple that say it's like living in the country because it's so quiet. This is good because we are homebodies and very quiet ourselves, so we'll have no problem fitting in!

Please continue to pray for us as we adjust to homeownership. Also please pray Nyla doesn't come too early because we are not ready for her. I am so used to lifting whatever I want, working for however long I want and doing what I want. It's a difficult adjustment to be pregnant and not be able to do all these things how and when I want. I'm really trying to be good about sitting more than I stand and taking more breaks so she doesn't decide she's had enough and comes early. We don't want that just yet! Please wait 4 more weeks sweet girl!

Pictures to come soon!

Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap-modified from Grocery Cart Challenge

1/3 bar of Fels Naptha Soap, cut up

1/2 cup Borax powder

1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

soap scent (optional)

a bucket

water

1. First, grate 1/3 of the soap and put it into a saucepan, (I found it easy to chop on a cutting board and with a knife, but if not, use a food processor).

2. Add 6 cups water and heat until the soap melts.

3. Add the washing soda and borax, stirring until dissolved.

4. Pour 4 cups hot tap water into your bucket.

5. Add your soap mixture and stir it together. Add the soap scent here if you want, (I added some to give it a little smell since the finished product has basically no smell).

6. Add another 22 cups of water and stir to combine.

7. If you're interested in adding a fragrance, it needs about 5 drops per batch. I think it's fine without it though.

Let the soap cool and set for 12-24 hours, (I give mine 24 hours).

The finished product jells up. It won't have a normal consistency. Part of it will be jello and part will remain liquid. It's ALL the same thing and dissolves in the laundry tub. No need to try and break it up.

Each load takes about 1/2 cup laundry soap.

Borax... cleans, deodorizes, disinfects and softens the water (I found this at Wal-Mart for around $3.00)

Washing Soda... cuts grease and neutralizes odors (I found this at Kroger for around $3.00)

Fels Naptha... is a stain remover (I found this at a small, local hardware store, Do It Yourself, Stewart Brothers I believe for around $2.00). I asked if they carried this all the time and the man that helped me said yes they do.

Soap Scent... gives the smell you want (I buy mine at Hobby Lobby in the soap making aisle. I think they're about $2.00 for a small bottle, but you only need about 5-10 drops, depending on how strong you want the smell to be, so it'll last you awhile).

This recipe easily doubles, just make sure you have a 5 gallon bucket.

Side note: My husband has VERY sensitive skin to certain laundry soaps and breaks out badly. This homemade didn't break him out AT ALL. He did great the first time and continues to do well with it. Thought you might like to know in case your family member has sensitive skin.

Revised, June 26, 2011:

I went to Kroger today (on Stage Road) and they have all the ingredients needed to make this homemade laundry soap. Fels Naptha was $1.29, 20 Mule Borax powder was about $3.89 and the Arm & Hammer washing soda was $3.39. The Fels Naptha you'll get 3 batches out of and the Borax and washing soda you'll get at least a dozen out of. I just now bought washing soda, it's been about 1.5 years since I've had to buy it. That just shows how long this stuff lasts, much longer than store bought laundry soap!!! Try it, you'll love it!

Homemade Household Cleaners

Do you hate spending all your hard earned money on smelly cleaning products?

I do! I've been in search of great substitutes that I can make from ingredients I already have in my pantry. And I've found them.

I've actually had a list of homemade products for awhile and I have made and used some of them. Unfortunately I still have so many store bought products that need to be used up first. I have made the ones I listed and I really love them. And I will post more once I've tried them. I won't post any products that I haven't tried.

Even though I still have quite a lot of store bought cleaning products I still want to share the list of products along with the ingredients and measurements to my fellow readers. So here's the list, enjoy!

All-Purpose Cleaner:

½ cup vinegar

¼ cup baking soda (or 2 tsp borax powder)

½ gallon (2 liters) hot water (use hot water so the powder dissolve)

Mix all ingredients together.

I put mine in a spray bottle and use with a microfiber cloth.

I use my mixture in the kitchen for the most part.

This cleaner works well on windows and mirrors too.

Dishwasher Soap:

Mix equal parts borax powder and washing soda. (Takes 1-2 tsp of each)

Increase the washing soda if you have hard water.

Oven Cleaner:

Moisten oven surfaces with sponge and water.

¾ cup baking soda

¼ salt

¼ water

Mix together to make a thick paste (I mix in a bowl for the 1-time use).

Spread paste throughout the oven interior (avoid bare metal and any openings).

Let sit overnight.

Remove with spatula and wipe clean.

Rub gently with fine steel wool for tough spots.

So here's a few cleaners you'd find in my cleaning collection. I hope you find these helpful and useful in your own home.

Stay tuned for more household cleaners that will be coming your way in the coming weeks and months.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Let me tell you, I've been on the hunt!

I am reading up on a ton of homemade stuff, trying to save us money and live a more frugal life, especially when it comes to food and household needs. These are the areas that I can control on how much money we spend and I'm trying.

So last week I ventured out all over Memphis in search of Borax powder, Arm and Hammer washing soda and Fels Naptha soap. I live in the Bartlett area but I drove all the way to Poplar Avenue to hunt at the grocery stores that sell more speciality products (for those who don't live here, it's a good 30 minutes over there). What a waste! No one had anything I needed. Let's just say I didn't research well as to where I could find these products, but I honestly wasn't sure where to look. After my adventure I came home and I got on the blog where I found the recipe for making the homemade laundry detergent (you can find that here at The Grocery Cart Challenge), and saw people's comments on where they shopped to find the supplies needed. That helped on 2 of the items, the borax powder and washing soda but not the Fels Naptha soap. And I wasn't even sure I would be able to find any of the items where they said they found them, but I went back out the next day anyways. And with great success I found all the items I needed to make my homemade laundry soap and in my own neighborhood. I traveled about 5 miles from my home instead of 20, typical me! :)

Below is a picture of all the items needed to make the soap, minus the 5 gallon bucket which you can find at any hardware store.

Borax Powder-$2.98 at Super Wal-Mart (in the detergent isle)

Arm and Hammer Washing Soda-$2.99 at Kroger (in the detergent isle)

Fels Naptha Soap-$1.99 at Stewart Brothers, Do-It-Yourself Center (I asked the nice man if they kept it in stock at all times and he said they do! So yay!)

So that is last weeks adventure! I'm glad I found all the ingredients I'll be needing for my little project (even though I do still have some of my store bought detergent left, I'm just too excited and can't wait to try my homemade stuff). Hubby has sensitive skin when it comes to laundry detergent (I can't use any kind of powder detergent) so I'm hoping this won't break him out and I'll be able to use it all the time and save tons of money on something I hate spending money on! (I'll let you know how it works on his sensitive skin in another blog post.)

I'm also very excited because she (Gayle of The Grocery Cart Challenge) said it cost a penny a load! (You can find that breakdown Here). Are you kidding? That's amazing. (It may be more than a penny a load when you consider I spent a little more on the 3 products than the ladies that did the breakdown did, but it will still be under 3 cents a load!)

I spent about $7 on all the soaps. The cost of my bucket was free. I have a great friend who works at Kroger in the bakery department and they have giant icing buckets they use and throw away when empty so she grabbed one for me. She even decorated for me (the picture at the top is my bucket, obviously).

I'll get 2 to 2.5 gallons of laundry soap from just 1/2 cup each borax powder and washing soda and 1/3 of a bar of Fels Naptha (and water). Awesome! The powders are in pretty big boxes so I know I can get quite a few uses out of that when making more laundry detergent. And I have two other uses out of the Fels Naptha since I only use 1/3 of the bar per batch (which can also be used to get out stains directly, see directions on the side of the wrapper).

I have to say this has been an amazing find. I spend almost $14 (from Sam's Club) to get 110 loads from All free and clear, which is a great brand, but I want to get more for my money. And we all know that you actually get less than it says on the containers of those things.

Can you tell I'm excited? Well if you can't, I am! :)

I'm loving finding all these great ways I can save money on household items and cleaners (I do make my own household cleaners too). Check out the blogs I read on the sidebar to learn how to save money and live a frugal life too!

What ways do you save money on everyday household items?

Link up below to tell others your great frugal ideas. Please link up to your post and not your main page. And please make sure to link back to my page.