I have been in the mood to craft. I love Fall. It just screams all things comfy, cozy and Halloween. It makes me want to stay inside and hunker down. The weather is driving me crazy. One day it is nice and cool & I am sure Fall is here to stay. Then BAM,the heat is back. I guess when you have AC, it can feel like Fall all year long :-).


Early last week, I found these perfect white pumpkins. They are not too small(like those tiny orange ones) and not too large...they are just right. With a circle foam stamp, black paint,a circle punch, Modge Podge and some ribbon, this is what I created.



















Since this photo was taken, I have painted about 8 more of these fun pumpkins. I have them on a table in our entry way!

I didn't stop there. I saw a darling Halloween countdown frame that I knew I had to make. The hardest part was finding the perfect frame. After two Goodwill runs, I was successful! I will share that little project with you tomorrow!

Happy Crafting!

brilliant...

I don't know if any of you have laundry issues at your house? It is one of my biggest mommy struggles. I have a two year old who changes his clothes about 10 times a day(I'm not exaggerating), we play sports year around, and then there are their favorite shirts. Those favorite shirts seem to end up in the bottom of the drawer. It's the digging for those favorite shirts that usually starts the mess. I know, you know the mess I am talking about...clean folded shirts in a heap on the floor, clean folded shirts in the dirty laundry basket and in the end, the drawer that looks like a tornado blew through it.

Anyway, my friend Laurie came up with this brilliant system for folding laundry and putting those clothes away.

Fold shirts in the traditional box fold(like you are putting the shirt in a box to be wrapped) fold shirts in half again. Place them in the drawers and now everyone can see what's in their drawers. We have used this system for about two weeks now & I am seeing huge improvements in the laundry area! The boys are happy to see what is in their drawers and I am happy to report that the shirts are staying folded and in their drawers. Thanks for the tip, Laurie.

Spring cleaning...take two

I am still on a roll. I am still cleaning, organizing, & tossing things out. Today's focus was the bathrooms. What a chore it was! I loved today's tip. The Simple Mom's blog said that if your stuff does not fit in your storage baskets/boxes, you need to throw it away. If it is something you want to keep, you throw something else away out of your basket to make room for the things you want to keep. I cleaned out every single drawer & under all of the sinks in both bathrooms. I will share the before & after shots(brace yourself) with you. That top drawer became the bathroom junk drawer. I could not believe what a wreck those drawers were. Believe it or not, the boys bathroom was tidier than our bathroom. What's up with that? While cleaning my bathroom, I learned 1). that I buy a lot of chap stick, lip gloss & lip stick. I found about 20 tubes rolling around in the drawer. 2). That I need to find another closet to store all of my coupons deals(ie:shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant) in. 3). That I have a 2 year supply of shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste, & deodorants :).

BEFORE:






























AFTER:






















BEFORE:





















AFTER:






















Many of you have emailed me asking for the Spring Cleaning site name. You can find the link for the Simple Mom blog under Sites I like to visit, the link is on the left, towards the bottom. Let me know if you jump on the band wagon. It has been awesome to break my house down by room. A little work each day goes a long way. Happy Spring Cleaning.

life with boys...

do you know what these are used for?

A football tee of course!


I had no idea what the batteries were for until I heard them crash into the family room slider. Garrett would strategically place the batteries & then place his football down so he could practice punting.
Life with boys...never a dull moment.

My STUFF

1. Find five things around your house that say something about the person you are and snap a picture of them.
2. Tell us about them.
3. Link back to me in your post so I can be all nosy.
4. Tag five (or more...or less...I'm easy) folks via their comments and tell us who you tagged.

Okay, I saw this on HolleAnn's blog & thought it was fun! I am hoping each of you will play & let me know when you've posted YOUR STUFF on your blog.

These are two magnetic boards(I love IKEA) that hang in my scrapbook room. It is a place where I can hang favorite photos, quotes, inspiration & some of the letter R's that I collect.

We have a closet that is off of the kitchen. This is where the boys display their works of art. It usually has a seasonal theme. I love looking @ all of their masterpieces.

Just a cute little plant stand that I purchased from Southern Living. I love green plants. I have to work really hard to keep them alive. Ya know, remembering to water them sure helps. The pots are painted in some of my favorite colors & of course I love the polka dots.

A glimpse into our bedroom. It is finally coming together. It was one of the last rooms I worked on after moving in (almost 5 years ago-next week). I love the little open frame/window that greets you as you enter our room. I saw this in a shop in Utah & left w/out buying it. Once I returned home, I was wishing I had purchased it. A few months later my Mom was headed to Utah & asked if I needed/wanted anything. She brought it back for me! SCORE!

One of my favorite walls in our home. I look @ this several times a day whether it is when I wake the boys up in the morning, or as I put laundry away in the boys rooms, or as I tuck them into bed each night. It represents all that I love. The pictures change each year.

This was a Christmas gift from my friend Steph & her Family. It is a magnet that is on our fridge. I love all of the cute little peas that represent our family members! So cute & fun! It makes me smile. Thanks Steph!

I have been walking on this bad boy almost every day for the last couple of weeks (min. of 45 minutes). I am trying so hard to get back into the routine of exercising on a regular basis. I am beginning to look forward to my time on the tread mill each day. I hoping that it becomes a habit.

I had a H-A-R-D time narrowing it down to 5, so you got 7. This was really fun to do. I am thinking I want to create a mini HOME album using this same concept. It will be fun to look back on as the years pass. We will be able to see how our home has changed.

Ready, set, post. I can't wait to see your photos :).