Staying Organized

It amazes me how much work it is to take care of a household for my hubby, myself and our dog. With bills, grocerys, coupons, budgets, meal planning and cleaning up after us I feel as I have a full time job. So while I sit here daily and apply for jobs I can just hardly comprehend staying on top of it all when I am employed full-time. But there is always a solution to staying organized and I always like to make it "fun?", while as fun as it can be...

I had spotted a "Home Binder" on pinterest awhile back and just had to make my own. While the ones I found were helpful for ideas they just didn't match my style or what we needed them for, so to InDesign I went and here is what I came up with! Under each sample you can download the PDF so you can print them for yourself.

I also plan to make a Christmas Gift Planner, Birthday and Anniversary Reminder, Checkbook Log, Blog Idea Calendar, Monthly Master Calendar & a Fridge "need" List. But those will be added on as soon as I finish them. The ones below I have found to be very helpful!! Enjoy!

Download PDF

Read More for more home binder PDF's

S'mores Brownies!!

Found this yummy dessert to take to a friends house one night :)

The recipe can be found here @ Recipe Girl

...since I did not have enough chocolate around I needed a brownie recipe that used cocoa powder so I used the one found HERE

DIY sweater quilt!

This post has been long overdue!! I made these two blankets LAST Christmas! The red for my brother and the blue for my dad :) I think they turned out great! I found the how to on a tutorial Here!! I honestly think that her blanket turned out much better :) I would definately suggest using only wool sweaters. I used whatever I could find but I found that the 100% wool worked best. I will admit they are harder to find, but it is possible!

A Bit of Sparkle!!

I found this pretty craft on Pinterest of course!! All props go to the The Sweetest Occasion!! They are the creators of this awesome project :)

I think that my glitter was a bit larger then what they used in the above tutorial, but with two coats of ModPodge and glitter it worked just fine :) I plan on putting these away till Christmas, I think they will be just adorable with some candles glowing through the glitter! 

DIY Tile Coasters

Another awesome pinterest project!! These coasters are so easy and can be great for a pop of color! You can find the complete tutorial HERE.

They are so cheap to make too and would make perfect gifts! I will say that the clear coat is very necessary! We did use it but I might even put an extra coat on it for extra covering. 

Craft Crate Coffee Table & Succulent Planter

Our awesome coffee table is done!!!

Let me just warn you that I swoon just a bit over this table. We ABSOLUTELY love it! Not only is it an awesome design by DIY-VIntage-Chic, but it was relatively easy to do! It is nice and big and has tons of storage for books and such :) Plus, with the empty square that is left in the middle you have so many options! Currently ours is a succulent planter, but our square dishes from crate and barrel fit perfectly in there as well! Which means a perfect place for appetizers or a plate of dessert when guests are over! Or you wan just remove the planter and such and have a table for board games! Awesome!  

DIY Antiqued/Distressed Dining Room Table

Drum roll please......

WE FINALLY FINISHED OUR TABLE!!! 

The table before the refinish...

...and After!!!

We are quite proud of this beauty, it came out just as we wanted :) While I am not going to give you an awesome tutorial (pretty much because we had no idea what we were doing and made mistakes) I will give you some tips and tricks that we learned.

Wine Bottle Sconce

This little beauty comes to you from an awesome project found on pinterest!! You can find the DIY instructions HERE. You will see that we made a few changes to the tutorial. Calvin added a piece of wood from a pallet, and the "Top plate connector/ceiling flanges" that we found at Home Depot were longer and flat unlike the ones featured in the tutorial. We found them by the ceiling rosettes.