Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Organizing My Daughter's Closet

Ever since we moved into this house 2 years ago, the closets have been on my To-Do list. The problem is that something else always comes up. Lately I have been thinking that maybe if my kids' closets were more organized, their rooms would follow suit. I know it's wishful thinking, but it is worth a try!

Right?


I guess to understand what I did I'll have to show you a before and after shot. Then I'll break it down for you.


Her closet is a little strange. It has a window that makes the majority of one wall basically unusable. To begin, I removed everything from her closet, dusted the baseboards, and vacuumed.

The first thing I put back in her closet was the small dresser. It is a dresser I had purchased at a yard sale, and refinished back in 2001 to take to college with me. I am debating painting it white, but I still kind of like it as is.

The first drawer holds her plain headbands, and ponytail bands.
The second drawer holds her Lalaloopsy's clothes.
The third and fourth drawers hold some dress-up accessories.

The bins on the dresser hold her play purses, and wigs.
Above the bins, hang her dance outfits, and belts.
The gap in the middle is where I hang her outfits that we pick out ahead of time, to wear to school each week.


Next to the dresser hangs all of her dress-up costumes. They are on a closet doubler rod (Kind of like this one*, but I got mine at Target and it hangs on fabric straps.) I keep her dress-up shoes on the floor under the costumes.


 Along the back wall (on another closet doubler rod) I hung all of her skirts. I also added a shelf for her shoes. Pictured are her summer shoes, and shoes that are too big for her right now. The majority of her current shoes stay in our coat closet.


 To maximize the useable space in her closet, I added a fabric shelf to the back corner of her closet. It holds things like swimsuits, hats, winter accessories, etc. It is normally hidden by her dresses and shirts, but I removed some for the following picture.


 Along the top shelves of her closet I store clothing that I purchase for her that is still too big. The bins are labeled by size and season.

The pink bag in the back corner, holds stuffed animals. The black bin holds extra backpacks and totes.


Under the window I hung key hooks to hold her jewelry.


 Behind the door I hung three memo boards that I had in my college apartment. They hold her hair barrettes.  I also made a holder out of two ribbons, to hold her headbands with accessories on them. Watch for instructions on how to make your own in a future post!


And because I wanted to make sure I did not waste any space in her closet...
I hung a shoe organizer on the back of her door using 3M Command Strips, to hold her tights.



I bet your asking yourself why I didn't just hang the shoe organizer over the door as it was intended to be hung. Well, I really hate it when the brackets that go over the top of the door, rub the paint on the door frame, so I decided I just wanted to avoid it.

All of the pink and black bins/bags are from Target.
The closet doubler rods are from Target.
The key hooks are from Target.
The shoe shelf is from Target.
The clear shoe organizer is from Wal-Mart.

So far the things I like best are not having to constantly untangle her necklaces, and being able to see all her tights, and hair accessories. It might not seem like much but it makes picking out outfits for the week so much easier.


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Monday, January 28, 2013

Cheese Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells have been a favorite of mine ever since I was I kid. Now that I am making them for my family, I have made a few changes from my mother's recipe. I am happy to say my kids and husband love them as much as I do.


Cheese Stuffed Shells

1 pkg jumbo shells pasta, cooked according to package directions
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 oz muenster cheese, shredded
15 oz ricotta
26 oz jar a spaghetti sauce, divided
2-4 cooked chicken breasts, cut to about the size of a jumbo shell (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.Cook shells according to package directions.

3. Shred the mozzarella and muenster cheeses, into a bowl.

4. Add the ricotta cheese to the mozzarella and muenster cheeses, and mix. (It will look crumbly.)

5. Spread some of the sauce on the bottom of a 9"x13" baking pan. (Just enough to cover it.)

6. Roll the cheese mixture into an egg shape, and stuff it into a cooked shell.

7. Place the stuffed shell, seem side down into the baking sheet.

8. Repeat step 5 & 6 until all the shells are filled.

*** If you would like to add some cooked chicken breast, add it to the baking dish now. Just spread it out among the shells.

9. Cover the shells with the remaining sauce.

10. Cover the baking dish with foil and poke a few holes in the foil.

11.  Bake for 35 minutes.

12. Serve and Enjoy!




These stuffed shells freeze and reheat well. I like to freeze them by individual serving. 


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Friday, January 25, 2013

Lunches Week 21

I am seriously annoyed with Blogger right now. This is day 3 of getting errors, my post about organizing my daughter's closet (That I wanted to post Wednesday & Thursday, but it wouldn't let me.) is now missing! So I guess you will all have to wait until next week to see my daughter's closet redo.

MONDAY
No School

TUESDAY


She had a Flower Lunch Punch* shaped sandwich, grapes, goldfish crackers, and a Sistema Twist N' Sip* of water.

WEDNESDAY


I packed her bow tie pasta with frozen mixed veggies, squeezable applesauce, pudding, and a Sistema Twist N' Sip* of water.

THURSDAY


She had a smiley face sandwich, pudding, carrots, goldfish crackers, and a Sistema Twist N' Sip* of water.

FRIDAY


I packed her bow tie pasta with frozen mixed veggies, squeezable applesauce, a Z-bar, carrots, and a Capri Sun.



The products used in this post are listed below.
The container with green inserts is the Rubbermaid LunchBlox entree with trays*.
The clear container with 3 sections is an EasyLunchBox*.  
The tiny clear container is an EasyLunchboxes Mini-Dippers*.
The silicone cups are Wilton pastel cupcake liners*
The squishy packs with the applesauce in them are Squishy Snack Paks.

Check out my review of Squishy Snack Paks here!

*Affiliate Links.
 I'll Be Linking Up At These Parties!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Lunches - Week 20

Another week has past us by, and I am deep into planning my son's 4th birthday party, and organizing my daughter's closet.
Keep watching for a post on my daughter's closet it is turning out so cute!

MONDAY


My daughter had belt testing for karate after school so I made her a Ninjabread Man* shaped sandwich. She also had pudding with sprinkles, carrots, goldfish crackers, and a Sistema Twist N' Sip* of water.

TUESDAY


 She had a Crown Lunch Punch* sandwich, goldfish crackers, pudding, carrots, and a Capri Sun.

WEDNESDAY


I packed her homemade chicken noodle soup, oyster crackers, squeezable applesauce, and a Hello Kitty Funtainer* of water.

THURSDAY


She had a sun shaped sandwich, carrots, a Z-bar, cheese doodles, and a Sistema Twist N' Sip* of water.

FRIDAY


I packed her a pierogies, squeezable applesauce, a Z-bar, carrots, and a Capri Sun.


The products used in this post are listed below.
The container with green inserts is the Rubbermaid LunchBlox entree with trays*.
The clear container with 3 sections is an EasyLunchBox*.  
The tiny clear container is an EasyLunchboxes Mini-Dippers*.
The silicone cups are Wilton pastel cupcake liners*
The silicone flower cup* is Wilton.
The pastel heart cups are from ebay.  
The soup container is a Thermos Food Jar*.
The squishy packs with the applesauce in them are Squishy Snack Paks.
Check out my review of Squishy Snack Paks here!
*Affiliate Links.
 I'll Be Linking Up At These Parties!





Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Command Center Update

I am still amazed by the response my Time To Get Organized post has received. I get more comments and emails about how we like our command center than anything else on my entire blog. We have been using our command center for 6 months now and I thought an update was due.


Here is a side by side comparison after the 6 months of use.
 I erased the calendar because I didn't want to post our day to day schedule. If sections of this photo look a little blurry, it is because I blurred out some of the other personal information.


As you can see, overall the command center has stayed pretty much the same. I have added a bunch of different colors of dry erase markers. The other thing I added was a second magnetic basket.

Now the breakdown of how we use it.



On the Monthly Calendar, I try to keep each activity a specific color, so it is easy to see what is happening each day at a quick glance. I still keep a schedule book for the entire year, but the Monthly Calendar lets everyone in my house know where everyone is or needs to be.

The Kids' Boards are used to keep their drop off and pick-up times for schools and activities straight, and what days they have gym, music, art, etc.

The Kids' Bins hold their school and activity related papers.

The Receipts, Coupons, and Mail Bins are just there to keeps stuff off my counter until I get around to filing it.

The Budget Bin holds our budget notebook that we enter all our purchases into.

The plain white board holds the school/work schedules, appointment cards, dry erase markers, and
all my daughter's Box Tops, soda can tabs, and Labels for Education.

This command center has helped so much in keeping the kids' school/activity schedules straight, and with our counter clutter. I love not having to search through a stack of papers on the counter anymore just to find a coupon I think I remember seeing.


If you would like printables of the the sayings I used in my command center you can go here.

If you would like to make you own word art printables in Picmonkey check out this tutorial.


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Tip Junkie handmade projects

Monday, January 14, 2013

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Lately it seems that if my daughter could eat Campbell's Double Noodle Soup for every meal in the day, she would. My son, on the other hand, won't touch the stuff. Because of this, I decided to try to make a yummy homemade chicken soup that would please everyone in my family. I came across a recipe on bhg.com that, with a few small tweaks would be perfect.


I will definitely be making this soup again and again. It pleased everyone in my household at the dinner table tonight!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Adapted from bhg.com

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 -32oz boxes chicken stock
2 chicken bouillons 
1 teaspoon dry thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
4-5 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped (I chopped it really big so I could remove it.)
1 12oz bag egg noodles 
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup milk 
2 Tablespoons flour

1. Place chicken in bottom of Dutch Oven (I used 7.25 quart LeCreuset Dutch Oven, I'm sure a stock pot would be fine too.) 

2. Add chicken broth, chicken bouillon, dried thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper, onion, and carrots to chicken.

3. Bring the ingredients to a boil. Then cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked.

4. Remove chicken from pot, and shred it. I used this simple method to shred the chicken in under 1 minute. 

5. Remove bay leaves now. Also, if you chopped the onion big like me, you can remove it now.

6. Add egg noodles to broth in pot and cook according to package directions.**

7. Once the noodles are done cooking stir in the peas.
8. In a screw-top jar, combine milk and flour. Shake to combine, then add to the broth mixture in pot.

9. Cook until mixture is thick and bubbly, about 3-4 minutes.

10. Add shredded chicken back to pot.

11. Stir, taste, and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

12. EAT and ENJOY!

**If when cooking your noodles you need more fluid, just add some water.




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Friday, January 11, 2013

Lunches Week 19

When I started this blog I decided that I would post 5 days a week. Now, I am running my kids to activities 3-4 nights a week, and I just don't have enough time to accomplish everything that I want to in a day. 

This week I realized that I keep purchasing supplies for projects around my house, but I just never get around to actually doing them. I have gallons of paint, picture frames, canvases, fabric, and more just laying around my house just waiting to become something. 

To remedy this, I decided that I am going to cut back my posting to 3 nights a week. I am hoping this will give me a little more time to do the projects I want to, without taking time away from my family. From now on I will be posting 3 times a week; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 


MONDAY


She had a dentist appointment, so she had a tooth shaped sandwich, apple slices, goldfish crackers, and a Sistema Twist N' Sip* of water.

TUESDAY


I packed her a pierogies, squeezable applesauce, raisins, goldfish crackers, and a Sistema Twist N' Sip* of water.

WEDNESDAY


She had mini flower shaped sandwiches, squeezable applesauce, mandarin oranges, a Z bar, and a Capri Sun.

THURSDAY


I packed her a Mickey shaped sandwich, pudding, pretzels, grape tomatoes, and a Capri Sun.

FRIDAY


She had a Cinderella slipper shaped sandwich, pudding, mandarin oranges, grape tomatoes, pretzels, and a Capri Sun.


The products used in this post are listed below.
The container with green inserts is the Rubbermaid LunchBlox entree with trays*.
The clear container with 3 sections is an EasyLunchBox*.  
The tiny clear container is an EasyLunchboxes Mini-Dippers*.
The silicone cups are Wilton pastel cupcake liners*.
The pastel heart cups are from ebay. 
The squishy packs with the applesauce in them are Squishy Snack Paks.
Check out my review of Squishy Snack Paks here!
*Affiliate Links.
 I'll Be Linking Up At These Parties!

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