Minneapolis-Star-Tribune-cooksandcreates

I NEED your Help with my Laundry Room

12:00 AM | Posted by Unknown | | Edit Post

When I comb over Pinterest, I always see beautiful laundry rooms.

Like this...

Home with Baxter

Jealous.

I have always wanted a pretty laundry room.

No idea why really...

all I do is laundry in there.

But, I just want a cute space to do the laundry in, I guess.

Because...here's what I have now....

It's in the back part of our basement.

With bad lighting.

Granted, these pictures were taken after I started cleaning up.

It normally looks a little better then this.

I've got concrete walls on one side, the back side of a wood wall on the other.

There are attempts at organization...shelves and bins. But no real system.

This room has become a catch-all room.

See that steam cleaner in the middle of the room.

It's broke.

Been sitting in that same spot for about two years.

I know, I know.

We have the space to make a really cute room here.

Lack of money to do something too fancy holds us back a bit.

I'd love to hear some cost effective ideas from readers on what YOU would do with this room?

But the way...I wore gloves to clean this room.

Gross. It's dirty and dusty in here.

This is my helper Midget. He would love a much nice room for him too!

Here are some pictures of the room after I was finished cleaning...

PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

Share your ideas below.

Labels:Laundry Room,Organize | 0 comments

Summer Scrapbook Project

12:00 AM | Posted by Unknown | | Edit Post

This is one project that I was so excited about starting.

Long before the summer ever start, I was buying cute scrapbook paper to fill an album.

The summer is now over.

All the pictures have been printed.

And the paper, stickers, glue and what-nots have all been purchased.

Now it's finding the time and energy to finish more then just three pages!!!

I get that way with scrap booking.

I am really excited to start out and all the creative juices are flowing.

And that lasts for about 3 hours.

Then I'm done.

I was recently invited to an all-day scrap booking lock-in.

I don't think I could do it.

Have you done an all day scrap booking event?

How do you stay creative with new and interesting pages for that long?

I almost considered going just so I would have access to a Cricuit to use.

I need to get started on this again.

I'll make sure and share updates on this book as it comes along!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Labels:scrapbook,Summer | 0 comments

EDITGarage Sale Finds

12:00 AM | Posted by Unknown | | Edit Post

It was such a nice day out this past Thursday,

my mom and I hadn't been to garage sales for awhile

because it had been so dang hot out!

We didn't find much

We got out there kind of late

and didn't start until after lunch

At the first sale, I actually found a lot of free items

the hubby just started nursing school

and they had lots of t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats from his school

all for free!

I loaded up on that!

But I didn't find much else there.

Other then this cute mushroom tealight holder for $1

I have a little gnome garden out back,

so this will look cute in there.

The second sale was an estate sale.

I normally don't go to those

because here in town,

they are usually really expensive.

This one was not and I was able to find these cute Christmas boxes

for $1.00 each!

Aren't they super cute?

I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet.

I could use them as gift baskets

Or I can remove the signs

turn them on their side

and do something cute with them like this.

At the third and final sale we went to

they still had a ton left

but nothing much that was good.

I did find this {kind-of} cute Halloween light

It was $1 and I liked it

so it came home with me.

Along with some of little misc items I found,

I spent a grand total of $5.75 today

plus my mom bought me lunch at Panera Bread

so all-in-all, it was a pretty good day!

What have you found lately?

If you blog about it, leave the post links in the comments!

Labels:Garage Sale Finds | 0 comments

Graveside Decoration

12:00 AM | Posted by Unknown | | Edit Post

This craft is most definately different them most that I do

Todays craft is for a grave decoration

My dad passed away a little over a year ago

He's buried in our family plot, only about 10 minutes from my mom and I.

We like to go out there alot

to make sure to grave site is cleaned up

and along with my mom and I, my Grandma and aunts

that also live near by,

his grave is never without decorations.

(He's buried in a small private cemetery where decorations, planted flowers, ect are all allowed.)

I happen to see this wheat figurine-thing at the Goodwill a couple weeks ago.

Not much to look at

but it was $0.79, so I bought it

While my dad was born and raised on the west coast,

he spent over 30 years of his life in Kansas.

Kansas grows a lot of wheat as is known as

"The Sunflower State"

So this is what I turned this figurine into

with the help of some new ribbon, a sunflower from the Dollar Tree and a glue gun.

I really like how it turned out!

I like that it's very fall looking

and represents his life in Kansas!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Have a great rest of your day!

| 0 comments

Easy Gift Baskets - Using Items You Already Have

12:00 AM | Posted by Unknown | | Edit Post

We recently found out that a good friend of ours has breast cancer.

She was going to go in to have the lumps removed and have a double mastectomy.

She's a small business owner, a mom, a wife....overall a busy lady!

I love her dearly and hate to see her family going through this.

I know how hard this has been on her and her family,

so I wanted to try and do something to make her day a little brighter.

So I put together this gift basket.

I'm sure you've seen the cost of buying pre-made gift baskets...they are super pricey.

And sometimes buying the items that you'd like to put into a basket can be pretty expensive too.

So I decided to see what items I might already have that would go good in a basket.

A lot of these are deals that I found for either free or really cheap with coupons:

- Softsoap Bodywash ($0.50)

- Oatmeal bath packets (3 for $0.75)

-Monopoly card game (free)

-Colgate toothpaste (free)

-Sleepytime tea ($2)

The other items, I picked up at garage sales...and were in like new condition:

-Starbucks coffee mug ($1)

- Max Lucado Book ($0.50)

-Basket ($1)

-Avon anti-bacterial lotion ($0.25)

along with some tissue paper I already had, this basket came together nicely!

My total cost for this basket was $6.00

I delivered it to her, and she loved it.

There are a good mix of items to use while at the hospital

and after she gets home.

It's important to remember that when giving a gift

cost doesn't matter

the thought and love that go into a present

that's what matters!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Please take a second to say a prayer for my sweet friend.

Have a wonderful week.

Labels:gifts,Saving Money | 0 comments

Grace Defined Me by Mitch Langley - CD Review and Giveaway {4 Winners!!!}

12:00 AM | Posted by Unknown | | Edit Post

I am so excited to share this giveaway with you!

My good friend, Mitch Langley, has just released a new CD.

Mitch is super talented and I love his voice!

Mitch is a worship pastor in Topeka, Kansas - the father to four of the cutest little boys, and is married to one of my best friends! They have a beautiful family together!

You can listen to some samples from Mitch's new CD on iTunes

Mitch on iTunes

I personally love all of these songs! If I had to say which was my favorite, I'd have to say "Grace Defines Me" is so beautiful. But I really love all of them!