Freebies!

Okay Peeps!

 Here's the deal!

As I go through stuff I want to get rid of some nice stuff because I just have a lot of it and i know I don't use it all. So I will be posting the nicer things that I hate to just get rid of in case any of my family or friends could use it.

I'll keep it for about a weekish and if no one wants to claim it for their own then I will give it to good will.

I'll post the stuff in the sidebar for a quick reference and keep updating this post.

We can arrange a time when you can come and pick it up and I can leave it on the front porch if I am not home.

So this is FREE FOR ALL! Let me know if you want anything or know someone who wants something!

You can comment here or send me a text or email.

Large Dog Kennel

 H 3' x W 2.5' x D 4'

It has been outside for the winter so it could use a hosing off and a quick spray painting in a few parts but is in decent condition (especially considering these puppies are expensive!) The bottom tray has 2 parallel cracks. For a scale, that is my full grown boxer. It's a pretty big kennel.

Magnetic Makeup Board

I finally got sick of having to dump my bin of makeup out on the counter to find what I want so I decided to make some good use of my medicine cabinet and make it look a bit better too.

 It was really easy and now it looks nice. I just put up some contact paper that I found at Target on the back of my metal medicine cabinet door. 

Just cut off a rough estimate of what is need to cover the door. Peel the backing from one of the short sides of the rectangle down a few inches and place that edge against the top of the door and as straight as you can pulling taught so you minimize the bubbles. Then using a flat surface (I used an unopened package of mascara because it was right there) press the contact paper onto the door in short strokes downward. Continue to peel the backing off of the contact paper from the bottom and lay against the door. Finish off by using your flat surface over all the paper. If you get a bubble, take a small needle and poke a hole to let the air escape and then press it flat.
Once done, take a razor and cut along the edge of the door to cut away the excess contact paper in a nice straight line.

This patterned contact paper is very forgiving. I have a few small bubbles and wrinkles in the paper but I dare you to find them. A solid color would be much more noticeable so you would need to be very careful. I don't dare yet until I get better at this.

For my makeup brushes, I took the extra piece of contact paper that I cut off the edge originally and wrapped it around a prescription medicine bottle. Voila.

 I also used some of the extra paper to do a little accent strip on the bottom of my cabinet. That finished it off nicely.

I think it would be cute to do a little white or black border to look like a frame on the door.

So after you do the contact paper, you can put magnets on your makeup.

I bought these Cool Magnets from amazon and they work great. My local Joann's craft store didn't have any. Weird.

I used a hot glue gun to glue a magnet to each of my makeup tools and let them cool. I put 2 magnets on my makeup brush container. They won't adhere to slick plastic containers though.

Sure beats this.

Purge Time

I am purging a bunch of blogs and websites I subscribe to by email.

They are taking up my precious time, cluttering up my inbox and life and are of no value to me.

Goodbye time wasters.

Hello real accomplishment!

Organization is Not for Everyone...

I've discovered that organization is for those without hobbies and those without jobs....

....but I'll get-r-done.

Home Mission Statement

I received a great piece of advice today regarding my home makeover.

Create a home mission statement.

A home mission statement helps you to make the better decision when you are changing something about your home and it will help you focus when you are feeling overwhelmed by the daunting task of creating an entire home atmosphere.

Here is our home mission statement

The mission of The Ridges' Home is to nourish the mind, body and spirit of all who enter by creating a warm and cozy oasis filled with laughter and love. We hope to create an atmosphere of fun, learning and simplicity so that our family and guests will leave here feeling refreshed, encouraged and loved.

I like it. Soon it will be framed and hanging on our wall so I will always remember.

My next project is going to be the office. Dun...dun...dun....

Wish me luck. Come find me if you haven't heard from me in 3 days....

Ribbon Organizer

I want this.

Bad.

Who wants to make it for me?

I think Ben should. :)

Progress

Ok! I've made progress.

Recipe Land. Check!

{I didn't need all my cookbooks upstairs with the limited room. I put the ones I use less frequently downstairs and now all of my important binders and books have easy peasy access!}

Tupperware Nook. Check!

{I went through and kept only the tupperware that I needed. Look at all the room I saved!}

Front Closet. Check!

{I took out some things that didn't need to be in there and just made it "work" better}

Before:

After:

{I keep all my moppy type stuff in here since we have no other closets.}

\

Thanks to Rand and Ben I have been able to check things off of my list

that have been on there for years!

For example:

New Front Door Handle (and a matching back door handle too)!

{No more gold! Yay! And now we get to paint the front door in Spring!}

It was getting to the point where we may have gotten locked out... door handles don't last forever.

We also got a keypad for our garage door and the code is...

nunyabusiness.

Haha. You thought I was really going to tell you. 

Our chandelier now has light bulbs in it too!

{We don't own a ladder yet. tee hee. so it just never got done}

A shower is in process of getting fixed.

We got the mirror in the front room hung finally!

The air filter was replaced.

We also got our finances organized and have a budget we are going to stick to!

 That's a big one!

It's coming along!

Let it begin...

So I have begun the organizing process and feel I have been super productive this year.

Yesterday I was able to do some yard work outside. I figured now is the best time to get some outdoor stuff done while it isn't snowing. I also got the christmas lights taken down and bought new handles for our front and back door thanks to Rand. Those will be getting installed today....thanks to Rand. The christmas tree will also make it to the curb today. 

My organizing started with the tupperware land....dun dun dun. This is always a mess and I have consolidated and kept only the ones I want. I doubled my space due to this!

So now I have some open territory to work with. Awesome!

The next thing I organized was my coobooks....I have a few..... I figured that I can keep most of them down on my bookshelf in the office and keep my most used 4 or 5 upstairs in the kitchen along with my 4 personal recipe binders. That made the cupboard feel so much more organized and gave me room to put all my binders up there instead of on my counter.

 So I didn't gain any space but I gained ease of use and a pretty cupboard. Good!

I have wiped down cupboard shelves and done other general "spring"...er ..... "mild winter" cleaning.

It feels so good. I like it!

Today, I started off the day with a wonderful trip to the Temple and

 I think I am going to clean out the front closet next....that may change

but something is getting a before and after picture!

Yay for me! 2012 is going to be great! I'm pumped! :D

It's Time

It's finally time to organize my life...

....starting with the house.

A happy house leads to a happy mind. :)

I am going to be smart this year.

{That should be my new years resolution.....}

I am going to do it one area at a time instead of trying to make myself feeled overwhelmed by the whole project.

My Goals (in no particular order):

1.) Get a room ready for a nursery

{No, that's not a hint. Yes, we would like a baby.}

2.) Move all my craft stuff downstairs into the office

3.) Create a designated location for my baking supplies. {I wish I had closets in my house!}

4.) Get my emergency preparedness organized and accounted for

5.) Organize the office (Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

6.) Organize my wardrobe

7.) Make my kitchen more efficient

....there's a lot of things I want to organize!

I don't think this is impossible. I quite think they are reasonable and worth while goals.

If any of you have any wonderful tips to getting organized I would super-D-duper love to hear them.

I am willing to make reasonable/moderate investments if needed.

I'll even do some of those shnazzy before/after pictures

Vrrrrroooooommmmm! Part Deux

Before reading on, see my previous post about my new Hoover Platinum Bagged Vacuum!

So I just finished vacuuming the entire house!
These vacuums are amazing. It is awesome!

The Upright:
The vacuum is lightweight and so easy to use. You can just feel the power when you vacuum.
It can suck up stuff along the edges of walls using either the sides or the front surprisingly! There was a toothpick right against the wall in the crevice and I tried to get it using the vacuum straight on and it sucked it right up!
It has 2 settings: High and Low, so it works well on both carpet (High) and bare floors (Low).
It has a super long cord so I only have to plug it in 2 different places to vacuum my 3 level house! Way cool!
The bags inside are huge! So you don't have to replace them very often.
I really love my vacuum.

Tha Canister Vacuum (aka: my baby canivac)
I was super surprised by how much power this little canister vacuum had!
It was so easy to use I don't know how I ever got along without one!
It has a shoulder strap so you can carry it with you as you use it (A++++). Genius!
The canister holds the tools so it is easy and convenient to change.
The canister cord is a bit shorter so that is the only thing I would change about this vacuum.
It is definitely a bug family destroyer. I love it especially for that reason (no lugging out the big vacuum to kill a little spider.)
This is especially amazing for stairs and bathrooms where you can't get behind objects with a bigger vacuum.

Anyway. Highly Recommended!!
They look pretty cool too. :D

Vrrooooommmm!!!!

Somebody got a shiny new vacuum for her birthday! Vrrrroooooommm!
Thanks to all who pitched in!
I spent countless hours (ok maybe just a few) researching which vacuum would be perfect for me and I think I found it! I got the Hoover Platinum vacuum. As you can see from the picture it comes with an upright vacuum AND a canister vac! I have mucho stairs in my home and this is going to save me a lot of trouble.
I stole my sister-in-law's vacuum when they moved to Texas and on Friday I happened to accidentally suck something up with the hose that apparently shouldn't have been sucked up. Oopsies. So long story short it lost suction and 'my' vacuum no longer sucks.....well actually it does.....but not really. You get my picture.
I will let you know how it goes. :D
Stay Tuned!

Painting: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic.

So, I decided to paint one of the rooms in our house to make it a little more "homey". Here is my adventure. I actually learned some stuff on the way (one being that I really don't like the act of painting itself....just the end result.)

I started out with two-toned yellow walls and a groovy wallpaper border. I used some fabric softener diluted in water and an awesome scrapy device to easily remove the wallpaper border (after trying a few different methods first).

Groovy Wallpaper Border

Nasty be gone

Awesome Scrapy Device

Voila!

BEFORE

*
*

*

AFTER

Yes.....It's pink. :D

(This is me working hard)

A Bunch of Tips for Painting that I learned the Hard Way:

1- Use masking tape on places you want really sharp lines (Not painter's tape)

2- Always do 2 coats! (Expecially if the first one looks like poo)

3- Use the same texture for the walls as the cut-in (Rollers for both worked the best)

4- Don't let the paint dry before you take off the painter's tape

5- If you do let the paint dry, cut along the edge with a razor before taking off the tape

6- Keep LOTS of paper towels

7- Try really hard not to spill on the drop clothes

8- Don't put too much paint on the walls and don't press too hard

9- Pay somebody to do this next time.....

Nooo, it really wasn't that bad. I am just not a professional and too picky for my own good. You always find the flaws in your own work.

Either way, I'm not planning on quitting my day job.

~S :D

The Deed is Done

We did it! We closed on our house! Wahoo!

We are officially moving in on Saturday all day! If you are free and would like to come help or just see the house feel free to come by! We will be starting at 9:00 am at our current bountiful house.

If you have any questions or comments (or advice for new home owners!) give one of us a call!
Thanks y'all! :D

Magic Acid

Have you ever had the fun experience of trying to clean off water spots from your shower door? If you think like me you would say it's harder than digging up an Ent from middle Earth.

Well, a little bird named aspen told me the secret weapon to use. Vinegar. At first I thought, "Sure, it may work on your hard water deposits, but my deposits are different. There's no way it can work that well."

So indeed I tried it because my now-opaque glass doors were really starting to bug. I put some vinegar in a spray bottle, marked it vinegar so I didn't try to spray it in my mouth like I did as a child, and grabbed some wash cloths. I sprayed and started wiping and thought, "see it isn't going to work that well." I cleaned the whole door cuz' I'm no quitter and it was a little better but still not very clear. Then I decided to clean the other side just for fun. I did that and all of a sudden I heard angels singing and a light appeared from above. I looked at my door and couldn't believe the metamorphosis it had made in merely seconds. I was so excited I took pictures before and after on another part of glass. I had to wait before I cleaned the rest so ben could see the difference it made!

BEFORE

BEFORE ------------> AFTER

Look at that reflection!

DISCLAIMER: You may not want your glass this clean! Animals (or children) may try to walk through it repeatedly.

So, instinct tells me to ask, "What else can it do?!"


I will tell you now that it can remove stains and make porcelain shine! If you soak a paper towel in vinegar and place it over a hardwater-ring inside the toilet overnight, in the morning, no more ring. Oila!
Like I always say, If it can clean porcelain....it can clean anything. (I don't recommend wood ;P)

So,
Goodbye 409.
Goodbye Scrubbing Bubbles.
Goodbye Comet.

HELLO.......MAGIC ACID.
:D

If you have any more amazing tips like these.....come on ladies! Share the love!

Procedure: Stuffectomy

So, I just have way too much stuff for being so young.
Before the move I am going to try to declutter as much as possible.
I hate to get rid of perfectly good stuff....but I would love family or friends (you!) to take stuff if you really want it.... my stuff probably isn't that cool but in case someone is dying to have a book called "How to talk to your cat" or "Before you say I DO"....I would like to give you the opportunity to collect before I DI it all. I am sure I will have small and big stuff.

Disclaimer: Do not collect clutter you really don't need. I just hate seeing stuff go (hence my problem in the first place).

I'll make a running list on the side of my blog. If you want something, tell me asap because this stuff isn't staying very long!

Ciao! :D

We Bought A House!

Finally! Here is our new home! Check it out!

1397 N Willow Valley Dr

Centerville, UT 84014

Cherokee Sold

We just sold the Cherokee. Financial Freedom here we come!

Finally Moved In

.... but not unpacked.... and we're loving it anyway!

I have an intense rotation right now so it may not happen for another 6 weeks too. :)

I'll see you all eventually.

Chill for now. :)

We're Movin' Out

So...some big news.
After 3 1/2 years at this house, we are finally moving! This has been a great house to live in, but, since I am graduating soon, we are now moving up north to Davis County, closer to where we will eventually end up.
We will be renting a house in Bountiful. We like it. :)
Move date is Sat January 3rd all day. Keep it open if you would like to help us move in. ;P

Burn Free Saved Me

Let me just tell you...this product doesn't lie! My burn hurt so bad today I thought I was going to pass out. I slathered this stuff on and almost instantly I felt the pain replaced with a cool sensation! I am keeping an extra bottle on hand just in case...that's how much I love this stuff!
How did I get burned you ask?....see picture of me below...imagine 9 hours of that with SPF 4....hmmmm.....ya think?!