Cheater-Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

Day 9 of the challenge is toy/playroom organization.  However, long day at school + new developments + I need to workout or my pants won't fit tomorrow = playroom on the back burner!  You may recall that we started prep work for this last week:

I also wanted to share some images from a previous post regarding how we store toys in our bedroom.  Yes, we have some toys in both rooms.  I'm gradually phasing out the playroom. More on that later!

I promise to be back with the playroom re-vamp, and I hope no one considers this cheating!

My husband and I built (he built, I finished) these storage beds using fantastic plans from Ana White.  We love them, the girls love them, and she had me at STORAGE. In my tiny house, storage space is at a premium!

Raise your hand if you love canvas bins from Target! Thought so.  Did you know that even the bread guy at Target recognizes us?  True story.

Please note:  We may have containers, but the room RARELY looks like this. 

I need a moment.

Okay.  Better.

Just to prove that the bins actually CONTAIN something, here is our bin for our Fuzzoodles.  P.S. I totally thought Fuzzoodles looked dumb and pointless on the commercial, but they are really fun and cute!  An easy, entertaining 'craft' for a rainy day.

As for the new developments:

I TOOK THE PLUNGE!!!!

I am now a Shaklee Independent Distributor!

I'm very excited, and just a bit nervous.

I really love these products and I'm anxious to share them with you. 

I'd love it if you click on the link to my site and say "hi!"



Day 8: A Coat Closet With, Wait for iiiiiiiiit.....COATS!

Today's challenge was to re-organize the coat closet.  I let out a rather high-pitched squeal when I saw that the challenge was something that I had already DONE!  This squeal was repeated later in the morning when I discovered that I DID NOT have morning yard duty and could therefore remove 5 of my 7 layers and go about my day.  In the teaching world, this is the equivalent of finding a forgotten hundred dollar bill in your coat pocket.  

Sigh.  It's bliss.

Wait.

Where were we?

Oh!  Coat closet!  RIGHT!

A couple of weeks ago, my coat closet was so horrendously messy that I considered eschewing coats altogether.  However, Mother Nature took matters into her own hands and darnit...we needed our coats.  So, I rolled up my sleeves and dove in.

Since I was not yet aware of this challenge, I didn't have a before photo. 

Let's just say it looked something like this:

Now it looks more like this.  Well, it looks exactly like this:

The top shelf holds our lint roller and wrinkle releaser (hardly ever use this).  It's also the temporary home of my Silhouette. Now that our desk is de-cluttered, I should move it back there!

Girls' coats, my scarves, girls' snow pants, my coats, and husband's...coat.  That's right. He has one coat.  He's hearty and always warm. 

Oh look!  It's our Rock Band drums!  We keep our guitars in there, as well.  You never know when you'll need to get your Rock Band on!  You can't see them, but I also have our umbrellas stored in the corner, and our table leaves.

The ever-so-cute Thirty-One utility tote holds our snow hats, gloves, etc...  In the summertime, it will be the tote that we take the pool with our snacks, pool toys, etc...

My dad taught me to keep a binder of important home documents and manuals.  See, Dad?   I listen! ...mostly!  I keep them here because it's an easy place for us to just grab them when needed. 

Spare purses.  Love my handmade Hmong purse.

 So, as you can see, it's already pretty organized.  I've decided to take the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach here.  I'm sure I could fit some more bins or drawers down there, but right now I'm just enjoying the clean(ish)  floor space!

In other news (and to distract you from the fact that I've yet to revolutionize my linens system or organize my dresser): I've organized my makeup drawer!

This time, I got so excited that I just plum forgot to take a before!  Let's say it looked like this:

Hey look! My mix tape!

And here's the AFTER:

A big shout out to Sabrina for the idea of re-purposing the gladware!  And the party cup is perfect for my mineral makeup brushes!

So I'm going to go ahead and call Day 8 DONESVILLE! 

Off to see what others are up to!

Stay Tuned...

Coming soon...



How I Get All Shaklee on This Place

First of all, I'd like to say a big jumping, giggling, and clapping "Hiiiiii!" to my new friends from the 21 Day Organization Challenge.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be getting my organizational act together this quickly. Normally, it's something that happens once I just can't take it anymore and/or I have a week-long vacation in which to purge, clean, shop, and organize.  I joined this challenge after seeing it on my sweet friend Amy's blog, and I'm so very glad I did.  Seeing your inspiring posts about how you organize your space keeps me motivated and inspired.  Plus, it's nice to know I'm not alone in the clutter wars. 

As you may already know, I'm a mother of 5 year-old twin girls, wife to a wonderful, incredibly fun man, and a full-time teacher. 

Life at Chez Rawlings is almost always fun, sometimes hectic, usually LOUD, and at times...pretty messy!

It used to take an arsenal of cleaning supplies to keep this place clean and fresh (ish).  At least, I thought it did. 

Then I was introduced to SHAKLEE GET CLEAN!

If you've read my posts, you've seen me refer to it here and here.  I've been using the BIG DADDY--Basic H2 Concentrate--for just about a year.  This is what my first and only bottle currently looks like:

Hello, my name is Basic H2. I like long walks on the beach and cleaning spilled chalkboard paint off your carpet.

That's right. That's all I've used, and I've used it to clean a TON.  There would be more in the bottle, but I had a little spill awhile back.  Trust me--a "little" spill of this stuff is heartbreaking.  It's a concentrated bottle of pure power!

You know those hard water mineral deposits that just don't want to come off your brushed-steel fixtures?

A little spritz of H2 will eat them for breakfast, or in this case, dinner.

Have a rotating microwave dish that makes me you hang my your head in shame? 

Please hold all "ewwwww"s and "ick"s until the end of the post.

"Ewwww!" 

 Sorry.  That was me.

All I did was pop this guy in the sink, give it a few sprays of H2 All-Purpose mixture, scrub it well, and...

Squeaky clean!

So we'll just go ahead and put that back in the...

Oh, for the love of...  The holidays were rough on all of us. Including the microwave. 

No matter-- while you're all vowing to never eat anything I've prepared in my microwave (and/or sneaking guilty looks toward your own microwave), I'll go ahead and give this a good spritzing.

...and a little rubdown here and there.

Ahhh. MUCH better and it took NO time at all!

My floors also get dull, dingy, and dirty very quickly in this recent wet (read: muddy) weather. 

"Ick!" 

Sorry.  Me again.

Now, I've tried many different commercial floor cleaners on our laminate floors.  Some were okay.  Some were just downright awful. Most would leave a film that would show footprints again right away. 

Now, I just fill my sink with some warmish/hottish water.

Then I add a WEE drop of H2 and when it's nice and sudsy (because it will be), I put my mop head in and swirl it around in the solution...

I love my mop.  I have a few of these mop heads and wash them in the washing machine on sanitary and they come out fresh and ready to go! 

Now, if you're thinking, "Eegads!  Don't use your sink!  Use a bucket! That's gross!"  Just trust me.  It'll be okay. Say it with me: "It'll be okayyyyy."

Mop. Mop. Swish. Swish. Side-to-side.

Clean! 

And the wonderful thing is--they STAY clean!  No film or residue. 

I usually work my way around my house back towards my kitchen and do that floor last, intermittently rinsing the mop.

Look at all of that grime that is no longer on my floors...

...but is now in. my. sink.  Remember when I told you it would be okay?  It will!

Meet my other good friend, Basic G.  Basic G is Shaklee's highly-concentrated germicide.  Again, you just mix a wee bit with water and put it in a spray bottle.

I made him a nice label--Not-So-Basic G.  I didn't want him to have a complex about being "basic."

I just spray some of this greatness all over my sink surface, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse it off and wipe the area dry.  Germs? Gone.  So now my sink is sparkly clean to match my floors!

There are many things to love about these wonderful products: they're multitasking, cost-effective, and powerful.  But what I love most is the peace of mind I get from the fact that I'm using something safe and non-toxic to clean my home. 

Thanks for playing along, and a huge thank you to Toni for the outstanding customer service and hosting this incredible challenge!

Thank you for indulging me, and I'll see you all on Day 8!

YOU get a container! And YOU get a container! {Alternate Title: Day 7 is the New Day 6}

Day 7 of the 21 Day Challenge is to purge and reorganize your pantry.  As you may recall from this post, and from Exhibit A below, my pantry had gone rogue long ago.

Every since this challenge was posted last night, my brain was stewing with ideas for organizing it. It occurred to me (at around 2 A.M.) that I had approximately 536 plastic tubs gathering dust in my garage. I'm a teacher, but I don't currently have a self-contained classroom. Therefore, about three-fourths of my second grade classroom has been residing in my garage for 4 years.

 Rather than take advantage of my sleep-in day, I got up when my roosters girls did, made them some waffles from Eggo scratch, and promptly raided the garage for the tubs.

They're not the super-cute tubs one might find at Target, but in the interest of frugality and marital stability, I resisted the urge to go buy new ones.  There was a hitch in my otherwise brilliant scheme, however.  Their four years in exile had left my white tubs a bit oogy.

Time for a little of this...

 

And by "a little," I mean a wee drop.

And you get alllllllll kinds of this...

Some elbow grease...

Before you know it, you've got a tub you can be proud of.

A tub with a purpose. 

A tub with a reason to get up every morning.

A tub that helps to bring peace and harmony to the land. 

And, voila!

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