Big Red Ottoman

One of the many joys of having pets and children is that just about every piece of furniture in your house gets abused. Our ottoman used to be the place that Lola, our golden retriever/yellow lab mix, would lay. She's currently staying with my parents, but that's a post for another day.  Anyway, she created this giant tear in the middle of my ottoman. She also made the top of it very dirty and gross. I was ready to throw the thing out, but my husband likes to kick up his feet after a long day so he wouldn't let me. I decided to sew a cover for it instead. 

Do you see how stinkin' gross this thing is!?

There was no fixing this tear without stitching showing.

I decided to cover it in the fabric I'm going to [eventually] cover my couches with. I found this great tutorial online that shows how to recover your couch. I can't wait to do it!

I chose a red microsuede. It's machine washable and wipes clean easily.

As we were walking around JoAnn's looking for the right fabric, my mother-in-law suggested that maybe just buying new furniture would be easier and/or cheaper. In some cases, it would be, but I get 40%-50% off coupons from JoAnn pretty regularly. That makes it more affordable for me.

In the end, it only cost me about $30 to recover the ottoman. I'm sure that's way cheaper than buying a whole new one. I'm pretty confident that I can recover my sofa and love seat for $200 or less.

High 5 for Friday!

I've been meaning to do High 5 for Friday for a while now, but I keep forgetting. Hopefully this will be the start of a weekly thing.

 Lauren at 'From My Grey Desk' hosts a weekly link party for everyone to share what their five favorite things about the past week were.

 I follow her blog and love it! Click the button below to visit her!

1. Having a Saturday morning breakfast, just me & my girls!

2. Fun times playing with Daddy at home!

3. Homemade BBQ chicken pizza!

4. Licking the spatula & the whisk after making brownies!

5. Playing Monopoly Jr. with Big A!

Week 2, Day 5: Bathrooms

Woohoo! We've made it to the end of the two weeks!

Happy Friday!

Today, we're going to revisit the bathrooms. 

First let's do our dailies!

Main Checklist:

• Do at least one load of laundry from start to finish. Wash, dry, and put away!
• Load and unload your dishwasher. If you don't have one, wash and put away all of your dirty dishes.
• Don't be lazy. When you take something from a room to put it away, put it where it belongs. Don't just toss it in the room. We're trying to prevent having a mess pile up.
• Do a quick pick-up in the kitchen. If there is anything in there that doesn't belong, go put it away.
• Clear the kitchen counters of clutter. 
• Do a quick pick-up in the living room. If there is anything in there that doesn't belong, go put it away.
• Check on the bedrooms. Is there clutter starting to pile up? Go ahead and pick it up so it doesn't get worse!
• Encourage your children to put away their toys when they're finished with them. Show the the correct place to put them. Don't just send them to their rooms with them.
• Do a clean sweep through the kitchen and living room before you go to bed.

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Bathroom Checklist:

• Pick up anything that is on the floor and put it away.
• Clear your countertops of clutter.
• Go ahead and put your toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet to let it sit for a few minutes and do its job. 
• Remove your contents from the shower and spray it with bathroom/shower cleaner. 
• Spray your sinks and counters with  your choice of cleaner and wipe them down. 
• Clean your mirrors.
• Sweep the floor.
• Replace your hand towels and bath towels with fresh ones.
• Scrub down your shower/tub with a sponge or rag. 
• Spray the outside of your toilet with cleaner and wipe it down. 
• Clean the lid, seat, and rim. Then, scrub the bowl with a toilet brush. 
• Mop the floor.

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If you have followed this far, I want to thank you for taking the challenge!

I hope your houses are clean, and your stress is down. 

This weekend, make it a point to read some books with your kids. 

You can read to them, or let them read to you, or even let them make up the story as they look through the pictures. 

Just spend that time with them. 

Happy Friday!

Week2, Day4: The Remaining Bedrooms

Happy Thursday!

We're almost done!!!

Today we're going to revisit the bedrooms you didn't clean yesterday. This should include your master bedroom and any other bedroom you didn't get around to.

Since this is a repeat day, I'll keep it short and sweet by just posting the checklists for you.

Main Checklist:

• Do at least one load of laundry from start to finish. Wash, dry, & put away!
• Unload and reload your dishwasher. If you don't have one, wash and put away all of your dirty dishes.
• Don't be lazy! When you take  something from a room to put it away, put it where it belongs. We're trying to avoid having a mess pile up.
• Do a quick pick-up in the kitchen. Remove anything that doesn't belong & de-clutter the countertops.
• Do a quick pick-up in the living room. Remove anything that does not belong.
• Check the bedrooms. Is there a mess? Yes? Pick it up before it gets out of control!
• Check the bathrooms. Clean up any messes you see.
• Encourage your children to clean up after themselves by showing them where and how to put their belongings away when they're finished with them.
• Do a clean sweep through the kitchen & living room before you go to bed.

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Week 2: Bedrooms Checklist

• Pick up the bedroom. Put away anything that is on the floor. Clear surfaces of clutter.
• Use a dust cloth to wipe down any shelves, trinkets, knick-knacks, etc. starting from the highest point in the room. 
• Pull the sheets & wash them. 
• Straighten the clothes, shoes, & accessories in the closet.
• Be sure the shelves & dresser look neat, and not cluttered. 
• Wipe down the blinds.
• Wash any windows, mirrors, and picture frames.
• Vacuum the floor. 

Don't stop now! We're almost finished! Push through and get it done!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Week 2, Day 3: Bedrooms

Happy Hump Day!

Today we're going to clean the bedrooms. 

Let's do our dailies first!

Main Checklist:

• Do at least one load of laundry from start to finish. Wash, dry, & put away!
• Unload and reload your dishwasher. If you don't have one, wash and put away all of your dirty dishes.
• Don't be lazy! When you take  something from a room to put it away, put it where it belongs. We're trying to avoid having a mess pile up.
• Do a quick pick-up in the kitchen. Remove anything that doesn't belong & de-clutter the countertops.
• Do a quick pick-up in the living room. Remove anything that does not belong.
• Check the bedrooms. Is there a mess? Yes? Pick it up before it gets out of control!
• Check the bathrooms. Clean up any messes you see.
• Encourage your children to clean up after themselves by showing them where and how to put their belongings away when they're finished with them.
• Do a clean sweep through the kitchen & living room before you go to bed.

By doing this checklist, you're keeping your house under control. When I walk into a room and it's a giant mess, I just want to walk right back out. Messes do NOT motivate me. I also find that my stress level is way lower if my house is not a mess. It's easier to get tasks done, so I get to spend more time with my kids.

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On to the bedrooms!

Remember, this does not include the master bedroom. 

Week 2: Bedrooms Checklist

• Pick up the bedroom. Put away anything that is on the floor. Clear surfaces of clutter.
• Use a dust cloth to wipe down any shelves, trinkets, knick-knacks, etc. starting from the highest point in the room. 
• Pull the sheets & wash them. 
• Straighten the clothes, shoes, & accessories in the closet.
• Be sure the shelves & dresser look neat, and not cluttered. 
• Wipe down the blinds.
• Wash any windows, mirrors, and picture frames.
• Vacuum the floor. 

Let's get started! 

Let me know if there's anything else to add to the list!

Happy cleaning!

Culinary Creativity: Getting Your Picky Toddler to Eat.

Guest Post by Sage Adderley

Apparently my 2-½ year old son is now a picky eater. While he has no problem snacking, he has become selective as to what he’ll eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I began brainstorming food ideas and thought about making him some bento-style lunches.

I became slightly obsessed with bento a few years ago. Bento is a Japanese box lunch. I was initially interested in bento when I discovered a bento-themed Flickr group with photos of bento food art. Basically people creating characters (Hello Kitty, Mario, etc), animals, and nature objects using various food items.

The bento box lunches range from simple to elaborate. Bento-style lunch boxes also help with portion control and making sure you have an assortment of food.

I decided to order some bento products from All Things For Sale. I picked up the following:

• ·      animal food pick set
• ·      dinosaur-shape cutter
• ·      stainless steel veggie cutters (heart, star & bear shapes)
• ·      small plastic cups for dipping sauces
• ·      bento box
• ·      colorful food separators

I started off small by cutting fruits, such as apples and bananas, with the star and heart shape cutters. I placed an animal pick in the fruit and my son loved it! I’ve never seen him devour food so quickly.

While some people get extremely creative with bento food art, I have kept it fairly simple. Like most other families, we are busy and time is usually not on our side. For me, preparing his fruit and vegetables with the shape cutters takes no more time than slicing it with a knife, so why not make it fun?

The stainless steel cutters are also perfect for cheese slices, sandwich meat, pancakes, and lasagna noodles. The bonus is that the bento accessories have helped him learn colors, animals, and shapes. It has been a win-win situation.

If you are interested in learning more about bento, I highly recommend the website,  Lunch in a Box. 

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I met Sage six years ago. We have gotten to know each other over the last several years, and I'm lucky to be able to call her one of my best friends. She is a major inspiration to me, creatively and otherwise. She runs Sweet Candy Distro, and has a blog of her own called, 'my name is: Sage'.  She's a freelance writer and has an Etsy shop, which is also called, 'my name is: Sage'.  Sage is an awesome mother to three amazingly bright and creative children. If I could choose one person to be most like in the 'mommy department', it would definitely be this woman. 

Help me support one of my besties by visiting her blog, her distro, and her Etsy shop!