Here Comes The Rain Again!

Yep, it's pouring rain for the second day in a row. We're preparing for the basement flood that's sure to come within the next couple of hours. Aside from that, I was able to Spring clean the upstairs hallway, linen closet and stairwell today. It doesn't take too much time to do that. I organized the linen closet last year with many basket shelves on the backside of the door. I did weed out some older towels that we'll use for rags. I'm going to work on a cross stitch that will be appearing on the blog soon. In between checking the basement of course.

Mission Accomplished

I made the Christmas gift order just like I said I would. One more thing crossed off the list. I Spring cleaned the spare bedroom yesterday. I am forcing myself to clean the closets this Spring so I did that closet. It's not as well organized as I'd like, but I really don't know where to put the rest of the stuff that's in there. At least there's no junk, it's all stuff I'm keeping.

Rudolph Day

So it's Rudolph Day at www.organizedchristmas.com although I haven't been thinking about Christmas too much lately because I've been focused on Spring cleaning. I still have all of my Aunts that I buy for done (even wrapped!) and I have a list for my Hubby and I have a stocking stuffer for my Mom. I know what I'm doing for my friend's Birthday. I have a few things in the gift closet on hand too. I've made a couple of orders for my Hubby already, but other holidays before Christmas are getting in the way and taking his stuff. I think I will make another order soon. I am pretty much set with his list for this year though. You know what? In honor of Rudolph Day I will make an order right now.

Raining Again

It's raining again here. The rain makes me not want to do anything, but I'm trying to be productive anyway. I am in the process of washing the bedding on the spare bed. I have to head out in a little while, but I hope to finish washing the bedding when I get back. I'm going to polish the bed and cover the scratches with a stain pen and then the biggest part of cleaning that room will be done.

Clean Clean Clean

This morning I was able to Spring clean the upstairs bathroom. I only have 2 rooms left and the stairway and linen closet. I also have the fridge/freezer to clean out and the microwave. Then it's mostly outdoor stuff left like finishing raking, fixing some of the plants that didn't make it through the winter, washing the AC filters and fertilizing the lawn. I also want to attempt to make a rain barrel this year. There was a pretty easy one from the Better Homes and Gardens website that I think we'll try. Today the rain has returned which is why I'm thinking about the rain barrel again. Let's hope we don't have any more flooding.

Spring Cleaning Continues

Today I did Spring cleaning in the craft/music room upstairs. Since the whole first floor and mud room have been done, all I have left is the upstairs. This year I'm making it a point to clean out all closets while I'm doing each room. I ended up with a bag of trash and 2 bags of stuff to give away from that room, which is the smallest room upstairs besides the bathroom. I will try to freecycle some of the stuff, but I'm hoping there will be a charity yard sale I can donate it to because it's so much easier to give away whole bags than have to list each item separately.

Anniversary Wreath

I put a couple of flower garlands around the Summer garage wreath. The old ones were looking a little faded. The flower garlands I used were hanging around the doorway of the Inn where we got married. They've been sitting in a bag in a closet for almost 10 years. I decided that since this year will be our 10th Anniversary, that I would use them on the garage wreath so that we can see them and have a little reminder of our happy day all summer long.
I still have most of one garland left to have as a keepsake. I've just been decluttering and cleaning stuff out and figured why have them all taking up space. I think they look lovely on the wreath (much better than the last garlands).

Ambitious Again

Today I did normal Thursday downstairs cleaning. I got the mud room Spring cleaned and decorated for Easter. I have the window open down there so it can dry out. It's a beautiful day today although a bit breezy. I raked the whole left side of the house and cleaned up the banking out front. The large right side yard is still left and the back, but I've begun!

Have You Ever Seen A Max-In-The-Box?

Decorative Towel

I found this decorative towel on clearance the other day and I thought it was perfect for the upstairs bathroom stand for the Spring and Summer. It's got all the right colors.

I recently repainted the upstairs bathroom a light creamy brown color to match the granite countertop we put in last year. It also matches the floor much better. I love the new color.

Easter Is Just Around The Corner

Since Easter is only a couple of weeks away, I will share my Easter craft. I made these little chicks for each lady who will be attending Easter dinner at my parents' house.

Easter Decorating

I was a bit ambitious with my plans for today, but I got it all done. The whole 1st floor is Spring cleaned. I also got my Easter decorations up.

Kitchen Cabinets Are Clean

I cleaned out all the kitchen cabinets yesterday. I polished the outside of the cabinets and drawers. I didn't have too much to get rid of. I rearranged a couple of shelves in 2 cabinets and now everything fits much better. I'm getting rid of a couple of bowls and a couple of plastic containers. I will try to freecycle them or give them to a charity yard sale. I still have to do the pantry cabinet and the island and vac around the baseboards in order to call the kitchen done, but I think I can do that tomorrow. I am planning on cleaning the dining room as well and then the whole 1st floor is Spring cleaned. We had a little flooding in the basement with the horrible rain storm this past weekend so the mud room is in desperate need of a good clean. It's a little too damp and stinky right now I think. I will be decorating for Easter tomorrow as well as finishing the kitchen cleaning. I hope I am not being too ambitious because I will be volunteering at the cat shelter in the morning and Wednesdays are my regular upstairs cleaning day. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I hope to have some more updates too.

Bounce Dryer Bars

I decided to try the new Bounce Dryer Bar a few months ago. I got the 2 month bar and apparently I don't do an average amount of laundry because it's lasted quite a bit over 3 months so far. It's almost empty now, so here's the verdict: at first I wasn't very impressed because it left white marks on my jeans and dark colored shirts. The marks came out the next time I washed them and the package has instructions for getting rid of the marks so they don't ruin anything, but still annoying. After a few loads it stopped making the white marks and for some reason it seems to make the laundry process easier. I don't know what's so hard about the extra step of putting in a dryer sheet, but it just seems so easy to swap the clothes and turn it on and not have to do it. I bought another Bounce bar and will be swapping it in soon. We'll see how much I like it when the white marks appear again, or maybe they won't and I'll be hooked.

Spring Cleaning

The concept of Spring cleaning seems a bit lost on younger people these days. I happen to almost like doing it. So much so that I do it in the Fall too, but we'll get to that in a few months. It's freeing to clean every nook and cranny and to get rid of stuff that I no longer need or want. It's a good feeling to start the nice weather off in a clean fresh home. So far, I've Spring cleaned the living room, computer room, downstairs bathroom and I did all the windows and curtains in the house. Some rooms have different Summer and Winter curtains so now the windows are light and airy in preperation for the AC's going in in a couple months. I bought new Summer curtains for the computer room window. Before, I used a valance and the window seems too long for something so small just on top so this year I bought a swag.

So my washing machine ate the chair pad on the antique rocking chair in the computer room when I was Spring cleaning in there. I had to buy new chair pads for it and I decided to get a new throw too. The fuzzy cow print pillow was made from my firt car's seat covers. I was storing them in a closet and felt like it was a waste of space, but I had loved those seat covers (I'm a huge cow collector and it all started around the time of my first car) so I made the backs of them into a pillow so I will always have a part of them.

Crafty Husbands

If anyone has a "crafty" husband who's craft of choice is Jeeps, then tell them to visit my husband's blog http://soniccj7.blogspot.com/ where they will be seeing an engine swap very soon.

Holiday House

My Mom, Aunt and I all have a Dept. 56 year round holiday house. A couple of years ago my Aunt found a flag pole set that had a few extra flags that didn't come with our houses. One of these flags is for St Pat's day. A couple of weeks ago my husband and I whipped up these St. Pat's decorations to go with the flag on the houses.

Now all I need to do is make or buy some Fall decorations to go with our Thanksgiving flag and the holiday house will be as festive as our real house all year long.

Beginnings

I decided to start this blog to share my crafts and decorating and other home matters and celebrations. I enjoy doing crafts and keeping house and this will be a good place to share my home updates with family and friends all in one place.