Thursday, May 28, 2009

Show Us Where You Life Friday - Children's Rooms

Samuel's Room

When we moved Samuel from his baby room to his big boy room, I had planned to do planes, trains and automobiles. He however quickly told me he wanted outer space. The bedding is from Olive Kids and the room really turned out cute!

The bed is actually mine from my teenage years and was already in the room. We were unsure at the time if we would be possibly getting bunk beds or matching twin beds at some point for the boys, so we decided just to use the bed for the time being. It has a trundle which is really great for when we need it.

The bookcase was already in the room too and I decided to use it rather than buying a new chest. After looking around, I found these great boxes at Target that fit well into the shelf and the colors work great with the bedding.

For artwork, I bought wall paper clings that matched the bedding. I bought a large canvas and painted it blue with black swirls to match the bedding and then adhered the shapes to the canvas. It turned out great.
The large satellite map was also already in the room and we left it since it worked so well with the outer space theme. This picture was taken a while back and there are also now glow in the dark planets hanging from the ceiling above his bed.

This is a multi-media piece I did in high school and knew then that one day I would hang it in my little boys room. If you look carefully, you can pick out more than 2 dozen animals in the painting.
Samuel's art work board.
Tyler's Room

The nursery has been basically the same for both boys. I have added a couple things and moved some things around. For the first 9 months or so we had the daybed in the nursery with matching bedding which came in handy many nights. But when Samuel got bigger, he needed more room to play so we moved it out.


The Changing Table I found at Wal-Mart and it has been great for the extra storage.


This cube shelf and canvas drawers I got at Target. I've thought about adding another set.


The rocking chair tends to move in and out of the room. It has lived in the living room and then been moved back to the nursery. Right now I still rock Tyler to sleep often, so we've left it in the room, but as he gets bigger it will move back to the living room.

My brother in law got Samuel the picture in the middle when he was a baby. The top left and bottom right pictures are Samuel and the bottom left and top right are Tyler, both taken at 2 months in the same Razorback outfits with their hog.


The bedding I made myself while pregnant with Samuel. I patterned it after a Pottery Barn style that was so popular 5 years ago. I thought about changing it for Tyler, but I was so busy doing Samuel's big boy room while pregnant, I decided just to keep it the same.

The frame on the left is the boys hospital pictures. I love that they are side by side and people always like looking and seeing if they think they looked alike at birth.

The border was a labor of love. I actually started it about 2 years before we ever decided to have children. I found books and coloring books with different story book and cartoon characters and drew them onto the border using a light box. Then I colored and shaded each with color pencils. Then I outlined and detailed each in with a fine point Sharpie. I'm honestly not sure when it will ever come down and it's hung so that it can be taken down and not damaged. Maybe one of my children will want some or all of it in their child's room. :) It has 48 different drawings.









Go to Kelly's Korner blog to see other great Children's Rooms!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

One Tip Wednesday


For months I struggled with keeping all of the incoming and outgoing mail organized. With two kids, a part-time job and a house to run, I began to lose a grip on what once was a simple task. I thought about switching to online billing, but didn't feel like that would help at this point. I just needed something to help me get it all in order.


I had a place where I put bills and other mail that needed to be dealt with, but things began getting overlooked and I even somehow missed a couple of payments on things. One month around Christmas I missed paying 3 bills. I am nearly positive I paid them online through our checking account, but the bank showed no record and I had no way to prove I had done that. I knew that my New Year's resolution had to be to find a way to organize all of this mess. Not to mention that I had a stack of papers that I hadn't filed in a year!


I looked at different office supply stores and thought about what might help me get it all in order. I found these binders at Wal-Mart for around $5 or $6 (if I remember correctly). I counted out the number of pockets and found that there was 2 for each month. So I bought 3 and divided the year into 3 quarters. The front is clear so I slipped in the names of the month for that folder.
On the inside, I wrote the name of each month on the pocket on the right. Each "page" has a large and a small pocket. As mail comes in, I place it in the pocket on the left in the month in which that bill is due. I put receipts for our debit and credit cards in the small pocket on the left.

As the bill is paid or that mail is dealt with, I move the bill (minus the envelope and invoice slip if it's mailed) into the right pocket. If I pay the bill online, I write the confirmation number on the invoice slip and also place it in the right pocket. In the smaller pocket I put receipts that we need to keep like large purchases or medical payments. Nothing goes into the right pocket until it is ready to be filed. By the end of the month, the left, large pocket should be empty.
I made room in the front of my filing cabinet to place all three of the binders. Everything is organized by month and I can easily access when I need to. Then I can file the contents into the cabinet at the end of the quarter or whenever I get around to it - but it's not a pile of papers on my desk! Plus, it won't take me an entire day to organize and file it at the end of the year since it's already organized by month.
Another thing I like about this system is that I can grab the folder and take it with me to work to pay bills. If I'm making payments in town (as I do for several of our bills), I just grab the folder and take it along. And I don't have to dig through a pile of papers to find a receipt for a return or a paper that I need for something. After five months, this system is working very well and I've not missed making any payments or taking care of something we need.
Have a great organization tip? Post your link in the comments so we can share great ideas for keeping our homes running.

Outdoor Wednesday - Roses on the Pond


Visit A Southern Daydreamer to see other views of the great outdoors.



Thursday, May 21, 2009

Foodie Friday - Summer Tortellini Salad

I made this Pampared Chef recipe Wednesday night for a church fellowship. It was very good and easy to make.


Summer Tortellini Salad














Ingredients:
1 pkg (9 oz) uncooked refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 large carron, peeled and chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 green onions with tops, thinly sliced
1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley
1/2 cup ranch salad dressing
2 T. grated fressh Parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. Place pasta in large colander and set aside.

Meanwhile, slice zucchini in thin even slices. Chop carrots using food chopper. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and thinly slice green onions. Snip parsley using kitchen shears.

Add vegetables to tortellini. Pour salad dressing over salad. Grate Parmesan cheese over salad; mix gently. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 7-9 minutes
Chill time: 2 hours
From: The Pampared Chef's "All The Best"

Dinning Rooms - Where You Live Friday

This week Kelly's Korner Blog is featuring Dinning Rooms. Go to her blog to check it out.
As I mentioned before in my Kitchen post, we have a very open floor plan for our main rooms. As you come in the front door, you enter our dinning room that opens into the kitchen and living room.

The dinning room looking into the kitchen:

I love my table. It's solid Oak and is handcrafted by Amish as are the chairs. Pieces of the table are signed or stamped and numbered based on who made that piece. We bought it early in our marriage, before we bought our house, in Mountain View, AR at Ozark Rocker and Wood. But notice how perfectly it matches our cabinets. That was one reason why we decided on our house.
We knew when we bought it that it would be something we will pass down to our children. As it's shown, we have one 18" leaf in the table and we have another one that we use on special occasions. We can easily seat 10-12 with both leaves in.

Looking from the kitchen into the living room:
One of my paintings that hangs on the wall walking from the kitchen into the living room:
I have a sofa table in the entry way that holds some of my favorite pictures and all of my scrapbook albums. My wedding invitation framed and one of my bridal portraits. The picture in the middle are flowers from my wedding bouquet.




My table set with my China, Federal Platinum by Lenox and Vedome Clear by Noritake:Thanks for visiting, next week will be nursery's and children's rooms.

Tablescape Thursday - Breakfast in Bed

Visit Between Naps on the Porch to see other great Tablescapes!


This week I thought I would create a Breakfast in Bed Tablescape. Who knows, maybe my husband will see it and get an idea. LOL

I created a good Southern breakfast in bed with drop biscuits and strawberry fruit spread...

Peaches in a bit of sugar...
And Hot Tea.
Top it off with a good book and you have a nice morning to yourself.
This lovely little book is by Southern author Rhonda Rich, a writer who I
really enjoy reading. This is her latest book titled "What Southern Women Know About Faith."

The China is Summer Terrace, part of Lenox Casual Images Collection.
To my knowledge it is no longer available. We do use it as our everyday dishes
and I still love the pattern.

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