Controlling Chaos

Sometimes that’s exactly what my life feels like….chaos.  With two teenagers that are involved in school activities and me working a full time job in addition to the normal household stuff sometimes life gets C.R.A.Z.Y.! 

Take for example this cute cabinet.  What? You don’t see the uber cute cabinet?  Too many papers you say?  Yep, that would be part of my crazy life. 

 

I put this cabinet here to use as a staging area for my keys, glasses and any papers the boys needed me to sign for school.  However it has become the dumping ground for everything.  Mail, check.  Medicine, check.  Pens and pencils, check.  Anything the boys don’t know what to do with, check and double check.  I’d try to clear the top off by putting things on the shelves inside but then those just joined in the craziness too.  So now it’s time to stop the crazy train!  

Using a black plastic filing bin, some hanging file folders, and a good size trash bag I spent a Saturday afternoon going through everything.  I began by looking at every paper.  It was either going to be trashed, recycled, shredded, or filed.  As you can see the trash pile was seeing a lot of love.  Why was some of this paper just not thrown out when I first touched it? 

Even the dog was amazed by how big the trash pile was

After sorting the paper I made labels for the hanging file folders based on the filing stacks I just made.  Some tabs are bank statements, medical bills/information, and school items.  I don’t plan on this becoming a permanent filing area for these things just a holding area.  Every so often I plan on transferring the documents from the filing bin to the permanent filing location. 

On the front I attached blank monthly calendars I printed.  I haven’t filled this in yet but hope to use it for menu planning. 

This system has been in place now for about three weeks and so far so good.  The only things landing on the top of the cabinet are my keys, glasses and a few papers for the boys to take back to school.  Ahhh, controlled chaos how I love thee!

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

While perusing Pinterest I was intrigued by this pin.  The original post came from Carla over at Hammers and High Heels.  She saw it at a Holiday Open House in her area.

How simple and easy would this be to recreate?  I even knew the exact spot I wanted this to reside.  So off I went….

Using a Word document I started my first line of the saying in the middle of the page and formatted the font and size.  Psst:  The font I used was Times New Roman, italicized, 36 pts.  I set my paper to Legal rather than Letter.  I figured if it’s too much paper it would be easier to trim than try to add.  After printing the first line of the saying I simply selected the text and typed my next line over it.  Print then repeat with third line.  Keep a few blank sheets to wrap additional books.

Now I did this a little backwards.  I probably should have found the books I wanted to use prior to printing out the saying.  That way I could have adjusted the paper size or even increased/decreased the font as needed.  But I wasn’t near my books so I made do.  At least it was easy enough that if it meant redoing the printing I could.  Remember to save the file in case you need to go back for changes!

Lucky for me the stash of books I found in my son’s closet meant no changes to the print outs.  I would have loved all hardback books but he still rereads most of those so I was left with the paperbacks and a couple of hardbacks.

Now here are the very detailed instructions for putting this look together.  Be sure to follow exactly….wink, wink.

1. Wrap the paper around the book centering the wording on the spine.
2. Tape the ends of the paper to the inside flaps of the book.
3. Stack books. 
4. Tie with ribbon. 
5. Add a few birds. 
6. Step back and admire. 
7. Do happy dance {optional}. 

Obviously this is a super easy project that can be completed in 30 minutes or less.  And how cute do they look?  I’ve struggled for a while on finding a way to display these birds.  I either had something too high or too low but this is just right --- why do I suddenly feel like I channeled Goldilocks?  

Right now I like the look of the white paper but how fun (and easy!) would it be to change it up with colored paper?   Oh, and the cost?  FREE!  The paper, tape, books, ribbon and birds were all on hand.  Yippee for no cost decorating!

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Hello

My name is Jenny. Nice to meet you.

Just thought I’d introduce myself again since it’s been SO LONG since I posted anything! I’m having a hard time figuring out how other bloggers do this. Maybe they’re stay at home moms or only work part time. Maybe they treat their blog like a second job by scheduling certain hours a day to work on it. Perhaps they write several posts at once and schedule their publish date. So until I find my groove you will have to forgive me for my sporadic posts. But I can say I’ve been busy since the last you heard from me. I’ve done several projects and started even more. I’ve been thinking about and planning bigger projects to complete when the weather turns nice. In short, I’ve had several posts spinning around in my head but never took the time to actually write them up. But that’s a story for another day…

Today I want to share with you a recent purchase. In the room evolution post about the dining room I noted how I wanted to evolve the area {again}. After scouring Craig’s List for what seemed like forever I am now on my way to the next evolution! Check out my score…..

Yep, parsons chairs. Just what I was dreaming about – sort of. I actually was dreaming of parsons chairs with great fabric and wonderfully dark stained legs instead I got dirty, stained upholstery and fabric covered legs. But for $10 a chair I can’t really complain. Yes, I said $10 A CHAIR!! For that price I can look past the fabric and the stains, couldn’t you?

I’ve got plans to remove the fabric then putty, sand, and paint the legs. I’ve already decided on what I will use to reupholster the seat and back and let’s just say it’s not what this item was meant for! This project will not be finished any time in the near future since there has to be a million staples per chair to be removed in addition to needing warmer weather for the puttying and painting phase. But I do promise to keep you updated and share all the delicious details!