Sandy's Pantry Make-Over...

Hi, folks! As I mentioned earlier this week, last Saturday I visited my SIL Sandy to help her organize her pantry. Here are a few before and after photos of that project:

First off, here is what her pantry looked like before we removed everything...lots of packages, bottles, etc.:

Before I arrived at her house, Sandy and her daughter Kari took everything out of the pantry and stacked it on the dining room table, kitchen counters and the bar:

Here's the empty pantry, all ready to be organized:

We started out by combining multiple packages of same items, such as pasta and cereal, into their own air-tight containers. This eliminated extra boxes/packaging, which takes up a lot of precious shelf space. We sorted through the spices, flavorings and food color and discarded anything that was expired/out of date. We combined like items, such as drink mixes, hot cocoa mixes, tea bags, etc. into their own bin and designated a specific area for them on one of the shelves. We continued with that method with other products such as breakfast foods, canned goods, pastas and sauces, etc.; clearly labeling the containers for easy access. We also designated areas for pots, pans and casserole dishes:

Sandy was so happy with her newly organized pantry, and I was so happy that I could help her with this project! I hope this has inspired you to go through your pantry and discard expired food goods or combine duplicate packages of foods that you have on hand. You'll be amazed at how much space can be saved in your storage area just by doing that. :)

Wishing you a fun and safe Labor Day weekend!

Blessings,

Operation "Ivory Soap" and Other Happenings...

Good morning, folks! Lately I have been on a mission to figure out how to deter the bunny family that lives under our garden shed from eating up the plants in our backyard flower beds. Mike and I don't mind sharing our backyard with the bunny family, actually we like seeing them out and about, but we don't want them wreaking havoc on our plants. Below is a photo of just one of the plants that they have munched away on during the winter months...believe it or not it is a holly bush! I would have never dreamed that rabbits would eat the pointy/stickery leaves of a holly bush, buy by golly they gobbled it up! (Actually, they've gobbled up 3 holly bushes in this bed, as well as several other plants.)

Anyhoo...I've been reading/researching on how to keep the bunnies away from our plants without harming the plants or the bunnies. There are several remedies out there, but the one that I have decided to try out first my hubs has named "Operation Ivory Soap":

Basically what I read is that if you cut up bars of Ivory Soap and scatter it around your plants and flowers the critters will stay away. The day lilies planted in the bed by our garden shed have started to come up, so when hubby re-mulched this weekend he tossed a few chunks of Ivory Soap around them:

In the near future we'll be replacing/adding mulch and plants to the other beds as well, so Ivory Soap chunks will be added in those areas too. I'll keep you posted to let you know if "Operation Ivory Soap" is a success! :)

In other news this week...WOO HOO!! I am on spring break this week!!! Along with working on some craft projects and cleaning my craft room, (which looks like a bomb has gone off in it - LOL!), I've got some other fun things planned. My mom, who lives about an hour away, is coming down for the day so that we can go to some of the antique shops here in Broken Arrow. I'll be meeting my pal Sharon S. for fun conversation and a delicious lunch at Olive Garden; and one afternoon my best bud Jamie and I are gonna grab a bite to eat and then go see "OZ" at the theater. I 've got a couple of books about Mary Queen of Scots to finish reading, and I might even make time to squeeze in a nap or two before the week is over!

Many schools are out for spring break this week, so please keep an eye out for the kiddos that will be riding bikes, skateboards, etc.

Wishing you a TERRIFIC week!

Cute Way to Use Cloth Napkins...

Last Friday I enjoyed a nice lunch with my friend Andrea at the Utica Square Olive Garden. She has been working hard all summer on her Master's Degree at TU, so I decided to take her a little treat! I tied up a little loaf of my Chunky Monkey Sweet Bread with a cute plaid napkin, (click HERE for the recipe). I then attached a felt flower that I made/stitched to a little hair clip for her precious 20 month old granddaughter, Ella.

I am always on the lookout for random cloth napkins on clearance racks and at discount stores like Tuesday Morning. They are so handy for wrapping baked goods, lining baskets, tucking into gift bags, etc. Most of the time I can pick them up for a buck each, since no one wants just one cloth napkin sitting in the clearance bin - ha! ha!

Wishing you a blessed day!

Pantry Organization Tour

Recently I spent a little time reorganizing my walk-in pantry. I started pulling everything off of the shelves and washing them down with Lysol kitchen cleaner. Here are a few photos of my pantry and how I keep everything organized and readily accessible:

When you open the door to my pantry, the light automatically comes on - I just LOVE that!! The pantry has deep "L" shaped shelves, so the first photo is of the left side:

And the second photo is of the right side:

I don't alphabetize the canned goods on the shelves in my pantry, instead I organize them by type. For instance, I keep all of the canned veggies together, canned soups together, sauces together, canned fruits together, etc. For me, that makes more sense than alphabetizing things, and in turn makes it easier for my family to locate the items that they need.

I store a lot of things in some of my Longaberger baskets...everything from cookie cutters to holiday napkins, to plastic tableware. I also have white plastic baskets where I store plastic bowls and lids for us to put leftovers in for our lunches. I purchased these white baskets at the Dollar Tree for a buck each, and they work great for corraling the bowls and their matching lids:

A friend of my hubby's gave me a bunch of glass canning jars that he found while cleaning out his mom's barn. Some of them are really large - 4 qt. sized - so I purchased white plastic lids for them at Wal-Mart and put them to good use by storing dry goods. They work great for holding various pastas, rice, beans, cornmeal, etc. - and they look cute to boot! I added some fun red ribbon and tags to each jar to dress them up a bit:

I used some of the jars to store a few of my baking goods, such as powdered and brown sugar, marshmallows and red hots candies:

I use one of the short, wide-mouth jars to neatly store my cupcake liners:

To keep my rolls of aluminum foil, plastic wrap, parchment baking paper, zip-loc bags, and such neat and tidy, I store them upright in a large plastic magazine holder that I purchased at Wal-Mart. (I got this BRILLIANT idea from Pinterest!)

My spices are stored on 2 lazy-susan turn tables, and my Kool-Aid, coffee filters, chip clips and seasoning packets are stored in easy to reach baskets. My canisters fit nicely on one of the shelves, which frees up counter space in my kitchen, and I also keep all of my crock pots, mixing bowls, pots/pans, and baking dishes within easy reach on these shelves as well. Drinking straws are stored in a glass jar, next the the basket that keeps our loaf of bread from getting squashed:

My pantry is one of my favorite rooms in our home because it is so neat and organized...it just makes me happy when I walk into it!

Thanks for letting me share these organizing tips with you today...I hope that they help you too!

Blessings,

Brilliant Idea!! New Use for Dryer Sheets!

Last weekend my sweetie hand washed my Mustang and tried out a new technique for removing dead bug splatters, (ICK!), from the bumpers. A friend of his from work told him that the dead, stuck-on bugs would come off really easily simply by wetting a dryer sheet and rubbing it over the "buggy" areas:

Well, I am here to tell you that it worked like a charm - no heavy scrubbing at all! BRILLIANT!

Hope this great tip helps you the next time you wash your car!

Have a wonderful day!

Household Tip: How to Clean Lampshades in a Snap!

I'm on "staycation" this week, so I'm working on some projects around the house, cleaning out and organizing closets, etc. Since I'm in a major cleaning mode, I thought I'd share with you how I clean my lampshades...

The easiest way that I have found to effectively do this is to use a clothing lint removal roller...you know the kind that has the sticky tape stuff that you can peel off after each use. Just roll it over your lamp shade and the dust sticks to it:

You can purchase one of these little gems for a buck at the dollar store and they last for a long, long time! I can usually clean two or three lamp shades before I have to remove the top layer to reveal the next layer of sticky tape:

I hope this little tip has been helpful to you! Wishing you a blessed day!

Household Tip: How to Quickly Fluff Up Carpet Where Furniture Legs Have Been...

During the snow storm we had in February, (which forced most of us to stay inside for several days!), I decided to move my living room furniture around. Since the furniture had been in the same location for a while, the sofa and chair legs left crushed marks in the carpet:

A quick remedy for this is to use a kitchen fork to fluff up the carpet:

By gently running the fork through the carpet strands you can quickly and easily fluff up the crushed down areas and no one will be able to see where your furniture has previously been:

I hope this little tip has been helpful! Have a fun and safe weekend!

My Cleaning Arsenal and Cleaning Tips...

As many of my friends, family and co-workers know, I'm a bit of a clean freak! Many times they'll ask me how to get a stain out of a piece of clothing or how to tackle a specific tough cleaning job, and I'm always happy to share with them the tips and tricks that I've learned over the years while raising a son and being married to a fella who are outdoors enthusiasts and, therefore, dirt magnets! Here's a photo of my cleaning arsenal...below the photo is an itemized list of the products and just a few ways how I use each one:

Products left to right:

Front Row:

• White Vinegar: This product is AWESOME for a ton of cleaning purposes and is completely safe for the environment! If my laundry, (especially bath towels), starts to smell a little soured I add a cup to the wash at the same time I add laundry soap. This makes my towels smell so fresh and clean!
• Bar Keepers Friend: Gently scrubs my stainless steel kitchen sinks and leaves them amazingly shiny! Works great on stubborn stains, (like red Kool-Aid), on kitchen countertops too! 
• Baking Soda: Pour a little bit down a smelly bathroom or kitchen drain and add a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white vinegar...the chemical reaction will "boil" the odors away! Once again...completely natural and safe for the environment!

Back Row:

• Swiffer Products: Do these even need an explaination?!?!? A GENIUS invented these! They make cleaning a breeze, and now that you can purchase them with the scent of "Febreez" added to the cloths, your house will smell so nice after swiffering the floor or dusting the furniture! I LOVE to use these to dust the dashboard, etc. in my car...they do a super job of picking up the dust that gets into all of the little cracks and crevices!
• Microfiber Cloths: Gives my bathroom mirrors, windows, glass fronted cabinets and chrome fixtures that "WOW" factor! Doesn't leave any streaks behind...just an INCREDIBLE shine! I use them with water only, so these are also environmentally friendly!
• Magic Erasers: Invented by yet another Genius!!! These little gems are fabulous for getting smudges off of painted walls and doors. They are also great for cleaning white leather tennis shoes, and when used on a glass shower door they do a terrific job of removing soap scum and water spots!
• Clorox Wipes: I use these constantly to wipe down kitchen and bathroom counters, the TV remotes, phones, door knobs, light switches, bathroom fixtures, etc. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to keep germs at bay and these fit the bill nicely!
• Lemon Oil: This natural product, applied with a soft cloth, will make your cabinets and furniture shine...and it smells wonderful to boot! It can also be applied to clean, glass shower doors or tile/fiberglass surrounds to repel water and cut down on water spots.

Now, if this post doesn't inspire you to get a jump start on your spring cleaning I don't know what will - HA! HA! Have a wonderful day!

Recipe of the Week..."Cheeseburger & Fries Casserole"

As I stated in yesterday's post, one of the things that I do each Sunday afternoon is prepare all of our meals for the upcoming week. This is a MAJOR time saver for me, since I work full time! It also saves money, because I'm not tempted to go through a drive-through on the way home since I've already got dinner ready to pop in the oven! The photo below shows how I label the dishes I prepare each Sunday. I use a Sharpie and write the following information on the foil cover:

• What's in the dish
• The date it's to be prepared
• The oven temperature and length of time it takes to cook

If Mike gets home from work before me, he has all of the information in front of him so he can pop it into the oven and we can get dinner on the table quicker!

The next photo is of the Cheesburger and Fries Casserole, that I served for dinner Tuesday evening, and it's this week's recipe of the week:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean ground hamburger meat
• 1 package dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• American cheese slices
• Half of a 32 oz. bag frozen french fries
• Cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
In a large mixing bowl, combine hamburger meat, dry onion soup mix, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Press meat mixture into a greased 8" or 9" baking dish. Place cheese slices on top of meat mixture. Add frozen french fries on top of the cheese. Whisk together soup and milk and pour over french fries. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. Serve with a salad and enjoy!

This is a very, very quick and easy meal to prepare, and kids LOVE it!
Have a great day!