While I was in the thick of painting this dresser I found on craigslist, Caroline said, "There's no turning back now, the old dresser is at the dump!"  Yes, it took a lot of time and elbow grease to turn this mahogany stained bow front dresser into a crisp, white dresser for Grace & Caroline.  The lighting is horrible, but here are some pics...

Grace wanted shiny hardware, so I sanded, polished, and buffed each blackened, tarnished pull as best I could....for hours.

I read somewhere that adhesive drawer liner can attract bugs, so I found some pretty wrapping paper at Target that my girls approve of, and lined the drawers of their new dresser.  Grace would love to have hot pink walls, but pops of bold color will have to do.

I decided that Grace and Caroline are old enough to have a say in decorating their room, and we'll be done with our collaboration in a couple weeks.  Can't wait to pull it together and have a lot of little projects DONE!  ...more pics to come.

I'm having pantry envy!

I keep my pantry envy in check knowing this lovely pantry belongs to a couple not a family of 7. However, if I stocked my pantry like this I'm sure I'd be a few pounds lighter. Hmmm... I'm keeping this on file.

I love it!

Photo from Design Sponge.

Pantry belongs to the talented couple behind EmersonMade.

Their home oozes New England style. Lots to love!

Spring organizing GIVEAWAY!

We're nearing the end of winter (YEAH!), & I for one am ready to welcome spring with open arms! By spring I mean spring weather, because here in New England we've got about 6 more weeks of winter weather, but we signed up for this, right? :) I'm looking outside today and it's a delight to see that winter has finally rolled out a green(ish) carpet of grass to welcome spring.

What is it about going from winter to spring that makes me want to clean, toss, simplify, and organize? Spring really is about change and rebirth...who doesn't LOVE this about spring?! OK, the process of spring cleaning may not be "fun," but the result sure feels great ('til the next tot-made mess). Seriously though, let me tell you about some FUN organizing I've been up to that you can actually benefit from....did I mention there is a giveaway involved?

Recently I won this studio jk vinyl label giveaway on ilashgirls (co-run by Leigh Anne Wilkes, author of yourhomebasedmom). Check out the {studio jk vinyl} Etsy shop. Owner, Jamie Kay has lots of fun designs, both organizing labels & home decor, and she's wonderful to work with.

I was so excited when my kitchen labels arrived, and my simple little kitchen got a fun boost...& a little more organized too. Organization is a happy thing. I ditched a set of silver canisters we've had since moving to Boston. They ran their coarse...thank you, Costco, {& no, the canisters are NOT the giveaway}. I replaced the old canisters with new glass canisters from Target, and labeled 2 of them for the staples "flour" and "sugar", and a third label reads "cookies" for my long awaited cookie jar. Along with organization, cookie jars are a happy thing! Do you remember your grandma's cookie jar? When my grandma's cookie jar was filled with lemon whippersnappers, now THAT was a treat! Check out the recipe HERE on my SIL's food blog.

Back to the labels....I won 6 labels, so I put the other 3 labels in the pantry on a few air-tight containers holding staples we don't go through quite as fast. Here's a link to Alton Brown's pancake mix recipe.

Jamie's kitchen labels make a pantry look snazzy!

I was so pleased with my prize that I emailed Jamie and let her know I'd LOVE to "pay it forward" with this prize and offer this giveaway to my friends, family, & blog visitors. The retail value of the labels is $15. If you don't want or need kitchen labels, you can use the $15 credit for anything in Jamie's Etsy shop.

To participate in the giveaway, just leave one comment on this post. This giveaway ends Tuesday, March 3 at midnight & I'll announce the winner Wednesday morning, so be sure to check back, and/or leave your email in the comment (if you don't think I have it already).

PS. If you're in the market for kitchen canisters, check out Target, Wal-Mart, or take advantage of this sale at Container Store- 20% off everything ENDS MARCH 1, 11:59pm CST.

Good luck!

&

Happy Spring...anticipating, cleaning, blogging, whatever you're doing!

Ice Storm '08

Look what we woke up to this morning!  We could hear some snapping and crashing last night, but slept through the ice storm. This morning the trees are still covered in ice and you can still hear snapping and crashing from the upper limbs falling down.   You can see branches down all along our street and in nearly every yard.  In the center of the photo you can see that our grill was crushed.  The tree trunk to the right of the grill was uprooted and the top of the tree can be seen up close right outside our kitchen window....

Thankfully no windows were smashed.  We were without power last night so I got to bed at a decent time.  The kids are home from school today...Christina and Thomas are thrilled, Grace- not so much.  We'll have some fun and hope that we've seen the worst of the ice storm.

ADDENDUM:

Wayne took the following photos.  We were without power for several hours, so I'm just now able to add them here.  Pretty amazing.  We've never seen anything like this.  The sun is out now and everything is melting.  Icicles are showering down like rain.  Branches are still breaking and falling here and there.  We've got a fire in the fireplace and the kids are "cleaning the playroom."  We all cheered when the power came back on, let me tell you!  I need to melt chocolate to make my cake bites!

PS. Cheri, do you recognize Wayne's tan coat in one of these photos? It's the one John gave him ages ago...LOL!

Fun finds

Found: One white window.   I found this salvaged antique window at a tent sale at The Purple Rose in Northborough, MA. What a fun boutique! I found the ladder I'm using for my nightstand on the left there as well, but back to the window....I love the diamond pane. Ever since my first visit to the Kirtland Temple in OH, I've had a thing for unique window panes. When I spied this particular window, I knew it would be fun to hang over my bed. I cleaned the window up today and voila, it goes with our casual style.  The owner of the Purple Rose said she kept a window just like this for herself. At Christmas time she hangs a wreath in front of it....I think I'll do the same.  Something I'm keeping my eyes out for now: an old door....check out picture #4 of the main slideshow.

Found: Aqua mason jars. These antique jars are so cool! The lids are glass.  My sis, Tal & I spied them at a yard sale along with a stack of glass plates.  This was the day after we painted the kitchen green and I knew right where to put the jars.   To fill them or not to fill them....I haven't decided.  What would you do?  The wire shopping bag holds my Aunt Mary's recipe book, a few other mini recipe books, and kitchen appliance manuals.  The shelf is a bargain from IKEA, and the wall organizer is from Pottery Barn.

Found: Barnwood table from craigslist & old red bench from a now closed shop in Somerville, MA.  What to do with my blank wall?  Child's art?  

The Choice Board

The choice board idea comes from Christina's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. McCoy. We loved her! The point of the choice board is for the kids to have a visual way to see what activities they can do after their chores are done. Some choices like COMPUTER- 1 hour, can only involve one child at a time, so if that activity is clear, a child can put their picture on that choice. No one else can choose that activity until that child's hour is up or until they move to another activity, whichever comes first. Some choices can involve all of the kids. For the choices, I included the name of the activity, the time limit (if applicable), and the child limit (if applicable).

Since our 5th child is 1 year old, he obviously is too young to participate. So, with the extra row at the bottom of our chart I posted reminders for behavior we expect at our home- "take turns, be safe, have fun, listen, be kind, share, be honest."

Some things I love about the choice board:

• It eliminates some squabbles as it gives each child a clear chance to play on the computer, game cube, and in the play tent.
• It motivates the kids to get their chores done quickly so they can get to the choice board as soon as possible.
  
• It's a boredom buster as it visually shows the kids that there are plenty of activities to choose from each day.
• The choice board give the kids independence in making choices of what appropriate activities they do throughout the day, but at the same time it allows me to know what each child is doing and where to find them at any given moment, & the kids know where to find each other.
• TV is not an option, so when I do pop in a movie, it's a real treat.

To make a choice board, map out your choices & kids on a graph on paper and then decide if you want to translate it onto a magnetic board or large poster board. I involved my kids in coming up with the choices and time limits. This way they feel invested in our summer choice board. It's not just MOM's idea.

If using a magnetic board (this is what I chose to do) you can either use colored tape to map out the graph on the board OR use a fill-in-the-blank calendar magnet board (this is what I used). Take pictures of the choices and your kids. Print the images and trim to a size that will work for your graph. Laminate the photos. Attach a magnet to the back of each photo. Arrange kids' photos and choice photos on your board & you're set!

If using poster board, laminate the poster board and follow instructions for magnet board choice board, only use strong Velcro instead of magnets to move the kids around the choices.