My Pantry Makeover

It's time for me to show you one of the deep dark secrets of my house: the pantry.

I know, not very shocking to most, but to me it was.  Once upon almost three years ago, Mr. Nag and I were looking to buy our first house.  We wanted a house to knew we'd be in for 7+ years, a house to grow into.  One thing on my must list was a nice-sized pantry, if we were a growing family I needed a pantry to be ready for when we're 'grown'--- a must for the Mister was a 'build-your-own' home.  This was hard to do in the area we wanted to stay in.  So, since marriage is about compromise, I sacrificed pantry square-footage, to build the house we wanted.  I did so knowing that we would do something about it later.

Later has come, my friends.

I wasn't able to add a magic-extending spell, I wish (like Hermione's bag-- Harry Potter 7).  However, I was able to do the next best thing which was ORGANIZE.  I know that's a dirty word to some people, but it's seriously easy and addicting once you start.  Let's go outside in.

OUTSIDE

First off, your eyes don't deceive you, it is a Magnetic Door.  In order to make this you need: metal (from the roofing section-- it comes in rolls), cabinet trim (you can even have them cut it there, if you don't own a saw-- we do, so I had to let Mr. Nag use his tool), and calk for windows and mirrors (in the calking section).  You also need a little patience to let everything dry (overnight-ish, each time).  Basically, cut & mount the metal, let dry.  Then, repeat with trim.  Put a lot of  weight on the metal, so it doesn't dry wavy.

1. Days until countdown:  I saw this idea floating around the web & pinterest, on a board painted with Chalkboard paint, so I thought it would be great to put it on the door.  Yes, Mr. Nag has a BIG birthday coming up. :)
2. Remember:  This is our little reminder section.  Reminder for anything... including being awesome. ;)
3. What's Cooking:  This is how I meal plan.  I like to look more than just a week ahead, so I printed off a 2012 calendar half-sheet size & plan as much as the upcoming month as I can.  Days get switched here and there, but overall, it works well & cuts down over-shopping at the grocery store.
4. Our Week:  The most recent week in our lives.  This is where all appointments, meetings, parties, nightly dinners will go.  It's dry-erase vinyl.  Yes, I know Wednesday is missing.  This was the first time Silhouette ever played with DEV, they didn't get along, until I sweet-talked (i.e. fixed the settings on the machine).  Unfortunately, I only had a couple of sheets, so I ran out before I could finish Wednesday.  This will soon be remedied, as I bought a roll of DEV at Hobby Lobby today. :)
5. Love Notes:  Another idea I saw around, I think the original was at {Kiki Creates}.  Basically, it says, I love..... because....  The idea is to think of random reasons for loving family members.  The one in the picture says I love the hubs because he made breakfast and lunch; he also made dinner later that night.  My guy is amazing!
6. Mail Organization:  I was sick, sick, sick of seeing mail and other random papers sitting around on our counter.  One trip to Target later, I came home with the mesh magnetic basket, the mail sorter, and chalk marker holder.  Sweet!  Not sweet, Mr. Nag is still getting used to this and that little Netflix envelope sat there for THREE days--- it's okay though, he does other good things (like make the aforementioned meals).

INSIDE

1. Over the Door Organizer:  If you're pantry is smaller than you want it to be, the first thing you need to do is buy one of these.  It instantly adds so much space.  We bought this one on {Amazon}.  This is where we put boxed goods & other random things.
2. Dollar Finds:  I found these mini-baskets in the Dollar Section at Target.  Perfect for storing plastic cutlery (and chalk markers on the door).
3. Backsplash & Cereal Organization:  The backsplash is actually painted fiberboard.  Every shelf has one, the top shelf's is wider.  I'm not going to lie: it. took. forever.  BUT, it was worth it.  I cut out a stencil from my Silhouette, stenciled it on, then painted every little section.  Each time I finished a section was a victory.  Add, it's easy to change.  Not like that's going to happen anytime soon, though.  We got the cereal containers at Target; easy to figure out which cereal is which.  FYI:  Chalk Markers are GREAT for labeling.  I can use them on chalkboard (vinyl), plastics or metal.  So, I wrote the kind of cereals & snacks for the snack shelf.  Fantastic!
4. The Basics Shelf:  I <3 IKEA.  It's not a small heart, either, it's rather large.  Every room in our house has a little bit of IKEA in it; it's like our extra family member.  This pantry reorganization would have crumbled to the ground without IKEA.  All of the silver-lid & blue-lid containers came from IKEA.

5. Snacks & Baking:  When we get home from the grocery store, we immediately get rid of anything self-packaged within a box.  This saves a ton of space.  This is especially true for the snack shelf.  Bigger snacks have their own blue-lid container, while small snacks are group together in a Target-It-so skinny tray.  Then, I have a green tray with all our Drink Mixes in it.  The shelf under snacks has two baskets, one for extra (or random) condiments and the other for Baking Goods.  If all of my similar items are together, then I don't have to hunt for them when in 'kitchen' mode.
6. Cans & Floor Level:  Target rescued me on this shelf.  Three-tiered organizer so I can easily see everything.  The floor level has a closet container from IKEA; it contains my foil, wraps, paper products, and extra snacks.  Anything on these two shelves is shatter-proof, since little hands can touch.

It's amusing to me how much this has made a difference.  If Mr. Nag has to make dinner (which has been a lot lately, sorry, babe!), then he knows exactly where to look.  He's still getting used to having a place for the mail, but he's allowed a little bit of a learning curve... only a little.  I'm excited for when the kids get older and we'll be able to have the weed laid out for us, or have a random love note from one of them.  This was definitely a for a future project... I just hope that future includes Wednesday. :)

I link up {HERE}.

Mother's Day? = Everyday and a FREEBIE

Getting back into the blogging habit may take some time, but I'll figure it out. I'll just blame the whole directing a HUGE production thing for getting me out of the habit. Luckily, I started creating things again and, with luck, I'll be able to show y'all what I've been up to.

Onto to Mother's Day... I know it's a month late and Father's Day is a couple days away, however, I may argue (being a Mom myself) that you don't need a holiday to give Mom's a gift. Here's a list of what I made for Mother's Day:

Let's start off with a FREEBIE I made, I found this poem somewhere on the blogosphere. Since it was anonymous, I copied it to use as a Mom's gift for friends. If you ever have a friend who has a bad day, this would be perfect to share.
We made Handprint Flower Magnets for all the grandmothers (greats included). Found it {HERE}. Really simple all you need is: fingerpaint, laminating materials, E6000, glue gun, clothespins and the tongue depressor/popsicle stick. Make the prints, let them dry, laminate, glue stem and flower together. Then, glue in this order: stick, clothespin, magnet. IMPORTANT: let the glue dry between each step. I loved these so much, we made a set for me for Mother's Day! ;)

My MIL is really into gardening so we made her {THESE} plant markers.

(The picture is from the website I completely forgot to take a picture of the ones I made). Really simple, we even made her a strawberry marker since she LOVES to grow strawberries (she is Californian after all).

My other MIL (yes, I have TWO) enjoys her coffee so she got three new {coffee cozies}.
Really simple and really personal. Just click on the link to get a picture (because I forgot... again).

We went to Disneyworld with my parents shortly after Mother's Day(it.was.awesome.), so I made my Mom a tote to take with her. I basically cut out fabric Mickey ears, sewed them on and the {freezer papered} the writing onto the bag.
A few of them got this tile...
Oh boy, do I love my {silhouette}. It's just a 5x5 tile with vinyl adhered to the front. If you have a silhouette, I'd be more than happy to email you the document.

And I may have gone a little crazy making a bunch of {these} bracelets.

Some for me, my daughter, friends, and my mom; because everyone deserves new bracelets now and then. {HERE} is a video tutorial for you visual learners. ;)

Now, I know Mother's Day just passed, but I think any of these presents will excite 365 days of the year.

Disney Vacation Countdown

Production Update: It's going well--- we have 30 Days until the performance date and I'm really excited! In the meantime...

My family just recently booked our first big family vacation to Walt Disneyworld! We're really excited and to help the days pass, I decided to make a countdown. I found a couple really cute ones in the blogging world, but none really fit want I wanted to do. Mostly, I wanted to make it generic (used for Disneyworld, land, and maybe Cruise..one day) and I wanted it to be reusable.

Enter my Silhouette.

How did I make this?

Supplies:

• cutting machine or scissors
• black, red, and yellow cardstock
• permanent marker
• yarn
• tape
• adhesive
• spare container-- I used a Crystal Light container (love those things)

The Process:

1. I googled Mouse Ears, used the Trace feature and began cutting ears out... a lot of ears... 70 to be exact. If you don't have a cutting machine, you can always use a Mickey Mouse cookie-cutter or print them on cardstock, etc.
2. NOTE: My last 10 ears, and the multiples of 10 (20, 30, etc.) are bigger than the rest of the numbers. I had 16 big ears and 54 little ears; that's if your countdown starts at 70 because your family is just as impatient as mine.
3. For the title, I used my Walt Disney font and set the word 'countdown' along the bottom edge of a circle. Then I cut it out. And glued it to a couple other sheets of cardstock. Remember to watch for the little pieces.
4. To assemble. I taped 10 ears each on a strings of yarn. Then I tape those strings underneath the sign. (Don't forget to write the numbers on the ears before taping them to the string). Eventually, I'll laminate them all, but I'm kind of in the middle of direction a rather large production... I had to be efficient... next vacation.
5. Each day, my son and I cut off a Mickey Ears for the day. If the Mickey Ears for the day happen to be BIG ears, then he also gets to pick an activity out of the Mickey Jar. (to assemble that I used an old Crystal Light container and extra ears from my cutting madness).
6. I printed activities out on red and yellow cardstocks. Here's what we'll do by the end of the countdown: Disney-Themed Dinner, Create our "Must-Do" List, Postcard People List (who we'll buy and send postcards to), Mickey Ear Day (wear Mickey Ears all day), Disney Movie Night, Disney Music Marathon, Wear Disney Jammies, Have Mickey Pancakes, Make Family Shirts, Make Number Tattoos for kiddos (temp tatts to put on their arms in case they get lost), Color Disney Pictures, Bounce Around like Tigger, Disney Crafts (great ideas HERE), Get/make an autograph book, Read Disney Stories, Hide the Mickey game (kind of like hot 'n cold), Pack Bags and Carry-ons!

We're really excited to go on our vacation and this countdown makes it just a little bit more Magical!

Family Night 1-2-3

About a year ago, I read about this idea in the {Ensign}. I knew it would help us improve in having more habitual {Family Home Evening}.

FHE, 1-2-3!

The original idea called for glass jars... FHE Jars. I really want to have glass for something I knew my young kiddos would freqently touch (I kept imagining glass shards flying all across our tile), so I waited to make the craft until I came across the perfect plastic containers. Thank you, Crystal Light!

Supplies: 3 plastic containers (I reused our old Crystal Light containers), larger container to hold them in (I got mine at Hobby Lobby in the clearance section), large Popsicle sticks, 3 sheets of scrapbook paper, spray adhesive, sticky velcro circles, small wooden cutouts (one for each family member) and multiple permanent markers.

To make the containers

• Cut out a large enough rectangle to wrap around each container (mine are 6 by 8 1/2 inches)
• Next, lay out some cardboard/newspaper and spray a generous coat around one container. Wrap the rectangle around and repeat for the other two containers.
• If you have a cutting machine, you can cut out the numbers 1,2,3 for each container. If not, do what I did and cut them out of paper and glue them on.

The activitiesThis is actually the most time-consuming part. Using your judgment (and the Popsicle sticks) write down individual choices for each component. What, I didn't tell you what each container actually contains? Well... let me explain...

The containers hold a different part of FHE. Every week (or the week before after the evening's activity) draw one stick from each container.

Here's how to divide the containers:
1- Songs: In ours, I wrote the song title and the number found in the Children's Songbook. You could also do songs from the hymnbook.
2- Spiritual Thought: Things like family stories or names of books/magazines to get lessons from (such as the Friend, Ensign, Nursery Manual or Preach My Gospel).
3- The Night's Activity: This is where you could have a Family council, testimony meeting or evening at the Pool.

Don't forget the Wild Card in each container. If you have older kids, you could even create the options for your next FHE! We've had a month with this new system and our two year old loves to pick the sticks--- he even tries to throughout the week!

Lastly, stick velcro pieces all around the outside of your large container and on the back of your wooden cut outs (I have stars for our family). This will help you keep track of who's in charge of the three different containers, prayers and treats!

I hope this helps to make your Family Nights run a little easier--- I know ours have!