Foto Friday--The Finished Hobby Room

This has been the craziest day yet. I promise to post about it next week (and host the aforementioned giveaway), but for today, here are the pictures of the finished hobby room.

Here is what it used to look like, picture on the left is pre-decluttering; picture on the right is mid-decluttering:

When we moved into the house, this was one of the first rooms I finished.  It's a long, skinny room--so skinny that I can almost touch both walls at the same time.  Kind of a weird room that was created when we changed some roof gables.  I adopted this little orphan and dubbed it "Hobby Room," for my sewing, scrapbooking, wrapping, whatever.

Along the right wall and under the window, I placed IKEA adjustable tabletops, with wicker basket units underneath to hold all my stuff.  I also used a four-drawer filing cabinet to hold the TV, patterns, and more stuff. On the left wall I stapled IKEA fabric to the walls, trimmed it out with IKEA rods and wire baskets, and loaded it down with ribbon, wrapping paper and tissue. I added a few shelves and tchotchkes, and I liked the room.  It always looked cluttered, but it was very functional. I used it a lot, in the beginning.

Fast-forward four years, and my hobbies have markedly changed--little to no scrapbooking, still wrapping, but mostly I need peace.  Here are pictures of the finished room, along with a few bonus surprises I was saving for last. (I don't know why I struggled so much with getting pictures of this space--maybe because of its shape?  I never could get a picture of something head-on.) Photo on the left is looking into the room, and photo on the right is looking across the hall into the laundry room.)

Inspiration for the room came from these prints I got at HomeGoods. I love the colors: I had bought them for another room, but they didn't work in there, and I'd been holding onto them, trying to find them a home.  The yellow and teal of the flowers is where I found the dresser and shutter colors, and after I decided on a color scheme, I proceeded from room to room accumulating treasures that would fit in--the table runner, the lamp, Micah's handprint.

One surprise I've been saving is this find from . . . Qcumberz:

Aren't these doors DEEE-VINE?  My friend mentioned how she had found an old door to use as a growth chart for her kids, and I thought, "What a great idea!"  I have kids' heights recorded each year, so I could add them retroactively, and then, if we ever move, the doors can move with us.  A not-so-quick drive to Phoenix, and I found exactly what I was looking for.  These were moveable sidelights to an old door, and I fell in love with their dirty darling selves on sight.  I thought the window panes would be fantastic picture frames, so I've added a few photos tucked in the trim, reserving the right to rotate on a whim.  Three panels of glass are missing, but I don't care.  I love the randomness of the photos and the juxtaposition of the "new" chair with the weathered doors. Now I just need to find some time to add the kids' heights.

One final surprise is this:

This may need a little explanation (if you don't need it explained, I love you even more than I did before):

Remember how I said this room was a creation of gable changes?  This door, which you can see in the right-hand picture of the second collage (behind the TV), is only 45 inches high, because the gable of the roof intersects with the upper frame.  Behind the door is a huge storage closet, which I adore, but the ceiling at the entry is only . . . you guessed it . . . 45 inches high.  The closet inherited the nickname "The Hobbit Closet" due to its door's diminutive stature (I wish it was round and green, but you can only stay so true to a ficitious story, even one as great as The Lord of the Rings).  Thus, the title "Bag End," Bilbo Baggins' residence. (ten points if you knew that reference).  My friend Dawn came over one evening and we puttered with the Cricut until we ended up with these vinyl letters.  Just a touch of whimsy, and if people need me to explain it, all the better. I may add a little sign as well that states, "No admittance except on party business."  Can you identify that quote?

This cabinet houses the remnants of what was stored in that giant four-drawer filing cabinet and my sewing notions.  Just the right size.

Here are a few more details:

I punctuated the space with only things I love; nothing is in this room to fill up space.  From my diploma on top of the hutch (it doesn't do much else in my life!) to the four-generation picture of Heidi, me, my mom and my grandma, it's all my stuff, everything has a story.

 My favorite picture ever of Micah and "Bob."  A trophy from a friend.

Memories and treasures.  This is my room.

This is where my heart goes when it needs a rest.

Have a great holiday weekend.  

A Dream Come True

What would you do if 24 hours just suddenly landed in your lap--free of obligation, kids? Or 48 hours? What about a full three days?

Am I the only mom out there that sees this as their greatest wish in life--time completely to themselves to do whatever you want?

Long story omitted, I had three full days home alone this last week--Thursday at 6:30 am until Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm, to be exact. Brad stayed a few extra days in Utah and offered to drive the kids home alone. It only took a nano-second for me to accept his offer.

I was giddy. GIDDY. I pondered and planned and plotted. What to do, what not to do. Brad kind of had his feelings hurt that I was so excited for this time alone. I tried to convince him that it was nothing personal, I just craved the time to recharge my mom batteries.

I made a list of what I wanted to do: temple, lunch with my aunt, lesson preparation, hair cut, preview the auction, catch up on blog reading, tweeze my eyebrows, write a few new EFY talks, shop for Easter, shop for the March/April birthday onslaught (Hyrum, Lily, Grandma T, Brad, Ben), clean out the fridge, organize my hobby room, finish accessorizing Evie's room, exercise, get a pedicure, garage sales, organize the master bedroom.

I made a list of stores I wanted to peruse:  IKEA, Razmataz, Qcumberz, Pottery Barn, Nordstrom, The Rack, Williams Sonoma, Tuesday Morning, Target, TJMaxx, Anthropologie, Hobby Lobby.

I made a list of the food I wanted to eat and where: The Egg and I, Crackers, Cheesecake Factory, Pei Wei, Sweet Cakes, Tia Rosa's.

I outlined what I'd do when, and I knew there were not enough hours in three days to accomplish it all. Sleeping in and relaxing didn't even make the list. But in order for this to all work, the house had to be clean.   Brad and I made sure everything was straight before our trip, so I came home to a clean house.  No worry there.

I decided my first priority to do with no kids around:  gut my bedroom.  I cleaned out shelves and drawers and trunks.  I removed everything off every shelf and surface and looked at it all with a fresh eye.

Then, of course, I had to shop.  I found a few new pillows and accessories and then I spent the majority of two days reassembling the room--free from little hands mixing up carefully sorted piles of stuff. 

no matter what I do that candle won't stay straight . . . .

Of course I had to eat--Tia Rosa's, Cheesecake Factory and Crackers all made the final cut.  But I invested most of my energy into this room.  And I'm happy with the results.

In the end, I exercised every day.  That's the first time in I don't know when.  I woke to my body clock--about 6:30-7 every day.    I squeezed in a pedicure, which I deem a waste of time.  I submitted one EFY talk and worked on my lesson uninterrupted--pure bliss.

I tweezed my brows and got my hair cut.  I donated five huge bags of stuff to DI, threw away at least five more bags, and piled stuff up even higher in my hobby room. I returned everything that I'd bought but didn't use (a huge time-swallowing feat in itself).  I also found three suitcases for Tucker's mission. Alison and I had breakfast, and I caught up on all of your blogs. I even found a treasure for a friend at a local garage sale.  I hardly uttered 50 words a day.  The house stayed clean and quiet except for the occasional sounds of Pandora or HGTV.

The fridge is still messy, Evie's room isn't finished, no shopping for birthdays or Easter. And somehow I managed to erase EVERYTHING off our DVR.

At the end of my time, I looked around and realized it probably hadn't been the best use of my time.  But it was so fun. And when would I again have this chance to make my bedroom a peaceful, clean, organized sanctuary?

The best part?  When the kids came home Saturday, Evie saw me and ran to me and hugged me.  She never hugs anybody.  She'd get down, explore a familiar corner of the house, then run back to Mama for a hug.  She'd get down again, find a little snack, then run back for another hug.  My kids missed me.  Brad missed me.

My house is cluttered again.  My house is noisy again, but I discovered a fundamental law:  It's not how clean it all is or how organized or beautiful it all is.  It's just a house until everyone is there.  Then it's home.

And I missed them.


Still, I can't wait until the next time.  I have a lot of things left on my list. Like reading and sitting and sleeping and relaxing and . . .

What did you dream up? Would you go somewhere or just stay home?  Would you clean and organize or would you sit and ponder and read and write?  Would you pamper yourself with long baths and trips shopping? We'd love to hear. Link up below.

Wordless Wednesday: Special Delivery (and Post-Script to Yesterday's Post)

Don't you love the little goodies brought by friends and neighbors at Christmas?

We delivered my homemade jam from last summer (post here) and our yummy/ugly sugar cookies.

We broke records yesterday here in AZ: 82 degrees. Yes, Lily's in shorts.

Hope the jolly old elf gets their message!

Christmas is a time of fulfilled wishes. Remember this post? Look what my visiting teachers brought me today:

It's perfect, isn't it? Now I just need one that says, "Holiday Cheer Closet" and one that says "Hobbit Closet." Someday I'll show you these messes!

Linking to Wordless Wednesday
Flip Flops and Pearls
Never Growing Old
A Beautiful Mess
Ramble Road Ramblings
Mormon Mommy Blogs









If you missed my admitted idiocy yesterday:  I deleted my blog roll, AGAIN.  I am slowly working on piecing it back together.  If your blog doesn't appear in the next few days, make sure you leave a comment.

And a post-script to yesterday's post:

Thanks for the advice and the commiseration.

Just FYI: This is not a regular classroom teacher--it's a specials teacher, so the effect on my darling will hopefully be minimal. And . . .

Grandma Honey: I took your advice and took an apology note and a plateful of cookies (not my scrumptious chocolate chip cookies but oatmeal raisin dough from a wrestling fundraiser)  to the school today. Now, maybe my house won't be bombed.

Just Judge These Juxtaposed Images, If You Will . . .

Remember my reality post?  When I shamefully disclosed the status of this closet?  Ouch.  I vowed to clean it.  I had it all planned in my head.  I would clean it out, go buy a few metal shelves, and voila.  More organization.

Here it is in its half-clean state. The filing cabinet was full of pictures and frames and decorating stuff, so that was useful space, right?


I proposed the idea to Brad, and he said, "I can just make you a few shelves, no problem."

Remember when I posted this picture?

That's what Ben got drafted to do.
And it was finished in a few short hours.
This is what it looks like now:

"I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, with a wonderful guy!"
So much better.  Isn't it just awesome?

Now it's easy to find all the "tchotchkes" that I rotate in and around my house.  Need white napkins?  Top drawer on the bottom right.  Where's my easel for Institute?  See it right there, front left?  What about a vase?  Right middle.  Candles and candlesticks?  Got them for you!  I played a little musical chairs with the cupboards in the library as well.  Now one is full of frames and pictures and easels, and another holds plants and pots.  It sounds like it's a lot of stuff, but I rotate it frequently, purge even more frequently, and I only keep the things I love.  The new layout came in so handy when I was setting up for Christmas.  I had places for all the "resting" stuff, and I could find just what I needed to trim out my house for the holidays.

Ben has dubbed it The Official Tchotchke Closet.  I wish I had vinyl letters to crown it so on the door.  I would so do it.  But my label-maker doesn't print that big, and I don't really know how to use my Cri-cut.

Any volunteers?

Brought to you by me, Jen, and the letter J from Alphabe-Thursday.



And remember, Monday will be the second installment of Christmas traditions.  Last Monday, I divulged all my Black Friday secrets.  This Monday, it's holiday decorating.  If you'd like to link up, stop back by and leave a link to your post featuring your family's decorating traditions--Advent, trees, lights, whatever.  We all want to see and share the jolly spirit!

Organized or OCD?

This is a test. What do you think? Is this organized or unrealistic OCD?

How about this one?

Note the label-maker labels noting the sizes of the sheets.

Why do I love organized closets and shelves so very much?  Why can't my family appreciate it as as much as I do and keep them like this?  Why oh why oh why?

Wisdom Learned from the Wash

This is a companion post to my updated laundry room post from Tuesday. You can read it here.

I was on bed rest for 28 weeks when I was pregnant with Micah (yep, 28 weeks--from eight weeks until 36 weeks, almost seven months).  At the time, Heidi was thirteen, Tucker was twelve, and Ben turned eight just before Micah was born.  Grandma T lived with us for about four of those weeks, doing all that I normally did.  Then, she left.
During that extremely LONNNNNG pregnancy, I learned a valuable truth:  kids as young as eight are fully capable of doing their own laundry.  That tradition continues in our home today--when Lily was about a month away from turning eight, I started playing up her new responsibility:  "When you turn eight, you are so lucky!  You get to do your own laundry!"  I'd bring her in to watch me as I sorted and washed her clothes: I showed her how much detergent to use, how to turn on the washer, how to clean the lint screen on the dryer.  "Isn't this fun?"  She thought so. That lasted for a few times, maybe.  Then she realized she'd been tricked, but then, it was too late.

Here's how we do laundry around here:

Mom's laundry day is Monday, and that is not negotiable.  I do mine, Brad's, Micah's Hyrum's, Eve's, and a load of kitchen towels--usually between 6-8 loads.  I help Hyrum put his clothes away, but Micah is responsible for putting his own away. Tuesday is sheets and bed changing, but if there's time, someone can squeeze in their stuff.  Since Heidi and Tucker have left (sniff), things have been a little more flexible.  But typically now, Lily does her laundry on Thursday and Ben on Wednesday.  On Friday, I toss in another load of kitchen towels, and this time of year adds 1-2 loads of pool towels.  Assigning days has been really helpful to keep the kids on top of their clothes. If they miss their day, it's not that difficult to find another time to do it, but sometimes the washers will be full, so they'll have to wait.

They each have divided hampers in their rooms (thanks, IKEA) that allow them to sort their clothes as they take them off (or when they scrounge them off the floor).  Then, all they have to do is take their own hampers down the hall and load the washers.  The only assistance I usually give is if they are gone to school, I will move from washer to dryer, upon request.

I know moms that are very OCD about the laundry--they carefully pre-treat, sort, wash, dry, fold, iron, AND put away in the drawers.  I've learned to let all of that go.   I don't buy them anything really complicated, so they don't need to hang dry or wash in cold.  If they ruin their own clothes, that's their fault. They wash their new jeans with the whites because they were too lazy to sort?  Then they wear dingy t-shirts. But grievous errors have been few and then never repeated (remember the pen debacle of '08, Tuck?).  They are responsible for taking their clean stuff back to their rooms, folding it and putting it away.  Does this mean their drawers are messy?  Usually yes.  Does this mean that they occasionally can't find something important?  Yes.  Does this mean that sometimes they throw clean clothes back in the hamper to avoid folding it and putting it away?  Yep, but I bet your kids sometimes do that too, right?

How has this changed my life?  Wow.  Let me count the ways.  I don't need days and days to do all the laundry.  Now I can use that time to do fun stuff (like decorate the laundry room!) I am not drowning in dirty or clean clothes.  I don't ever get the complaints of "Mom, I have nothing clean to wear," because that's not my job.

How has this changed their lives?  Let this picture illustrate:

That's my Ben. Yes, my big boys iron.  I think I taught them how when they were about ten or eleven--time to teach Lily that skill.  When Heidi and Tucker both left for school, I knew there was one domestic thing that they were fully capable of doing without my supervision--not cooking, unfortunately.

And who dictated the policy that moms had to do all the laundry?  That takes personal responsibility and time management skills away from our kids.  And they have few enough opportunities for this in this modern life we live.

Linking up to W on Alphabe-Thursday with Ms. Jenny.

Our Purposely Scheduled Summer

I've promised myself I'd do this for 10 years now.  I've promised that we will cut back on summer and just enjoy it.  But I've never had the self-control to do it.
I vow that this is the year.







Every summer I overschedule my kids. I don't know if it's just Arizona where it's so hot, but there are lots of activities to do here. We do swimming lessons and swim team and dive team. We do musical theatre and musicals and music lessons. We do craft classes and boredom busters. And we barely squeak in time to do things together as our family.
This summer will be a benchmark in its own right--Heidi's married and gone. Tucker will be gone in (gulp) 30 days. Ben will be taking summer school and football, then he'll be gone to football camp and the Boy Scout National Jamboree for a total of four weeks. So it's going to be me and the four littles for most of the summer.
I've been purposely selective and selfish with the activities we scheduled: swimming lessons for the little boys (a necessity in AZ--at three years old, Hyrum should be swimming by the middle of the summer) and musical theatre for Lily. That's it.
Then, last Monday night for Family Home Evening, we had our Denton Summer Scheduling meeting. We brainstormed all the things we wanted to do this summer and wrote them on a big paper. My job this last week has been penciling everything on that list--big or small--onto my calendar. And it was a job. And it all fit!  I love that calendar.  It's not the prettiest thing ever, but it has eight lines every day, and I dedicate one line to each child so I can see at a glance who has what on what day.  It looks just as full or fuller than a normal summer would.  But it's full of trips to local pools, cooking lessons at home, visits to local museums and a few camp-outs and family reunions.  I'm determined to make this the summer that we learn how great it is to do things together.
I'm happier already.

I'm linking up to Anti-Procrastination Tuesday at New Nostalgia.  I may have the most procrastinated project of them all. And I accidentally linked under the wrong spot last night, so I corrected it today.  Sorry about the confusion. I'm still and unpaid, unsponsored blogging amateur.  Forgive me.

It's Time to Come Clean

This is probably my favorite purse of all time as far as its looks. I love the color--and the lining is a cream and green stripe. It even came with a matching wallet that has just the right number and location of compartments.
My gripe? It's impossible to keep clean, and it's nearly impossible to find anything inside it.

Let's play I Spy. Can you see
12 receipts (five from Target)
1 bib
1 burpcloth
1 pair of Diego underpants
1 baby rattle
1 notepad
2 pens
wire for hanging curtains
3 wall anchors for supporting wire
2 tins of sugar-free Altoids
3 packages of fruit snacks
2 Tootsie pops
1 unopened lip stain
a tape measure


The sad thing is that, aside from the receipts and the curtain hardware, all of it went right back in there.
What does your purse say about you?

28-Day Organizing Challenge--A Craft Space of Her Very Own!

After tackling the huge library project, I just couldn't stop organizing! I had a sudden inspiration: What if I created a craft area just for Lily, stocked with the supplies she needs, avoiding the possibility of her ruining and using my supplies set aside for other projects? So that's what I did. The contest requires a before shot:Sorry. You can't really see anything, because there was nothing there! My craft room leads to a storage closet. Just inside the door to this closet is a long empty wall--the perfect spot for Lily's supplies. I harvested all of the stuff I no longer use that's cluttering up various drawers, shelves and spaces in the craft room and piled them on the floor of the closet. And the fun began!

I moved (okay--Tucker actually moved it with me!) an unused shelf out of the garage up the stairs, then I sorted all the supplies.
The blue tub on the upper left contains folders of scrapbook paper sorted by color. The upper right tub houses tempera paint, brushes, paper plates and water cups for . . . painting.
The next shelf: on the left is scraps of foam sheets and a tub for paper punches on the right.

The bottom shelf: on the left is a set of stackable bins. There weren't enough slots for what I wanted, so I cut two pieces of scrap cardboard to fit, and that handily added the two extra shelves I needed for 1-large construction paper 2-foam core sheets 3-small construction paper 4-alphabet stickers 5-(in the binder) miscellaneous stickers. The tubs on the right contain foam pieces, ribbon scraps, pipe cleaners and feathers.
The top two shelves hold all the supplies we need to keep out of Hyrum's reach (see yesterday's entry):
Scissors, sharpies, and die-cut paper on the top shelf and markers, popsicle sticks, paint brushes, google eyes, gems and pom poms on the shelf below.
Her lap desk easily rests next to the shelf, and the space between the back of the shelf and the wall is perfect storage space for full-size sheets of poster board.

The questions:
1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it? I really wanted a place for Lily's stuff, but it was a pain to sift through all of my supplies to get stuff for her. Once I started, my own supplies have dwindled markedly--time to head to the scrapbook store!

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order? The best aspect of this project is assigning sole responsibility to Lily for her craft projects. Everything she needs is accessible, and if she doesn't put it away, then she won't be able to find it. No longer is that my job. Quite liberating! And she's been very good about it so far. Ownership is good for kids.


3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space? As you can see from the before shot, there was nothing there to begin with.

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries? I love the idea that I created an art center out of completely unused, dead space. Things don't need to be overthought or complicated. Just packaged in a way that they can be used and returned to their home.

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge? Not only did I gift my daughter with her own art space, it gave me more room in my space. Nothing was sacrificed in the process. I only bought a few plastic storage bins and used what I had on hand for the project. Best of all, I stimulated my daughter's creativity. See her first project?

Watch out Jackson Pollack!