Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Flaunt it Friday 89!

2012-01-26T22:59:00.003-06:00

Hey there! Happy Friday!

It's already time to party again! Show me what you got... :)

Being Organized Can Save You Money! No, really!!

2012-01-23T13:04:00.000-06:00

Hello lovely friends. Have you fallen off the organizing and decluttering bandwagon yet?

I hope not because there is much more to do. This post in my Organizing and Decluttering for Unorganized and Cluttery People series we'll discuss one way being unorganized can cost you money.

What does that even mean?!

Let me clarify with my story that maybe you can relate to...

I was at the grocery store the other day and realized I didn't have the coupons that I needed. I had a few things on my list that I remembered seeing the coupons for but had no idea if I even cut them out. I probably could've saved myself $7 or $8 bucks, darn!

I realize $7 or $8 is not a ton of money to many people but I'm cheap, I don't like to spend money for things I don't have to. Coupons to me are like free money, why not take advantage of it and why havent I been?

Now don't worry, this isn't going to become a post about how I paid .12 cents for $350 worth of groceries which are mostly tubes of toothpaste and cans of generic energy drinks. I will never be an ~~crazy person~~"extreme couponer". I don't have the time, energy or storage space for that much toothpaste (don't those people know that toothpaste expires!! you will never use 250 tubes of toothpaste within 2 years!) I know some of those folks are using their couponing "hauls" for good and donating the excess products to charity, that's great, more power to 'em! It's a great way to stock your local food pantry.

Anywho, back to why yours truly hasn't been taking advantage of coupons... first, I forget to cut them out. I always grab the coupon inserts out of the Sunday paper and stick them in a drawer. Six months later when I can no longer shut the drawer, I go through the coupons, find that 90% are expired and throw them in the trash. I'm lucky if I find 3 or 4 that will work and stick them in ~~the black hole where they are never to be seen again~~ my purse.

The second reason I don't take advantage of coupons often is that I forget to bring them with me to the store. This would seem to be the easiest part, duh. But, I forget them all the time because I don't have a consistent place to keep them or carry them, they are stuck in that drawer I was talking about earlier, just waiting to expire.

Forgetting my coupons is costing my family money. I never really thought of it before but this money adds up over time. If I am an average coupon user (as opposed to the the ~~crazy people~~ extreme couponers seen on the show of the same name) I could save an extra $8 (or hopefully much more!) each time I go grocery shopping (3 to 4 times a month). This is almost an extra $400 (or more!) a year! And this is estimating low!!

The last reason I haven't been taking advantage of coupons is that many of the coupons that come in the newspaper are for junky stuff or things I don't use. Check out this one from the Sunday paper.

Seriously??

1985 called and they want their wigs back.

You, too, can look like you stepped right out of 1985 by wearing one of our fine $30 wigs... ;)

This kind of stuff mixed in with a few useable coupons have turned me away from being a coupon clipper over the past few years.

As part of my organizational goals this yearI've decided to get my coupon system organized so I can and will use it. This goes along with my organization goals of being more intentional with spending, meal planning and less waste (unused food)... which will be a future blog post.

So, I need some kind of simple system for couponing. I've seen people carrying around huge 3 ring binders in the grocery store full of coupons. Uh, that ain't happenin'. I'm not interested because I know I wouldn't keep up with such a complicated and time-consuming system.

I've come up with a little uncomplicated system to help me stay on track. For me, it can't have too many steps or be too complicated because I know myself, I won't take the time to do it and then I'll give up.

Here's the system:

PAPER COUPONS:

Remove inserts from Sunday paper and cut them on Sunday or Monday... if I don't do it right away I never will. Print online coupons (see below for more info. on online coupons)

Add uncut coupons to my "uncut coupons" file.

Put coupons to be used this week in my coupon holder of my grocery list notebook,

Add clipped coupons for future use to small accordian file.

ON-LINE COUPONS:

This is a whole other money saving opportunity that I haven't been taking advantage of until just recently. I've decided to add some coupon resources on my blog to help myself (and you) use more coupons. These are sites that I use and trust, (click the buttons below to visit the sites).

Coupons.com: Free printable coupons for namebrand food and mostly grocery items.
Redplum: Free printable coupons for namebrand food and mostly grocery items.
Cellfire: Loads E-coupons onto your grocery store rewards card (includes many grocery chains)
Ebates: Earn cashback when you shop online at hundreds of major retailers (a money making opportunity for things your buying online)

Again, don't worry, my blog is not going to become a couponing blog, it's not my thing. I just know that when I go to some of the couponing blogs I am overwhelmed by all the deals on everything under the sun, the majority I don't need.

I just want coupons for food/cleaning products/TP, etc. on brands and items that I'll actually use. All the ones I picked have these types of items and you don't have to sign your life away to print them.

I hope I have given you an idea of how to organize your coupons and save money in a way that will be easy to use and stick with. I'll let you know how it works for me.

What are your tips to make couponing easy?

Linking: Tatertots & Jello

*Disclosure: I am part of an affiliate program with the coupon sites listed above. However, I only included the sites that I personally use and trust and feel my friends (readers) would benefit from. All opinions are 100% mine and I was not paid to write this post.

Flaunt it Friday 88

2012-01-19T22:37:00.001-06:00

Hey party people! Happy Friday!

Before we get to partying I'd like to welcome back my newest old sponsor Willow House with Nanci! Willow House has lovely home goods and has just branched into a beautiful jewelry line. You can even shop their outlet online for big bargains!

Check out this dreamy glassware... doesn't this just make you long for spring...

via Willow House

Now, it's time to party... link 'em up!! :)

Valentine Burlap Banners

2012-01-19T02:16:00.001-06:00

Hi there friends! I am in a Valentine's Day decorating slump. I feel like I just put away my Christmas decor (because I did, duh)

But I just came across these super cute banners and it got me all excited for Valentine's Day decorating!

Aren't these just darling?!?

Plus, you know I can't pass up a good deal and this was just too cute and cheap not to share!

Groop Dealz has these caaauuuuute Valentine's Day banners up for sale right now but they are going fast!

Both photos via Auntie Lolo Crafts

I know what you're thinking, I thought that too....

Oh, I can just make that! Then I thought, well... I don't have any burlap and I don't have the right kind of paint and I don't have any stencils to make the letters nice and neat and I don't have the jute rope to hang it on and I don't have any time.... wait, maybe I do have the rope?...

It would cost me more to buy the supplies to make it than this deal! I picked "love" because I was too cheap for "be mine", I know, I'm totally cheap, $4 stinking dollars but whatevs, it's $4 dollars I saved. :)

They are going very fast so I hope there are some left by the time you see this post!

Click the buttons below to go to Groop Dealz and get your banner!

Click on this one for "Be Mine"

Click this one for "Love"

*Disclosure: I am part of GroopDealz affiliate network but all opinions are 100% mine. I'll only share great deals on cute stuff with my friends(readers) and this is one! I bought it myself!

How to Organize a Medicine Cabinet

2012-01-17T19:25:00.001-06:00

Hey there! Welcome back to another installment of my series:

I'm going to share with you another hot mess cabinet makeover. I actually did this makeover about 2 years ago and the system is working wonderfully, it is still clean and organized! The best part is that it's simple so it's easy to keep it organized (and of course it was cheap to do too!)

First, where are you keeping your medicine? In the medicine cabinet in your bathroom? That would make sense since it is called the "medicine" cabinet. However, did you know that it's a very big no-no to keep medicines in the bathroom?

So why do they put the medicine cabinet in there?? I have no idea?!

This is a more serious no-no than you might think.

""The medicine cabinet in the bathroom is the worst place (for medicine to be stored)," said Selig Corman, director of Professional Affairs at the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York. Most medicine should be stored at room temperature, between 68 and 77 degrees, and kept away from moisture. Because the bathroom is prone to high temperatures and humidity, it is a poor place to keep drugs.

"An egg kept at an extreme temperature of heat becomes cooked and that could happen with tablets, with certain gelatin capsules, and that could alter the chemistry of the product." Corman said. "Something as simple as aspirin ... when aspirin reacts with moisture it becomes a different chemical ... something that is sold as a corn remover. You wouldn't want to ingest a corn remover.""

SOURCE

Yuck! I had no idea a bathroom could do so much damage to medications!

Thankfully, I do not store medication in the bathroom but wanted to make sure all of you lovely folks are storing your drugs safely too.

Now that you've got them in a safe place let's get them organized!

Go through all of your meds and make sure to get rid of everything that is expired or wasn't properly stored and could have turned into corn remover. Ummm, gross!

Then get rid of everything that doesn't belong with the medicine. This will vary depending on how much space you have. We have a large enough space that our medicine cabinet includes band-aids, hand sanitizer and a small safety kit.

I am SO completely embarassed to be showing you all this picture of our medicine cabinet. I was very tempted to straighten it up a little bit as to not scare and disgust you but I wanted it to be real, no editing. This is what it looked like at it's worst... those with faint hearts and weak stomachs look away!

Holy cow, we look like druggies!

Keeping it real up in here with that photo. I'm blaming the mess on Mr. Chic, (sorry babe!) :) I tried to organize it when we moved in but he never quite got the set up (which wasn't very good anyway) so if he needed something he would just start rifling through it and it would end up looking like this. Nice, huh. :)

I went to the Dollar Store and got me some fancy plastic baskets. I then made sure they fit in my weird size cabinet... to my shock, they did! I then prettied them up with dog tags and ribbon...

and Waa-Laaa!

I made 3 baskets like this and one smaller one to fit in the weird leftover space in the front. Kid's Meds, Adult Meds, and Band-Aids, etc. The small one in the front has everyday meds like vitamins, some chapstick, and a few band-aids for easy access.

The end result is lovely but the lighting of my picture is not, it was a cloudy day.

And, it's actually stayed like this for two years!! Sweeeeeet!! It works! Even the insides of the baskets are staying pretty neat, amazing! I feared that hubs would revert to old bad habits but he puts everything back in the right basket, he loves organization. Guess I need to organize more often! :)

Is your medication organized? Did you know you're not supposed to keep them in the bathroom??

Linking: Someday Crafts, Tatertots & Jello

How to Organize a Command Station (Junk Cabinet)

2012-01-14T11:17:00.001-06:00

Happy weekend, friends! Welcome to another post in my organization and decluttering series:

When we moved to our current home I was excited to have extra cabinet space and room for a little command center. We didn't have this luxury at our old house so we had to keep much of this stuff in our office which was upstairs. Imagine having to walk all the way upstairs to get the camera.... oh, the agony!

Having never had a commands station before I had no idea how it should be organized. My method was "stick it where it fits". I'm sure you'll notice in the picture what a great job I did. NOT.

Please do not judge.

Notice that I made this picture pretty small ~~because I'm totally embarassed!~~ as to not burn your eyes out with the hot mess. The cabinet became a catch-all because it was never properly organized.

You also may notice there are a few good ideas in here. No, seriously. The back of one cabinet door has a dry erase board on it and the other has a bulletin board. There are also two little open face containers on the bottom left for things ~~men~~ people lose, like car keys. One for me, one for Mr. Chic. I'd like to take credit for these smart ideas but these are all Mr. Chic's bright ideas. That man shoulda been a professional organizer I tell ya.

I started trying to organize this cabinet 2 years ago which is when that scary picture was taken. It got a little bit better but never good enough to share. I think I've finally figured it out after a lot of trial and error.

I took everything out of the cabinets and purged. Everything that had no business in the kitchen went away. Lots of junk went in the garbage. This helped a ton but I still needed something to organize the stuff that was staying.

I went to the dollar store and picked up some square little baskets. They are not the cutest but hey, the price was right. I used some leftover ribbon and tags from a previous project to make labels.

The baskets have helped tremendously because everything has a spot. We keep usb cords, label makers, coupons, etc. all in their own basket.

The open face blue bins are also from the dollar store. We have his and her baskets which works wonderfully. They allow easy access for things like car keys, phones, business cards, etc.

Mr. Chic bought an appropriately sized bulletin board and dry erase board that fit on the back of the cabinet doors just right. He attached them using short screws to the thickest frame part of the cabinet door. Make SURE you use short screws or you will drill through the front of your cabinet door.

We keep some important info on here all the time, emergeny info mainly for babysitters. We also use it for a weekly grocery list, phone messages and notes on the lower half.

He used the same method for the bulletin board. I hang the school lunch menu, a paper calendar (this one happens to be haaauuuuge but it was free and it's of Ireland which I heart) and other important stuff here. It keeps the fridge from being covered in magnets with random papers.

The final project turned out like this:

The bottom right has a little paper filing holder for incoming and outgoing mail, stamps and envelopes. Also, a cozee full of dry erase markers and permanent markers (out of reach of the kiddos) and my day planner. The books on the top left are all cookbooks that we use which is why there are books in the kitchen.

Those dollar store baskets made for a big improvement! It's not perfect but it's working for us.

What are your secrets for command station organization??

Linking: Someday Crafts

Flaunt it Friday 87 and my thoughts on Snow

2012-01-12T21:47:00.001-06:00

Hello there party animals. Happy Friday!

It snowed today for the first time this winter. Here in the Midwest it should've snowed a long time ago. I'm not complaining though. We've had a streak of warm weather (by warm I mean in the 50's) for about the past 2 weeks. It felt like spring! I was pretending it was March! No, seriously, I was. There was even a tulip bulb starting to sprout in my backyard! Then a darned snow storm outta nowhere.

Usually I enjoy the first snow of the year, this time... not so much.   For those of you living in the no-snow-zone there are 2 kinds of snow: Good Snow (oxymoron?)  and Bad Snow.

There are certain criteria for Good Snow:

1. "Good Snow" is snow at Christmastime, meaning anytime from Thanksgiving through December 26th.  Christmastime snow is a big magical don't ya think? It's my favorite kind.

2. "Good Snow" good snow get you out of school. Well, it used to get me out of school... now it gets my kiddos out of school which is just about as good as it was when I was a kiddo myself.

3. "Good Snow" should also be good packing snow for snowballs and snow forts, skiing, snowmobiling, good-time-having snow.  This snow does not include windy, blizzardy type snow. It also must be clean and pretty.

"Bad Snow" is pretty much everything else.   Doesn't get you out of school, comes way after magical Christmastime snow. Bad snow isn't enough to get you out of school but messes up the roads enough to slow you down. It hangs around too long and gets dirty and gross and slushy which then makes your car and garage a yucky mess. It's too cold to play in and it blows back over and drifts in your driveway 15 minutes after you shovel it. It sticks in your hair frozen until you walk inside the store where it melts and makes your hair look awesomely bad. I could go on and on.

The snow is here, wish it would've come sooner. Even though I don't consider it a "good snow", the look on my boy's faces this morning when they saw the snow covered ground was priceless. If only it would've been a snow day...

Home Goals 2012

2012-01-10T14:43:00.001-06:00

Hey there! It's home goal setting time again.

Guess what??

This is the same exact list I used last year!

Seriously?!

Yes.

Awesome!

My Home Goals 2011 list was an EPIC FAIL.

I got lots of stuff done, just nothing on the Home Goals 2011 list.

Oops.

Actually, we did get 2 things done on the list but I never shared them on my blog. I'll just keep them on the list so I will be able to say I got at least 2 things done at the end of 2012. Sneaky, huh?!

So here goes my Home Goals ~~2011~~... er, 2012 List.
Let me just warn you that the pictures below are awful, I feel like I'm airing all my decor dirty laundry... it's kind of embarassing. I'm hoping everyone has projects and stuff like this in their home... but my list seems so stinking long! Geesh!
If this happens to be your first time visiting, please go look at another post for some good stuff!

So here we go, my home project goals in no particular order:

Goal #1: Paint the boys bathroom. We've lived in our "new" house a year and a half, we've had the paint since the week we moved in, it's never been opened. Nice.

We painted the inside of the entire house when we moved in so needless to say we got a little (or a lot) burned out on painting. No one really sees the boys bathroom so it's not a priority to paint it. But now it's really bugging me. I already have the paint and supplies, no more excuses.

Boooorrriiiing

Goal #2: Fix up my office/mom cave. A while back I did some posts about fixing up my mom cave to win a HomeGoods gift card. Unfortunately for my office (and my bank account), I didn't win. (Did the judges even look at my room to see how bad I needed that gift card?! look at this pic, the room is awful!!) Yeah, I'm not bitter or anything. ;)

Needed for the office: Paint, window treatments, light fixture, accessories, organizational supplies, paint desk, new desk chair.

You can still see the goop left on the wall from the border we removed...yuck.

Goal #3: Re-do my big boy's room. Different colored furniture and a poor choice on paint color make for a hodge podge of a room that could (and should) be really cute.

Needed for re-do: Paint for walls and furniture (ugh), new bedding.

Goal 4: Finish crown molding in family room. This is the hubby's job but it's making my list because I'm sick of looking at it. :)

Goal 5: Finish trim on island. When we got our bamboo floors installed the island trim was ruined when it was taken off. It's about time we put some back on.

Needed: just a little bit of trim and me to glaze and antique it.

This makes me crazy! It looks completely unfinished.

Goal 6: Pretty up the master bath. Ideally we'd like new tile on the floor and the tub surround (and a new vanity and sinks for that matter) but it's not a necessity and it would be costly. I am going to work with the white and neutrals and make them work for me.

Needed: Some decorating inspiration, maybe paint (oh my, every goal seems to include paint!) cheap decor and new towels.

I love my damask towels but the dark brown is just too much for the white tile in my opinion.

Goal 7: Organize my business decorations. Since starting a decorating and homestaging business I have started keeping some inventory. Ok, kind of a lot of inventory that has quickly taken over a corner of my basement.

Needed: More shelving, large bins, patience.

This is all I'm showing of my little disaster. :)

Goal 8: Staining the stair banisters to match our floors.

Needed: Stain (which we already have) Time and patience, this could take up to 3 or 4 coats. We'll also need to do it when it warms up a bit so we can open the windows, will be a stinky job (in more ways than one).

Dreading this one but it will make such a difference!

Goal 10 (New for 2012): Fix up the boys playroom to make it more functional and cute. It is too messy to even share a picture right now. Just imagine a room with trains, hotwheels and monster trucks all over the floor and boring undecorated walls.

I could've gone on and on with this list but some things seem too trivial to be a "goal" (and I didn't want to set myself up for more failure! ;)

Have you made your 2012 Home Goals list? C'mon, share your embarassing pictures with me, it will make me feel better about myself.

Linking to Nesting Place Home Goals Party

How to Organize Paper Clutter

2012-01-08T16:00:00.001-06:00

Hi there! Have you heard about my series "Organizing and Decluttering for Unorganized and Cluttery People"? I'm sharing easy low budget ideas that anyone can do to improve their organization and get rid of their clutter. They will probably not be the cutest organizing tips you'll see out here in blog land but they will be relatively easy and inexpensive.

Last year I had a few organizing posts and this one is worth sharing again. I have been using this system for a year and it's still going strong (most of the time). :)

How to Organize Paper Clutter

I have read approximately one-bazillion posts on cleaning clutter, organizing closets, un-junking junk drawers, tackling toys, prettying up pantries (I don't even have a pantry! Why am I reading those posts?!)... the list goes on and on.

In all of my clutter research I was looking for the solution to paper clutter in my kitchen. My oldest started school this year and I can not belieeeeve the amount of paper that is sent home with him. Seriously, it is reedonkulous! How many trees are they killing for these kindergartners?? ;)

All the paper he brings home needs some kind of organization. Some of it is completed work or art that I put in a special bin in his room for keeps or on the fridge, some of it is information for me of special dates and events, some of it is homework he has to complete and take back (don't even get me started about homework for kindergartners...), some of it goes straight in the garbage (shhh, don't tell him!)

He brings me all this paper every day and I just start making piles, then mail starts coming in and I pitch what I can up front but the rest goes on top of the pile. The pile keeps growing with whatever other paper stragglers make it into the kitchen and by the end of the week I have a HAAAAUUUUGE mess!

Ok, this is actually really clean for this area I'm sorry to admit... usually the piles are much bigger!

The mess drives me nuts! It drives the hubs, Mr. I-don't-like-anything-on-the-kitchen-counter-ever!, even nutser. (Yes, I just made up the word nutser, but it's true)

Although I have an office I tend to do all paper work in the kitchen. This is where I spend 90% of my time, I can keep an eye on the boys and get something done ~~plus, I am too lazy to walk up the stairs~~. My office/mom cave is still a work in progress so it's not a very good place to hang out right now anyway.

I decided I needed some type of filing system in the kitchen. I have seen people with filing systems in their kitchen or wherever all over blogland so this is not an amazing new idea. I just tweaked it a bit to work for me.

First, instead of a typical file box I got this super-cute lined basket at TJ Maxx for only $7.99!

I then found some files (TJMaxx too, I'm tellin' ya, they should pay me for all the free publicity I give 'em!) that match perfect for $2.99 (even the plain ones cost that much!).

I labeled everything... I now have a file for all appropriate school papers, household stuff, plus my decorating business with room to spare!

And, it even looks pretty!!

When we have company or I want less on the counters (or the hub wants less on the counters) I can just take the whole basket and move it to my office revealing a clean counter... everything stays organized and in it's place.

Note to self: going to have to take the picture down behind the basket.

Why didn't I ever think of this before?! I guess it just took getting huge amounts of paper from little guy everyday and finding a cute basket and files (I don't care how much it helped me, I wouldn't put an ugly file box on my counter every day if you paid me. ;)

What's your organizational savior??

Linking: Someday Crafts, Tatertots & Jello

Flaunt it Friday 86!

2012-01-05T21:13:00.001-06:00

Happy almost Friday party animals!!

Are you organizing and decluttering like crazy?!

If you need some inspiration be sure to check out my series:

Time to Flaunt it!!

How to Organize Your Closet

2012-01-04T10:58:00.004-06:00

Hey, peeps! This is the first post in my series, "Organizing and Decluttering for Unorganized and Cluttery People". Let me just tell you a quick bit about my series, you are not going to find big expensive overhauls or time-consuming cutesy craft projects to make organizational items prettier. This is going to be practical organizing/decluttering for someone that struggles with organization and clutter.

Some of my organization will be cute but NOT over the top. Because let's face it, if you struggle with organization and clutter, you probably don't have time to cover cardboard boxes in scrapbook paper and glitter glue in order to make cute storage bins. I don't have time for that. If you do, more power to ya, friend. I gotta get it done while I can and work with what I got!

So my first project was our unorganized and cluttery master bedroom closet. I would love to show you after pictures featuring beautifully stenciled walls and fancy-schmancy closet organizers from those expensive organizing stores.

Unfortunately, that ain't happenin'. :)

Our walk-in closet walls are covered by clothes and shelving so why would I take the time to paint it all pretty when I won't be able to see it, I spend very little time in there anyway. If it was a big huge closet and you could actually see more than 6 inches of wall I would take the time to make it pretty, but it's not, so I won't. Purely practical.

Second, we are using the builder-grade closet shelving that came with the house. Although we may rearrange things in the future, it's fine for now. I'm just thankful to have a walk-in closet large enough for both Mr. Chic and myself. It is a small luxery to actually have a walk-in closet as many people don't.

Here are my terrible "before" pictures. Terrible because the closet is messy and because it's hard to take pictures inside my closet because it's a small room and the lighting is awful.

I had already started taking clothes out and stacking them up on the floor at this point. Also, note the laundry basket sitting crookedly on top of something on the floor... so classy!

This picture shows off the messy stacks of pants and over-flowing t-shirt basket on the shelf along with the jumbled mess of wire hangers. I didn't take a picture of the floor but just imagine random non-closet type items sitting around on the floor in there.

So after seeing that hot mess let's get down to business...

First, grab some of your favorite music to keep you going. Sitting in a closet can be ~~totally~~ kind of boring and the music makes it a little bit more fun. Also, grab 3 big garbage bags (or totes). The bags will be for the 3 G's of Organizing and Decluttering:

Bag 1 = Gargbage
Bag 2 = Garage Sale or Consignment Shop
Bag 3 = Goodwill/Donate

If you want to make signs for your garbage bags go ahead, I didn't. Just don't get your bags confused. :)

CLOTHING:

I used to have trouble parting with clothes, my excuses were:

I might wear it someday
I paid a lot of money for it
If I lose 10 pounds it will fit perfect

Any of these sound familiar? Thought so.

The experts say if you haven't worn it in a year (some say 6 months) get rid of it. I go for the year because around here the weather changes drastically. I will wear a wool sweater in February and may not need it again until December.

Start going through your clothing.  All of it. Don't pass over anything.

Clothing Battle #1:
You're fighting the "I might wear it someday" battle, ask yourself: Have I worn this in the past year? If it's no, you should probably get rid of it. If it's something special that you just can't part with (like a classic black dress) go ahead and keep it. When you put your closet back together make sure all items are facing the same direction. Each time you wear something face that item in the opposite direction. After a few months you'll see what you're really wearing by which way the clothes are facing. Just don't forget which way is which!

Clothing Battle #2:
If you're fighting the "I paid a lot of money for that, I can't just give it away". Find yourself a good consignment shop and get some of your money back. I had around 17 pairs of jeans in my closet, I wear about 4 of them. Why do I keep the rest sitting around taking up space and collecting dust? They are in great shape and I will likely get back half the price I paid for them (because I always buy things on sale). These suckers are going to the consignment shop, pronto.

If your stuff is a higher end name brand you can try and sell it on Ebay. From experience I know that used Coach purses sell very well for a decent price if they are in good shape. Do your research on your particular item or it can be a waste of your time.

Clothing Battle #3:
If you're fighting the "it will fit if I just lose weight" battle, you're not the only one. Just about every woman in this country has lots of sizes in her closet. Especially if she has had babies.  With this one, just try and be realisitic. If you lose a bunch of weight you're probably going to want to treat yourself to some new clothes so it won't hurt you to get rid of lots of your "skinny clothes". If you've been saving them for several years when you lose those last 10 lbs, just get rid of it.

If you're saving maternity clothes and post baby clothes for your next pregnancy it's probably smart to keep them. But if you are lacking space in your closet declutter it by putting them in a tote and sticking them in the basement/storage area until you need them.

How I arranged my closet:

Clothes Organization:
I found these bins at Kohls on clearance and then got an additional 30% off making them about $6 each. This was a lucky find! They are big and fit on my shelving perfect! During the summer I stick my sweaters in them. I also keep crummy t-shirts in one and my extra sheets in another. I know that sheets go in my linen closet but ya know, even when folded king sheets take up a lot of space and look messy. I prefer them in this basket, it keeps them folded and frees up a shelf in my linen closet.

I wrote on the labels in silver sharpie so I could write on both sides as the contents change with the season and the silver doesn't bleed through on the other side of the label (tricky, tricky!)

I moved my sweaters out of the baskets and on to the shelf where they are easily accessible, right next to my jeans. I don't like to hang sweaters or jeans. I stuck my t-shirts and tank tops in my sweater baskets for the winter to give me extra space in my hanging area.
I did something different and hung my clothes up by color. I found out that almost all of my winter shirts and sweaters are gray or black!! Like 99% of them!! Man, am I a Debbie Downer or what?! This was helpful because next time I'm out shopping I'll think twice before buying yet another black sweater (Money savings via closet organizing! but I'll most likely just buy a brighter color... not really, I'll get black or gray ;)

Shoe Organization:
I keep my shoeboxes and although it's not the best or prettiest method, it's the fastest and easiest way to keep them off the floor and together, plus the shoes always fit in their own boxes. Tall boots and high heels do NOT fit in those "one-size-fits-all shoe organizers". I've seen some neat ways to hang heels on home-made shelves on the wall but I don't have the wall space for it.

Most of my winter boots and shoes are ~~in a pile sitting by my back door~~ in my downstairs coat closet. I switch out the shoes with the season. My summer shoes are now in my bedroom closet.

Since becoming a stay home mom I've had a major slow down on mindless shoe and clothes buying. I just don't need as many clothes as I did when I worked in the corporate world and it's not good on the budget to drop a lot of money on some cute heels I might wear 3 or 4 times in a season. I've found that this keeps my closet a bit less messy as I'm not trying to fill it to the brim with clothes and shoes. Besides, I'm not a shoes/clothes junky, more like a decorative pillow junky. :)

Accessories:

I have a separate bin for belts, hats and scarves plus a few small purses. Most of this stuff I don't use much so I don't mind that it's up on a shelf. I have a few scarves I wear all the time so I keep them on a hanger near my sweaters and easily accessible. I have a few purses not in use in the storage bags they came with up on the top shelf.

Dirty Laundry:

I keep a laundry basket in the closet instead of a hamper, why move the dirty laundry an extra time? An extra step to me equals wasted time. I just pick up the basket, stick an empty in it's place and go off to the laundry.

Decluttering:

Most obviously, get all of the crapola out of the closet that doesn't belong. In my closet I found a king size quilt, small throw blanket that no longer matches our room, a level, a nail gun attachment, a few hot wheels cars and a bag of books I borrowed from a friend. Just getting that stuff out made a big difference. The goal is to keep that stuff out so it won't become cluttered up again.

Take stock of your t-shirts. It seems like most people have excessive amounts of t-shirts because so many businesses give them out for free and who can pass up a free t-shirt, right?

This is my t-shirt bin, overflowing with junky t-shirts that I really don't wear out of the house.
I got rid of the majority of my t-shirts, now they all fit nicely in their bin.

Seriously? How many gray t-shirts does one person need?

I also had this shirt that Mr. Chic bought me as a joke on a business trip to NYC...

It should be self-explanatory why I've never worn this out of the house.

I decided to get rid of all our wire hangers when organizing and decluttering. I already had a bunch of plastic hangers and ended up not having to buy any more after getting rid of so many clothes and stealing their hangers. Besides being better for your clothes, the plastic hangers will give the closet a neater, less cluttered look. I noticed a difference just after removing wire hangers. I probably got 150 out of there, most didn't have clothes on them. They are going back to the dry cleaners for recycling.

I would've loved to upgrade to all matching wooden hangers but it would've cost big bucks. These plastic ones are about 10 for $1.50. It would be nice if they were all the same color but whatever, I told you this wasn't a fancy closet makeover. Purely practical.

So here's the finished product... nothing fancy but organized and decluttered.

Just say no... to wire hangers!

Mr. Chic's side, all the clothes on the bottom right hanging are
going to the consignment shop which will leave open space!

Well, my closet may not be beautiful or inspirational but it is orderly and uncluttered and that was my goal. Now if I can just keep it this way I will be golden!

Stay tuned for more of my Organization and Decluttering for Unorganized and Cluttery People series!

How do you keep your closet clean?

Linking: House of Hepworths, Someday Crafts

Organizing and Decluttering for Unorganized and Cluttery People

2012-01-02T12:37:00.000-06:00

Hello there, my lovely friends. It's that time of the year... time to get your organizing mojo going!

What's that? You don't have any organizing mojo??

Well, you've come to the right place... I don't have any organizing mojo either! Let's be friends, mmmkay?

Just kidding! Well, kind of...

I've resolved to become more organized and declutter my home in 2012.

What? This isn't an original idea, I'm not the only one. Whatever.

I'm not an organizing guru, but I played one on tv. I am full of ~~bad and cheesy~~ hilarious jokes today, watch out!

As I was saying, I am not an organizing guru but I have been researching organizing and decluttering like crazy to simplify my life. As I've mentioned in an earlier post, my small business and blog are growing quickly but my first priority is to be a good stay home mom (and wife). Since I'm busy being a mom/wife/business owner/blogger the first thing that usually goes is the house.

Laundry starts piling up, so do the dishes, then the paper clutter (Oh, the paper clutter! Ugh), toys, dust, cheerios on the floor, you name it... it all piles up.

My current style of cleaning and organizing is flying by the seat of my pants and "putting out fires". While one thing is getting done, something else is piling up. I'm hoping to organize and declutter and set up more routine cleaning habits instead of putting out fires all the time.

I've decided to do a little blog series to share what I'm learning, the organizing and decluttering process, the successes and failures (and believe me, there will be failures) in attempting to simplify my life and spend more time doing what I love. Spending quality time with my family and working on my interior decorating business and blogging.

I do not come by organizing and decluttering naturally, like... at all. So, I'm calling my series:

Because I am unorganized, I don't have a set schedule of what I'm going to be posting about on which day. I'm just going to share a few things each week of projects and progress I'm making. This no-schedule is kind of flying by the seat of my pants but I've gotta start somewhere, right?!

I do, however, have a list of things I'm going to be tackling:

1. Master Closet
2. Master Bath & Linen Closet
3. Papers
4. Toys
5. Kitchen
6. Cleaning and Laundry Schedules

This isn't everything, there will be some smaller scale projects, tips and hints thrown in there too. I'll also be sharing some your great ideas and some my go-to organizing websites.

So, there you have it. I hope you will joing me on my "Organizing and Uncluttering Journey", I'd love to hear your tips and tricks too.

So tell me, are you unorganized and cluttery by nature or is it just me?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:43:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year, friends! Many blessing to you and yours in 2012!

Source

Flaunt it Friday 85 and Introducing Cherry Creek Designs!

2011-12-29T21:19:00.001-06:00

Hello friends! Welcome to the last Flaunt it Friday party of 2011!!

First, I'm excited to introduce you to my newest sponsor, Cherry Creek Designs! Heather makes fabulous jewelry like...

Tiny Personalized Square Charm

Love these and they are so inexpensive. Want one for each of my boys!

Wedding Bouquet Charm

This would be a great shower gift for the bride-to-be! What a cool momento from your wedding day!

Look for a giveaway coming soon from Cherry Creek Designs!
So, now let's get down to business... like partying.

It's been a fabulous year for my little ol' party. It's grown tremendously only because of you! Thank you to all of my loyal party animals, I appreciate each of you taking the time to link up... you've made Flaunt it Friday a huge success! Even if I don't comment on your post, I am looking and I appreciate each of you!!
I'm amazed by all the talent and creativity that is linked up each week. Can't wait to see what all of you talented friends have in store next year! XOXO to you all!

Before we party, have you gotten the "New Year Cleaning/Organizing Bug" yet? I have and I need your ideas!! I am building my inspiration and motivation with an impromptu organization party, link up your best organizing posts HERE.

You may also link them up here at Flaunt it Friday. Organizing and whatever else you'd like to flaunt this week.

Can't wait to see it!

Impromptu Link Party, Your Best Organizing Posts

2011-12-27T11:32:00.001-06:00

Well hello there. Can you believe it's over??

We had a wonderful Christmas. My boys are at that fun age where everything about Christmas is magical and wonderful which makes it extra special for Mr. Chic and me. I always get a little melancholy when it's over.

Adding to the post Christmas blues is the fact that I will have to start taking down my pretty Christmas decorations. Mr. Chic wanted to start yesterday... What?! The day after Christmas?!? No way! Christmas isn't really even over-over until New Years, right?!?

With the bummer of the end of Christmas comes the hope of a new year... a new beginning. (that just sounds so cheesey to me but it's true!) This means a lot of different things to people. It seems like the biggest resolution is getting back in shape and losing that extra holiday weight. While I definitely could work on this, (I think I ate my weight in Christmas cookies over the past 2 weeks!!) it's not my "resolution".

Source

This year I resolve to get more organized. As my blog and interior decorating business continue to grow I need to take some steps to simplify running my household without taking away quality time from my kiddos.

My regular approach to getting things done is "flying by the seat of my pants". It seems I'm too busy for that now. I won't lose the whole flying by the seat of my pants thing all together, that's how I'm wired. But, I'm going to work on my organization and efficiancy.

Since I don't come by this naturally, I need your ideas. Please link up your organizing posts below. If I use your idea I will give you a shout out and link to your post in my blog post.

via simplify101.com

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T11:09:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas card design courtesy of Shutterfly

From my family to yours, may your Christmas be filled with Joy!

Flaunt it Friday 84

2011-12-22T20:59:00.000-06:00

Did you see my Christmas Home Tour? Please check it out here if you'd like. I can't believe Christmas is almost here!!! Let's celebrate!

For those of you done shopping and baking and wrapping, it's time to party!

Christmas Home Tour 2011, Part 1

2011-12-21T15:27:00.000-06:00

Season's Greetings, friends!

I think I'm a little late for the Christmas home tour parties all over blog-land but I'm not sweating it. It's not Christmas yet so technically, I'm not late, early in fact!

My home has been decorated since Thanksgiving, I just didn't have time to take pictures and post about it. I'm trying to enjoy the season by avoiding extras on my to-do list, one being "join blog home tour parties in a timely fashion", didn't even make the list!

Part 1 of my tour includes my foyer and formal living and dining rooms. These are considered my "fancy" decorations by my boys. Part 2 is a bit more casual and kid friendly, it will include my kitchen and family room where we spend most of our time.

So, come on in friends. You'll be greeted in my foyer by my mercury glass vignette. I am loving mercury glass and have picked up several inexpensive pieces which I display all over my house. I decided to bring several pieces together for a sparkly holiday vignette.

Don't you just love this silver ~~greenery~~ garland?? (when I think of garland I think of that cheap shiny plastic stuff that you can get for a dollar, this stuff is much nicer!)

From here you'll see my formal living room and "Fancy" Christmas tree.

This year I added a touch of leopard print, you can see a post all about my fancy tree HERE.

I love decorative pillows! No room to sit on the couch?! That's ok, just toss 'em on the floor.

A leopard print and French script pillow pull the tree and room together.

A vignette of greenery, golden reindeer and sequined and feathered Christmas trees tops my Great Grandma's display cabinet.

A bust of Santa sits near the tree. (He was 90% off after last Christmas, only $3.99!)

Another Santa hangs out under a cloche along with a sleigh full of ornaments on the ottoman tray.

My dining room has simple natural looking Christmas trees in burlap sacks lining the table along with some shimmery netting over the table runner.

My kiddos love the Christmas village... each piece has special meaning behind it. Mr. Chic got me the church the year we were married. (Awww, isn't he so romantic!?)

Santa even flies over the village (except his motor broke so this year he just hangs out :(

And most importantly, our nativity is at eye level for the boys to enjoy and remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Hope you enjoyed Part 1 of my Christmas Home Tour. Stay tuned for Part 2, hopefully I get it up before Christmas! I'm not going to stress over it. :)

My Fancy Christmas Tree with a touch of Leopard Print

2011-12-17T11:12:00.003-06:00

Hey there!

Before I bust out my Christmas tree I have a controversial topic to discuss:

Leopard Print.

Folks either love it or they hate it.

It's really envogue right now but that doesn't mean that it's suddenly beautiful to everyone or right for your home.

Back in the day I was SO not a fan of leopard print, at all... in fact, I hated it. I thought it was gaudy and cheap looking. A pattern only used on very short skirts or the lining of a pimp's big hat. (did I just say pimp on my blog?!?!)

Since then, leopard print has come a long way. Moving from the pimp hat (I said it again!) right into classy home decor catalogs like Ballards Design.

Along with the styles my tastes have also changed. I no longer despise the leopard, I've actually grown to love it, albeit in small doses.

For example, I would never buy a leopard print couch but I would buy a leopard print accent pillow (I actually did!).

My "fancy" tree (named by my oldest boy) is in bronze tones accented with gold and silver. Guess what matches bronze, silver and gold... leopard print!!

Since I'm digging the leopard quite a bit right now and wanted to kick my tree up a notch I decided to get some leopard print ribbon for it at Hobby Lobby. It was half off and I managed to stretch 2 rolls onto my big fat 9 foot tree. A big change for under $10! The best part is, when the fad passes and leopard print goes back to it's rightful owners (pimps) (AGAIN!) I'll only be out 10 bucks. Sweet.

So here's my tree in all its ~~pimping~~ leopard print glory....

You know, it's really hard to get a good picture of a Christmas tree. It's so pretty to photograph it at night but the ornaments don't really show up and if you take one with natural sunlight, it doesn't have that magical glow that makes it so pretty.

I picked up just a few ornaments on clearance at the end of the season last year and only one new package of 3 this year.

I got a package of 3 of these for dirt cheap at TJ Maxx and absolutely love them! I'm sure they could easily be reproduced but I couldn't make them for as cheap as I bought them!

I'm a sucker for birds... love the real feathers tail on this one.

A Hob Lob find after last Christmas.

Since it's such a big tree it needs a big topper. One of my Christmas tree pet peeves is to see a huge tree with a tiny star or bow on top, or worst of all, nothing!! There needs to be some "weight" at the top of the tree to balance out the wide "heavy" bottom.

Last year I got some ribbon and watched youtube videos of how to make a large fancy bow, ummmm, yeah. It's not rocket science but I just couldn't get it to look right, it was droopy and sloppy looking. Total fail.

I had this made at a local decor shop for less than $20 to give me a base.

I added a little bit of my own goodies and ended up with this...

Front side

Back side

I absolutely love how it turned out and so glad I didn't settle for my crummy youtube bow.

To pull the leopard print into the room I added my pillow to the chair ~~on top of~~ nice and cozied up next to the tree.

Hope you enjoyed my "Fancy" leopard print Christmas tree. Stay tuned for more Christmas decor!

Linking the Christmas Tree Party at Thrifty Decor Chick, Dittle Dattle, Under the Table & Dreaming

Flaunt it Friday 83!

2011-12-15T20:08:00.000-06:00

Seasons Greetings party time friends!

This has been a crazy week but I promise I will share more of my Christmas decor with you very very soon!! Please come back and see me over the weekend, I'll be flaunting my Christmas decor just for you!

Let's start the party!!

A Rustic Christmas Vignette

2011-12-11T09:50:00.000-06:00

Hey there, friends! How's Christmas decorating treatin' you? Are you doing all kinds of new and exciting things this year?

Because of my severe case of decorating ADD I had to change it up a bit. This is easily cured by going out and buying lots of new stuff.

However, I really do not need one more Christmas decoration.

Ever.

Like for the rest of my life.

I've got plenty of Christmas decorations... and then some.

So, I try to work with what I've got and mix it up a bit.

For some reason this season (I'm a poet and didn't know it!?! cheesey, I know...) I am really digging the rustic looking Christmas stuff. I'm even surprising myself because this usually isn't a look I'm attracted to (unless it's in a log cabin, or when Mr. Chic grows a beard ;).

So, I set up a little rustic vignette on my kitchen sideboard.

I think the rustic look hit me when I busted out my 90% off after the season last year greenery garland. It's kind of rustic in that it's very realistic looking and it even has some little pinecones attached. (does realistic = rustic?? I dunno but it was looking very rustic to me).

I have to come clean about one itsy-bitsy purchase...I broke down and bought a small Christmas decoration Bad, bad! I know. BUT, this little reindeer could not be passed up!

He was less than $8 at TJ Maxx!! I love him and wish I could find him a big brother reindeer but no luck.
Anywho, I busted out my most "rustic" decor. I had this old sleigh that I got at Wal-Mart after Christmas several years ago. It came with a hideous looking Christmas tree in it, I used it sans hideous tree of course.

This old sleigh has become my Christmas card holder. Doesn't really display the cards but hey, at least I'm not throwing them straight in the garbage and I can see the one on top.

I added a moss/pinecone/cranberry Christmas tree and my twiggy looking Christmas tree in a burlap sack but it still seemed to be missing something. I didn't want to buy anything so I almost scratched my rustic Christmas vignette.

Then I was helping a client (now friend) decorate for Christmas. I found this great tree from Crate & Barrel in her pile of old Christmas stuff that I was supposed to go through and determine what was junk. I told her this wasn't junk but since we changed her color scheme this totally didn't go, besides, it was too rustic. (Did someone say rustic?!) I bought it off her for a measly $4 but she was going to throw it in the garbage so I'll take that as a score for both me and her.

I added it to my rustic Christmas vignette and it worked perfectly! It would not have worked with her blue and silver sparkly trees at all.

Instead of the greenery wreath I usually hang on the mirror at Christmas time I opted to use a coffee filter wreath, I like the natural color and the texture it adds to all the greenery on the tabletop.

The finished vignette...

This isn't a great picture, the lighting was a bit off but I think you get the idea.
So, I guess I did buy something this year, but not much. One little reindeer and the Crate & Barrel tree was more like a garage sale find so that doesn't really count because it wasn't full price, right?!? And I got rid of some things too, so I'm following Mr. Chic's mantra: "Bring something in, take something out".

Did you change up your Christmas decor this year??

Flaunt it Friday 82 and 3 Shutterfly Winners!

2011-12-08T20:59:00.000-06:00

Hi friends!! I'm excited to announce the winners of the 25 Shutterfly Christmas/Holiday Card Giveaway.

Anonymous said... Fa La La or Faith & Hope would be the cards I would select because it would nicely fit the family picture we took on Thanksgiving for our Christmas cards. My email address is sherry@mail.usf .edu. Thanks!!
Monica said... I've subscribed to this blog on email also :) thanks for the fun giveaway!
Taylor said... I would choose posh and merry!

Congrats to my winners and I'll be following up with an email to you as well. Thanks again to Shutterfly, hope you enjoy! :)

I was a little short on posts this week but will make it up to you in the next few weeks where I will bombard you with Christmas decor posts. Don't miss it!

Now, time to enjoy a little par-tay!

Creative ways to display Christmas Cards

2011-12-05T19:20:00.000-06:00

Hey there, friends! How ya been??

I've been busy decking almost all my halls with Christmas cheer but haven't had any good photo taking weather. Can't wait to share it with you all. I know you're losing sleep over it... soon, very soon, my dears. :)

Since I couldn't take pictures today, I crossed something else off my Christmas "To do" list! I ordered Christmas cards from Shutterfly!

For those of you still needing to cross Christmas card ordering off your list, I'm giving away 25 FREE photo cards from Shutterfly to 3 lucky winners (that's right, THREE WINNERS)! Go HERE to sign up!!

Ordering Christmas cards made me realize once again that I don't really have a good way to display all of those pretty cards. This year I have mine in a little sleigh, it works fine but you only see the one on top, not really a "display".

I went to Pinterest for some "pinspiration"...

Beautiful! I wonder if they have that up all year? I would...

2 cute ideas! But mine never seem to match as well as these do...

Another spin on the picture frame, could be used for photos all year long.

Love this idea!

They look lovely across a pretty mirror.

Perfect if you've got a banister!

This is cute!

This would be so easy!

This is pretty but you'd have to poke a hole in every card, too time consuming for me,
I'd use laundry pins like the rest of them. :)

Well, I hope I've given you some ideas for what to do with all those Christmas cardsthat are starting to show up in your mailbox.

Remember to enter my giveaway to win 25 Free photo cards HERE!

*All pictures above found on Pinterest, search "Christmas card display"

Shutterfly Christmas Card Giveaway!

2011-12-04T14:32:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! It's time for the next giveaway in my "Giveaway Extravaganza!"(in a big, loud, echoing voice)

I'm sure all of you have heard of Shutterfly, an online printing service that offers some of the cutest cards, stationary and photobooks at reasonable prices.

Last year I ordered my Christmas cards from Shutterfly and had more than one person tell me that my card was the best one they received! Seriously?! I didn't think people paid that much attention to Christmas cards so I took that as a very nice compliment! Shutterfly did the work for me, all I did was choose the design and drop in my pictures.

This year it's time to order if you haven't done so already, Christmas is in just 3 weeks! I am ordering my Shutterfly cards today and giving 3 of my lucky readers the chance to win 25 free cards!!

Shutterfly has a gianormous selection of Christmas cards! They have so many great ones to choose from in all kinds of colors it's kind of hard to pick just one!

I love how simple and colorful this one is...

Classic Christmas colors...

You can even get matching address labels with your picture on it!

How cool is that?!

Of course Shutterfly also helps preserve your memories with their fantastic and easy to make photobooks. These make great gifts for grandparents or even yourself!

So how do you enter to win 25 Christmas or Holiday cards from Shutterfly?

You have several chances, please leave a separate comment for each and make sure to leave your email address if you don't have a blog.

1. Go to Shutterfly and tell me which Christmas or Holiday card you'd choose.
2. Be a follower of this blog
3. Subscribe to this blog on email
4. Like Shutterfly on Facebook
5. Like Chic on a Shoestring Decorating on Facebook

3 winners will be chosen by random.org on Tuesday December 6th at 10pm cst. Enter now!

*Winners will receive a gift promo code good for 25 free cards (which expire December 31, 2011) at Shutterfly.com. I received free greeting cards in return for this post and giveaway.

Flaunt it Friday 81 and a Winner! and another Giveaway!

2011-12-01T22:41:00.000-06:00

Hey friends! I'm so happy to announce the winner of the Shabby Apple dress giveaway:..

Chosen by random.org, #41, Courtana! Congratulations!!! Please contact me Courtana, your profile doesn't list an email address for you!

You won this beautiful Shabby Apple Dress!

Shabby Apple Boogie Woogie Dress

For those of you that didn't win, I have another giveaway going on right now for Scentsy! Go HERE to sign up for the Plug-in Warmer and Scent Circles giveaway and get some Christmas shopping done, everyone loves Scentsy! :)

Now, it's time for Flaunt it Friday again.... Hooray for the weekend and Fluant it Friday!!