Laundry Room Overhaul

So, Christmas Break for teachers is what gets us through September-December. It's like the beaming BP sign that brought about tears for me one time as I was lost in no man's land with my gas light on and certain I was going to run out of gas and be murdered by a crazy half scarecrow half demon. True story. Anyway.

This holiday break brings about a collective sigh of relief. Time to rejuvenate. If you know me, you know I can't hold still for long. Unless I'm sick. Then I lay on the couch like the pathetic wimp I am begging for chicken soup and crackers.

So when morning broke that first day of my break, I was elated to turn my focus from my little wriggling buckets of hormones to something that has been dying for just as much attention: my laundry room.

*Insert scary music here*

I tried to pretty it up with some leftover decorations from my sister's couples shower. Didn't help.

Thanks hubby for ripping the door frame off to fix the door and promising to put it back. Almost 2 years ago.

Just. Yuck. And blah.

Who would want to do laundry in a room like that?! Don't get me wrong- I'm very thankful we found a house with a laundry room instead of a laundry closet. Very thankful. But it's hard to be motivated to wash, dry, fold, and repeat a billion times if you have to do it in an ugly setting.

So I fixed it.

So. In. Love.

I started by taking everything out of the room and taking down the piddly shelf. I then wiped everything down with a damp rag and vacuumed up the tons of lint everywhere. I'll get to the source of the lint problem in a second.

Because the room is narrow and long and it was only me, I couldn't completely move the washer and dryer out to paint. So I commenced a painting tango with the two. I carefully unplugged each and as I went to remove the flimsy lint vent coil thing it tore into about a thousand pieces. Okay, more like three. Seeing how crazy cheap it was I realized that it was the reason there was always lint building up all over the laundry room. The dang thing was letting the lint escape instead of sending it wherever it's supposed to go. I was thankful to my creative side, because otherwise we would have never found this little problem.

So after a quick call to the hubs to tell him to pick up a better lint thingy I began painting. I started with my accent wall. It's the same green paint (Ace Hardware's Gleeful Green in Satin) we used in our kitchen- so not only was it free, I also feel like it would make the house more balanced colorwise. The top was easy since all I had to do was stand on a chair to cut in (paint the top and corners and sides with a brush) and then roll it. When I got down below the washer and dryer I debated just stopping since no one would see that it wasn't all the way painted, but I was feeling ambitious and knew it would bother me forevah if I didn't. OCD. That's me. So my technique was to scoot the dryer out as far as I could while leaving the washer in place and getting behind the dryer, and then pushing the dryer back enough to not touch the wet paint but to make room to push the washer out. Then I painted behind it.

Next were the walls on either side. Boogers. For this I had to push one machine as far forward as I could get it and the push the other one as close behind it as I could to open enough space to paint. For the rest of the walls I used the same paint we had in our living room and hallway (Ace Hardware's Crushed Peanut in Flat. I don't like flat paint but I couldn't get this color in eggshell. Le sadness.) So again, not only was this paint free but it also kept the house cohesive and balanced in color.

After all the hard spots were done, I painted the rest of the walls in that tiny room. Josh is going to have to repair the drywall and door frame at some point, so rather than stress about it I just globbed a bunch of paint over it to at least camouflage it some.

When the painting was done and dried, my first priority to putting the room back together was adding more storage. I removed the small wire shelf and filled the holes in (pretty unsuccessfully- I need a course in spackling. I suck at it.) before I painted. Using some gift cards I received from some students at school for Christmas (Holla! They're so sweet) I purchased a larger shelf of the same brand from Walmart. I would have loved to have built some custom wooden shelves or even purchased some cabinetry, but we're on a pretty tight budget so one of these days when we're more settled and established (and better at buying/spending/saving) I'll probably add some sturdier shelving more pleasing to the eyes.

Thank goodness hubby was home by this point because I was out of juice. He swept in to save the day (like his does so often. love him so much) and put the smaller shelf closer to the washer since it would house the detergents and stain removing accessories. He then (with my expert guidance) installed the larger shelf I purchased above the smaller one. Right now it just holds extra stuff and pretty things, but I'm thinking down the road it will be great for holding laundry baskets with kids' clothes and such. Or maybe I'll leave it pretty and convince Josh to build a stand that can hold baskets underneath the machine:

So once the shelves were in place I put my (after summer clearance) Michael's drink containers holding our detergent and softener on the lower shelf. Next to them I put a little chalkboard painted bucket I got at Target for $1. On it I wrote "Check Your Pockets!" because it's where I put random things- ahem, bobby pins Andrea- that I find in our pockets. Next to it is a container from Goodwill that's holding clothespins. Not really functional but completely adorable. Next to it I put a basket that I got from Big Lots for $1.29 that holds our stain removers, Febreze, and dryer sheets. I love the basket because it's shaped like the old wire baskets that are industrial looking, but it's black plastic. Good look, cheap price. Win-win. 

The top shelf houses another Big Lots basket with extra detergent. I got the turquoise/teal basket at Dollar Tree and covered everything except that little rectange with tape and a grocery bag and then spritzed it with some chalkboard spray paint I had already. Bam! Lint container (Lint is good for starting fires- we use it in our fireplace, so it doesn't go in the trash)!

The extra space above the dryer is perfect for hanging clothing that has to air dry. 

Once I worked out all the functionality kinks, I began makin' 'er perty. 

I used a Goodwill frame painted with chalkboard paint and a dollar tree frame to house two cute Scripture prints I found here.  

The flowers were another Michael's after summer clearance steal for like 75 cents. I also rehung the lanterns from Ashley's couples shower, but I tossed the garland. It was all tangled and stressing me out.

I printed one of my favorite pictures of Josh and I and hung it in a frame I got for Christmas from my seester. 

I love it because it's the last thing I see when I leave and the first thing I see when I get home. :)

Lastly are my two favorite crafts. Using a planter cork board I found in the garden section at Walmart for around a $1.50 as well as clothespins and a mirror from Dollar Tree ($2 all together) I pinned the clothespins around each and hung them up with Command strips. Easy peasy. The mirror is like a baby sunburst mirror, but with clothespins (cheesy laundry theme. Love it) and the cork board is perfect for those rogue socks that are lost without their mate.

The Laundry printable is another Pinterest find, but I forgot to pin it and now can't find it again! I printed it but it was too small for the frame so I just cut out the edges and stuck it up there with some decorative tape I got at Michael's. 

Budget breakdown-

Paint- Free! (on hand)

Shelving- $15 (technically free, gift cards used)

Baskets, buckets, etc- about $5

Hangers- $1

Frames- $1, gift, on hand already

Clothespin crafts- $3.50

Everything else was already on hand

Total: $25.50

Holla to save a dolla y'all! Not only do I love using what I already have and repurposing- it makes my husband very happy to come home to something so drastically prettier and more functional and better overall and yet so cheap!

So I am now in love with my laundry room. There it is; never thought I would say it. It was a lot to accomplish in one day but I was determined. Now the only two rooms that have not been touched with my DIY madness in our house are the spare bedroom and the bonus room. Maybe they will get tackled during Spring Break (another 'light at the end of the tunnel' for teachers. ) or Summer (the ultimate 'light at the end of the tunnel for teachers!). 

Before & After- aka :( & :)

And you can ask Josh- laundry is SO not an issue now. :D

Also- Josh bought an aluminum hose lint thingy at Ace Hardware that has been a million times better than the flimsy thing we had before. It took him a while to get it attached, but there are no longer layers of lint in the laundry room. Lovely alliteration. ;)

Next post is gonna be about some serious organization that happened over the break. Can't wait to share!

Until then,

-A

One Last Little Bit of Cheer

It's not too late to share a little more holiday cheer is it?

Good.

I thought I'd share my favorite parts of our holiday decor as well as some shots from New Year's. I've got some awesome projects from my holiday break to share in the coming weeks, but first thing's first!

Our Mantle- Our lighted garland, picture frames, and stocking hangers are from Walmart (clearance after Christmas 2011). The moose came from Burke's outlet (regular price, Christmas 2011), the figurines from the dollar tree (some time in college), the pinecone candlesticks and red candles came from Hobby Lobby (Black Friday sale 2012), and the small trees (bottom left) came from Target (clearance after Christmas 2011). I sewed the stockings using purchased flannel, leftover scrap green checked fabric, and burlap from our wedding. You can read more about that over on my Burlap Project page. :)

Lighted Village- I am so excited to start a little village! I love all things miniature! I got the coffee shop as a Christmas gift this year and picked up the trees, lamp post, and sweet newlyweds (aw!) after Christmas on clearance from Walmart.

 

Nativity- Our nativity is simple and one piece, and I love that about it. I made the printable (I'd love to email you a copy! Just drop me a comment. :D ) and the sweet figurine came from Burke's outlet (Christmas 2010). 

Our Tree- The tree (Target clearance after Christmas 2010) is a collection of childhood/sentimental ornaments, ornaments on clearance from Walmart and Target, garland from Target and Garden Ridge, ribbon from Michaels, picks from Hobby Lobby, Target, & Michaels, and the tree skirt is from Ross (Christmas 2010). 

 Sweet moose couple came from Burke's outlet (Christmas 2011).

Centerpiece- Cranberry candle holder was a Goodwill find, the salt and pepper shakers came from Cracker Barrel (99 cents a piece!), and the tealight votives were bought on sale at Michaels this year.

 

 Stove- Snowman/Santa figurine is an old decoration from my childhood, the gold glitter tree came from Dollar Tree some time in college (circa 2008), the snowman teapot is from ABC Distributing, the snowflake cookie cutters are from walmart, the santa spoon holder came from Dollar Tree I think, and the printables I got from blogs I found through a Pinterest search.

We spend New Year's with some family and had a blast watching the Clemson game (I'm pretty certain my husband cried... he won't admit but I'm almost certain he was overcome with emotion! Haha!) and I played with the 'fireworks' setting on my camera and got some pretty awesome photos of the action-

The last one is my favorite. :)

I hope your new year has been full of promise and potential!

Until next time,

-A

Resolutions... take II

 So, last year around this time I did a post about the 'resolutions' I wanted to work on for 2012. I thought this year I would take a look at those and reflect on how I did and in what ways I can improve for 2013. Ready? Here we go!

1) for 2012: {Get in shape. I know what you're thinking- "You just said that was typical!". Well making a big push to lose holiday weight is always a big deal, but that's not what I'm talking about. This past year I lived a very unhealthy lifestyle, and it has taken its toll. My skin, my weight, my moods, my energy- no good!! I'm resolving to cut out simple carbs (this is kind of necessary due to insulin resistance I have developed) and to begin exercising regularly to get in shape!! This is going to be a biggie- and probably the hardest for me.}

for 2013: This goal has been a roller coaster. I had periods of time where I was losing weight and at each visit to my doctor my weight was going down. I've also had periods where I've felt overwhelmed and put the weight back on. And then I would lose it again. This goal is a battle for a lifestyle. As I go into 2013 I've got my eyes on not what I want to lose, but what I want to gain: feeling better and ditching the aches and pains from the weight, having energy to spare, starting a family, being able to work out with my husband, getting rid of the couch potato lifestyle, and finally- looking at photos of myself and enjoying the memory rather than feeling shame about how I appear.

Source

2) for 2012: {Commit to keeping my house clutter free. I'm a pack rat. I married a pack rat. I have seen way too many hoarders episodes to be comfortable keeping junk anymore. So in 2012 I will continue de-cluttering and keeping my house simple and neat. I'm very excited about this one! Less clutter leads to more projects! And we all know I love projects!!}

for 2013: I rocked this resolution!!!! The only problem is I should have said "Get rid of the clutter" rather than "Keep it clutter free". It took the entire year to rid our house of most of the clutter. My biggest advice- take it room by room. Even today after I finish writing this post I will be cleaning and re-organizing my office because it looks like Christmas exploded in there. I have to refuse to be overwhelmed by the mess (being OCD I want everything in its place all the time and I have to fight the urge to be stressed when it's not that way) and just take things one space at a time. I am WAY more productive that way. So for this year I'm going to focus on painting the kitchen cabinets and reorganizing them to better suit our needs, keeping up with laundry and putting things away, and being careful about impulse buys so I don't bring things into our home that are not going to be used.

Source

3) for 2012: {Be committed to serving in a church. God led us in an unexpected direction church-wise this year and it has been awesome to see God bless our obedience, but it is hard to get plugged into and committed to another church. Please pray for us that our hearts will ignite with passion and we will find a place to serve.}

for 2013: God was so faithful! Josh and I joined Newspring Church and not only attend church now, but we are plugged in serving God through being a part of their Greeting Team! We have seen so much growth in our relationship as a married couple through us taking care of our individual relationships with the Lord. We communicate better, we are in better moods, and we enjoy the time we get to spend together volunteering. We've made new friends and look forward to volunteering faithfully and continuing to take our next steps with God!

Source

4) for 2012: {Get out of debt!! Honestly, I don't really consider 2 credit cards and a home loan a lot of debt but it's important to me to be debt free. We need to purchase another vehicle and will not be able to do so until I get these credit cards off my back.}

for 2013: Y'all. This is hard. Financial hardship always seems to hit you when you're down. We have worked really hard this year to pay debt off and make better financial choices. We were very blessed to be able to purchase Josh a vehicle (even if it is an ole rust bucket- we love it regardless!) but we still have debt to take on. We were wasteful with our income tax money last year and will be very disciplined this year in using that money in ways that God leads us. My best advice when it comes to living comfortably on a not comfortable income: tithe. Every time we have tithed and been faithful in giving our 10% back to God, He has been SO faithful in providing for us. Every. single. time.

Source

5) for 2012: {Save, save, save money!!!! Our responsibility with money has matured a whole HECK of a lot (I'm not sure how much a heck is, but it's gotta be a bunch!); however, in order to visit one of my best friends in England, feel comfortable talking about having babies, visit precious friends that live in California, and be able to pay our bills without ridiculous juggling and pushing due dates- we gotta get ahead of the game. Paycheck to paycheck ain't gonna work.}

for 2013: Again- money is a hard one. We did an okay job of saving here and there for small things we wanted, but in the grand scheme of things we did not make very calculated decisions and were not able to save any big bucks for any big trips. We feel pretty good about where we are in regards to whenever God blesses us with starting a family. Ideally I would love to be able to stay home and raise our children and teach part time or substitute, but if I had to continue teaching we would trust the Lord for that and just be overjoyed He finally blessed us with a family. We also love giving and being able to do things for our families and would love to be in a better position to do so.

Source

Overall I have to say we did a bang up job growing together as a couple and doing our very best to soak in every drop of joy and opportunity given us by this one wild and precious life.

I have a feeling 2013 is going to be the best yet. :)

Source

-A

A Very Special Gift

I love surprises. I love to be surprised. However, (and our family knows this) Josh and I are horrible at keeping surprises from each other. We get so excited that we end up either spilling the beans or handing over the surprise early... (e.g. my new camera and Josh's iPhone).

So you can imagine that when my stepmom told me on THANKSGIVING she had connections to Chad Morris of the Clemson Tigers and that my husband (one of the most devoted Clemson fans I've ever met) would be receiving a football for Christmas autographed by Mr. Morris and Dabo and some of the popular players (Tajh, Sammy, Ford, Ellington to name a few... I hope I spelled all those right) I had to try my absolute.hardest. to keep this secret. I was so dang excited for him. I knew it was something that he would cherish and I just wanted to blurt it out so many times (especially while watching the games) but I am very proud of myself- I kept the secret! I did and his reaction was so worth it.

My husband works so very hard. And he loves even harder. If I mention that I want something (within reason) he will do whatever he can to get it for me. It's how I got my Young House Love book, how I convinced him to help me repaint the living room the weekend before hosting my sister's bachelorette, how I got my amazing teacher bag, and how I am able to do all my fun projects. He would move Heaven and Earth to make me happy, so when it came to keeping my lips sealed about this treasure I was happy to hold the secret because I knew just how happy this gift would make my sweet Josh.

Need proof? No? Well here it is anyway:

Sneaky, sneaky JoAnn. And sneaky, sneaky me. :)

Looking forward to sharing photos of our Christmas with you later today!

Until then,
-A

Christmas Cheer

Has it already come and gone?!

The day after Christmas always brings with it a certain amount of sadness. I blame it on my mom. No offense to her (different strokes for different folks), but when we were little Christmas decorations came down on Christmas Day. I wish I was kidding. Granted, we were up at 4am celebrating Santa's arrival and departure so when later afternoon came around and my mom and dad would make the switch so we could spend the afternoon with him and my grandparents, my sister and I felt like it had already been 2 days. It was still an abrupt ending to come home that evening or the next morning and see that life was 'back to normal'; that all the Christmas magic was put up in the attic to wait out another year.

Now that I have my own home, my love and I draw out the Christmas cheer as long as possible. I'd probably keep decorations up longer if it weren't for getting back to teaching so early in January.

Regardless, I tried to document a lot of our cheery moments this year on Instagram. I realized if I made my own hashtag I could see all of those moments at one time. So- until I can get good pictures taken of our holiday home and posts written about what we've been up to to share, I thought I would revive my poor, neglected blog with some warm fuzzies courtesy of Instagram- (Followers welcome: ajatkins4120).

I kicked off my decorating with my Gingerbread Scentsy in the kitchen!

First fire of the year. No stockings hanging- safety first! (Thanks Dad!)

The tree in all its clearance decor glory. I love my tree!

I handmade our stockings this year. I love them.

White silk and spice. Y'all. It's good.

Autumn's first Christmas!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Another view of our tree.

So glad we get to take time in the year to celebrate our reason for living!

Our wreath. I'm not sure I like the 'a' hanging in the middle. Will tweak for next year.

Someone special got an early Christmas present! Free iPhone 4 upgrade!

Good stuff. Given to me by one of my students. I <3 my church!

Went with simple brown kraft paper and decorative tape this year.

Three sweet snowflakes. We're adding icicles next year.

Christmas lab- turning Poinsettias into pH indicators!!

We spent our last day before Christmas break at school making snowflakes for Sandy Hook children.

First morning of Christmas break!

Someone got a little too excited with his gift... we still can't find the head. Poor hedgehog.

We couldn't wait to give all these presents

Waiting for Santa

The Year Without a Santa Claus- He's Mister White Christmas, He's Mr. Snow!

I made this for my nephew. And it was too small. Boo!

So pleeeease, celebrate me home! Beginning our Christmas festivities!

New tradition- Movies on Christmas Day. We saw Monsters, Inc in 3D. So good!

So, that was a quick run through of our holiday week! I'm looking forward to doing a recap of our Fall (I was horrible at keeping up with this blog. Sorry!) and editing the pictures from Christmas I got to take with my early Christmas present: my new Nikon SLR! Hurrah!

Until then,
-A

and to all a good night...