Category Archives: Organizing

May 12

Half Pallet Herb Garden!

Half Pallet Herb Garden 6

Half Pallet Herb Garden 6

I have had intentions of getting this mini-herb garden together for sometime now; finally got a chance this weekend!  I had originally planned on using an entire pallet, but as we have added storage and a grill to our limited patio space…a half pallet fit all the herbs I wanted and still had the look I was hoping for without taking up too much space.

What you need…

Half Pallet Herb Garden

Pallet, paint and brushes, hose clamps, small metal buckets, dirt and herbs

(I asked for pallets at Home Depot and Lowe’s, they gave them to me for free!)

I enlisted the help of my father-in-law to cut the pallet in half.  You might be handier with a saw than I am…

Half Pallet Herb Garden 2

Then my littlest munchkin man helped me out with the paint job…we had a wonderfully messy time. :-)

Half Pallet Herb Garden 3

I adjusted the hose clamps to fit the buckets and then drilled the holes to screw the clamps (well, my father-in-law drilled them) into the pallet.

Half Pallet Herb Garden 4

The buckets slide right in and hang very nicely.

Half Pallet Herb Garden 5

Finish off with your favorite herbs and spices…

Half Pallet Herb Garden 7

This gives such a nice POP of color to my patio, just makes me smile every time I see it!

Half Pallet Herb Garden 6

For more, follow me on Facebook, I’d love to connect with you there!  Find me linking up here! ~Kelly

 

Apr 20

Earth Day Giveaway!

Spring Cleaning Tips

Earth Day is coming up on Monday!!

Are you making any changes for your family this year?

One easy way to go green in your home is by switching brands!

You can replace your current household cleaners for natural, non-toxic ones that work!

I have loved and been using Shaklee’s Get Clean Line for 9 months now.

I swear by them!!

They are totally cost-effective, natural and they actually WORK!

I have been using Basic H on my hardwood and ceramic floors and I am always impressed!

Shaklee carries an amazing dish line that gets the job done even without pre-rinsing!!
The Scour Off can do wonders on your oven!!

You can remove water spots.
You can even clean your tea-pot.
Our products can do just about anything!
And because it is safe, you can even have your children help! :)  (Extra Bonus)
Did I mention how cute they are???
For all your disinfecting needs, we have a great disinfectant!

So how would you like to try some of these products for FREE??  One of you will get to choose a GET CLEAN Mini-Kit of your choice! (household, laundry or kitchen)

So where do you get in on this GIVEAWAY??  Click here to head over to Day 2 Day Joys and use the rafflecopter to enter!

552070_3127404782750_1715066366_n

Happy Earth Day (in advance)!

Follow along with me on Facebook for more inspiration and tips!

Apr 19

How to Clean the Boy’s Bathroom (and other stinky stuff!) ~ Bleach Alternative

Spring Cleaning Tips

I have three boys and they all share a bathroom so it smells like…yes, EEEW!  Seems to me like the toilet is a big enough target to hit, hmmm…I guess I will never understand. :-) In the past I would have doused that room with bleach from top to bottom, but with the recent onset of many allergies in my son, I began research for safer alternatives.  I was pretty much horrified at what I found in my studies!  Honestly, I used to think a house that smelled like bleach was a clean house…turns out that a bleach smelling house is a very toxic house!

Bleach can burn the throat, cause headaches, skin and eye irritation, respiratory problems and it’s the number one household chemical involved in poisoning!  And that’s not the half of it!  WOW! No more bleach for us.

Baking soda and vinegar can be a safer alternative to cleaning most household areas, but I have also found a super-concentrated germicide cleaner that we now use and love!  Shaklee’s Basic G Concentrated Germicide is tough on germs and easy on the pocketbook.  One quart = 64 gallons!  Just mix 3/8 of a teaspoon (small spoonful) with 16 ounces of water and you are ready to tackle germs in the kitchen, bathroom and pet areas!  Disinfects, Cleans, Deodorizes!

Exactly what I need for that stinky boy’s bathroom!  I spray all around and in the toilet and that takes care of any odors.  Great to spray down the sink and tub drain to avoid odors, as well.

How to Clean the Boy's Bathroom (and other stinky stuff)

Some of my other favorite uses are:  To clean a front loading washing machine.  Water can sit in the machine and cause a mildew odor.  Generally, it sits in the front rubber seal.  Simply spraying down the inside of the rubber ring once a week or so takes care of that smell!

Clean a Front Loading Washing Machine

Freshen up the garbage can in between bag changes with a quick spray and wipe down…or spray on and let sit if it is really bad.

Deodorize the Garbage Can

Spray a small amount into your air vents to freshen up the air in your house.  Especially during cold season, keep those germs at bay.

Freshen up Air Vents

 

Perfect for getting that “mystery smell” out of any area of your house!

Basic G kill germs naturally

 

Happy Cleaning!  For more on this and other green cleaning products, click here!

Want to try some All-Natural Organic Cleaners for free?  Come back for a giveaway tomorrow to get the details!!

Join me on Facebook for inspiration and ideas!

Apr 17

Spring Cleaning! Piler or Filer? Organizing With Dollar Store Baskets!

Spring Cleaning Tips

I have NEVER been very good at organizing files.  I start off with very good intentions…but then I forget all about the file folders and start the piles.  Eventually all the piles turn into one big mess and I completely lose all sense if direction.  Any productivity comes to a sudden HALT.  If it’s out of sight…then it’s very much out of mind.  If I can’t see it, then it doesn’t seem to exist!   New plan needed, NOW!

Enter about a million Dollar Store baskets…well, not really, but it’s hard not to go crazy there sometimes!  So many shapes and sizes and colors! :-)

Dollar Store Organizing

I started in my office, which is actually our master bedroom walk-in closet.  Clothing on one half, office on the other.  It works very well for me!  A quiet place with no distractions.  But it was very difficult to feel any inspiration to write or craft among the piles of paper and such!  I divided the mess into categories and gave each one it’s own little basket home, complete with a laminated label.  I am a total laminating nerd, by the way!  LOVE my laminator ♥

Dollar Store Organizing | Eyes on the Source

Dollar Store Organizing | Eyes on the Source

What a difference!  I feel so happy when I walk into my office now and I look forward to a little time there each day!  Before, it just felt very burdensome walking in there and I didn’t know where to start.  Find a system that works for you, it will be well worth your time!

I loved how well my office turned out, so I looked for more places to organize (sure didn’t have to look far..!).  Our laundry room is right off the garage, so everyone just dumps whatever is in their arms off there.  Total disaster!  But now…makes me smile when I walk in there!

Dollar Store Organizing | Eyes on the Source

A place for everything and everything in it’s place…Ahhhh!

Some of my other favorite ideas for Dollar Store baskets are: Place rolled up towels in a basket to organize the linen closet or put underneath the sink, use a basket in the car for all the little odds and ends or garbage that end up there, place at the bottom of the stairs to gather all the upstairs stuff, store library books in one place, keeps lids to the sippy cups all together, store medicine up on a high shelf.  The possibilities are endless!

What will you use them for?

For more tips and encouragement, find me on Facebook and linking up here!  ~Kelly

Apr 03

A Schedule For Those Who Can’t Stick To a Schedule!!

Do you have trouble laying out a schedule for your family’s day?  And if you are able to put together a schedule…do you have a horrible time sticking to it??  That’s me…guilty as charged!  I have tried and failed countless times to get an effective schedule going in our household.  It has either been met with resistance or works for a few days but then I hit a bump in the road and that’s the end of it.

So…NO MORE!  I had to come up with a solution because we have been living in constant chaos.  We have had the worst time getting into a routine since we moved, so many changes day in and day out, plus all the visitors we are having.  Hadn’t had a normal day and wasn’t even sure what that would look like, so I needed something flexible.  AND here it is!

A Schedule for Those Who Can't Stick to a Schedule

A HUGE in your face kind of schedule!  Little doesn’t work for us…if I can’t see it, I forget about it! So this is in the center of our living room screaming at us all day long and I need that!

Supplies:

Schedule for Those Who Can't Stick to a Schedule 1

Foam Board, Post-It Notes, Marker, Pencil, Yardstick

I needed 5 columns across for my family of five and I wanted 20 rows of time slots for the day.  Being a bit of a perfectionist at times…I drew my lines with a pencil first, but if you are adventurous, jump right in with a marker. :-)

I made a list of all the things I wanted to include throughout the day and chose a color for each family member.

A Schedule for Those Who Can't Stick to a Schedule 2

Once all my lines were drawn and names and times completed, I was ready to start plugging in my list.  For events that took up more than one time slot, I used a whole Post-It Note and for one slot, I cut one in half.  I love the ease of use!  Before, when I have tried to implement a schedule, if something wasn’t working and I had to change it on the computer…it would never happen.  But ripping off a Post-It?  Yup, I can handle that!  So I played around with it for an afternoon and this is what I came up with:

A Schedule For Those Who Can't Stick to a Schedule 3

A Schedule For Those Who Can't Stick to A Schedule 5

So how is it going, you ask?  Well, day one was a very successful morning and I was feeling very proud of myself until a naptime incident that included POOP all over the carpet…ugh…pretty much disrupted the day.  Why, why, why do toddlers do that???  Anyway…day two had less bumps in it, so there is hope!  And life with kids can’t be completely scheduled anyhow, can it?!  How do you keep up with all you have in your day?

A Schedule For Those Who Can't Stick to A Schedule 6

Coming up, I have a series of Spring Cleaning Posts leading up to Earth Day and a Giveaway!  So stay tuned in with me on Facebook!  Find me linking up here!