getting ready for Christmas already? (and new holiday photo cards in the etsy shop!)

Those of you with young children know how it is. It starts with Halloween, and the whirlwind begins — you’re tearing around town, attending performances, baking cookies for class get-togethers, decorating, cleaning, and the next thing you know it’s January.

Every year, I promise myself that I’m going to start preparing for Christmas early so that when the holiday season gets here, the “chores” are done and I can have time to bake cookies, drink hot chocolate, and watch Christmas movies with the kids without feeling frazzled. Unfortunately, that great plan tends to unravel quickly. I am hoping, though, that this year I can do a few small things to prepare a little at a time. Simple Mom has a great series, 12 Weeks to a Peaceful Christmas, that gives small tasks to tackle each week in an effort to make your holiday season calmer and more enjoyable. Definitely worth checking out!

I’ve been working on putting some new holiday cards in the Etsy shop, but I’m always looking for new ideas. Have you seen any cute card designs lately? Any suggestions? I am hoping to get my own card done very soon, so that they’ll be sitting and ready to send early in December.

How do you tackle the holiday season? Do you have an organized plan, or do you take the last-minute, fly-by-the-seat-of-your pants approach?

best pumpkin cookies ever!

My friend Stephanie sent me a recipe for some fabulous pumpkin cookies. I am not a good baker (I’ve mentioned that before), but every now and then I luck out. Like a good girl, I followed the recipe carefully this time (I prefer to wing it, which is probably why my baking doesn’t usually come out so great). It was easy and they came out really good  —  a nice, soft consistency with good cinnamony pumpkiny flavor.

Here they are, swimming in their icing (I added extra cinnamon to the glaze….you can never have too much cinnamon, right?):

In an effort to keep myself from eating them all, I packaged some up in little cellophane bags, tied them with a ribbon, and added a cute sticker I made for each of the kids’ teachers. I’m sending them to school tomorrow as a random treat. I know in my teaching days, I wouldn’t have minded a little mid-week surprise, especially if it involved baked goods.

Luke said, “Mom, I think it’s nice we’re bringing these for my teachers. They’ve been working really hard.”

Here’s the link to the recipe: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I’m adding this to Kimba’s DIY Day and Works for Me Wednesday!

in the closet

WARNING: what I am about to show you is not especially pretty. But it is functional, so I hope you’ll bear with me.

My husband and I share a medium-sized walk-in closet. It does its job, but over time, we still seemed to be bursting at the seams in there. My shoes always ended up in a jumbled mess on the floor, some of my accessories were scattered through the closet and some were in my bedroom dresser drawers, and I was realizing that there were things I forgot even existed because of the lack of organization.

I had an idea that we could use up the little wall space that we had to create some spaces for these things. I am good at being neat if I have a place to put things; it was just that those things had nowhere to go.

Chad and I figured that we (he) could build some shoe shelves, each just tall enough to fit my tallest shoes, and that would get them up off the floor:

Next, I spray-painted some pegboard with coppery spray paint, and hung it as a place to catch my scarves and bags and a mirror. (I don’t love the way the paint came out, so I plan to repaint that another color someday when I’m feeling ambitious.)

To the right of the pegboard, I placed a large square tray on the shelf and leaned a batting and fabric-covered foam board for my jewelry. The tray is a great place for chunky bracelets and things that can’t be hung, and I just used tacks in the foam board for my other jewelry. This way I can actually see everything, which makes me much more likely to use it than when I have to dig the jumbled, tangled mess out of a dark drawer.

So these are my inexpensive, quickie ways that I made my closet work better for me. If you want to see some prettier versions of closet,  accessory, and miscellaneous organization, check these out:

• Chris talks about pegboard here and shows some beautiful examples, and does her own pegboard project here
• See how Sherry organizes her jewelry here and creates closets where there once were none here
• A great necklace organizer at Grace Violet
• Check out what Mandy did when her closet exploded

And if you have your own ideas for closet organization and maximizing space, do tell!

I’m adding this to DIY Day at Kimba’s!

brunch

I had a long-overdue little get-together with some of my friends today.

Now that the kids are in school, I thought I’d have all kinds of free time on my hands to get errands run, see friends for coffee, and clean my house. Not to mention work. I don’t know where the time is going, but those things aren’t happening quite as easily as I expected. So last week I decided it was time and sent out an Evite to a group of girlfriends, most of whom have kids around Luke and Maggie’s age. It’s very weird that we can have a kid-less gathering now.

I served a ham and cheese strata, which is a super-easy breakfast casserole made with bread, eggs, a little milk, ham, & cheese. There are dozens of variations you can make; I have often made it with chorizo, black beans, cheddar, and salsa for a southwestern version. I also made an easy pumpkin coffee cake, and the girls brought stuff to share.

photo from foodandwine.com; click for recipe!

It was such a nice way to spend a morning. I recently stumbled across the blog 4 Reluctant Entertainers, and I highly recommend that you drop in! Lots of good tips to encourage you to open up your home and spend some time with friends. I love to entertain, but I find I often let life and busy-ness get in the way.

Have you hosted any get-togethers recently? I want to hear about them!

is it fall yet?

Today’s high is 94. Believe it or not, this is 10 degrees cooler than it was last week. During most of the year, Arizona’s weather is beautiful. Clear blue skies, comfortable temperatures, and low humidity. But it’s this time, at the end of the summer, when temps are still soaring and the rest of the country seems to be getting some relief, that I miss the east coast. Fall is my favorite season, and I’m ready for changing leaves and jeans and football games and crockpots full of soup. Those things will happen here, but it just takes longer.

We moved to Arizona five years ago this weekend. I have learned that I am happiest if I don’t wait the long wait for it to actually feel like fall and just create a fall atmosphere when I’m ready. That means that soon, even if it’s still in the 90s, I will be breaking out garlands of fall leaves, pumpkin spice and apple candles, and generally making things cozier.

Melissa at The Inspired Room started the official launch of the fall season for all of us nester-types this week. Head over to check out what other people are doing to greet the new season. And she’s having a contest…..she’s giving away 3 $200 HomeGoods gift certificates. Oh, how I love HomeGoods. If I won, I’d get some accessories to warm up my dining room. I still need to fill in the bottom shelf of the new side table. Maybe some vases or topiaries for the top of the china cabinet, a table runner or tablecloth for the table, and some kind of pretty centerpiece. Fingers crossed.

I’m adding this post to Hooked on Fridays too!

baby girl room to big girl room in a few simple steps

I was dragging my feet on the big switch for Maggie. It was past time for her to move out of the crib and into a real bed, but I knew that that meant some furniture rearranging, a little redecorating, and the likelihood that I would have two kids waking me up at 5 a.m. instead of just one. Not to mention that it would force me to accept the fact that my baby is no longer a baby.

But it was time.

Here is what it looked like before:

We dismantled the crib, moved a day bed into the room, and began the setup. I liked the color scheme we had going, with a soft-but-not-too-pale yellow on the walls and some pinks, whites, and greens worked in. I decided to do a mistreatment similar to the one I did in Luke’s room last year. A couple of yards of a fun paisley fabric and some ribbon trim did the trick, framed by some inexpensive white panels from Ikea. I used iron-on hem tape and upholstery tacks for the valance, and had the whole thing done really quickly. Except for the part where I ironed the valance to the carpet, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. Oops.

For bedding, I used a white mattelese bedspread that I bought on clearance from Marshall’s years ago. I’d never used it, but I knew a nice, neutral basic like that would come in handy somewhere. It’s queen-sized, but it tucks nicely around her twin mattress, and falls just right so that I don’t even need a bedskirt.

A paisley-trimmed throw pillow and a new pink case for the body pillow finish off the bed for now, though I would love to get one of these pillows for her. Aren’t they adorable? I love the fun, bright Heather Bailey fabric she uses.

The next step will be tackling toy organization. Any suggestions on a good way to keep the toy clutter under control?

I’m adding this to Kimba’s DIY Day. Head over there and check out the other links!

this week

Maggie and I were working in the kitchen. I was watering my basil plant and I rinsed off a leaf and told her she could eat it, curious what she would do. She took a tiny bite and asked for more. I think she was just fascinated by the novelty of eating the leaves off of a plant. I gave her another one, she cautiously sniffed it, and handed it back, saying, “Ummm….actually, that’s not my favorite. Here.”

Luke and I walked over to my sister’s house to feed her cats. He held my hand. He told me, “I can’t hold your hand at school or somewhere like that, because I might feel a little embarrassed. But it’s o.k. if God sees. I don’t mind.” Hilarious. I think it’s cute that he said he “might be a little embarrassed.” I think he was trying not to hurt my feelings.

I know these are just little things, but it’s the little things that make me happy. I’m adding this post to Melissa’s Beautiful Life Friday.

free art!

Want to know how to score some super-cute free art? Visit me over at Blissfully Domestic today, where I have contributed my first post for them. I’d love if you’d stop by!

photobooking

I discovered digital scrapbooking a few years ago. I had never really gotten into “real” scrapbooking, but kept thinking that I would eventually get around to doing it – I love the books that some of my friends and family had created, and it’s such a nice way to save memories for the kids. Then I stumbled across the digital version and discovered that that would work even better for me. I think it’s a little faster, and I love that you can replicate books and layouts without starting from scratch.

How I did it:

I created a photo book for the first year of each of my kids’ lives using Shutterfly and their vast selection of layouts and backgrounds, and they came out cute. But as I browsed sites like Shabby Princess and Designer Digitals, I started to find elements and fonts and layouts that I wanted to be able to use.

I found a few tutorials to get me started, and created a 2006 photo book in Photoshop Elements, capturing the highlights of the year, and uploaded it into blank layouts on Shutterfly. (A couple of “getting started” articles: here and here)

I’ve since tried Apple’s photo book printing (for my 2007 book) and was pleased with the results there, as well — to be honest, I didn’t see much difference between the two books, so I look for whoever is running a good deal!

This year, I used Adobe InDesign to create my own layouts. That’s the software I use for a lot of my freelance work when I design newsletters and that kind of thing, and I was able to create layouts and drop pictures in pretty quickly. My own books tend to be heavy on photos and text, and less on the decorative stuff, but I’ve seen some people get really creative with layouts.

What I put in the books:

For my 2008 book, in addition to photos, I tried to include more stories about the kids that I’d written down over the course of the year. When I look back, I’m always glad that I took the time to write down these little moments. It’s surprising how quickly we forget the specifics, and already I am amazed to remember things that happened a few months ago and see how much the kids have changed already!

I also included some pictures of the kids’ artwork; I’ve talked about it before, and this is one way I’ve found that I can preserve the cute stuff they create without taking up quite so much space.

Slurp Your Blog:

For you bloggers, I’ve heard that blurb is a great way to capture your blog. You can slurp your blog (how funny is that?!) straight into a nice, bound hardcover or softcover book and preserve all of those images and memories.

Any other scrapbookers (digital or traditional) out there? I’d love to see some of the things you’ve created. If you don’t scrapbook, how do you record your family’s memories?

It’s not my usual random decorating post, but I’m adding this to Kimba’s DIY Day again. It counts, right?

school routines

Here in Arizona, school has begun. I am a little disappointed in our start to the school year; I just don’t feel like I have my act together like I would have liked. It’s not too late, though — I’m determined to get a little more organized in the hopes that I feel like I’m ahead of the game instead of catching up.

Routine is the number one thing that makes our days easier. I always set the kids’ clothes out the night before to avoid last-minute scrambling for matching socks and sudden demands for princess dresses for school. Amy at Living Locurto has some adorable FREE printable tags to organize the kids’ outfits for all of the days of the week and morning routine cards to remind the little ones of their morning routine. LOVE THESE!

photo from Living Locurto

The Queen of Routine is the Flylady, and if you don’t already know her, go over and take a peek. I aspire to be regimented like that, but I can’t quite get there. Her “shine your sink” philosophy is quite helpful, though, and she has lots of great pointers to help running the household go more smoothly. I try to do a fast straighten-up and load the dishwasher before we’re out the door in the morning. Doing that definitely helps me feel less overwhelmed when we get home with a car full of bookbags and school papers and art projects.

Speaking of school papers and art projects, I still struggle with what to do with all of it. I wrote about this issue a long time ago, and I still seem to get inundated with mountains of papers. Martha Stewart had an article about creative ways to store kids’ art a while ago, and Chris did a cute wall pocket makeover to hold her kids’ papers. How do you decide what to keep and what to throw? Oh, the guilt.

photo from marthastewart.com

I’m also trying to get in the habit of preparing the kids’ lunches and snacks the night before. Nothing I’ve prepared so far is comparable to the photo-worthy bento boxes, but I’m still trying to figure out what they’ll like each day (that seems to change constantly). I’m still looking for ideas, if anyone has any!

I’d love to hear what some other people do to keep their families organized during the school year.