No Solicitors Sign Tutorial


Since we bought our new home I have been bombarded by solicitors. I love that they are out trying to raise awareness for their cause, and fundraise for their school trip, but we are so strapped for cash... I hate feeling guilty that I can't help them. So, I decided to make my own No Solicitors sign. Here's how I did it {using supplies I already had at home!}

Supplies:
• Wooden sign
• Mod Podge
• Laser printer
• sponge brushes
• white paint
• string
• power drill {woohoo for power tools!}


The first thing I did was design my sign. I sized it so that it would give me about 1/2" border of sign around my design. Then I printed it on my laser printer. Things printed on an ink jet tend to smear when they get wet, so I opted for my laser!

Then I got out my trusty white plastic table cloth, covered my table, and started painting my sign white! I let it dry for about 30-45 minutes.


Then I cut my sign out. Using a whole lot of Mod Podge (I know that's not a real measurement... but that's what I did!) I "glued" my sign to the painted wood - making sure to squish out all the air bubbles (technical term I think!).


Then I brushed a generous amount over the top of the printed paper and the rest of the sign. When Mod Podge is wet, you can see the white streaks. It dries clear and glossy!


Once my Mod Podge had dried (another 30 minutes - ish!) I used my trusty power drill and drilled two small holes in the top to attach my string too!


I decided to let me knots show so I threaded the end of the string (hemp twine) through the hole to the front and tied my knot. Repeat for the other hole using the other end of your twine/string. Just make sure (by tugging on it) that your knot won't slip through your hole.


Then I took my new, totally cute, sign and hung it up! I used a silver looking command hook. Command hooks are totally awesome! I used them all over!! Now I have a cute sign that, I hope nicely enough, asks solicitors to kindle go away!


Do You Bake?!?!?! {Giveaway!}

If you answer that question with a YES than you are going to do flips over this giveaway!!!! Whether you are an avid baker, or a baker in the works, you will LOVE this company. Just looking at what they have to offer makes me want to head to my kitchen and start cooking!


Do You Bake is a fantastic company that sells baking mixes, spices, seasonings, and pet treats! Ya, pet treats... they sell mixes to make your own dog treats. Great for anyone who's pooch has a special diet!

I was sent 2 baking mixes and a spice mix to try. They were DELICIOUS!!!

This first I tried was the chocolate cupcake mix. My sample mix made 12 cupcakes. If you are a chocolate lover.... this mix is heavenly!! All of the dry ingredients come in a plastic bag inside this cute white bag. On the back of the bag are the liquid ingredients needed to complete the mix, mixing instructions, and serving suggestions. So EASY!





The cupcakes went fast at my home!

• • • • •

Then I tried my sample Just Plain Scone Mix and my Sinful Cinnamon spice mix. Again, super easy instructions. This mix even came with suggested items to fill your scones with (which I needed... I had never made scones before!). I split my mix in half and took two of their suggestions.




The first scone I made was a cinnamon and sugar scone. I brushed the inside with butter and sprinkled some of the cinnamon spice pack inside. Then folded it over, pinched it closed, and sprinkeld granulated sugar on top. After baking, I added some chocolate syrup and sprinkled powdered sugar on top... YUMMY!


Another suggestion they offered was to use cheese! I filled mine with cheeses and sprinkled some shredded cheddar on top for baking. It was like... the most delicious grilled cheese EVER!


Here's what I love about this company:
1. Their mixes are so easy to use and instructions are easy to follow.
2. They provide serving and add-in suggestions - so you can change it up a little!
3. They have allergen info on their packages. This is a BIG one for me. Since my DS is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts, it is important for me to know what is in everything, and where the mixes are processed. The packaging told me that the mixes were processed in a place that handles the foods he can't have, so... he didn't get any. I made them while he was napping!

AND.... just to make our mouths water a little more... here are some yummy pictures of a couple mixes that they sell:








So, once you finish wiping up the drool... how about being able to win something from this fanstically delicious company?!?

Melissa, a Do You Bake consultant has graciously offered ONE lucky winner their choice of 2 mixes and 1 spice of their choice!!


Here's how to enter:
Mandatory Entry:  In order to participate you must be a follower of this blog. If you aren't click on that little gray "follow" button on the right and become one! Then, leave a comment that you are a follower and add your email address so that I can contact you if you win!

1 additional entry: Visit the Do You Bake website. Then, come back here and leave a comment telling me which mixes you might choose!

1 additional entry: Visit the Do You Bake website. Then come back here and leave a comment telling me which spice you would choose.

1 additional entry: Become a fan of mine on facebook. Then come back and leave a comment here that you are a fan!

1 additional entry: Visit Melissa's blog The Roaming Cupcake and become a follower. Then come back and leave a comment that you are following.

1 additional entry: Visit The Roaming Cupcake on Facebook and become a fan! Leave a comment that you are a fan from this giveaway! Then come back and tell me you are a fan!

3 additional entries: Blog about this giveaway. Please leave 3 seperate comments - each listing the URL to your blog post!

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only. All entries must be received by midnight PST on Saturday, May 7th! Winner will be announced on Monday, May 9th.

Are you a scrapbooker??!?

If you scrapbook or make cards, you won't want to miss out on this deal! I am currently doing a raffle on my facebook page. For $1 you can purchase a raffle ticket for a chance to win more than $30 in scrapbooking supplies!

Visit my page here and read all the details on how to enter! Then go here and view all of the great things included in the winner's package. PLUS, as a bonus, the winner will receive additional scrapbooking tags as a free gift!!

Spread the word to all your scrapbooking friends and family!!

Here is a preview of some of the items... for a full description click here.





And the winner is....

If you missed the giveaway last week... sorry! Make sure you become a fan on facebook to keep up on all the giveaways, coupons, and much more!!

The winner of the KdBuggie Boutique x-large receiving blanket {thanks to random.org} is.....
#1 - Sharlee Asay.

Congratulations!! I will be sending you an email shortly with your blanket choices!

Mingle Monday - 4.25.2011

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter. The Easter bunny stopped by my house yesterday! It's so fun that my kids are now both at the age when things like the Easter Bunny are so exciting!

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If you are new to the hop, leave me a comment with the link to your blog and I will stop by this week and follow you!

Here's how to join in the fun!
• Become a follower of mine (GFC - on the right-hand sidebar)
• Grab my button!
• Link yourself to the list
• Visit whoever you want and tell them you are stopping by from Mingle Monday
• Tell your friends.. and come back next week! ☺

{** Open to family friendly blogs ONLY, please!}

KdBuggie Boutique Receiving Blanket Giveaway ...

... just because I want to!

My receiving blankets measure approx 40" square... that's an additional 10" longer on both sides than most store bought receiving blankets! They are made of the softest snuggle flannel! Fabrics have been prewashed and preshrunk. Edges are machine surged to keep from fraying.

I have several prints available... but because of the cloudy weather I haven't been able to get any good pics! So.... if you win you get to choose your print!

Here's an idea of what they look like {pictures of blankets previously sold in my shop}:




• • • • •


Here's how to enter:
1 mandatory entry: leave a comment telling me whether you would choose a boy print, a girl print, or a gender neutral print.
• 1 additional entry: post about my giveaway on facebook
• 1 additional entry: post about my entry on your blog

That's it! Simple, huh?

All entries must be received by midnight PST on Saturday, April 23, 2011. It's a short turn around... so get those entries in!!! Winner will be announced on Monday, April 25, 2011 and they will be sent a congratulations email. Once the winner responds to my email I will send them a photo of their choices based on their gender preference. You can choose one blanket from that photo and I will ship it to you for FREE!!!  

{ Day 12: Organizing The Linen Closet }

Technically, I don't have a linen closet... I have a spot in my closet for linens. But, if you are lucky to have a linen closet, I am totally jealous!!

Here are a couple tips for keeping those linens under control!

1. You really only need 3 sets of sheets per bed. 1 on the bed, 1 in the closet, and potentially 1 in the dirty clothes hamper. {But I am sure you could get away with just 2 sets if you really want to keep things simple!}

 
2. A great way to store your bedding sets is to take your fitted sheet, fold it up {which is never easy... if anyone has a great way to fold these I would love to hear it!}. Fold the flat sheet and place it on top of your folded fitted sheet. Grab 1 pillow case and fold that - add it to your folded pile. Then, take your entire pile and neatly place it inside the remaining pillowcase. This keeps everything together, nice and neat. When you need to change your linens just grab the pillow case set and everything is there and ready to go!

3. All 15 of those towel sets that you got for your wedding years ago {yes I am guilty of this one!} ... if you haven't used them, either replace your old {used} ones with the new ones, or donate them! Bath and hand towels are easy gifts... meaning 2 things: (1) You can gift them to someone else {if they haven't been used}. (2) If you aren't careful they will take over your closet! Towels make great gifts, and for that reason you probably seem to get a lot of them. There is no need to hang on to every towel, hand towel, washcloth, or beach towel that you are given. Re-gift it, return it, or give it away!


4. Use towels for decor! Spice up your bathroom or kitchen by adding a splash of color in the form of a cute hand towel! The look of your space can change completely by simply changing out the towels. If you have the storage space, keep a set of hand towels for different seasons or holidays and rotate them throughout the year.

5. Table linens should be folded and hung on non-wire hangers. Napkins and table runners can be folded and stored together. If you only use them for holidays feel free to store them on a top shelf in your closet. Keep the towels and bedding at eye level since they are the ones you will be using most frequently.

6. To keep your linens smelling fresh, keep a box of baking soda or a sachet in your closet. It is also a good idea to wash everything about every 6 months to keep it clean and fresh.

7. Protect antique linens by wrapping them in cellophane bags or white acid-free tissue paper to keep colors from yellowing.

8. If any of your linens are wool, use a cedar block to keep moths away!

9. Labels! If you have linens in baskets, or bins... add labels to them so that you can easily know what is in each box without having to unfold everything!




So, how about storing all of those linens. Well my last trip to IKEA I saw this and I fell in love! BUT.. it is too large for my tiny closet space... so I am left trying to figure out how to use this little baby. I didn't buy it, but as soon as I can think of a good enough space to use it in... I will!



Or choose to store your linens in baskets or boxes like these:


These boxes are from The Container Store. They are great because they are decorative while still being translucent. You can still see what is inside!

One key point in organizing linens is to make everything accessible. Use either clear bins or tubs, or label your baskets and bins. If you don't know what is in your closet at a glance, you will get frustrated looking for things that you need!

Happy organizing!!

Tomorrow: Organizing Clothing


Mingle Monday - 4.18.2011

Welcome to another week! If you haven't caught up on my month long Project Organization, you can find what you have missed here.

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If you are new to the hop, leave me a comment with the link to your blog and I will stop by this week and follow you!

Here's how to join in the fun!
• Become a follower of mine (GFC - on the right-hand sidebar)
• Grab my button!
• Link yourself to the list
• Visit whoever you want and tell them you are stopping by from Mingle Monday
• Tell your friends.. and come back next week! ☺

{** Open to family friendly blogs ONLY, please!}

{ Day 11: Organizing Your Craft Area }

I think just about all of us love to craft in some way or another. But, do you ever find that your crafting supplies seem to creep out of their space and get into other areas of your house?!?! We are going to solve that problem!!

Of course the biggest part of organizing this space is going through it all! You, like me, probably have items in your craft stash that you haven't used in years!!! I also have a LARGE pile of unfinished projects that I "hope" to get to at some point. These are the things, I think, that are in most desperate need of some organizational help!

Things that haven't been used in years... time to donate or sell them! OR... start using them! ☺ If you have a bunch of unfinished projects, maybe it's time to re-evaluate the need to finish them. Instead of finishing that cross-stitch from 10 years ago, donate it... or ... re purpose it and use the pieces for something else!

Since all of use are using different crafting supplies, and we all have different rooms/areas for those supplies... the bulk of this post will be craft room inspirations. Hopefully you can find something in one of these pictures that will work for you! If you have a great idea or craft storage solution, PLEASE feel free to share it!










Hopefully you have some inspiration to help you in thinking of ways to organize your space. Remember, take advantage of the space you have! If it is horizontal space... add some bookcases or cabinets. If it is vertical space.. add some shelving or hooks!

See if you can change at least one thing about how you store your craft items this weekend, and try and find something you can sell or donate!

Have a great weekend!!

Monday: Organizing the Linen Closet


{ Day 10: Organizing Files and Bills }

Remember the post I wrote the other day on organizing your office? Well today we are going to continue that a little bit and talk about how to organize your files and your bills in your office. There are tons of places you can keep your files: a rolling file cabinet, and fixed file cabinet, a file box, a file bin, a desk drawers, etc.. Whichever storage solution works for you and your space is what you should use!

Consider the following questions when deciding where to store your files:
1. How many files will you need? If you need a large number of files, you may want to consider a filing cabinet with multiple drawers. On the other hand, if you only have a few bills to file away each month, a desk drawers, an exandable file folder, or a file box may work well for you.

2. How often will you be accessing these files? If you pay bills at the end of each week, you will want your files easily accessible. You don't want to have to move furniture, or items in a closet to get to your files each week. If you have files that you almost NEVER access, then you may want to consider placing them in a good storage space that may not be quite so easy to get to. { For example: You might remember from my post that I keep all of my instruction manuals in a file cabinet in my garage.}

To create a good filing system, you need to "take inventory" of the items that need filing. Most likely it will be regulare monthly or bi-monthly bills, bank statements, and various repairs. Anything that occurs regularly should have it's own file. For example:
• bank statements
• paycheck stubs
• utility bills {cable, gas, water, trash, phone, electricity, etc.}
• credit card statements/bills
• auto maintenance
• pest control
• insurance

Each company/institution should have it's own file. If you have 3 credit cards, each card gets it's own file. Same with banks. Each utility company needs it's own file. For auto maintenance, set up a file for each automobile you own - then you know where to look for all of the service receipts if you need them.

Bills that occure less frequently {license renewal, membership fees, repairs} you can lump together in a Misccellaneous file if you want. If you have the space, feel free to create categories like:
• memberships
• renewals
• repairs

Keeping your files organized saves time and I find that it helps me to feel like I am a little more organized overall! PLUS, getting some cute file folders and a label maker makes it more fun!



Tomorrow: Organizing Your Craft Area

{ Day 9: Media Organization }

Today's Project Organization topic is media organization. You know, those wii games and controllers, CD's, DVDs, books, Gameboys, etc..

First and foremost, you need to go through it all. I know, if you are like me you have a TON of these items to go through. Grab 2 bins and mark them -
1. Keep.
2. Donate/Sell. {if you have the means to try and sell your items either at a garage sale or online... go for it! Why not try and make a little money on the items you don't want anymore!}

Then choose a type of media to start with and sort it! See if you can get put at least 5 items in your donate/sell bin. {I know it's hard to get rid of these kinds of things... especially if you have kiddos like I do!} If you can get rid of even just 5 things you will feel a little more organized... I promise!

Now that you have gone through your items and decided which ones to keep and which ones to try and sell or donate it's time to figure out a good storage system. If you already have one that works for you, GREAT! If yours isn't working, try and revamp it a little.

Here is how I revamped my DVD storage system. I had 3 drawers of a dresser FULL of DVDs.


Now I have 3 CD folders and 1 basket holding all of my DVDs! Talk about a space saver! Plus, the bottom of my drawers will stay in tact! I separated movies into two categories: Kids and Parents. 2 folders hold the DVDs with the kids movies {with room to spare} and 1 holds mine and my husbands movies {with LOTS of room to spare!}


Here is how my floor looked during the whole process. I couldn't stand to part with my cases... especially the Disney ones, so they are in a storage box in my garage. Maybe one day I will be able to give them up too...

I purchased my CD folders at Target. I wanted them all the same, but I am going to label each folder with either Kids or Parents so that I don't have to keep opening them to see which is which. I put our DVD sets in a small basket to keep them all together. On the right of the basket {you can just barely see it} are movies we recently got as gifts that are unopened. Once they are opened they will be filed in the folders as well.

What are the benefits to this kind of storage?
1. No more broken cases. I hate stepping on one accidentally because it got left out. This way, cases are gone!

2. Less dirty and scratched DVDs. In their plastic cases, my kids would constantly be taking out the DVDs - Mainly because they could {you know how kids do things like that}, but also because they wanted to bring me the movie they wanted to watch. This way, the zipper cases are too difficult for them to open on their own... which means... they aren't touching the DVDs and getting them dirty or scratched!

3. If you have a DVD player in your car, or you frequently take movies with you places, you can just grab your folder and go! So easy!!

4. All of your movies are now in 1 place! You don't have to go hunting around in various rooms looking for the movie you want!

If you don't want to do folder cases, here are some other fantastic options for DVD and CD storage.

{source} The Container Store sells these boxes and CD sleeves for a slim, but totally accessible storage solution.


{source} This storage cabinet does double duty! Ikea has some great products and this bookcase and CD/DVD storage cabinet is a great one if you have the space for it! It keeps all of your media in one place. Use baskets to store video game controllers and games. Add magazine files for magazines or skinny books for a streamlined look. You could store your CD cases or the storage file box on these shelves!

How do I store my video game equipment? I found one of those cardboard-type boxes at Target on clearance for only a couple dollars. It fit perfectly in our old TV stand - which now serves as a sort of living room sofa table {it's just screaming for a makeover one of these days!!}

{I need to figure out what other goodies I can store on that bottom shelf!}


The box holds the extra remotes, games, and game instructions. Everything is in the living room where the TV is and is easily accessible {if it's not accessible, you won't use it!}

On top of this TV stand is a small caddy - from Thirty-one - that hold the remote controls for the TV and various electronic components.



It is always so frustrating trying to locate the remotes... so, keep them all together. Use a basket, a box, a caddy, a plate, a small serving tray... anything! Find what works for you, goes with your decor, and is functional!

Good luck!!

Tomorrow: Organizing Office Filing and Bill Paying