I Love Candles

A friend on facebook turned me on to her homemade soy candles. I have been hearing for years that regular candles have toxines in them and that they really aren't good to burn in your home. I also have found that there is a large amount of soot left after burning a candle, especially in our bathrooms. I don't know if this will have less soot but just knowing that it is nontoxic makes it worth while to me. You can find them on Etsy.com and purchase them by the jar for $12.00 or 6 for $68.00 (with free shipping on the bundle). I just love thought of having my house filled with a good fragrance. Especially after a good Spring Cleaning! Just consider this Pure Joy!!!

Some fun finds!

Needing some decor that makes you feel at home...this does it for me.

Thinking this would look great in Jake's navy blue baseball room!!!

As I was looking for things for Lizzy's room I found this adorable stool.

And I just loved these knobs to refinish Lizzy's white dresser with....gotta  love Anthropologie!!!

If you want to see more info about any of the items listed above just click on them and it will link to the sites.

That Pink Room

Let the painting begin...

Okay so here are some pictures showing the transformation of my bedroom to a princess room. The wall on the left is what the room looked like previously. We wanted a warm feeling to our room so we choose a very warm golden yellow and heavy curtains on both the windows and closets. But now it is going to all change.

Here you can see how very pink the room is going to be....Lizzy was very excited!!! and it was just one wall.

So after only one day of painting, with a lot of help from my sister in law, Janice, who occupied Lizzy so that I could spend the morning painting. It was hard to get all this done, especially after I picked Jake up from school. It was a no-nap day...

But I was desperate to get Lizzy out of Jake's room and into her own room again. We had spent two weeks trying to get the kids used to sleeping in the same room. But with bedtime not occuring until 10:30PM Jeff and I had enough. Both kids seemed to feel a bit displaced so again, I was desperate to create Lizzy's area and get Jake his space back.

Both of them enjoyed having another room to run around in....

and explore....

and destroy...but really what else is new???

It took another day to get the dressers moved around and filled. Actually these are my dressers but since Lizzy's dressers are stuck in the nursery with ALOT of junk cornering them right now, I decided to just use mine for her for now. I had this nagging feeling that I just needed to get her settled.

So here are the closets....the joys of having older homes sometimes is that you have the most random things like 2 built, not orginal to the house, closets right next to each other. The closet on the right has dry wall on the left side and back. The right side, that is not in the picture, however is panelling like the rest of the room. So I am planning on leaving this side open and eventually putting some toys in here. And I am making use of the sweater hanger for stuffed animals and the like.

The other closet will be her actual closet for her clothes...and since the rod is very high they will still be able to use the bottom of the closet as a hiding area which is one of their favorites things to do. I will be replacing the ugly green curtain with something a bit more mod.

Right now everything looks very plain but I am working on creating some homemade/restored furnishings as the Spring goes on.

One thing that I have really been amazed with since we have moved Lizzy out of Jake's room and into her own is how well the both of them have been sleeping. My kids have always been pretty good sleepers but they are also extremely social so having them in the same room together just amplified that! I love how much they like to be together but I have also been challenged to see that they need time apart. Learning as I go people!!! And loving every minute of it.

Organizing Tips

I will take them where I can get them...I was just looking through some pictures of amazing houses on Nate Berkus' t.v. show website. As I was searching I stumbled across a list of tips on how to get and stay organized...take what you can use and let me know what works best for you. Just click on Nate's name and it will link you directly to the site.

My girlie girl

Okay so I don't know how this happened...but one of the biggest "tomboys" I know has a girlie girl daughter. That would be my very own daughter. Not that I have done anything to keep her from being a girlie girl but I thought having an older brother would automatically make her more of a tomboy, as it did with me. But since our trip to Walt Disney World in September she has wanted to be a princess and really who am I to tell her no. As much as I want to put a baseball bat in her hand, I have to embrace this side of her. Pink and all.
 But really doesn't she just look adorable in pink. But this change to her big girl room helped not only organize her belongs but also allowed me to allow my daughter to be herself. I love her pink and all.
After looking at a scholastic bookfair I found the perfect gift for her. It is a series of books called "Pinkalicious" by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann.

I am so excited to get some of these books for her and letting her get her PINK ON!!!

Getting Started

So since I was a little girl I never imbraced the idea of being neat and organized. However, as I have grown older and began a family of my own, I see the importance of being neat and organized.

I believe it was my dad who dubbed me "Messy Jessi". I was always the one who got easily dirty whether it was playing out in the yard, or being at the beach, or eating ice cream. As much as I hated being "Messy Jessi" I know how true that is. Having just painted many rooms in my home over the last two years I have a number of t-shirts and shorts that will prove just how messy I can be!

Organization has always been a problem for me also. It has always been a struggle for me keep all my paper work in order. I am one to have stacks around my house, which drives me crazy but I just haven't found a good organizational tool or system that I can work with. So I spend time every week going through what is laying around and getting rid of stuff and making piles for each family member.

So this is my new beginning...I am getting organized. I believe that has to start with a really good spring cleaning. Which I have begun with the transition of my 2 year old girl into her new bedroom; big girl room that is! And, the cleaning out of my wardrobe and that of my husband's. In doing this I have also begun to rid our home of old toys and clothing through selling many things to a consignment store called Once Upon A Child and hopefully a yardsale next month, and the rest going to local clothing charities.

Right now I have made one "Forever box" for each of my kids. In these boxes I put favorite clothing that I don't want to get rid of...first outfits, outfit woren home from hospital, Christmas or Easter outfits, Phillies and Eagles outfits, etc.

As I work on my own organization style and find a system that works I will share. If you have any ideas I would love to hear. It may be one messy life, but it's mine!!!