Product Review: Frog Tape

If you’ve ever watched HGTV, you already know the

cheapest design method to dramatically change a room is to…PAINT!

Painting is exactly what I’ve been up to lately. 

 

This time I’ve taken on an ambitious painting project- paint all of the trim in the entire house.  (sigh!)  Luckily, our house doesn’t have as much square-footage as some.  (Hooray! )

I haven’t had much success with blue painter’s tape in the past.  It takes so much time to prep and it tends to bleed through, creating messy lines that drive me crazy (grrr!!).  Normally, I prefer to use a steady hand and a damp rag to create crisp, professional-looking lines.

But, with this daunting project in front of me, I was willing to revisit the tape option and see what was new on the market.

 

Here’s what I found: Frog Tape.  

It was a little more expensive than the blue stuff I’m used to seeing.  It was just under $10 at Wal-Mart for a huge roll with 60 yards. 

Would it live up to its promises?

Vegetable Garden Planner

It's Spring!

(Or so my calendar says.  You'd never know by how cold it is outside right now!!)

Warmer weather and sunshine mean it's time to get back out in the yard. 

Are you planting a vegetable garden this year?  If so, you might really like this tool from growveg.com.  It's a great way to plan out your vegetable garden and it's free for a 30 day trial period or $25 for a one-year subscription. 

Sample Garden Plan from www.growveg.com

I used it a season or two ago and really liked it.  You can make your plans as simple or as detailed and complex as you'd like.

Features I Like:

• Customizable- draw out your garden space
• Features over 130 varieties of fruits & veggies
• Visual layout makes planting and spacing easier
• Square foot gardening options
• Adapts to your location
• Email reminders
• Free for 30 days, no automatic subscriptions
  

Beginning a Layout

I love the visual layout.  It helped me easily measure out the space that was needed over the season for the plants I chose.   

For instance, I knew that a watermelon plant would start off small, but how much space did I need to reserve for it to grow and not crow out my tomatoes?  

When you "plant" in growveg, it highlights the area around the seedling.  This serves as a visual representation of how much space is really needed.  It's so easy to avoid overcrowding!

Plus, they offer options for ponds, fruit trees, walkways, and more.  You can design a beautiful space right in your own yard.  Who says designing is only for inside the home?

Start designing your garden of plenty and take one more step towards Getting It All Together.

How does your garden grow?  Let us know!

EEBA

Have you ever wanted to use the cash envelope budgeting method but 

 still wanted to cling to the modern, electronic world?

Here's a $0 Budget Solution to try: EEBA- Electronic Envelope Budgeting Application.  

It's the electronic version for cash budgeting.  It's free online and has a free app for your Android or iPad. 

It's pretty cool!  

Here's how it works:
 

• You create a household user name and password. 

 

• EEBA allows you to create up to 10 envelopes of cash for specific categories like groceries, gas, Before & Afters, etc.  

• You fill the envelopes with their allotted budgeted amount and specif where you received the funds from.  

• Then, when you spend at the store, you enter the amount (on your smartphone or online at home) and EEBA tracks how much you've spent and calculates how much you have left for the month (or other time period you designate).

• Once your envelope is empty, you know to stop spending.

 

It's that simple!  

You can sign up to pay a small fee for upgraded features such as additional envelopes, tech support, track your bank accounts, and scheduling.  

For most basic households, the free version will work just fine. 

I hope this tool helps you stay within your budget and Get your Finances All Together.

If you've used EEBA before, please share your comments.  I'd love to hear from you!

Master Bedroom Closet- Part 2

Welcome back to our Master Bedroom Closet Before & After!

In Part 1 we cleaned out the mess, 

evaluated what stayed and what didn't, 

re-purposed hardware, and got ready to go shopping.

 Shopping

Cheat Sheet-   Before I left the house, I made a handy little cheat sheet.  

It had a small sketch of the floor space, the dimensions, what items I was shopping for, and the numbers of items that each piece of hardware had to hold. 

• Tie Rack:            20-30 ties
• Hat Rack:           10-15 hats 
• Shoe Solution: 10-15 pairs of shoes

 I've learned that if I'm not truly sold on a product in the store, I shouldn't buy it.  Sometimes, that means going to several different stores.  That's what happened today.

Master Bedroom Closet- Part 1

What a mess! 

Time for a major Before & After  overhaul.

Today we highlight Part 1 of this transformation.  

Friday we'll highlight the final fixes in Part 2.

 

Let's breakdown the problems:

• Bags and bags of crafty, kid, and miscellaneous things taking up residence where they don't belong
• Blankets on the floor/shoe rack
• Broken tie rack; ties don't fit
• Bedding runneth over
• Shoe overload
• Hats falling down
• Crowded closet door hanger
• No room to walk in the walk-in!

 Our Budget: $50  

Meager for some, but no problem for us!  

(We're used to $0 Budget Solutions.)

 Let's Get Started

Beauty or Function?

Let's talk design.  When design is done right, it's really right.  

It is beautiful and functional.  Good design doesn't have to sacrifice beauty for functionality or vice versa. 

However, sometimes things so awry.  Take a look at this lovely bathroom counter.  It's really nice to look at.  

The counter top is a nice warm color and modern looking with wide a space for toiletries.  The lines are clean.  The bottom shelf allows for additional open storage space.   

Is it beauty and functionality at their best?

Did I pack everything?

Picture this- you're packing for a family trip out of town for a few days.  How do make sure you have everything? Will you (or your hubby) be making a mad dash to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night?   

Try today's idea out and save yourself (or your hubby) a trip to the store.  He'll thank you for it later :)

Today's post is about   

Designing! 

 Check out this terrible attempt at a wall color and then the awful things thrown on the shelf.  This area definitely needs attention.

 

First let's look at the wall color.  It was originally supposed to be a different hue of green that matched another piece of palm tree decor and be restful in a master bedroom.  However, the color turned out all wrong and reminds me of green peas- yuck! 

 

Paint is an easy and inexpensive fix.  You can always paint over it and that's the first correction we'll make here.  

Next, the shelf will emptied of its contents, cleaned, and rearranged.  I found some great ideas for arranging photographs from Pinterest.

The new shelf and wall design will be up in the next week or so.  


 
Check back to see the new and improved wall color and the big reveal as we work on Getting It All Together.

To Keep or Not To Keep...

...that is the question.  It can be really tricky and emotionally taxing when weeding through things.

How do you decide what's worth having around?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• When was the last time I used it?
• Do I really love it?  
• Would I be heartbroken if it were gone?  In other words, would you regret tossing it out?
• Where is its home?  Do I have a place to store it?
• Does it still fit?
• If it's paperwork- do I need it for taxes?  Do I need it to pay bills?  
• Do I have duplicates?  If so, consider downsizing to just what you need.
• If it's broken- Can it be repaired for a reasonable cost?
• Does it have value?

But, what if you still can't decide?  Then what?

Here's what I do:

I wait.  Yes, that may sound counter-productive; but, I put it into a box and wait until later.  Sometimes I come back to it a month later.  Sometimes it's a year or more.  I move on to other things that can be taken care of today and wait to decide on the most difficult items.

When revisited, my mind is clearer and a better decision can be made.  Most of the time I realize that I wasn't as attached to the item as I thought and it was time to purge it.

Be brave!  Don't be afraid to make a decision today.  Line up the laundry baskets and a trash can, start sorting the closet, and letting things go.  Have the trash can handy and use it as an option.  Keep the laundry baskets around to sort other items into piles that will be kept or donated.

Clutter can weigh you down.  Free yourself by letting go.  Give what you don't need to others and be lifted while you Get It All Together.

Breakfast Solved

Are you tired of the same old boring milk and cereal for breakfast?  

 Is each member of your family whining for something different?  

Check out this $0 Budget Solution-

It's a pretend-you're-at-a-restaurant Breakfast Menu that your family plans, not you!   

I've really enjoyed the benefits of having a meal plan, but somehow breakfast always got left out.  


Everyday was a "I'll wing it" day.  After lots of "winging it" I came up with a solution that took less pressure off of me and got the kids involved.

Here's how it works-

• Each child gets to choose what the family will have for breakfast and write it on the special breakfast menu.
• No arguing!  If you're not crazy about what someone else picked, remember that you also had the opportunity to choose and your day will come.
• In 2 weeks, lay it out for the kids to choose again.  

Details:

• I created a blank menu in Excel, featuring each day of the week and spaces for them to write in their choices. 
• Choices are at the bottom.  It's kind of like having your own personalized restaurant at home! 
• The categories included "Drinks" and "Breakfast Foods."  I made sure to include options that I was willing to make and that we normally have on hand.  
• If we were out of something or if time wouldn't permit a meal with a longer preparation time, I'd try to let them know while we were planning. 
• I like to create 2 weeks' worth of ideas at once because it gives me more time before I have to do it again, and it makes me feel like I've really accomplished a lot!  :)

I don't know about your house, but in mine, breakfast can be a scramble.  (haha!)  Between sleepy kids, trying to get them ready for school, and managing differing tastes, it can get hectic quickly!  

So, after squelching bickering over the breakfast fare for (hopefully) the last time, I came up with this idea that's worked well in our home.  

It's just one small step that's helping us Get It All Together, together.

What's your family's breakfast routine?

Untangling Technology

We all love technology.  It's so helpful and it's everywhere in today's world.

Often times cords- lots of cords- accompany that technology.  It's great that you can go wireless on so many devices.  But, if you have a desktop computer, you're bound to have a tangled mess of cords hanging from the back of your computer desk.


As embarrassing as it is, this was hiding under my computer desk.  I'd had a vision of what I wanted it to look like and what I thought it should look like.  But, I couldn't face it then and opted to ignore it in favor of higher priorities like family and school.  So, today's Before & After is long overdue and happily accomplished!

What a jumbled mess!

Supply List

• Velcro strips for bundling wires --They have both sides of Velcro on one piece, so all you have to do is wrap it around the cords.  They're about $5 online.
• If you don't gave Velcro strips, you could use a zip cord (but this isn't easily removed), cord covers, long bread ties, or string.
• Clear Command Hooks

Here's How I Untangled My Technology:

I started by turning off the computer.  (Well, I checked out the wires first, then decided that I'd better turn it off to be safe!)   :)

 

Next, I traced each wire to it's device and it its outlet.  Once I knew which cord belonged where, it was easy to see that there was an extra cord down there!  I quickly unplugged it and tossed it aside for my IT hubby to take care of.  Whew!  One less cord to deal with!

Then, I grabbed the Velcro strips.  They had been hanging around the house, waiting for me to use them.  Finally, they had their moment to shine!  My IT helper graciously helped bundle the mess.  He used about 3 strips at the top, middle, and bottom to create one large cord.  Once you've got one cord, it's a lot easier to handle.

Then, I attached one Clear Command Hook to the back of my computer desk.  This would hold the bundled cord in place, hiding it behind the desk.

 

 

 

Once it was firmly attached, I just hooked the bundled cord on it, tidied up the rest behind the computer tower, and ta-da!  It was finished!

After is so much better!  Now it's neater, safer, and it's helped me move one step closer to Getting It All Together.  What works for you?  I'd love to hear your comments.

Donation Station

Last year I read a great website that had a Declutter Calendar.  The author's ideas were so simple and easy to do that I got really excited about it.  Today we're getting back to her first step- 

Creating a Donation Station.  

This is a great idea!  Every organization project involves sorting & purging through things.  By setting up a place for items to be donated, it will cut down on multiple donation piles scattered throughout the house.  (These drive me crazy!) 

You can use anything from a new trash bag, to a cardboard box, a clean, unused trash can, or a laundry basket, assuming you have an empty one! 

Some things are necessary and should be kept around.  But, often we grow out of things.  In other words, our lifestyle has changed and these things are no longer a match for us or for our family.  When this happens, its time to reevaluate. 


 The next time you're sorting through things, ask yourself:

1. Do I still use this?  When was the last time I used it?  (If you can't remember, be honest with yourself.)
2. Do I need this item?
3. Do I want this item?
4. Could someone else benefit from this more than me?

If I don't need or want this anymore, could someone else benefit from it?  If the answers lead you to donation, consider someone close to you.  Goodwill, The Salvation Army, and other thrift stores are also great options.


No matter who you choose to give to, you'll feel good about sharing with others.  You'll feel lighter and better after freeing yourself of unwanted things that can weigh you down.  Setting up a donation station is just one more small step towards Getting It All Together.