A Finished Command Center Chalkboard!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I know I'm days late, but I hope you all had a good one! Ours was low key this year, just us and one of my husband's cousins (and two of her friends). It was quiet, but fun!  We got all old school and played a bit of N64. Because we're awesome like that. And a little bit nerdy to boot.

Anyways, cooking is something my husband and I really enjoy doing together, so we just hung out together in the kitchen part of Wednesday and most of Thursday putting all the food together. It was amazingly relaxing.  Hope you all had equally awesome (& hopefully relaxing) Thanksgivings as well!

But anyways, on to the really awesome news! Today, I am excited to tell you, that we finally got around to finishing our command center chalkboard!!! And it is beautiful. Seriously....so gorgeous!

Do you guys remember this wood from way back when?

Oh yah. This was totally the project I had in mind for it. And it came out better than I had even dared to hope. With some help from my hubby of course (he is so awesome =]). I'm still a bit hopeless when it comes to doing this sort of thing on my own.  But someday...;].

We started by removing the old, nasty nails. We did this by nailing the sharp end of the nail back into the wood. This lifted up the heads of the nails on the other side high enough so we could pry them out.

Once we got the nails out, we measured the sides of our chalkboard. I had spray painted it a long time before this, so there wasn't much to do there in that respects. Once we had our measurements, we cut our boards accordingly, making sure to cut 45 degree angles on the ends of each for a more finished look.

We don't exactly have the fanciest of tools so we simply used a round edged ruler and a hand saw to accomplish this. It was... probably more work than it was worth (not that that was an entirely difficult feat to manage...it being free and all...).

We then mounted the chalkboard directly to the wall. Once that was done we attached the frame by screwing each individual piece into the studs, to give it extra support. The wood was pretty heavy.

We then primed the chalkboard by rubbing it down with chalk (necessary, unless you want everything you write on there to be permanent) and then spent the next half hour vacuuming up all the mess and putting the tools away.

When we were finished we were left with this:

 Eeeee!!!!! Love!!!!! The color of that weathered wood is seriously just so gorgeous. Adds a bit of shabby chic to our home. So fun!

Now, all that is left to do is to get two more bins for the command center to fill the top middle slots, add some bling to the walls, and finish turning the 'Fresh Bulb's' box into a charging station. For realz!

In the meantime I'll do a happy dance with the progress we've made. It is SO much better already than when we started.... need I remind you! 

Yeeeeesh! Those were not exactly the days.  

Anyways, wishing you the happiest of DIY projects and many wonderful holiday memories ahead! It is now time for me to catch some shut eye. Double for realz.

 I'm linking this up with Thrifty Decor Chic's Before and After Party!

A Hall Closet "Make-Over"

Well, the weather around here has hit south of 50 recently and I'm pretty convinced the world will not see me out of my sweat pants until Spring.

It is too cold and it's only going to get colder. I just want to be useless all day and drink lots of hot apple cider. A totally worthwhile use of my time. I'm serious.

Meanwhile, my husband looks forward to April when his wife will finally decide to be a human being again. Although... I might make him wait until May.  Sweat pants are comfy, people.

Anyways, while I enjoy being under-dressed and lazy, I figured I'd share with you a project I actually finished back around the time I reorganized our media center.

The coat closet:

Ahh, this is the before.  A fairly crowded storage area with a bit of an identity crises at hand.  Do I hold coats, or cleaning supplies, or maybe board games? How about a camera? Frisbee golf discs anyone?

And wet suits. Don't forget the wet suits! Even though we live no where near a beach. Gotta keep them in the coat closet...you know...just in case.

It needed some help. My OCD shivered every time it was opened. So help it I did...

...and here is the after:

Okay, so while it is not the most beautiful of transformations anyone has ever seen, it sure is functional. And as much as I love things to look pretty, I like things even more when they serve a purpose (and serve it well for that matter).

So, what did I do?

Well, first, I took all of our coats and put them up in our bedrooms. We had ample closet space in our rooms, but so little in the hallway that it really just made sense.

I did, however, leave us each a single coat to be hung on the coat racks next to the command center.

The board games, as you know, went into the media center. The vacuum, however, was allowed to stay (granted that it behaved properly and minded its manners).

Following the example of this amazing blogger, and adjusting for my own family's personal needs, I tried to transform our hall closet from a place to hang coats into a place to catch all of our random, but necessary, loose ends.

The diagrams below explain how I reorganized everything.

The yoga mat and the frisbee golf discs, alas, were allowed to stay as well. They were items used too often in our house to have anywhere else better to put them. I used an old diaper box, covered in fabric, to corral them in between their visits to the outside world.

They look happy and comfy in there, don't they? ;]

Well, that is basically the gist of the redo. Coat closet turned utility closet. It is seriously one of my favorite things I've done recently. It is nice to have somewhere definitive to put things, rather than an all encompassing junk drawer... or as was my case: a junk catching top of the fridge ( I don't even know why, but that is where everything always seemed to end up.).

What part of your home are you desperately itching to fix? Next on my list is the master bedroom closet. It's like someone let off an atomic craft bomb in there. I'd like to be able to close the door, you know... eventually, someday.

So that's like goal number 35,548 on my to do list.  Clean the closet so that I can finally shut the door. Good. Right. I'll talk to you all again soon. If my closet doesn't eat me.

Before & After: A Linen Closet Redo

Hey guys! Happy Thursday!

Before I get into the nitty gritty of one of my most recent projects, I wanted to give a quick shout out for all the sweet comments and e-mails I have received lately about the different things I've posted about! Mainly the anxiety and depression.

I appreciate knowing I'm not alone. I appreciate your support and friendship. I hope for those who also struggle with this I can be a good friend, helpful source, and listening ear.

My heart goes out to you. In a way it could never have if I hadn't started to struggle with this myself. I pray that you may find the comfort and answers you need to address this particular trial in your lives.

Sending lots of love your way!

On that note, let me share with you a redo I did at my mom's house!

I don't know what it is about other people's homes, but I am always a million times more motivated to get projects done for my friends and family than I am for myself.

This being no exception. But organizing this closet wasn't enough for me.

 

 

For as long as I can remember this closet has been ugly. Like, ever since I was 3 years old, its been the devil in my nightmares.

And it was far past time for that to change.

Since there really was no budget for a "redo," and all my mom asked me to do was organize the closet, I solicited some help from my dad and found all the left-over paint they had lying around from previous projects. Then I got myself to work.

 

 

Yeeeeesh. Here are some before pics, prior to me pulling everything out for the "purge."  After emptying everything out of the closet, I made three piles:  A. Junk, B. Nice, with no matches, C. Keepers.

 

I set the piles off to the side for my mom to approve and go through once she got home and then got started on the painting. 

I, unfortunately, didn't get any pictures of the process, or any before pictures of the white walls and the bare particle board shelves. Eeeghghgkjh ((shudders)). Maybe it was for the best!

 

But here are my after's:

 

 

 

 

 I just loooooooooove the contrast. I most definitely randomly opened this closet at least a 100 times since I painted it.

 

 

Doesn't it just make you smile?

Anyways, once my mom approved my purge piles, I went ahead and reorganized all of the items we decided to keep back into the closet.

I added some labels, from the scrapbooking section in Target, and I bought a few containers for random items.

 

 The small tan basket is holding my mother's table cloths, and the large basket on the floor is housing some extra pillows.

 

Ahh! Isn't it so much better? I'm a lil' bit in love. 

 

 

What area in your home always seems to be an issue? For us, it's the master bedroom. I don't know why, but it always seems to be a catchall for all of our junk!  Anyways, happy DIYing everybody!



A Panic Attack, plus some D.I. treasures...

So, today I had a panic attack. Or am having one. An anxiety episode? I think anyways. And of course it had to happen right before a major trip.

(Panic attack. Laundry Pile? Same diff.)

It isn't uncommon for me to feel anxious before going out of town. I often struggle with back and forths about "Should I go?" or "Should I stay?"

It is silly really. But I want to make sure that I am not being prompted to stay home and ignoring that prompting. Yet, I also don't want to not go on a trip if these feelings were simply a result of having a panic attack , rather than a prompting.

Welcome to my stupid brain. The back and forth that goes on in this little noggin' o' mine are annoying at best. Especially when I simply want to live my life and do what is right.

I wish my earnest desire to understand the difference between promptings and anxiety would be enough to help me recognize the clear difference.

Wouldn't that be nice?

But here I sit.  I decided not to go on my trip, hoping that would mean I'd feel peace. I still feel anxious. But my mommy and my husband agree, I should just stick with a decision, try and relax, and move forward and not think about it.

Continuing the back and forth would be enough to make me insane. So, I'll try and follow their advice.
Although, I can't help but be sad. I was really excited to go see my family. I love and miss them a ton.

Here's to hoping I get better at recognizing where my feelings are coming from. For reals.

On a more positive note, check out what I found at D.I. the other day!

 I got the pair of them for $3.00 total! Complete SCORE! The one in the hall I'm not really sure what to use for yet... guest shoes maybe?

But the one in the living room is my favorite. It is nice and big and huge and perfect for stuffing a bunch of blankets in!

With winter time coming around it is going to be awesome for snuggling up on the couch and staying warm! Forget all this walking upstairs to the linen closet business. We've got a blanket bucket ;].


Do you struggle with anxiety? What has worked for you in combating it? Or have you found any awesome treasure lately? I'd love to hear both! =D

Teaching Capability and Empowerment {Plus Free Vintage Chore Charts!}

Tonight my friend and I had a blast together kicking around ideas for a joint effort Mommy Run "Pre-School".  And rather than focusing on academics (while those are surely apart of it as well) we mainly centered on creating opportunities for discovery.

Discovery about our bodies. Discovery about the earth. Discovery about cultures and peoples and art and photography and dance and nature and... well, you get the idea ;].

What was so fun about it, however, was how in sync we were on some of our ideas. Like doing a unit on life skills (gardening, cooking, cleaning, laundry, hygiene, etc)  to instill in our children a sense of capability, confidence, and empowerment.

Which is what inspired the creation of the Freebies I'll be sharing with you today!

Recently, I have been focusing more and more on creating a home environment that fosters these three areas (Capability. Confidence. Empowerment.) anyways!

I have desperately desired to create a more loving and peaceful atmosphere in our house, and through my prayer and study in regards to this matter I felt very strongly that one of the first steps we (that is my husband and I) needed to take was to allow our children to be as self sufficient as possible.

In other words, we needed to create a home where our children had the freedom to try, fail, learn, and try again. Or as my husband and I have come to call it, we needed to create "a loving, learning, laboratory of life."

To us, this means having a home where the dishes are placed at their level so they can get their own plates and cups. A home where their clothes are within their reach, so they can dress themselves in the mornings.

A home where coat racks are hung at their height so they could put away their own coats and bags when they walked through the door. ;]

In essence, a home designed in such a way that if a child asked if they could help do something, anything, (May I sweep the floor? May I unload the dishwasher? Can I help you make the pancakes?) they could be answered with an unequivocal and resounding 'Yes! You Can! Thank you so much for offering!'

Part of my plan in trying to make this a reality in our home is not only to reorganize where I put certain things, but also what sorts of things we fill our home with.

Namely, I am dying to start getting them the tools they need, in the size they need, to succeed at whatever task they wish to tackle, be it cooking, cleaning, gardening, what have you!

Like these beauties below. These are real cleaning tools...child sized!  Drooool. <3333

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Seriously, you should definitely check out this entire website (I'm not an affiliate or being paid to say that, I just reaaaally love this store). All the fun, real tools they have for children are phenomenal!

Anyways,  one of my many grand master plans is to get my children their own cleaning tools and buckets, and in those buckets to put the following (laminated) chore charts!

But, seeing as I don't have the money to do that just yet and don't have any pictures to show you what those buckets would look like... I decided for today, I'll just share with you the printables I made for these dream buckets instead.

=]

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Aren't they cute?!!  I'm kinda in love with them!!!

Anyways, feel free to download them by clicking the links below the images. You can also always find them later down the road by clicking on the Our Scribbled Walls Freebies page.

(These chore charts were made with royalty free public domain images, as well as some borders and banners by Su Smith. As usual, these are for personal use only, not for resale, nor are these files to be hosted on any other website. If you'd like to share these with your friends, be sure to link back to Our Scribbled Walls for credit and for download access =].)

So anyways, there you have it! Some Pre-School 'Life Skills Unit' Inspired Cleaning Charts.  ;] If that ain't just a mouthful!

What are some things you've done around your home to make it a happier place to be? There are so many ways to make our homes into peaceful and enjoyable places! I'd love to hear your pearls of wisdom! =]

A Dresser Turned {Organized} Media Cabinet

As much as I love being a stay at home mom, sometimes I am so thankful for the peace and quiet that comes when my children are asleep. 

I love spending time with them. I love watching them grow. I adore being a mother (especially one who gets to be at home with them!). But sometimes, a girl just gets sick of being yelled at all day!

And I don't necessarily mean just the angry, out of control, upset, too tired screams. It is even the excited (yet  mind-blowingly piercing) shrieks of joy. Or the 'I just stubbed my toe' cries of pain. 

Sometimes this mommy feels like her kids do, a little over stimulated. 

So thank you for letting me blow off some of my steam! Blogging is a good way to de-stress. As is organizing and having an organized home.

Here's a  little peak of some of the reorganization that has gone on around here lately:

This is our media center. It used to be a dresser with a mirrored hutch (it belonged to my grandmommy!). But we ditched the hutch and used the dresser part in our living room instead. We tend to hang most of our clothes, anyways.

You'll have to forgive me for not getting a before picture of the messy drawers. I think I was a little too eager to attack the the insane amount of junk and clutter that had been shoved into every drawer of this entire unit for the last year or so.

And it was like Christmas. Seriously, these drawers were the gifts that would not stop giving. How did I fit so much stuff in there?

I felt like doing a touch down dance when I realized how much of it I could just donate or throw away (One less pile of crud to worry about finding a place for!)/ And maybe a little kick in the pants at the same time when I realized how much garbage we had been carrying around, move after move. 

For realz. I hate clutter.

Anyways, when I started the mudroom/command center project (which you can check out here) I suddenly had the brilliant idea to start emptying out our hall closet at the same time.

Because it is always a good idea to start a new project when you are not even a quarter of the way finished with the first. 

;P

But, I had a sudden epiphany of where I could use a previously unoccupied piece of furniture, and emptying the closet was the first step to getting things where I wanted them to go.

So, out went all the junk, which mainly ended up being lots of coats (huh, go figure.) and all of our board games, dice sets, and cards.

And there they sat, in  a pile behind my basement door for the next few months...until I did this:

Seriously, a way better use of our media cabinet than before. And a way better spot for all of our games than being stuffed in a closet (or for that matter, behind a door ;]).

The useful things that used to be in the media center found new homes. Most of our electronics made their way into more organized bins that were placed in the hall closet (which I'll share more about later next week), except for our major devices such as our laptops, i-Pad, DVD player, and Roku.

While our computers and i-Pad received their own new dedicated drawers, our Roku, DVD player, and wireless router all found themselves now living below the deck.

Which, honestly, is a change that I just love.

 It really clears off the media cabinet and makes it look so much more clean and pristine. It is getting me pumped up about giving this unit a total make over.

 It isn't in the budget right now, but it is in the plan to give this piece a major face lift. I just have to decide what color I want to paint it! Honestly, I change my mind about it...once every day.

Decluttering and reorganizing it, however, has only made me that much more excited about getting it all finished and put together!

Seriously, I could handle all the screaming and yelling if I had a pretty and perfectly organized media center, right? 

Okay, so probably not!  But it's totally worth a shot! ;p

What do you do to de-stress after a long day of Mommy Duty? Am I just crazy uptight? There are some days where I just feel like all of my brain cells are slowly but surely being obliterated, one scream at a time. What helps you break through those feelings of  being overwhelmed? 

Honestly, I really just think I need to go take a cruise to Hawaii. By myself. Like right now.