Messy Monday: Clean Shower Edition

If you’ve been on Pinterest for any length of time then you’ve seen all those recipes for homemade cleaning recipes.  I’ve seen them over and over again and finally thought that I would give one a try. 

The most popular recipe I’ve found is made by mixing equal parts white vinegar (heat vinegar in microwave for 1 minute) and Dawn dish soap into a spray bottle.  Shake a little and you get a nice aqua blue bathroom cleaner. Warning:  It stinks like you think vinegar and soap would.  Some recipes say that you have to mix up a new batch every time and that it’s the heating of the vinegar that makes this all work.

The above “before” picture is the tub my children use.  Yes, I’m showing you how we they live, and I’m not ashamed.  I used to always clean the tubs on a tight every 2 weeks schedule.  Then one day, I just stopped doing that and the world didn’t come to an end.  So now I make the kids clean it whenever I think the health department might just shut us down.  What bothers me more are the amount of almost empty shampoo bottles sitting on every surface of this tub…the world just might come to an end over that but the occupants of this shower don’t seem to mind!

The “after” picture.  It looks a little streaky but it was really clean.  This cleaner is made to combat (I love it when household products use “war words” like combat and destroy in their commercials) soap scum and it did do that and it got most of the gray yuck that gets stuck in the bottom of the non-slip pebbly type surface that all fiberglass tubs seem to have.  I would use it again so give it a try! 

Messy Monday: Labels

Labels. I love them. You'll see evidence of them whenever I'm around. Some people like to make fun of this fact. I’m not sure why.  If everyone labeled everything; I would know where everything is and where everything goes. It’s a public service that I like to offer people so they will put items back in their correct spot. 

I label my kitchen.

 

I label my bathroom

 

I label my children.

Okay, well maybe that’s taking it a little too far.  But my Dad always calls me Misty and that’s not my name.  It’s my sister’s name.  So obviously we should label our children to make it easier on parents.

 

Label makers make the world a better place. You should have one.

 

And fancy labels make the world a prettier place.

You can get these free label templates here.

Happy Monday!

It's just another Messy Monday

Messy Monday is back by popular demand. Okay, so maybe 2 people told me that they want a Messy Monday project to inspire them. Popular means different things to different people. Okay, we all know that I won't be able to keep this up for more than a couple Mondays so enjoy. I've been putting this off for at least a year...

THE FRONT CLOSET!

Now that you've seen the picture you can see why. I've tried to put this closet out of my mind but everytime I walk past this closet it screams....help me! Please get your handy dandy label maker out and give me some attention. But I ingored the plea for help. First I want you to know that I do not use this closet for coats. It's not wide enough to fit very many, and we live in the south so coat storage isn't a top priority. I use it for your basic indoor tools and household items.

Here is the system: Each drawer holds various household items. One drawer has items that you would use for painting projects. One drawer has a drill, various screwdrivers and a hammer. One drawer has tape measures, extension cords, etc. One drawer has nails/screws/anchors/hardware. One drawer has flashlights. One has lightbulbs. In the shoe holder below are various items like spackle and a few other odds and ends.

I don't know about you but that picture makes me feel better. Now go clean a closet!

It's Just Another Messy Monday

Smells like teen college spirit around here. A Saturday or so ago, Lawnmower Man headed over to Cookeville to retrieve most of the Medium Nanny's dorm room belongings. AKA: Lots of unnecessary junk cluttering up my house.

You can see that we chose to place all of her belongings in her room in a very organized fashion. We didn't know what to do with this microwave so we just chose to carefully place it on her bed. I think the editors of Southern Living call that a focal point.

I chose to shut the door and walk away. Not my stuff, not my problem. But you know how it is when you try to sweep stuff under the rug and try not to deal with it...the stuff gets bigger. The stuff got bigger this past Wednesday night when the Medium Nanny actually came home and she had more stuff.

Said stuff was oozing out into the hallway. The door would no longer shut. This is the Lil'Nanny eating a snack and accessing the situation. She is so helpful. I take that back, now that I look at the picture she is just eating a snack. She's a most excellent snacker.

So when I got home from work on Thursday the Medium Nanny was a little overwhelmed with the stuff. So we got to work on the organizing. We worked for three long hours. We were able to fit most of the college stuff in her closet in a neat and very organized fashion. But we first had to do some editing. (aka: 3 bags of Goodwill & 3 bags of trash) Normally at this time I would show you an after picture. But I have to tell you that today's Messy Monday post is what I like to call a "reality" segment on the Big Nanny blog and as long as the Medium Nanny is home...there will be no after picture.

But that's okay. When your firstborn child has been gone for almost nine months and returns to your home still in one piece...that's the only after picture that you really need.

Happy Monday!

Messy Monday, Clean My Ride

ren·dez·vous: 1. an agreement between two or more persons to meet at a certain time and place.
2. the meeting itself.
3. a place designated for a meeting or assembling, esp. of troops or ships.
4. a meeting of two or more spacecraft in outer space.
5. a favorite or popular gathering place. –verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
6. to assemble at an agreed time and place.


Today's Messy Monday project is my vehicle. The make of my car is a Buick. Okay, I already know what you're thinking. Only old people drive Buicks. Let me remind you that I'm married to Lawnmower Man. We eat dinner by 4 o'clock everyday. And one of his all time favorite restaurants is the Golden Corral. (Which I refuse to go to) So it's only appropriate that we drive a Buick. The model of my car is called a Rendezvous. It's a midsize SUV and it has been my favorite car thus far. I don't like the name though because it's really hard to spell and I'm a pretty good speller.

Please ignore the scratch...that's another story for another day.

Anyhoo, today is cleaning day for the Rendezvous. It's big time dirty. If I was caught in a snow storm and was stranded in this car for a week you would not have to worry. I would not starve I would gain five pounds. Because on any given day there's a possibility that this is in the back...



You can't starve with 14 boxes of Goldfish crackers in your car. And to the guy at Sam's Club that thinks that it's so funny to say...hey you must work at a daycare hehe everytime I shop there. Please stop. Because it's not funny. It never was. I certainly am not the first person in the history of Sam's Club to buy 14 boxes of Goldfish. I also wouldn't have to worry about stinkin' because with all those baby wipes I could take a "horse" bath everyday.

I'll be back later with the completed episode of Clean My Ride.

Messy Monday: April 14

Honestly, I really didn't think I would keep this up, but you keep encouraging the blogging of my mediocre organization projects and I've got plenty to do. You're stopping me in the aisles of the superb Target to let me know that your buying containers to do your own closet and you're stopping me at church to let me know about your current organization projects. I'm very impressed with your participation. So in an effort to give the blog readers what they want I will continue on.

Today's Messy Monday project is...



the pantry.

I'm not going to Target to buy any cute containers. I'll have to make do with what I've got. I'll be back at the end of the day with the after pic.

Please don't write Oprah and tell her that you have found the latest organizing guru. She will call me and want me to be on her show and I'm not drinkin' her Kool-aid anymore. It would be hard for me to tell Oprah that I can't be on her show. I haven't watched her in over a week, but I'm not sure that I want to be tested yet:)

Happy Monday!

Terrific Tuesday

Well, yesterday was a Messy Monday but today was a Terrific Tuesday because this arrived...

















And for those of you who are thinking that I'm being shallow and showing off my new furniture...I am! I've waited almost 19 years to have nice bedroom furniture and I'm showing it off. My sister called me tonight to find out what my new purchase was and she was excited that I got new bedroom furniture. And my sister is the kind of person that only gets excited about her new stuff. Not my new stuff. She's like that. But that's how bad the furniture was. She felt the need to tell me how bad my furniture was tonight. Of course, if you drove by my house today and looked at my front yard then you know what I'm talking about. And if you live in my neighborhood you have probably already called the homeowner's association about me.

Anyhoo, if you're looking for furniture Jones' Homes Furnishings is technically still open this week. They got bought out by a furniture liquidator and will be open for the rest of the week and will have an auction on Saturday. This is what the delivery guys told Lawnmower Man today...I'm not responsible if he did not hear correctly.

I realize this was not a real Messy Monday project. I'll do better next week.
I feel like a grown up now.

Messy Monday

Today is not a regular Messy Monday. I do have a project going on today and it is taking longer than expected. I've moved some furniture out and the killer dust bunnies are a little out of control. Tune in Tuesday night or Wednesday for the big reveal. It involves a local furniture store going out of business:) Sorry, I didn't take a before picture.

Messy Monday, The Big Reveal

This is the overall final product. Notice my nice vacuum cleaner lines.



This is what I've found to be the best shoe storage. Easy access, easy clean-up.


These are the storage containers I picked up today at Target. I got one for my winter boots, one for my purses and one for my favorite navy blue sweatshirt. Oh, you know the one;) I chose containers with lids because of the dust that was accumulating on my purses and said shirt.


This is my hair curler collection that I'm quite sure rivals any Miss America in town.

This is my new bin for my infamous flip-flop collection. I decided to go all out and get something cute. And I just couldn't go wrong with the pink paisley.

I already had the container on the left. I use it to store my off season clothes. Sweaters in the summer. Capri pants and shorts in the winter. I purchased the other one today to put Lawnmower Man's extra coveralls in. Yes, he has extra. Yes, I have to share this closet with him and I'm not going to show you that side. It doesn't look bad. It just might hurt your eyes to see that many striped shirts at one time.

I also rearranged the order of my clothes. Winter clothing towards the back and summer in the front. There ya have it. I hope you got lots done today and be sure to tune in next week for another Messy Monday. I need to go and make some labels.

Messy Monday

Today I want to start a new little thing on the Big Nanny Blog called Messy Monday. You see on Mondays I don't usually work. I try to catch-up on all the things that I have to do here around the house. I want my blog to be a little more meaningful and helpful. Not that I haven't been helpful...I am the one that told you when Target was open. And I do let you know where to find the best dawgs in this great nation. But I want to do my part in the Mommy Blog World and inspire you to get'er done. Ya know, all that stuff that needs to be done, but you keep putting off. So go pick your project and get'er done. Why don't you post your project on your blog?

Here's my project:



This is the floor of my closet and it has looked like this since I got back from vacation. On Sunday mornings I'm always in a hurry and I tend to just throw stuff all over the place. So this is the project of the day and I'm making this part of the blog so I will actually get it done. Because I know that you'll all come back later to check up on me. Stay tuned for the after pic. (That white thing is a sock not my underwear.)

But for now, I'm off to Target to get some storage containers.


Tip of the day: Don't buy the storage containers until after you start your project so that you can buy the specific size you need. Today I need some containers for purses and flip-flops.