Almost there...

This week marks the final week of course work for my Master's in Education Degree. Hense, I have been overwhelmed with essays, rationales, and stress making me absent from my posts. Wish me luck as my portfolio is reviewed and am I evaluated for my degree. I'll be back soon.

The Other Love in my Life

Besides labels, Doc, and the husband, cleaning is next on the LOVE list. I tend to always keep my home 'picked up' just in case company pops by, but the deep down cleaning is not as often. Our couch has needed some TLC for a while now. We got it about 3 years ago and it has taken a beating. One Great Dane, one move, lots of friends, and one dachshund. It was time for a deep clean. Luckily for me, my wonderful family graced me with this amazing birthday gift:

Bissell's Little Green Machine is life changing. It is a handheld cleaning system for upholstery. We looked into the at home steamer companies, and even renting a steam cleaner, but getting this little guy was the best option. For around $100 initially, you can have cleaning muscle at your finger tips.

I used it this past weekend on our light, camel colored micro-fiber sofa it worked great! It took out the drool spots, spills and other little spots that had collected over time. It is easy to use, just fill the tank with the cleaning solution and hot water and go to town. The only tricky part is making sure to vacuum up all the cleaning solution so that it doesn't leave a residue line. A great investment for any pet owner or parent for sure! I'm going to try it out in my car next...

Label Love

Labels are one of the most lovely gifts that the world has given me. They help me find things I need, dress up storage containers, and they are super easy to make. You can have the standard piece of paper with hand-written scribbles, but the next easiest is printed labels.

I have been working on cleaning up and re-organizing my office. I have new fabrics and felt that needed homes, and a growing card-making station. There were lots of little boogers that needed homes, and the recycling bin was happy to help.

I whipped up these super simple containers to house my various bits including twine, grommets, beads, tools, and brads. A Jif container and a bread-crumb container were the perfect size for the cabinet that I store my goods in. Next I added contact paper to the outside for a clean slate. For the labels I took transparent address labels and added the border with a simple shape from Microsoft Word. Easy, fast, and effective. The only way I live...

How about you, what makes a great label for your things?

Tip: Cleaning Fake Flowers

If you picked up Real Simple's October issue you would see the article about picking fake flower arrangements. I am a huge fun of the faux for two reasons: 1. they are cheaper, 2. you can get colors that nature doesn't allow. I began my love for the fake florals when deciding on flowers for my wedding bouquets. I used latex magnolias and was able to make all 6 of my wedding day bouquets for $50 and I still have mine on display 3 1/2 years later.

But the one problem with the fakes- dust bunnies! Swiffer won't do anything about it, and the dust is really what makes them look fake. I have the best remedy in my home office-

Compressed Air Duster

This handy little guy does an awesome job of getting the bunnies out without crushing petals, snagging a cotton cloth or wasting time. It takes just a minute or two and your immortal lovelies are clean and happy!

DIY: Chalkboard

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Nighttiming

Here is our new chandelier in all its beauty in the dark:

Thanks again to my lovely husband for doing the heavy lifting, and my mother-in-law for the string lights that brought it to life.

Friday Flowers

My front porch planters have been updated for Fall/Winter. My Glory Blue Hydrangeas have been moved to their permeant home on the side of the house, and they were replaced with these tall boxwood shrubs along with pansies for color.

Changing out planters are a good way to add color to the landscaping and are easy to switch out when you get bored and need new visuals.

Weekend Funny

Dachshund gone wild:

Happy Weekend.

DIY: Natural Lighting

When I arrived home from work today, I was astounded by what I saw on my back porch. While I was away, my handsome, talented, strong and very manly husband had been building mama a rustic chandelier! It is very similar to something straight out of West Elm or Pottery Barn...

We were recently discussing the fact that we wanted a new light for our new back porch. Originally we had red lanterns hanging above, but after one good rain the color dye faded and we were left with ug-o shades. So since then we have just the bulbs hanging- not so chic. Erik's first idea was to weld an iron sphere that we would fill with bulbs for an industrial/modern light. Going with that theme, he decided to do some landscaping and lighting at the same time. He went in our overgrown back yard and cut down some hearty vines and wove them into the glorious sphere you see below for $0, yes it was absolutely FREE:

{ Doc & Uga love it too. }

All he did was cut the big vines first and he used some zip ties to make 2 circles. He put one circle inside the other and then used smaller vines to add more shape to it. Again, when discussing the iron idea, we wanted to paint it a fun bright color, but now I definitely want the rustic texture of the wood. I'll use twine to wrap around the zip ties to conceal them. As far as wiring goes, we are going to use big bulb string lights to fill the interior. I CANNOT wait to have it hanging on the porch. I'll keep you posted...

P.S. Did I mention how AWESOME my husband is?

P.S.S. And how I want him to make me 5 more?