Where are my keys?

James and I ask this question all the time! With two dogs and busy days we are often leaving our keys all over the place. 

I saw a cool idea on Pinterest to manage our key situation. 

For under $2 I made this! First I bought a dollar store frame. Just a generic brown one. Then I spray painted it with some mint green spray paint I had laying around. (It took about 30 minutes to dry.) I screwed in some hooks from Home Depot ($1.49). Last I added some twine, for a little country feel. What do you think? 

My To-do Board & Favorite Planner

Happy Friday ya'll! 

Hope you are well. Today I want to talk about how I manage to keep track of my job (administrative director of three pre-schools), my second masters degree, and all my DIY projects. It's not always easy, I most certainly am still learning to manage my time. 

Over the summer I made a to-do board to keep on my desk. I jot down projects I need to start and tasks I need to complete. It was fairly easy to make. I used scrap book paper and a cut-out of my initial under the glass. Glass can be used like a white board. So I simply use a white board marker on the picture frame. I got the picture frame at the dollar store!

To-do board on my desk =)

I made some to-do boards for the teachers at my school. I used scrap book paper and purchase the plastic picture frames off the internet in bulk. The mini post-it notes and dry-erase markers can be purchased at any office store or dollar store. Each board cost about three dollars! 

Under the Sink and In the Drawers!

Friends, when I get bored, or nervous, or anxious, or happy, or sad, or hungry, or angry or had too much caffeine, I clean. It's a good thing that our cable hasn't ever worked (it was installed a month ago). I am usually bored and hungry and at least one other emotion when I get home from work. SOOO, I find something to clean. Recently, I took on fixing under our sink. This area had been unusable: all of my cleaning products were being housed in a laundry basket on the kitchen floor. 

Under our kitchen sink! 

It should be no surprise at this point that this is what under our kitchen sink would look like. I pulled up the yucky cork board covered in soap or lotion or something. I disconnected the random light-switch dimmer under there (after checking to see if it was attached to something- it was NOT). Then I used a handsaw to cut two pieces of plywood to fit under the sink (to make it level and give it a nice sturdy base) (I forgot to take pictures!)

I installed some cheap peel and stick laminate flooring. An entire box was about $15 and included way more square feet than I'll ever need. They are super easy to cut with a sharp utility knife. I actually did this project alone in under an hour. Now, I can wipe down each cabinet as needed easily! 

Totally clean looking! 

In my cleaning frenzy I pulled out all the drawers and found this! It was a mix of crumbs, grease, and wax (so the drawers slide smoothly). 

How to remove? Grease is tricky. I personally find that the right tools and warm vinegar usually do the trick. 

A tooth brush or other firm scrub brush work wonders. If you have a really sticky mess you may want to use a Brillo pad.  I dipped the brush in a  mug with a mixture of  warm vinegar and 2 table spoons of dish soap. I put this mix in the mug so that you can keep heating it up the as needed in the micro. 

Although vinegar can smell a little funky, it is a great way to remove grease, soap scum, and shine stainless steel. 

I did this for the fridge when we moved in too. 

Stay tuned, we will have a bathroom and guest room reveal this weekend!