Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year everyone!  It’s 2020!!

I hope you had a great New Year’s Eve, whether you partied or stayed home for a nice quiet evening. When the kids were younger, we would always have other families over and eat pizza and play games. We always had a great time with lots of good memories! But now, it’s just us. So a quiet evening is perfect for us now.

The day before Thanksgiving, I had an accident at work and shattered my index finger on my right hand. So now I am waiting to have surgery. That means I won’t be able to blog for a little while. Lauren will still be here and maybe I can convince her to post a bit for me too. 🙂 Anyways, I just wanted you all to know where I will be! I can’t wait until I get the surgery over with and be back here with you all! I will try to keep you updated!

Since it’s the new year, I know a lot of us are looking for ways to get organized. I know I am! So I found a few ideas around the internet!

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
  1. I think this idea is brilliant for an attic! We have a small attic and I would love to get all the boxes set up like this! There are even printable storage labels.

20 DIY Storage Shed Organization Ideas That Will Amaze You 35

2. I wish my garage looked like this! I do have most of my stuff on shelves and in totes, but I really like the idea of clear totes so you can see what’s inside. Also the large labels are great! Head over to Instagram to see how she did it!

3. My cabinet under the sink isn’t this full, but we are thinking of putting in an under the sink pull-out trash can, so I may need to do some reorganizing.  Head over to by lauren m to see what she used to get organized.under the sink kitchen diy organization - dollar tree diy organization tips! You're going to love this kitchen organization before and after! Spend $5 and completely revamp your under sink cabinets! | bylaurenm.com

4. These bins are a great idea for any cabinet or closet. And the best part is, they come from the Dollar Tree! Check out the other ways to organize from Dollar Tree too!

5. This is a great way to store wrapping paper! Just hang it behind a door or in a closet! You could use the extra slots for storing tissue paper, bows, scissors, tape and other supplies. I’m not sure of the original source for this one, but there are other great ideas on Buzzfeed.Dollar Store Organizing: Cut the bottoms of shoe organizer pockets to hold wrapping paper.

6. Here are more ideas for a shoe organizer. These could be used all over the house! I have one in my hall closet for gloves, hats and scarves. Here is the link for the Barbie Organizer  and the stuffed toy organizer,

7. This is brilliant! Why didn’t I think of this! It’s so much easier to get games or other boxed items out of this than when they are in a big and tall pile! Visit here for more ideas.board-game-storage

8. Tax time will be here soon, so it’s time to get your papers in order. See how Home Made by Carmona set up her files.Improve your productivity and stay focused on your work by using these 11 desk organization hacks to organize your desk! Get rid of clutter and make your desk stand out!

9. How are your craft supplies looking? Sometimes, mine are in pretty good shape. Sometimes…not so much. Again, clear containers help to see what you already have and what you need to stock up on.

Organizing Craft Supplies - So Much Better With Age

10.  I couldn’t forget our pets!  Finding a place to store leashes, clothes, and collars can sometime be a challenge. The Well Groomed Home has some great ideas!

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I hope this gives you some inspiration for getting organized this year! Have a wonderful 2020!

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This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. 

Click the photo below to be taken directly to Dollar Tree’s website and see what they have to organize your home.

DIY Cats Stuff

Hello!  I hope everyone is doing well!  I am totally ready for cooler weather, I’m getting tired of summer.

So this week is all about cats.  Now, I have two cats, Target and Amelia.  Both are rescues and both are crazy.  Like, their favorite toy is a straw from Chick-fil-a.  They have tons of other toys, yet they want to play with a straw…I will never understand.  But, here are some ideas you can do for your cats!  Some are buildings and some are toys.  So enjoy!

Also, here’s a picture of my pains before you continue reading.

Target is the black and white and Amelia is the calico.  Goofy pictures to show their true personalities.  Enjoy the post!

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Cardboard Cat Rocket from Make

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Felt Sushi Cat Toys from Lia Friffith

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Simple Cat Hammock from Instructables

Ombre Scratching Post

Ombre Scratching Post from Cuteness

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DIY Peek-a-boo Cat Toy Box from Meeoow

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DIY Cactus Scratching Post from Kaylee Eylander

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DIY Cat Box Cabinet from Evan and Katelyn

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Feather Cat Toys from Martha Stewart

Carboard Cat Condo

Cardboard Cat Condo from Bicultural Familia

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DIY Felt Mouse Toys from Lia Griffith

Sparkle

Christmas Gift Ideas for All Ages

We’re in November! Have you started Christmas shopping yet? There are only ? many more days of shopping! I’m not sure how many days, but I know I already have a few people shopped for. My family draws names for Christmas and this year we used a new online service called Drawnames.com. It’s been great! No more drawing out of a hat and getting your own name! You can even set it up to block certain people from getting another family member, like spouses getting spouses. Plus your lists go right on the site with links included. We will definitely be using this again.

After seeing what people are asking for and what seems to be popular, I decided to make a family gift guide.

*This is a sponsored posts. Any purchases made by you, send a little it back to us at no extra expense to you. Thank you!*

Little Girls

We have a couple of little girls, ages 3 and 5, in our family. So fun to shop for!  Here are some of the items on their wish list.

Fingerlings

My niece received this for her birthday. She wasn’t too sure about it, but all of us adult girls loved it! It’s so cute!

Baby monkeys love to grab on to things…. especially fingers!

Finger monkey responds to sound, motion & touch and will let you know when they like what you are doing!

Put them to sleep or make a loud noise and watch them get excited! hang them upside-down by the tail and watch them monkey-around

Swing them around for even more fun. Blow them kisses and they will kiss you back! collect them all!

Hatchables

My niece’s have these by the dozens! They love them! And they come in all different sizes.

Hatchimals Glittering Garden is the newest hatch batch straight out of Hatchtopia! Who’s inside? It’s a surprise! Each sparkling egg contains one of two interactive Hatchimals with twinkling wings and soft, shimmering fur. Love and care for yours inside the egg and its eyes will light up as it makes cute sounds, telling you how it’s feeling! Once you’ve played with the egg enough, you’ll see rainbow eyes – that means it’s time to hatch! Hatchimals can’t hatch on their own. Your touch encourages them to peck their way out of the egg! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Now you get to raise your glittering Hatchimal through 3 stages, from baby to toddler, to kid. Your Hatchimal sings “Hatchy Birthday” each time it enters a new stage! Teach yours to walk, dance, play games and more! It will even repeat what you say in its own voice! Hatchimals Glittering Garden — Who Will You Hatch?

Melissa and Doug

All of Melissa and Doug’s toys are great quality and great to play with! I like to buy this for my preschool class too.

  • Sturdy wooden food set featuring items from the five food groups for healthy pretend play
  • Includes watermelon, corn, milk, cheese, cereal, fish, eggs, and more
  • Stores neatly in four wooden crates
  • Fun and educational whether as a stand-alone or as part of a play kitchen
  • Ages 3 years and up

Peppa Pig

Peppa is big in the preschool, grade school age kids! They love Peppa!

“Peppa Pig” follows the adventures of the titular, anthropomorphic animal along with her family and friends. Each of her friends is a different kind of animal — with a last name matching the type of animal each is. Although they are humanlike in many ways, the characters still display characteristics of their species — such as the Rabbit family being fixated with carrots.

Women

Since we draw names for our family, we have all age groups to buy for. Here are some of the wishes for this year.

Make-up organizer

What woman wouldn’t want this for all her make-up?

  • Use high-grade materials and exquisite gift box,Acrylic is clear as glass, looks exquisite. Unlike ordinary cheap plastic,Cq acrylic® Only production and sales exclusive high end product and is undoubtedly a long term investment to keep your expensive makeup safe.
  • MULTI FUNCTH ORGANIZER:size 9.5″ X 7.5″ X 6.1″-Inch ,Our storage box can be used to organize both jewelry and cosmetics together. This allows you to be more organized at home or while traveling. With four drawers and 16 slots , you have more room than ever to keep all your favorite things close at hand.
  • EASY TO CLEAN: Unlike other cosmetics or jewelry boxes that retain stains or colorization from your makeup, rings, or earrings, organizes all your makeup and cosmetics into a dazzling personalized beauty counter, our acrylic boxes are easy to clean and won’t discolor over time.
  • SATISFACTION GUARANTEE: our team make the best service, the best use of acrylic, if quality and Transport damage problems can choose a replacement or refund, no problem, which is why it come with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

Or this one? Nice and compact!

  • 360 DEGREE ROTATION: Perfectly organizes and stores your cosmetics and accessories; easy access to all of your makeup products
  • EXTRALARGE CAPACITY: Accommodates at least 30 makeup brushes, 20 skincare products and other accessories including lipsticks, nail polish, eyeliner and more
  • GREAT CARRYING CAPACITY: Steady baserotates smoothly and silently and ensures cosmetics stay in place;thick, durable trays are strong enough to bear heavy products  

Anthropologie Gifts

I bet these smell amazing and the mercury glass is perfect for the holidays!

 

I love this glassware set! The gold is so cool and perfect for your holiday party!

Men’s Gifts

Like the ladies, we have several age groups of men to buy for.

Beanie Hat with Bluetooth

This beanie will keep you warn and plus play your favorite music!

  • V3.0+EDR Bluetooth version,available for most of devices with Bluetooth function.
  • Protects you from cold winter and will also allow you to listen to music and talk while doing variety of other activities.
  • Set-in MIC, available for cell phone to transmit the speaking phone to your audio devices directly so that the user can hand free.
  • Knitted material,fashion and keep warm with answer the phone in winter. You will look great and keep warm while litsening to your favorite music.Keep the sound track to your life playing all the time.
  • You will look great and keep warm while listening to your favorite music.Keep the sound track to your life playing all the time.

Good Day, Bad Day Glasses

These glasses are great after a long day or a great day! Funny! Add a bottle of something special and your have the perfect gift!

MADE IN AMERICA from durable, quality glass featuring a heavy base
~ Holds 11 oz of your favorite whiskey, scotch or bourbon
~ Engraving is on one side of the glass
~ Etching is permanent and DISHWASHER SAFE! (because there are better things to do than the dishes)
~ It’s the perfect, funny yet unique gift for Dad, Grandpa, a boss, co-worker, friend, relative or anyone else that like to enjoy a drink to unwind.

Parents

We have to give something special to our parents! They have been our biggest champions!

Greatest Parents on Earth Plaque

  • Measures approximately 8.5 x 12.5 inches
  • Features inspirational sentiment
  • Neutral colors to match any décor style
  • Easel backed for easy tabletop display and packaged in box for easy gifting
  • Proudly made in the USA

Personalized Bamboo Cutting Board

I love this Family Tree cutting board! What a great addition to any house or kitchen!

  • Personalization is Free: Please provide your personalized details in the Yellow Custom Now Tab
  • Bamboo Cutting board will read Our Family Like Branches on a tree we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one last name wedding anniversary date
  • Safe cutting board prevents knife skipping Laser engraved Personalized cheese fruit cutting board for wedding or anniversary gift
  • Made to last a lifetime Material: size 11″ w x 18″ h x 1/2″ inches VARIATIONS: -Our boards are made from natural bamboo. Due to natural origin of the wood there will be color variations that might be different from what is shown in our listings.

Pets

Did I miss anyone? Oh yes! Our favorite pets!

Cozy Windproof and Waterproof  Reversible Plaid Jacket

Keep your pet warm this winter. I know they would look adorable in these plaid jackets!

  • To better fit your dog,please do measure the size of your dog and compare to the size chart or consult with us before placing order
  • Material:Filler: Polyester fiber. Material: Polyester+TC (terylene/cotton), Water Resistant Outer layer/ Soft and Warm Inner Layer
  • Design Creative: Exquisite stitching,Easy Velcro Closure, Easily put on and take off.Comfortable belly part, Warm fleece lining,
  • Features: durable, fashion, vintage, water repellent, fine in detail, lightweight, wind-proof

Dog Toy Gift Basket Bundle

I know my dogs always like new toys to play with. Here is a whole basket full for them to choose from.

  • Made of cotton fibers that are non-toxic and can clean your dog’s teeth when chewing
  • Durable long lasting and bite resistant for hours of strong play and tug-a-war
  • Colorful bright colors get’s your dog interested and promotes interactive play
  • Bundle of 9 includes knot ropes, figure-8 toy, throwing stick, fetch toys, frisbee, and chewing ropes

 

12 Piece Pounce Toy Gift Set

Don’t forget the kitties! They get their choice too!

  • Fun Toys for Cats – Both kittens and cats will love these toys, some of which make noise and will roll across the floor
  • Easy-to-Wrap Gift Box – This box of kitten toys is packaged perfectly to be wrapped for gift-giving
  • 12 Different Toys – Your cats won’t become bored with this set, as there are 12 different toys included in the box
  • Rolling Balls – Kittens will love chasing the set’s sparkle balls and plastic jingle balls across the floor
  • Catnip Toys – A few of the toys in the gift box, including a Cat Is Good icon soft toy, contains catnip, which your cats and kittens will love.

Wow! That’s a lot to look over! I hope you found a couple of gift ideas here! Happy shopping!

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Rent a Toy with Pley, an Online Toy Library

Hey everyone! I’m off today helping Lauren with the final moving stuff. Hopefully she will have most of it done, since she needs to be out by noon. She is moving into a really cute apartment complex. There are lots of large and shady trees, a couple of pools, volleyball courts and rec room. I hope all goes well with her roommates.

About a month ago, we received an email from a company called Pley, an online toy rental service out of Silicon Valley. With Pley, your kids get to play with the coolest toys and you can save money, reduce clutter and help the environment. For a monthly fee, members receive the toys they picked delivered directly to their door. Once they’ve finished playing with their toy, they can simply swap it out for a different toy. No more wasting money on toys that are left gathering dust on your shelves. Pley asked if I would like to try out a toy and possibly write a review about the toy and the service. (I did get to try out the toy at no charge and then sent the toy back). Well, of course, I was happy to do so. Now, I don’t have any small children at home, but I have my two great-nieces. Perfect!

I went online to the Pley website and picked out which toy I wanted to try out. They have so much to choose from! You can choose an age group, boy or girl, and then pick toys ranging from Star Wars, Marvel, Fisher Price, Disney Jr., Lego, American Girl, Barbie, Leap Frog, Hot Wheels, and K’nex. After I picked the toy I wanted,  I placed the order and waited for my toy to arrive. It came after just a few days.

Pley package

My 3 year old niece happened to be visiting at my Mom’s house, so I went over for a visit and to bring the toy. I had picked out a Preschool Store Set which included people, animals, a store set-up, food and many other pieces. My niece and I played with it for quite awhile, setting up the store and helping the people to shop.

Pley blocks

She especially liked loading thing into the little car. She’s a little shopper already!

Pley blocks, people, car

I really like the idea of playing with a toy for awhile and then trading it in for something else. We know how kids get tired of the same thing and this way you don’t have to go out and spend a lot of money on toys, plus find a place to store them. If my kids were still small, it would definitely be something I would consider! I think this is a great service for all parents!

Would this be something you would try out? I would love to hear other opinions about this kind of service! Let me know in the comments!

ps. I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to my daughter Haley!!!

Sunshine and Blessings

Corner News-April 16, 2016

Welcome back to Corner News! This is the time we share some random pictures and news that has taken place over the last couple of weeks!

I created this a couple of days ago. You can see everything looks pretty bare around it. We have had a lot of wind lately and I hate to put too much out because it will get blown away or full of leaves and sticks! My neighbor gave me the ladder and I already had all the buckets, so I just tied them on with strips of burlap. I hope to fill them with something pretty very soon!

Corner News- Plant Ladder and Buckets-April 16, 2016

Haley and I took Rozy to the vet this past week and we passed these sheep. There was actually a whole herd of them, but these were closest to the road. Rozy wasn’t too sure about these things. Her eyes were huge, she was shaking and the fur on her back was standing up! It was pretty funny! I’m not sure what she thought the sheep were going to do? We see small herds of sheep around our parts when they are brought out to do some grazing.

Corner News- sheep-April 16, 2016

I also attended a workshop for a group of preschool teachers in our area. It is called C.A.R.E.S.-Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards. Whew! That’s quite a title! I have been part of this for quite a few years. This workshop focused on math and I was able to get all of this stuff for free! It’s a great way to add to the classroom!

Corner News-Preschool Toys-April 16, 2016

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Sunshine and Blessings