Coming soon!

Today is the perfect day to talk about what's to come in the shop next week because we are getting a preview of warmer weather to come with 65 degree weather!!!!

So...what do you think of when you think of warmer weather?

The BeAcH perhaps?

We have brand new canvas beach bags coming to the shop next week.

Here's a preview...

Oversized, but still incredibly light on your shoulder.  Fits multiple towels, clothes, accessories, electronics..you name it.

Includes 3 inside pockets.  Two on one side (seen here holding 2 large water bottles) and one oversized on the opposite side big enough to hold a Nook, iPad or any other tablet.

Includes a hook to hold your keys.  From experience, I know that this in invaluable because it is easy for the keys to fall to the bottom of the bag or worse, into the sand and get lost.  I speak from experience on that one.  Not fun!

We will also have coordinating mini wallets that include a tab on the side to clip into the hook.  Yes, I've also dropped my wallet in the sand...not fun either!

This one is already spoken for, but we have tons of other options coming.  Here is a peek at the fabric!

Stripes, solids, polka dots, chevron.....you name it...

Made from a great washable canvas material!

And, we have the perfect size for the little girl in your life.  This bag is great for so many things besides her own personal beach bag.  Think sleepovers, road trips, vacations....

This bag is made from fun cotton fabric.

Includes a medium sized pocket on the inside for all of her little goodies!

You can view the listing for this bag HERE.

Beach bags coming next week.  Pre orders are welcome.  

Poshed Up

Spreading some St. Patrick's Day cheer!

This is truly one of my favorite holidays.  I love the history of it and all of the tales of the leprechauns.  But most of all....I love the delight in my children's eyes when they wake up to see what the naughty leprechauns have done.

Each year we decorate, craft and get excited for the approach of St.Patrick's Day.  Part of the preparation for the big day includes setting up our very own leprechaun trap.  Here is ours from last year!

Sadly, we have yet to catch him....but we keep on trying ;)

I have found some really fun ideas for St. Patrick's Day this year from decorations to crafts, snacks for the kids, snacks for the adults and even a few ideas for leprechaun traps and tricks!

I have so many ideas that I'm going to spread them across a few days.   I'm going to start with some decorating ideas.  I am in the process of finishing up my own decorating. Here's some of my loot I have to work with...all of which I got at JoAnn Fabrics SUPER cheap.  Did you know that there is now a JoAnn's app?  Great coupons.

In the meantime....here are a few ideas I loved!

This clover garland is so cute.....we are definitely making this one! Wouldn't it be cute in green and then add some rainbow in the middle????

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Or this fantastic garland...this would certainly look great with some rainbow added in.

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And I love to use hurricanes.  I always decorate one of my hurricanes for every holiday.   They are a simple way to add some color and I love to use everyday items to fill them and add a little color.

Here are a few of mine from past holidays...

My Halloween from last year with candy corns and black beans.

Fall filled with leaves, acorns and pine cones.

And one with small Indian corn.

Christmas with cranberries and pine cones.

Post Christmas/Winter with silver and blue glass balls and dried white beans.

One in my daughter's room with the shells we've collected together.

And my St. Patty's one currently on my counter filled with split peas and a simple candle.    (Don't mind the groceries in the background)

Split peas and lentils make great decorations in hurricanes.  I love to use dried green split peas and yellow lentils in a hurricane for my Spring decor.  So easy and cheap too.  Try the orange lentils for Halloween!  

And I guess great minds think alike because I recently found this on pinterest.  Truth be told, I stole the idea from someone years ago when I was a Southern Living at HOME consultant and there were some VERY creative women.

For some reason, her lentils are much greener or maybe it's that she's a better photographer than I...lol

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I thought these hurricanes were fun as well...

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And how about this adorable St. Patty's Day topiary?   I wish I had the time this year to make one.   Maybe next.

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I also love a fun, festive wreath either inside our outside.  Here are two that I found that I adore.

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And lastly, how about a few free printables in frames for the mantle or around the house?  I loved these two.

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I have some fun ideas for crafts and how to make a leprechaun trap of your own coming up this week...stay tuned!

I leave you with some Irish words of wisdom for today...

Why should you never iron a 4-leaf clover? 

You don't want to press your luck. 

Poshed Up

Operation OrGaNiZaTiOn! The Linen Closets

I'm happy to get back on track today with

OPERATION

O r G a N i Z a T i O n

If you are new here with Operation OrGaNiZaTiOn, you can check out where we've been so far this year.  You can click on any one of the topics below to see the post.

The basics....getting ourselves organized and ready to start

Part 1 - Focused on creating a family binder and some routines for ourselves

Part 2 - Focused specifically on our cleaning schedule and where to start and some great green cleaners

Part 3 - Focused on the "rules of organizing" and how to de-clutter

Organizing...tackling areas of our home

The Kitchen

I know we haven't gotten too far, but I want to get us back on track.    I am so happy to have an organized kitchen and we've been really good as a family about keeping it that way.  We definitely slip up here and there, but everything has a place now and we are keeping it clutter free as much as possible.

The next area I tackled was my hall linen closet.  It was SO out of control.    When we bought this house 6 years ago, I was so thrilled with all of the closet space we were going to have.  I still am, don't get me wrong, but....it gives me more room to make a mess.  We are lucky enough to have a huge front closet where we store our coats and a hall closet for our linens.  We also have 2 smaller linen closets in 2 of our bathrooms.  I have managed to let ALL of them get out of hand.

I tackled the hall linen closet first because it's inevitable that the doors to this get left open every day and it was starting to drive me nuts looking at the mess it had become.  

Here it is BEFORE

This linen closet is right outside my bedroom door so I pass it 1,000 times a day and it was making me crazy! This closet holds all of our sheets, extra bedding, old bedding that I just can't part with, beach towels, some decorative items that I interchange seasonally, extra toilet paper and paper towels, my extra sewing items and all of my Christmas wrapping paper and supplies!  It really serves many purposes.

I use our closets in our bathrooms for our bath towels and as I mentioned, I have not yet tackled those, but they seem to stay pretty tidy because there's no too much in them.  The problem with the closet I am focusing on here is that I was trying to have it serve far too many purposes and therefore it actually became a place to just shove everything that didn't have a home.

I was breaking my own rule, "A place for everything, and everything in its place".  So, that being said, the first order of business was to take everything out of the closet and start deciding which items "belonged" here and which needed a new home.

I decided to keep all of my extra bedding, our sheets, and our beach towels on the left side.   I also decided I wanted things well labeled and in clear containers so that I could see what I had.   I have made a habit of keeping the clear bags that come with all bedding and/or sheets as well as those that come back from the dry cleaners when I clean our bedding that cannot be machine washed.  They are invaluable and save me the hassle and money of buying them.

Here is my AFTER for the left side

Top shelf - old crib bedding and bedding from my daughter's past room.  Not sure why I keep it, but I just can't part with any of it.

Second shelf - I found this huge zippered storage bag at Walmart super cheap and it's perfect to store our blankets during the off-season.

Third Shelf - I found these containers at JoAnn Fabrics dirt cheap.  I shopped after the January organization push was on and found everything on sale.  I made some super cheap and easy labels on the computer to keep our sheets separated by which room they belong in.  For me..this works.  If you prefer to put them all together, so be it.  I happen to find it easier to have them separated by room because it's quicker for me when I'm making beds AND...then no one in my house can claim they can't find the sheets for a specific bed (ha ha...I've got them!)

Bottom shelf- This shelf holds all of our beach towels and apparently we have far too many.  This issue is great during the summer months because it helps with the laundry, however, storing them is a bit of an issue since they overflow past this bin.  Oh well!

Now here is what I look at when someone leaves the closet open....much better!

Here is the AFTER on the right side

Top shelf - All of our down comforters that we never use since my son is allergic to the feathers. Before he was born, we all had down comforters and feather beds.  Not sure why I keep them...hopeful I suppose!

3rd shelf - On this shelf I have our seat cushions for our kitchen that I take on and off....sometimes I like them and sometimes I don't.  I'm fickle like that.    I also have all of our tablecloths and table runners.

Bottom shelf- Some decorative items that I really don't have anywhere to store.  

And on the very bottom our extra toilet paper and paper towels.  We buy in bulk and store most in our basement, but this saves me the trip!   I also have my stash of extra clear plastic containers that I mentioned earlier from the dry cleaners, etc.

The final product.  So much better!

This works for me.  I always find it helpful to see what others do and steal ideas to maximize my space, but I need to have it work for my own needs and those in my home or it will never last. 

Here are some of my inspiration photos...

I love the use of labels on the shelves in this one.  Unfortunately I have wire shelving.     Also, the towel bar on the inside of the door is a great use of space.

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Again, I love the use of the door space on this one.    And...the all white is so crisp and clean.

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This one uses all sorts of organizing tools to maximize space...very creative.  I don't know how I feel about rolling the towels.  Does it really save that much space?  I'd love your opinion if you do it.  I've always wondered.

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This is one is just pretty :)   If you follow the link it will explain to you also that the sheets on the top shelf are stored by set (which I already do...not sure how else you would store???) and the smart part....the pillowcases are wrapped around the set to keep it together.  So smart!

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Love the baskets...

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This one just amazes me at how neat the folding is.  I'm just not there and so therefore bins allow me to hide my folding!

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And, these bins just hide everything....love!

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The built in divider in this closet make it easier to compartmentalize your like items.

One last picture of a great tip I found.  Store your top and fitted sheets of a set inside the pillowcase for the same set.  Look how neat this looks.  Genius!

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Happy Organizing!

Poshed Up