DIY Friday: Verse of the Week board

I love chalkboards. I think they are so much fun and I wanted one in the house so bad.

I got the idea to make a "verse of the week" board for the girls' playroom when I saw this picture:

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And then I found this picture: 

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I went to Lowe's, bought a seven dollar poplar plank, a can of chalkboard paint, a brush, and created a stencil. I am almost finished cutting out the stencil, and I cannot wait to show it to you! Tune in Monday so you can see the finished product! 

Linking to Stonegable, Worthing Court, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Confessions of a Plate Addict, and French Country Cottage!

Four week "Wait no more" organizing challenge: Week four

Hello all! If you're new here, I have been participating in the Four week "Wait No More" Organizing Challenge with Jen Jones at I Heart Organizing. If you've never been to her blog, you need to. You'll be blown away by her home and her talents. While you're there, be sure to check out some of the other bloggers participating in the challenge as well. I'm glad to be included among so many talented and wonderful people! You can find Jen's bloghere.

Here are the other parts of the challenge I participated in:

Week one: my daughter's dresser
Week two: the pantry
Week three: my daughter's closet (We're still working on my hubby's closet and the baby's closet) 
Week four: playroom

My daughter's playroom was bursting at the seams. We had some great systems in place, but there were just far too many toys in the playroom. Then, she had a birthday, and things got a little worse. Ugh. We are having a new baby this fall and we needed to clean out the playroom and make space for her things. We plan to soon purchase another tall shelf but haven't yet. 

Here is what the playroom looked like before I got started. 

Organizing and Simplifying after Christmas

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas! I took a little time off from blogging over the Christmas season so I could focus on what really matters- our Savior and our family. Most of our family draws names or buys only for the children, which makes it a lot easier on your wallet. Still, our child was very blessed and well-gifted this Christmas. We celebrated Christmas seven times with various family members and one time with just the three of us.

Common Sense Cleaning: Kid Spaces

My daughter's bed sheets are washed weekly, but her comforter and the stuffed animals she sleeps with are washed monthly. However, the teddy bear that she takes to daycare is washed weekly.

When I am doing my monthly spring cleaning, I make it a point to straighten up her closet and dresser drawers. Luckily, we are pretty good about putting things back in the proper place, so a quick once-over is usually sufficient. Lately, she likes to take everything out of her drawers, so I am frequently re-folding and putting them back. Making her help me re-fold and put everything back has slowed her down a bit :)

Playroom organization

My daughter's playroom is one of my favorite rooms in our house.  It is one of our two bonus rooms, and there are windows in the wall so you can see into our office. This is especially handy when E is playing in her playroom and I am working in the office.

We purchased one of the cube shelves you see here. We already owned one of them, as we used it in her closet at the old house.