Decorating for Fall

Hi! It’s Jilly. Sometimes I feel like I’m always 2 or 3 steps behind. I got some fall decorations up a week or two ago, but I’m just now blogging about it!



Why yes, I DO still have a wedding picture in that picture frame. Hey, I’m lucky to have Halloween decorations up at all, okay?!



One of my favorite parts is the “Boo!” pennant banner. A few years ago a few friends and I got together once a month to do a seasonal craft. We each brought all the supplies to do a simple, inexpensive craft. This banner was my contribution. Amazingly it has lasted all these years!



I’m afraid you can’t see it very well, but the font I used was “Circus”. It adds a whimsical quality, but is still a little spooky! It’s pretty easy to figure out by looking at it, but if you’d like instructions to make the banner, just shoot me an email at hiitsjilly@gmail.com.


I got that”R” pumpkin on clearance after Thanksgiving at Hobby Lobby for 90% off!! And, the vases were on clearance in the garden dept at Home Depot at the end of summer a couple years ago. You never know where you’re going to find great stuff!



I love the little black cat. You can put a tealight candle in it and the eyes glow! I love the pumpkin, too. Awesome clearance find at Joann’s one year.



Yes, I went through and picked out all the red, yellow, brown, and orange Pretzel M&Ms. Ridiculous, I know. Hey! Looks like someone’s been eating those! It wasn’t me (this time).

Like the bone? I used some of Hubby’s old foot and leg models from school. Being married to a podiatrist isn’t all bad. ;)



I got the cauldron from Target last year. It came with some nasty, super sweet drink mix. But, because it had drink mix in it I was able to buy it with food stamps. Sweet!

Over the years while we were in med school I came up with some pretty  creative things to buy that were covered by food stamps because they had food attached. A salad dressing bottle, toys, movie tickets…Maybe I should tell you guys all about it sometime.

The creepy stuff coming out of the cauldron is…CORN SILK! K arranged it herself! Maybe I have a future decorator on my hands. Or, some other profession that involves draping corn silk on caldrons. Hmmm…

I hope you guys enjoyed a little slice of Fall at my house! Follow along on Facebook or Twitter to see more goodies from me!

Baby Steppin' with Fly Lady and A Giveaway Winner (Finally!!)

Hi! It's Jilly! I feel like I've been "away" forever! We went up to Seneca Lake Friday & Saturday, and I feel like I'm just recovering from the trip! Is it just me, or does your house look like a bomb went off after you get back from a trip? Seriously! We were only gone one night!! Sheesh!

ANYways...I have a couple fun things to share with you! First, it's time to (finally) announce the winner of the *huge* S'Wonderful September Sponsor giveaway. Are your ready to see who our lucky winner is?! I know I am!!

And the winner is....(drumroll, please)....

Bre Paulson from Peacoats and Plaid!! Congrats, Bre! SO excited for you!! Woot woot!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Our next order of business involves that bomb-victim house I talked about earlier. I've been struggling with keeping a clean and orderly house for a few years a few months a while. It's always been a big problem for me.

A few years ago a friend introduced me to The Fly Lady and I started getting and reading her e-mails. I've tried integrating her program few times, but was never able to make it longer than a week! (I know. I told you...it's a problem!)

source

BUT, no more!! I neeeeed to get my life together! Not only do I need a cleaner house (after all, cleanliness is next to Godliness, right?!), but I need to feel more peace! A big thing about Fly Lady is learning to FLY- which stands for Finally Loving Yourself. This self-loathing ridiculousness needs to stop asap!

So, I've started doing Fly Lady's 31 Beginner Baby Steps. By following the instructions every day it is supposed to help you set up routines to keep everything in your home running smoothly and cure your CHAOS-- "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome". Ha ha!

{They're trying to do a "triplet piggyback ride". Notice the "trail of tears" in the background?!}

I started it on Monday, October 1st, but you can join me on this quest and start at any time! It doesn't have to be a Monday! I've been chronicling each day, so follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook where I've been posting my pics every day. Post your own pics using the hashtag #babysteps, then tag me in the pic so I can see your great progress! (@Hi_Its_Jilly)



If you've been having a hard time keeping your house clean & clutter-free and/or feeling peace, I encourage you to join me! Don't worry about the fact that today is October 3rd, or a Wednesday, or whatever! I agree with what FlyLady says..."just jump in where you are!". I'm excited to hear about your progress and see your pictures!

Oh! And if you want to see the 'breakdown' of what you'll be doing each day, I found an awesome link here. Fly Lady says it's better if you just take it one day at a time, though. Good luck!!

Master Bathroom Makeover

Hi! It’s Jilly. With all the craziness that surrounded our move I forgot to show you guys some of the awesome stuff we did to our house in Arizona!

The room we are probably the most proud of is the Master Bath. We did a TON of work in there!

Before:

And After:

 

What do you think?!

Let’s see those side-by-side, shall we?



Looks like a totally different bathroom, doesn’t it?!

So, what did we do?

* removed the tile and replaced it with new travertine
* refinished the cabinet and added new hardware
* framed the mirror
* replaced the faucets
* put in new baseboards
* painted the walls
* replaced the towel rods
* changed out the light fixture

Phew!! But, it looks sooooo much better! I wish we’d gotten it done while we lived there, rather than finishing it up right before we moved. *sad face*

Oh, well. I hope the new owners appreciate it! (Well, once we find a buyer, that is!)

Linking up here.

Moving Tips- Part 3

Hi! It's Jilly. The last couple of weeks I've been sharing Moving Tips with you. I have loved reading all of your comments! It has been so much fun. Much more fun than getting ready to move! ;)

In Part 1 one of the things I talked about was making a list of what you have packed in each box, then last week in Part 2 I mentioned making that list in a word document or e-mail to yourself. Well, this week I was living proof that making a digital copy of your list is important. I lost my notebook and had to start a new list!

Luckily, I found my notebook, but I was not a happy camper about it for a few days! So, I will definitely be making a copy of that puppy!

Now, let's move to the kitchen. Pack up everything in your kitchen except:

• one large & one small pot/saucepan
• one skillet/frypan
• a can opener 
• a 'chef' knife & a paring knife 
• a spatula
•  a mixing bowl
• a mixing spoon
• a cookie sheet
• a vegetable peeter
• tongs (if you grill a lot, which is quick and easy if you're in the midst of moving)
• a cheese grater? 
• anything else your family uses a lot to make the type of foods you eat (I kept out the salad spinner)

You might think you can't live without all the other stuff, but believe me...you can! What do you take to cook with when you go camping? That's all you need. Pack up the rest!

Then, use paper plates & plastic silverware. It saves you time on clean-up after meals.

Speaking of clean-up...when you are getting ready to move, and possibly getting your house ready to rent or sell, be sure to go to bed every night with a shiny sink! 

Amid all the chaos it is nice to have at least one part of your house clean and smiling at you when you wake up in the morning. Plus, it helps you keep the rest of your kitchen a little cleaner, which makes things easier when you are using the sink all day to fill buckets to wash walls or wash out paintbrushes or whatever.

This one I learned from the Fly Lady. Any fellow FLY Babies out there? I don't have all my routines down, but I try and that's what counts, right?!

When labeling your boxes it is a good idea to put a colored dot on all 5 sides on the box. I had a couple people tell me about this one. In the stationary section of the store they sell colored dots like this.

They also have these cool labels that are like post-it notes, except the whole backside is sticky and peels off easily. You could write what's in the box and slap the label on your box.  (Thanks for the tip, Sara!)

But, me and my cheap self decided to go with these dots. They are called Reinforcement Labels. It was only a dollar for the pack and you get 924 of them versus 315 in the other pack for the same price! Sweeet!!

So, designate one color for each room and stick dots on the box in the right color. My sister-in-law said this is really helpful when you are looking for a box for a certain room. You can just train your eye to look for the right colored dot and find the right boxes a lot faster. Clever, eh? 

That does it for tonight. Stay tuned next week for more helpful moving tips! Follow Hi! It's Jilly here on the blog, on Facebook, or on Pinterest so you don't miss anything!

I'm linking to THESE parties. :)

Check out the rest of the series!

  

Moving Tips- Part 2

Hi! It's Jilly. I am blown away by the response I've had to last week's post, Part 1 of the Moving Tips series! Thank you for the sweet comments!  When I was telling my husband about the post he said that I should have had tip #1 be "Don't. Just don't move if at all possible!". Ha ha!

Now, it's time to dive into Part 2. Last week I talked about lining your clothing boxes with garbage bags.

But, I forgot to mention another awesome thing about using bags inside your boxes! After you fill the bag inside the box gather the top of the bag in your hands,

squeeze all the air out while pushing the bag down,

then twist it closed

and tuck the 'tail' down into the box.

It's kind of like when you would make a balloon out of your empty sandwich bag in elementary school so you could pop it, only this time you are squeezing the air out rather than blowing air in. Does that make sense?! Hopefully the pictures will give enough guidance for you to pick up what I'm layin' down. ;) E-mail me if you need any more explanation.

So, for the awesome part...because you've squeezed so much air out and squooshed it down you can fit more clothes in the box than if you had just packed them in there without the bag! Woo hoo for DIY Space Bags! See Before...

And After!

Last week I also mentioned making a list of the things packed in your boxes in a notebook. I was thinking about it some more, and making a word document with that information would be even better! Then you would have a copy on your computer, which is less likely to get lost. And, you could e-mail a copy of the word doc to yourself so you can access it on your laptop or iThing if you haven't unpacked your PC yet. Actually, if you have a fancy phone there is probably an app for that kind of thing. But, I don't have a smartphone so I wouldn't know. :(  Here's the proof. Like my dinosaur?!

Sometimes when you are moving to a new place, especially one far away, it is intimidating meeting new people and making new friends. One thing you can do when preparing to move is do a Google search of your new area. Find out if there are any mothers groups, or a book club sponsored by the local library, or activities & classes at the community recreation center.

On a playdate at the park with a mothers of multiples group

 Explore the websites of nearby museums, parks, zoos, and other fun places. See if you can connect with a local church of your preferred denomination and find out about their upcoming activities.Try to "friend" a member or two on Facebook before you arrive. Getting a feel for some of the people and places ahead of time can help make the transition easier!

Those are all my tips for this week. I hope they are helpful! Next week we tackle the kitchen. Follow me here on the blog, on Facebook or on Pinterest to be sure you catch Part 3!

I'm linking to THESE parties! :)

Check out the rest of the series:

 

Moving Tips- Part 1

Hi! It's Jilly. We have been super super busy getting our house ready to sell and packing for our big move. My hubby's parents are in town helping, which is awesome. But, my house is a disaster! Half packed boxes everywhere...tools and other construction-y things laying all over...suitcases from our trip begging to be emptied...you get the idea.

In the midst of all the chaos I thought I'd share with you some great tips if you are planning a move. Some advice I've gotten from my mother-in-law, some from friends, and some from my own experience. I hope you will find something helpful to you so that YOUR moving chaos will be less chaotic!

Today I was tackling the mountain of laundry on my couch waiting to be folded. Yes, I am showing you a picture of my laundry pile. I hate to admit it, but this one is a mini-mountain. There have been many, many occasions when the pile is at least three times this big. Yikes!

When preparing for a move a great thing to do is pack a week's worth of clothes for each family member in a suitcase or duffel bag, then box up the rest! Pretend like you are going on a vacation. Be sure to leave out a few 'normal' outfits, a couple sets of play clothes, and a couple sets of church/dressy clothes. This is also a great time to weed out any clothes that no longer fit, are stained up, or you never wear.

Oh! When boxing up clothes, line the box with a plastic garbage bag. Cardboard can stain up clothes, especially if the box gets wet, and when you're moving you never know what's going to happen!

Then, label your box with what room it belongs in and what's in the box. A friend of mine gave me some great advice. Number the boxes as you go, then write down the contents of the box in a notebook. Then, when you need something you can reference your list and know exactly which box the thing you are looking for is in. Pretty clever, eh?! Just make sure you don't lose the "master notebook". ;)

Those are my tips for today. Stay tuned next week for more great moving tips!

Want to make sure you don't miss Part Two?! Then become a follower of "Hi! It's Jilly", "like" me on Facebook, or follow me on Pinterest! :)

I'm linking up HERE.

Check out the rest of the series!