Totally New Thursday Week 9

Still going with one of my New Year's resolutions for 2013! List a new item in our Etsy shop and then blog about it here for you to read.

For my totally new Thursday item this week, I actually have 5! The 5 items I listed today are not new items but new designs of an item we have been selling for quite awhile. That item would be a hand towel. I think new designs count as new items, or they are at least close enough, right?

Check out the photos below to see what designs got added today! Do any of them match your kitchen? If so, you better get them while you can! There aren't too many of some of them!

Totally New Thursday Week 8

Alrighty! I'm still keeping up with my 2013 New Year's resolutions! Yay me!

One was to list a new item every Thursday and blog about it here so since today is Thursday, I've added a listing to our Etsy shop and now I'm blogging!

The new item I added today is actually not a new item but a new color variation of an item we already sell so that kind of makes it new right?

This item has already been listed in hot pink and emerald green but now comes in red and hunter green. Ta da! Introducing a new color combo for our watermelon crocheted nylon netting dish scrubbies! Whatcha think? Do they make you think of summer?

Tidying Up A Home

Hubby and I would LOVE to be able to sell our current home and purchase a newer, larger one before our daughter starts middle school so that we can get her into a better school district than the one we live in right now.

Unfortunately due to financial reasons, this does not seem to be an option for us anytime soon so alas we will be staying put here for awhile longer.

Since we are unable to move for a bit, I've been trying to think of things we can do to our current home to help make it seem nicer and larger. Lately I have been on a kick of decluttering and tidying up a bit to hopefully achieve this.

There are so many things you can do to make rooms seem larger! One is to get smaller furniture. We've already downsized from a HUGE entertainment center down to just a tv stand. WOW! Did that open up our living room! I've been trying to convince the hubby to downsize our computer desk too. I think I almost have him on my side.

I have been going through closets and drawers pulling out clothes, shoes, and toys that we don't need, want, or use. It's unreal how much stuff we have just sitting around taking up space!

                  BEFORE:                                                               AFTER:



Besides getting smaller furniture and getting rid of things to make rooms look larger, tidying up the small things can make a BIG difference in how a room looks. For instance, making the beds makes a bedroom look so much nicer and more presentable.

I have been trying to do this daily now as it makes our home look so nice, neat, and organized which is what I've been trying to achieve. This morning I made the beds and decided to time it to see how long it took. I made hubby's and my bed plus our daughter's bed and did both in as little as 65 seconds! That is just over 1 minute!

                     BEFORE:                                                            AFTER:

So basically 1 minute of time can make a world of difference in how your bedroom looks! Clearly you can see by the photos that our beds look SO much nicer when they are made than when the covers were just tossed around.

Oh, and if you are admiring the quilts, my grandparents made them. My grandpa sews the quilt tops then grandpa and grandma quilt them on their machine. After that grandma binds them around the edges and tada, you get the amazing looking quilts like in the photos!

And yes, you read that right. It said grandpa sews the quilt tops. My great grandma used to quilt and when she past away, none of the girls wanted to continue her quilting. My grandpa felt like someone should so he did. We get a new quilt every year for Christmas and will cherish them for years!

So what have you done to your home to help make it seem nicer, larger, and/or more presentable? Is it as simple as making a bed like I've done or have you done more complex things? Do tell! I'd love to know! Maybe it will give me some other ideas I can use to improve our home!

Totally New Thursday Week 7

Tis Thursday again which means I need to blog about a NEW item I've added to our Etsy shop this week in order to continue keeping up with one of my New Year's resolutions for 2013: to add a NEW item every Thursday and then blog about here for you to read.

This week, the NEW item I added is not a NEW idea but is a NEW color never added before in this size option. The item I added this week is a large crocheted nylon netting dish scrubbie in the color of light blue. I'm fond of it but of course MY favorite color is blue! What's yours? Maybe I can make one and list YOUR favorite color one day!

He Didn't Do It

So anyone who has children or been around children can probably relate to this blog post. Nearly every child at some point will probably fib at least a little about something they've done that they shouldn't have done.

Our daughter didn't really bring attention to the things she shouldn't have been doing. We usually just found what she had done and then there wasn't too much denying it.

Our son on the other hand is completely opposite. If he is doing something he isn't suppose to be doing and you get to close to where he is at, once he hears you coming, he comes running and tells you, "Nothing."

Ummm....that's a dead giveaway he was up to something he shouldn't have been don't ya think?

As soon as you ask him what he was doing and confront him about it, he usually confesses pretty quick, unlike the little boy in this video:

http://www.break.com/index/kid-sticks-to-his-lie-like-a-sprinkle-to-a-face-2415410

After you watch the video, come back to let me know your verdict! Is he innocent or guilty?

Totally New Thursday Week 6

Better late than not at all with my totally new Thursday item! I'll be honest! I've been busy today and this evening so I nearly forgot to keep my New Year's resolution of adding a NEW item to our Etsy shop each Thursday and then blogging about it. Shame on me but.....here it is:

Introducing body scrubbies! These are similar to our cotton yarn and nylon netting dish scrubbies we sell only these are for your bodies, not your dishes!

The body scrubbies are also cuter as you can tell by the pictures. Our dish scrubbies are just plain ol' circles while our body scrubbies have that cute lil' shell stitch crocheted around the edge giving them that pretty flower look!

Another difference between the dish scrubbies and the body scrubbies is that while both have cotton yarn, the dish scrubbies have nylon netting but the body scrubbies have tulle. The tulle isn't quite as scratchy as the nylon netting so it is a bit more gentle on the skin than nylon netting would be but yet the tulle still has some scratchiness to it making it good for exfoliating when washing in the shower.

One of my friends was my tester for this product when I first made it and she LOVES hers. I have one too and I like it! While my friend finds them to be just the right size, I myself think it could be a bit bigger so I might end up making them in a larger size as well when I get the chance.

And that my dear blog readers is your totally NEW Thursday item for this week! There are many other colors to hopefully be listed soon too in case you aren't fond of the lemon lime colored ones!

My Nineteenth Featured Etsian

If you've been following my blog and reading my posts this year then you know that I have made two New Year's resolutions for 2013. One of them is to shop on the first Friday of each month this year from a fellow Etsy shop and then once my purchase arrives I blog about it.

Well, the first Friday of February came and I shopped. What fun that is to do! Once again, like in January, I am very pleased with the shop I chose! I made my purchase on Friday and already had my items in my hands the following Monday!

The spot light for this blog post is shining upon an Etsy shop I'm glad I came across! My nineteenth featured Etsian here on my blog is Sandi from Prettybowtique. Her Etsy shop can be found here.

In her shop you'll find an array of beautiful handmade hair bows, hair clips, and other fine hair accessories. Sandi takes a great deal of pride in her work and strives for 100% customer satisfaction. All of her products are handmade by her, in a smoke free home. 

Well, she has my 100% satisfaction. As you can see in the pictures, I purchased quite a few sets of sealed bottlecaps from Sandi. All of them are super cute and I can't wait to do something with them. I think I am going to turn them into magnets.

Go on over and visit Sandi at Prettybowtique to see if there is anything you just HAVE to have! I'm sure she'll let you buy it! Be sure to come back and let me know if you purchase anything!