Ideas on how to clean and organize the home

Canvas Grocery Totes

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Last year I decided to cease from using plastic bags at the grocery store. I don’t know what came over me. I just decided that it was pointless and that I hated bringing those bags home every week when I can just get some canvas ones.

My family and I have also started recycling last year. We use a lot of plastic water bottles and I saw a commercial last year of a huge whale being cut open (after it died) and nothing but plastic bottles fell out of him! I felt horrible! I know I can’t save the world but I am hoping that with us recycling I can at least save one whale. Right?

And honestly, I feel good going to the recycling bins and dropping off our bags of bottles, paper, and cans. I feel like we are doing our part to save the world. Is it elegant to recycle? I hope so! But anyway, I wanted to share the lovely canvas totes that I found at T.J. Maxx. 






These were $5.99 each! Great price right? I purchased 3 and I am sorry but I could not find these online. All I found were these on their website. 
They are a great size and I love the illustrations on them!
I had to put them to the test and they passed! I loved having them in the store with me. I think I am hooked on using canvas totes for grocery shopping. 
If you use canvas totes for your grocery shopping let me know in the comments section below. I am very curious. 
Thanks for reading!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)


An Affordable Day Designer

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Last year in June, I shared my new day designer here in the blog and I have been using it religiously every day since.

I love my planner and it does keep me in order. I write everything in it and check it daily. It comes with me to the office just in case something comes up and I need to write it down. Love my planner! But since the year is beginning to wind down on it I went to the website to see about ordering a new one. Then I remember how expensive it was. The original price is $59 and that does not include shipping. It can be pretty pricey.

So I began my internet search trying to figure out if there was another one out there that was comparable but there wasn’t.  I love my day designer and wanted that one. But as fate would have it guess where I found the day designer much cheaper?

Target…. that’s right Target is carrying the day designer! Now it is not as big as the original two that I have but it has everything you need to plan your life. So this past weekend I took a trip to see if my local location had it and they did!

This is the 7×9 planner in floral blush. It has the gold cover ends on it too. A favorite and chic feature that I love. 

And here it is in the floral navy matte. I purchased this one because I already have it on the first print. Can you believe it is only $14.99? My heart just sang when I saw it. 
Very pretty on the inside. 
They also have it in the notebook style if you prefer that. 
Then I looked up and a smaller 5×8 version was available as well. It’s small enough to fit inside a purse. 
And last but certainly not least they had a wall version or desk top version available. The price for this was only $9.99. Outstanding right? 
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to find my favorite planner at Target. The price is just too wonderful to pass up. There are more designs on the website if you are interested. These would also be great birthday presents as well or maybe gifts for future college students. If you have a local Target go and take a peek at them. They are very beautiful!
Enjoy!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)
  

Soft Face Cloths

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It’s amazing… some of the things I had to learn on my own when becoming a woman. My mother was not into beauty products when I was growing up so a lot of what I have learned has been from reading, asking questions, trial and error.

One of those things has been face cloths. When I was growing up we used the same cloth on our face as our bodies. Not a big deal back then but when you are a teenage girl and you realize where that cloth has been….. you don’t really want to put that on your face.

I remember the day I realize this. I had just finished my bath and was about to start washing my face and I picked up that cloth and I was about to wipe my face with it and I said, ohhhh no this is a bad idea. I need to get some separate cloths for my face. I think I might have been in middle school. So I went to the store the next day and purchased some soft cloths for my face. So happy I started doing that.

I just had to replace some of my face cloths. I purchased these last week from T.J. Maxx and they are so soft. The price was excellent too!
Love all the colors and the elephants. Very different!
And look at that fabulous price! Only $2.99 for a soft great face cloth. 
I love using my soft cloths on my face and I actually love shopping for them. With the prices being so good it’s hard not to buy a few. I am sure that many of you have face cloths. If so what’s your favorite brand? Do any of yours have special features? Let me know in the comments section below. 
Have a great week!
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Washing my Jewelry

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Along with house purging, flower refreshing and cleaning I have also been organizing my clothing and jewelry. I always try to keep my jewelry nice and clean. I love it when they sparkle but then again what woman doesn’t. 

I pulled a few pieces out to wash last week. 
Honestly, the only thing I do is fill my bathroom sink up with soapy water and let my jewelry sit for a few minutes. You can use dish liquid soap if you want. All of the oils, dirt and hair come right out. 
Love it when everything is sparkly!
I place everything in the soapy water. My earrings….

Pins and brooches….

I rinse everything and just let it dry. 

I then just place everything back in my jewelry box and it’s all ready to wear for the up coming weeks. Keeping your jewelry clean and up to date is just another way of making sure that you are organized and “pulled together” as a woman. 
Take care of your beautiful things. Enjoy your weekend! 
(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

A Flower Refresh…

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Let the purging season continue. I have been getting rid of so many things in my home. It’s amazing how much crap your house can hold. Honestly…. I have been going through all of the nooks and crannies of our home. Getting rid of things that we have not used since we moved into this home almost 6 years ago!

Next on my list is home decor. It’s funny it seems like every couple of years my taste in home decor changes slightly. One item that has been changing has been my taste in faux flowers. I love them don’t get me wrong but I have been desiring more simple arrangements. So I walked through our home and picked out certain arrangements that needed a “flower refresh”.


This “flower refresh” was inspired by this bouquet that I found at T.J.Maxx. I thought it was so life-like and beautiful. 


I put the bouquet in one of my blue and white vases. Looked beautiful….

So I went back and got another one….

And began looking around more….


Faux flowers have come a long way.


I especially loved this arrangement. I was thinking about purchasing this one to replace the one I have next to my tub in the bathroom. 


But then I spotted this one and loved the vase that it was in. Plus it was only $14.99 and the one above was $39.99!

I decided to start with the arrangement in my office. I took a look at it recently and I thought, “oh my goodness, this is starting to look like a creature.” 


It needed to be “refreshed”. The flowers were starting to look dark and I have had them for over 6 years. Time for a change. 

So I put the “creature” in the bag for donations and decided to keep the arrangement simple. 


Better much better….

But then I thought of the other arrangement that I just made and put it there instead. Now I don’t know which one I want. They both look nice. 

This was the arrangement in my bathroom sitting on my tub. See how the faux water looks yellow? Eewww, time to change that!


Better….


Much better….


I also change and threw away all of the old faux flowers in my office and purchased new ones. 


Looks wonderful….


I have enjoyed this “flower refresh” for my home. The next project is finding better ways to organize and utilize my laundry room. I have some ideas so we will see. 


I had to share this photo. This was from last week in my home. I could not believe that these were carnations. I picked them up at the grocery store. Stunning! I will now be looking into this flower more. 




Thanks for reading!
(all photos Mrs. Shockley)

The New Inslee Calendars

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Earlier this year I wrote a post about my first Inslee calendar that I had purchased. I was so excited to receive it and I have loved using it. Well I was on Instagram and spotted her new calendars for 2019! It is going to be hard to make a decision!

This is her 2019 Classic Desktop calendar and these are beautiful!

But honestly, I am leaning more toward her 2019 Botanical Desktop collection.
Just look at these beautiful illustrations! This lily of the valley (at least that is what I think it is) is gorgeous!

These are carnations! Stunning right?

All of these are so beautifully done. I just admire her artwork so much. I am hoping to commission her in the near future for a painting of my own. They are quite expensive but having something like this done is something that you can keep forever and cannot be mimicked. 
I hope to be making a purchase soon…..


(photos via Inslee.net)

Organizing My Monthly Expenses

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I have been discussing routines and trying to stay organized here on the blog for some time now. I just realized that there is one thing that I have not shared and that is how I organize my monthly expenses.

Expenses 
11/3/18
Mortgage

Car

Light Bill



Car Insurance 

Water Bill



Home Depot Card 



Groceries 
Parking





Church 



Savings



Total:

This is an example of what I use to organize our monthly expenses. I just use a basic table on Microsoft Word and type in the amounts. I do this every week. I like to know what’s going out and what’s coming in.

I remember hearing this phrase in church, “know the state of your flock”, and I knew immediately what that meant. Shepherds always knew how many sheep they had and what state they were in. So we as individuals need to be aware of our flock. 

photo credit Tuft and Trim.com
I still receive paper bills. I have not moved our bills to email or receiving them electronically yet. It is very easy for me to delete an email and I am so afraid that I would delete a bill. I am also not comfortable with automatic withdrawals from our account. 
I still like to have some control over our accounts and I like to be able to pay our bills from our account. I don’t like the idea of a company withdrawing money without me seeing it. So if that is something that you do and are okay with it then good for you. I am not quite there yet. Sorry….
When our mail comes in I open it and then place new bills in my bill organizer on my desk at home and it looks very similar to the one above. 
Wednesday is “bill” day. I then plug in all the bills that are due for the next coming week, add them up and then log in the dates on my calendar on my cell phone. I set up reminders to get notifications of when a bill is due and that is it. 

photo credit Anthropologie 

After the bill is paid I do print off the email and place it in that bill’s folder in my drawer. Sorry I know that sounds like a lot of work but I guess it is the paralegal quality in me. At the beginning of each year, I do go in and throw away the previous year of bills.

But I can tell you how much we spend on our bills, I know about all of the expenses in our home. I know the “state of our flock”. Everyone has a different way of organizing their monthly expenses. Do what works for you and your home. I just wanted to share how I organize ours. I do hope that you may have found something useful out of my super long process. Being organized is a quality that a lot of people admire and it is another way of being elegant.

Enjoy your day!

(photos via Pinterest)