Library Full of Books

I have been yearning to have a library my entire life and when we bought our new house I knew that this Sitting Room off of our bedroom would do the trick.

Before Photo

Before Photo

Before Photo

My husband and I borrowed my In-laws mini-van over the weekend and headed to our "local" Ikea (actually 1 1/2 hours away) in search of Expedit storage systems.  After writing down all of the locations of the various units we wanted, we headed down to the warehouse and began loading up our cart full of very heavy boxes.  Then disaster struck.  Ikea was completely out of the 5x5 Expedit system in white.  I had my heart set on the white for our library and after a few tears (pregnancy hormones for sure) I decided that the birch option would work just fine.  I think that it was just a shock to my pregnant self that they didn't have what I wanted and I just needed to sit on the idea of something different and let it sink in for a few minutes before really making up my mind.  By thoughtful (and rational) husband even offered to drive up again to by the white unit when it is back in stock, but, tearful as I was, I realized that was a silly thing to make him do.  The birch unit went right on our cart and away we went.

Alphabetizing like crazy!

It's a tree house, not a fort!

We put the unit together the next day while our son napped and were pleased that it didn't really take that long.  Next came the fun part for me.  We pulled all of my many boxes of books out of storage and I began alphabetizing them.

Logan liked making a "tree house" out of the newly emptied boxes.  I have no idea why he insisted it was a tree house and not a fort.  Look below for the finished room...

I'm really happy with the final result.  I can already tell that I need to evaluate the size of my book collection as there is no room for growth at this point, but I'll worry about that later!  We stacked two units for a higher bookcase and anchored the unit to the wall for safety.  Logan has already added a few of his books to the library which I think is super adorable.

Holiday Storage

via Real Simple

It's time to start putting away your holiday decor and Real Simple has a number of article on their website here that gives you ideas and hints on holiday storage solutions.

My tips:

• Store individual strands of lights in plastic grocery bags.  This minimizes the tangles to one strand only.  Some how winding the strand around a tube doesn't really work for me.  But, this trick never fails.
• Set aside and label a strand that is incomplete to be used for replacement bulbs for next years strands.
• Buy needed holiday items NOW while the sales are happening and store as you put away this years decorations.  You can't beat a bag of 100 bows for 10 cents.  I just bought a new table cloth and set of 8 napkins for $10 that can be used year round.

Get Cooking Week

My Christmas 2007 Mantle

Get Cooking Week
November 22-28

• Address Christmas cards
• Stamp and put together Christmas cards
• Write notes to any "special" family members for cards
• Start prepping for cookie baking and put together shopping list
• Find any cookie recipes to try
• Determine gifts for people
• Buy baking goods for cookie making

Gift Wrapping

via Real Simple December 2009 Issue

Real Simple Magazine has a lot of great gift wrapping ideas in the December 2009 issue.  I especially like the giant button idea.  You can view the options online here.

I, frequently, utilize twine, ornaments, and bells to decorate my packages and set them apart.  I collect many of the items after Christmas and save them for gift wrapping season for the next year.  It's amazing how cheap you can buy ribbon and bows after Christmas.  Target slashes prices to 90% off by the second or third week of January.  Then, when I open up my stash, it's a surprise all over again to look at the great items that I got for a steal  the year before.

Giving Week & Holiday Music

 I just found the AccuHolidays website yesterday and they have great options for listening to Christmas music online.  They have a number of stations to choose from or you can create your own list of artists that you can listen to.  Click the photo to go to their website.

The Holiday Lite is a tried and true Chicago station that plays a mix of new and old Christmas music.  Click the photo above to go to their website and listen to the live radio feed.

Here's my To Do List this week:
Giving Week
Nov 15- 21

• Put Christmas cards together
• Do a quick declutter of home
• Verify gifts purchased up to this point
• Schedule boarding for animals for Christmas
• Begin making gifts
• Begin making decorations
• Purchase needed Holiday Clothing
• Purchase any needed items for gift crafts
•  Purchase any needed items for decorating crafts

Get Organized Week

I create a binder every year for my organizational Christmas items.  The calendar above is one I created using a Microsoft Office template found here.  I tweaked it a little bit and put it at the front of my binder so that I can scribble things to remember on it.  You can see that I have noted days to do some baking.  If I don't put them on the calendar I will easily forget them.


I, also, have a weekly "To Do" list and that list starts this week.  I will be posting my list every Tuesday, but the idea is to actually get most things done before December so that I can relax during the holidays.  This list really helped me out as I was on Maternity Leave last year.  It was hard to focus on anything except my little boy, but this list helped me stay a little grounded.


Get Organized Week
November 4-10
  

• Update Christmas planner
• Update Christmas calendar
• Update Christmas card addresses and locate missing addresses
• Finish up needed home improvements
• Christmas photo for cards
• Buy postage stamps

Family Chore Chart

via ModEco Kids

Through my morning blog wanderings I came across this Chore Chart located on a blog called ModEco Kids.  I think it's a great time to start thinking about how you will get those extra chores done for the holidays.  I like to make lists and check things off (just like Santa!) and this chart can get the whole family involved.  You can download it and customize it for free, simply click here and you can start teaching your family the joys of cleaning?!