I love my coffee..... containers

It may sound a little odd, but I love my coffee containers. My DMIL (dear mother-in-law) got me hooked on Folgers coffee. They have been drinking it for years. I was looking for a less expensive brand and she suggested their kind. She told me too that she cleans and saves all the containers as they're good quality plastic. My DFIL (dear father-in-law) uses them in the garage to hold nuts and bolts, miscellaneous little pieces of metal. And what's nice is they're all the same size. He writes right on it with a Sharpie. And they've got handles too.

Well, I have followed suit and use the coffee containers for everything! They are great for so many things. In the summer time, I put all the sunscreen and bug stuff in one to have by the back door. When the kids get sick, I fill one with their medicines on the kitchen counter. I use one under the sink to hold all my dish washing paraphernalia. My kids have two filled with dinky cars and miniature animals. The list of possibilities goes on and on....

Do you have any genius reusing ideas? Please share!

Domestic Diva: Your Best Friend for the Holidays

The Christmas season is a busy time for everyone: extra shopping, present wrapping, house decorating, parties, get-togethers, big family meals. The list seems to go on and on. How can you survive all the extra work? Make a new best friend - your crock pot.

No one wants to start cooking after a long day of shopping or after getting tangled up in ribbons and bows. So let your crock pot cook supper for you. It takes a bit of planning and preparation, sometimes the night before or first thing in the morning, but it will be wonderful to come home to a finished meal.

Roast Beef in the Crock Pot

1. Peel and cut up 4 potatoes and 3 carrots and place in the bottom of your crock pot along with 1 onion.

2. Place 2-3 pound beef roast on top of vegetables.

3. Combine 3/4 cup water, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp instant beef bouillon (1 pouch), 1 tsp dried basil (crushed) and 1/2 tsp salt. Pour over roast.

4. Cover and cook on Low for 8-9 hours.

Thanks to all the WoMin women who have joined me here on my blog. Some of the articles will repeat but I also do lots of new stuff. :)

October Basement Project: Surprise finish

Well, the Basement organization is finished. I know, surprise!!! Here's what happened....

Saturday morning, just before my friend and her kids arrived, hubby informs me that he's starting on the basement this weekend. WHAT?!?!? I just told him I needed a little more time since I lost a week with the kids being sicked. Sheesh! So Saturday after lunch, my daughter and I headed to the basement to do a quick finish while my son was napping. Unfortunately I wasn't able to sort everything like I wanted. I had some boxes of papers that I really wanted to go through. I started stacking the like-piles (I had already sorted stuff into piles of like things) with the rest of the already sorted stuff, while my daughter sorted through the kids stuff. She was able to get things piled up together so we could box like things together. I'm glad I was able to finish the piling so that I at least know where stuff is down there and things I don't think I'll need soon are piled at the back. Will have more sorting to do once hubby gets some shelves put in but that's okay. I know I did awesome! I've posted some pictures here so you can see how far I got. Now hubby has some walls to build.... ;) 

Last of the pile - unsorted stuff

All the stored stuff, mostly sorted, definitely organized

Cleared off for hubby to work....

Stuff I was able to throw out. :)

The Last Birthday...

My son has the last of our run of birthdays. Sometimes I wish it wasn't so close to Halloween. We still celebrate his birthday as it's own event, just don't need more sweets around the house. ;) Here's a picture of my now 2 year-old and the cake I made him. He is in love with Disney's Cars even though he hasn't seen either movie. Every time a commercial comes on, he stops everything to watch it. Ah, my little gear-head....