Etsy Coupon For My Followers!

I have just a few things to share with you tonight.

First, I wanted to thank all of you who follow me, whether it’s through my blog, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, whatever~if you read my rambles, then THANK YOU! For the entire month of April, any purchases made from my Etsy shop, will receive 25% off by entering this coupon code upon checkout.

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These little wheels are still available!

Need some retro kitchen canisters?

How about a cool concrete sign?

You may have noticed the absence of my KISS party this last weekend. The main reason being I was extremely busy and have not been at my computer a whole lot this last week. Another is, that after setting it up for a few weeks, I’ve decided to put it on hold for now. It was a lot of work, and definitely gave me a new appreciation for those awesome bloggers that host parties every week. Thank you to those that continually do so! It was very time consuming, even with just a few link ups, and I’m trying to simplify, so it has to go for now.

I also want to let everyone know that I’m going to join the ranks of “Award Free Blogs”. I am honored when someone wants to pass one of these on to me, but they do take a lot of time to continue the flow of. In the spirit of simplifying, I’m going to take a pass on these.

I think that covers it. I do have some great photos to share with you of what I’ve been up to and I will post those soon!

Well, what are you still doing here? Go do some shopping! And don’t forget your coupon code!!

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That’s it!! So what are you waiting for? Go shopping, already!

Keep It Simple Saturdays #1, a Tip and a Giveaway!

Welcome to my first ever linky party!

Keep It Simple Saturdays, KISS for short, came to fruition after I chose simplify for my word of the year. Since I had declared to blog land that I was going to simplify, I wanted to have a weekly spot where I could share how I’m implementing that in my life, and allow others a platform to showcase any tips, tricks or ideas they have for simplifying.

This week I wanted to share an easy peasy way to clean drains. Maybe you know this, maybe you don’t. But if you don’t, prepare to be amazed….

Yep, baking soda and vinegar. The same stuff I had my boys use to erupt their volcano. It doesn’t matter what brand you choose. Since I’m cheap, I just buy the off-brand.

First, remove the stopper from the drain and clean out any hair, grime, buildup and yuk from it. Then pour baking soda down it, followed by the vinegar. It will “erupt”, breaking up the gunk. Run hot water down the drain, and repeat the process until there’s no more crud backing up and water runs down the drain easily.

I unstopped my guest bathroom sink and my bathtub last week by doing this. I was going to post pictures, but I didn’t want to gross anyone out!

How does this simplify my life? I didn’t have to run to the store and purchase an expensive, chemical laden, caustic drain cleaner. I saved gas, money and time by using something I had on hand. Plus, it’s a safer and more natural alternative to use. And I could unclog the drain myself, instead of being frustrated with the backups because I needed to wait to have my husband take care of it. It simplified his life because he’s a busy guy and I hate to add small stuff to his list if I can solve it. There you have it.

And now it’s your turn!

Here’s the KISS party rules:

• Share your simple craft ideas, recipes, home decorating tips, organizing solutions, thrifty finds, finance tips, or any changes you’ve decided to make that will simplify your life. If it will simplify something…share it!
• Please follow my blog, either via Google Friends or Linky Followers before linking up. Also, feel free to like my Facebook page.
• Be sure to link back to your original post and not just your url (main blog address).
• Please grab the KISS button from my sidebar and post it somewhere on your blog.
• Include a visible link to the KISS party or my main blog address in or at the bottom of the post you’re linking up so others can find the party, too! Any post not linked back will be deleted.
• Visit another guest. Scroll through the other links and find a couple that interest you. Visit them and leave a comment letting them know how you found them. We all like comments!
• Please, please, please turn off word verification on comments!
• I will visit each link and highlight a few at the following week’s party.
• The party will run from sometime on Fridays until midnight on Sunday nights.

By linking up to this party, you understand and agree that I may use your images on my blog, Facebook page or Pinterest board.

But wait, before you link up, there’s also a giveaway! What am I giving away??? This barbed wire wreath, which is both rusty and redone.

The rules for the giveaway are simple.

1. Become a follower of my blog, either through Google Friends or Linky Followers and leave me a comment that you did so. Be sure to leave an email address where I can contact you. That’s it!

If you want to enter more than once, here are optional ways to earn three more entries:

1. Like my Facebook page and comment that you did.
2. Blog about the giveaway or share on Facebook and comment that you did.
3. Grab the giveaway button and link back to the giveaway page and comment that you did.

I will pick a winner randomly sometime on Monday, March 12 and email that person.

And don’t forget~next Friday, the 16th, there will be two, count ‘em, two parties to join up with!

How Many Plates Are You Spinning?

If you are anything like me, meaning of the female gender, then you probably have several plates spinning at once. The majority of us are queens of multi-tasking. As a matter of fact, as I type this I am also attempting to cook our Saturday night pancakes. And probably burning them in the process.

I tend to overwhelm myself with projects and to-do lists. I want to get things done and have them done correctly, now. Thank you very much.

Along with normal mom and wife duties, I also homeschool, so I have teacher duties; planning, correcting, helping, etc. My husband runs his own business, and I am the bookkeeper. I have my Etsy shop, which is actually a lot of work, if you want it to work. Buying, photographing, researching, pricing, shipping, networking; you get the picture. Blogging. Working on the fundraiser items. Working on my shop projects. Working on house projects. Yep, just checked those pancakes. I burned one. Hosting small group on Wednesday nights at our home. Attempting to organize, decorate….blah, blah, blah.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about these things. I have chosen all of them and I enjoy each and every one of them.  But I’m discovering that in order to not get scattered, I need to put some limits on myself. To not start fifty projects at once and then get frustrated because I can’t complete any of  them. So, part of implementing my word of the year~simplify~is just that….setting limits.

This really doesn’t affect anyone but me. I just feel if I put it into writing, then I might actually feel more accountable!

I’ve decided that I will not blog on Sundays. That is the Lord’s day and I will spend it with my family and friends and do my best to stay. off. the. computer. Wish me luck on that one.

I need to have all the Spring Fling Bazaar items ready by March 31st. So I’ve determined that is what I will focus on this month. I will not work on bazaar projects on the weekends, either. Strictly during the week. I’ll save Saturdays for my (small) household and yard projects.

After I get through with the Bazaar projects, I will be working crazily focusing on getting things ready for my next in-home sale, which is scheduled for the first Saturday in May!

Focus, focus, focus. One thing at a time.

So, until these two events have come and gone, I promise I will hold off on tearing up anymore of my home. Ha ha! That means when summer hits, I can focus full force on tackling more (big) home projects. With the exception of Connor’s room. It just needs a few final touches and then I’ll share pictures.

That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it.

Keep your eye out for my KISS Linky party button. I’ll have it up on my sidebar this week.

Simplifying-The Word

Ok-so I chose a word of the year. Now what am I going to do with it?

Well, if you had been in my backseat today, you would have thought I’d chucked it out the window.

My day was a whirlwind of activities that included an estate sale, a garage sale, a thrift store stop, health food store for a gluten-free snack, a stop at the drivers’ license office for my daughter to take her permit test-only we arrived right before lunch and testing couldn’t start again until 1:00, so we had to go back, grocery shopping at HEB, home to put away groceries and let the dog out, back to the DL office (where my daughter passed her exam and is now a permitted 15 year old driver-yikes), a stop to check out the building my husband is working on, the Dollar Tree, Goodwill and Super Wal-Mart. Then, on  my way home, a call from the Spring Fling event coordinator who wanted to know if I was still going to come out and pick up the remaining stuff from her shed. Yep, you bet. Then home and start dinner at something like 6:00. Whew.

That was my word.

But in the midst of it all, I made a decision to work on something (thank goodness for I-Phones). I used my waiting time to start going through my emails and unsubscribing from those that I really don’t need to receive. Ones I regularly delete without reading. Promotional ones, newsletters, ads, etc. It feels good to know that maybe tomorrow I’ll have a few less to weed through to get to the good ones that really matter. I plan on doing this daily, until I’ve gotten it all cleaned up.

I’m going to try to come up with something new each week that I can implement that will  help me simplify.

I also was able to take some of my personal donations out of the house to the bazaar storage place. One more box gone!

What are you doing with your word of the year? Please share-I’d love to hear what steps you’ve taken.

What’s the Word?

I’ve recently noticed little post snippets proclaiming “word of the year” popping up on my sidebar from some of the blogs I follow. So, I decided to investigate to find out what this was all about.

My snooping sleuthing led me to The Lettered Cottage and their Word of the Year Link Party. Well, who doesn’t love a party-and lucky for me,  it’s not the invitation only kind!

Without further ado, my word of choice.

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Yep. Nothing new here.

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I’ve always preferred simple over extravagant.

Peace over drama.

Minimal over clutter

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Crossed off to-do lists over stacks of unfinished projects.

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Time well-spent with my family over running ragged.

Relaxing with a book over time wasted in a frenzy of activity.

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So, for 2012, I am choosing to simplify. Even more.

I’m focusing on clearing out and revamping. I’ve never been a packrat or an accumulator. I prefer to get rid of something if I’m not using it. But, this year, as I’m going through and redecorating and reworking some things around the house, I plan on reevaluating everything. I got a head start last year with my daughter’s room. Her possessions now are ones that she loves and are things that are useful. I’m currently working on my son’s room .

I plan on keeping our schooling simple. The homeschool convention season will be upon us in a few months. I love attending~but I’m going to stick with my plan and the resources we’ve chosen and not overbuy any extras. (Inserting smiley face!)

Simplifying our meals. Planning our menu. Getting back into a regular shopping routine will make this so much easier. Basic meals, not long drawn out culinary efforts.

Since I’ve started my Etsy shop and my blog, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time on the computer. Now that I have both my blog and my shop configured in a way that I’m pleased with, I will pull back from computer time. I can schedule them both better into my day, and not let them overtake every minute. So that I can enjoy more fun time daily with the kids and quiet evening time with my husband.

Spending more time in the Word on my own and with my family. Enjoying the outdoors. Taking walks. Taking time to breath a little. Taking naps. Exploring this little town some more.

All things that to me evoke simplifying.

There it is~my word of the year.

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Hop on over and join the party….No invitation required.