Quicked Cool Idea: Double Rearview

QUICKED COOL!!

Continuing with the theme of "travel" since many of us may spend a few hours in the car this holiday season... Quicked Cool Idea #2 is the Safety First "View of Two" Mirror.

I love this Mommy Tool, because I have major motion sickness issues, and one wrong turn while driving will make me sick for hours. So this straps onto your visor and in one quick glance I can see both babes. Awe! ANother bonus is that when one (or both) are screaming "MOOMMMMMMYYY" while I am driving, I can quickly look back to be make sure there is no emergency. (which of course, all of us moms know, there is usually not ;)

Sweet Sleeping Babes

One thing- it does hang down a bit so I probably wouldn't recommend it for those who are tall. (My husband moves it when he drives my car) 

But, if you are a mom with more than one kiddo to look back at- this is a safe and easy way to do it. In my opinion, a QUICKED COOL IDEA!

Cozy Coozie

So, you may have noticed my completed look above. (love to Meredith at With a Side of Insulin, who cropped my pic since I don't have Photoshop :)
I absolutely LOVE my new coozie made by an UBER talented friend from high school, Melissa Payne. This super cozy "coozie" was designed by Melissa- I just requested the colors I was looking for. I love that once it is wrapped around my morning coffee each day, its the perfect definition of "Quicked Cozy" The coffee is my instant gratification and the coozie gets me feeling warm and cozy.

Plus, its super portable! Once you are finished you can toss it in your purse, or stick it in your coat pocket for tomorrow! I use it to stop my cold drinks from sweating and like I said it just gives me the warm fuzzies every time I use it!!

You can see all of Melissa's awesome designs at Chiisana Hana (means Little Flower) 

She also makes the most fabulous hats for the kiddos... 
here are some fun ones!

These are the kiddos of a friend and fellow blogger Carrie Early at Confessions of a Full-Time Mom (yet another Assumption shout-out!). Carrie is constantly cracking me up on her blog and is super crafty too. :) She made these costumes for her kiddos and the added the AWESOME hat by 

Melissa at Chiisana Hana.

Here are some more great hats from Melissa at Chiisana Hana.

The Octopus is one of my favorites! She is so creative- nothing like homemade for Christmas gifts!! 

Well I wanted to thank Melissa one more time for helping me to create the perfect definition of Quicked  Cozy. I love it!!

I better get shopping! :) Join me at  Chiisana Hana.

See you soon!

Armoire Amore

My first project when moving into the new house was to find an armoire that I could fix up. One of the only things I wish i could change at our new place is the size of the master bedroom closet. I had been spoiled being in newer homes the last two moves and had LARGE master closets. This one was going to force me to rearrange! So, I figured the bedroom was large enough to hold a nice armoire that would give me more storage. So off to Craigslist I went!
After a week or so of searching I found this armoire for $100, and negotiated the price to $80.

Nothing fancy, right? My main goal when looking for things on Craigslist are:

1. Is it solid wood? THIS is why I love old furniture. Everything seems to be made of particle board 

these days and solid wood is so much better!!

2. A classic design. I prefer straight edges and things that will look modern once painted. 

3. Function! Make sure all the drawers and doors work properly! Don't commit to buying anything until you see, touch and feel. Sometime people will tell you something is solid wood or functional when its not! I love Craigslist but you can't trust everyone. It's basically an online yard sale... So check it out before buying!

Ok, moving on. I used a flat white paint I had in the garage and just started painting. Let me remind you- I'm impatient, so I don't sand. So far, if you use the right paint- it works out fine! Here is it after the first 2 coats:

Moving along, I decided it needed a little something extra. I had some Uppercase Living birch trees that I had purchased for our last house (house #3) and never used. If you aren't familiar, Uppercase Living is high quality vinyl decor that once it adheres looks like paint. Basically, it's not the cheaper stickers you can get at retail store. Check out the link above if interested. There are pre-made and custom options.
Here is just one tree....

And here are the rest:

Project goal: More clothes storage space in the master bedroom.

Project in short:

Armoire $80

Vinyl Uppercase Living Birch Trees: $40

Total: $120

Pretty pleased! Let me know what you think!

Quicked Cool Idea: Tupperware for cereal turns LIFESAVER

QUICKED COOL!!
This is something I found on Pinterest - it was listed in one of those long lists of organization tip from Good Housekeeping.  The perfect idea for a garbage can in your car.. a plastic cereal container!!  I implemented this a few months ago and it works seamlessly in the "Momma Van." Do it today- you will be glad you did!

Here is mine (Red top) tucked neatly between the the two seats. :)

Creating my "Create Space"

Alrighty- I am only about a month late getting started, but here it is... QUICKED COZY!

As many of you know I recently moved into a new house, so I have been hard at work on MANY new QUICKED COZY projects. This house was is DIRE need of some coziness. Although I understand the philosophy behind painting your entire house "neutral" to help it sell; being surrounded by an off-white-cream color throughout my home makes me shiver. There was so much to be done. 

One of the first projects I wanted to complete was my very own "Create Space." I had not had the space for this in our previous house, and boy was I excited! Now, this is a work in progress and I am sure this space will morph over time, but it feels good to have gotten this far. THE GOAL: a organized, open space for mommy to create.
This is what I started with....

Outside of painting the walls gray (this will come in a future post) and buying a couple cabinets from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore (Love this place by the way), I basically threw everything I considered "crafty" or "office-y" in this space. Now, this next picture is not so much the WOW factor that I like, but I share it because it was just enough zen to get me started on this blog! I could not even focus when my create space was a disaster.

So here it is... 

 Like I said, not  a super-shocking before and after, but just enough to free my creativity a bit, and get me started. I basically used every plastic organizer with drawers I already had, and made sure everything had its place: scrapbooking, painting, pictures, cards, office supplies, etc. Then after realizing that I would constantly need paper towels, it dawned on me to try and find an old paper towel holder and some spice racks and "spice" them up! After searching Craigslist and finding exactly what I was looking for - for a whopping $8- I added the spice with my favorite Rustoleum spray paints - I had some fun color to add to the walls. (they also coordinate perfectly with the decor in the rest of the basement, but we will get to that another day.
This shelving project serves many great purposes: 
- I can see what paint colors I have and what I may need
- I can access them easily
- It holds the paper towells
- It adds a pop of "color" to the walls
- BUT THE BONUS:  My little chillens can no longer reach them!- YIPPEE!

Finally, I needed something to proclaim that this was a "Create Space." So while my sweet hubby hung the shelves securely for me... Side Note: If I would have hung them, I would have done it the easiest, quickest way possible- hence this blog's name...(you will learn that I am not very patient) and they would have fallen the first time I grabbed a paper towell! 

I began scanning what I had that may complete the space. I noticed some little cork boards that I had gotten years ago in a package with some larger ones that I used for another project. There were just enough to spell what I needed. So, I started cutting out some scrapbook paper to state- CREATE. Finally,  I attached the letters to the cork with clear push pins and hammered a small nail right through each cork board. VIOLA! 

So project in short:

Spice racks: $8 on Craigslist

Spray Paint, 3 colors: approx. $12

Cork boards and letters: FREE 

Total: $20

Ability to clear my mind enough to start blogging... ah, priceless!! ;)

So excited to begin this journey - hope you will join me!!