Day #264: Spring Cleaning

It's that time of year again. Time to "spring clean". I tend to do a super deep clean and "de-junk" my house at every major change of season. With that being said, here are some spring cleaning tips:

One. De-clutter your wardrobe. I have tons of clothes. I like to go through them each change of season to get rid of the stuff I don't wear anymore, have never worn and don't plan on wearing, as well as stuff that is worn-out or doesn't fit. Donate your gently worn items, or sell them. I plan on doing a "shop my closet" post soon. So, if you wear a size 10 shoe and are a plus-size, then stay-tuned!
Two. Change your shower liner. Those things get disgusting. And I can't lie, I almost always forget to buy a new one and change it out! Also, send your shower curtain (if it's fabric) through the wash and hang outside to dry. It gives it a nice fresh smell.
Three. Clean one room at a time. This helps to avoid leaving unfinished jobs. I usually clean this way...otherwise my ADD kicks in and the cleaning remains half complete.
Four. Work from the top down. Clean the fans, then dust the tables and shelves, then vacuum. Makes sense right?
Five. Once your house is completely clean, make a cleaning schedule and try to stick to it! I am still trying to do this. It's not working so well yet! Here's the cleaning schedule I made:

Do you "spring clean"? Any tips you'd like to add??


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Day #87: Friday Letters & Craft Room Reveal

I see the Friday Letters blog posts all the time and I absolutely love them! I'm going to try it this week. 

Dear Husband, I'm sorry we argued while putting up the shelves. I'm PMS-y and not handy when it comes to DIY around the house. I love you. I will miss you while you are gone this weekend. Dear School, I am sick of you and will be happy when I graduate in December. Dear Joe Biden, you are annoying. Dear Detroit Tigers, please win tonight...you will make me very happy. Dear Mom, thank-you for not judging my financial situation and as always, being a life-saver and trying to help us. Dear Fall Weather, I like you but I am not liking this cold I am developing. Dear Self, quit spending money. You are much happier when you have money saved. STOP IT. Also, no more overtime. You need a "break". Dear Brother, Have a safe trip to Arizona!

Okay, I finally made my craft room look semi-decent. YAY! Here it was before:

Here it is now:

Office Closet

Craft Closet

New shelves! YES! They aren't 100% done, but you get the idea.

Detroit Tigers Tribute :)

Visit again tomorrow to see what I made with all the craft stuff I found out that I have!!

Until tomorrow,

Big, Beautiful & Broke... Chelsea

Day #76.2: My Messy Craft Room

A project that I have been wanting and needing to do for awhile is to clean my craft room. At the moment, it serves as the catch all of the house, where items that we need to be out of the way get shoved. Inspired by my friend, Kelley, at The Grant Life I am participating in an October Overhauling along with Pinkapotamus and While Wearing Heels.

The Rules:

The ONLY rule is no buying craft supplies from October 1st-October 31st. This should be easy since...I am not supposed be spending money! You can trade with other bloggers.

Week 1: Post pictures of your messy craft area!

Week 2: Clean your craft area so that it is organized and neat and tidy. Post pictures to share your progress!

Week 3: Make 1 project from your existing crafts.

Week 4: Share your experience, what you created, and how happy you are NOT to be embarrassed by your craft hoarding!

So, without further adieu...here is my messy craft room!

As you can see, it needs some work. I have an empty filing cabinet in the middle of the room which I inherited from my grandpa. There's a ton of folders that I can use, I just need to find the time to organize it. There's a jewelry armoire that I need to clean out and fill with the pieces I have made and am selling. There's just craft and junk EVERYWHERE.

This is my "craft" closet. I have my cross-stitching items, sewing, scrapbooking supplies and art supplies in this closet. It's a little rough and jam packed.

This is my "office" closet. I have all our files in here, manuals, homeowner information. Plus some random things I never unpacked when I moved in (3 years ago) and gift wrapping stuff. This closet is in worse shape than the craft closet.

Underneath all that crap is a very nice leather ottoman. Yep. 

This is my craft desk...Where I obviously have NO room to work. 

There you have it. My shamefully messy craft room. I'd like to say that it was an organized mess, however I can't find anything. Check back next week to see how I do organizing and cleaning!

Until tomorrow,

Big, Beautiful & Broke... Chelsea 

Day #74: Yard Work!

I am exhausted.

We spent all afternoon working in the yard. We had a tree in our front yard that was very overgrown. Every time the person who parked next to it got out of their car, he or she would get slapped multiple times in the face with leaves. Hubby hacked the low hanging branches off, then we bagged them since we are not allowed to burn anything in our neighborhood. We also cut the grass, weeded a little bit, winterized the air conditioner and cleaned up the driveway. There's still a lot of work to be done because we ignored it most of the summer. 

Not really "ignored" so much as the summer was filled with unexpected setbacks. 

The massacred tree.

Abbey, hanging out while we took a break.

My garden, which is terribly overgrown. This is a BEFORE picture...still deciding what to do with it.

Hubby, chillaxin' after cutting down some tree branches.

That is all for today folks! Before you leave, don't forget to enter this great giveaway! 

Entering is easy, just follow the instructions on the rafflecopter below.  [If you have any questions let me know.. I dont want you to miss out on this one!]  And if you have an amazing post you'd like to share.. well link that up too!  Good luck to everyone!

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Until tomorrow,

Big, beautiful & broke... Chelsea

PS I almost forgot. Guess who is 2 games ahead with 4 left? Yep, the Tigers!

Day 48.2: Dining Room Make-Over

I inherited some items from my grandpa and grandma's house during the cleaning out process. This inspired me to clean and rearrange my living room a bit. Nothing drastic, but I love it so far.

Here it is before:

It's a bit messy. Anyways, Wine rack was moved to a different wall.

The dog crate was moved into a different room and the bakers rack was sold.

Then this is after:

Cleaned up a bit, added our buffet table and a china cabinet. Sorry for the picture quality.

Close up of the china cabinet. 

Pretty dining room! Now I just need a new chandelier. Hmm...

I am quite pleased with it! Hope everyone had a safe holiday weekend!

Before you go, link up!

Until tomorrow, 

Big, Beautiful & Broke... Chelsea

Day #27: Cleaning Calendars/Newsroom

Here I go, late again! Gah! I actually had a day off today (YAY!) and it was fairly productive I must say. I cleaned the living room, kitchen and dining room...sort of. I cleaned some junk out of the dining room to make room for the buffet table and china cabinet. Before and after photos to follow soon (hopefully!). I also went to my grandpa's house and helped my parents and aunt clean. Hubby and I are currently working on catching up the laundry. All in all productive.

I found some more chore lists on Pinterest that I may start using. Here they are:

Not entirely sure which one I will implement yet, but regardless I want to have a more organized and well-run home. Especially if we plan on bringing a child into the mix one day. Any other ideas are welcomed readers, I'd love to hear from you!

Hubby is trying to introduce me to a new show: Newsroom. I've only seen part of one episode but it's pretty good so far. I especially like Jeff Daniels opening speech:

"It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.

Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore."

I've got to say...I agree.

Until tomorrow,

Big, Beautiful & Broke... Chelsea