Get It Organized: Pantry

Today loyal reader I am bringing you a twofer! I hope to someway make up for my lack of blogging over the holidays! Also? I don't want to miss out on another great link up! I am once again linking up with Ashley over at I Love You More Than Carrots to share my New Year's Organization Projects!

Like I'm sure you did too, I got the organizing itch after New Years. Ha! That was funny! Oh, who am I kidding, I have that itch pretty much year round. So while Hubs and Parker Bear were both feeling  under the weather and resting, Mommy rolled up her sleeves and organized the heck out of some highly deserving spaces!

I didn't take any before pictures because quite frankly I couldn't wait to get to work! I organized my closet, the baby's closet and our pantry. Today I am sharing the results of the pantry organization. Truthfully I originally organized this space a while back so this project was really to whip the pantry back into an organized space.

Here's what I did:

*Note: before I started this project you could hardly see the pantry floor. With all of the holiday cooking and baking I did our pantry was barely able to contain all of the supplies I purchased.

I love that we have this pantry and I love the shelving! To organize the shelves, I grouped like items together and then corralled them into pretty woven baskets:

I have one for all of my baking stuff, one for nuts, one for snacks, and another one for bags of chips.

Now that's back in shape I LOVE going in there. I find excuses just to walk into the pantry. Do you do that when something has been cleaned? (Please say yes. Please say it's not just me!)

Cheers to more organizing in 2013!

Pintastic: DIY Christmas Card Holder

I am super excited to be linking up with Ashley over at I Love You More Than Carrots to share a "Pintastic" way to share and display all your Christmas Cards during the holiday season. 

So quick confession, I believe that link up is supposed to be used when you re-create something you have pinned on Pintrest but this is actually my very own pin that I pinned on Pintrest. Yes I try to not only repin others ideas but also occasionally pin something of my very own! 

Even though the holidays are over I hope this is something you will enjoy looking at and even consider for next year.

Problem: Christmas cards in a box or basket or overlapping each other cluttering up your refrigerator door.

Solution: Quick and easy way to beautifully display your Christmas cards and give each one the space it deserves to be enjoyed all season long!

Supplies: Clothespins, Pretty Holiday Ribbon, Simple Christmas Decoration (I used a pretty package topper), thumb tack and Christmas Cards

My Christmas Card display hangs on two walls in our home that divide the dining room from the living room.  Usually the walls look like this:

When it comes to holiday decor, I pack up everything a few things we usually have out and replace them with my Christmas decorations. The sconces are no different! They come down for the season and return again sometime in January.

To get started, cut the pretty holiday ribbon to the length of your card display. Mine aren't exactly long enough so I actually end up attaching more ribbon halfway through the season. Once the ribbon is cut, glue it to your pretty Christmas Decoration. Once those are attached, pin them to the wall.

It should look something like this:

That's it. No, really that's all you have to do! Once your Christmas cards arrive simply use the clothespins to clip them to the ribbon!

Merry Christmas! Whoops... Happy New Year!... but keep this in mind for next year!! Be sure to check out Ashley's "Hey That's Pin-Tastic" post for tons of other great ideas and other bloggers who stop pinning and start doing!

Today. Three Years Ago.

Three Years Ago Today...

I boarded a plane.
I was headed to a *first date*.
When I disembarked, I saw such a handsome man I couldn't believe he was *my* date for the weekend!

I knew him, but I hadn't seen him in *fifteen years*! Back in 1995 we were in the same art class in high school. After a little reconnecting on Facebook took place, followed by a year or so of emailing, followed by a break up for each of us, the stars finally aligned and Honey asked me on a date. 

On our *first date*. A date that will go down in history as one of the best first dates ever!

Since we lived four hours apart, our first date wasn't your typical first date. He flew me to his where he lived and we went to an Army Ball together. Seeing him in his dress blues nearly sent me into a tailspin. He was so handsome!

Here we are on our first date:

I stayed in his home that weekend - in the guest room of course! - and he treated the whole weekend like an a real date and was such a perfect gentleman!

One month later he told me he loved me (Feb 2010).

 
Five months later he proposed (July 2010).

 Nine months later we were married (May 2011)!

Twelve months later we had a baby boy (May 2012)!

 And it all began three years ago. Today. 

I was and am still smitten by that solider and I will follow him anywhere. Happy First Date Anniversary my Love!

We Have a Winner

Yes! We have a winner for the Thirty One Product Giveaway! 

KAITLIN, YOU ARE THE WINNER!!

Thank you so much for all who entered the giveaway and welcome to all new followers!

Thank you also to loyal followers who put up with my hijacking my very own blog to promote the Virtual Thirty One Party I hosted in December. It was a very successful party and I had so much fun with it!

 I am looking forward to the new year and getting back to regular blogging.

Thank you again, CONGRATS KAITLIN, and Happy New Year!

Top It Off

I am so glad that the cold weather is back! Mainly because I got our little one four adorable hats to wear this year and I LOVE putting them on his adorable little head!

I have had several people asking me where I purchased such cuteness so I thought I'd write a quick post about them. All the hats came from Etsy (of course!) and here are the details you have been waiting for...

First and foremost, the absolutely adorable BEAR HAT. Parker wore this all over New York on our trip there earlier this year and got so many compliments. I have to admit, it will probably go down in Snowden History as my favorite baby hat!

I purchased the Bear Hat from Carolina Knots and she was great to work with. She had me measure his head to make sure the hat would fit perfectly!

I also purchased what I call Parker's "church hat" - a blue and grey stripe hat that he wears when we need to be a bit more, umm, subdued. Yes, hard for me but everyone needs "church clothes". Even babies. I do love how sophisticated this little grey hat is!

Next up is Parker's PUMPKIN HAT! I purchsed this hat from Caroles Cozy Comforts. He wore this every chance he had during October and November! It is so cute on him and I love the stem and leaf on top - precious!

I also purchased Parker's SANTA HAT from Carole. She was wonderful to work with as well! She didn't have one of the items in stock so she knitted it up the next day and sent it out. Talk about customer service!

Now not nearly as cute as his hats but certainly functional for cold Tennessee winters the sweet mittens he needed. I love that they connect so that I can run them through Parker's jacket or sweatshirt and they won't get lost! (Wish I could do that to some of his cute booties that sometimes want to slip off of his tiny feet!) I purchased the mittens from Karen Fudge and since Parker was in between sizes, she knitted up a pair of mittens that were in between so they fit him perfectly! Again, can't beat that kind of service!

I had so much fun shopping for these hats and have loved putting them on his adorable little head every chance I get! Even going to the mailbox often requires a cute little head accessory!

If you need a cute hat for a little in your life I would encourage you to check out these ladies Etsy shops!

*I was not paid or reimbursed by any Etsy shop for this post. This post contains my thoughts and my thoughts alone.

Happy New Year!