Yabba Dabba Doo!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. I am glad I got to take the boys somewhere on Friday because if not all the hardwork on these costumes would have been for nothing. Today both babies are sick. I dressed them up anyways and took them outside to snap a few more photos of them on the front porch and the mosquitos swarmed us so because of the boys allergy to mosquitos we only got a couple pictures. I think a redo is in order later this week.

Pumpkin Patch

Here is where all the drama began....fighting over the wagon.

On the floor throwing a fit.

Happy again because he has the wagon all to himself.

And for comparison, some pictures from last year....

Oh my how things have changed since last year! I am also happy to report they have improved over their hay eating days.

School of the Momma: Edible Fingerpaint

Do you have a toddler that does this when fingerpainting?

If your answer is yes then here is a edible finger paint recipe for you.

All you need is sweetened condensed milk and food coloring. We did two colors so I put a little bit of sweetened condensed milk in each bowl and then put food coloring until I reached the color I was trying to achieve. Easy enough, right?

I wouldn't advise letting your child eat the whole bowl because it is way sweet but if they have a couple licks in between painting it won't hurt ;)

When dried, this paint gives a very glossy finish. After letting these air dry for 8 hours and they still were wet, I put them in the oven on the lowest setting for about 10 minutes and that did the trick.

Happy Fingerpainting!!!

Trick or Treat Buckets

I didn't like any of the trick or treat buckets I had seen in the stores so I decided to make some. Honestly though I doubt we will be doing much trick or treating though because the boys eat candy yet and we sure don't need it but there is always next year, right?!?!

(FRONT) 

(BACK)

I am sure if you have been a follower of my blog for awhile I am sure you can guess that I cut the vinyl for the letters and the bat and spider using my Silhouette.

I found the orange plastic buckets at Hobby Lobby for 4.99 and I already had the vinyl and ribbon so this was a very cheap project.

While taking these pictures I realized I never showed you what I have on top of that shelf that the buckets are hanging on.

I got the print in the middle from eighteen25 and the pictures are of my boys last year at the pumpkin patch and in their halloween costumes as Mario and Luigi. I plan on swapping out these photos for each holiday.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Lil Luna
Organize and Decorate Everything
Crystal and Co.
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Gluesticks
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different Act Normal
I Heart Naptime
Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Let Birds Fly
Somewhat Simple
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tidy Mom
320 Sycamore
Six Sisters' Stuff
DIY Home Sweet Home Project

Haircuts

We took the boys to get a haircut on Saturday. This is not their first haircut(more like their 4th) but everytime they cut their hair I think they look a little more grown up :(

First up was Grant and he was such a big boy this time. Last time he screamed the entire time. Apparently all he needed was his Daddy to hold him and a couple sips of chocolate shake from Chick-fil-a and all was right in the world.

(Side note: I drank a TON of chocolate shakes while pregnant with them so I am definitely to blame for their love of chocolate shakes )

Gabe was next and as expected he was so big during his haircut. Last time after watching his brother scream he got up there and laughed because it tickled. He definitely play the "older" brother role well.

Don't they look so grown now? 

Features

I am guest posting over at the blog Gluesticks today. Thanks Brandy for letting me post while you are out on Maternity Leave.

I also would  like to thank all the blogs that have featured some of my projects these past couple weeks.



My pantry was featured on these sites:

House of Hepworths

Delightful Order

Mommy Palooza

My closet was featured on these sites:

Organize and Decorate Everything

Delightful Order

If like my blog you will LOVE these blogs so go check them out!

Totally Organized Tuesdays: Master Bedroom Closet Part 2

Today I will be giving my tips on how to keep your closet organized and tidy. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.


Hangers:
-I think the single most important thing that can take your closet from messy to neat is the hangers. You can't have a closet with a mixture of wire and plastic hangers and it look neat.
- You don't have to buy expensive hangers either. The ones I used you can buy at Target or Walmart and are a dollar for 10 hangers.
- Doesn't matter what color they are but make sure they are all the same color.
- You will also be able to fit more clothes in your closet when you have the same type of hanger because they fit together much more nicely.
-When you take your clothing off the hanger, have a designated place to put it so that when it is time for hanging up clean laundry you don't have to dig around to find empty hangers.

Color Order:
-I don't put my clothes in color order just because it looks neat. It is easier to find that navy shirt with the ruffles that I want to wear when I can just go to the section with blue shirts.
- It may take a lot of time initially to get your clothes in this order but it is very easy to maintain.

Purging:
-If you haven't worn something in a year get rid of it, no matter how much it cost. It isn't worth the space in your closet if you don't wear it. (This does not apply to pregnant women of course.)
- If you have a hard time getting rid of things, when you wear something and it gets washed and you hang it up again turn the hanger around. After several months you will be able to see what you really wear and what you need to get rid of.
-Another tip is refuse to buy more hangers, if you do this when you buy a new item you will be forced to get rid of an old item. This will keep your closet from becoming overcrowded.



Ok now to the number one question I get asked when giving people a tour of my home. Why does your husband have way more clothes than you do? Well first thing he is a hoarder but he is getting better and lets me get rid of more clothes now. I on the other hand am quite the minimalist. Second reason is he likes every shirt he owns to be hung up(even the ones that have holes and stains on them that he only wears while working on stuff outside) while I keep all the shirts I work out in a drawer along with my camis and tank tops.

If you would like to see more pictures of my closet, check out Part 1 of this post.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Lil Luna
Organize and Decorate Everything
Crystal and Co.
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Gluesticks
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different Act Normal
I Heart Naptime
Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Let Birds Fly
Somewhat Simple
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tidy Mom
320 Sycamore
Six Sisters' Stuff

A Special Lady

As much as this looks like I put my little Grant in a dress this is not him and is me around his age with my PaPa Paul and Granny.

Today is my Granny's Birthday! Unfortunately she is no longer with us to celebrate. I think of her very often and about how much we would have had in common. She was crafty like me but most of all she was a mother of twins( my dad and aunt Janet) also. I know she would have had a lot of advice to give on raising twins.
Today as I was working on the boy's costumes, I thought of all the costumes she made me and how effortless they were to her. That is not the case for me.

As I pour the boys a glass of milk I think of how she would have snuck some chocolate in their milk like she always did for me.

When I make a bowl of ice cream I always think about how she claimed ice cream was the cure for indigestion and that is why she ate it. I used this excuse a lot while pregnant with twins and still do now.

As I watch my children turn flips on the couch and jump off dining room chairs, I think of how if she was still around and  I called to tell her that she would probably say "That Robert Owen(my dad) he use to do the same thing"...but instead she is in Heaven watching over them and protecting their every fall.

We miss you so much Granny but know that you are in a much better place and watching over us all! I know you would be so proud of all your great grandchildren and the ones to come.

Totally Organized Tuesday: Master Bedroom Closet

This is what I call the "wow moment" of the house. It is the moment my husband knew that I would compare every closet to this one and no other closet could even compete. I wish I would have taken a picture of the closet at my old house so I could do side by side comparison and wonder how all those clothes ever fit in such a tiny space. Well the answer is they didn't. We had clothes hanging in the laundry room closet, jeans were folded on shelves in the laundry room and coats were in a closet by the front door.

This is one of the first rooms I organized. My husband had brought all the clothes over one night before we moved in and lets just say he didn't keep them in their color order and my clothes were mixed with his clothes and it was one big mess. So by about the second night I woke up in the middle of the night and started sorting through it.

It is really hard to photograph this room because all of the different angles and lack of natural light so bare with me. I will start from the door and go clockwise through the room.

Hats were always a problem before I found this nifty over the door hanger at Bed Bath and Beyond.

These built in shoe shelves make me very happy but it makes me very sad to think of all the shoes I got rid of when I purged my closets when we were trying to sell our house. If I only would have known that I would have a closet like this.

My jean folding skills are thanks to 2 years of working at the Gap ;). The black picture frame is actually a jewelry organizer.

I don't wear jewelry much after having many broken necklaces from two little boys who like to use them as toys.

Shirts are on top. Short sleeve on the left and long sleeve on the right separated by color. My cardigans and coats are on the bottom rod.

My husbands coats and sweaters are on the top and his suit jackets and pants are on the top.

Kevin's shirts are separated by t-shirts, polos, short sleeve button ups, and long sleeve button ups. Each category is then separated by color.

Remember my laundry sorting bins that were in my old laundry room? They found a new home in my closet. My new laundry room is a little bit smaller than my old one and my closet is really close to the laundry room so it makes it just as easy to keep them in here.

Next Tuesday I will break away from my usual every other week schedule for Totally Organized Tuesdays and  I will do Part 2 of my closet. In Part 2 I will tell you how I keep my closet staying this neat, why I put my clothes in color order, and why my husband has way more clothes than I do.

If you have any questions leave them in the comment section or email them to lifewithbothhandsfull@hotmail.com and I will answer them next Tuesday in Part 2.

Updated: You can now read Part 2 here.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Lil Luna
Organize and Decorate Everything
Crystal and Co.
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Gluesticks
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different Act Normal
I Heart Naptime
Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Let Birds Fly
Somewhat Simple
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tidy Mom
320 Sycamore
Six Sisters' Stuff
Spring Into Organization Link Party

School of the Momma: Fall Fun

Fall is one my favorite times of the year. I hope the boys grow up to like it too. To start out our fall fun we made some jack-o-lanterns because what says fall better than pumpkins?

To make these I cut the shapes using my silhouette and cardstock. Then traced it onto the stiff felt. I made the eyes and mouth detatchable by putting velcro on them(as you can see in the pictures below). I only put the hook side(the rough one) of the velcro on the face parts and there is no need for the loop side because the felt works as the loop. Hopefully that makes sense.

I did something similar for Christmas with a Christmas tree with detatchable ornaments. They really had no interest in it at 12 months old so I was a little worried they still may be too young for the pumpkins but they LOVED them.

I had no lesson planned for this it was just supposed to be a fun game for them but while playing I would ask them where the eye was and where the mouth was.

And my camera died before he could show you where the mouth was.....story of my life haha.

Since they like these so much I am thinking about making more shapes for the face. Yay for fun and learning!

Another fun project we like to do is fingerpaint. But as you know that is usually one big fat mess and if you are like me and usually give your kids edible fingerpaint because they are going to put it in their mouths then this is an alternative where you can cut the mess and not have to worry about them putting it in their mouth so you can use regular finger paint. We still like to do the messy fingerpainting too.

I found this idea here.

You take construction paper and leave several drops of paint on it. Cover with wax paper and tape it down to the highchair or table. Then let the kids do the rest.

After they finished I let it dry for several hours( or if you are impatient like me you put it in a oven at about 150) then cut it into the shape of a leaf.

They are now proudly hanging on our french doors :)

Another fun fall activity that I already showed you was my pumpkin playdough which you can read about in our Operation Orange post.

One Hundred

This is my 100th post on this blog. Since I have a lot of new followers I thought I would highlight my 5 most popular post to date.

#1: Laundry Room Organization

This is at my old house. On Tuesday I will show where these hampers have made their debut in my new home. Hint: It is not in the laundry room.

#2: My New Pantry with Chalkboard Doors

This has been pinned and repinned many times on Pinterest lately. If you have featured my pantry or "pinned" it...THANK YOU!

#3:How I Organize My "Junk"

This was at my old house but I have a similar set up in my new home. I also featured my pantry at my old house in this post.

#4: My Entryway

I have BIG plans for that empty space above the stairwell. Also, the house tour that I have been doing every Wednesday will be put on hold for awhile while I try to get some projects crossed off my list. All these holidays coming up are already keeping me busy.

#5:  First Birthday Party: Thing 1 and Thing 2 Style

My boy's birthday is on December 26th which should explain the birthday party themed christmas tree.

Hope you enjoyed this flashback! Here's to 100 more!!!