Misc.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

Congrats to Tammy (TSells@…)

I will email you shortly!

source

I’m a big fan of gift cards – especially American Express gift cards that spend like cash!

And thanks to my partnership with Apartment Guide, they have generously offered to giveaway a $100 American Express gift card to one luck Simple Organized Living reader!!

Yay!

How to Enter:

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1. Leave a comment. What would you do with your gift card?

2. Follow @LivingOrganized and/or @AptGuide on Twitter, and then leave a separate comment letting me know you did {or that you do already}.

If you are reading this in your email or feed reader, please visit the actual blog post to enter. Email entries, Facebook comments, and Twitter messages will NOT be counted.

Prize:

(1) American Express gift card as described above.

This giveaway ends at 10:00 pm on Monday, 2/21/2012 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older. I will use And the Winner Is to select the winning comments at random. Winners will be notified by email and noted at the top of this post. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize or I will choose a new winner. Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have. Good luck!

Apartment Guide and owner Consumer Source, Inc. have partnered with bloggers like me as Official Apartment Guide Bloggers. As part of this program, I have received compensation. They have not told me what to purchase or what to say about the products used, and believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

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UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

Congrats to Catherine: catherineh_78@… I will email you today to get your shipping information!

As many of you know, Dave and I live in a 120 year old farmhouse — which means many of the rooms are lacking in electrical outlets {I’m sure those of you with older homes can relate!} And even though we did install a bunch of extra outlets in the rooms we renovated, we still have several places where it would be nice to have a light, or at least an outlet to plug a light in.

I tried different forms of battery powered lights, but unfortunately, I was really disappointed with every one of them and they seemed to go through batteries like crazy.

But then I found Mr. Beams Lighting…

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Mr. Beam provides a variety of top-quality LED wireless lighting options for almost anywhere in and around your home. Their lighting is motion-censored so you never have to worry about turning them on or wasting the batteries by forgetting to turn them off. However the lights are activated by darkness, so they will ONLY come on if it is dark enough and there is motion — talk about smart!!  And if that wasn’t convenient enough, these lights require virtually no installation — just stick them or hang them {with a screw or nail} wherever you need extra light!

Here are just a few of the great uses for the Mr. Beams wireless, motion-censored lighting.

As you can see, Mr. Beams lights come in handy for many places in and around your home.

We have several of these lights around our home — in various closets, by the back door, in the long hallway upstairs, and outside our master bathroom {for all the times I have to get up in the middle of the night!} They have been such an assets to our home and I just love that they require no electrical work or installation. Just stick them up and your done!

The Giveaway:

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Since my two favorite Mr. Beams products are the Stick Anywhere Night Lights and the Anywhere Ceiling Light, this giveaway will include 3 night lights and one ceiling light {and $80 value!}

Enter to Win:

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Simply leave a comment listing at least one place in your home, office, garage, etc. where you could use a Mr. Beams light.

Buy Mr. Beams Products:

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You can purchase the full line of Mr. Beams products here.

This Weekend Giveaway is open until Tuesday, September 13, 2011, at 10:00 pm EST. ONE winner will be selected at random and announced later that week. Please read my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you might have. I received a complimentary selection of Mr. Beams Products for review, however all opinions are my own!

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For the past 3 months, Dave and I have been in the process of renovating our 120 year old farmhouse {yes, it seems like forever to us too!} And you better believe we’ve done our fair share of painting – in this house and our old house.

I personally don’t mind painting, I actually find it somewhat relaxing, especially if I have a nice brush that fits my hand well and has strong bristles that don’t “shed” or “flop around”.

However, a nice brush can be expensive — and I’m really frugal! So I do my best to make my paint brushes last as long as possible.

Here’s what I do:

1. Limit the dip.

I try not to dip the bristles into more than 1 inch of paint – especially if I’m only painting a small area. This makes clean up so much easier and I have better control over the paint

2. Keep them covered.

I always wrap my brushes in plastic wrap while I’m in the middle of a project to assure they don’t dry out.

3. Clean them immediately.

When I’m finished with a painting project, I wash my brushes immediately with soapy water {or paint thinner for oil-based paints}

It’s actually not good to let your brushes soak for long periods of time as this can warp the wooden handles.

4. Let them fully dry.

It’s best if your brushes can hang to dry with the bristles facing down. However, you can also lay them on a double layer of towels to soak up extra moisture. I also like to “comb” my brushes to make sure the bristles don’t get matted or tangled

Then, once they are totally try, I wrap them in plastic wrap again to keep the bristles from hardening up.

5.  Store them properly.

Again, it’s great if you can hang your brush so they don’t get smashed or broken. However, if that’s not possible, simply lay them flat or put them back in the cardboard container they came in.

Using these tips should help keep your paint brushes in mint condition for several painting projects.

If you’re interested, you can see some of the very simple painting “tools” I use over here… and read more about the process of painting furniture here.

Do you have any other tips for making a paint brush last longer?

{top image credit}

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Whew…we’re all moved in!

Well, actually, our stuff is all moved in {a.k.a. dumped in piles all over the new house} and we stayed with my in-laws for the evening!

It was a LONG day of moving and I assume the next few days will be LONG days of unpacking, sorting, organizing, arranging, rearranging, etc. But we’re up for it…I think!

I’m exhausted!

And due to the whole “changing utility companies” issue, we’ll be without internet for the next day or two {how will we survive?}

So, instead of writing a life-altering, wonderful, amazing blog post…I’ll just show you a few pictures of our big move and highlight some of the things that made me happy!

First of all, for moving in the middle of December, we had PERFECT weather!

It was around 30 degrees but there was no wind, no snow, now wet or slushy ground to walk on…just a nice, calm, cool, sunny, winter day {which is pretty amazing for West Michigan!}.

Second, we were overjoyed to have several family members help out. Dave’s dad, my dad, both my sisters, and their boyfriends made for quick loading and unloading. {And you know how much I like efficiency!}

Third, we were able to get our moving truck for FREE!! It’s actually kind of a long story, but our move was completely free…besides a few Little Ceaser’s Hot n’ Ready pizzas.

We did have to use a smaller truck than we originally planned on, so our packing had to be really strategic — and just look at  how we packed it all in!

Fourth, I got really good at delegating – which alloted me few spare moments to stuff, label, and stamp our Christmas cards…so everyone will get them before Christmas Day!

On a side note – moving is messy. Just look at our floors!

Fifth, did you know moving trucks come with this REALLY awesome ramp?

Yup, they do, and that ramp just so happened to line up perfectly with our front porch…which I’m sure you can see, made moving SO much simpler.

Sixth, I love that unloading goes SO much quicker than loading. I felt like we’re just flying and making so much progress. Although, I’m guess all our unloaded stuff won’t get put away as quickly as it was unloaded!

Seventh, I LOVE all the natural light in my new dinning room.

Even if it is completely covered with boxes right now, I just know I’ll spend lots of hours in this dinning room; eating, entertaining, working, typing, etc. etc.

Ok, I’m off to start unpacking!

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By now, it’s no secret that I am obsessed with old farmhouses!

I can’t help it, I just love the character and charm that come with old homes, especially old farm homes. I suppose complications and craziness often accompany the character and charm…but I just love thinking about what the homes looked like “back then.”

So we got the keys to our farmhouse on Friday, and by Saturday I was already cleaning — we started in the kitchen.

And can you imagine my surprise when I pulled out the refrigerator and saw THIS?

Oh, if walls could talk!

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This wall used to be the exterior wall of the home — I guess this is what our house looked like “back then!”

Don’t you wish YOU could have an old farmhouse now!!!

OK, I’m off to do more cleaning, but I’ll be posting lots more pictures of our “new” old farmhouse over the next few days…AND I’ll be launching our brand new farmhouse blog by the end of the year!

Exciting stuff, huh??

So, if these walls COULD talk, what do you think they would say?

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It’s official — we FINALLY got the keys to our new home!

Photo Credit: graur codrin

I’ve been dreaming of this days for years and anxiously awaiting December 10 for several months now!!

Yup, I’m just a little excited!

And even though the realization that we FINALLY have our dream home is overwhelmingly exciting, there are still a few things I’m going to miss about our small little ranch…after all, it was our very first home.

The home we had so many “firsts” in.

• We ate our first meal as a married couple {grilled cheese at 1:00 am on our wedding night}
• We tackled our first {of MANY} home improvement projects
• We purchased our first pieces of furniture — all from thrift stores, and most of which have moved on via Craigslist!
• We celebrated our first anniversary {yes, we ate the top layer of our wedding cake}
• We celebrated all our first holidays
• We killed our first mouse
• We got our first jobs
• We installed our first {and hopefully last} set of underground sprinklers
• We… well, I could go on and on but I think you get the picture!

Even though our little ranch was FAR FROM our dream house, I suppose it served us well for the last 4 1/2 years.

And now, over the next two weeks, we will be busy packing, moving, unpacking — and somehow finding time for SEVEN different Christmas parties! Yikes!

I’ll be busy, there’s no doubt about that; but my blog will NOT suffer. I have an amazing team of guest bloggers lined up for you over the next two weeks. So while I’m moving, they’ll be sharing their best tips, tricks, tools, and advice for simple, organized living.

I can’t wait!!

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Moving is hard work!

Believe it or not, I’ve really NEVER moved before. I lived in the same house from birth until college; and even then, I was just 20 minutes away so I never really had to move.

Then we got married and hardly had anything to move

So, even though I would consider myself a very organized person, I still feel somewhat overwhelmed and disorganized at the thought of moving ALL our stuff to our new house in about 6 weeks.

And to make things even more complicated, we are moving on December 26!

Consequently, over the next 6 weeks I have

• 10 Pies, desserts, and snacks to make {for the parties listed below}
• 9 Rooms/areas to pack up
• 8 {x5} gifts to buy
• 7 Christmas parties
• 6 Birthday parties
• 5 Church/School/Community programs
• 4 Basketball games to attend — my husband coaches
• 3 Thanksgiving parties
• 2 Blogs to maintain {I’ll tell you about the other one in a few weeks!}
• AND everything else I do on a weekly basis!

Yup, I’ll be busy!

Normally, I would prefer to take 1 week to pack, move, unpack, and be done with it all. Unfortunately, due to my jam-packed schedule,  I won’t have that luxury.

So, I’m taking my own advice!

I’m simplifying the entire moving process, starting small, and doing a few things each week to get us just a little closer to our moving day!

Here are a few things I accomplished this weekend:

1. Washed all our winter gear — coats, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. — and tossed anything we don’t need.

2. Washed and boxed up extra bedding, towels, etc. {yes, I did A LOT of laundry this weekend}

3. Baked a bunch of goodies for all our holiday parties and put them in labeled freezer containers.

4. Went through all our files — I rekindled my friendship with our recycle bin and shredder!

5. Posted a bunch of stuff on Craigslist — and already sold most of it!! See my tips for selling on Craigslist.

6. Cleaned out the freezer and pantry– I think we’ll be eating a lot of canned and frozen food!

7. Donated another load of things to the local thrift store.

This picture is from my previous purge.

8. Packed up all our books — we won’t have time to read anyway!

9. Emptied out the bathroom cabinets — impressive, isn’t it??

10. Made about 52 phone calls to transfer our insurance, schedule a meeting with the title company, work out the last minute details with our Realtor, etc. etc. etc.

Not bad for one weekend.

And I didn’t even feel overwhelmed. In fact, the whole process was sort-of enjoyable.

I did these projects in short increments, between other activities, so I never felt bogged down or overwhelmed. When I started to feel restless, I stopped and came back later. {Hint, hint — this method works great for large organizing projects too!}

Are you a veteran mover?

If so, share your stress-free moving tips with me — pretty please!!

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