Getting my house (LIFE) back in order

My house has been a mess ...

 kitchen

 Dining room/School room

 Other side of dining/school room

I couldn't take it anymore ... I had allowed the mess to rule my life and I couldn't get anything else done!  I found I was avoiding the kitchen and dining rooms but I couldn't any longer!  So yesterday afternoon during the kids naps and while Chris took them to gymnastics I put a good book in my ears (A room with a view) and went to work!

This is how it should look at ALL times ... amazing!!

 No more clutter!!  I think I need to put something on that wall, tho.

What a difference putting the ironing board up makes!

I'm ready to tackle some sewing projects now!

My goal is to keep my house looking this way from now on.  Follow through and self discipline ... which is something I lack and yet it is gift that I wish to give to my children.  How can I  give something to them which I am not myself practicing?  Today is a new day!!

making rags

I saw a cool blog POST about taking the husbands old socks and making rags out of them.  I already use our old socks for dusting but I thought that opening them up could possibly get more use out of them.  I wasn't 100% sold on the idea tho ... seemed like a lot of work for something you were just going to clean with ... UNTIL I remembered the Bridal Shower I was going to this weekend and that I had no present for the bride to be!  I made her a handful of rags that I dyed in blue dye first and then sewed some extra fabric on the back to make them a bit more sturdy.  But you can't just give someone rags for a present .... enter the lavender vinegar that I had just finished making!  I poured some into a bottle and then grabbed the book, "Organic Housekeeping" and put it all together in a basket I had around the house.  It was cute and I felt good about my accomplishments ...

of course today I still had a bunch of old socks lying around that I needed to do something with!  So I grabbed some more old fabric and made over a dozen rags for cleaning around my house.  and I STILL have leftover socks!! 

Here is the pile of old socks

Here are the fabric scraps

Here is my finished product!