Idea Queen Tips & News

We’ve been giving much thought to colors, themes, and painting ideas for both the kids rooms. Both rooms are in dire need of being painted.

My daughter’s room could really use new walls period because the paneling is so old and has already been painted once. We might just rip out the paneling and strip the old wallpaper under it, but it’s hard to say at this point. That’s a whole lot of work for just one room, and stripping wallpaper is NOT fun (I already did it once in the living room, and have swore I would never, ever put up wallpaper).

My son’s room also needs some attention. The top half has already been painted white, but the bottom half is nothing more than primer. A project that was started a few years ago and never finished - nothing new in this house.

So it’s time to start thinking of what to colors to paint. Originally the bottom half of my son’s room was going to be a light blue (the same color as the top half of the living room), although he’s protesting. He wants red or black, but I refuse. It’s just too hard to paint over those colors and you know his tastes will change later on. I might be able to change his mind about the blue, but just in case I’ve got a back up plan. I picked up some color samples of acceptable colors.

My daughter insists on pink or purple, but again I must refuse. Little girls only like girly colors for so long. I had a pink room growing up, and I can’t tell you how much I hated it as a teen. It was a very large room, and every corner of it was pink, including the carpet. My friends would comment “wow that’s a pink room” to which I would roll my eyes and curse my parents for decorating it like that.

My daughter’s room will most likely be white, or something that will go with any decor, regardless how much her tastes change. Same as the boy’s room. He’ll most likely get solid white walls as well. Pink (for the girl) or red (for the boy) decor will be in the form of easy to change items like posters, pictures, bedding, and curtains. Things you usually don’t keep forever anyway.

As far as any other painting designs on the walls, those will probably be kept to a minimum if we do it at all. The hallway has textured paint and I hate it. It’s VERY hard to clean, scratches you when you brush against it, and there’s places where the texture has been rubbed off making it look awful. NEVER will I have textured paint again on walls.

Bottom line - keep it simple. Your tastes can change just as much as kids sometimes, and you don’t want to be stuck with walls you don’t like looking at. Just keep it simple and you’ll be happier in the long run.

For decorating ideas, be sure to see our section on Idea Queen for cool kids bedrooms.

Eh, sorta. I guess you could call what we made chicken and noodles…

Yesterday I pulled out the crockpot and made chicken and noodles….sorta. For some reason the crockpot inspires me to play “let’s see what this makes” every time I decide to cook with it.

I had about a pound of leftover chicken from something else (I think it was a sweet and sour chicken experiment), so thought I’d see what I could make with it. Also in the pantry I managed to find cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, and canned corn. I dumped them all in as-is, with my mother watching over my sholder . She insisted I put in two cans of water to cook, saying it would cook away.

Half way through the day, I had something resembling water logged chicken. Too much water, but I had an idea! Just before school got out, I tossed in about half a bag of egg noodles. I knew from experience those would soak up that water in a heart beat. I made sure I stirred a few times before we ran off to dance class.

It actually turned out pretty well, and very similar to a chicken noodle casserole. Except this was pretty creamy. Right before we dipped into it, I added salt and pepper to taste. I wished we would have had peas and carrots, because I felt it was missing that. The corn worked just fine as a vegetable though.

So to recap, here’s what I added:

- 1lb skinless, boneless chicken (semi-thawed)
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Cream of chicken soup
- Can of corn (do not drain)
-  2 cans of water

Cook on high for about 2-3 hours, turn down to low. Cook about another hour, then add 1/2 bag of egg noodles. Stir on occasion. Cook an additional 3 hours. Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

A friend just passed to me a story about a woman who received chemical burns from flip-flops of all things. Now keep in mind I ALWAYS check these stories at Snopes. This email made it a whole lot easier because the link to the Snopes story was linked directly in the email. The story actually WAS from Snopes!

It just makes me sick to know despite how many people get hurt, they keep importing products from China without checking to see if they are safe or not. Granted it’s not always easy to buy American, but you’d be surprised how much you really can still find and how little it actually costs. Just a few weeks ago I was looking for a picture frame and found one made in the USA that was actually cheaper than the Made in China ones. Not a hard choice to make there!

So be sure to pass this along to your friends - it’s just terrible what they are sending us!

Here we are already in the first week of organizing the house. If you read the first post on this, you’ll know I started with the bathroom last week.

While it might seem a bit lazy to only pick one room a week, it actually isn’t a bad idea. Instead of being overwhelmed with all I need to do in one room in one day, I was able to just do a little at a time each day. This helped to not become so overwhelmed and prevented me from quitting. It also helped to form a daily habit of organizing and cleaning each day.

So after the first week, I have a completely clean bathroom. It was wonderful to walk into this morning first thing and see it clean. No clothes on the floor, no smudges on the mirror. I had to peek into my closets again to see how great they both looked.

I was lucky to already have two very deep closets (one with shelves, one without) and a shelf just outside the shower. The medicine cabinet is lacking space, but that’s alright. The closet with the shelves make up for it. My shelf I picked up several years ago, and looks similar to this product at Organize.com . Mine doesn’t have the towel rack on it, so I’m a bit jealous there. It’s alright though, I do not complain about my bathroom’s size and layout because it’s bigger than any other house I’ve lived in!

This week I’ll be jumping into the laundry room. It’s a mess, and I’ve got more laundry than I know what to do with. I make sure we all have clean clothes, but that “extra” stuff tends to get pushed aside. Things like extra blankets, rags, and other “stuff” we’ve tossed in there to wash. One large hamper and a good sized laundry basket are completely overflowing (at least I think there’s still a laundry basket in there…..we haven’t seen it in months!). Not to mention the shelves are packed with junk we need to get rid of, and there are hoards of clothes to put away.
My “scheduled time” for cleaning the laundry room is not going to work here, since the majority of the work is in the laundry. I can only do one load at a time, so it’s going to have to be one of those things I work on all day if I ever want to be caught up (and yes, there are clothes being washed as I type!). I’ve decided that every time I go in to swap out clothes, I’ll be putting away as much as I can. If I grab just a few things every time, I’ll be done in no time.

So are you following this challenge with me? If so, which room are you working on this week?

It’s a miracle. My 5 yr old daughter cleaned her room without even being asked to. Although I suspect it has something to do with the fact I just got her a new shelf for her toys, but I had told her it’s not going in there until the room as clean.

I’m actually pretty proud of these shelves, since they cost me a whole $3 at a consignment shop. You just can NOT beat that price, and it was something we really needed. Big toy bins only go so far when you are trying to organize a room. Needless to say we are excited to get it in her room.

This is just one step in a very long road to decorate each of the kids rooms. Up until now their rooms have been just a place to “keep their stuff”, but we are in the process of turning each room into “their personal space”. This is a HUGE challenge to say the least.

During the transformations, I’ll be referencing several pages already up on Idea Queen. The section featuring kids room ideas holds many of the ideas already floating around in my head. Plus of course, I’ll be searching for specific products at Your Kids Direct.

I’d love to hear any personal stories or ideas you’ve used for your kids rooms!

Most of the time lunch is one of those things we don’t give much thought to. We’re more concerned about what’s for supper, and what big meal we’re going to plan. Lunch on the other hand needs to be quick and easy, taking less than 5 mins to do most of the time. Hey we can’t spend all day in the kitchen!

Because I have issues with store bread, I try my hardest to keep basic homemade white bread around at all times. Thankfully this is super easy to do in the bread machine. I call it my “no mess” recipe because it uses all dry ingredients and water, so there’s nothing to clean up (except the pan, but it’s easy to rinse out since I use it all the time).  Since I keep bread around, sandwiches are a snap. I pick up lunch meat just about every time I go to the store.

I also have issues with hot dogs, so I buy polish sausage instead. Yes it’s a little more expensive, but I feel better about my kids eating them.  They make a very quick lunch too, and something even my 5 year old can make by herself (thank goodness for handy buttons on the microwave - ours has a “30 second” button she can hit for quick heating her lunch).

Leftovers also make great lunches, if you happen to have food leftover from the night before. We rarely do, but it’s usually used for lunch if we do.

So there are some basic ideas for quick and easy lunch. There are tons more specifically for school lunches on Idea Queen if you want more ideas.

The other night for supper I decided the little smokies in the fridge needed to be used. Around Halloween we make our “bugs” with smokies and biscuit dough, but this time I decided to try a suggestion from a friend.

Instead of buying a can of biscuits, I just used dough from the infamous awesome roll recipe. Same idea, just with a homemade twist. There was quite a bit of dough leftover though, so I made a few full size hot dog buns and rolls too.

These were SO good with the homemade dough that I will probably keep doing it like this. I’ve also made sandwich buns from this dough as well, which was REALLY good too. Try it out!

While technically I don’t believe in setting “New Years Resolutions”, I have decided it’s high time my house gets organized. So I’ve made a plan to get my rear in gear and get this house organized once and for all.

I’ve always been good with coming up with the ideas and plans, but I lack motivation for action. It could be I’m just overwhelmed and don’t know where to start - so I don’t. Either that or I lose interest have way through my ideas and plans, or get distracted by the next big idea. Regardless, I want to stick with this goal. Plus who knows, maybe posting this in public will help keep me accountable!

So here’s the plan - the house needs to be deep cleaned and decluttered. All of it. Every single room in the house is a mess, and needs something done. HUGE jobs await me. Very overwhelming. So I’ll take it one step at a time.

On Sunday I started with the bathroom, which is my most hated of all cleaning chores. I can’t stand to clean the bathroom because it’s just repulsive to me. I forced myself anyway. After about an hour, I got the majority of it done. Still on the list for the bathroom is the closets, bathtub, and top of the water heater (the water heater has a cover of sorts…..which the top of becomes our dumping ground for stuff that really should be put away).

I’ll admit I’ve already slacked by not getting to anything on Monday. I used the excuse I went shopping and had a kid to take to dance class, thus cutting down my energy and time. Bad I know, but hey it’s a good excuse right? Ok probably not…..

What’s worked for me in the past is setting a time to do said task. I lost weight by always exercising at a certain time every day. I kept a cleaner house by always picking up between supper and bedtime routine (which turned into a habit, so the house DOES look better than it did 4 years ago, it’s just mostly cluttered now).

So that’s what I plan to do now - set a time and run with it. I pick 6pm, because it seems to be when everyone is home and can chip in. It’s a time we don’t usually have to be anywhere, and nothing else needs to be done (bedtime routines start between 7 and 7:30). I’ll pick one room, and declutter at least one area. Last night I tackled the bathroom again, cleaning off the top of that water heater. Tonight I’ll start in on the closets.

Feel free to follow along with me! You can already find some ideas for products and the like at Idea Queen (because remember I’m good with the plans, but my execution needs some work!).

I had to take a minute and tell you about one of my daughter’s favorite computer games. While it does have a free trial, it does cost after the trial is over. Although I must say it’s really kept her interest and is well worth the money (especially if you buy a membership!).

I picked up a few computer games for Christmas, but she’s already beat one and the other she isn’t all that interested in now. But Dora’s Carnival Adventure she keeps going back to. It takes quite awhile to actually “beat” the game.

The concept is pretty simple - you play different games to earn tickets. Each game gives different amounts of tickets depending on if you win or lose (or come in 2nd place). For example, one game is a race where you get to pick the character you want to be. You and two other dora characters race down a slide, and the winner gets tickets. Come in second and you still get a ticket or two.

Tickets are used to buy prizes which you can “play” with. The first few don’t take very many tickets, but the higher prices take a few hundred. So getting all the prizes does take some time, which is why she keeps going back to it.

I highly recommend this game if you are looking for a nice computer game for your toddler or preschooler (my daughter is 5, and it challenges her but does not frustrate). The educational value is a bit lower than other Dora games and activities, but it does teach counting (the tickets) and goal setting (working towards the prizes). Perfect game for when you are stuck in the house!

Here we are officially one full week into the new year. A good chunk of you probably had resolutions and goals you wanted to meet this year. So how are they holding up?

Yes I know it’s only a week in and your probably doing alright. But as the year wears on, it gets harder and harder to keep up with those resolutions. I know because I’ve let mine slide year after year. Unfortunately they are the usual type of goals - make more money, lose weight, or keep myself more organized. Those empty goals sound good in theory, but really have no real solid plan behind them.

I think I’ve come up with my own personal solution to the failing resolution problem though.

For one, I don’t care what time of year it is. I don’t wait until January 1st to start a new diet or start cleaning my house. I don’t even care if it’s a Monday when I start. I just start, period.

For two, I plan. I sit down and make a very detailed plan to map out how I plan to get to my goal. For example, if I decide I really need to lose a few pounds, I translate that into how many calories I need to burn over how much time. I keep a log of calories taken in and burned every day. If I want to get organized, I schedule in a time to do that every day. I make new habits that stick (like doing laundry first thing in the morning as I’m getting the kids ready for school, or doing dishes while I’m making supper).

If you are traveling somewhere new, you need to have a map. The same goes for plans for goals - you need to take the time to figure out how you are going to get there before you even leave.