April and May are Appreciation Months for Teachers, Secretaries and Nurses

Did you know that April and May are Appreciation Months to celebrate some very important people in our lives?

As a "retired" teacher, I know that it is a tough job with long hours and at times goes unappreciated.  Much of a teacher's appreciation comes in the form of students who are succeeding and improving or in the smiles they receive from their students each day.

For one week each year-- April 6-10-- there is time set aside to let those teachers in your life know they are appreciated.

Other appreciation days set aside this month are Secretary's Day on April 24.

May brings Nurses Appreciation and May 12 is Mother's Day.

Don't get caught without that special gift for that special person.

New Project: Office Desk Redo

I am so excited to have found this desk. Our office is slowly becoming filled up. After creating Declan's nursery and cleaning out our guest room, the space has become limited. Our office space is also limited as we use this room for storing books on anything computer related for Gary and anything Home Design for me. We also have magazines for reference and craft supplies which include paint, canvases, wooden letters, ribbon, you name it we have it stored here. This is all on top of the already needed office supplies, file cabinet and Clever Container business items for me. Phew!!

So, the first step in downsizing and organizing this space included selling my desk which had already been moved to the guest room. This didn't have any function for guests at all so it was sold.  So, the decision had to be made- do we only have one desk in the office or do I find a small one just for my business purposes? After looking at my pile of files and business supplies on the floor, I decided to search for a small writing desk with drawers for storage.

This is what I found. I knew I could refinish anything I got, but I didn't want something too bad off. I settled for this desk. The drawers all operate smoothly, it is made of real wood and I have a vision already in my head of what it will look like finished.

Here are the before pictures:

You can see that there are some pretty damaged places on the desk top, but the rest of the desk is in great condition. After stripping the top, I found that many of the scratches were superficial and only through the paint. There are a couple of spots that will need patching and sanding before I stain, but it is doable.

Just like my dresser redo, the top will be stained a dark Ebony and the body will be painted with Valspar Sonora Rose 2002-3B. I fell in love with the color immediately. I also want to play around with stenciling patterns on this project as well as covering the pulls I saved from my dresser redo with fabric.

Stay tuned!!

Update on this dresser redo: I did follow through with most of my plans on this project. After painting the dresser with the rose color though I didn't like it. However, it will stay this color until I have the time to repaint it. It still isn't completely finished, but I am posting some of the photos of part of the finished project. Sometimes, if I start on a project and begin to dislike it half way through I get discouraged (bored) and move on to greener pastures so to speak.

Almost Completed 

Not happy that the wood filler I used that was supposed to be stainable really didn't work that great

 

Inspiration for the Painting (Thank You card from a friend) 

Clever Container Products Back in Stock YAY!!

The following products are now Back in Stock after a brief hiatus:

The Double Duty is GREAT since it comes in a SET of  2. The size is PERFECT because they also fit inside the cubby type shelves from IKEA and other retail stores. There are also handles on both sides for easy labeling.

Double Duty

 The Stuff It is a wonderful product and VERY versatile. If you like animal print, this is the one item you should own! It also comes in Green Dot for those of you not so into the Jungle prints.

Stuff It in Leopard

The Great Divide serves much the same purpose as the Stuff It only with two dividers instead of the many that the Stuff It provides.

Great Divide in Leopard

 If you are traveling anywhere this summer- even to the pool- this is the bag for you. It is water proof, has a zippered enclosure and will hold a ton of items without straining the handles. This is a great item for summer camp, sleepovers, trips to grandmas, trips to the beach along with many other uses. It comes in Blue or Pink. I used this large bag along with our Clever Cache on a recent trip to Mississippi. We ordered a box for the top of our car and it didn't come so I had to think fast about how to get clothes and items for two people, one baby and two dogs into our car for a comfortable trip. I packed all of our clothes and toiletry items into the Clever Cache bags and stuck them into the Stow N Go. Everything fit and we had room to spare.

The Clever Cache has become my go to item for packing. No pump needed. Fill the bags (they come in a set of 5) with clothes and then mash the air out and close. The air stays out and they do not refill with air later. LOVE this product.

Stow N Go in Blue

Stow N Go in Pink 

Larger items like jeans and shirts were folded and placed in the bottom

Small Clever Cache for PJs and my Unmentionables 

Large Clever Cache for all of Little Man's clothes and other items

Small Clever Cache for Hubby's Items