Book photo artwork

Here's a little tip for saving money on some unique artwork. I love thrift stores. I love sifting through and finding things I deem valuable or interesting or pretty in a junky setting. It's not for everyone but it is definitely a hobby of mine. I especially love to find old books. I knew I wanted to change our boys' room from an airplane theme to more of an outdoors theme when I took the crib down and our youngest officially moved into his "big bed". I probably change the "theme" of their rooms entirely too often, I admit. Anyway. I was on the lookout for some good pictures for their room and also for another room in our home. I ended up using this book for the boys' room and here is my technique.

First of all, this hardback 9x13 book was 25¢ so I knew that even if I totally messed it up, it wasn't too much of an investment! I scanned through it in the store and decided I liked several of the photos in it. Even at just a quarter, there is no reason to buy something unless you are fairly sure you'll use it.

I disassembled the book with my exacto I knife, taking care to be gentle and not rip pages.

Once I got the cover off, it looked like this:

I cut off the strings that bound the book and was left with single sheets of paper -- just what I was looking for.

Most of the pages I did not need to keep, so I went through and tossed out the pages I didn't plan to use for anything. I like to keep things I think I will need and find great satisfaction in discarding things that I know I will not use.

I just replaced the airplane photos that were already in these frames. The plane photos also came from a book--this was a different room, when I was pregnant with our middle son, so about 5 years ago. I moved these photos into a different room when the two youngest joined rooms. TMI...

...and we have a whole new look in there for 25¢ and a little bit of time.

This idea can be used for so many purposes in so many areas of your home, so if you're looking for some new artwork, check the book section at your local thrift stores! The books are not always that cheap, but it's a good start. And how cute is their new room!? Mostly decorated with items I recently got at my grandparents' house. Win/Win!

Important Papers/Tax Prep

The new year means it's the start of tax season. I do our taxes here (well, Turbotax helps a little..) and it is so helpful when it's time to get that done if I have prepped ahead of time throughout the year. Even if someone else does your taxes, this little filing system helps you find important papers much easier than thumbing through desk drawers. We do have a safe deposit box where birth certificate copies, SS cards, etc are stored. This box is more for things that don't need the security of some documents and that need to be quickly accessed..

I picked up this file box at Target several years ago. It is very sturdy and cute, so it met my needs.

Since it's been a few years they did not have the exact one anymore, but here were some great options in my local Target last week. I will also include links at the bottom.

I use the labels (I should use my label maker to make it even cuter! Soon..) and have folders for Bills, Pay Stubs, Cars, Dogs, Each Child, Other, and Tax Stuff.

• Bills - I keep the paper copies of all our bills. I know that is not necessary, and many things are done electronically, but I just keep them, ok?! I do take them out of the envelopes and unfold them so they take up less space in the file box. And eventually I get rid of them.
• Pay stubs - same scenario with the bills
• Cars - I keep the receipt and information from when we have car work done, as well as any paperwork involving our cars and the purchase of them. This helps me if I need to go back and look at the last time we had any kind of belt replaced/tires rotated/etc. because I have a bad memory.
• Dogs - obviously, vet visits and things pertaining to our puppies are filed here
• Each Child - each child has a folder that holds their blue immunization form, and the extra copies of their birth certificate. This is not where I store their keepsakes.
• Other - there are some things that just don't fall into another category, so that goes in this file
• Tax Stuff - this is my most helpful folder this time of year. Throughout the year, I put papers that I know I will need when it's time to work on taxes into this file. This includes receipts for medical expenses, donation receipts, and since we are diligent about tracking our checking accounts, the hard copies of our account registries are filed in there. It's so nice to just grab that file out when the W2 and other tax papers are available and get to work.

I have a separate folder that holds things that have to do with housework, like garage door work, painters, tree trimmers, estimates, so I can get to those numbers and receipts easily when we need work done around the house. It is stored on the shelf next to this file box. It's blue and I should turn in around so it looks a little neater :).

Alright, this is my technique:

I keep all these papers for an entire year. I keep it in a place that is easy to get to, but obviously out of children's reach.

When it's time to start working on taxes, I put all my papers that have anything to do with taxes in an accordion folder. It takes me a few sessions of sitting at the computer for 20 minute intervals to actually finish. Also I have to print some forms online and some papers come in the mail. The accordion folder makes it easy to just grab and store in a drawer without the risk of someone (a mischievous two year old) getting his hands on it and me losing something. I keep all tax related papers in this folder while working on taxes. Once I'm done filing, I print a copy of what we filed, and add it to this folder.

Once taxes have been filed, I take my little folder upstairs to the guest room closet and put those papers into my long term tax box. Remember when I talked about my plastic boxes here? This is what one of them is used for. Our tax papers since 2002 are in there! Once condensed, they don't take up too much space.

That's when I purge out my important papers box and shred the papers from the previous year that I won't need anymore. Most everything is cleared out, but I just go through each section and decide what I need to keep and shred the rest.

I know it seems tedious, but we've been doing this for five years and the little bit of effort on the front end has proven to make life much easier for me. And if something happens to me, I know my husband could pick right up and find what he needed in there. This is obviously not the only way to store your papers, and if the box was fire proof that would be wonderful, but it is a suggestion that hopefully will help someone come up with a system that works for you!

Here are link to some file boxes. Anything that makes doing your taxes less tedious is nice! Have a wonderful weekend!!

 

Nate Berkus Hanging File Box ($19.99 Target)

Vaultz Locking File Chest Storage Box ($39.87 Walmart)

Staples® Large Open Top File Box ($8.49 Staples)

Bigso John Canvas Paper Laminate Desktop File Box ($27.99 Amazon)

Cargo Atheneum File Box ($20 Amazon)

Realspace™ Hanging File Basket ($29.99 Office Max)

Espresso Parker Desktop File ($29.99 The Container Store)

Bigso Kate Stockholm Desktop File ($19.99 The Container Store)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Girls Swimsuits

I am so thankful that rash guards are in style now and more easily available for children to wear as swimsuits. They cover up skin, which is healthy and also helpful for those of us trying hard to instill a mindset of modesty into our little ones. I want my daughter to be modest while still youthful, particularly in the summertime. I am just so glad that there are more choices out there that are still quite cute. I tend to be a pretty frugal shopper, I think, particularly when it comes to children's clothing. But I do splurge somewhat with swimwear, so keep that in mind. Here are some ideas for those of you looking for rash guards for your little girls.
(By the way, I also put rash guards on my pale little southern boys, too!)

Clicking on the name will take you directly to each website.
Garnet Hill

Garnet Hill has some great choices, which run about $30 each piece. They currently have a 20% off sale going on.

Mini Boden

Mini Boden has some high quality swimsuits for children. They are a British company. I have purchased my daughter's swimsuit from there the past two years and have been very pleased. They have adorable one pieces ($25) and also cute rash guards ($29). The longer shorts they offer really are what I was attracted to and they fit my girl very well ($17).

Hannah Andersson

This site is pricier, but has some more mature prints for older girls. There are several that I wish came in my size! Rash guards ($40), swim skirts ($32), swim shirts ($22).

Carter's

Carter's now carries through a size 8 and has a few good options, but not many. I love Carter's because they usually have really good sales or coupons. The swimwear mostly looks a little immature for older girls, but are super cute for younger ones. ($22.80)

LLBean

L.L.Bean doesn't have a ton of options, but there are some cute choices. Rash guard ($30), Surf Shirt ($25), Swim skirt ($20).

Lands End

I was pleasantly surprised at the cute choices Lands End had! I love the polka dot set! Rash guard set ($35), short sleeve rash guard ($25).

And I do love my Amazon, so here are a few choices I found there:
SwimZip Girls ($40)

Nautica Rope Stripe ($30)

Laguna Two Piece ($28)

Vivo-biniya Navy ($20)

Seafolly Seaside ($56)

There is no reason being covered up and modest can't be cute!!!