Laundry Labels

One of the things I am working on with my kids is sorting their dirty clothes. They are 3, 6, and 8. They can handle it. However, they often confused which sorter held which kind of clothes. So I had Shannon whip up some beautiful laundry labels for me, with words for the big kids and pictures for the baby.

I printed them out at my momma's house. She has nicer paper then me. :)

I just used my scissors to cut them out. I NEED a paper cutter. It's on the list.

Then I ran them through the laminator.

After that I had to decide how to attach them to the wall and then the washer. I wanted to magnet them to the washer.

Our washer and dryer in the bathroom. We just throw our dirty laundry in the washer as soon they take them off. But sometimes they just throw all of their dirty clothes in so then I have to sort them out of the washer. #firstworldproblems

I'll be honest here. I have not found a way to attach these above my clothes sorter. So, for now, I have one stuck to the washer (obviously we are currently accepting towels), and the rest are stuck to the top of the dryer hanging out next to my argyle pig. I thought about putting them all artsy-fartsy for you guys, but this is how they will be in real life. So I'm just keeping it real for you. You are welcome.

So, here is one thing crossed off my April To-Do list. How are you doing on your list? Share with us!

And because we love you, here is a freebie of my laundry labels! It will only be here for a limited time, so grab it now!

Getting April in order

The beginning of a new month means getting all of our lives in order. Shannon showed you how she gets a new month started in March, so now I am showing you our craziness. She has 3 jobs, I have 3 kids, so our planning looks a bit different.
I have my AMAZING life planner that Shannon designed for me. We took a ton of inspiration from the web and she made it fit my life! I love it and use it daily. I always say, steal my purse, leave my planner.

I start every day checking out my planner. I double triple check it on Sunday nights so I know what is going on for the week.

My planner has our meal planner built in. It is the boxes at the bottom of each of the days. I just could not maintain two different planner for meal planning, and I do ours by the week. So on Sunday night when we are planning for the week, Tim and I meal plan. Easy meals for days he works late, the kids have practice, that kind of thing, bigger meals on weekends so we can have leftovers for lunches. We also get input from the kids. What have they been craving? If they help create the meal plan and the meal, they are more likely to eat it!

I also make a monthly calendar for Tim. He has no need for daily plans. He does want to know what all we have planned, dance, ball practice, concerts, fun stuff like that. So I started making him a beautiful monthly calendar. He doesn't care that it is beautiful, but I sure do. :)

I also have a work-out calendar. This has not been working well. I am "training" for a 5K but I haven't ran in weeks. Boo. This month Shannon created a Bikini Body Challenge for us. So I printed that bad boy out. I am going to do my best, but I make no promises. I need to focus on my running, but I'm going to try to fit this guy in too! The best thing is it can all be done at home, with no equipment. She also snuck in a shower challenge, which I already forgot to do. So, I will get it in before bed.

Finally I have a blog planner. It really deserves a whole post, but for now you get a snap shot. I usually post Tuesday and Thursday, Shannon usually posts Monday and Wednesday and Friday is always High Five for Friday! I also have tons of fun planning pages. I use them to plan out things I want to blog about, then I decide when I can get them done, photographed and blogged about. Right now, I have little idea about when things are going, but lots of ideas.

Just for fun, I thought I would throw out the Bikini Body Challenge and an Awesome April Arms challenge as freebies. There is still plenty of time for you to catch up!

What does your beginning of the month or week planning look like? Are you more like Shannon balancing work schedules, or like me balancing kids schedules?

A packing list freebie

I am one lucky lady this week. I get to go on vacation....to Waterloo, Iowa. Vacation hot spot right?? Ha! But it is away from my house and I don't have to cook or make my own bed, so I'd say its still a win.
So because of said impending vacation you get a freebie. I know I could have just written my list on a piece of notebook paper, but this was way more fun.
Here are my lists in action:
I'm sure there will be more things frantically scribbled down before I actually get my packing done...tonight. Which is a little late for my preferences but I've been a busy gal. I did color coordinate my list with my favorite papermate flair markers.

purple is for bathroom type supplies

blue is for clothing

green is for electronics

pink is for snacks

light purple is my list of things that need to be purchased or done

And here's the freebie for you. In case any of you get to go on super cool vacations too!

Although it could be used for a move too, since I kept the label generic.

Also, since I will be "vacationing" I will be leaving the blog completely in Niki's hands. So look forward to a post from her tomorrow and she will be wrapping up our weekly wardrobe on Friday too.

can you sense the theme in my recent printables? I'm way into borders, bright colors, arrows, and chevron!

a little inspiration

I recently paid off my car and have since been trying to get my budget in order and try to save some money, all while paying off a truckload of student loans. There might actually be two trucks. Five years at a private college, I'm an idiot.

A while ago I turned an old (giant) pickle jar into our savings jar. And since then it has collected a little bit of change, but not much. I need to paint the lid too, but just haven't gotten to that yet.

It just took a few minutes and supplies I already had on hand. 

Recycled Jar

Foam Brush

Label

Mod Podge (homemade or otherwise)

 Use the mod podge on both sides of the label to make sure its nicely stuck down.

Then just wait for it to dry.

Easy Peasy.

But there was nothing to make us actually put money into the jar. So when I found this pin yesterday I figured I should try it out.

The 52 week Challenge from Stuck at home mom. (click the picture to see her post)

I made my own version of the amounts to be deposited since I didn't think I would be able to swing the weeks where you are putting $50 in at a time. Remember that truck I mentioned?

So here's the one I made for myself:

{poor kid style}

And my take on the original version:

Click on the image to download either for yourself and join in the savings challenge!!

Friday Five and a Freebie!

Here we are together again with our Friday Five!

We have had a great week here at creative life designs!

1. I, Shannon, got to make this beautiful binder for a customer! It was so much fun and it turned out beautifully! Hopefully she has received it at her front door by now, so I will share a few photos of this beauty!

I just love those glorious tabs and how everything is so matchy-matchy *swoon*

(order your own home management binder at our etsy shop- click here)

2. I'm going home (to my hometown) for the weekend for my bestie's wedding! Bring on a weekend of  friends, fun, and pretty dresses!

3. Niki is trying something new with her hair. Actually, just the fact that she has hair to do something with is a big deal. We are thankful each day for her current good health! Waiting for hair to grow back is something so minor, people tend to forget that. 

4. Niki made it through a crazy week at work (school) with at least one person gone each day. In a special education classroom, that's a big deal!!

5. Niki's daughter Faith, got a new coat after the zipper went out on her old one. On sale, at our most favorite store ever. Target.

And as promised, here is your FREEBIE! A cleaning schedule to help you keep on track. It's blank so you can customize it to fit the needs of your family. We'd love for you to leave a comment ((maybe your favorite cleaning trick??)) if you download. 

Here's what mine looks like:

And here's yours:

Have a great weekend!

chemo brain

If you have been following our little blog for a while now, you already know that my sister-Niki (I'm Shannon) was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma on December 21, 2011. ((a little over a year ago!)) We then had the craziest year! Niki started {and finished} radiation and chemo therapy- yep, both in under a year. wow. She currently has good blood work and scans, but has not been given the "cancer free" all clear yet, but we are thankful for her current good health and keep our fingers crossed everyday.
 Anyway the moral of the post....one of the things that a lot of people talked about was "chemo brain". We are now serious believers. And I think I caught it too...maybe it rubbed off from her or the cancer center? Basically they say that you are just super forgetful and well for lack of a more intelligent word, spaztastic. okay, maybe that was a made up word. Either way, chemo brain is totally a real thing.

And so because of our collective chemo brain, we require a lot of to do lists and notes, and more lists, and checklists, and planners, and reminders....you get the idea. We're quite the situation. Presently I am carrying two planners around with me, and have been for a few weeks now. I know, real cool.

To demonstrate the severity of the situation, please enjoy these photos:

It is totally okay to obsessively plan your menu based on what is in the sale ads :) And then come home only to realize that you need an advanced degree to be crafty enough to fit everything into your tiny apartment freezer.

I have a weekly cleaning checklist- (like this one)

 And an overall cleaning checklist like this:

They are both stored in the home maintenance section of my home management binder but are referenced daily to keep me on track!

I also have a full page running to do list that I don't actually use that often now that I made these little cuties to keep with my planner.

It matches the theme of our new home management binder documents, but the bright theme works well with my bright yellow planner. I am in to lots of bright colors lately.

We have also been known to keep an arsenal of different sizes, shapes, and colors of post it notes.

Since Niki has little kidlets, she also gets to have special kid to do lists- I made these little cuties for her. They are just stuck to her fridge with magnets. easy peasy.

You may also notice that they match the new home management binder theme. That was not an accident. I planned that beauty. They will match the home management binder that Niki WILL be making. She is forced, but I know she will love it, so it's okay.

And since it also happens to be the beginning of the month, that means it's time to fill out all your calendars, planners, lists, etc. It makes me almost giddy. And because of the new year, it means a new wall calendar! woo-hoo! I made wall calendars for myself, my sister, and our mom this year. I think I did okay for my first time.

 A new calendar for my desk at school--

A brand new 2013 planner- I made a few changes from the one I made part way through last year, but it is essentially the same.  I have already found wonderful inspiration for next years- almost kicking myself for being so prompt and having mine done before I saw some of these other wonderful planners.

Jot down a few goals for the week--

Make plans and notes for the week---

In other completely unrelated news...this little cutie got added to my desk at school after Christmas (a gift from my mommy) I have never had a desk at work to display photos on, so why not go digital and have a ton of photos in one small space :)

And for you, in celebration of Niki's 1 year cancer anniversary: a bright shiny new to do list :)

  Just click the image to download your FREE copy from Dropbox. This download will be available for a limited time only, so grab yours today!

Have a great weekend everyone!

holiday planning

Today, we wanted to take some time to remind you of our super free printables to help you with your holiday planning. We know that the holidays can be a stressful time, and we want to do our best to help  where we can. And we created a few new printables for this year. These graphics came from a wonderful blog that I found awhile ago, and I cannot for the life of me remember what the blog was. So if you recognize her work, please let me know so I can link back to her site and give proper credit. And these are just absolutely adorable!!!!

update: links should be fixed, please try again!

Snag these on our free printables page 

And here are the new ones for this year. I hear them!!

{click here to download Christmas menu planner}

Click on each picture to download your FREE copy!

We hope you all have a great holiday season with family and friends!