Out with the Old – In with the New

 I realize I haven’t blogged since before Christmas.  I’ve wanted to, but have just been so crazy busy lately that I haven’t had a second to spare.  But I just can’t hold out any longer. I was starting to get Blog Withdrawls! 

Not Good!

One of the reasons I’ve been so busy is because I have this habit of starting my Spring Cleaning early.  The Moment I come home from being away for Christmas, I start going to town.  I first find a spot for all of my new gifts and then I start organizing every nook and cranny of my home.

It goes with my theory:

{ for every New item you bring into your home, You need to get rid of something old } 

 So when putting away new clothes, it turns into cleaning out my closet and drawers. When putting away my boy’s new toys, I first get rid of some that they don’t play with anymore….  and be very discrete about it!

etc. etc. etc.

It’s a lot of work but it feels so good to get rid of stuff.  I have boxes in the garage, I’m still deciding if I want to donate it all or hold on to it for a big spring yard sale.

I still have a lot of work to do,  but I’ve made a lot of progress. Plus, I’ve also been busy taking down all of my Christmas decorations,  which I also organize first. Every year I end up with new decorations, so I also get rid of some of the old ones before I put it all away.  I’m sure this may be hard for some people to do,  we tend to want to hold on to those Christmas memories.

I’m sure I’ll be posting more about all of my organizing but first I thought I’d share some of my Christmas Presents.  I got a lot of great thoughtful gifts this year and thought I’d share a few favorites. 

 First I got these beautiful bird printed flour sack Towels.  I love them. They are really big,  I could and may even turn them into throw pillows.

And then Liam made me this calendar in kindergarten,  which I Love Love!  I already have it filled up with birthdays and holidays for this coming year.

 What girl doesn’t love Jewelry and Gift Cards, Right!

 This was an Awesome Gift to get.  It was from my Sister as a White Elephant gift.

She put together this All Natural Cleaning basket,  which included homemade surface cleaner with a instruction card of how to make it.  She also put together a list of other home made natural cleaner recipes.  I’ll have to remember this one for next year, could make great neighbor gifts.

Jake’s grandpa is an artist and he painted us this beautiful blue morning glory painting.

We are getting quite the collection from him.  I’m thinking of grouping them all together and displaying them on my fireplace this spring.

I got tons of new Clothes.  Here is one of my favorites.  My Mother in Law buys me the cutest clothes,  All of my friends and sisters are always so jealous!

This gift from my mom is really sweet.  Of course is was packaged up all pretty …well at least it was before I tried to wrap it all back up.

She had put together these jars full of spices. There’s a nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla sugar (that she says took weeks to make).  They go into this cute wire carrier.

The picture is of my Great Grandparents,  it’s actually a card that opens up with a little geneology and information on my Great Grandmother.

On the back of the card is a pocket that holds a Cherished family recipe.  The recipe calls for some of the spices I now have in bulk.

Beautiful!

Thank you everyone for my lovely gifts!

And then as I’m taking down my Christmas Decorations,  and organizing the heck out of my home.  I decided to re arrange the living room.

so I moved the couch from in front of the fireplace, back to the other side of the room.

It was fun to have it there for a change,  but it definitely looks better now.

Do you think I have a Throw Pillow Problem? 

I think you can never have too many pillows.

Abby has claimed her new spot.

And Then I switched up my shelves.  Took out the Christmas and brought in a more springy look.

I made me a little Terrarium out of a big jar and a plant I had. 

ok, now back to organizing!

I want to thank everyone who has stopped by from All free holiday crafts who is featuring my Christmas Card Gift Boxes.

Happy New Year!