Give your Bedroom a Spring Cleaning

Cleaning up for Springtime
Guest Post by Leesa Content Team

Springtime is finally here and I think we all know what that means. Spring cleaning! If you’re anything like me, you have a long list of things to do around the house, but the best place to start is the bedroom. Believe me, if your sleep space is organized and clean, it’ll put you in the spring mood and motivate you to clean the rest of your home! Here are a few tips to help you conquer spring cleaning and redecorating your bedroom.

Out with the old and in with the new

One great way to get your bedroom ready for spring is to get rid of  things you don’t need anymore. That includes clothes, shoes, jewelry, old furniture, desk supplies, etc. If you haven’t touched it in months (with exclusion to seasonal items) it’s time for it to go. Clearing out some clutter will help make you feel lighter and your room feel more open.

Time for a change

Springtime is the perfect time to change out those flannel sheets, heavy blankets, and old mattresses. It’s always a good idea to change up your bedding this time of year with something lighter in both color and weight. If you’re interested in some new bedding and sheets check out Parachute for some great options. But if you’re going as far as changing your whole mattress, check out Leesa for Awesome mattresses online.

Wash your pillows

Most people forget this step, but washing your pillows is super important this time of year. If your type of pillow allows, throw them in the wash once with soap and another with just a water spin cycle, just to make sure all the soap is out. Then throw them in the dryer with a few tennis balls to help keep them the fibers from clumping. This helps get all those indoor allergens and dust mites out.

Flower decor

April showers bring May flowers, but that doesn’t mean they need to stay outside. Flowers and other greenery are a great way to spruce up your room decor for spring. Whether they are real, fake, in a picture, or even on your bedding, they will definitely put you in the spring mood!

Switch out your curtains & open the windows

In the winter, most people keep their blinds shut and their windows closed, but since the sun is out, why not open the windows? Letting some fresh air in is always beneficial and changing out your curtains for something lighter and sheer is helpful to keep the sun coming in. Also, make sure you have some blinds for when you want to block out the sun and get some sleep in the morning.

These are just a few ways you can help change things up for this time of year, but there are so many other things you can do.

What ways do you revamp your bedroom for spring?

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The below content is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur’s Headfirst! Expert Advice on Lice campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

Did you know that at any point, one to three percent of children in elementary school may have head lice? During an outbreak, that number may be as high as 25 percent. As the school year begins, turn to ExpertAdviceOnLice.com for tools and tips on finding, treating, and talking about lice. The Headfirst! Expert panel has the information to arm all parents should they have to battle head lice!

Lap Chalkboard - DIY Chalkboard out of a Cookie Sheet

I participated in the Grow.Swap.Share Blog Swap last week and posted this fun craft on Create.Craft.Love. I thought I would share it with all of you, my wonderful readers this week. Enjoy!

First of all I want to to thank Jill for honoring me by allowing me to write a post for her wonderful blog Create.Craft.Love! I can see that she has many great ideas and I will definitely have to try some of her wonderful crafts!

I'm Randomly Fascinated from Domestic Randomness. I am a new mom to Little Man who is 6 months old. At Domestic Randomness you can find me sharing my thoughts on all sorts of domestic topics. I have recently been writing a series comparing major diaper brands. I also like to discuss Baby Topics, Recipes, Saving Money, Wedding Topics, Swagbucks, and other Random Thoughts. Please feel free to come visit me and let me know what you think of my random thoughts!

I have seen several projects floating around the web that use chalkboard paint and they have intrigued me. I have thought of several ideas including possibly making a small chalkboard on Little Man's wall (I love that idea, but it really doesn't match his decor) or making one out of a picture frame or mirror. So the idea of making something with chalkboard paint has been ruminating in the back of my mind for a while now. When I saw that my blog swap partner was Create.Craft.Love I knew it was time to whip up my first craft post. The idea of chalkboard paint came back to me again, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. I wanted it to be something that my family would use, not just something that I made because I liked the idea. This idea came to me late one night as I was trying to fall asleep (Why do the best ideas always come to me then? Good thing I keep a pad of paper by my bed to write them down). I had also seen a cool idea for some fun picture magnets which I wanted to try so I decided to combine the two and make a small magnetic chalkboard. I had an old grungy gross cookie sheet that I thought would be perfect for this project. I was originally going to show you the fun picture magnets in this post too, but I discovered that that would be a massive post so I split it into two separate posts so keep an eye out on my blog for the Fun Photo Magnet Post!

Anyways here it is, how to make a Chalkboard Tray.

Materials

• Cookie Sheet (old and grungy works fine, new would work fine too, if you don't have one that you want to use, Dollar Tree has some for $1)

• Spray paint (any color, this is for the sides) I used rustoleum (mostly because it was free because my parents had it sitting around their garage, but also because I thought it would adhere well to my old grungy pan)

• Chalkboard paint (I used spray paint, they also have it in cans if you like to roll on paint) I had quite an adventure tying to find this paint. I had checked to see if they had it at Walmart around a month ago and they did, but I didn't buy it because I was trying to be good and not buy it when I didn't have a need for it right then. Well apparently sometime in the last month Walmart decided to stop carrying chalkboard paint. So I checked JoAnns, Hobby Lobby, Lowes and Michaels. I didn't see it at Hobby Lobby. I found it at the other 3 stores, but I wasn't willing to pay the $7.99 JoAnns was asking and Lowes only had it in cans and I didn't feel like dealing with a brush or roller. I ended up buying it at Michael's. They had it for $7.49 (I think) and I used a 40% off coupon from JoAnns (which I had forgotten about when I was at JoAnns or I would have used it there) which took $3 off so I got it for $4.49!

• Newspaper or tarp to put under the sheet while spray painting

Directions:

My old grungy pan

Prep your area, I suggest doing this outside because of fumes and mess

Spray on your base coat

The center does not need to be as well covered since we will be spraying the chalkboard paint there. Wait for a while for first coat to dry (at least 30-60 min)I did have some trouble with newspaper sticking to it, so if you are not time crunched I would wait a little longer, maybe do one side one day and the other side another day.

Flip over and spray the other side.
Wait while drying again.

I did 2 coats on the bottom and 3 coats on the top (it just looked like it needed it).




Let dry overnight.

Do the front side of the pan (the side that dips in) first!

Cover edges with painters tape. One thing I learned is that if you wrinkle the tape at all the paint will bleed down into it, so make sure you tear your strips small enough that you don't have to wrinkle them around the corners. Also make sure that you press down around the edges so they are tight against the pan, because again, the paint will bleed in any small crack.

Spray on chalkboard paint. Let dry for a while. Since this is just in the center, not around the edges, you only need to wait 30-60 min.

Spray again. I did 3 coats on each side (The Bottle said 2 was needed, but I did 3 just to be safe) Let it dry in between each coat.

Peel the tape off.

Flip over and do the other side.

 This is the front side done.

 This is the back side done

The bottle said to cover the whole chalkboard in chalk and then wipe it off to break it in.

The great thing about these chalkboards is that cleanup is easy, just rinse with water (no soap needed)!

 You can use it to write messages

It would be great for kids to play games in the car.

Or make a street for toy cars (look at my Fun Photo Magnets for some magnet car toys)



It would also be great for snacks and in the car because it has edges and super easy clean up. Very Versatile!

I plan to use it as a sign for my sister's coffee themed bridal shower

It could also be used to tell the family what is for dinner

Or as a try to distinguish what is in different dishes







What would you use it for?


Thank you again to Jill and to her wonderful readers! I am very grateful to you for allowing me to post my random thoughts on you blog! I can't wait to see what she has for us next!

I hope that you enjoyed my craft! I would love it if you would stop by and visit me at Domestic Randomness. If you want to stay a while you can subscribe by email, RSS feed, Google Friend Connect, pinterest, or facebook.


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Guest Post: Glass Etched Lemonade Pitcher

Hi Everyone! Just Wanted to let you know that I am participating in the Grow.Swap.Share Blog Swap today. You can find my post about a DIY Chalkboard Tray over on Jill's blog Create.Craft.Love. But for now check out this awesome Glass Etched Lemonade Pitcher that Jill has so graciously shared with us!



Hi everybody!  Big thanks to Randomly Fascinated for having me guest post today!  A little about me...

My name is Jill and I blog over at Create.Craft.Love.  I am a working mother and wife who finds comfort and solace in creating.  

I have a great summer tutorial for you today!  What do you make when life hands you lemons??

Some lemonade!  Or in this case, a lemonade pitcher!

I found this awesome glass pitcher at Hobby Lobby - ON CLEARANCE!  I've been wanting to glass etch a pitcher for cookouts and such but couldn't justify spending $25 - $30 on the pitcher.  {Especially since my Little Guy would probably break it anyway!}  So when I spotted this, I knew I could finally do it!

 Here's what you need:
Cameo
Vinyl stencil
Armour Glass Etch
Sponge brush
Glass pitcher

Glass etching is SUPER easy!  I used my Cameo to cut out a vinyl stencil for the pitcher.

My pitcher was 3.5 inches wide by 11 inches tall.  So I made sure to keep the font and picture within those limits.  I chose Bodoni MT for the font.  And the cheery, fresh lemon image is Dear Lizzy Lemons C00023_27175.

Once the vinyl was cut, I carefully removed all the letters and the inside of the lemon with my Silhouette hook.

Carefully, detach the vinyl from the backing and place on the pitcher.  (You can move the "middles" once you have the rest of it well-placed.)

Some of the middles have been replaced and some have not.

Make sure you get all the bubbles out of the vinyl so the Armour Etch doesn't bleed into areas other than that which you want to stencil.

Glop on the Armour Etch.  I usually let mine sit for about ten minutes after it has been applied.

After it has sat for ten minutes, rinse off the etching cream under warm water.  (It will look like it didn't work until you take off the stencil.)

Dry thoroughly so the etching shows up well and that's it!

I took some pictures with lemonade in the pitcher but you couldn't see the etching.  Looks refreshing though!

Before you even ask, I do not have a special lemonade recipe.  This is just Crystal Light!!  =)
Does anyone have a good homemade lemonade recipe?  I would love to hear it!

Thanks so much to Randomly Fascinated for letting me post today!  I have really enjoyed the Grow.Swap.Share. Blog Swap!  Hope you stop by Create.Craft.Love. for a visit!

Thanks Jill for such a great idea, I think I need to try out this glass etching stuff!

Absolutely Delicious Granola Bars

I posted this over at Mamal Diane a week ago and I thought I would share it here with you now!

First of all I want to to thank Diane for honoring me by allowing me to write a post for her wonderful blog! I can see that she has many great ideas and I will definitely have to take my time looking around and trying out some of her fabulous recipes and tips!

I'm Randomly Fascinated from Domestic Randomness. I am a new mom to My Little Guy who is almost 6 months old. At Domestic Randomness you can find me sharing my thoughts on all sorts of domestic topics. I have recently been writing a series comparing major diaper brands. I also like to discuss Recipes, Saving Money, Wedding Topics, Swagbucks, and other Random Thoughts. Please feel free to come visit me and let me know what you think of my random thoughts!

Anyways, on to the actual post :)

Absolutely Delicious Granola Bars

I asked my husband how he would describe these granola bars and he said "absolutely delicious". I said "No, I mean what should the title be?" And he said "absolutely delicious granola bars, that's what they are". So here it is just for you, my absolutely delicious granola bars.

I do not know the origins of this granola bar recipe. I got the basic idea from my aunt years ago, I think that she got it from some cookbook somewhere, but  I don't know what book it was so I'm sorry to the original author, I can't give you credit for the idea because I don't know who you are. I have adapted this recipe pretty liberally so I guess it is mine now.

This recipe is tripled because my husband and I LOVE these granola bars and if I made a small batch they are gone in just a few days and I would have to be making more constantly. If you would like to make a normal amount of granola bars simply divide the #s by 3. These measurements are not exact. Those of you who follow my blog know that I tend to just throw things in and not worry about exactness. As a courtesy to Mamal Diane's readers I tried to measure before I threw things in :)

Ingredients:
3 cups Peanut Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup Honey

1 1/2 cup corn syrup

4 cups oats

7 cups cereal (almost any rice or crunchy cereal will work, I generally use the leftovers at the bottom of the boxes, in whatever types I have on hand)

2 cups dried cranberries (any dried fruit will work, I used to use raisins but found that I prefer cranberries, I love the tart taste with the sweet granola bars)

2 cups peanuts (or any type nuts, if using larger nuts chop them in smaller pieces)

1/2 cup chocolate chips (whatever type you like best works, I used a smaller amount because I am not super into chocolate, but chocolate lovers can feel free to add more :)

Any other add ins you think would taste good in these. Some things I have tried - other nuts, seeds, other dried fruit, protein powder, fiber powder, wheat germ, flax seed etc.

In a large (if using triple recipe, then a very, very large bowl, I used a roasting pan because I didn't have anything else big enough) mix together oats, cereal, cranberries, peanuts, and any other dry add ins you want.

I used grape-nuts flakes, corn flakes, honey roasted honey bunches of oats, and wheaties for the cereals

Put peanut butter, brown sugar, honey, and corn syrup in a large glass (microwaveable) bowl. Microwave on high for several minutes (sorry I forgot to take note of time) until corn syrup is boiling.

Mix together.

 Pour over dry mixture. (Be careful not to burn yourself on the bowl or mixture, both are very hot!)

 Mix together.

Pour on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Wet hands. (helps mixture not stick to hands) Press mixture into an approximately square shape.

Freeze (this helps the sauce set faster, if you don't mind waiting you could let it sit out or put in fridge)

After fully cooled take out of freezer and cut into squares

Store in airtight container. I like to store them in the freezer or fridge because I like them cool.

One of the things I love about this recipe is that it is so versatile. You can adapt it almost any way you want and it will still turn out fabulous as long as you use something sticky in the sauce. I haven't tried it but I think you could probably use maple syrup also, or just use all honey and skip the corn syrup. You can use almost any add ins that sound yummy to you as long as they are in small enough pieces to mix in well. I think every batch of granola bars that I make is different, but so far they have all been great!

Thank you again to Mamal Diane and to her wonderful readers! I am very grateful to you for allowing me to post my random thoughts on your blog! I can't wait to see what Diane has for us next!

I hope that you enjoyed my recipe! I would love it if you would come stop by and visit me at Domestic Randomness. If you want to stay a while you can subscribe by email, RSS feed, or Google Friend Connect.

Linked Up To:
Women Living Well, Serendipity and Spice, A Pinch of Joy, Frugal Girls, Nap Time Crafters, Mom on Timeout, Growing Home, While He Was Napping, Clean and Scentsible, Uncommon, Addicted to Recipes, Simply Klassic Home, Cornerstone Confessions, Summer BBQ Party,

Guest Post - Bacon Meatballs

Today is the day that I am trading Guest Posts with Mamal Diane. Enjoy her Delicious recipe and hop over to her blog to check out my post!


Hi my name is Diane from Mamal Diane ~ keeping it simple. I am trying to live a more natural simple life. I like to share recipes, gardening tips, frugal ideas, , and of course brag about my grand kids. Stop over and visit sometime. Thank you Randomly Fascinated for letting me be a guest host and share my recipe with you and your followers.

Today I want to share a recipe for Bacon Meatballs (adapted from Cuisine for less). It's a great recipe to make in bulk, the meatballs freeze well.   

You'll need:  
6 strips bacon, diced  
1/2 cup diced onion  
3 cloves minced garlic  
1 1/2 pound ground beef chuck  
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs  
3 Tbsp minced fresh parsley  
1 tsp paprika  
1 tsp sea salt  
1 tsp black pepper  
2 eggs beaten

Preheat the oven 400 F.

Coat a broiler pan with oil.


Brown diced bacon in a fry pan until starting to crisp.


Remove and drain on paper towel.


Pour off all but 1 Tbsp bacon fat. Saute onion in same skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes, add garlic cook 1 minute.


Combine ground meat, bacon with onion and garlic in a large bowl.


Add bread crumbs


Add fresh minced parsley.


Add paprika, salt and pepper.


In a small bowl beat 2 eggs. That's my cooking partner Katie she's 3 1/2 and loves to help her Mamal with anything and everthing.


Add eggs to beef mixture.


Mix. Form into 1 1/2 inch meat balls. Lay on broiler pan.


Bake meatballs until fully cooked about 12 - 14 minutes.


You can make a double batch and always have meatballs on hand. Just freeze on a baking sheet then transfer into a container or plastic bag. Freeze until you need them. Nice to have on hand for an easy meal.

I want to thank Randomly Fascinated for giving me the opportunity to guest host on her blog. I can't wait to see what Mrs. Random has for us next on Domestic Randomness. Stop by Mamal Diane and visit, maybe check out a recipe or two. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter. Have a wonderful day :)