14 Week Home Organization Challenge - Week 2 - Pantry

Week 2 is done!
We have a small pantry, and I meal plan weekly, so I don't have a lot of 'extra' in our pantry. I thought this would be a super easy week for me. A little wiping down and rearranging, and I would be done. I was wrong. The layout of everything in my pantry was totally fine, and everything worked great where it was, but I think there is always room for improvement. So I improved.
I wiped all the shelves down. Let me tell you...they were dirty! I wipe them down occasionally, but they really collected a lot of dust, especially the bottom ones.  And the shelf where my spice basket is. Thankfully, it is all sparkling now! :)

Here is my before...

I started with re-labeling all my spices. I've had to replace a few recently, and didn't put labels on them yet. I also changed the pink ones to green so they all match :)
I know I've shared this before, but I think it is one of my favorite organized pantry items.
I forgot to get an after pic, but I'm sure you can imagine what it looks like!

Here are all my shelves after some cleaning and rearranging:

I even busted out the label maker!!

 I only made a *little* mess. What else is an empty island countertop for??? Thankfully it all got cleaned up right away, and the counter is back to new!

 Week 3 is all about the dining area. I snapped this real quick while I was typing up this post. I don't have a lot in this room, but I'm sure I will find a way to make it better.

You can see the full challenge here: (I will update as I go!)
Week 1 - Kitchen
THIS IS WEEK 2 :)
Week 3 - Dining Room
Week 4 & 5 - Launch Pad & Living Room
Week 6 - Master Bedroom
7 - Master Closet
Week 8 - Kid's Closet
Week 9 - Linen Closet
Week 10 - Bathrooms
Week 11 - Office
Week 12 - Playroom
Week 13 - Laundry Room
Week 14 - Garage/Car

Come visit me and let me know how your challenge is going!
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14 Week Home Organization Challenge - Week 1 - Kitchen

I am so happy to share this post today! For the last few years, I have been participating in the 14 Week Home Organization Challenge with A Bowl Full of Lemons. As soon as I see the posts coming up, I get so excited and ready to start! This year, the creator of A Bowl Full of Lemons released a book to accompany the challenge! My heart is happy. I got my copy in the mail just in time for Week 1 to begin!

The challenge starts with the kitchen - purging and organizing the cabinets. While I try to stay on top of this throughout the year, there is nothing like a good challenge to motivate me to do just a little more!
 Here are my  'Before' photos:

This is an after before...I got rid of about 8 cookbooks before I took this photo!

Our fridge has gotten a little crazy!

And the after!

SO much better!!

I even added some contact paper to the top to help with cleanup!

I got rid of about 10 sippy cups from this cabinet! It's so much nicer to open now!

 The next two photo are my two favorite cabintes now, I think. I was able to get rid of enough cookbooks, and make space to have all my Rachael Ray ones in the same place as the others. I always forgot about them in the other cabinet. And now, the baking/spice cabinet is able to be organized so much better. Aaahhhhh!!

 If you are participating in this challenge, I would love to see your Before/Afters!

Next week, the focus is on the pantry!! Here is a sneak peek of my before! :D

You can see the full challenge here: (I will update as I go!)
THIS IS WEEK 1 :)
Week 2 - Pantry
Week 3 - Dining Room
Week 4 & 5 - Launch Pad & Living Room
Week 6 - Master Bedroom
Week 7 - Master Closet
Week 8 - Kid's Closet
Week 9 - Linen Closet
Week 10 - Bathrooms
Week 11 - Office
Week 12 - Playroom
Week 13 - Laundry Room
Week 14 - Garage/Car


Come visit me and share your progress!
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Makeup Brushes- A Cleaning How-to!

    A few days ago, I was reading an article about cleaning your makeup brushes. This got me thinking and I realized I haven't cleaned my make-up brushes in a while. Like a LONG whle. I don't know why, but this is not something that I often think of doing. When I do decide to clean them, it's always in the middle of the day, I end up needing them later in the day, and they ALL get washed at once, so they are all wet. So, to make it easy, I just put it off until the next day. And the next...You get the picture!
    Anyways...not cleaning your makeup brushes means all kinds of gross stuff (bacteria!!) is hiding inside! Not to mention all the makeup that doesn't go on your face! This means every time you change color, there is still some of the last color left behind. This results in the color you want not coming out right! I have been noticing my pinks just aren't the right shade. And when I use my bronzer, the color is much more intense.
    Not any more!!
Here is a photo of my brushes before their bath! These two were the last ones I cleaned, and they are the least used, so they don't appear to be too dirty and gross!

   First, I got a plastic cup that I could throw away, just in case they got messy! Then I grabbed the baby's shampoo. It is a mild soap, so it won't cause any skin irritations! I squirted just a little in the bottom of the cup, and added some warm water. You don't want to add too much water, just enough to cover the brush part. Getting the metal wet could cause rust and the glue to separate and ruin your brush!
   I swirled the brushes around (one at a time) in the soapy water. Once I started doing this, I saw just how dirty my brushes were! Even the ones that I thought were relatively clean! This is the water from the "cleanest" one! Notice earlier how I said they didn't {appear} to be too dirty and gross!

 

 

And a little dirtier one!
   I kept dumping the dirty water out and adding clean warm water (no more soap, enough was still in the brush!) until it started to beocme clear. Then, rinse the brush in warm water. Make sure to press all the excess water out and get the brush back to its natural shape. Lay them flat on a towel to dry! That's it! So easy! I even did them at night, when I knew I wouldn't need them soon, so they could dry in peace. Here they are, all clean and happy! They are so much softer, too!

I am definitely going to stay on top of cleaning these guys every few weeks. Makeup brushes can get expensive, so it is good to take care of them!