Camper Housewarming Gift

Question for you. WHAT do you give your sister and brother-in-law when they get a new camper? 
A Camper Housewarming Gift, of course! (or should I say a camperwarming gift?)

And just WHAT might that be, you ask? 
Well...I have a few ideas, take a look.

(This post contains affiliate links to help you locate products.  All opinions are 100% my own.  No product was given to me.)

As you know, storage space is tight in a camper...so why not give collapsible kitchen gifts that can be stored easily when not in use? 
Collapsible Measuring Cups and Nesting Measuring Spoons  are perfect for cooking. 
Mini Cutting Board Set with Knife will be used often. 
Mini Collapsible Colander and Strainer is the perfect size for rinsing fresh berries, vegetables and even pasta.
Come to think of it...these gifts would be perfect in any home, not just small spaces.

I used one small, plastic bin with tissue paper to hold and package the items. (Bin found at the Dollar Store.)

Print out this sweet tag on cardstock.
Click here to print your own Camper Sweet Camper tag.

Place all the items in the bin and tie on the tag with ribbon.
Hand deliver.

Here's some more great collapsible items for any home.









Here's some more housewarming ideas.
Summer Housewarming Gift with printable tag



Home Sweet Home Housewarming Gift with printable tag.

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Summer Housewarming Gift Idea

Housewarming gifts are always fun to give!  Not only do you get to tour a home when you deliver the gifts, you get to join in the excitement of friends moving into a new place. 

I've got a summer-loving, housewarming gift idea for you...that just happens to be in my favorite colors. (This post contains affiliate links.)

This showy gift couldn't be simpler. 
Purchase, assemble and tie on a printable tag.  Done!
Take a look.

First, find a great basket.  I always look for baskets on sale or at garage sales and thrift stores.  Give them a good cleaning (wash down, spray with Lysol and air dry) then they're ready to be filled.

Next, select items to fill the basket.

Our friends had just purchased a home near the beach. 
I chose 2 fluffy, turquoise beach towels to go with a plastic, turquoise pitcher and cups.  Perfect for summer entertaining.

I purchased my products here and here.
Here's some more great turquoise options found on Amazon

Using white tissue paper , arrange products in basket, stuffing tissue paper around and in the products.

Now, click here to print the tags.
Print in landscape mode on cardstock.



I used colored cardstock to back the tag along with an eyelet and turquoise ribbon to finish it off.

Tie on the tag with a simple ribbon.

Hand deliver to your friends and enjoy that home tour!

Here's another housewarming gift idea and printable for you.
Click here.

Linking up to TatertotsandJelloLinkPartyPalooza,

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Organizing a Pantry with Chalkboard labels

So we moved.  Click here if you missed that craziness.

The pantry in our new home was one of those 'pull your hair out' type spaces!  It was an average size, but laid out terribly!  The shelves were deep and wide, but there weren't very many!  We spent the first few weeks in this house digging through bins and shelves trying to find things, but most of the stuff just stayed on the floor.  (So glad I didn't get a picture of that!)

   
Before                                      After


To use the space more effectively, we decided to double up the shelf space.  AH (Awesome Husband) cut white laminate shelves to fit.  My DAD (Do Anything Dad) showed me how to iron on laminate edging. (That iron on edging is pretty spiffy!)  Now, I had shelves I could work with!

The first thing I did was organize my food items into categories, then, I divided my space into sections based on those categories.  I needed a fool-proof system that would work for my whole family.
(I didn't want to be the only one cooking or putting groceries away!)
Using plastic bins I already owned I loaded up my multiple food items and started arranging. (I forced myself to NOT go out and buy rustic baskets...maybe someday?)

    

I had quite a few old, white Sterlite bins lying around, so I used them all and added chalkboard tags with twine.  I found the tags at Michaels.  Small items that I had multiples of, went in the white bins. 

Things like drink mixes, jello, cocoa, spice packets, popcorn, Top Ramen and even dark chocolate!  I'm sure you have a dark chocolate bin in your home, don't you? What?  You don't?  Well, you're missing out...on a few hundred calories, that is!

My pantry is always changing.  New foods come in, old foods get eaten, products change, recipes change, new eating patterns emerge depending on the season...hopefully healthier habits as the season changes.
That's the beauty of a 'chalkboard' pantry.  All labels can be wiped clean and re-labeled when needed.  Got to love the flexibility of that!

I quickly ran out of white bins, so I used some leftover blue IKEA bins that I had.  Cookie cutters and sprinkles needed their own bin, so did some of the snacks for the kid's lunches! 

 

I also labeled the laminate shelves. 


This was easy to do using  Self-Adhesive Chalkboard Liner. 
You can cut the vinyl into any sized shape you need.  
















I used this Chalk Ink Marker to write on the tags.
  


The majority of my food items are for baking. (Apparently, I would much rather make brownies, cakes and sugar cookies, than dinner?!  All with dark chocolate of course.)

Storage of bulk items:
Because of the high ceilings, I can go as tall as I can reach on my handy step ladder. Costco size boxes of dry cereal and fondue pots are being housed here currently.
Storage of crockpots on the bottom.

Health Supplies:

One important item we keep in our pantry is throat lozenges.  I keep cough drops and Airborne drink mixes in a container labeled health.  This allows any member of the family who has a sore throat, to take a few cough drops with them throughout the day. 

Meal Planning:

On the side wall of the pantry, I hung our chalkboard frame.  It's the perfect spot to write our meals for the week.  This not only helps me with the planning, but allows the kids to know ahead of time what dinner will be. (You know, so they can decide to eat at a friend's home because we're having something repulsive? That doesn't happen at your house, does it?)

So there you have it...Our Organized Pantry. 

Now, about those rustic baskets I've been dreaming about... like these Storage Baskets and these Lined Baskets and these Locker Style Storage Baskets.  A girl can dream, right?

Linking up to: BloomLovelyLittleLinkParty, ReasonstoSkiptheHousework,

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The Crazy Part of Moving

Hello Friends!  I've been a bit 'occupied' lately.
When things get crazy, blogging is the first thing to go...hence the reason why you haven't seen me in awhile.

So, what have I been doing?  Oh, just a few little things...

Packing, cleaning, moving, unpacking, organizing, rearranging, shopping, painting, more rearranging, decorating, entertaining, volunteering, ...oh, and a little vacation in there--just to name a few small things.

We moved from our home of 16 years to a new home closer to the kids' school. We're saving so much time on our commute, that I'm wondering why we didn't move sooner.  We are LOVING the new location...Lake Washington is right down the street from us!

 

 

And (of course) living in a brand new home is wonderful! It's so clean and fresh, that I'm paranoid to make a mark on the walls!  Yikes!  (I've already had to get out the touch up paint.)

Besides the normal craziness of moving, the hardest part for me has been re-establishing all the everyday routines.  We had smooth, organized systems happening in our old home and now, not so much...yet.
 
For instance, where should we hang our coats and leave our shoes when we walk in?  Where should the lunchboxes go and the backpacks and the car keys?  What about the mail and the papers from school?  Where will we post the calendars and the important dates?  Where will the dirty clothes go and the cleaning supplies and the extra toilet paper and the tissue boxes?  Why doesn't this house have a linen closet?  Which side of the sink should we stack the dishes and where are we putting the scrub brushes and the chip clips (those are important!).  Where will all the DVD's go and the books--there's no built-in shelves!  ...And where in the world should we put the grocery sacks and why don't the Ziploc bags fit in the drawers?  (I think you get the picture.)

The amount of energy it takes to re-organize a house and then re-train the family members has been quite exhausting.  It's coming...but slowly. 

AH (awesome hubby) has been a bit confused as I organize the kitchen one way and then he comes home the next day to find things have moved.  Apparently, it takes me awhile to process the best spots for all our gear?  (You have to have the potholders close to the oven, but what do you do when you have two ovens far away from each other?  Two drawers of potholders?  Or one in the middle not next to either oven?  Really?  Who knew I could waste so much thought over potholders?  And then there's the issue of where to put the drinking glasses when you have two sinks and a water dispensing fridge on the opposite side of the kitchen...)  Please don't think I'm complaining about the kitchen--I LOVE the kitchen...it sparkles!

Determining 'designated spots' is time consuming, especially because I want to make sure the systems are efficient. This house is a little bigger than our old home, but it doesn't have the storage space that we're used to.  This has forced me to get rid of excess and only keep the things we love and use.  A new house has also given me a clean slate to organize and decorate.  (You can imagine that I'm loving that part!)  I hope to share some of the organization projects that have kept me so busy and give you a tour, so please come back and visit!

By the way, it's nice to be blogging again.  I've missed you! 

 

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