I'm Lovin' It - Kitchen Pantry Makeover

Welcome to the Party!!

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I'm such a sucker for a good makeover AND good organization!

When I saw Shelley's amazing pantry makeover it was instantly love at first sight!

I read EVERY single word, just soaking it all in. You see, not only did Shelley do a beautiful transformation with her pantry, but she shares almost EVERY last detail of what she did, how she did it, where she got it and how she uses it!!

She used this small tin, from IKEA for about $2.00... to hold all of her spice packets.

{Love this tip}

*Keep things you use OFTEN at eye level, for easy use!

Shelley says the things you use EVERYDAY should be easy to access.

Try to label things and make sure that it all makes sense.

If you have noodles in one area... then your sauce should be it's sidekick! :)

She suggests that you keep heavy, less used, clutter prone items down low.
Aren't these boxes GREAT?! ♥

Things like her large bottle of oil, vinegars, soy sauce, season salt... and such are stored low, and hidden.

The quatrefoil design-----incredible don't you think?! ♥

Need great vinyl labels for your pantry?

You're in luck! Shelley sells them here

I LOVE that she shows us that........

"things will stay in their place,
and your pantry will turn into a space that can FUNCTION
instead of a place you put food 'n JUNK IN."

Be sure to pop over to House of Smith's to see everything Shelley did with her pantry! While you're there, browse around for a while, you will fall in love with all of her ideas like I did!!

Thanks for letting me share Shelley!!

NOTICE: Be sure to check back in here at TidyMom on Monday for a huge giveaway I'll be announcing!

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Now it’s your turn, let us know what you’re lovin' this week! If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link below.

What is I'm Lovin' It Fridays? get all the info, how to's and button here

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Bridget {Bake at 350} comes to St. Louis!

*WARNING......this post is long!*

For all two of you who live under a rock don't know who Bridget is, she writes a fantastic baking blog called Bake at 350 and recently started up a video tutorial site called University of Cookie. She's a wonderful mom and wife and one wicked cookie decorator!!........and she is just as fabulous as I had imagined her being!

We finally got to meet in person!! Can you believe it? After more than a year and a half of emailing, tweeting, texting and phone calls, Bridget and I finally got to meet when she came to visit with me last Thursday and Friday.

I will admit, I felt like a stalker when I spotted a cute curly red haired girl in the air port and jumped up and hugged her.

We chatted, we laughed, we shopped, it was like we've been friends since childhood. Bridget was even MORE fabulous than I had imagined! We just clicked.....at least I think we did......I sure hope Bridget feels the same way ;-)

We spent SO much time enjoying each other's company, we did not take many pictures.

It was HOT here in St. Louis. The temps were in the upper 90's with heat index over 100. Luckily Bridget is used to that kind of summer heat in Houston.

Thursday after we left the airport we headed to Forest Park, it was WAY to hot to visit the zoo, but we had a wonderful lunch at The Boat House and made a quick stop at the Jewel Box on our way out.

Check out Bridget on the bottom left.....she's taking pictures too!



Thursday evening we spent at my house eating my Three Cheese Baked Mostaccioli with my crazy family. (I was trying to fatten her up while she was here because it quickly became obvious WHO eats more cookies!)

Seriously, I'm surprised that evening she didn't ask me to just take her back to the air port! My family felt so comfortable with her, they held nothing back!

I eventually took her back to her hotel room so she could get some peace! lol

Our blogging/twitter buddy, Ann Marie downloaded the flat friend files Cathe Holden made and sent a flat version of herself so she could join in on the fun!!

Ann Marie stayed with Bridget in the hotel, where she drank all of the coffee and enjoyed antiquing with us!





Back in May, you may remember, I was nominated over at i am mommy for "Best Overall Blog" and I won!! As a prize, Amanda sent me $50 cash!

Well, I promised to spend a day using the $50 to perform Random Acts of Kindness and thought it would be fun to do with Bridget!

Friday we spent part of our afternoon paying for people's groceries and lunch. It was fun and felt good! People were genuinely surprised, shocked, even embarrassed, but very grateful!!

When I paid for lunch for the ladies pictured below, one lady asked "Has the heat gone to your head?" We laughed and laughed......they even came over and gave us a big hug after they got their food.



My husband was SO excited that Bridget wanted to see his cats!! He volunteers at a wildlife center where he handles their tigers. Bridget quickly made friends with Leo the 700 pound African Lion!! She also got to feed chicken to the tigers. (we got that on video, but have not had time to work on that yet)



We did not have time to bake together, but Bridget made me some BEAUTIFUL cookies. You should read her tip about how she colored the sanding sugar, and made business connections on her flight while editing her pictures!



and of course, I made cupcakes for her. Unfortunately cupcakes don't travel well, so I couldn't send any home with her.



2 wonderful days flew by in no time!! I'm REALLY hoping to talk the Bug Man aka Mr. TidyMom or TidyDad on a trip to Houston some time!!

This picture was taken by the hostess at The Boat House after our lunch on Thursday. Can you believe how we color coordinated that day! lol....we did NOT plan that! I don't wear much purple, but I happened to wear that shirt that day, and look how perfectly it matched the purple Bridget had on!



I LOVED getting to know Bridget better and highly recommend it to any blogger who has made that "connection" with another blogger.

Thanks for letting me share our visit with all of you!!!

Meeting up with Blogging Buddies Works for ME!
I'm linking up at We Are That Family's Works For Me Wednesday

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{Sew Saucy Stitches} Print Giveaway!

I'm super excited for a fun giveaway I have for you today!!

Sew Saucy Stitches

Crystal has lots of wonderful digital artwork in her cute etsy shop!

You must take a look..... here are just a few of my favorites.

Here is a little info from Crystal about her and her digital artwork!

"My name is Crystal and I'm a SAH mom to 4 great kiddos. I've had a passion for photography for as long as I can remember and spend much of my free time (although I don't have much) taking pictures, reading, creating digital artwork, cooking, and trying to learn to sew! I love reading craft, sewing, and cooking blogs, although I haven't found the time to make one for myself!

I started playing with digital artwork a couple of years ago and have a true love for creating new pieces of art. My shop, Sew Saucy Stitches has been around since December of 2009 and growing every day. I love working on custom projects!

I enjoy creating art that has real meaning to me (ex. "I Love You, A Bushel And A Peck", was a song I sang to all my kids when they were younger, and continue to sing it today, although my teens get quite annoyed with it!) Many of my prints are actual words of wisdom or encouragement that I give my kids and then they become artwork at some point! "Expect to get what you give" and "dare to be different" started as just a mom giving advice!

Hope this gives you a little insight into my world...which very much revolves around my children and my love for art and all things handmade! "

Crystal was so kind, to send me a print of my choice...

I had a very hard time choosing just one, but decided on the

"Home is where your story begins...."



I was thrilled when my print arrived and was excited to hang it in my office. I just clipped it to a wooden pants hanger and hung it on the wall. I LOVE how it looks!


Okay... so the fabulous Crystal has offered one of her fabulous prints to

THREE TidyMom readers to win!

So here is how to enter:

Simply head on over to

Sew Saucy Stitches Etsy shop,

to check out all her cool prints...and then come back here and

leave a comment...

telling me and Crystal which item is your favorite or what your inspirational mantra is

Simple as that!

for extra entries you can: (don't forget to leave a separate comment for each thing you do)

• subscribe to TidyMom (or tell me if you already do)
  
• grab my blog button & post it on your blog's sidebar
• blog or facebook about this giveaway
• follow TidyMom on twitter and tweet: I want to win a cool print from @TidyMom & Sew Saucy Stitches http://bit.ly/ckc12U #giveaway

Giveaway will end on Aug 2, 2010 at 5 pm CST. Three winners with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. I will email the winners, they will have 48 hours to claim the prize or I will choose someone else. Be sure to leave your email address, or have it available on your blogger profile.

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Disclaimer: Sew Saucy Stitches provided me with my own print, I was in no other way compensated to publish this post. These are my real opinions.

Caramel Dipped Pretzel Rods

Today is MY big day! I'm SO excited to be a part of the Holiday Bake, Craft, and Sew Along with dozens of fabulous bloggers. Make sure you head on over to A Southern Fairy Tale to see how I make Caramel Dipped Pretzel Rods.

Be sure check out the other holiday gift and craft ideas being posted daily! Or click here to see all past projects in one place and all of the creative bloggers involved! Get started on your projects now and lose the stress during the holidays!!

**If you're wondering about my visit with the ADORABLE Ms. Bridget.....I hope to get a post together for you real soon!! A 2 day visit was NOT long enough! lol

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