Diy bins and mud room "lockers!"

So our new house has an awesome mud/laundry room.  Right away, we realized we needed some sort of organized set up for shoes, backpacks and jackets.  You can see why:

So due to our thrifty do it ourselves mentality, we decided to design something and build it ourselves!  Here's what we came up with:

Thanks to Jay's wood building talent and my staining wood talent (k- staining's not really a talent.....) we now have 8 hooks and four cubbies for all that mud room stuff!  Where did we get those bins that fit just perfect?  We made those too : )  Bins are expensive so here's what we came up with for bins:

Costco wipes box-I just had to cut the top and it fit perfectly

Then I covered it with shelf liner contact paper so the blue wouldn't show through

Next, I busted out the ever dependable Mod Podge (mine is from KD craft from like 12 years ago; apparently it will last forever!)  I just cut some burlap to size and wrapped and glued until the box was covered.

Then I added some knobs we had laying around that came as extra's for a dresser.  They were white, so I just painted them a dark brown to match the stain of the wood and hot glued them to the center.  Cheap, functional, and cute!  I think I will use this bin making idea all over the house, just cover boxes with fabric or even just the shelf liner.  Endless possibilities!

Yay!  It's working like a dream!

24th of July traditions

Yes, Meckenna and I have the exact same boots.

 I love July!  It's hot and busy and so much fun!  We went to the Days of 47 rodeo with my dad.  The two big reasons I love this tradition:  1. My dad is a cowboy at heart and he's been taking us to the rodeo for about as long as I can remember.  So it totally has a sentimental value to me.  AND.... 2.  Who doesn't love a perfect opportunity to wear cowboy boots!

 

 Next tradition:  the Parade!  My whole family has been going to the 24th of July parade for my whole life.  My wonderful aunt Nancy is usually the one who heads to Liberty Park the day before to save our family   spot.  As fun as Jay is, he does not like parades, so he stayed home with Belle while the other girls and I headed up to the fun!  I love the parade!  It's the floats and motorcycles and time with family; but again, it's sentimental for me.  And I love, love to be with my adorable Granny Goldie.  She makes the experience extraordinary with her clapping props and pom poms and cheering.  So much fun!

We also went to Salina again this weekend.  It was just the 6 of us all alone out in the wide open beauties of nature.  We had so much fun together despite the heat and bugs.  We went on the 2-3 hour round trip 4 wheeler drive to the waterfall on the property and the girls got to learn how to drive the little 4 wheeler.  Loved it!

Summer so far

We  went camping with Jay's parents and his brother Lee and family.  We had a great time 4 wheeling and just playing outside doing the camping thing.  Our kids love it!  It started to rain on the morning we were going home which is bad news in Salina.  It gets so slick and muddy; so we were stranded most the day.  Finally Jay's dad was able to pull our mini van out with his 4 wheel drive truck.   We had to stop multiple times on our drive home to clean out mud from the tires because our van was vibrating so bad.  Eventually Jay had to take the tires off to clean them out.   Fun adventure!

Family Pictures 2011