Kelly's Cake Off for a Cause....Your help is needed!

On Feb 9th Electrolux and Foodbuzz sent 15 bloggers to New York to team up with Kelly Ripa and the star of TLC's The Cake Boss Buddy Valastro to host "Kelly's Cake Off" for Electrolux Appliances in support of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

My sweet friend Bridget of Bake at 350 was one of those 15 bloggers who were invited to take part in Kelly’s Cake Off, http://www.kelly-confidential.com where they learned from Kelly and Buddy, to decorate their own cakes. They now need our help to select the winning cake and support a worthy cause. For every vote cast in the Cake Off, Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF).

Take a look at the gorgeous cake that Bridget and her team decorated

(Bridget of Bake at 350, Jen of My Kitchen Addiction & Diana of A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa)

You can also visit Kelly’s Cakery for a chance to win one of these beautiful Induction Ranges.

Each day you send "virtual cake" to a friend, Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and you're automatically entered for a chance to win a new induction range.

Bridget lost her mom 10 years ago this month to endometrial cancer "acting as ovarian cancer." So this is very near and dear to her heart.

Every time you vote for her cake (Take a Bow), head over to her blog and leave her a comment letter her know you voted........from all the comments, one person will receive one dozen of Bridget's AMAZING cookies!!

So What Do YOU Need to do?

• Visit Kelly Confidential and VOTE for "Take A Bow" (Every vote = $1 Electrolux will donate to the OCRF.)
• Visit Bridget and leave her a comment letting her know you voted (chance to receive 1 dz cookies from Bridget)
  
• send "virtual cake" to a friend (Electrolux will donate $1 to the OCRF and you're automatically entered to win a range)
  

I'm going to place this button on my right side bar to make it easy for you to VOTE each day thru Feb 19, 2010.

Just click the button/picture to VOTE

(Thanks Teresa for making the cute button)

Decorating Dilemma Help Needed!

Amanda at Serenity Now is hosting a Decorating Dilemmas Party!!

I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get some help!
For as long as I can remember, I've decorated my house in a country style, more on the primitive country side, than the "cutesy" country. My family built country furniture and had a business selling it and country home decor. So for 15 years, it's what I had access to - I loved it, and still do........but I'm slowing growing tired of some of it.

I love most of my furniture, most all of my wood furniture was built by my Dad and brother (except for the oak pieces) You can read a post about a lot of my furniture in this post.

I would like to clean up the "clutter" and darkness of some of my decor, like I did with my new office last year (see my office here) I want to keep all of the painted furniture (that was all made by my family), a few of those pieces I don't mind painting - like my coffee table and end table.

So, here's my first challenge.........my family room. I would love some feedback on how to start making some changes (that wont break the bank)

• I don't want to paint (we painted the whole house just a few years ago)
• I'd like fitted slipcovers for the couches - but not in the budget at the moment *I should not my mom gave us these couches and PB slipcovers - but they're not fitted and we use these way too much for the non-fitted slipcovers (I put them on the couch in the basement)
  
• I'm willing to paint the coffee table and end table or look for new ones (I can move these to the basement
• need to update that picture wall
• new window treatments
  

• I'd like to move that roll top desk out and get a sofa table
• need new lamps!!!!
• get rid of the Americana theme

• I want to get rid of this big double shelf and all the little stuff on it- what can I put there?
• I would like a new TV cabinet or armoire
• the TV needs to stay in this corner---because the hubby likes to watch it while we eat (ugh)
• I want ideas for what to put on the walls!
• RUG?
  

This is not in the family room, but in the next room - I would like to take this shelf down as well, but don't know what to replace it with.........

ok........enough rambling...........some ideas? where to start? Thanks for any help you can give!!
Be sure to head over to Amanda's party to help other's in need or post about your own delimmas!!

Works For Me Wed....backwards edition

This weeks Works For Me Wednesday is a Backwards Edition..........instead of ME sharing something that works for ME.......I get to ask YOU for help!!

I'm going to be honest here.........

This is NOT going to be pretty! We are talking early 80's ugly!

I have this "thing", this "board" my mom gave me back in the early 80's when "cute country" was in-style and Amish dolls were a big part of that decor!

You KNOW you want one don't you?! LOL......jealous aren't you?

Well I still have this piece, it hangs on the wall (I have it hidden on a basement wall that is never seen. and I'm thinking there's something really amazing I could do with it if I gave it a makeover with some paint..........after painting over it I'm stuck!!!

What could I do with this? Any ideas? (it's 30" wide and 22" tall)

Can you help a girl out?

OH! OH {hand in the air} - ONE MORE QUESTION....

I have a LARGE HEAVY platter I would like to hang

can someone tell me what I need or how to hang it?

I'm also linking this up to the Decorating Dilemma's Party at Serenity Now

UPDATE: - I posted another Decorating Dilemma here!

While you're here......don't miss the

Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce Giveaway!

In with the NEW!!

It's a new year.....the perfect time for NEW things!!

I bought my own domain!

With lots of help from the AMAZING Debbie of We Speak Media

You can now get here by simply typing

Tidymom.net

How fun is that! I'm still on Blogger, for now anyway, but when I tell people about my blog I can just tell them it's TidyMom.net

NOT .com but .NET

that's easy enough, and WAY more hip than that old .com any way!

Do you like it here? Do you read several blogs and want your blog reading to be made easier? You can subscribe to TidyMom and all your favorite blogs in a reader.

The Nester wrote a wonderful post explaining how to subscribe to all of your favorite blogs click here to read her post if you want to know more

Just click on the subscribe button over there on the right sidebar

or right right here, just click on that little guy.

Want help doing amazing things with your blog?

Debbie and We Speak Media and The Girlfriends Guide to the Business of Blogging will give you’ll all the tools you need to get your publicity and PR started on the RIGHT foot. Using her info and coaching tips, you’ll be impressing the media immediately. Debbie works to further blogger interaction with PR firms and center publicity efforts for bloggers.

Getting started is easy.

Thanks again Debbie!

***Be sure to check in Monday****

I will be having a BEAUTIFUL giveaway !

here's a little hint.......

Lisa Leonard

Giveaway is now up - click here to enter

Laundry Tips !

In keeping with this week's theme

I want to win a Samsung Washer & Dryer -

click here to help me win

I thought I would do a variety of laundry posts this week!

Baking Soda and Bleach -

While baking soda is more often known for its odor control qualities, it does have natural whitening capabilities that are used by people who would rather not turn to bleach.

The best thing about baking soda in the laundry, is its ability to act as a natural boosting agent for bleach. Use 1/2 a cup of bleach and 1/2 cup of baking soda for white loads, instead of a full cup of bleach. The baking soda masks some of the bleach smell and makes the bleach even more effective.

Dried Stains:

Once a stain has been dried, it’s very hard to remove, but it is possible. Try repeating the steps for the individual stain. More than likely you’ll need to soak the stain, or use a more aggressive stain remover. On white clothes, try using lemon juice and placing the garment in the sun. Both the lemon juice and the sun will work as bleaching agents. Be sure to rinse the clothing thoroughly before rewashing.

Dingy Whites:

White fabrics can become yellowed or grayed and dingy. For gray and dingy whites try the triple soak. Soak the whites first in a solution of a bucketful of water and 2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap. Next rinse out the whites and soak in a solution of 2 tablespoons of ammonia and a bucketful of water. Next, rinse out the whites, and soak in a bucket of warm water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Rinse thoroughly and dry. This soaking method will leave your whites bright and clean.

Mildew Smells & Stains:

Did you forget about the clothes in the washer and now they have a sour smell? If the clothes smell, but don't have dots of mildew, you can simply rewash be sure to add bleach for whites, or color-safe bleach for colors. If you do have mildew stains, washing with chlorine bleach will remove the stains from white clothing. For colored clothing use a mixture of color-safe oxygen bleach (1 teaspoon) , and hydrogen peroxide (1 cup) to sponge the stained areas before rinsing thoroughly and rewashing. Clothes may also benefit from soaking in a borax solution.

Salt Keeps Colors from Bleeding:

Add 1/2 cup of salt to the wash cycle to prevent new colored fabrics from running.

Vinegar and your laundry:

Blankets: When washing cotton or washable wool blankets, add 2 cups of vinegar to the last rinse cycle. This will help remove the soap and make blankets soft and fluffy.

Clothes softener: Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the last rinse cycle of your wash to soften clothes.

Lint: Reduce lint buildup and keep pet hair from clinging to clothing by adding vinegar to the last rinse cycle.

Static cling: A good way to control static cling is to add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the last rinse cycle of your wash.

sources: About.com, How stuff works

PLEASE help me win the washer and dryer!

click here

(Where's the Heart of Your Home)

and tell me some of your laundry tips

Things are Getting Exciting!!

I'm sure by now you've seen my posts about the Samsung Washer and Dryer I would like LOVE to WIN!!

This contest is getting exciting, the comments are flying!!

The blogger with the MOST COMMENTS will WIN!

I hate to beg, but there are a few of us leading the race, and I know I have THE BEST READERS!!! and you all LOVE TO COMMENT and help a girl out right?

I mean, what's a TidyMom with out a nice washer and dryer? The set she has now belonged to her grandma, then passed to her mom and now TidyMom is using that set! YIKES that set is OLD! LOL

So lets see what you can do! - CLICK HERE and go to my post to help me WIN the WONDERFUL WASHER & DRYER!

You can leave as MANY COMMENTS as you wish - just remember, ANONYMOUS COMMENTS DO NOT COUNT! you can even just say "Good Luck" or talk about YOUR laundry rooms!

We have until Oct 2,

be sure to check in next week, I have planned lots of FUN!

♥Thanks for finding it in your heart to help a girl out!♥

I'm HOOKED on WINNING!!! and SAMSUNG!!

Head over to Julia's Hooked on Fridays to see what other's are HOOKED on!

If you give a girl some paint.....

I've finished all of my painting for my new office space!!

I showed you in this post my newly painted office space, and in this post I showed you my progress on painting my desks white and how they used to look.

I love how the desks turned out all white. I distressed the edges just a bit to give it a little bit of a worn look.

When I went to Lowes to buy the white paint for my desks, I purchased a gallon because it was cheaper than buying 2 quarts. So what does a girl do if she has extra paint?

She decides to paint the trim and the closet door too!- which turned out to be a much bigger task once I got started, but it was WELL worth all the extra worth, because I think the room really needed it!

I have been collecting things from the resale shops and garage sales for my new office. So I had a few goodies that I decided would look best with a little of the white paint lightly brushed over them. I think it gave these frames and scroll thing just the look they needed for this room!

Take a look......

This mirror, I forgot to take a before picture of, but it was gold with black in the recessed parts ♥ I think it's my favorite piece so far!♥

I had fun "dressing it up" with some of the goodies I have been buying for the room.

It can't stay exactly like this, because I need to move our computers and all of our office stuff to the room- but I ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ how it looks like this!!

I still have several small projects in mind that I need to work on, and I haven't put anything up on the walls yet - but later this week I will share the whole room with you, and you can see how I'm actually using it, for now.

What color did I put on the walls? It's a spa blue/green that I mixed from two colors I tried that weren't quite right. I love the white and black with it, but I do have a few small things to paint, and I'm on the look out for a small hutch - I'd love to bring in another color if anyone has any suggestions please leave it in the comments!

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I'm linking up to the following carnivals - click the buttons to see all the other entries!

Feeling a little Green....Treasure Hunting

Not sure what my GREEN fascination was the other day, but when I got home from visiting our Good Will, I realized most everything I bought was green . Funny thing............I don't have green in my home! LOL

I took this picture before I cleaned everything up.

The black mirror I love just as it is, and I put it up next to our front door! - I've always wanted a mirror by the front door, now I can do a quick hair, face, teeth check before I answer the door! LOL

The green jars, I just liked, but I'm not sure about the lids- should I paint them? if so what color? leave them off? fill them with something?

I'm collecting white dishes of any sort - not sure if you can see, but the gravy boat has some beautiful green pattern on it and it was calling my name to take it home. ♥

The bird cage, I'll probably paint white and put it in my new office - one problem though, I don't think it opens any where? I was hoping to sit something inside of it.

The little silver dish, is just adorable, I thought I would be pretty on my desk to hold paper clips.

The BEST part? I got ALL of this for $17 WOOHOO!

Have you scored any great finds lately?

Head over to Southern Hospitality and see what Rhonda and others are finding in their Treasure Hunting!

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick is having a Goodwill party!! I didn't link this post but I did link up a few of my older posts. You should check out her party!

Lamp makeover

Cute, huh?........YUCK!

We acquired this old bankers lamp several years ago and I have never liked how it looks, but I like the light it give me at my desk.

A few weeks ago I thought I'd see if I could make it look a little better, so I painted the brass base black!

Much better!!

Anyone know if you can paint glass?

The green glass is ugly, but it does look better with the black base.

*The Nester is having a little lamp party today. Head over there to see even more lamp transformations.

The Good and the Bad......

First, for my exciting GOOD news!

I got a Digital SLR camera for Mother's Day!! WOOOHOO!! I got the Nikon D40 and I'm in L O V E! I have wanted one for SOO long! The difference in my pictures is AMAZING! and I'm just on Automatic! I can't wait to learn how to use it on manual!

Here are a few shots from Mother's Day.

Sunshine and Hollywood
Yes, The Bug Man told me after we took these, that is Poison Ivy on the tree.
Luckily, he's the only one allergic to it.

I even showed The Bug Man how to take a picture so he could get one of me and the girls.

WARNING!

See what happens if you show your husband how to USE your NEW CAMERA?

Yeah, don't look at how many chins I have when I sleep! YIKES!

Another bit of Good: The winner of By The Book: How to Take Care of MY Kids was comment#17 Tami of A Godly Homemaker. Congratulations Tami.

now for the BAD news............

I have been dealing with a whole slew of computer issues for the last several weeks. Luckily, I have 2 computers. My desktop computer is 7 years old and was slowing down and giving me some trouble. So my nephew came over and cleared my hard drive. In the process, my large external drive with ALL of my pictures and music was accidentally erased as well. After a few tense days, all was recovered and returned to me.WHEW! Only now things are a bit of a jumble on there, and I need to get our iTunes all straighten out again and reorganize my pictures. When suddenly a few days later the desktop will no longer connect to the internet. Apparently there is an internal problem with the port where the ethernet cable connects. So now I need to actually take it into my other nephew to see if he can fix her up for me.

So, now I will be with out my desktop computer for a while, which is where I work on my pictures. So I will not have any new pictures to post for a while. My laptop is just for web browsing, I don't think it could handle many pictures.

I know a few people have sent me "awards" and tags during this time, and I'm sorry, but I had all of that on my desktop and did not save those emails before all of this started.

Oh, and to make matters worse.............our Wii quit working on Mother's Day (do I have a black electronic cloud around me????) It gets power, some sound but no picture, so I'm hoping a new AV cable will fix that! I have a new one coming from Nintendo.

Today I'm going to work on a little "project" and I will take pictures for a tutorial, and I hope to be able to post them soon. So in the mean time, hang in there with me...........and say a little prayer for my desktop, I really hope she pulls thru all of this!

I'm linking this post up to Sarah's "Share your life your blog" Carnival

click the box to read what's going on with others.

Procrastinators Party Project!

You remember my dilemma of choosing a paint color for my office right? You can read about it here.

I bet your wondering which color I choose and want to see the room right?

Well here it is.........................................

That's right I haven't done a DARN thing with it, other than collect more junk in that room! LOL

But I'm in luck! Melissa over at The Inspired Room is having a Project Procrastinators Party, where you share what project(s) you've been putting off, then commit to having them done in 2 weeks.

Do you think Melissa knew I needed an extra push? If you haven't figured out by now, I'm very indecisive. I have a hard time making up my mind with things like paint color. Like in this post.

I did buy my primer (bye bye PINK walls) and I have 2 more sample colors I want to try. They are similar to what I showed you in this post and this post, but a little lighter.

I have also decided to paint my desk white. But first things first - let's get this room painted so I can move my office into it!

I have 2 weeks to get this room painted. I CAN DO THIS! (right Mom? she's promised to help me)

Now, hop over to Melissa's and post about the project you're going to finish!!
Come on........I bet you can do it to!! There's a linky party to post your before pictures!!

Do YOU have a project you've been putting off? Tell me about it!