In our new home!

Well, it's official. We're finally in our new apartment. Things have been pretty hectic the last few days. I really hate moving, and I hope this is our last time we move until we find our forever home. Until then, we will live comfortably and happy in our apartment. Today for Memorial Day we took Claire to the pool. Our apartment complex is pretty awesome in that it has a "swim club" for apartment residents AND local residents. It's the place to be in my area. I leave you with some photos of Miss at the pool for the first time this year. Gosh, I remember the last time I brought her here she was so itty bitty, it's crazy how time goes so fast.

Rachel Anne

Birthday Party Hat DIY

*sigh*, my baby is turning 1 in a week. It's crazy how time flies...
I decided to make her own special birthday hat. Here are the materials and directions!

Materials:

• cardboard from a cereal box
• fabric glue or hot glue gun
• a piece of fabric (1 foot piece)
• felt in your choice of color (this will be the number, if you plan on having one on the hat)
• 1 fluffy pom pom
• ribbon in your choice of color - 3/8 inch
• elastic ribbon (round cord or 1/4 inch width would be fine) 

Cut one side of the cereal box and roll it to that the top is as small as you can get it, and the bottom is the biggest. Make sure the outside is the cardboard color, and not the printed side. Glue the sides together. The bottom will now look uneven and you'll have to trim it.

 Start gluing your fabric onto the hat. Let it sit for 15-30 mins to dry. In the meantime you can cut out your number on your felt. 

With your felt, either with a pen or marker, draw your number. If you don't want your pen or marker to be seen, either make the number bigger so you can cut inside of the line, or draw it backwards. I decided not to put a number on her hat. 

Glue your number onto the hat. 

Cut out and measure ribbon for the bottom. This will be the trim and make it a little more put together. Glue onto the bottom. Now, glue the pom pom onto the top of the hat. I decided to roll up some of my leftover trim and make it as my "pom pom".

Glue your elastic onto the hat. I cut a very long piece, glued it to one side, and then quickly put it on Claire and adjusted my finger to where I needed to cut.

Finished product on Miss Claire! 

I hope you enjoyed my craft! Lots more DIY's coming up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Rachel Anne

How to De-Clutter Your Home

Well, we start moving into our new apartment this Friday. The last 2 weeks I have been going through EVERYTHING. Even though we'll be in a bigger apartment, I'm still "downsizing" our items. I know it can be hard to get rid of things- especially if they're sentimental or things you'll use...eventually.

I'm not telling you to throw away everything. Just go sort through things, and get rid of the "crap". It'll free up some space and lets face it, make your house look nicer.

1. Start in one room, or one area. 

2. Sort out the junk.
Ask yourself, "Is there anything here that I don't need that I can sell or donate?", "Have I used this item in the last 6-12 months?". Your first reaction might be, "Well, I really like these items, and I want to keep it." When your done sorting, and have a pile of items that your not sure about, try to get rid of half. Lets pick an item, for all intensive purposes, lets say that the item is a shirt you've had for a while. It's been sitting in your closet, untouched for almost a year because it doesn't fit you anymore. It's time to get rid of it. If your unsure about the item, give it a 30 day rule. If you don't use it in 30 days- get rid of it! Make sure you keep track of it in the meantime.

Same items: If you have a few of the same item, keep the better one, and throw out the others. My daughter got a baby tablet for Christmas, when she also had another tablet at home. The one at home was used, and was given to me, so shortly after Christmas I donated the older one.

If your serious about decluttering, you need to justify your reasoning for getting rid of those items. After you've come to that conclusion, either donate, throw out or sell.

3. Donate- Places like The Salvation Army or Goodwill is always taking items. If they're bulkier items- like a couch, you'll have to call them and see if they'll take it. We tried donating an entertainment center last year, and The Salvation Army wouldn't accept it! We ended up posting it on Craigslist for free, and a few days later someone took it.

Toss- No one wants a shirt with a huge hole in it, get rid of it!

Sell- My local FB yardsale page is the best thing that's been discovered. I suggest if you want to sell things quickly, this is the best place. You'd be surprised how many items people sell and buy on here. Consignment shops are a good place too.

Other sites:

• Craigslist -good for furniture and bigger items
• Threadflip -good for brand named women's items, like Coach and Louboutin
• ThredUp - a site that sells you and your child's gently used clothing

I saw a couple of my friends do this a month or so ago. I didn't follow it by the book, but it's a good technique to start your de-cluttering.
http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/40-bags-in-40-days-2014/

I hope these tips help a few of you! And if you have a question about anything involving decluttering, please ask in the comments section!

Rachel Anne

Believing that love can fit anywhere...

Well, this is my first post. I feel like I need to explain a little bit on why I chose this name, and why I choose to blog about it. It starts out with meeting my husband....

When I met my husband, he owned a condo. It was a 1 bedroom, 1 bath. It was perfect for just us 2. Over the years he upgraded the kitchen, and upgraded the flooring, but in reality it wasn't a place to raise a family. Less than a year after getting married I got pregnant; we needed to find somewhere to live that would "fit" our growing family. We had a really hard time selling our condo-the whole process took 8 months, and I was 6 months pregnant. We took a huge loss on our house, and in hindsight we really needed that money for our next house. We were in "temp" housing at this point, a 1 bed 1 bath apartment across the street from where our condo was.

In the beginning, we were looking for a 4 bedroom with a finished basement. The market was really competitive in my area, and it was very stressful and discouraging. There was a few times where I remember crying over a house because it was under contract or I was just frustrated. Around a month after we sold our condo, we finally found a house. We put an offer in, they accepted, and we were under contract. Great! Now, we need to get through inspections...They found mold EVERYWHERE in the attic. We had to back out of the contract, and accept our losses. After that, we stopped looking and agreed to concentrate on our family. That's when we decided that I stay home and raise our children. 2 months later I had Miss Claire, and we've been happy since.

We recently started to look again for a house for something more practical- a 3 bedroom with a flat backyard. Sadly, the market seemed to be worse this time, and we weren't able to find our "forever home". We signed another 12 month lease in the same apartments, but will be moving into a 2 bedroom now, at the end of this month.

I chose the name "Love Fits Anywhere", because it truly can. Whether your in an apartment, townhouse or small house, you can and WILL make it work, and make the best of it. I feel compelled to write about my journey, and give tips on how to space save, declutter and organize your "stuff" to fit your home. I also like crafts (DIY and sewing) and will be writing a few posts about science related topics, so you'll see that thrown in there too.

I have this hanging up in my living room, and I live by this saying everyday.

Since we've had Claire, our lives have been filled with light. The name Claire, means "light, bright, clear", and she really has done that. She is truly lighting our way. To me, a house is just a house. It's the people in it that make it a home, and being in our 1 bedroom apartment has made it feel like "home".

Rachel Anne