Daycare Cubby Storage

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It was getting out of hand and my frustration was growing.  Toys.  Because I own and run my daycare business from my home, the kids live here daily and they come to feel that it's their home as well, which I love.  The big issue is dealing with the things I need daily to use for my daycare.  Things are stashed here and there.  Mats, cribs and blankets in the spare room, puzzles and kitchen type toys in the hall bench, but the majority of items occupy a space in our living room, or Playroom as the kids refer to it as.

The Bin system I found at a yard sale years ago was not really working and the space was not being utilized very well, but alternatives were expensive to purchase and they were not made of real wood. I got some inspiration after seeing a cubby system that Honey's nephew had built for their home, and began researching.  After talking to Honey about it, he told me to draw out what I was thinking and he would take it from there.  He's a keeper!  He quickly drew up the plans and confirmed that is what I needed and off to Lowes for a date night we went.  Are we the only ones who spend a date at a home improvement store?  We spent one Saturday morning building the Cubbies with really nice quality pine and I'm so happy with the results.  

Hand sanding

As Honey cut the boards, I began hand sanding with a block sander because Honey couldn't find his palm sander.  It was a ton of work, but we are both pleased. The boards were almost as smooth as a baby's bottom!



There are two sets of cubbies: Set one  has six storage spaces and Set Two as four normal spaces and two double spaces.  The double space will allow for a hidden space in the corner.

I was able to find fabric baskets at Target just the size and price I needed.  I looked at Amazon, but was wary of the thin fabric that so many seemed to be made of. After going through, sorting, getting rid of some, and putting other toys in plastic and fabric bins, I still have organizing and rearranging to do, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. I love that I have such a wonderful space now to store and organize toys, puzzles, and things I use for daycare, but I LOVE the nice flat top surface to place those bulky toys that won't fit in the baskets or plastic bins. I originally planned to paint it, but I'm not sure if I'll do that now.  Running out of time and steam for completing projects this summer.

Set two

Set one

Told you it was a mess of toys! 

without backs so you can see the hidden space

Adding backs to each cubby cabinet

Finally finished  

Works for Me Wednesday: Dirty Dog Paw cleaner

 Imagine two dogs who love outside, but those dogs actually are indoor dogs... (the simple fact that we have a BIG indoor dog is another matter, but not of our choosing).I think they believe we live in a barn as many times as they go in and out of the house (no we have no place for a doggy door).  Most days it isn't a problem except on snowy or rainy days.  Can you imagine wiping those muddy paws off with a beach towel up to 10 times per day? That's 80 paws per day!!!  Imagine what that does to our floors! 

Loving the snow time - muddy paws

I was excited when I saw a product on TV one day The Paw Wash - While I thought it was ingenious, I'm not willing to pay close to $30 for this, but put it in my Pinterest Pet file.  I thought there had to be a more thrifty solution and one day, while making dinner, it hit me.  Why not use an extra empty Kraft Parmesan cheese container because it's big enough for a big dog paw and for a smaller dog as well!   (check out how I reuse one for everyday cooking). 

exploring the creek - muddy paw

Here's what I did:

Paw-fectly gross!

1. The next time the dogs went outside on a rainy day, I was ready!  Taking the lid off, I filled it with warm water and had two ratty old towels ready. 
2. Laying one ratty towel at the door, I let one dog in at a time, stopping them on the towel.  
3. Starting with their front paw, I inserted it into the water filled container, and gently moved the container up and down, washing the mud clean off each paw.  While the dogs were not exactly thrilled at first, they have learned to stand and wait.  It only took a few "pumps" in the water to get each paw clean and quickly wipe their paws dry with the towel as soon as I remove it from the water. Doing all four didn't take that long and the results were great!  Of course my kids think I'm nuts, but it's much easier than trying to make sure you've RUBBED all the much off. ** Note, if you have multiple dogs, use clean water for each dog. 

 This is how it helped:

1. This has not only dirtied up fewer towels (note less laundry)
2. It has saved my floors from the muddy paw trails. 
                   Can you imagine that mess tracked in on the floors!
3. Less need for mopping and vacuuming constantly. 
4. Dispose of dirty water back outside

 Call me crazy, but this is what Works-For-Me and I'm joining in with We Are That Family for What Works for Me!

Silencing the Phone

Annoying.  Plain and simple. UNA phone calls are never welcome.  What is UNA?   This is kinda a joke in our family - They are phone calls where the number or the name of the caller are Unavailable, so we call them UNA. 

 Do you ever get them? Pretty sure you do at some point.  When we had a land line, we got them almost daily.  Caller ID and the National Do Not Call Registry,   helped some, but after we dropped our landline a few years ago, we finally had some peace.

This last year, our family started getting UNA calls again, and yesterday, after getting close to 15 calls from one telemarketer in CA, I had enough.  Did what many frustrated people do  - I googled a solution for iPhone users.  Since I'm not able to block a phone number from my cell phone, but have to go through our provider and PAY to have it blocked, I was not willing to do that yet. 

Some of the suggestions 

1. get an app to block it
2. Contact your own cell phone provider.
3. Contact the Federal Trade Commission.
4.  Use call block.with our service it's $4 something a month for this service. and you can add up to 6-8 numbers. 
5. Sign up for Google Voice and tie in the phone number in question. I cannot recommend this, as I've not tried this method.  Am not sure how it even works.
6. Get a "silent" ringtone. This is what I did.  Following directions given at the following site:  How To Create a Silent Ringtone for your iPhone by David Hartfield  The least expensive solution after doing the "Do Not Call Registry".  I even put my phone on no vibrate as well for this number. So when they call, phone rings silently, no vibration to irritate me, and it is so much painless   Once they finally stop calling, I can delete their number and save the ring tone for the next telemarketer! 
   
   How have you handled this types of phone call?  I'd REALLY love to know how!