Home Maid Simple

Tag: clothes

Spring Clean your Closet

Spring is here, and in this home it means spring cleaning of all kinds! Today I want to talk about spring cleaning your closet.

I’ve been slowly working my way through Marie Kondo’s The life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. One of the key messages I’ve taken from it, is that things we own should spark joy. If it doesn’t bring us joy, and it doesn’t serve a useful purpose, we should get rid of it!

I decided the best place for me to start applying this would be my closet. It wasn’t quite spring, but the weather around here has been pretty nice. So the windows came open, and I started pulling all my clothes out and stacking them on the bed. Unlike a lot of people I know, I don’t really own a lot of clothes already, but the ones I do own were not sparking joy. Very little joy was sparked when opening my drawers actually.

Spring Clean Your Closet

Wash everything.

Start by washing everything! The worst thing to do when spring cleaning anything is doing it in shifts. You don’t want to go through your clothes and then add items back in that you haven’t had a chance to go through. I know it’s easy to say you’ll just do it as you wash them, but I’ve been there, done that. It doesn’t work nearly as effectively.

Pull it all out.

Once everything is clean, pull it all out! Lay it on your bed, couch, middle of the floor – as long as it’s clean – so you can see it all. Go ahead and grab your shoes as well! You know you’ve got some you don’t really love.

One at a time.

Don’t worry about sorting the clothes into tops, bottoms, dresses, jackets, socks, etc. Just dive right in! Pick up one item. Hold it up. Inspect every inch of it. Try it on if you need. Then ask – does this spark joy? Does it make you feel like you, the real you when you wear it? Does it fit? Are you holding on to it for memory sake, or because maybe one day it might fit again?

Separate.

After asking yourself all these questions, you have one last question to make. Do I keep it, or get rid of it? Then separate it into it’s respective pile. Have a box or bag handy so the “get rid of” pile, as we call it here, can be taken out as soon as you are done. The more it hangs around the house, the more likely you’ll have a hard time really letting go of it.

I had ordered a Clean-Out Bag from ThredUP, so once I was done I nicely folded my clothes, placed them inside the bag, and sent them off to ThredUP. Out of about 20 items I sent, they were able to resell 4. Not too shabby, and I knew that would probably be the case. What I love is that the rest of the clothes I sent will be given to textile recycling companies so nothing will end up in landfills.

Try ThredUP on me! Sign up and get an automatic $10 to spend! It will also give me $10 to spend, so you know, help a girl that’s lacking in cute clothes out.

Now that your closet is cleaned out, you can buy a few new pieces that DO spark joy! What will you buy? Are you inspired by the flowers in bloom, or does you closet contain more neutrals?

This post is part of a blog hop from Blogs & Business: Moms Who Do It All. Check out some of the other awesome blogs participating:

Daily Momtivity | The Art of Better Blogging | The Jessie K | Fighting for Fitness | Building Butterflies | Forty by Forty Fitness | A Kreative Whim | Women Winning Online | Hometown Betty | Champagne and Cheerios | B is for Bookworm | Aileen Cooks | A Cotton Kandi Life | Beyond Mommying | Home Maid Simple | Tot Tot Goose | Thrifty Guardian | Diary of a New Mommy | Mrs and Momma | Blue Eyed Babies | The Little Tourist | From Designer to Diapers | Mommy, Memories and Mouse Ears | Redmond Kids | Cheer and Cherry

March 15, 2016
Back to School Shopping

* This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Home Maid Simple*

I keep seeing my friends and other bloggers on facebook talking about Back to School. Hey, I even have a banner up there advertising Back to School! But truth be told I’m not really ready for it. So I’ve avoided looking at when our school goes back. Come on now, it’s still July. Summer is just getting started.

But then I caved, and I looked. My kids go back August 19th. That’s 1 month away. Not bad, but 1 month usually flies by pretty quick. So of course that got me thinking about what they might need for school. We’ve already had to buy a new swimsuit for the summer, which means clothes are probably being outgrown as well.

It feels like just yesterday we were taking First Day of 1st grade photos!

When I was a kid, one of our favorite things to do was back to school shopping with my mom. We always got 1 new outfit for the year. It’s a tradition I really want to keep with my kids, not because of anything extremely special about it – but kids do grow and need new clothes that fit – and the beginning of the school is a perfect time to let them get one outfit that’s not a hand-me-down, that expresses who they are, and for the very practical reason that they’ve outgrown the old clothes.

Living on a budget however, means just one new outfit, and at the best deal we can find! I’ve been browsing Zulilly a lot lately (even made my first purchase for Princess V’s birthday coming up), and noticed they’ve got some great sales on back to school clothes – like Jelly The Pug! Seriously, these are some of the cutest outfits I’ve ever seen, and they’ve got something that would fit both personalities for my girls.

This right here the Turquoise Kira Dress – is totally and utterly Princess V! It’s a dress, it’s long enough, and it’s simple just like she is. I just know she would love wearing this on the first day of school.

Princess C on the other hand, is a bit more of a wild child. She’s got her own sense of fashion, and wouldn’t go for something quite as plain. No no, this fits her much better.

The Petals Shauna Dress and Leggings are more like Princess C with big bold colors, and lots of them! Plus with the way she plays, leggings are a must.

Do you shop Back to School clothes with your kids?

July 19, 2014
Secrests Revealed: Modest Dresses for Little Girls

I’m often asked where we buy modest dresses for our girls. With so many short short clothes, and dresses that are more like a shirt, it can be hard! We have a little secret, though, and I’m going to share it with you!

I’ve mentioned before how hard it is to find decent, modest, age appropriate clothing for little girls. So many trends tend to be making everything as short as possible and showing as much skin as possible. Although I don’t care for that trend on anyone, I especially have issues with it for small children.

Last spring Mark took Princess R out for a little special time. They came home excited to show me the new dress they bought her. I pulled it out of the bag and fell in love with the design pattern. Where did you find this gem, I wanted to know!

Then the confession.

It was actually a shirt. Size 6 to be precise. From the young girls section. Princess R at the time was only 2 years old. Now I really was impressed. I would never have thought to purchase a shirt many sizes too large, and use it as a dress. She’s almost 4 (now almost 6!) and it still fits beautifully!

The fit was perfect. It has never looked like a shirt when she wears it. I could hand it to the older girls and see what it looks like as a shirt, but I would rather continue seeing it as a dress. I guess when she gets older it will eventually become a shirt, but for now, it’s the cutest dress she owns.

Out of all our girls dresses, this one gets by far the most compliments and questions on where we found it.

So….Now You Know!

Where do you find modest dresses for little girls?

February 7, 2014
Stinky Clothes Solution #Giveaway

*I have received product for review as a Purex Insider. These are my honest opinions. No financial compensation has been given.*

Let’s be honest here, we all have stinky clothes. Some are just your everyday wear smell, but others can get real stinky. Especially if you have kids.

Recently our biggest stinky problem has been Princess R’s clothes. For the most part she is potty trained, but some days she doesn’t quite make it, or she slightly misses the toilet and gets the back of her pants, or she just plain doesn’t want to go in the potty and would rather change and hide her clothes than go. It’s the life of a 3 year old after all.

To help combat the stench that started taking over the Princess’ room I decided to try some Purex fabric softener dryer sheets. They smell coming from the box is quite strong, and I was sure it would overpower the other smell. I started by adding one Dryer sheet to Princess R’s clothes drawers, since that is where she likes to hide her dirty clothes the most. I mean Come on Now, child! Those other clothes are clean!!

My next step will be adding them to the kids laundry baskets as well. I do laundry almost daily, but sometimes it’s closer to 2-3 days before I get through all the kids clothes, and by that point the clothes on bottom are really starting to stink. The fabric softener sheets will really help solve this problem.

If you’re planning any last minute summer vacations, I would also take a box of dryer sheets. Just toss it in your suitcase and on your way home, when your pulling dirty clothes with you, a nicer smell will greet your nose back at home. Hold the applause, you can thank me later. But seriously now, I don’t do laundry on vacation, and neither should you. Just take some dryer sheets.

In the past I’ve never really liked to use Dryer sheets in our laundry. I like my clothes smelling fresh all on their own, not scented unnaturally. But then I had another stinky problem – I buy unscented detergent, and the last brand we purchased I’m not a fan of. Our clothes leave the wash still smelling odd, as if they didn’t really get clean. I could have just changed back to my preferred Tide Free and Clear, but I can’t waste detergent.

I was really worried the Purex dryer sheets would leave too much of a scent on our clothes though, and cause some skin irritation. So far, after a few weeks of use, we are still doing great. The clothes come out with just a light hint of Lavender, and all our sensitive skins have been just fine. Hooray!

Another plus, is that it has reduced static cling to zilch, a feature I know Mark truly appreciates with all his button up shirts. It’s made folding the clothes a lot easier as well.

Giveaway

Purex has provided me with 3 coupons for a FREE box of Purex Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets.

All you have to do is enter on the Rafflecopter below.

Giveaway is open to US residents only. All entries will be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*I received product from Purex for my honest review. All clean clothes, admissions, and opinions are my own*

July 31, 2013
Why I Won’t Wear a Bikini

Have you seen this video? The Evolution of the Swimsuit by Jessica Rey has had me thinking for a few weeks now since I first saw it. Take a moment to view it if you haven’t yet, and then let’s discuss below.

If you’ve been around Home Maid Simple for awhile, you may recall my post Why I Wear a Dress to Church, and be thinking this is a similar post. Well, you’d be right. It’s very similar because I am going to discuss my clothing choices that tend to be unpopular and old fashioned in the worlds view.
But, I want to hear your opinions, and why you choose to wear what you do. So read through, then leave me a comment. All I ask is you be nice.

Let’s get started here. I’m going to quote Ms Rey here, and delve further into a few key points I felt she made.

“We have certainly come a long way since then. From practically wearing a house 36 square feet to wearing about 36 square inches of fabric”

Indeed we have come a long way. I really don’t know how swimming could have been an enjoyable event when you’re being deposited right into the water, but that’s how the world was then. However, if I had to choose to go swimming wearing a house or a bikini – I would choose a house.

For me personally, I would never be comfortable in a bikini. Is it because I’m self conscious of my body? yes. But it’s also because I know in today’s society, everyone is looking at your body – trying to improve you, tell you where you need some work, and make sure you feel sufficiently horrible about yourself so you’ll buy their products to look beautiful forever.

I don’t need that in my life, so I don’t need to wear something that would attract that exact kind of reaction. Give me the house! Thankfully we have moved past the house swimming, and have more modest options now, so I can go enjoy swimming in comfort.

Jessica quotes Modern Girl Magazine as saying “no girl with tact or decency would ever wear such a thing” in regards to the bikini

What happened? Where did all our tact and decency go? Out the window apparently, because as Ms Rey later says, parents are buying these skimpy clothes for their girls. Little girls would still be dressing modestly if their parents would buy them modest clothing. As parents are we conditioning our children from a young age that they must be beautiful to succeed?

As the mother of 3 little girls I feel it is my responsibility to cultivate self worth in my children. I want them to understand that they can make an impression on people with their confidence and attitude, without having to show some skin. I actually really like how Jenny over at Mommin’ It Up put it in her How Not To Dress Your Daughter post.

You can dress modestly without sacrificing Fashion

You disagree with me? I admit, I am not the most fashionable person on this planet (I’d be rich if I were), but I do have a sense of fashion. I don’t have to be “frumpy” to dress modestly. For example, let’s talk about my wedding, and look at my brides maids dresses. I think you will agree that the alterations we did, in no way took away from the fashion of these dresses, and made them “frumpy”. I had sent my 2 best friends and bridesmaids on a hunt for their dresses with only a color choice in mind. They called me up to tell me they found the perfect dresses, but they were sleeveless. GASP! I know you all did that, sleeveless, really Adelina? But yes, to me and my friends sleeveless dresses were immodest. I made a quick run to the store to check them out, and we found 3 of the dresses. It was perfect. We bought all 3 dresses, and then sent them to my neighbor who was also doing the alterations on my own wedding gown. Tell me now, would you ever have guessed these dresses had been sleeveless?

With a simple alterations, my friends felt beautiful, and modest – I felt comfortable with what they were wearing (and may still be slightly jealous that we didn’t find a fourth for me to keep) – and the guests at my wedding could be comfortable as they were welcomed to our reception by my beautiful and modest friends.

Natural sense of modesty…has been stripped away by today’s culture. We need to bring it back.

I truly feel as women we have been stripped of our natural sense of modesty. As Hollywood, models, actresses, and companies selling beauty products tell us as women to be powerful we must show some skin without turning the eyes of men. I’m really not sure that’s even possible actually. We may be able to pretend that the way we dress doesn’t effect those around us, but it does. I really liked this post Free Advertising for Satan, where the author said, and I quote

“Maybe it’s not entirely the women’s responsibility to keep a man’s mind clean and pure, but if the man is doing everything in his power to do what he can, why can’t we as women help him out, make it a bit easier for him. It’s not wrong for a man to need a little bit of extra help.”

Will you help bring back our natural sense of modesty? Think About It!

Modesty is…about revealing our Dignity

Lets start by defining dignity. According to Wikipedia Dignity has descriptive meaning for one’s human worth. The word derives from Latin via French origins that denote respect.

Are we showing ourselves respect by wearing a bikini? Are we showing respect to our fellow swimmers (be they men or women) by wearing a bikini? Personally I don’t feel we are. If I decided to bare my stomach, and allow my breasts to barely be covered (and in some bikinis that’s stretching it), I would feel I sunk my dignity to have the appraisal of my fellow humans. By covering up my whole torso when I swim, I feel I have given my body the respect it deserves. Not only that, I have given my husband the respect he deserves – because no man needs to see my body the way my husband does. I can not control men’s thoughts, but I can enable them by what I am wearing.

And that my dear readers is why I will continue to pass by the bikinis, and opt for something modest in my swim attire.

How Will You Use Your Beauty

-Jessica Rey

June 27, 2013
Spring Cleaning Day 3 – Clothing

Welcome to Day 3 in the Spring Cleaning Challenge

How are you doing? We started out strong in the kitchen, so today I’ve got an easy and fun challenge for you. Don’t be fooled though, you are still going to accomplish a lot today!

Today’s challenge is going through every one’s clothing. You’ll have everything washed by the end of the day, a pile to donate, a pile to toss, and drawers full of clothing that fits!

Here is your checklist

Gather and Sort

Hallways are a great place to sort laundry, and remember to do it. Go through your house and find all the dirty clothes. Check bathrooms, closets, under the beds, in the car (yes, I find dirty clothes in our van…mostly socks). You don’t want to miss anything!

Start a load right away. You’ll be going back throughout the day to get all the laundry washed, dried, folded and put away.

Fashion Show

This is where the fun begins!

In the central gathering place, create space for 3 piles – one for donation, one for garbage, and one for storage. Clothes that no longer fit, and can’t be passed onto another sibling, add to the donate pile. Stained and holey clothes – garbage. Clothes that will fit another child by next spring – storage pile.

After you have these 3 piles established – create a space for each persons Keep pile.

Have everyone put on an outfit, and gather in a central room. As mom, check to see if things fit right. Are the pants/shirt long enough? Check the shirt sleeves. How easy was it to get on?

Next check for stains and holes. Is it too far gone? Make an executive decision, and send everyone back to put on another outfit.

With little kids, you’ll want to help them to make sure the clothes they tried on get brought back to the central space and put in the appropriate pile. Continue your fashion show until all clothes have been tried on.

Stored Clothes

As the mother of 3 girls, I have held onto every article of clothing from one child to the next. Most parents I know have done the same, as a just in case for future children. Now that you’ve gone through the dressers and closets, it’s time to pull out the stored clothes, and have another Fashion Show! Before jumping into it though, you might want to take a moment and put the Keep piles away. Start with a fresh keep pile from the stored clothing, and continue adding to your donate, garbage and stored piles.

Finish Laundry

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the washer. Keep it moving as the fashion show is going. As the clothes come out of the wash, don’t bother folding them yet. Put them on a clean couch (because hey, you did just clean your couch yesterday). Once the last 2 fashion shows are done – start another one with all the clean laundry. You don’t want to put clothes away that no longer fit.

Finally check underwear, socks and shoes after the fashion show is done.

Clean the Washer and Dryer

Once all the laundry is clean, and the Fashion Shows are over. Run your washer one more time to clean it. This is spring cleaning after all. Give your washer and dryer some love and clean them. Affresh has a Washer cleaner that is simple to use, and leaves your washer cleaned out. We just bought a really nice, but used HE washer. Who knows what kind of laundry had gone through this before we bought it. After I used Affresh, I felt better about sticking our clothing inside. Pretty though, right?

Don’t forget your dryer as well. Along with behind the fridge, your dryer is a huge fire hazard if not cleaned out! They sell brushes for the lint drawer, to remove any lint stuck inside. Also, take the lint trap and run it under hot soapy water. If the water is not running through the trap it is DIRTY, and very unsafe. Products like dryer sheets leave a build up on the trap that should be removed regularly for safety. Don’t let your dryer be the cause of fire!

You did it! Day 3 is done.

Grab your entries into the Spring Cleaning Giveaway!

*I received product for my honest review. All thoughts and opinion are 100% my own.

March 20, 2013
Introducing Kelli from #TheClosetProject {Guest Post}

I am thrilled today to have Kelli guest posting today. I told you awhile back about The Closet Project, and how I plan to participate. I still need to go through my closet of clothes, but today I wanted to take a moment to let Kelli tell you about herself and this project she’s been inspired to organize.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi friends! My name is Kelli and I blog at Eat Pray {read} Love. It is so nice to “meet” you! I am so appreciative of Adelina letting me take over her lovely blog for a moment! I asked her to let me share with you a project that God has laid on my heart – but let me share a little about myself first!

This is me with my hubby. We’ve been married 11 years and have four sweet kiddos- ages 7, 6, 2, and 3 months. My husband is a church planter and we live in the South. I love to read, cook, go to the beach (obviously!) and watch movies with my family.

And…. this is my closet! Glad we’re getting to know one another so well, so quickly!

How about another one?

embarrassed for me yet?

Please tell me I’m not the only one whose closet looks like this! With parenting four kids, being a preacher’s wife, co-leading a Bible study, homeschooling, blogging, and life, my closet probably gets the least attention in the whole house. It somehow always seems overflowing. With clothes I never wear.

About two months ago, I felt God tell me to get RID of the excess and GIVE to those who need. I wasn’t sure just yet where he would have me give, but human trafficking has been on my mind so much lately. Enter Redeemed Ministries. Their focus is to help women in the Houston area that are enslaved in sex trafficking. If you’re like I was until last year, you may think that human trafficking is an international problem- which it is.

But it is also a US problem. In fact, one that hits very close to my home. And maybe yours too.

Thus, The Closet Project was born. Women uniting forces- paring down to step up.

Here’s the lowdown:

1.) Pare down your wardrobe to what you actually wear.

2.) Sell what you don’t. Take them to resale shops, sell them on eBay, have a garage sell, sell them to your friends!

3.) Donate directly to Redeemed Ministries.

4.) Go to this form to let me know how much you were able to donate. ANYTHING helps! Seriously! Only have $5 to spare? Great, that is wonderful. Got a cool million burning a hole in your pocket? I’m sure Redeemed would be SO happy to receive that, too! 🙂

Ladies, I really appreciate your time today. If you’d like to read a little more detail of the project, goals, etc. please click here. I’ll leave you with these words from the book of Matthew:

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (25:40). Let’s help “the least of these,” shall we?

PS I’d be very grateful if you’d help spread the word by sharing this tweet —>

Team up with @eatprayreadlove to help modern-day slaves and pare down your closet too. #TheClosetProject http://www.eatprayreadlove.com/2013/02/the-closet-project-help-human.html

February 26, 2013
House of Minerva {Review}
At the beginning of this month, I stumbled across The House Of Minerva. Owner Kate Elfatah and I connected on twitter, and I decided to check out her website.
I just loved how stylish everything on there was, and decided I needed to get something! As the mom of 3 girls, I was immediately drawn to the Girl Dresses. They were all so cute.
It’s hard to hide anything from the kids, so Princess C saw me looking at these little dresses and came over to look with me. Her heart was pulled towards the Crow Dress.

I kind of cringed at first, because, really crows? It definitely looked cute online and all, but I was looking more at the Apple Grove dress.

I mean come on? Isn’t that just adorable? I was planning an Apple Picking family outing at the time, and thought this would just be perfect.
Princess C wasn’t sold though. So after much thought, and lots of time browsing the House of Minerva website, I finally caved, and we got her the Crows Dress.

Which turned out to be a perfect fit – for her personality, and her choice of a Witch for Halloween.

What I love about the House of Minerva
- The dresses are long! No bum length dresses here. They are generous in size, so my 4year old Princess could actually wear a 4T size. Which was great since this was the last crow dress available and it only came in a size 4T.
- They are quality made! Princess C has been wearing this as much as possible. Which means it’s been through the wash a few times since owning it.
- Just contact them! The owner is kind, helpful, and will work with you to get you exactly what you want. Since I was concerned about sizing, she was willing to send me a prepaid envelope just in case it didn’t fit. That, people, is Customer Service at it’s finest
- They sell more than just dresses! In fact it started out as makeup bags, and has grown! From clutches and tablet sleeves, to dresses and aprons.
Connect with the House of Minerva on
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

*I was compensated with product to write this review. All opinions are 100% my own and honest thoughts.
October 26, 2012
Back to School Fashion: Belle Bottoms

Did you ever wear Bell Bottom pants? I remember in middle school I had some pretty big bell bottoms! I just loved the flair they gave to the bottom of my pants.

When ever we think of Back to School, we think of School Shopping, right? All those new clothes, new fashions, latest trends. Not to mention that kids grow like weeds, and there’s no stopping them.

Buti-bag has added a new product, that is a fun way to add fashion and length to the bottom of your kids pants – Belle Bottoms. And just in time for Back to School! Here at our house, we are always handing down clothes. We’ve got 3 Princesses, all really close in age. When the oldest grows out of her clothes, we pass it down the line. I love that we can reuse these clothes, because quite frankly, clothes are getting expensive.

We were sent a pair of Belle bottoms to try out as part of MomPact’s Back to School Promotion.

Princess V loved the idea! She went on a search for the perfect pair of pants to add them to, and then sat and helped me apply them. We love that these are iron on, so new sewing machine is required. I did have a slight struggle getting them positioned correctly, and although I did read the instructions, I missed that they are leg specific. So mine are on the wrong leg, but unless you look closely, it really doesn’t matter.

The real issue we had was when it came time to wear them. Princess V decided that she wanted the pants, but didn’t actually want to wear them. Princess C really wanted to wear them, but Princess V didn’t want to give them up. Oh that was a fun struggle. Princess C at one point was found crying that “sister broke my heart, because she won’t share the pink pants!” Awe! The particular pants we used are between sizes for Princess V and Princess C. Adding the Belle Bottom, gave it little more length, so it could still fit Princess V longer. It wasn’t too much length though, so it will also fit Princess C, but last longer for her.

We finally settled on letting Princess C wear them, while assuring Princess V that they wouldn’t be hers forever. Phew, an agreement we can all agree on. Princess C is absolutely loving the new flair to the pants!

You can check out more of the products on Buti Bag’s facebook page or follow them on twitter

*I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mompact and received a promotional item to thank me for my participation

September 10, 2012
Back to School with MomPact {Giveaway}

It’s back to school time! Princess V finds out her teacher tomorrow, and then starts school Wednesday! I also finally found an in home preschool, and put Princess C on their list. So exciting!!

To celebrate the “season” MomPact has put together this wonderful bundle of prizes to make going Back to School fun and safe for kids and parents!

Come back later on to read my review of the BelleBottoms!

To enter fill out the Rafflecopter below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

August 27, 2012