Pinterest

As you may be able to tell from my last painting post, we have been making some minor changes that make a big impact in Casa de Collins (photos to come if I get around to it ;) ). 


Many of my ideas and inspiration have come from a wonderful (and addicting) web site called  Pinterest. 


Don't know what Pinterest is? You should! It's fantastic!

Image courtesy here

What is Pinterest? "Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests." 

-from Pinterest's help section

The great thing is that whatever images you pin will link you directly back to the web site source, so you can access any needed information or instructions that go with the image. 

Pinterest has been helpful to this busygal in the following ways:
Home decor inspiration
Good ideas for space saving and organizing
New recipes to try
Party planning
Techniques to use as a therapist (crafts, etc)
Gift ideas for staff at the schools I work at
Fashion inspiration
Parenting ideas for the future
Hairstyle ideas
It's FUN!

From my days as a substance abuse counselor..."Hi, my name is Carly, and I'm a Pinterest addict." 
There, I said it :)


Here is a link to the inspiration board for our bedroom redecoration


You can see how this site has been helping me as a therapist by checking out my other blog, Therapeutic Interventions.


Have you checked out Pinterest yet? What do you think? I'd love to hear how it has made your life as a busygal a bit easier!

Paint Your Walls Like A Pro! FrogTape Review

This past weekend, my (patient, awesome, and selfless) hubby and I painted an accent wall in our room, changing it from red to blue. Now I don't know how much experience you have with painting, but we've done our fair share in the Collins household (mostly thanks to my need to constantly change things up...sorry hubby). 


Anyway, we made a couple of really great discoveries that will save you time and errors the next time you paint.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

The first one I'll tell you about today is FrogTape. 


FrogTape works better than Blue Tape, and here's why:  
"FrogTape® is the only painter’s tape treated with PaintBlock® Technology. PaintBlock is a super-absorbent polymer which reacts with latex paint and instantly gels to form a micro-barrier that seals the edges of the tape, preventing paint bleed." (From FrogTape's web site)


It worked wonders on our painting job, and kept the mistakes of paint getting where we didn't want it to get to a minimum. 


We also learned a very valuable lesson from FrogTape's web site, which is to take the tape off while the paint is still wet, rather than letting the paint dry and then peeling off the tape. I'm sure you've been in the same boat as us: you let the paint dry, take the tape off, and what comes off with it? Inevitably some of the paint you intended to stay on the wall! Ugh!!! Not so if you take the tape off while the paint is still wet!! Genius!


The one bummer about this? If you're doing more than one coat, you have to tape twice, which is definitely more time-consuming (and annoying), but it cuts down the time overall of having to do touch-up painting on all the parts you didn't mean to paint that went through other tapes you might have tried. 


The next time you have a painting project, check out FrogTape!


*This post is written from my own experience and opinion of this tape. Your experience might be different. I take no responsibility if the tape doesn't work as great for you.

Icy-Cool Reusable Ice Cubes

I know...it's been forever!! 


In true Busygal fashion, I've been busy, busy, busy with work and life! 


I wanted to share with you this great discovery I made at Cost Plus/World Market. Reusable Ice Cubes from Icy-Cools! I don't know if they're still at World Market, I haven't looked lately, but you can order them straight from Icy-Cools (see link above), or you can order them here through Amazon, and they're a little bit cheaper.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

As a school-based therapist, I continue to provide therapy services to our clients during the summer, which means I've had a summer full of parks and home visits. As a result, my lunch has to stay cold in my hot car. We've also had a lot of beach trips, road trips, parties, etc this summer in which we've needed to keep food cold. These reusable ice cubes have been great!

First, and most importantly, they keep my food cold! But the other thing I love about them is that they leave more room for food in my insulated lunch bag. Most ice packs are so big, they take up so much space! The reusable ice cubes are helpful because I can put all my food in first, then dump the ice cubes in and they surround all my food, keeping it nice and cold! One more great thing about them: the container they come in can be re-used to store them in your freezer!