I've been working on the Clutter-busting challenge all month and it has been a challenge.  We are still going to be clutter-busting in June because we have a lot of cluttered areas in our home that need some TLC.  It has been a lot of work, but the results are worth the effort.

I am so excited to share before and after pictures of my cookbook/art supplies shelves.

I donated a whole shelf of cookbooks to make more space and made room for the crock-pot in the kitchen.  My bread machine went out to the garage since it is no longer working:(  I miss my bread machine.  

We love the new un-cluttered space. It is amazing the difference it makes when you remove the clutter.  Here are some snap shots of stuff we got rid of since my last clutter-busting post.  

Half a truck (we don't seem to have the cab anymore), an old trash can, a two piece bathing suit (from before 3 kids), kids place-mats, magic hat baby toy, odd shaped fabric scrap

An old laundry bag, worn out kids shoes, worn out kids clothes

Halloween pail, stamper (the baby chews on stampers), window cling shade, old kids clothes, old lip gloss, random puzzle piece

Bag of trash cleared out of my desk, happy meal toy, breast milk bottle, broken hanger, half a plastic egg, broken army man, wooden stick from toy we no longer have

Stuff from my desk that I don't need

I will keep you posted on our clutter-busting progress since we will still be clutter-busting in June.  

I have been trying to stay on top of this challenge to reduce clutter by getting rid of 7 things each day except on weekends - gotta take a break sometime.  Last week I took an old changing table that had been in the garage for over a year to the Salvation Army.  I also found things to get rid of each day and then took most of it to Goodwill.  Some of it just needed to be recycled or thrown away.  

I am participating in Money Saving Mom's Clutter-busting Challenge.  You can link up your posts at Money Saving Mom or comment here.  I would love to hear about your clutter-busting accomplishments.  

Here are some pictures of things I got rid of last week.  

I found a few things in the kitchen to get rid of.  I need to find more, the kitchen is way too cluttered.  

An old worn out puzzle, a shirt that is too tight and unless I got awesome abs, I would never wear again, some baby stuff that we didn't even use when we had an infant

Two printed bib pieces that I will never use to make bibs, some old clothes, and a train car that does not go to any of our train tracks

Some old magazines, two empty bottles that were in my medicine cabinet, a few toys and books

I have been participating in Money Saving Mom's Clutter-busting Challenge this month.  The idea is to get rid of 7 items each week day in May to reduce the clutter in your home.  My son's school had a large garage sale last week.  I worked at the sale and the prep beforehand.  Each time I went over to work, I cleaned out more clutter and took donations for the sale.   

Here is a look at my very messy cookbook shelves.  My little guy saw the camera and had to be in the picture.  He's enjoying a brownie I made for the yard sale/bake sale.  I already pulled a few cookbooks off the shelf before thinking to take a picture.  I have been wanting to reduce my cookbooks to two shelves for a long time to make room for art and craft supplies for the kids.  

I cleared out enough cookbooks to create an empty shelf and found some other random things to donate.  I took three loads of donations over to the sale last week.  I did buy a few things at the yard sale which counteracts a portion of my de-cluttering, but I only bought things we could use and the big things were outside toys for the boys.  All in all, it was a successful week of clutter-busting.  

I am joining Money Saving Mom in the Clutter-busting Challenge for the month of May.  The idea is that if you get rid of 7 things each day of the month, you will greatly reduce the clutter in your home.  I took a few pictures of the most cluttered areas in our home.  Boy, do we need this challenge.  

This is the garage pile up.  The recycle bin is in the bottom right corner, almost everything else is just messy clutter.  We had several boxes of stuff leftover from our garage sale last summer that I donated to my son's preschool yesterday for their garage sale this weekend.  We still have a lot of work to do in the garage, but it is already less cluttered than in this picture.  

This is the garage storage closet.  We have very little kitchen storage so I end up putting things in this closet, but it has gotten way out of hand.  I plan to tackle this closet this month b/c I can't function this way.  I can't find anything in this closet when I need it.  

This is the boys closet.  Not too bad, but it could use a little organization.

My desk could use some de-cluttering.  I never sit at the desk, so it tends to pile up.  

The dresser is another perpetually cluttered area.  

The baby's clothes.  I really need to buy him a small dresser.  I already tackled this one.  I just needed to rotate some clothes that he had outgrown so they would all fit in the drawers.  

I was going to show you my closets too, but the uploading function isn't working on my blog program.  My closets are so messy.  I want to clean them out and give the boys a little space in one of them for hanging clothes because their isn't much room in their little closet for all three of their things.  

As you can see, we have a lot of work to do this month, but I am looking forward to the end result.  If you are "normal" like us and would like to join us in this challenge, I would love to see how you do.  Money Saving Mom will post daily and provide a linky where you can link up your blog posts.  You can also leave comments here on my post and share your results.  Happy De-cluttering!  

Guest post by my sister, Rebecca

My husband and I installed new shower doors during our bathroom renovation a few years ago and were disappointed when they were quickly covered by scale buildup.  We had opted for a silk finish on the doors and were concerned that abrasive cleaners might mar the finish.  After many trials and little success with various cleaners including vinegar, I finally sprayed a paper towel with vinegar and effectively “soaked” a small section of the shower door.  To my relief, the vinegar soak was successful in removing all of the scale buildup. 

I recently cleaned the shower doors again and decided to take some pictures to show the amazing results.  This time I used a spare roll of liners for cloth diapers as the soaking material (since I never bother using the liners in our cloth diapers).  Any thin material that will cling to the glass shower doors when soaked with vinegar should work.

Here are the steps that I took to clean the shower door.  This method also works on tubs and surrounds.

1. Drape a thin material (e.g., paper towels or cloth diaper liners) over your shower door and spray it with vinegar until it is well soaked.  If necessary, smooth out the material so that it is in complete contact with the door.  Allow to soak for 10 or 15 minutes. 

2. Remove the soaking material and wipe down the shower door with a damp cloth.  If the vinegar has had enough time to penetrate the scale buildup, little to no scrubbing will be necessary.

3. Transfer the soaking material to another section of the door, and repeat the process.

If you are not fond of the smell of vinegar, keep in mind that as it dries, the odor will dissipate.  As I was growing up, I always hated the smell of vinegar when Mom used it to clean; now that I have small children of my own, I buy vinegar by the gallon and know that it is a safe and effective cleaner for our home.

The pictures below show the vinegar soak (on the left) and scale buildup (on the right).  I’m so glad that we are able to restore the look of our shower doors to their new condition.  As a lasting solution to the problem of scale buildup, we are currently researching water filtering options for our home.  Although we will likely choose to install a whole-house filter in addition to our water softener, another solution would be to install a showerhead filter.

You can see the vinegar soak on the left side of the door.

If you look really closely, you can see the scale buildup is on the right side of the door, but no longer on the left.  

Thank you Rebecca for taking the time to share your cleaning success story.    

This is the easiest homemade laundry detergent.  I have been using it for a couple of weeks with great results.  Don't forget to enter my giveaway for 20 Mule Team Borax.  

Ingredients:  
2 cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
1 Fels-Naptha laundry bar
1 capful of Purex Crystals (optional for added scent)

1.  Grate on a fine grater a bar of Fels-Naptha laundry soap.

2.  Then mix in the super washing soda, borax, and optional Purex Crystals.  That is all there is to it.  Use 1 to 2 Tbsp. detergent per laundry load depending on size of load.  

Tonight I am thankful for a productive day.  I am listening to an audio book about adultescents (22-35) year olds who haven't quite grown up and are still heavily dependent on their parents.  One of the common characteristics of this group is their lack of cleanliness.  They tend to leave messes everywhere in their apartments, homes, and even their parents homes (many of them live with their parents).  I heard this chapter of the book this morning as I was driving my boys to preschool and was inspired to clean up my house.  

I started with the 1st floor bathroom and cleaned it top to bottom.  This is all I got done in the morning and then I had to pick up the boys from preschool.  My husband even got into the act and scrubbed the much neglected shower.  After I returned with the boys we had lunch and then returned to our cleaning mission.  I cleaned the kitchen a couple of times today and did a couple of loads of laundry, but we do that everyday.  

I decided we would tackle the upstairs.  The boys room was so bad we could hardly walk through it.  Toys and books everywhere.  I spent a long time helping the boys put their stuff away.  It takes them forever, but they are learning to pick up after themselves.  I have been really bad about putting away my clean clothes and the boys clean clothes.  There was a laundry basket full and piles all over my room.  I spent all afternoon working up stairs and got most of the boys and my clothes put away.  I still have to put the babys clothes away, but I have to rotate sizes first.  It was an enjoyable day as it feels good to get things done and the boys room is spotless.  I still have some work to do in our room, but it has come a long way.  

My husband cleaned out the garage then fixed the phone line upstairs which had been damaged and even hid the cord under the floor.  

It was a busy and productive day.  We need to have cleaning days more often.  Luckily we had a fridge full of leftovers so we didn't have to do any cooking tonight.

I hope you had a great day too.  What are you thankful for today?