Recently I told you I was updating my littlest’s nursery since we barely did anything to it before she was born. Well, I always wanted a hanging element in her room to give it more personality and to give her something pretty to look at while laying in her crib.

I came across several great ideas on Pinterest and looked in many places on Etsy to see what I could find that would work. In the end, the ones in Etsy were a little too pricey so I decided to create one myself. And the DIY Chandelier Baby Mobile above is what I ended up creating.

Related: DIY Batman Baby Mobile

The best part is that all of my kids love it and it was super easy to make. Even better is that I have created a step-by-step tutorial as a guest post over at my friend Carissa’s blog Thrift & Spice, so if you are interested in creating a DIY Chandelier Baby Mobile just like mine for your own baby or for a friend’s, check exactly how I did it here!

*some of the following links may be affiliate links for your convenience*

Being a stay at home mom has its limitations, like when it comes to how much you can spend on new items for your home. Recently my husband bought me an amazing LG matching washer and dryer set as a gift this past Christmas (that I am truly grateful for and totally in love with)! There was nothing wrong with my older pair other than they were mismatched (one was a Maytag black front loader and the other was a white standard Amana dryer). My previous washer had died so I was able to get the black Maytag floor model and had been using for several years now.

I’m not gonna lie though, the mismatched washer and dryer was driving this OCD chick insane! So you can imagine how excited I was.

Now, I was faced with a different problem. I have 2 washers and 2 dryers.

I really like to help my husband with anything I can when it comes to finances, and since no one in the family needed a washer or dryer, I knew exactly what to do.

Sell them on Craigslist!

In about 10 days my washer sold and the dryer followed about another week later. Both sold for FULL asking price.

No haggling.

No compromising.

JUST a good sale to people who saw the value in them.

So, here is how to sell your old appliances for top dollar on Craigslist:

1. This may go without saying but make sure they WORK.

Frankly, if whatever you are selling does NOT work like it’s supposed to, it needs to go in the trash. You wouldn’t buy it that way and you shouldn’t make someone else buy it in that condition either. I am a person who takes good care of anything I own so I always try to treat my things nicely. Taking care of them from the start drastically reduces the chances of them breaking down.

And if your appliance is need of a minor repair, then it may be worth spending $10 or $20 bucks to fix it so you don’t lose out on $50 plus from a buyer.

2. Make sure your appliance is CLEAN.

Whether or not it has been in the garage collecting dust for a while or it was just put in there, it needs to be cleaned thoroughly. And I am not talking about wiping the outside with a cloth.

If it is a washer like in this case, the inside needs to be wiped down, the rubber gasket needs to be cleaned thoroughly and the soap dispenser needs to be removed and cleaned.

If you are selling it with a pedestal, the inside of it needs to be wiped down as well.

I sold our old double oven gas stove a few months ago and the burners, both ovens, inner shelves, the knobs, exterior… ERRRRTHANG was spotless and looking like it was brand spanking new.

And if you were selling a dryer, make sure the lint collector is cleaned out.

Tip: Make sure you open any doors your appliances have to remove any musty odors and on the day the buyer is supposed to show up, make sure you do a quick wipe down in case any dust had settled over the days after your first initial cleaning. 

3. Keep an outlet and extension cord handy.

You may need to “prove” that your appliances work so make sure you have that handy so they can check it right away without any delays. They may not even request it, but by being prepared it shows them you have nothing to hide.

4. If you have the warranty or manual, make sure to have those out and specify that you have them in the ad.

A purchaser will be truly grateful especially if something happens down the road, they at least a place to reference for any repairs.

5. Price to sell….

I know what you are thinking. If I am going to get top dollar, why would I price to sell?

Simple, because you want them to think they are getting a great deal off the bat! You have to be real – you are selling something USED and no matter how well you take care of it, it is still used so don’t get all crazy trying to ask a ridiculous amount of money for something especially on Craigslist, cause no one will even inquire about it.

Hey, that’s what I do when I am searching for good deals. I think “They want that much!? Ha!” and I just keep scrolling.

Don’t get scrolled on!

Just make sure it is a comfortable price for you. Consider the condition, how long you had it and how much you paid for it… even how much you would pay for it, if it was you who was buying.

6. Take GREAT pictures.

They don’t have to be “professional” looking, but they need to be clear and you need to provide SEVERAL from different angles. If there is a scratch, show it. Providing good pictures and disclosing everything up front will help potential buyers see exactly what they will be buying BEFORE they get to you.

Can you believe that washer was 8 years old!?!?!?!? 

Don’t give them the opportunity to haggle once they arrive because “that scratch wasn’t shown in the picture” or “this doesn’t look as good as advertised”. If you have to get a crazy close-up image,  do it.

7. Make sure that there is a clear path to remove the items quickly .

You want there to be no obstacles or delays getting it out of your home and into their vehicle.

Tip: If your appliances are in the garage. Make sure it is at the end near the garage door and there is nothing on either side so that the appliance can easily be picked up and moved.

It’s also good to have everything cleared around it so that the buyer can see it from all angles.

8.  Speak to the person over the phone.

We live in a world where texts are preferred, but I am weird about my stuff. I want them to go to a good home to someone who will really appreciate them, like I did. So I like to get to hear the person. Getting a little more personal with them let’s them know that you are a decent person and they shouldn’t be “scared” of picking up from you.

It also gives you ease of mind to hear who the person is who will be coming over so that you aren’t anxious at a stranger coming to your house.

Plus, establishing good rapport helps so that the people coming over won’t want to pull a fast one and try to low ball an offer when they come over as well.

Plain and simple: Good people don’t mind paying good people good money for something good. 🙂

And those are my 8 tips on how to sell your old appliances for top dollar on Craigslist!

These tips work for me every time. The more I sell on Craigslist, the better I get and now with these tips, I hope you will too!

Do you have any tips you wish to share? I would love to know.

Boy, do I have some explaining to do! I am sure that by now you have been wondering where the heck I have been. Well, you know I don’t like to waste time so here’s the 411 on why I have been MIA.

Frankly, by the end of last year I was burnt out. Managing 2 blogs, taking care of 3 kids, a home and a hubby was really tough. My entire household was sick for all of November and half of December. My health unfortunately took a toll and the medication I was on did a number on me (still dealing with all of the side effects as we speak).

The holidays were a little tough because of all the sickness in our household…… And not to mention our Christmas lights were vandalized. We are literally the “Griswold’s” of our neighborhood and some little jerk kids (yes, I said that… I actually called them worse, but I like to keep it PG here) cut, ACTUALLY CUT, our Christmas lights on the perimeter of our yard.

Can you believe that?

Nothing like that has ever happened in our neighborhood!

We did do some digging, spoke to some neighbors and word got around that these jerks kids didn’t live in our neighborhood, but were nowhere to be found. There were other neighbors looking for them too as we were not the only victims, but we were the only ones who actually got our strings cut and permanently damaged.

Never mind that we are hardworking people right!? We paid for those lights so that our children could enjoy them…. The Scrooge in me came out real quick!

I see a huge Grinch sign in our future this year…. I might stick one in our yard with the words “we’re watching you” posted on it. If I do, I’ll make sure to share it.

Okay, moving on….

Then, my second blog took a huge change of course. I have had a long time love affair with photography but never thought I was good enough, however I have been doing so much better and even took a course at the end of the year that was huge in stepping up my game so I decided to bite the bullet and just take a chance.

I created a membership site for bloggers and online entrepreneurs in need of stock photography for their social media accounts and blogs and boy was I glad I did because the support and feedback has been immense. I have several members already and I am only in the second week!

Here’s a sneak peak at one of my photos.. not too shabby I guess.

So that was what I focused on for all of January. My goal was to launch on the 1st of February and I reached it.  Unfortunately, since there was so much work that needed to be done up front in order to “open shop” this blog suffered from my content and January was a fiasco…. however, my traffic didn’t hurt much.

One of the things that helped was that That Latina Next Door was featured on Clark Howard’s website! What the what?!

Crazy I know!

His site did a piece on saving money for the new year and they featured and linked my 365 Day Penny Challenge included in my “Some Easy Ways to Save Money” blog post so that got me some new eyes on my blog.

Very cool!

Seriously, mind blown.

So now with this increase in exposure I have had several companies reach out to me in order to possibly work together on some projects this year. I will divulge as soon as I get more details, but pray for me so that they work out!

As for what’s going to be happening here, I have some BIG wish list items and some content already rounded up for this year.

Here are my goals:

1. THE OUTDOORS – I met some amazing women last year on Instagram and Holly at @ourfauxfarmhouse has a gorgeous feed on her account. Just look at this amazing playhouse that her husband built for their kids….. so I had this crazy idea that I wanted one too. I have been talking to my hubby trying to figure out the plan of attack on something like this.

I won’t lie to you and say that I wouldn’t enjoy this more than my old children. It’s just so stinking’ cute. I really think they would love it though. Plus my hubby has the tools and the skills for something like this. The one factor that would work against us would be TIME.

I will say that if and when we start, we will commence sometime in March and document and video record every single step so that if anyone wants to learn (along with us) they can.

Make sure to check her out if you have an IG account. She doesn’t have a blog, but posts create DIY’s on her account.

2. MY HOME – My second goal is to show more of my home (the real stuff). We have been moving things around lately trying to make it work better for us. Right now there is a constant crazy mess of toys everywhere and I have about gone mad trying to find places for them and keep my house semi-organized at the end of the day…. needless to say, it has been an uphill battle.

My son’s cars seem to have taken over…

We are changing some things around, have purchased some new furniture pieces and reconfigured some spaces in order to make it better for our family of five.

3. RECIPES – I will be posting more recipes as my hubby and I have a few tricks up our sleeves when it comes to cooking. So definitely more of those. Plus, he is a great cocktail mixer – he can put some bartenders to shame and I know you will like some of the “here honey you have had a long day, you NEED this” kind of drinks he makes for me.

4. A SHOP – I want to open an actual shop on this site. This one is a big ONE! We have several test pieces of home decor items that I wish to sell on The Latina Next Door that I think might have a chance at being successful. It would be nice to open shop before the summer, but I am not sure as of yet. Still brainstorming and organizing all of the upfront things that need to get done.

But hey, I already started one shop, whose to say I can’t do 2!

5. TUTORIALS – I will definitely have more of those coming up with some great and not so great projects. I have one in particular that is just painful to talk about. It almost cost me more to update than what I paid for it! You won’t believe it!

Along with that, I plan on starting my second YOUTUBE channel in connection with the blog (especially if I am documenting the playhouse process)… I will need a place to host those videos that can be easily accessible.

6. REVIEWS – There are some things that I have tested out that have been awesome and some not so much (hence the project I mentioned above) so I am excited to start doing those here and sharing my honest opinions as well.

7. GIVEAWAYS – Both my giveaways last year were huge successes, so I am hoping to team up with other brands in order to do more of them this year. Crossing my fingers a few things get approved!!!

Okay, that was a long list!

So even though I have been quiet here, I have been working up a storm behind the scenes. It’s a good thing I have the Best Planner for 2017 cause without it, I would be a mess!

That’s it for today, but I’ll be hitting your inbox again very soon….

Which topics are you looking forward to seeing this year?

If you have been looking for the right planner to organize your daily routines and give you a better outlook on how to live your life and achieve your dreams, then look no further, because the best planner for 2017 is here..

Enter the Brilliant Life Planner created and designed by Beth Anne of Brilliant Business Moms. That beauty that you see above (and the exact one I ordered myself). Eeeeeek!

Believe me when I say that I have been looking for a planner that not only allows me to set my goals and tasks for each day (hour by hour, no less!), but also provides me with weekly mindset, intentions and personal goals that I list, track and ultimately achieve.

Because who doesn’t want to live a life with purpose and see it on paper too?!

I have personally interacted with Beth Anne myself throughout this year and I can tell you she is the most Brilliant (no pun intended) young woman I have met who not only provides a wealth of information, but does so with generosity and genuine pleasure that I have not been used to.

So I know that she has put forth an amazing product as a result of hard work, thought and much consideration.

Just look at these beauties!

These are the 4 designs that myself and the rest of the launch team voted on. So I can vouch for it when I say you are getting the best planner for 2017. And you can get yours right here!

The Brilliant Life Planner “has a hard, durable cover that can be tossed into the back of your mini-van, covered in stickers, or used as a fort. No matter what your family puts it through, this planner will last” – Beth Anne.

Not only that, the planner has…

and…

and…

…because all those other planners in your local stores just don’t have enough pages for notes!

What can I say? I have a lot on my mind!

But that is not all of its features! You see that beautiful orange sheet with that inspirational quote? You can remove it and frame it!

Can I get a heck yeah!?

That is just brilliant!

And still, that is not all you get. With your purchase, you also get the following bonuses…

With every planner purchase, you’ll also receive a free PDF of her popular book for women, Time Management Mama, which focuses on pursuing your passions.

You also get access to a FREE LIVE video course with every planner purchase. From January 2 – 31, you get to learn her unique goal-setting process, the best time management tips, and how to get the most out of your Brilliant Life Planner.

Um, who else gives you a course with a planner????

No, one.

Nope!

Nadie…. (that’s Spanish for no one)

And if that wasn’t enough! You also get additional PDF planner pages with your own business in mind.

So if I haven’t convinced you that this is the best planner for 2017, read on….

In addition, 10% of her proceeds will get donated to helping kids with disabilities get placed and adopted in amazing and loving homes. So you are helping a beautiful cause!

I know I convinced you now!

So go and check out the page now, cause the price will be going up once it hits her shop!

Just click the image below….

What are ya waiting for?

Tell me, what would be able to do if you had a planner as amazing as this?

Well it has been 5 weeks since I started Ashley Horner’s #transformyou challenge and you won’t believe what all has happened. (you can read more about that here)

As luck would have it I injured my left knee’s MCL and was not able to work out for a whole week cause I had so much inflammation and was in so much pain.

After a visit to the doc’s office, anti-inflammatory medication and a prescribed knee brace, I was able to start workouts again, but have not been able to run for 2 weeks.

THAT being said, I have kept to my diet (mostly) and my weight lifting and abdominal workouts…. and after 3 kids I never thought I would say this….

I can see my abs!!!!!

Woot! Woot!

But before I can show you my progress picture I need to tell you what I have been doing.

I have been sticking to the #magnifyou diet and work out plans.

The food is actually not that bad, however, I will never EVER try to make or eat homemade Kale chips again.

NEVER.

NOPE.

YOU. CAN’T. MAKE. ME.

Moving on!

My diet has comprised of:

Breakfast meals like coconut flour pancakes with bananas and walnuts, drizzled with a little bit of agave nectar.

Mostly egg white scrambled eggs (occasionally I can throw a whole egg in the mix) with green tea and Ezekiel bread.

Lunches and dinners comprised of:

Vegetables, sweet potatoes and stuffed chicken breast with feta cheese and spinach.

Shrimp or chicken corn flour tacos with homemade pico de gallo. Recipe you can find here.

Honey and almond crusted salmon with brown rice with a little bit of low sodium soy sauce.

So as you can see the food hasn’t been bad at all. And of course there are those supplements:

My hubby got me everything I needed for the full 10 weeks, not to mention all the organic nuts I could ever want.

And despite my injury I kept on and did my best (while wearing my knee brace of course).

The results?

See for yourself….

I still shudder when I see that first picture. Bleh!

But the amazing thing is that even after not being able to run for 2 weeks and work out the week of my injury I can say that after 3 kids I can see my abs!!!

Holy freakin’ cow people! My abs!!!!!!!

Sorry about my head being chopped off. I promise that is me, in my Under Armour workout bottoms and all! I hadn’t noticed it was not in the pic until afterwards.

I guess I was just focused on my abs!

My abs!!!!

The good news is, my knee is almost 100% again and now I will be taking on the next 5 weeks straight on, holding nothing back. If THIS can happen in 5 weeks with a limiting injury I cannot imagine what the next 5 weeks will bring.

I say bring it on!

And in other news, we got a sweet letter from our HOA saying our fence needed to be repaired….

GRRRR….

As if I need something else to focus on right now!

Truth be told it was a hot mess and we were kinda waiting till it was “necessary” to do something about it since every summer we have been in our new home, I have been pregnant.

Yup.

#truth

So we decided to replace the whole darn thing, because you know, we like to stack task after task after task over here.

One thing was for sure, it was UUUUUGLY!

Replacing a few slats here and there would have been a waste of time and money.

There is my hubby starting to take it down.

Our backyard now looks something like this. The posts were not put in properly so not even those could be saved.

And then the rain came…..

Of course, right?

Needless to say, the progress has been delayed, but hopefully we will be back at it again this weekend.

I am lucky my dad came over and has been helping my hubby with this project. We have a couple more weeks to go since this is being done by my husband and my dad alone.

Of course, I have been helping by feeding them and making sure they are hydrated and my awesome mom has been helping me take care of the kids while all this commotion has been going on….

I can’t wait to see what the new fence looks like though.

Anything is better than what we had and at least now, we know it will last us a long time!

More progress pics coming soon… both from me and the fence. LOL!

Hope you are doing wonderfully!

Hi there friends!

It has been a while since I have written anything on here and I feel terrible about that. I have neglected blogging and I want to apologize to my regular readers.

A couple of months ago (right around when I stopped blogging) I came to the realization that I could no longer continue to blog for “free” and I needed to figure out how to monetize my blog.

Many bloggers out there are doing this and I really wanted to learn “the craft” so that I could make this a full time gig and not worry about having to go back to work once all of my kids start school.

So naturally, with this new idea of mine came many days of reading articles from Pinterest and purchasing some books and courses online to help me figure how all this stuff works. During this period of “self-help” I came across an idea that sounded pretty cool in my head so naturally the first person I spoke to about it was my husband.

He too thought it was a great idea so we sat down and had a real conversation about the time, money and strategies (mainly lifestyle changes) that would need to take place in order to allow me the opportunity to pursue an actual business and become an “entrepreneur”.

Oh boy, has it been a whirlwind since then….

I have put more effort to this venture than any job in my life. LIKE EVER!

The biggest takeaway from all of this is that I have been doing this “blogging” thing all wrong. Relying on traffic and ads will no longer cut it in the blogging world. There are just too many bloggers out there and everyone is scrambling for you to get a look at their website.

The fact of the matter is that traffic, ads, sponsored posts and guest posting can only do so much and the work will far outweigh the benefits so I had to look for something BIGGER.

Which is why the idea of having an actual business came to mind and how www.bosslatina.com came to be.

Now, my new website won’t be launching for another few days, but I do have a temporary page up giving you a glimpse into what it’s about.

I have been diligently working behind the scenes, because there is JUST SO MUCH and even when I launch my site, there won’t be too much at first, but as the weeks continue I will be adding more and more.

So far, I have about 8 blog posts (see, I have been working!) and some information about me and what I plan to accomplish. I am also including an actual online course that I have been working at like a MOFO!

Yes, it was necessary to use that language. 

It has been the thing I have been working on day and night.

You have no idea the times I have stayed up past 2:00am (sometimes 3am!) while everyone else is fast asleep making sure I have my information straight, everything flows well, my images are on point, my sales page looks good, my sign up forms are working….. and much, much more.

However, I am not giving up. The online education industry is a 107 billion dollar industry offering things from how to learn water coloring techniques to completing your bachelor’s degree to learning how to live in a CAMPER!

Yes, that’s an actual course. 

I do believe that every single person has a special craft and if you are able to package it in a way that others will want to learn from YOU, then you are golden. And with today’s technology and social media giving you access to so many people anywhere on Earth, it’s hard to think why wouldn’t you want to give it a try.

So I took the leap! And have made some great connections with other established bloggers and social media experts. Now it’s just a matter of completing my course and setting things on auto-pilot!

And you know what’s really nuts?!?! Is that I already have ideas for 2 more courses!

I am crazy, yes! But a good kinda crazy, I promise! 

I won’t be neglecting The Latina Next Door too much longer though, so please be patient with me. I have some rooms we have been working on and I have plans to open a shop with some goodies that I think would be appealing to a variety of folks so I am really excited about that as well.

So make sure if you have not already joined my email list, be sure to subscribe so you can get first dibs on merchandise and access to subscriber discounts!

My husband and I have been gathering tools, supplies and materials and we should be open for biz in the next couple of months.

As long as I don’t go cray-cray before then. 😉

And if THAT was not enough! I just joined in to do a 10 week fitness challenge. Okay, okay, do I really need this?

This answer is HELL YES! I have been a fan of Ashley Horner for a while now. And I recently came across her instagram account and noticed she was opening up her next 10 week challenge!

Because of the attention my 3 kiddos demand from me and my new business venture(s) I have been lacking on my personal/physical development. And after I had worked so hard to remove some seriously unnecessary baby weight, I have fallen a few steps and gained about 8 pounds from where I was 2 months ago!

That might not sound like a lot to you, but I am only 5’2″ and 8 pounds is a lot, especially when you are at the top level of your “healthy weight” parameters for your height.

So I said, “no más!” and decided to see what my body and mind will do during this process.

The first step was to actually post a picture of my “before” on instagram and I am NOT proud of this – still freaking out. But in order to fully commit I had to do this. I need to see it for myself and let me tell ya… I am disappointed in myself and a little  a lot ashamed of what I look like.

And while my hubby thinks I look better than ever being his baby mama of 3, I can no longer walk around feeling uncomfortable tucking here and sucking in there.

I don’t want to feel like this anymore and frankly there is just no excuse for it. I can use spanx all I want and take “strategic”selfies and hide behind my kids in pictures, but I don’t want to be that mom.

First, because it is sooooooo obvious when you do it and second, I want to feel good about myself. PERIOD.

So, with that I will be posting my journey as I progress. And while I know that my blog is mostly DIY, home decor, it also needs to be about ME, all of me. I can make things pretty all day long, but if I don’t feel that way about myself then I’m not being true to myself.

I will still be a DIY Latina and there will be more of those posts coming up as well, but I need to “DIY” me for a change and use my little piece of real estate online to document and maybe even inspire someone else to do the same.

So, with all this being said. You will see more activity, updates and changes coming up. Both on TLND side and with me.

You can always follow me on Instagram if you want to keep even bigger tabs on me! 😉

I post more frequently on there with pictures of my home as well.

I hope this posts gives you some clarification on what I have been so quiet. Again, I am so sorry I have neglected my page, but I sure hope you understand!

I will write again soon!

Happy Monday! I really do hope you’re having a good one. It’s been a long time since I have looked forward to Mondays. They usually signify the end of the weekend and back to the ole routine (whether it be school or work), plus you gotta get up early and that totally stinks…. It can seem so bleh!

And YES I get up early even though I stay at home…..

But lately, I have been looking at them differently… I have actually started to look forward to Mondays. I have been working on so many exciting projects behind the scenes and I cannot wait to share them with you. Like many of you out there, I have dreams, BIG dreams and I am finally starting to understand how to make them happen. I wake up every morning so enthusiastic and it has felt like forever since I have had this much drive for something. The passion and energy that I now feel is so refreshing and it is taking me to new heights. Suddenly things have gotten clearer and I now see a my path.

The funny thing is that it has been there all along. I just needed to see it. Seriously, it finally clicked! And like most things in life, I know it won’t be easy and it will undoubtedly take time. I have fumbled in the past and I will fumble again I’m sure, but now I am picking myself up a little, SCRATCH THAT, a lot differently.

Now, remember this idea???

[Read more…] about A Reflection and a Dining Room Sneak Peak