Storage bin beauty

It's been my mission to organize like crazy. I've always been really organized, but it's not always been incorporated into my decor. Thanks to all the glory of the Internet, I've been inspired. Here is my latest..Amazon boxes into storage bins. It's super easy. All it took was an search for homemade bins and a million ideas, videos and blogs come up. This requires a little sewing, but it's so forgiving if you are not perfect!

Shabby chic success

I have been drooling over shabby chic furniture on Pinterest, Blogs and Web sites for weeks. I knew I had it it me to tackle a piece on my own, but I just needed the right one. Enter: My Dad Chuck. While bidding at an auction on a dresser for Ayla's new big girl room, he also came across this kid-size bookshelf for $1! The quality was really very good, and the only features I didn't like were the metal legs and the collection of spider eggs that came with it. But, those are easy fixes. The legs screwed right out and the shop vac took care of the spider sacs. I had everything I needed at home for this lovely project so I didn't even have to trek to Home Depot. Two coats of primer, a coat of white paint, some serious sandpaper action, Mod Podge (oh but of course), decorative wrapping paper and Polyurethane was all I needed to make my drooling days end! It took me a few trips to the basement between Ayla's naps today to add each coat and this is what I came up with. It's for Ayla's bedroom, but

the photo I took of it finished in the basement didn't do it justice, so I staged it in my living room. And, I actually love it there for now. I haven't added the coat of Polyurethane yet, but I wanted to make sure I really did like it before I made it permanent. My original idea was to do the backs silver or gray, because that is the theme of Ayla's room...Shabby Chic Glamour, but I loved the way the green turned out. I am sure the little addition of color will just steer the theme into a different direction. So, I write this blog with a happy heart that I tackled something new and it turned out just as I had imagined.

Strawberry baskets

While spending the day in my dad's workshop, he unloaded a few items on me which included three strawberry boxes. I love them because they represent so much of my past (growing up working on a farm and watching my family can and freeze fresh produce).  I saw a really cool idea on Pinterest for putting 365 small index cards in a strawberry box with the date starting at January 1 and ending with December 31 on each card. Each day of the year, you write the year on a line and one thing that happened in your family. So, for yesterday August 23, I might write: 2012: Ayla learns to make the owl sound. Then next year on that day I write on the next line: 2013: Ayla pees on the potty (we hope so, ha ha). It's a great way to keep track of life's simple moments in a very compact place.

I also saw an idea for putting name labels on baskets and putting them on your stairs so when you clean, you can sort each family member's items into their respective box. That was my intention when I made the labels, but then I couldn't find baskets laying around the house that would work for my purpose. So, until I can come up with something (probably covering diaper boxes with fabric and liners) I added the labels to the strawberry boxes. They aren't being used right now...but I am open for suggestions. Maybe I should just do the index card idea for all of us. That would be interesting!

Mod Podge Masterpiece

Masterpiece is a bit ambition...but I love the alliteration.
Anyway, a lonely bottle of Mod Podge ($2) accompanied my endless craft supplies for years. I never used it. WHAT was I thinking? That stuff is amazing. I have been trying to take my Pinterest inspirations and not directly copy them, rather put my own twist on them. A crafter has to be a little creative, right?
I fell in love with the saying you see in the picture and wanted it for Ayla's room. It really exemplifies how Nate and I feel about our first born. On Pinterest, the saying was on a fancy wooden sign with fancy illustrated text. I jumped on the laptop to try to emulate the look, but since I am not trained in Adobe Illustrator and I am no expert in Word, I quickly got frustrated and quit. I dug out my Cricut cutter and decorative paper and experimented with various sizes and styles of the letters. Once I was happy with the results I placed them on the small piece of canvas ($1.50 and also victim to the getting lost in my craft supplies for years and never having a purpose). I brushed the Mod Podge over the canvas and placed the letters. Once they were set, I brushed another layer over the canvas to "finish" the canvas with a glossy look. Mod Podge comes in a variety of finishes. When I told a few middle-age co-workers about my Mod Podge project, they giggled. "We used to LOVE that stuff." Well ladies, I am bringing it back. In fact, there is a Mod Podge blog that I love to read. It showcases amazing ideas of other creative people.

From check box to bathroom beauty

How many of you have cleaning ADD? I do. Even after telling myself to stay in ONE room, I end up all over the house. It drives me insane because it probably makes my house feel dirtier than it is. Over the summer, I spent hours organizing the basement, kitchen drawers and cabinets, and closets. I have to admit, it's a cleansing feeling after a school year of chaos. 

Mid-summer, we had our nasty old stand up shower replaced with a beautiful tub/shower combo and the fresh paint job made the bathroom sparkle. And even though they were hidden, the vanity drawers filled with my husbands hair trimmings and all kinds of other dirt needed to be part of the makeover. My daughter loves to play in these drawers, and being the laid-back-let-her-explore type of momma, I let her. I just clean up when she is through. However, nothing had a place, so it all got thrown into the drawer, and I had to root. Soooo, I wanted to organize. I was on a full day mission to clean, so I did not want to run to the store for organizing implements such as drawer bins. I searched my house for the perfect size and in the office drawer, I found empty check boxes and my iPhone box. I also uncovered some cardboard jewelry boxes. I doused the check boxes with Modge Podge and covered them with decorative paper. And as you can see (sort of), I now have two contained bins that can hold the little things that roll around the drawer. I am getting better at covering things with fabric and paper (there is definitely a method), but as you can see, there is a little edge that is sticking out. I am not concerned, it's not out in the open. I ended up using the iPhone box in a lower drawer for perfume samples. And the cardboard jewelry box holds the millions of hair ties that meander all over the place. What a relief, to finally have some organization in my bathroom drawers without spending a dime. Other items you can use are old silverware drawers, wipe containers, any cardboard box cut down. The list goes on. Think about turning trash to treasure.

A little avocado

Somehow I came home from the store with a 4-pack of avocados. It was only $3.99 which was cheaper per avocado than single avocados. But there they sat on the counter longing to be used. Tonight, I created one of my favorite snacks - a bean salad. A pile of canelli beans rinsed and drained, half an avocado diced, grape tomatoes sliced, fresh basil, feta cheese and a dash of olive oil. Yum! Now to use the other three and a half!

Power hour

I am really proud of myself for finally finding the courage to take the power tool plunge. There are so many ideas on Pinterest (my new addiction) that require a little knowledge of drills, screws and saws. And surpisingly, it's really easy to use these tools that are usually reserved for the man of the house.  My dad spent a little time showing me a little of the ropes. I just took a deep breath and dove in. I wanted to create something unique that wasn't on Pinterest. I have an industrial look in my kitchen. It's painted grey with copper and silver accents. I don't really know how the idea came to me, it just did as I was digging through my tool box. I uncovered the old knobs I took off my built-in buffet (copper). They were replaced with cool yellow jeweled baubles. So, I had the cool tin trough with the copper handles and the copper handles. I decided to make a shelf-style storage container for the kitchen. I have no idea what will go in it, but that is for another day.

Beauty in a bottle

A few years ago, I snagged a very large box of random old bottles at an auction for a few dollars. I gave some some away and used some in home decor. However, the look is tired and old So, I have been seeing some really cool techniques on Pinterest and decided to try it out. My bathroom recently got a facelift with a crisp new coat of paint, so it needs some snazzed up knick knacks. Putting one of these flairs into the bottle as is would be a really cool rustic look, but that isn't what I was looking for. I wanted something that popped.

Idea overload

What do you do when you have so many ideas, don't know where to start and have no time!? I have ideas for decorating my house and my classroom as well as working on awesome crafty projects. I have a list compiled of materials to pick up. I have ideas stockpiled on Google reader as well as Pinterest. I need to organize my brain. I even have visions of bringing my ideas back to my blog. I love reading other blogs, so I hope my can be relatable and useful, too.

Cherishing moments

How lucky am I? I have the little girl I always dreamed of. I'm creating memories just me and her and it's amazing. Of course, she frustrates me and pushes my patience...but at the end of the day I take a few moments to watch her Angelic face asleep. Today we ran on the boardwalk, went on our first water slide and rode the teacups. I can't wait to watch her grow into a beautiful young woman, but until then I'll cherish the little moments along the way.

Craft corner

Well....it was time. My craft supplies were in the very large closet of our spare bedroom. When we made the other extra bedroom Ayla's nursery, a lot of furniture was moved to the front room 

leaving little room for me to work. Also, that room is going to be Ayla's, so while I had the time and energy, I created a corner of our basement into my craft space and hauled everything down two flights of stairs while she napped. It wasn't easy. But, it was rewarding. I have a place to escape to when I need it. The first picture shows set up of the blank furniture. I got the shelves at a yard sale for $15 for both. The sewing table was s $1 at an auction and I repurposed it. The stack of while shelves were $5 at a year sale and I had the plastic table to the left that I have always used for working on my crafts. The piece of carpet is actually just an outdoor rug from Home Depot for $18 that is intended for outside RVs. Even though our basement is water free, it is still damp and I didn't want to spend a fortune on carpet unnecessarily. Below, you can see that I started to fill the shelves. I had way more stuff that I thought I did. I tried to sort some out, throwing some in boxes for a yard sale.  I think I have everything transferred from cardboard show boxes to plastic containers (14 for $15 at Costco). I scoured my house for baskets and storage containers. All in all, I still think it's too cluttered and would like it to look more stylish. I have a few more things to add and I have to take a new picture. Hopefully, that is to come.

Look how far I have come...

Well, I'm looking back at my blog, and I see this post.
That was more than 3 years ago. I am now a fully certified teacher. Not only am I certified in Special Education, but also Secondary English. It's been a challenging 3 years, but I am so thankful I made the change. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a teacher. And, I have net so many wonderful people, mostly co-workers who humble me every day. This year, Journalism and yearbook are on my schedle. I can't believe it. I am teaching about something I love, Journalism. I am so excited.

Basement clean up

Well, after nearly four years after we realized our basement gets wet a few times a year, we decided to put an end to it by hiring the pros to redirect the water problem. Now, I am scheming ways to unclutter and organize that little baby to look and function as a more appealing living space. I've been scouring the Internet and come across a million great ways to reuse cardboard boxes, cereal boxes, coffee cans and other household leftovers. Now, I need the time and the boxes. I did make some toy bins for Ayla out of diaper boxes, but that took some time and she is really rough on them...and they are already starting to look a little worn. I came across this blog called Sew Many ways that has me wishing I had weeks and weeks to go crazy! However, my first goal is to start collecting boxes that are the same size and shape...I am starting with copy paper boxes...it might take some time, but I am collecting them at work! Let the clean up begin!