Friday, August 24, 2012

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!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

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.

Friday, August 17, 2012

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.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

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!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

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.