My Kitchen is Coming Together...

Hey y'all! Is it Spring Break where you are?? I am coming to you all the way from South Carolina! Whatever you are doing this week, I hope you are having a great time. Now on to some business...

Remember when I discussed our $20 kitchen update? We ended up with a weird space where we had taken down a set of cabinets. This is what it looked like.

That's when I made the Calendar/Memo/Menu Board.

And combined it with a $4 shelf from Goodwill.

And there you have a nice, organized area for mail and notes in the kitchen. Remember my matching coffee pot coaster? The kitchen is coming together nicely, don't you think?

Now if you'll excuse me, the sun is calling my name! Happy Spring Break!

Calendar/Menu/Memo Board

We have been working on our kitchen lately. We are just trying to update it a bit. Part of this update was to take off the old laminate backsplash and refinish the walls behind it. We have this one area of wall that we were not sure what we should do with it.

Enter this frame:

Yes, it's from our wedding. Yes, our wedding happened almost 3 years ago. Yes, it's still in it's original packaging (For protection, ok? Don't judge!).

Here's the thing. I love this frame. I love that people signed it and gave us well wishes on our wedding day. I just had not gotten around to hanging it up. It has been on display at our house propped up nicely behind our couch for all to admire and see when they came over.

Until now.

Why? Because it is the perfect size for the awkward place in our kitchen! Snap!

So I took the frame and this really cute fabric I found in the remnants section at JoAnn's.

I used the fabric to wrap the photo mat inside the frame. I secured it with tape. Then I used my Cricut (Designer's Calendar Cartridge) to cut out a calendar frame.

After that, I cut out the words "Notes" and "Menu" (using Doodletype Cartridge) and put them onto coordinating scrapbook papers.

I positioned it all into the frame and used double sided tape to sick it to the fabric backing. Reassemble the frame and use a dry-erase marker to write on it and you are all set!

Now, if only this calendar/memo/menu board could make ME be more organized... if I build it, it will come, right?

Stay tuned for after pics of where I put it in the finished kitchen. I am just working on a little shelf to go under it and then I will show you.

I will be linking to these parties this week. Woohoo!

Linen Closet Organizing

As I said before, I've had a few productive weekends. I took some time to organize our linen closet. Ahh yes, the linen closet. Home to the ironing board, the iron, extra toilet paper and everything else that I have no idea what to do with.

It started out looking like this:

...see all the stuff spewing out. It won't all fit on one shelf.

And now it looks like this:

I did get rid a few towels I no longer needed, but for the most part, everything that was in the closet before, ended up in there after (including a hamper at the bottom for dirty clothes).

Coupon Organizer

Are you one of the many people trying to get organized in January?? Here is a helpful idea that works for me - a fabric envelope. I use it in my purse to carry coupons. It is simple, only uses a scrap piece of fabric, and it's reusable! (Yay environment!)

I started with a scrap piece of fabric. I cut 2 strips and just eyeballed it without any measuring. You can make it any size you want it. I folded up what will become the bottom of the envelope, just to see the size.

I wanted my envelope to have a curved flap, so I used a plate to trace the curve. I then cut around the curve with my rotary cutter.

I pinned the two pieces of fabric with the right sides together and sewed all around it, leaving a little opening to turn it right side out.

Here it is right side out, and sew the little opening closed.

Pin the bottom and sew up the sides.

Attach a button and you have a fabric envelope! (I actually cheated- I used a snap to close the envelope and just hot glued my button to the front. Don't judge, I made this when I first started sewing and I hadn't met the button hole function on my sewing machine yet!)

This results in a super cute way to get your purse organized. How cute would it be to make one of these and throw a gift card inside as a little gift for someone? Oh the ideas are endless...

I will link up to these parties this week.

Mini Notebook for your Purse

With Halloween over (Happy Halloween!) I find Christmas is on my mind (nevermind Thanksgiving, I guess). In fact, my husband and I have a plan this year to get all of our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. So, I decided I needed to get organized. I found tiny composition notebooks at Target (2 for .99). I wanted something to carry around in my purse to write down gift ideas and gifts bought for everyone on our list.

I followed my tutorial on covering notebooks in fabric. This time though, I found it easier to paint the notebooks white to cover up the black and yellow swirled design.

Trim the fabric. This is a great project to use up those fabric scraps!

Trim the head n bond.

Iron the heat n bond to the fabric.

Peel back and iron on the notebook.

Trim the edges.

Iron over it one more time. Nice and slow on the edges. And there you have it- a mini notebook that will fit right into your purse. You could use it for grocery lists, thoughts, phone numbers, anything!

I will like to these parties this week.

Dollar Tree Jewelry Organizer

With the last week of school and tons of grading to do, I didn't have much time to craft, so I thought I would post what I wrote up for a blog swap I did recently with Scraps and Scribbles, just in case you missed it. :o)

Today I am excited to be sharing with you a fun tutorial on organizing jewelry for a super-cheap price!

Up until recently, the weather in Michigan has been anything but Spring-like, but, I have still felt the need for a little spring cleaning. When I walked into my bedroom, I was faced with this:

My jewelry was in a huge, tangled pile!! Yup, those are even a few necklaces hanging over the tv! Part of me never wants to buy new jewelry because I know I don't take care of it the way I should. Something had to be done.

On a recent trip to The Dollar Tree, I found these cork boards:

I decided to paint them Heirloom White to match the moulding in my room.

I also painted some cup-hooks heirloom white as well.

I trimmed scrapbook paper to fit into the frame of the corkboard. I had to gently push it to fit into the opening. It took some finesse, but with a little patience, I got it to work out.

I screwed the cup-hooks into the bottom of the frame.

Hang 'em on the wall and then organize that jewelry!

What I like about this idea is if I ever get sick of the blue paper, or if I repaint the room, all I have to do is cut new scrapbook paper out and I can switch it up!

Looks like I have some room for more jewelry... maybe I can finally buy some now that I have a place to safely store it!

I will be posting at these lovely parties.

Don't Agonize, Organize!

We've heard it before: “Don't agonize, organize”. Yet here I am agonizing. Could it be the agony in my lower back, after spending hours sitting on the floor in my living room? Yes. I recently received a BUNCH of crafting items from my Aunt and Grandma. Look at all the goodies I scored!



How do I organize it all?? It's official- I am going to need to create a crafting space in my house. Call the hubby- he has some dry-walling to do! I would love a place like this. I don't think that will happen anytime soon. I will just have to improvise.

I may not have a "crafting space," but I certainly do have all the supplies to fill the place including these adorable cans from the original crafter of my family, my darling Grandma! These will definitely have a special place front and center in my (future) crafting station.



I had to chuckle because if you look closely in the picture above, you will see the cute duck-shaped pencil holder, hand-crafted by my wonderful Grandpa. It comes complete with scribbles on the sides, crafted by one of the grandchildren many moons ago (maybe it was me?). I can't wait for that little guy to sit next to grandma's cans. The thought of it "quacks" me up. (Get it? hehehe)

All this organizing led me to a grateful moment. I am lucky to come from such a "crafty" family. My grandmother, the artist; my grandfather, the woodworker; my mother, the fellow red headed crafter (she used to own her own crafty store); and my father, the fixer-upper of anything. (Just to name a few.) Where would I be without these people to inspire me?

What inspires you? Leave a comment and let me know!