Shabby Storage Ideas

I saw this shabby wooden box over at Shabby 2 Chic a few weeks 
ago and just fell in love!

At first, I made one for decorative purposes only...

This is the first time that I have distressed something with Vaseline and I 

LOVE it!  Shabby 2 Chic gives you complete instructions HERE.

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Recently, I have started taking some vitamin and supplements to hopefully

help my body get back to pre-40 normal.....is there such a thing?

One thing that has always kept me from taking vitamins is that I hate my kitchen counter

looking like a pharmacy, but if I have the bottles hidden in a cupboard, I never remember to take them.

I thought of my "decorative" shabby wooden holder and decided to

use more scraps in the garage to build a functional, but cute box to hold my vitamins!

One keeps me organized.....

.....and one is just pretty!

How do you keep organization "pretty"?

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Packing up Christmas. . . .

I am never as organized in real life as I am in my head......

While in theory, I am organized....in practice it doesn't always work that way....

So imagine my surprise when I opened my Christmas bins and found this....

Last year, as I took my decorations down, I packed them into bags based upon 
their area of the house...I have NO recollection of doing this!

The mantle and all of its lights and accessories were put into a bag and so 
were my hallway decor and greens around the stairs......

Sometimes I surprise even myself!! 

This year I may even try labeling the bags.....we'll see if it actually happens!!


How long do you keep your decorations up?

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What do YOU do when stressed?

The past few weeks have been trying.....ranging from putting a special pet to sleep, a rabies scare, a flooded basement.....and numerous other things that on their own are not stressful, but when piled together, make me feel anxious....


So what's a girl to do???

....ORGANIZE!!

(Yep! I added shelf paper and sucked all the crumbs out of my drawers!)

For whatever reason, when I have stress in my life, I get compulsive about cleaning, organizing and tidy-ing!

It's like I need to try and restore order to my chaotic life......so I start with my countertops!




Oh....and baskets!  You can't forget baskets!  I put all of my cookie-cutters into baskets!

After my cleaning frenzy, I was enjoying the smell of Clorox lingering in the air and I realized that what I really needed to do was put that same amount of energy into praying......remembering that there is a God who wants to help me through my stress rather than watch me scrubbing countertops....


There is a verse in 2 Corinthians 9 that has been a long-time favorite.......

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.  We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 

{Emphasis mine}

.....I needed that reminder.....

What do you do when you are stressed?

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Homemade laundry detergent. . . .

I just love this money saving idea from Heather over at the blog Banana Pudding!

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Well hello, I'm Heather from the blog Banana Pudding and I finally whipped up some of my very own laundry and dishwasher detergent! So I just had to share!


This little DIY project will save you a lot of money and takes no time to go buy the ingredients and mix it up. 

Ingredients needed:

Borax 4lb 12oz for $4.09 

Washing Soda 3lb 7oz for $3.00 

LemiShine 12oz for $2.59 

Vinegar 32 floz $.73 

2 bars of soap for $.88 

coarse kosher salt 48oz for $1.75.

**1 batch= 50 loads for both laundry and dishes

**With supplies above I have enough to make at least 6-7 batches, which is 300-350 loads, which is 150ish loads of dishes and laundry each, at a grand total of about $13.00!!!

Dishwashing Detergent: 1 Batch


1 cup of borax
1 cup of washing soda
1/2 cup of salt
1/2 cup of lemishine, some people use citric acid but I didn't


Mixed in a 32oz plastic container with lid and shook until thoroughly mixed. Use a tablespoon per load. Added up to about $1.89/batch.

Laundry Detergent: 1 Batch


1 cup of borax
1 cup of washing soda
1 bar of soap, grated, I used dial because it was the cheapest


Mixed in a 32oz plastic container with lid and shook until thoroughly mixed. Use a tablespoon per load. Added up to about $1.32/batch


It is that simple to have clean laundry, for cheap! The laundry sadly doesn't have a scent, maybe I will try a more scented bar soap next time. Until then I can afford my favorite fabric softner! :)

I also finally cleaned up my closet and used some cheap little shower rings I had lying around to keep my purses organized! 

So happy to have a clean apartment! I hope you'll use these DIY tips to help make your house a little cleaner, too! With it being this easy and cheap, anyone can do it! 

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Heather...thanks so much for sharing those terrific money-saving ideas!

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Under the cabinet organization....

I am still in organization mode....although I am slowing down with the addition of full days of homeschooling.....I just don't have much free time!

One place that was just a mess was under my sink....

I have had multiple spills of various cleaners and the finish inside my cabinet was just a mess!  No matter how hard I worked, it never would look clean.....

A super inexpensive solution is contact paper.....contact paper has really evolved since I last used it years ago.   I had visions of paper being stuck together and 70's brown colors......Instead for about $6.00, I bought this gray patterned roll!

Back around the pipes I had to piece it together and you can't even tell! The pattern hides the seams and I lifted this piece to straighten it a few times!

I bought a couple of storage containers and now I can find all my stuff!

Another eyesore in my kitchen was my kitchen island.....part of my problem is that I just don't "see" storage well.  I'm the type of person that does not pack the trunk because I would never fit it all in!  I've never been good at spacial-type stuff!



So my baking racks would always look like this....

....and because it was such a mess, I wouldn't want to use them!




My solution was this $5.00 little device from Rubbermaid!

Honestly....I could do a happy dance every time I open the cupboard door!

In this midst of this whole process, my hubby came in and said...


Hubby:  "Wow, you really do like baskets...."
Me:  "Yes, honey,  I really do like baskets!"

He just doesn't quite get my love affair with baskets and bins.....

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Fridge chalkboard.....F for fail!

I was so excited to start this project....I had seen other people who had painted chalkboards on their fridge and just loved the idea!

I had visions of a menu board on one side and a calendar/grocery list on the other.....I was pricing chalkboard pens at the craft store....(which by the way are VERY expensive and can only be purchased with a 50% off coupon!)


I was determined to make sure that I did a good job on this project....partly, because I painted without any hubby-input and I wasn't sure that he'd be too keen on the idea of "painting" the fridge!

I even broke out the level because if anything bugs my hubby, it's a crooked line....he can spot them.  I walk into an older building and appreciate decor, he immediately recognizes crooked doorways and floors....he's an artist what can I say?

That being said....I needed to make sure that my boxes were perfectly square with no crooked lines, so I very carefully taped them off!

I grabbed my trusty can of chalkboard paint.....this stuff lasts forever!...and my foam roller.

Then...I started to paint....and HERE LIES MY MISTAKE....primer!  You can NOT paint on a plastic surface without primer, people....


How did I find out???  When I peeled off the tape....the paint started to completely peel off my chalkboard!!

This picture shows nothing of what it really looked like....it was HORRIBLE!! At this point, I was in a panic.....I had about 20 minutes before the hubby came home and a fridge in complete and utter disaster!  I had RUINED the fridge!!


As my dinner cooked (and eventually burned!), I frantically scraped as much paint off as I could and quickly vacuumed it up.  I could only get the smaller board off and I tried to touch up the larger board.....and then I hung up ALOT of magnets! LOL

 I have yet to scrape off the larger chalkboard....it doesn't look bad at a distance.....a L*O*N*G distance!

Oh well.....you win some....and you ruin some!

Can you tell my son just started drum lessons?  

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Rustic Key Holder....

I am on a mission organization right now at my house.  If it's not in a bin or basket or hanging on a hook.....then it's not safe!


The one thing that is constantly getting "misplaced" in my house is our car keys.  I may stage my kitchen island to look clean and pretty....

{Kitchen reveal}

But my house doesn't really look like that!  In reality....the island is a junk MAGNET!  Both my husband and I have been known to swipe the wrong set of car keys leaving the other person "stranded" at home!


A key holder was on the list of my organizing essentials, so when I saw this gorgeous idea from Shanty 2 Chic, I knew exactly what I was going to do!


Amazingly, while I was mowing the grass, I found this thrown into the high grass out back!

Unfortunately the hubby was away, so I had to use this all by myself!

Yep....I used the saw....all by myself....and I still have 10 fingers! Although I am sure that if the neighbors were watching me, they would have been a little nervous!  It took my 30 minutes to cut that little board.....


I've been trying to save money, so I remembered these hooks in our garage....holding the bike helmets that my kids never wear....hey, cut me a break...did YOU wear a bike helmet growing up???

I sprayed them with some Krylon Oil-Rubbed Bronze.

Apparently when I sprayed them, I missed this screw...

No worries, thought, here's my little trick.  Take a plate (preferably plastic since spraypaint reacts with and eats away styrofoam!) and spray a blast of paint onto it...

Use a small brush to touch-up the area that you missed or scratched!

I then went to our local True Value looking for this....

...but I didn't know what to call it.  Now I know that it's called a hose clamp and found in the plumbing section and they come in multiple sizes!  


You should have heard my trying to explain to the sweet old men that work there that I needed a metal "thingy" for a craft and it's found in the plumbing section.....they were scratching their heads!

You can use a flathead screwdriver to tighten the clamp to make it fit around your glass jar.




I wanted something cute for my glass jar, so I made some of these "fake flowers".

The overall cost:  $3.00!  

Board:  free

Jar:  free (sorry Grandma, I dumped out your jelly!)

Flowers:  $1.00

Hose Clamp:  $1.29

Picture Hanger for back:  $0.75

Not bad for a functional (and pretty) key holder!

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