Command center...

 I'm not a very big fan of the stacks of paper that seem to accumulate in my house. I would even say I downright hate them. I love the idea of a command center in my home that has all my important things right there where I can see them and find them. Here us phase 1 of my command center.

I walk by this little wall so many times a day. The main things that this one houses is my calendar and my to do list. I print my calendar off of word every month. It's simple, I can scribble all over it. It helps keep the three of us more organized. I found this awesome to do list from Wit & Whistle which I love! It was very simple to put together and I'm a sucker for mustard colored anything.

 I bought this magnetic board from Roberts a while ago and really love it! I painted the border black when I bought it and hated it. So recently I sanded off the black paint, stained it a dark wood color, and painted on the chevron print. I love it now! It makes me super happy. I used this template for the chevron which was really helpful. Just a word of warning if you try this, don't be a cheapskate like me. Buy the frog tape!!! Don't even waste your time with blue painters tape because it is $2 cheaper. You will regret it! Also, don't use cheap craft paint. I started with that and it looked awful. I ended up going with the sample can at Home Depot that is paint and primer in one. Much much better. I had to re-sand and stain the bottom of the frame because I was too cheap to do it the right way the first time. Trust me on this one...

The other little wall in my kitchen is going to be phase 2. I was going to put up a frame with chicken wire in it to hold my bills, coupons, etc on this wall. Well... the chicken wire is in a mangled heap in the backyard right now with a beat up frame. It did not go well. So I'm scratching that idea and going to find something like this for the wall. The moral of the story is, sometimes crafting ideas go bad in a bad way. For me I would say it happens about 25% of the time. No worries... take a deep breath and figure something else out. But for now the wall will remain naked and my bills and coupons will remain in a stack of papers on the counter.

 

How do you manage stacks of paper in your house from taking over and swallowing you alive? Please, do tell...

Jewelry holder...

It's about time I worked on something crafty! I've been wanting to re-organize some of my jewelry and glasses, and combined these two ideas...

I just painted an old frame and found two branches that I stapled with my staple gun to the back of the frame (the sit inside where the glass and picture would have gone so that they are flush with the back). It was really easy to put together and I love the way it turned out!

I love being able to see everything right there. I never have to guess where I set my glasses or what necklaces I actually have. Apparently I like green/blue jewelry... I need to find something red! 


image 1, image 2

Toy Organization...

I've been trying really hard to get my home organized. I have a long, long way to go... but progress has begun and that is a great feeling. One that I can now check off my list is getting my little guys toy's organized. I can't take any credit for this fabulous idea, I got it from my good friend Hannah's blog {may it rest in peace...}. She did an organization series once on how to organize kids toys which I totally copied, and I'm so glad! Isn't that what "blog reading" should be about? Seeing great ideas and actually using them to help you in your life? I think so.

We have not used this changing table in a long while, but I'm not quite ready to throw it out yet. So we converted it to a toy storage area in my little guy's closet. 

The bins were all purchased from Wal-mart. I printed out labels with the name of what's in the bin plus a picture so that my little guy could see what belongs in that bin until he's able to read.

I even have a bin with some of his old baby toys, so when little ones come over to play I can just whip out the bin and help keep them happy and occupied. It's worked out great!

I have a bin for quiet "church items" which is only used when we go to church. That way they are not toys that he is playing with all the time so "hopefully" they are fun to get out and see once a week at church.

My only problem is that the church bin is lacking a bit. I'm struggling finding things that my almost 4 year old will want to do in church.

So my humble plea and question is... what do you bring to church to keep your little ones occupied? What seems to work for you and what doesn't? I guess I was always banking on my kid liking to color... but he doesn't. He hates it. So I need to get a little more creative! Any suggestions are more than welcome!

Anyway, I'm really loving this toy system. I have dreams and visions of having an amazing toy room someday, and this is my little start. I'm excited to get more bins put together and in rotation in the closet. The best things about these bins is not only do they fit on the shelves, but I can double stack them in the top shelf of the closet which helps me rotate the bins that are available to play with! Great solution to a previously messy problem of ours. Thanks Hannah!

Tree hooks...

I've had these tree hooks sitting around my house for months and months... I finally got them put up on the walls/doors (okay, I had little to do with it. Husband lost a bet and this is what I wanted him to do as payment).

Our friend Paul lives up in the mountains. When he came down for Thanksgiving he asked if there was anything he could bring down that I wanted from Utah. Yep, some tree hooks. So he cut these out of the trees himself. I love them! I think they are adorable! I have one more that needs to go somewhere but can't decide where to put it...

Thread box...

I've been wanting a thread box to organize my thread... but I wanted one I could hang on the wall to keep little hands off of it.

So what once started as a wooden wine box from Costco (meaning, it was free...) and some wooden skewers...

...is now a thread box!

I love it! Nice and simple. I thought about painting some type of pattern on the back, but I couldn't make up my mind as to what I wanted. Plus, I'm haven't totally decided how to decorate my sewing room yet so I left it white.

Plus I think that the colorful thread makes it's own pretty decoration.

- I had my hubby saw off the top half of the box so that it wasn't as deep.

- Then I stained the outside of the box with a dark mahogany stain.

- We measured out where we wanted the pegs and hubby again drilled all of the holes.

- I measured and cut all of the little sticks (this was the biggest pain of all).

- Paint the inside of the box white, insert sticks, paint them white and there you have it!

White dish towels...

I recently took Stephmodo's advice and threw out all of my old, stained, mismatched, did I mention OLD dish towels and bought all new white ones. I can't even believe the difference! Seriously!!! I almost didn't do it because technically the old ones weren't unusable... but they didn't make the kitchen look sharp, that's for sure. I'm loving it, I actually want to dry the dishes now. It really does brighten up the kitchen.

Just a heads up I found the best variety and cheapest options at Walmart. Don't even try Target! Not worth the search!

Now for those old potholders...