Recycled Storage

My dear neighbors gave me these boxes because they thought I could use them for storage.  I decided they would be perfect for stamps and ink pad storage.

The little blur on the top left corner is this little guy.  My sidekick and helper extraordinaire. Isn't he cute.

Back to work~the boxes needed a little dressing up before I could put them to good use.

I decided to start with a coat of white paint just to cover up the dark colors.

I found a scrap paper at Joanns that had quotes and I knew it would be perfect to cover 

the boxes.

I got to work with a little Mod Podge 

and soon enough they were looking much better

I distressed the edges with an ink pad and a little sanding

No need to be perfect 

just perfectly imperfect

A little ink along each edge went a long way

I used this handy tool to add

label pulls to the box.

 Here are two of the boxes completed and put to use.

 I found the inspiration for these from Country Living February issue where Thea Beasley covered boxes in French paper and maps.  I did not have French newspapers but I thought this paper would work quite well for the look.

I'm happy with how my little knock off turned out.

I will be joining these great link parties.

Menu Planning & Time Management

January is the month for hunkering down and getting things in order.  It's the start of a new year and with it  hopes and dreams.  A clean slate, a time to focus on our dreams and hopes for this upcoming year.

This is the month for organizing, planning, and laying out our plans.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3

This year I want to focus on time management and one of the biggest time thieves is not having a plan.  I can plan almost anything but my nemesis has always been meal planning.  This year I want to be more intentional about meal planning.

Edie, who is a rock star and a mentor to so many of us in blog land, has given us one of the best meal planning tools ever.  The best part is that it is so easy once you get started.  This has been available to us all along.  Google calendars will be your favorite tool in implementing a meal plan.  Edie has posted a tutorial on her blog.

You'll find that you love it once you get started.  My favorite piece is the fact that you can add the recipe to the calendar. Everything in one place makes it easier when supper time comes around.

Second favorite~you can repeat the meals.  Once you input your meal you can edit and choose how frequently you would like the recipe to repeat.

I have started on my menu and it is far from being complete but it is a start.  I have never had a menu plan that I stayed with.  I would start it but, usually within a month, I would stop.  The beauty of this is that once you have your favorite recipes in and you choose how often to repeat them, soon enough you will have a year's worth of meal plans.

While I was working on my menu plan I decided to go through my many recipe pins and bookmarks.  I spaced these new recipes through out the month.  Once I've tried them if they are keeper I will go back and edit it to repeat.  I will adjust the frequency according to how much we liked it.

Having a plan in place is such a help.  No more wondering what's for dinner at the last minute.  Rushing to thaw something and being disappointed in yourself.

Thank you sweet Edie for sharing this nugget of wisdom with those of us who have failed miserably with menu planning.

Craft Studio Organization

This room was originally our daughter's room but since she has moved onto the real world and college we decided it would become my craft studio.

This was the space before in these pictures.

I moved all of my craft supplies from the basement into this room.  I started this in December and it is still a work in progress but it is getting there.  I have so many inspiration photos on my Pinterest boards.

Before:

This is my ribbon drawer.  I have wrapped most of my ribbon around cardboard pieces to eliminate the bulky spools they are on.  Now this drawer needed to be neatened and organized.  

Here is the after:

I still have some very fine ribbons on their original spools under the cardboard.  This method saves quite a bit of space.  Much better.

This is a little cabinet that is a bit beat up but still loved.  I use it to store my yarn and papers.  I use many different containers on top to hold more supplies.

These sweet little porcelain buckets were on clearance a while back at Christmas Tree Shops for fifty cents. Now they hold my brushes, pens, paint pens and markers on my desk.

This container was from a Bath & Body Works gift set.  It has an interesting shape and I like the pattern on it.  I use it to hold bits and pieces of this and that while I work on a project.  This keeps the desk surface clear.  The small draw organizers are great to store paper punches, stickers, and many forms of ephemera.

This cabinet was in the basement but I brought it up to this room because it is a great storage piece.  It is a bit on the plain and uninteresting side so I want to pretty it up somehow.  I am currently looking for inspiration and ideas.  Please share any you have.

I used the small closet space to hold fabrics.  I hung them on the rod with skirt/pant hangers.

Underneath it is a three drawer cabinet to hold more supplies.

This room is far from being finished.  I will continue to work on organizing but I also want to use the time to create pretty things.  

I am linking to the Dog Days of Winter "Organize It" Party.  Hope you can join.

Inspired Organization

Inspired by Edie's 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality, I decided it was time to make the best use of my kitchen space.  We have a small, galley style kitchen and space is limited.  Once I saw these posts from Edie here, here, and here.  Our kitchen has no where near the space of Edie's but I knew I needed to make better use of the space we have.

This is the top part of our slide out pantry.  These two shelves are very deep and do not pull out.  Because they are up so high they tend to become very messy.  I have wanted to reorganize them for a long time and finally was inspired to.

From big mess to:

order.  I used some small baskets and glass jars to hold pasta, cupcake liners, decorative sugars, and extracts.  Unfortunately, you can't see all the way into the cabinet but it is all contained and organized. Now I just need a few more glass jars to put things in, then there won't be that awful bag of brown sugar sticking up in the back.  I did use a lot of glass jars I already had.  They mostly hold all the varieties of pasta.

This cabinet is above our coffee pot.  It was a combo of so many things and in desperate need of help.

Now this has become of beverage center.  It is located above the coffee pot so it makes perfect sense.  Too bad it took me so long to realize this.

The top shelf contains a basket that holds assorted cooking tools I don't use as often, it also houses all of our medicines.  The next shelf contains our mugs, and the last one is for different beverages.  The enamel canisters hold a variety of teas and the basket holds different ciders.

This cabinet is to the right of the beverage cabinet.  It was so disorganized and made it difficult to find what I needed.

Now it contains all of my cooking sauces, seasonings and spices.  Directly below are my canisters which hold sugar, flour, and rice.  Next is labels.

These changes may not seem significant but have definitely been an improvement the chaotic disorganization in my cabinets before.  I am thrilled with them.
I am thankful for the new layout of my kitchen and the additional cabinets since we remodeled.  This change has long been overdue and now I am making the best of use of the new space.
This organization comes at the perfect time.  I am hosting Thanksgiving and there will be a lot of holiday baking from now until the new year.

Linking to the great parties listed here.