Blessing #225 - A Necklace Holder

Hi my name is Stephanie and I am a Real Housewives of Anywhere fan.




I was trying to give you a little time so you could gasp and judge me, but I will give you a bit more.





I know it's deplorable.

I know it's terrible television, but I have already established that my television tastes aren't that high.

In my own life, I cannot stand gossip and drama, but for some reason watching these two faced women flip tables and argue over if someone is lying about having asthma just fascinates me.

Often in a typical Real Housewives episode, a housewife will be in her closet getting ready, picking out clothes, and recapping the day's drama with her husband.

As I watch these scenes, I really struggle with envy.

Am I envious over the designer clothes, purses, and shoes.

No! C'mon I'm a Goodwill queen!

When I watch these scenes, I drool over the closet organization. It's so pretty, neat, and organized!!!!

Will I ever have a Real Housewives giant organized closet? No, probably not, but I can make my closet pretty, neat, and organized.

I wish I had a before picture to put right here, but I don't have one.  When I started the closet makeoever, I just planned on purging my closet, but then one thing led to another, my ADDD kicked in, and the next thing I knew I was painting everything pink!

Because I purge regularly, I didn't expect to purge my closet much, but this time I decided to only keep clothes that I wear often. When I purge, I normally ask, "Have I worn this in the past year," but this time I asked, "Have I worn this more than five times in the past year?"

As all the bags piled up, I couldn't believe the difference, but I loved my stream lined closet.

In addition to my closet, I have a dresser of clothes, but with this purge, I cleaned out the dresser and put every item of clothing in the closet.

My closet looked so much better with fewer clothes in it, but the closet was a boring space and that's when I knew I needed to make it over.

In my normal state, I am a messy person just ask my mom. I have learned though if I make something pretty, I will keep it clean.  It seems crazy to make a space pretty where the door stays closed all the time, but I knew if my closet was pretty, I would keep it clean.  No one will ever see it but me, but isn't that enough? I am worth a pretty closet!!!

I decided to start with the top of the closet and all that wasted space.  The walls in the closet are plaster so I knew a shelf would be too much weight on the crumbly walls.  If the space couldn't be functional, it might as well be pretty.

A sign with my favorite word would be perfect for the space, and a few hooks made it an awesome necklace holder.

Before, my necklaces just laid around the room or shoved inside a box. Now, I love that I can see all my necklace options now as I pick out my outfit.

I hung all my belts on the hooks that were already in the closet.  Just ignore the magnetic circle things.  I am taking them down.

Originally, I put my earrings in those containers, but I need to see the earrings more.  I think I am just taking the containers down and trying something different.

I tried the circles on the side, but I don't like that either because I need symmetry. If you have any ideas or see any pins to help please send them my way.(Here is my pinterest. )

I'm already working on the bottom of the closet, and I will show that later.  For now though, here is my progress.

No, my closet is not Real Housewives worthy yet, but it is much better than before.

This sign organizes my necklaces, but also serves as a good reminder every morning of my favorite word and my life's goal.
 

Blessing #217 - School Command Center

When B came home from his first day of school, I almost broke out into hives when I opened up his folder filled with school papers. School papers make me nervous.  Why?

One day last year, I dropped B off at school only to see every other kid carrying a stuffed animal.  I had forgotten it was "stuffed animal day" and I had to rush home and get B's monkey. I must have misplaced that paper.

Last year during parent teacher conferences, I walked in for my conference only to find out I was five hours early! Fortunately, B's teacher was very understanding, and just laughed and worked me into the schedule.  I don't know what happened to the paper with my appointment date.

On the first day of school this year, I had to send a note to let his teacher know that I was picking B up from school. I couldn't find a single sheet of paper so I sent the note on a paper towel.  That's right! I was trying to set her expectations low.

For all those reasons, I kind of freaked out at the sight of the first school papers.  I knew I had to do something different this year.

Determined to change, I decided to turn this little corner into a school command center.

Yes, my poor little "it's August but my calendar says March" corner would be perfect for a school command center.

Here is the finished corner....

I love, LoOoOoVe, LOOOVE it!

Here is the breakdown.

1. I have had this L for forever, and finally found just the right spot for it!

2. The most important thing I wanted in the school command center was a place for school papers. After the success of clip boards for my kid's art display, I decided to try them for school papers too.

This clip board is where I put papers that I can't sign immediately or paper with important dates on them.

3. This clip board is for store coupons that we are always losing. Guess who is going to get a free mini candle from Bath and Body Works this weekend? Me! Because I didn't lose the coupon!

4. I used a pocket just like the one I used for lunch box notes for notes to the teacher.  B's school sends home forms to speak with the teacher, and now I'll actually know where they are! No more paper towel stationary! I added a little vinyl to the clip boards and the pocket just to make things clear.

Wait! While I'm on the subject of my labeling obsession, you have to see this.  Because Shad drinks sweet tea and I drink unsweet tea, our fridge can get a little confusing.  So I labeled the tea pitchers.

I know that was random, but I just had to share.

Back to the school command center.

5. I knew I wanted to put a sign in that spot, but I didn't know just what I wanted to say.  With this being right as you walk out of the house, I thought "Be Awesome Today" was perfect.

6. My calendar says September now! I don't quite know how I want to work that calendar yet.  I'm thinking about using washi tape.

7. A command hook holds our library bag.  That is a thirty-one bag that I painted using this method.

It turned out great.

8. B's book bag is not heavy with books so a command hook is perfect to hold it on the wall.

The corner is a little crowded, and if it was in my main living space, I probably wouldn't like it.  However, this is in the mud room, and we mainly walk right through the mud room.

So far, the little school command center is working great for us. I haven't broken out into school paper hives, and I haven't missed an important day yet. A few hooks and command strips have brought a lot of peace to our school day mornings.

Note: I am sharing this project with A Bowl Full of Lemons. and I Heart Organizing.
 

Blessing #214 - Save the Pickle Jars

A couple of weeks ago, our refrigerator broke.  By the time I realized what had happened, all the food in my fridge was room temperature.

One of Shad Lankford's greatest fears is food poisoning (poison ivy is a close second).  I used to make fun of him for the fear, but a year or so ago, he actually got food poisoning (from a restaurant not from my cooking).

I could have saved some of the food in the refrigerator maybe the ketchup or the pickles, but it wasn't worth hearing, "Does your stomach hurt? My stomach definitely hurts," every time he eats a pickle for the next month.

As I threw out all the food, it seemed like such a shame to throw out all those glass jars.  Yes, all the pickles had to be sacrificed, but suddenly I was determined to save the jars.

Last week, we went to a friend's house, and I found the perfect opportunity to save one of the jars.  A pickle jar would make a great flower vase!

And of course being the compulsive labeler that I am, I had to cut some vinyl for the pickle jar.  (If you don't have a vinyl cutter these labels would be awesome.)

Are you looking at my dusty mantle right now? Well, stop it!

I spray painted the lid with some spray paint I already had.  That way after the flowers are done, the jar can be used for pens or what not.

Are you looking at my mantle again? Stop it!

This little project saved a pickle jar from the recycling bin, and gave me an easy hostess gift.

The pickles would be proud. They did not die in vain.

Blessing #207 - A Menu Board

It's been a good while since I have blogged last. My summer with the boys has been fun...but intense. I love them to death and we've had a great, fun summer, but like I said it's intense. It takes a lot of work to get all the energy out of two little boys so they don't turn that energy out on the destruction of my house.  The boys and I have had a fun and busy summer, but that didn't leave much time for house projects. However, school is starting up next week, and I'm itching to get back to some projects.

Today, I just wanted to share a piece that I put in my kitchen last week, my menu board.  A few months ago, I found this Pepsi sign at a yard sale for $2.

This was not your normal yard sale.  It was a warehouse of somebody that had a restaurant.  The sign was cool, but what really sweetened the deal was a bag of extra letters that I found and asked if they could be thrown in to sweeten the deal. 

This Pepsi sign looks so cute as a menu board! Doesn't it!?!

Well, here's the thing.  As much as I liked it, I took the sign down just a couple of days later. Why? Let me show you a picture of my dry erase calendar in my mudroom. 

Yes, this picture was taken yesterday not months ago.  In March, a friend even pointed out my lack of calendar changing skills, but I still didn't change it.  Yesterday, after an eight month long January, I changed the calendar. Well, actually I just erased it, and then the pen wouldn't work so now the calendar is just blank. 

I had to be honest with myself, I'm just no good at calendars and menus.  Because of my forgetfulness, I knew that cute menu sign would have the same menu on it for weeks, and I knew I would feel a little tinge of guilt for not changing it. 

Who would feel guilty over not switching out a menu!?! Doesn't that sound crazy!?! But I knew it would happen so I embraced who I am and took it down.  

In place of the menu, I put up a display for the boys artwork.  A place to show off our "art" is much more fitting for our home and for me. Tomorrow, I'll be back and share that project.

Oh! And I believe I might use the Pepsi board in the boys room.  

 

Blessing #182 - Medicine Cabinet

In January, I got hit with the shelf paper bug, and I shelf papered all of my kitchen cabinets (and maybe the walls).  As I shelf papered my cabinets, I worked on the organization of the cabinets too.

One cabinet I focused on was our medicine cabinet.  I don't have a picture of the cabinet before, but I had the medicine stored in open containers.

Collin is getting bigger and smarter and he already pulls the stool over to get him a snack from another cabinet.  I was afraid he would get into the medicine.

After a trip to the Dollar Store, here is my medicine cabinet.

It doesn't look too bad, but you know me, I have a problem labeling things.  Here is the cabinet after I labeled everything.

When Shad saw the cabinet all labeled, he said, "That's a little over the top. I'm surprised you didn't peel off the label to the peroxide and make your own label."

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

But not only did I label the peroxide, I used the chemical formula to label the hydrogen peroxide! My inner nerd is so happy right now!

Because Shad very rarely gets sick, he really has no idea what medicine is what.  The has an immune system made of steel! Many times when the boys are sick, I am also sick and very much out of it (I am a terrible sick person).  I wanted to make the medicine cabinet very easy and user friendly for Shad for those times when I am sick and out of it.

First, to protect my curious two year old, the medicines are on the top shelf in boxes with lids. The bins are color coated green for the boys, pink for me, and blue for Shad.

Now when the boys are sick, Shad knows to go right to the green bin.  I used some left over labels from my spice rack, and labeled all the medicine.  I wrote what the medicine was for, and the dosage for each boy.

On the second shelf, we have our boo boo station.  I bought the little black drawers for $3 to use for Kcups in the coffee station....but it didn't work.  The drawers are perfect for holding first aid items.

In the past, when one of the boys got hurt, I would have to hunt down the band aids and peroxide.  Now, it will be calmer knowing where all the first aid items are.

In the cream drawer, I wrote a quick note on each cream letting Shad know what they are for.

Also on the second shelf, I store my nebulizer in the thirty-one little carry all, and extra medicine for it in the tub below it.

On the bottom shelf, I keep daily vitamins in a basket.  I also used another Dollar Tree container as our sick caddy. I saw this idea at A Bowl Full of Lemons, and I thought it was great.  When I get sick, I always need these items, tissues, hand sanitizer, cough drops, and chap stick.  Next time I get sick, I won't have to run to the drug store and get anything, and I'll be able to carry it from room to room.

I love the look of our new cabinet, and I really love how easy it is for Shad to use now.  He hates asking me where stuff is, and this is going to make things a little easier on him and me.

I'm sharing this post with A Bowl Full of Lemons and The House of Hepworths.

 

Blessing #175 - Chevron Backsplash

All week, I have been sharing my shelf paper projects.  At the beginning of the week, I told you I went crazy for this stuff, and today I'd like to share the moment I realized crazy happened.

As I was browsing Pinterest, I saw a pin that suggested using chevron vinyl as a back splash.  Suddenly, the wheels in my head started turning.  My kitchen had a cream plastic back splash. Here's a picture in case you forgot.

 
Because the back splash is plastic, I did not worry about the shelf paper hurting paint or anything like that.  I cut the piece to fit, and then I would roll it onto the wall keeping an eye out for air bubbles.

It only took one afternoon (from 12:00 - 4:00) to do this.  For $12, I bought four rolls of shelf paper for this job, but it only took three.

Honestly, when I first did it, I did not know how I felt about the chevron.  If there is such a thing as too much chevron, I think I found it.  Also, if someone has problem with seizures, I really don't think they will be able to come into our kitchen.

I took this picture quickly the first night I had it up. (Notice the full sink of dishes.  Don't judge! I was busy that day.) Shad suggested that I break up the chevron somehow.  I think his exact words were, "Wow! That's a lot of chevron."

I switched the outlets to white, and that really made it look more updated.  I also spray painted all the hardware with a satin nickel spray paint.

I decided to take Shad's advice.  He really does have a good eye for things. Over the stove, I bought some letters and spray painted them with the same paint I used on my chandelier to spell the word "EAT."

The day after I hung the letters, I realized that hanging the word EAT in seven inch letters in the kitchen of a woman that struggles with her weight maybe wasn't the best idea.

I painted the inside of my open shelving gray.  I'll show more details of those shelves on Monday.  For now though, here is the shelf papered kitchen....

At the time of this picture, I kind of messed up one of the brackets for the shelves of the canning jars, but I've fixed it now.

 In the end, I am liking it more and more.  Is it my favorite back splash ever? No. I really think white bead board would look awesome as the back splash.  But for $12 and one afternoon, this is a great back splash!

Blessing #173 - Rusty Medicine Cabinet

Today's shelf paper project is very quick, but it made a big difference in my mornings. Last week, I shared our bathroom makeover so far.  Here is a picture of my medicine cabinet.

I love how it looked from the outside, but on the inside the cabinet was still a mess.  I wish I had taken a before picture, but I just did this on a whim and didn't think to take one.  Before, the inside of the cabinet was rusty and gross.  Normally, I love rust. Most of my favorite pieces are rusty, but I don't love rust near my toothbrush.

I told you I went a little...a lot crazy over the shelf paper so the obvious solution to the rusty medicine cabinet was SHELF PAPER.

I just love it! It's such a fun pop of color.  I used some of the apothecary jars I have picked up at yard sales and Goodwill.  When I'm thrifting, apothecary jars are one of the things I always buy if they are a good price.

At first, the jar with the toothpaste had a lid to match the makeup one on the left.  It looked so cute and symmetrical, but me and my butter fingers dropped it in the sink and shattered it. I love having my makeup on the jar on the left.  As you can tell from my collection, I'm not a big make up person. (You can see some of the rust peeking out in this picture.)

I'm still looking for just the right toothbrush holder, but this is working fine for now.

The cabinet is still missing it's shelves.  I asked Home Depot, but they did not have replacements.  If you know of where I can find some or what I could use please let me know!

This was a really simple update, but it has really brightened up my morning routine! I just love shelf paper.

Blessing #172 - Bread Crate

It's day two of shelf paper week, and in my quest to show you how awesome this stuff is I have another quick project.

For Christmas, Shad got me some pyrex and several old crates.  Yes, he did good!

Soon after Christmas, I walked around the house and looked for ways to repurpose these pretty crates.  I keep my bread on top of our refrigerator.  I really can't give you a reason for it, I just do.  Here is what it was looking like.

I knew one of my crates would be perfect for my bread! I chose the yellow Coke  crate because it didn't have any dividers in it.

When I told Shad what I was doing, he said, "That crate is really dirty!" No problem! I had shelf paper!

This brand of shelf paper is not super tacky so I was not worried about it damaging my crate.  Here is what the crate looks like after it's mini-makeover.

I just love how cheery it looks.  In the world of colors, yellow and aqua are best friends.

After the mini-makeover, I filled the crate up with my bread items and the boy's bribes......I mean....rewards.

Once I put the crate on top of my refrigerator, it looked so lonely and I searched my house for just the right piece to go with it.

The lantern I used on my Christmas mantle worked perfectly.

It's a small change, but it makes a nice difference.