Create-Celebrate-Explore

Kitchen Thrift Store Finds

I am a little addicted to finding thrift store items and making them over.

This wooden rack I found the same day, and at the same Goodwill store, as the one I used for Marisol's kitchen.   At the time I wasn't sure which one I would use for her kitchen, but knew that I would use the other either in one of the bathrooms, or in our own kitchen.  It was only $2.99, and was unfinished wood, so I freshened it up with a pop of color.

I had found the banana stand a few weeks earlier at the same Goodwill store for 99c.  It had a painted yellow wood base but needed to be brightened up a little, so a few coats of red paint were applied.

I found a lot of the items for the shelf at the same Goodwill store.  The yellow jugs were $2.99 each (from memory), the little gold apple bell was 99c, the white vase/utensil holder (I'm not quite sure what it is intended for, but I think it's perfect for tea spoons and stirrers for a tea party) was $1.99, and the lovely plate above the shelf was 99c too.

Costume Storage for Boys

As you know, I've been working on Marisol's costume storage area for some time.   Flynn's though was driving me up the wall.  You see, he didn't have one.  All of his costumes were on the top shelf of his closet, and at least once a week I would find the entire lot all over his bedroom floor.    So I finally pulled the Ikea storage box I have been lugging around for the past few years (even through 3 house moves) out of the garage and put together his dress up area during the week.

 

Everything is now within reach and will be easy for him to clean up.  Yes, I will just keep telling myself that he will clean it up and that I won't be left to do it, but we all know the truth now, don't we.

The items on the shelf are just out of reach though.  I absolutely love the Zid Zid elephant mask that a friend gave him a few years ago.  I am surprised it has lasted this long.  And, I could not believe it when I found the dinosaur mask in a box in the garage.  I made it about 10 years ago for Jay (when we were living in Australia) and he was going through his dinosaur phase.  An old chai tea tin was perfect to put all of the mustaches in, remember we used them at the twins cowboy and cowgirl birthday party.  You can also find the details on making the hobby horse there too.

So, for the quick round-up. 

The box - I purchased from Ikea for about $10 a few years ago.  It had unfinished wood around the edges which I painted brown.

The shelf - Was another unfinished wood item that I found at Michael's for $14.99 (don't forget your 40% off coupon).  Again, a few coats of brown paint did the trick.

The rail - Is perfect to hang small accessories on, and to stand up items such as the sword and hobby horse.  That was $9.99 at Marshall's.

 

A Little Girl's Bedroom

It's a work in progress, but I thought I'd give you a peek at Marisol's bedroom.  She absolutely loves her room and spends a lot of time playing in there.

 

I still need to hang curtains, organize her closet, make her a jewelry organizer (similar to mine),  paint her ceiling fan, and I'm still looking for the perfect frame for the dress-up station.  One thing at a time though, right!

You can find more information about some of her pretty things here:

• Hair Clip Holder
• Dress Up Station
• Kitchen Spice Rack

Project 366: Week Three

 

 

January 15: Los Angeles - We took another drive along the coast up north to Los Angeles and enjoyed a lovely dinner with good friends. We were driving at sunset on a drizzly evening and I love the colors in the sky in this shot.

January 16: Decorating - Marisol loves her room.  It's almost finished.  We added decals to her walls, turning her light into a flower and adding mushrooms and grass to the base of it while her wise old owl looked on.

January 17: Taco Tuesday - Do you celebrate this each week too? We love Taco Tuesday.  Sometimes I'll make tacos and quesadillas at home, other weeks we will go out to eat, or pick up take out at our favorite little place Cotixan.

January 18: Reading - I have started reading again in the evenings.  It is on my 40 by 40 list to read 5 books in the next 6 months.  I finished my first book already, Special Delivery by Zoe Barnes.

January 19: Field Trip - We went on a field trip with the Kinder class to Souplantation, where the children were all encouraged to try a new vegetable, learned about the benefits of eating fruit and veggies, and made yummy pizzas (which had to include veggies) for lunch.

January 20: Walking - A friend started a little walking group for a few of us.  Our goal is to take 10,000 steps a day.  I'm not doing so well.   It's only been a week though so I won't be too hard on myself. 

January 21: My fortune - I was styling a table setting for Chinese New Year.  We ate a lot of fortune cookies.  This was my favorite message.  I would like a vacation.

Documenting our day.  For 366 days.

Photographs taken with a combination of Camera+ and Instagram iPhone apps.

You can view full-size images and keep up with my Project 366 on Flickr

Handmade Wall Mounted Pencil Holder

If you have read my 40 by 40 list, you will know that one of the things that is high on my priority list is to finally finish organizing my craft room and office.

A couple of days ago I had my husband make me these:

He purchased a long piece of maple from the hardware store, along with a drill bit that was around the size of my pencils.  He cut the maple into three equal sections and drilled holes across the top of each.  He screwed the three rows onto the wall one on top of each other allowing enough room for me to take pencils out and put them back.

Now instead of cluttering my craft table with tubs of my art and fabric pencils, I have the perfect place to store them that is within reach.

AS SEEN ON:

Craft:

Thrift Store Shelf Makeover

Over the years I have been adding to Marisol's kitchen set.  We bought her a sweet Kidcraft pink kitchen when she was 2 (so about 3 years ago).  Each year since I've given her new accessories to build on the basic set so she never tires of it.  And she hasn't.  She loves having tea parties for her dolls, and for us, and is often in her bedroom whipping up something fabulous.

For Christmas I had planned on giving her a small rack with some more wooden food items but time got away from me and although I had picked up a fabulous towel holder with shelf above it for only $1.99 at Goodwill, I didn't seem to have enough time to get it sanded and painted.  So today, she got a belated Christmas gift.

This was the towel rail with shelf that I purchased ... fabulous deal for $1.99.

After a lot of sanding, applying a sealer, and three coats of paint, it was looking lovely, but needed a little something extra.  So I painted the towel rail silver to match the silver on her kitchen and then cut pieces of scrapbook paper and attached them to each section of the shelf using mod podge, you can see the subtle pattern in the second photo below.

She was thrilled with the results.   I loved the addition of the tea towel, which although was a little expensive at $5.99 from Marshalls, was just perfect and I couldn't resist giving it to her.

I can't wait to finish decorating her bedroom and share photographs.  It seems to be a long process though.

This post linked to:

An Art and Homework Station

Are you tackling any projects right now?

I'm over at 5 Minutes For Mom sharing my latest project, an art and homework station for the twins, and yes you get to see just how bad it was before the makeover too ... and how much it cost to get it looking like this.  

Come over and link up projects that you've been tackling this week, we would love to see them.

This post linked to:

Tutorial: Hair Clip Holder

Rummaging around in boxes looking for hair clips each morning was becoming time consuming and frustrating.  Little Miss is very particular, she knows what she wants to wear and if she cannot find what she is looking for, let's just say that our mornings don't run as smoothly as they should.

So over the past few days I made her this hair clip organizer:

She is thrilled with it.

It's very simple to make.  Here's how you do it.

Steps 1-3

Paint a canvas - you can see that I added a few colors to mine.  Tip: Need a canvas? Aaron Brothers currently has them 50% off.  The main color I used is called Sunbaked Orange (Glidden Tester).  I did two coats, then popped a few strokes of white and gray over the top, then added a final coat of the orange.

Using a staple gun, attach a variety of pretty ribbons around the canvas.

Steps 4-6

Use assorted brads across the front of the ribbon to stop it from sagging once clips are hung on it. I did a combination of beige circles, gold stars, and apricot flowers (it's what I had on hand).

Next use eye screws and pretty ribbon along the top for hanging.

Make a little sign to go up the top.  I used a small scrapbooking frame that came with gold brads.  I switched out the brads for small gold screws, printed the 'clips' sign from my computer onto patterned scrapbook paper, and used glue to attach it to the back of the frame before screwing it on.

And there you have it.  A hair clip organizer.

AS SEEN ON:

Blissfully Domestic ... Firefly Designs

This post linked to:

How To: Organize Fabric Scraps

I picked up this lovely old cassette tape tray at a thrift shop a month or so ago for $3.  

Before I had even left the store I knew what I wanted to do with it.

Store all of those lovely scraps of fabric that I hang onto for various projects.

How do you organize fabric scraps?

 

Organizing My Craft Room

Have I mentioned I have a craft room and office in our new house?  No?  It's huge.  Like master bedroom size.  The teen is none too happy that I put my name on the door and claimed it as mine before he had a chance.  It has a beautiful big window overlooking our cul-de-sac and a thick beam running under the roof line.  There are no built-in closets or shelves though.  Well, unless you count the bench under the big window.  It is also one of the last rooms in the house to be unpacked.  I have been digging through boxes looking for supplies, spending a fortune at craft stores when I can't find what I need, and the room has somehow become covered in glitter and paint and stickers.  Already.

Last weekend I had my husband assemble shelves for me.  I have 5 large 5-shelf shelving units along the back wall.  This will house the majority of my party planning and craft supplies in containers and boxes.  I've been gathering a lot of inspiration for my craft room/office from Pinterest.  You can view my 'decorating' board to see some of the gorgeous craft rooms I have pinned.

With my shelving now up I started picking up containers this week to store some of my craft supplies in.

I found some large First Street brand plastic kitchen storage containers at Smart & Final this week. They were only $3.59 each.  They are the perfect size for my shelves and although I love the look of glass jars and containers, unfortunately with small children who think my craft room is also their play room these aren't very practical for me.

I plan on filling quite a few shelves with these.  They are perfect for holding foam letters and shapes, pom poms, buttons, sequins, fabric scraps, feathers, stamps, and cookie cutters.  There's a smaller size too that are $2.39 each so I plan on picking up a few of those too.  They'll be great for holding items such as popsicle sticks, glue sticks, and tape. 

I used some small wood rectangles, painted them aqua and then stamped each with the contents of the container and then glued them to the front.

Did you know that Smart & Final is giving away 10 $200 American Express Gift Checks, 10 $100 American Express Gift Checks, and & 20 First Street bags filled with First Street products plus a $50 SmartCash card.

To be in the running to win, purchase at least one participating First Street item at your local Smart & Final between September 7th - 20th.  You will receive a unique code on your receipt. Enter the code on the First Street Grand Event site and you are entered to win.

 

AS SEEN ON:

Babble

Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #FirstStreetGrand