Closet: Added Elfa drawers

It has been awhile, and honestly I have no good excuses.
It seems my list of to-do projects is piling up faster than time and money will allow me to complete them.

However, I decided to start by finally getting some Elfa (See The Container Store) drawers to complete the inside of my closet; and make some room for some fall shopping.
As you remember I did a drastic closet make over some time ago (refresh your memory here); but it had some unfinished business.

After discussing both the free standing option which I ultimately choose (and some built in ones) with the designer in the store; I took my things home and Rubber Mallet-ed my way to organization... is that a thing?

(Yes-- I have labels on the drawers)

If you haven't looked into the Elfa systems yet I would highly suggest it. Although they are a little more pricey (I paid about $120, after 25% off) than other drawer systems, they are easy to customize and I think they have a very finished look to them. 

I was finally able to move most of my clothes over to the gray skinny velvet hangers I bought (which I still need another pack or 2 of). I think the skinny, uniform hangers look uncluttered, and will allow me to have more stuff hung in the closet in the long run. 

I am very happy with the use of the empty space I had under the shelves. 

Now I just need some closet doors.... There may have been a mishap where I stood on one of the old mirrored doors and shattered it, so I have no other option now,  must have been my unconscious speaking.

Happy crafting!

Master Closet Makeover

Most women can understand where I am coming from when I say that men must have created the basic closet. It makes no sense! You can hardly reach the top shelf, and there is so much wasted space under all your clothes (since there is just one pole to hang them all on, from long tunics and maxi dresses to short tops).
I knew from the moment I moved in that I wanted to make my closet more functional, while it may not be the walk in that I dream of having some day, it is, now, so much better than the closet the house came with. I am still in the process of unpacking all my clothes and putting them back in the closet and getting baskets to move some things from my over flowing dresser (so pictures of the organized closet will come later).
Before we get started I want to give a shout out to Jamie, what a great friend to help me time and time again on all my projects, even in the rain on Tuesday! This girl owns all the tools and has all the knowledge--I just know what I want, she makes it happen!

Before:

Clearly I have a lot of things... and this doesn't even give you a clear view of the mess going on, on the floor of the closet. Don't mind me in my painting clothes!

Here is a before and after of the paint job; clearly the previous home owners didn't know what a paint brush was, or they liked the half finished look? I like my light grey color much better. 

I knew I wanted shelves in the middle with 2 shorter poles (for tops) on one side and one longer bar on the other (for dresses and things).

Here is what we came up with:

The paint and painting supplies for this project cost me more than the other supplies (granted Jamie had a lot of the wood we needed from her closet remodel) which saved a ton of money. 

I have since moved the shelves closer together (they fit my boots perfectly) and I believe I have enough room to add one more. I also moved the lower bar up about 2 inches (ALL BY MYSELF, can you believe it!)

I think a good use of the space below the shelves would be a mesh basket that is on a track; the kind they sell at Home Depot, Lowe's etc, but I will save that for another day!

This weekend I hope to get my clothes situated in the closet, and get the doors back on (which I hope to replace someday also (gold and mirror sliding doors? It isn't the 80's people).

Happy Spring? I mean assuming we aren't surprised with anymore snow!

Travel Shadowbox

In November, for my birthday, my friend Jaime gave me a ton of wood projects to work on for my house. But as usual time got away from me, and I just now starting working on them--although I have had ideas for awhile. One of the projects was a very large wood shadow box, with a glass front.

When I am on a trip somewhere I have a habit of picking up business cards from restaurants and sites we visit, keeping tickets from attractions, and other seemingly useless things, so I decided I wanted somewhere to display them so my keeping them was justified. The giant shadow box Jamie gave me seemed like the perfect place.

I started by staining the shadowbox, this was my first staining project--it actually went pretty well, and I will definitely be doing it again.

I chose a weathered gray color.

(I just realized these are awful pictures) (Good thing this isn't a photography blog!)

Next I mod podged some map paper to the back of the shadow box and painted the inside black.

I wanted to add a travel quote. Lucky for me it takes awhile for mod podge to dry so I had plenty of time to hit the web in search of the perfect quote.

I chose "To travel is to live." --Hans Christian Andersen 

I still need to seal the stain and add a hole/slot on the top to easily add memorabilia in (but I will let someone else do that--I don't want to lose a hand)  but for now it looks great hanging on my wall with some NYC stuff in it!

It looks like a few more weeks of winter for us here in St Louis, and with my spring break next week, hopefully that means more crafting!

Florals

I went a little crazy with the Christmas decorating this year--including a faux floral arrangement for my kitchen table. I got hooked, I am actually starting to like all things that make a home feel welcoming, its crazy.

Here is said Christmas arrangement:

When it was finally time to take Christmas decorations down, my whole house felt empty, so I wanted to make a new floral arrangement for my table to brighten the place up again.  Lucky for me on one of my many trips to Michaels' getting things for my Winter Wreath I saw that spring floral's were 50% off!

I coupled the flowers I bought with some branches I had collected--anticipating putting together a winter center piece but they were out of fake snow, maybe next year!

The weather feels like spring most days, now I just need the calender to agree!

And since organizing makes me JUST as happy as dasies: 

Here's my kitchen "Junk" drawer after tonight's organization (Have I ever mentioned that I love Baskets!) No more rummaging (but if you like that about your junk drawer then feel free!)

Winter Ribbon Wreath

Hello, and Happy New Year Everyone!
While I did have a month off from classes, I spent that time baking instead of crafting (thank goodness because now I have to be gluten free--so I am glad I got some cookies while I could); and I have had a slow start getting back into the crafting world.
I wanted to make a wreath for winter (because, I love a good wreath) and we had some super cold days (teens and 20's) when I was planning this wreath, but since completing it and hanging it up the temp has not gotten below freezing! So I feel a little ridiculous with a snowflake wreath on my door, but I am still dreaming of snow (hopefully on a day I can be at home, not driving).

Anyway here are the materials:

This wreath took 3 trips to Michaels' to complete--I guess I should have completely read a tutorial before beginning. Anyway,  I used almost 2 entire reams of burlap, and all 3 of the decorative ribbons. Total cost was almost $30, not ideal, but I was already committed. 

This is how it looked at the beginning stages (Sunday was pretty helpful). You just push loops of ribbon up from the bottom alternating sides and push them pretty tight together. 

I also got some wooden snowflakes to add more dimension to it, I painted them blue and silver (I already had the paints).

Here it is completed.

I have 2 of the snowflakes hanging in the middle using twine and hot glue and put the other 3 at the top. 

Fairly easy, aside from all the trips to Michaels'. 

Happy Winter--Or Early Spring!?

Prepping a Gallery Wall: Painting Wall Decor

I hope you are all settling into fall and preparing for the up-coming holiday season.

Since Fall has hit I have turned into a regular Betty Home Maker--crafting, baking and cooking--My dog thinks I have lost my mind--but someday all this practice will be appreciated by someone! (Hopefully)

One of the things I have been working on is a Gallery Wall in my teeny tiny hall way.

I started by buying some frames--on sale at Michael's (my new hang out). The frames took me a few weeks to hang--and I am still in the process of filling them with pictures.

I knew I wanted other mediums to go on the wall as well, Canvas' with quotes, a "P" Monogram, etc. But I have had the hardest time finding things I like--in an appropriate size and color scheme. So I decided to just make my own decor.

I started with the monogram last week.

After searching every Michael's Store near me for a Metal "P" and not finding one--I settled for a wood "P" and a wood frame to go around it.

Some of the frames I have-- Are brown wood grain with a blue outer rim. So I kept with the blue theme.

I am using Command Picture Hanging strips (Velcro Strips) For the whole Gallery wall--the Small ones worked well with this.

Next I decided that since all of the pictures on my wall will most likely be from trips I have taken, I wanted a quote about traveling. I settled on "Not all those who wander are lost" --Tolkien. I saw a few canvas' online where it was painted over a map and loved it!

I found some map scrapbook  paper, and several small canvas' (I decided to break it up over 2 canvas'). 

After modge podging the paper onto the canvas's' I used a silver sharpie to write the quote out before painting it on with black acrylic paint. 

I had to redo the 'are lost' canvas once --but I made 3 to begin with so it worked out well. 

I think they turned out pretty well--Considering I can't write very straight without lines. I like the different Dimensions my wall is beginning to get.

I hope you all have a great last few weeks of October! Go get those fall crafts--Everything is on sale!

Crafters' Dream Closet

I have been talking about my craft closet for a while now--but as with anything I buy the materials and then it takes weeks for me to complete the project. 

With the projects I do, the materials I have for the kiddos I work with, and the large abundance of kids games (a sad thing really since I don't even have kids), I wanted to make use of one of the two small closets in my office. 

I have had racks on the wall for a while that hold paint:

And up until now they were also holding various other things--that would often fall through the grates onto the floor.

Annnnd the rest of my stuff looked like this-- Like a craft store vomited.

Eventually I was able to go to Lowe's and buy some pre-finished shelves, and brackets--they then rode around in my trunk for a few weeks--until a few weekends ago when I was able to get them on the wall! Again not an easy task I had a faulty drill--so I had to do the dreaded; ask a neighbor--eek.

I also bought the wrong screws so we had to make a last minute trip to the hardware store--no task with me is ever easy.

I finally finished buying baskets today! 

Here it is:

Crafting will be much more relaxing when I can easily find my materials.

Also, I wont be worrying about my dog eating buttons or tissue paper. 

Happy Crafting.