Saving 4 Six: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Easy Pincushion and Pin Storage

My Better Half got me this pincushion for Christmas. He saw me eyeballing it at the store and went back and got it for me.

Little did he know, I was eyeballing it because I wanted to make one like it.
So, as much as I appreciated the thoughtfulness, I still wanted to make one. So, here's what I did.
Using a jar lid from some peanut butter, I measured the rim of the lid and cut a piece of cardstock the same length and width and then a piece of material a little bigger.

I hot glued the material to the piece of cardstock and then set it aside.

Then I traced the top of the jar and cut out a circle. I took some stuffing out of an old pillow we weren't using anymore and cut out a piece of material about twice as big as the top of the jar.

I then laid the circle on the top of the stuffing and then hot glued the material to the circle.

Next I hot glued the circle to the jar lid.

Finally, I took the strip that I made at the beginning and glued it around the rim of the jar lid.

This was literally a 15 minute project.

The one from the store was $6.72...I think my 15 minutes was totally worth it!

Blessings,

Linking up to these great parties:

Friday Delicate Construction Creation Corner, French Country Cottage, The Shabby Nest, At The Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Handmade Days, Life As Mom, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Frugal Girls,The Grocery Cart Challenge, While He Was Napping, Miss Mustard Seed,Remodelaholic
Saturday Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Young An Crafty, Six Sisters' Stuff

SundayC.R.A.F.T, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, DIY Showoff, The Girl Creative Homemaker on a Dime

Monday The Better Mom Between Naps on the Porch Crafts Keep Me Sane Dittle Dattle Skip to My Lou Craft-O Maniac Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Tuesday At Home With K Thrifty Decor Chick Lil' Luna Sugar Bee Crafts Tip Junkie Today's Creative Blog A Bowl Full of Lemons Coastal Charm Home Stories a to z My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia Chef in Training Someday Crafts

Wednesday 733 Blog Passionately Artistic The Trendy Treehouse We Are That Family Raising Homemakers The Thrifty Home Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Sew Much a Do Wow Us Wednesday Ginger Snap Crafts Power of Paint Night Owl Crafts
Thursday Design Dazzle Somewhat Simple The Shabby Chic Cottage House of Hepworths Just a Girl Delightful Order The Frugal Girls Thrifty 101 Diaper Diaries A Little Knick Knack The 36th Avenue

Monday, January 30, 2012

Storage in a Small House

My house is on the smaller size. According to the county records, it is 1036 square feet. So...if you do the math...it's a pretty tight fit for the six of us. I'm not complaining. We have learned to live in a "small" space and do just fine. However, storage and organization is key. When just a few things are out of place, the entire house seems to be in disarray.
One of my challenges is finding a place for everything and still making it all look nice. Here are a few of my solutions.
My Better Half and I share a closet (1 of only 2 in the house!!). It is like a coat closet and measures only 30 inches wide, so I take advantage of hangers like this.

I got a few of these at a thrift store for $2-$3.
We don't have an office space so I need to hide paperwork and filing cabinets inconspicuously.

Every little space in our house has been used for something. During our kitchen remodel, there were a few little inches that were not allotted for in the plans...those inches are being used for storage of my pans.

Under-bed storage is a treasure. This is what we have done under my Princess' bed. We did away with her headboard and frame and set her box springs right on these under-bed storage boxes. Her out-of-season clothes are in these.

These wouldn't fit under the bed without getting rid of her frame.

In between these storage boxes are boxes with her play dough, tea set, coloring books, and so on.

My Better Half made our boy's beds. They are in need of an update but for now they are captains beds with the drawers right under the beds.

They wanted an autograph wall but we settled on letting them have their friends sign their beds instead.

Now that I'm learning to sew, I'm trying to create a space that is practical. I'm hoping to get that area organized by Friday so I can show you what I've done in my weekly organizing post.
I've decided (with no real other options) to use part of my school room. The table that we were using for school is in there and not being used anymore except to collect clutter. So I'm putting it to dual use. It will now be my sewing table and will be storing a bunch of big totes underneath.

I didn't want the totes to be seen, so I made ( I sewed the pleats in it and hemmed it :)) this table skirt and used velcro and hot glue to attach it to the table. I can fit at least 8 totes under the table while it is sitting on top of them.

What great storage. It doesn't look half bad either!

These are a few of our storage and organizing tactics. My Better Half is working on a really cool one now. I can't wait to show you!!

Blessings,

Linking up to these sites:
Friday Delicate Construction Creation Corner, French Country Cottage, The Shabby Nest, At The Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Handmade Days, Life As Mom, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Frugal Girls,The Grocery Cart Challenge, While He Was Napping, Miss Mustard Seed,Remodelaholic
Saturday Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Young An Crafty, Six Sisters' Stuff

SundayC.R.A.F.T, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, DIY Showoff, The Girl Creative Homemaker on a Dime

Monday The Better Mom Between Naps on the Porch Crafts Keep Me Sane Dittle Dattle Skip to My Lou Craft-O Maniac Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Wednesday 733 Blog Passionately Artistic The Trendy Treehouse We Are That Family Raising Homemakers The Thrifty Home Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Organizing Challenge Week 4 - The Laundry

I was just in the laundry room (it's not really a room...it's a corner in my basement) and took a load out of the dryer. I took them to my son (who was playing video games) to fold. He said "Mom, I'm a Laundry-a-Phobiac". Oh my...aren't we all!!??
This week I worked on organizing my laundry area and making it look a little nicer.

It wouldn't take much, I know!!

I added a few little touches that make a big difference.

I had to hide that whole in the wall! It is the gas shut-off valve which we have to have access to, so I hung this washboard I picked up at ReStore. I got a few other treasures that day too.

The obnoxious plumbing needed a paint job.

My Better Half tells me these are going behind the wall...but it wasn't happening this week so I just painted them to blend in with the wall.

I covered my baskets with a strip of material. This is the material that was left over from my kitchen awnings.

What a difference a little material makes. It certainly does a good job of hiding all my laundry supplies. I went through my baskets too and took out anything that was not a laundry supply too.
I showed you my new laundry room sign earlier this week. Here is how I made it.

I love the saying...it cracks me up every time I read it!
This clothes pin was a Hobby Lobby clearance find. (My sister and I spent 2 hours there on Saturday...what a dream!)

I used stain and dry brushed some black paint on it to give it a distressed look.

The bucket is for all our mismatched socks. I looked into making a cute board with clothes pins to hold all our mismatched socks but seriously, I don't think I could find a board long enough!! What is it with mismatched socks! I think this bucket will be big enough!

And finally, my washer and dryer...nothing fancy about them. I got my dryer when we first got married and it's a champ. My washer is new to me from ReStore. I had been looking for a front load washer since my old washer barely got anything clean anymore and could only wash a medium load at a time. This doesn't fare well with six of us. SOooo, I've been keeping my eyes open for a used washer and I found this one at ReStore for a little bit of nothing. I'm so excited! It washes amazingly well and I can stuff it full!

See the stuff under my steps to the right...that's another organizational project coming up soon!

So what do you think? I'm not sure the spruced up, organized joint is gonna make me want to do laundry any more than I did before but at least the space looks nice and I had fun doing it!

Blessings,

Linking up to these sites:
Organizing Made Fun
Friday Delicate Construction Creation Corner, French Country Cottage, The Shabby Nest, At The Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Handmade Days, Life As Mom, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Frugal Girls,The Grocery Cart Challenge, While He Was Napping, Miss Mustard Seed,Remodelaholic
Saturday Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Young An Crafty, Six Sisters' Stuff

SundayC.R.A.F.T, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, DIY Showoff, The Girl Creative Homemaker on a Dime

Monday Between Naps on the Porch Crafts Keep Me Sane Dittle Dattle Skip to My Lou Craft-O Maniac Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Wednesday 733 Blog Passionately Artistic The Trendy Treehouse We Are That Family Raising Homemakers The Thrifty Home Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Wednesday's What I Found - Beefy Greek Pita Folds

I got a bunch of new little cookbooks recently and have been trying out several of the recipes. I don't really love to cook and so when I can find an easy recipe that mimics a more difficult one...I'm on board. This was one of those recipes.

Every time we go to a fair or festival my Better Half is eager to get a gyro...holy cow, they're like $7 for one!! Anyway, here's a yummy recipe that mimics that $7 gyro.

Beefy Greek Pita Folds (Pillsbury Cooking with Ground Beef - April 2000)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, cut in half lengthwise, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives ( I will omit these next time...my kids picked them all out anyway!)
1/2 cup finely chopped peeled cucumber (I used a burpless one and just left the peel on)
1/2 cup chopped seeded tomato
1 (8 oz) container low-fat plain yogurt (1 cup)
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
4 (6 of 7 inch) soft Greek-style pita breads, warmed ( I used the pockets cut in half)

1. In medium skillet, combine ground beef, onion, garlic, oregano and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt; cook over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Stir in olives.

2. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine cucumber, tomato, yogurt, dill and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; mix well.

3. Spoon 1/4 of beef mixture on half of each pita. Top each with yogurt mixture; fold other half of pita over filling. Serve with remaining yogurt mixture.
Makes 4 sandwiches

To save a few minutes at meal time, I fry my meat (I use turkey instead of beef), as soon as I get home from the grocery.