Cooking Up A Project

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Danielle

My grandmother was a recipe collector. I don’t have memories of her spending hours in the kitchen, but she was always collecting recipes. Don’t get me wrong, she had some stellar “go-to” dishes that I can’t imagine life without. Most of them were made during the holidays… Tom & Jerry’s, Divinity, Depression Fruitcake… but some of them were just every day things like Open Face Salad. The truth is she worked outside the home and when I spent my summers at my grandparents, she was always quick to play Yahtzee or cards with me instead of being in the kitchen when she got home from work. I liked that about my summers with her.

However, when she passed away several years ago, my mom came across all of her recipes. Many of them were torn from newspapers and magazines, but my favorites were those that she took time to write out in her beautiful handwriting. I made sure to get copies of those for my own little collection.

Speaking of my own collection… frankly, it’s a hot mess.

I keep my cookbooks to a minimum, but I continually find myself collecting recipes that girlfriends have emailed me or items from Food Magazine that look SO amazing. But these clippings don’t really fit in a traditional recipe box. They are starting to take on a life of their own and it’s time to wrangle them in.

Last week, I made a trip to IKEA to pick up a set of their KNUFF boxes. I searched several craft stores and container supply and there’s nothing truly like the KNUFF containers. They come in sets of two for $9.99. They are sturdy and (my favorite) customizable.

Before I could prime the box, I taped off the interior. I like the natural wood finish for the inside, but I have something unique planned for the exterior.

In my prep, I was sure to cover the holes too.

Once everything was taped up, it was time to prime.

Then came a few light coats of black spray paint.

For the next part of this project, I color copied one of my grandmother’s recipes. My plan is to create a decorative border from the antiqued cards that are in my grandmother’s handwriting. Of course, I didn’t want to destroy any of her original recipe cards and they copied beautifully onto a heavy card stock. I also picked up Washi Tape and these decorative frames.

Before applying my copied recipe cards, I marked a 1.25 inch guideline around the bottom of the KNUFF box.

I then applied the copied recipe cards with Mod Podge and sealed the whole box off with a top coat.

Using leftover chalkboard labels and my chalk marker, I was able to make a title card for the inside of the wood frame.

I love having a larger box to put all me random recipes in… one that can stand up easily next to my cookbooks. Tyson loves that life is a little more organized in our home.

Do you have a special memory of your grandparents that makes you smile? What about a family recipe that has been passed down through the years? How do you contain recipe clutter?

This project was made with love and is being included in Victoria Elizabeth Barnes‘ link-up party. To check out all the other well loved projects or to share your own, you can visit Victoria’s site here.

Labels and Life

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Danielle

The more I work on this blog, the more I realize that I might, in fact, be a tiny bit of a challenge to live with. True story. I’m the queen of “unfinished projects, but let’s start something new anyway”. I have lots of piles all over the house. Things I’m working on… Things I’m gonna work on… Things I’ll never work on, but haven’t gotten rid of yet… and I’m fairly content in ALL of the chaos.

And because I am married to a man who approaches life in a completely opposite way, I am continually impressed, overwhelmed and blessed by the depth of Tyson’s grace for me. He is neat and orderly and likes to see things thru to completion before starting something new. He loves me despite my crazy and that just makes me want to work harder to clean up my act.

Don’t get me wrong, when you visit our home, you’re not walking into an episode of “Hoarders”. But my ability to have things more organized in our home, has LOADS of room for improvement.

Case in point… when I left abruptly last month to visit my mom, my man was surrounded with loose ends to take care of and me trying to navigate him through it all from 1200 miles away. At one point, he was just trying to find a pen in the workroom and me knowing which unmarked box that I store them in just seemed so clearly inefficient.

Sure, he could’ve just searched in the different boxes, but there comes a point where you’d like to grab a pen and get back to the greater task at hand.

So it’s time to get some things labeled.

Look who learned to play with FOTOR this week. Thanks Gilit!

I decided wood stained, chalkboard tags would be perfect since I’m loving both right now and they would be easy to relabel down the road.

Tyson cut me 4″ wood pieces to stain with Minwax in Dark Walnut. I also found and wanted to try out these Chalkboard Labels by Martha Stewart and a Chalk Marker to write with.

I was curious how these products would compare with standard chalkboard paint and chalk.

The chalkboard labels are a nice alternative to working with chalk paint. They are easy to use and gave me a crisp, clean edge that I’m always hoping I’ll get with paint. I didn’t try out actual chalk on these labels and I want to soon.

While the stain dried on the wood pieces, I cut the labels to the size I needed and wrote out the names for each box.

The pen worked really well on the label, but it definitely doesn’t behave like chalk. Once it’s applied, it’s not wiping off. That’s fine for this project, but noteworthy if you are expecting your chalk marker to work like chalk.

I added the labels to the stained wood and then attached velcro to both the tag and the fabric box. This will give me flexibility to adjust the tag placement and move them around if necessary.

We went with a neutral color palette in the workroom and the labels fit in nicely.

Hopefully, anyone can now come in and easily find glue, tape, pens, or stuff to take notes with. Tyson isn’t a crafty guy, so he probably won’t be looking in the first box, but if he’s looking for something tiny and random, it just might be in there. Gotta keep the guy guessing on some things, right?!

Have you tried out chalkboard labels or chalk markers? Is labeling things and organization second nature to you? Have you realized that the way you do things might not always be the easiest way for those around you? It’s definitely enlightening.

PS. For those that are curious, this is not a sponsored review. I’m just sharing what I discovered with these products in our home.

Also, this post is being linked to Thrifty Decor Chick. For more on the party check it out here.

Mirror Mirror

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Danielle

Mirror, Mirror on the wall who knows the coolest bloggers of them all? I do!

I wanted to say a huge thank you to those that left comments on my last post. Everyone had interesting insights that I thoroughly appreciated and can completely relate to.

A few things I noticed:

None of these bloggers overly share with “real life” people about their blog. It’s a creative outlet that they never want to make their family and friends feel obligated to read. I totally agree!
You should check them out. They all have genuine, funny and generous qualities that shine through in their blogs. None of them come off like they are trying to be “experts” about anything or that they take any of this too seriously. That’s why they are some of my favorites!
We all could be a little less shy. All these gals are AMAZING! Every time one of them would comment, I would think “Really? They are totally awesome and should be sharing their blogs with the people they know”. And so maybe I shouldn’t sweat it as much either. In the end, if it comes up naturally (which it just doesn’t very often), I’ll put it out there. Otherwise… I’ll leave the sharing about this blog to Tyson.

Anyhoo… I originally titled this post “Mirror, Mirror” for another reason. Last weekend, we installed a mirror in Tessa’s room that is fit for a queen! The new piece helped take her desk from this…

… to this.

Peeking back at the “before” picture really captures how much we are transitioning from young girl to young adult? *sigh*

Tess and I had the same vision in mind for a mirror to go above her desk. We wanted an oval style with feminine details. I was able to find this one at Home Goods for $40. Love!

As for the desk itself, we added some additional storage.

I purchased a small tray from Target’s dollar section for homework supplies.

I also picked up two boxes from their dollar section that holds jewelry and hair accessories.

It was Tessa’s idea to stagger them on the shelf and add her decorative flowers. I think it’s well staged.

The second shelf will store her flute and music for the upcoming school year. Nice and compact!

Lastly, I reused a box for her school papers and supplies. I’m wanting the kids to clean out their backpacks every Friday and store their graded paperwork. I can’t get over how heavy their backpacks are! I’m hoping this will help.

Eventually, we will replace the lamp with something a little more modern.

And I picked up some new fabric to change out on the desk chair. I found it this week along with window coverings that I can’t wait to share!

So there you have it… a place to do homework and to primp. Hopefully more of the former will take place for awhile.

Again, thank you to everyone that left comments on how you share your blog with others. This most definitely isn’t a closed discussion, so if you have additional thoughts, I’d always love to hear them.

And don’t forget to check out the bloggers that commented. I truly think you’ll enjoy them as much as I do.

What about you? Do you have a favorite blog that I need to check out? Is there someone that you look forward to reading because they are both creative and genuine? Feel free to toot their horn here.

Lurking Under the Bed

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Danielle

My last post was getting a little long so I thought I’d break it into a two parter. This second half is just as organized, but not nearly as colorful.

Once the closet was complete, I turned my attention to the rest of the room. Alex from North of Seven had suggested bringing in a trunk for storage. I like combining that idea with some sort of custom bench seating for under the window. However, I wanted to see what kind of under the bed solutions I could find first.

When we moved Tessa’s bed to paint, there were several “lost” items under it. I’m hoping to better utilize that space and in the process keep out anything that doesn’t belong.

The Container Store was a huge help. We picked up two smaller boxes with compartments for little trinkets and mementos.

We also got a medium size box for craft supplies. This summer, Tess has been learning to knit and she is always making friendship bracelets.

Lastly, we purchased a large container for her puppets. Yes… puppets!

(Two points for anyone who recognizes where Tessa and her felt friend are standing.)

Both Tess and Evan were a part of our church puppet ministry for several years. Their team of middle and high school students were an amazing group that performed in the community and at our church. If she ever wants to revisit this talent, her gear will be available.

Everything fits neatly under the bed and she has room to add to each of the boxes.

A few tips I’ve discovered so far:

By re-evaluating what would stay in the room and why, we then purchased storage that would follow form and function. Things Tess accesses all the time went in the closet; lesser used items went under the bed.
This is a great time of year to be looking for organization and storage solutions. Many stores have wonderful promotions especially as students are gearing up to go to college. We’ve been able to get some great deals on bedding too. More on that to come.

We are in the home stretch of finishing the room and Tess and I are so excited! We added some storage to her desk and we are in the process of adding a mirror to create a vanity look that I can’t wait to share.

So… as a person who never stores things under the bed, I’d love to hear what you think of this solution. Am I crazy to think things will stay organized under there? Will this just turn into a massive stash zone? What has been you experience? If nothing else, we don’t have to worry about bedtime monsters lurking under there anymore… I hope.

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Stories About Life & Home

Category Archives: organizing

Cooking Up A Project

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Labels and Life

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Mirror Mirror

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Lurking Under the Bed

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