Snack Station {Halloween}

Hello, happy Friday and happy kickoff to Halloween weekend!  I know, I know I’m rarely on here but I finally got a light under my butt to post.  I guess what really inspired me to do so is this really cute snack station I set up for my kids decked out in Halloween décor.  We already have a snack station in our kitchen but this one is just too cute to not share with y’all. Look at what this mama did for her kiddos (and herself). 

I guess you can say what started this whole décor area is that I bought a spider-web cake stand from Target (dollar spot area) a few weeks ago and I was determined to use it and not just wait for when I baked a cake.  And since it’s a spider-web I knew I had to put it to use somehow before Halloween.  Well I always have small mandarins for the kids to snack on and the whole idea grew from there.  First, I thought I would just stack on the oranges then it hit me that I could draw them like jack-o-lanterns like I’ve seen many times before.  Ta-da!

I knew my daughter would love it and she is actually the one that drew all of those cute faces.  I mean look at her designs. Too cute! My son is now a cool 13 year old so I didn't think he would be as excited but he said it was pretty awesome and "it was so lit." Holla.

I also used this spider candy dish for their fruit snacks.  I got it from Kohl's a couple of years ago (after Halloween clearance).

And this is a candle holder I got on clearance a few years ago as well.  Hobby Lobby I think? I stuck a few of Ghirardelli chocolates in there because why not?

Here is a different angle of the snack station.

To the far left is a sugar skull that I (in a decent attempt) decorated at a local bake supply store.  I love that place!  I have it sitting on my food scale and next to it is a vase (similar to this one) I filled with candy corn and stuck in some Halloween sprays I got from Michael's.

That's it.  I wanted it to make it cute and fun while still having all of their go-to snacks in easy reach and I think I accomplished it.  Now I need to think of a Thanksgiving/Fall and Christmas set-up.  Happy Halloween!

Cookbook and Magazine Organization

Hey y'all.  Right now it's like fifty something degrees out and yes I am cold.  Insert hashtag #nativeTexan and #coldweatherweenie right here.  Yep, that is me.  So with the cold weather upon us I started looking through my cookbooks and magazines to find some new soups and stews.  This is when I realized that I really needed to hunker down and organize this growing collection of mine.  I hit up the Container Store and bought some bins and magazine files and now my all-things-cooking-and-baking resources look like this:

Thank you, Pinterest (and Jacqueline Laurita)!

Hey y'all! Well this is a thank you post indeed because thanks to Pinterest my blog has received a lil bit of traffic due to the pins and repins from the projects I've completed. It tickles me pink to think others actually like what I have created and maybe got a little inspired.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with blog land, it seems like there are umpteen-millions out there and mine is one little itty bitty one.  It's no money maker for me or anything of the sort.  It's just a little side hobby that is fun, gets me creative, gets me off my butt and is sometimes therapeutic.  So with that said I appreciate you folks stopping by and lurking around from post to post.

So thank you Pinterest for bringing people over to my blog to check out these projects of mine. Click on each link to find out more about each project.

(Cheap) Bathroom Organization 2

Good Monday to you all! Last week I  showed you how I tidied up my kids bathroom which is also a guest bathroom. Today I'll show you what I did in my master bath under my husband's sink (we have a double vanity). 

Look at how bad it was before. 

(Cheap) Bathroom Organization

Hey people!  How's your summer thus far?  Here in Texas we surprisingly have not been three digit heat that much (well compared to last year).  We've even had a little rain here and there.  One of the days that I was holed up in my house in the cool A/C I got down to organizing my kids bathroom.  Well it's a guest bathroom too.  Anywho, the clutter and mess has slowly evolved over time and I had just about had it.  My kids were not too crazy about it either.  So I got down to work and within a half hour it was oh so much better. 

Simple Scarf Organization {DIY}

Happy first day of March people!  Can I tell you that I have been through lots of stress these past two weeks?  Ay, ya yay I tell you.  Anywho, on to why we're here.  I moved my scarfs from my coat closet to my master closet.  I got the idea from the Lowe's Facebook page and right away I knew this was going to work better for me and would not frustrate me (I hope).

Here is what I put together on the inside of my closet door spending only a few dollars.

First let me tell you that I don't have many scarves.  I have about eight or nine total but I loooove them.  After this project I am "remembering" to look out for some pretty spring and summer scarves.  I am also not one that hangs up her scarves in a pretty knot like how they are displayed at the stores.  I gotta be real, y'all, this method is faster and easier for me.  And when I'm ready to wear one I just grab it and slip it out of the ring.  When I'm done I fold the scarf in half and loop it through the ring.  Easy, right?

Here's the breakdown of my simple little project. I used a pant hanger that had broken clips and I asked my husband to remove the clips.  He was happy to play with one of his tools.  Giddy like a kid that just received a surprise ice cream treat.  He used his Dremmel tool to remove them and had lots of fun doing it.  Boys and their toys.  :)

While he did that I cleaned the entire closet door with a Mr. Clean eraser.  Next I used the hanger to determine where I wanted to hang it on the door.  No measuring tape needed for this, I just eyeballed it.  After I picked my spot, I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol (for the Command hook) and then I marked the spot with a pen for better guidance.

Next I slapped one of these Command hooks and waited an hour as instructed by the package directions.

Let's pretend we're waiting hour and have a look at where I had my scarves before this mini project.

I had the scarves in between coats and jackets.  (Same closet that houses the ball caps) Not only that but they were on an Ikea scarf holder that I liked at first and then not so much.  You see I was not able to slide the scarves out or back in when I was putting one up.  And since the scarf holder was made of some kind of rope-like texture, there was too much friction when grabbing a scarf.  It wasn't working out for me so I got to work not long after getting the idea from Lowe's.

Okay so after I waited an hour for the Command hook to set I hung the pant hanger minus the broken clips, and inserted some shower curtain rings that I bought a Wal-Mart.  

Now here is quick transformation in fast forward.  :)

For NOW this is the final project.  I still have room for another hanger below this one but I am testing it out.  I like it and it is a great use of space but I want to be completely sure that I want to keep it this way.  And as you can see I only have six scarves here so there are a couple left.  That's okay because so far I'm liking this new set up so I'm guessing that there will be a new set up in the near future and maybe a few new scarves too.  And thank you Lowe's for the idea!  You like?

Organizing da Hair Accessories

Before my daughter was born it was just the hubby, our boy and me.  I only had me to worry about when it came to all things hair.  Then baby girl came along and little by little the hair accessories, combs, brushes and everything else started to pile up and take over my middle bathroom drawer.  Up until a couple of weeks ago my hair accessory drawer looked like this:

It was so bad and I couldn't stand it any longer.  Actually it had been quite some time that I could not stand but I finally got around to organizing it.  While still on holiday vacation in early January, the kids and I took a field trip to The Container Store.  One of my new favorite stores.  Love!

After browsing, browsing, browsing and more browsing I finally got down to business.  Mainly because the kids were getting restless otherwise I could have spent the whole day there and compiled a huge wish list.  I came home with some Linus drawer organizers and after a major make-over our hair accessories bathroom drawer looked like this:

I can't believe how much better it looks and my baby girl kept looking at it and just wanted to stand there and admire it.  She loved it so much and was excited to get her hair did every morning.  :)

This is how I started off this organizing mission.  I measured the drawer so that I would know how much space I had to work with while I shopped for the organizers.

It was a little overwhelming to see all of my choices at The Container Store.

But thankfully I had my measurements so I put some bins together and came up with this design to go in my drawer.  Bad shot, sorry.

I bought a 4-section bin, two small ones, one large one and came home to start the organizing.

This is what it looked like after try numero uno.

On the top left I used the 4-section bin and below that I used two 3"x6" bins and to the right I used a 6"x15" bin.  I had a couple of inches left at the very front so I put my daughter's hair detangler and water bottle in that spot.  It was almost perfect.  After having it like this for a few days I realized that I didn't like that big bin on the right with ponytail holders and hairbands.  I also didn't like that I had bobby pins and hair clips grouped together in one (4-section bin).

So back to The Container Store I went and bought two 3"x2" bins, one 6"x9" bin and one more 3"x6" bin.  I rearranged a bit and this was the final look.  I was much happier with this set up and it worked better.  No mixing up bobby pins with hair clips or hair bands with elastics.

Oh and see that water label on the Suave bottle up above?  Well that was a detangler that I bought a while back but I did not like it too much.  So I watered it down as I used it and once it once completely empty I used it as just a spray water bottle.  That was the first label I made after I bought my label maker that I mentioned in my last post.  And the white bottle to the left of it is a detangler I'm using now but I'm not too crazy about it either.  I was on a mission to organize all these hair products but I'm also on a mission to find the perfect detangler for my girl's beautiful hair.  Suggestions welcome.  :)

So don't ya think this looks mucho mucho better?  Not only was my girl giddy after the much needed makeover but so was I.  Both of our hair accessories are no longer lost and there is a compartment for each different one.  Well her hair bows are on in her room but that's about it.  I'm so happy with how it turned out.  On to the next project!  :)

Organized Linen Closet... Finally!

Hi peeps.  Are y’all done decorating for fall yet?  No? Oh wait that's just me.  My decor is going up little by little as the hubs grudgingly brings more Fall/Halloween totes down from the attic.  heehee.  

I do however want to show off (‘cause that’s what happens in blog land) my now neat and tidy linen closet thanks to this pin on my Organization board from Better Homes & Gardens that helped me get'er done.  Ta-da!

It is a small closet in my short and narrow hallway so taking full length photos of the before and after was a challenge.  But believe me you this thing was way too crowded and stuffing clean towels into each shelf was just plain dumb.  There was too much going on in there especially with the ball caps and candles taking up valuable space on one shelf.  So just like my utensil drawer, large utensil drawer, and junk drawer I got to work.  As I told you in my last post, I got the caps out of there and hung up in the coat closet. 

I then emptied out the entire closet and cleaned each shelf  with my vinegar/lemon juice combo spray.  Just like the ball caps, I went through everything and decided what to keep and donate.  I actually found some of old co-sleeper sheets.  Wow, talk about once upon a time we had babies.  Yes, I even washed everything that I was keeping just to give it a clean, fresh smell.  Not that they stunk but you know it made me feel better.

Anywho, since it was pretty hard to take full length views of the closet I will do my best to demonstrate the befores and afters.

Top half of the closet before:

Bottom half of the closet before:

Meh, the closet looked kinda neat but not really.  The second shelf from the top had a plastic bin full of candles and other miscellaneous stuff along with all those darn ball caps!  The second shelf from the bottom had way too many kitchen towels, hand towels, etc.  A jam fest it was!  Oh and then at the very bottom I had a couple of kitchen appliances that did not fit in the kitchen (just a few feet away).

So after emptying the entire closet, deciding what I was going to keep, and cleaning the shelves, I gave this lil 'ol closet a nice makeover.  Here are my after pics.

Top half of closet after:

And here again:

On the very top shelf I have three shoe-size plastic bins stored with candles.  This is really the only place in the house I can store my candles.  Obviously the heat will get to them if store in the garage (Texas heat, y'all) and my utility room is also small and the one shelf I have in there is storing bigger/bulky items.  Anywho, all my candles for the different season are in there; some are actually lit others are just for decor.  Yeah, I'm one of those.  :) 

I also have one canvas bin of miscellaneous items for house use every now and then; and the extra space is for house decor that is too sensitive to be in the garage.  Just like the candles.

The second shelf is for our beach towels.  Yep, we have them and we don't just use them for the pool or beach.  I actually like to use them when after I shower.  They are extra cozy to me.  I have two shelf dividers that I purchased at Wal-Mart keeping those bulky towels in place.  I also have a few extra bed sheets on that same shelf.

The third shelf has two medium cabinet shelves that I bought at The Container Store (LOVE that place!).  Using these two shelves made a huge difference and of course it gave me more space!

These are the cabinet shelves:

Here are after pics of the bottom half:

The bottom shelf has two, small canvas bins.  One has kitchen towels and the other has smaller kitchen towels.  Basically the beige bin stores the towels we hang from the oven handle and the pink bin stores the kitchen towels we use for cleaning the counters, etc.  To the right of the pink bin are a couple of tablecloths and handmade doilies from my maternal grandmother's family in Mexico.  More on those on a later post.

The very bottom will now store toilet paper and paper towels.  Before they were kept in the utility room but having to grab a step ladder for these items got old real quick.

Now do I feel like a bazillion times better about this little makeover and it was rather inexpensive too.  The only things I purchased were the two medium cabinet shelves and the one small, beige bin; both from The Container Store.  All were on sale so about $13 total or so.  I already had the two shelf dividers (from Wal-Mart) and the pink and blue-striped canvas bins I bought a few years ago on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  If all of my towels were clean then there would not be enough room in this closet, that is for sure.  But there are always towels in the hamper so I don't have to worry about needing more room.

My next goal for this closet is to have brand new, matching towels and bed sheets.  I'm hoping to score some at a great home sale after the holidays.  Until then I'm just going to enjoy the great after because the too-many-stuffed-in-there look was driving me cah-razy!

Again, this was my pinspiration.  Until next time, peeps!  :)

Baseball Cap Rack Organizer

Hola!  Two weekends ago I finally, finally organized my linen closet.  My small linen closet.  Stashed in the middle of all those towels and sheets were my husband's and son's ball caps.  Yep, they occupied an entire shelf along with a plastic bin of candles.  Totally does not make sense and I am embarrassed to say it has been like this since we first moved into our house.  The hubs did not have anywhere to put his few ball caps so he stored them in the linen closet "for the mean time" and eleven years later the ball caps multiplied and never found that permanent home.  Enter the Perfect Curve Cap Rack 36 System and my boys' ball caps now look like this:

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Before they looked like this in the linen closet:

Since it was my mission to organize the linen closet, I also had to find a new and permanent home for all of those baseball caps.  I found the cap rack system at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $19.99 and I used my $5 off coupon so it was just over $15 total. A coupon girl I am.

I dumped all the caps on the floor and assigned the "Keeping & Donating" duty to my son since the hubby was not home.  He was happy to oblige and have a little bit of power.  :)

It took longer than I thought to assemble this thing because you have to force each individual cap holder onto the black rope.  Having to force "snap or pop" it into place took a few minutes on the first two but then I got the hang of it.  Once you pop it into place you can adjust each holder up and down as much as you need. 

Place the hook wherever you desire on the closet door, attach bungee-like rope (there is no attachment for the rope to place at the bottom of the door.

Here is what one of the ball cap holders looks like once snapped on the rope.

I found it easier to put a holder on the rope, insert a cap and then move onto the next.  This way I could tell how much room I needed for the next cap.  Here is what each holder looks like once on the rope and with a cap in it.  You fold the back of the ball cap in and then slide it underneath the top clip (it opens up slightly without resistance).

 Bottom view:

Each clip holds up to three caps but I did not want to do that and since we pretty much got rid of half the ball caps, each cap was able to be on its own without any roommates.  :)

Mama is happy and once I finished the cap rack project I started working on the linen closet.  I'm an organizing fool right now!  :)