Home Office Organization - Sorting, Files & Clutter

The organization crusades of 2013 are up and running and I have a little update to share today.  So far, we have conquered our kitchen junk drawer and I have been getting my craft supplies in order and today I have begun work on our home office space.  Now, let me stop there for a minute - a small house = no home office space - so when I say home office, for us that means a little desk in the kitchen and a few small spaces that we designate for certain things (most of which we are creating now).  So because of limited space we have to get kind of creative as to how we organize and manage some things.  I honestly haven't really spent much time thinking about this until now - so its a work in progress for me.

I am pretty much starting from scratch in the form of home office organization - its pretty bad really but we are making great strides.  First up in the battle is our little secretary desk that sits in our kitchen - it was a complete wreck and a place that I was pretty much avoiding due to over stuffing and clutter.  Here it is in all of its glory...

First thing I had to do was just get everything out and then come up with a sorting system to get it all in order.

I used some extra storage bins I have to use as sorting stations for all the the paperwork, bills, etc that we had shoved in the desk.  I also had a bag for trash (which there was a lot of).

I also sorted out all of the little knick knacky things and instead of waiting until later to worry about it I immediately began to put away everything that didn't belong in the desk to its rightful spot.  This is so essential in getting organized...make it a no procrastinating zone while you are working.

Just so you can see that I did have a spot for everything - here ya go.  The "keep" things are going back into the desk and everything else went to its correct location.

Ok, back to the paperwork.  Since we don't really have a home office room or very much space I wanted to keep our filing system simple, easy and functional.  Since this is all new territory for us, just getting something in place like this is huge - maybe it will develop into a great system down the road but I'm ok with this for now.  

So I found these pretty files at Target and a pretty magazine file at Office Max and started there.  After I had sorted through all of the paperwork I gave each paper pile a file folder and label - making sure to file away in date order - woohoo for organization!   All of these file folders are filled with items that we might need easy access to and also will need to be quickly filed away.

Oh, I used some washi tape for the labels, a cute little trick that Jen from I heart Organizing shared on her blog.  I love that it makes it pretty (i'm all about that) and the washi tape is easily removable so if you need to change out a file its easy to do.

Ok, so not the most exciting project, but a long overdue one.  The feeling you get from de-cluttering and organizing really is so great - and the fact that you can make it pretty and fun is just an added bonus.  This job was a little more time consuming than our junk drawer but well worth it - honestly it was one of those, I wish I had done this a long time ago things.

I have more organizing to do in our desk and office areas so I will share them soon!  Happy Organizing!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

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Another Sunburst Mirror

Have you guys seen those awesome sunburst mirror tutorials? I know, Duh right? They are everywhere and were kind of a big deal - like two years ago.  Either way, I have finally gotten around (two years later) to making one - yay for me!  I decided to take on the task of coming up with a mirror with nothing but things found at the dollar store, you know I like to roll that way.  So here is yet again another diy sunburst mirror, enjoy.

Supply List:

- Round Mirror from the dollar store (mine is from dollar tree)

- 3 packs of Wooden Chopsticks from the dollar tree (I found packs of 8)

- E3000 Glue

- Painters Tape

- Spray Paint of Your Choice (I used Rustoleum in Bronze)

First thing you need to do is glue down your first four chopsticks, which will be your map for the rest of them.  Don't try and use hot glue - it just isn't strong enough to hold this all together.  Also, E3000 is awesome glue but make sure you do this outside or in a well ventilated area - it stinks - really bad.  After I had my four pieces glued I just eyeballed the rest and glued them around...its not perfect but I'm ok with that.  You could probably be really precise and measure everything off but that involves too much thinking for me - at least for this project :).

- Let it dry for several days so the glue is set and then you are ready to paint!

I just taped over my mirror and spray painted my chopsticks.  I used a spray paint that already had a primer built in so it was an easy two light coat process.  

After that, I was ready to hang it. I took me forever to decide where I wanted it but ended up putting it up in our back hallway/laundry room area.  To hang it up I used a metal bracket from a pack I found at Lowes and just glued the bracket to the back of the mirror to secure it.

After it had a couple of days to dry it was ready to hang.  

I love this sunny mirror in our sunny laundry area.  This project was so simple and easy...and cheap too!  I'm kind of on a kick to finally get some artwork and photos on our walls.  We pretty much have bare walls still - after two years of living here - I think its time.

Thanks so much for joining me today!  So, how many of you have attempted a diy sunburst mirror?  I would love to see them!!  Or, have any of you thought of making one a thousand times and have never gotten around to making one?  Share with me!

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Bedroom Updates & A Faux Pillow Cover

We are taking a break from all things outdoors today (on the blog at least, in real life we are right in the thick of it) and taking a peek at a few updated things in our bedroom.  So just for fun lets look way back and take a quick walk down memory lane and remember the old master cave of yore...

We wasted no time and painted that paneling - trim was made white and walls a gray.  We added a new chandelier light, painted a couple of ikea side tables, added some drapes, a new rug and we were feeling good.

This room is a slow work in progress so after a year we were ready to start adding a few things here and there.  First we found this awesome duvet cover at Target for under $30.  I was sold when I saw the price and then absolutely loved the addition of the big bold stripes.

I also made a faux pillow cover for our little accent pillow above, here is what I did...

This is what I started with, there is nothing necessarily wrong with this pillow but it just didn't match anything we have so I decided to cover it with some fabric that we already had (actually, this is a tablecloth but it's perfect for this).

First I cut off all of the tassels, and then I cut out two squares of fabric that would fit around my pillow.  By the way, this is a pretty quick and non-professional way of doing this.  If you are like me and can't sew this is the way to go, it took me like 10 minutes max.

After I had my two squares I used fabric glue and created a "hem" along all of the sides of both squares. Then I put the pillow on top of one fabric square and then placed the remainder square on top of the pillow (creating a pillow sandwich with the fabric squares)  then I glued together the two squares with the fabric glue again.  The fabric is slightly folded over along the sides of the pillow so there is a seam on the opposite side that you can't see when it's sitting pretty on our bed.  It's ghetto, I know- but it worked.  You can't tell and it's just an accent pillow so it shouldn't get a lot of wear and tear.  

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post about really exciting bedroom updates...So little by little I love the way our little bedroom is coming together (ghetto faux pillows and all).  We really need something on the walls, they are practically screaming at me to put something on them - so that's my next little project.  

After that I feel like I need to address the opposite side of this room, which we won't mention here in this post.  

And so the progress goes on.

Have an awesome day!

DIY- Monogrammed Canvas

I've got a super simple project to share with you today!  It pretty much involves gluing - and we can all do that.  I'm all about a monogram and I'm still on a mission to start filling in the blank wall space we have going on in our house right so this project was perfect since it fits both of those criteria.  So here are the supplies I started off with:

- canvas

- leftover fabric

- wooden letter

- fabric glue

- hot glue

As to where I got this awesome fabric, that would be the fun etsy fabric shop Sew Fine Fabric.  She has  lots of great fabrics to choose from in her shop and she has super fast shipping and great customer service - all things we love.  

As to my next step, I just wrapped the fabric around my canvas and used the fabric glue to secure it in place.  I just had to make sure my pattern was even and not looking all crazy and crooked.

I just folded in my corners - pretty much like wrapping a present.

Finally I grabbed my pre-painted wooden letter (I purchased it at Joanne's on sale for $2) and hot glued it right on my fabric covered canvas and.....voila!  A fun little piece to add to our bare walls.

As to where, I'm not sure yet.  I've got a couple more monogram art ideas running around in my head that I might be grouping together with this one so I'm kind of waiting it out. So right now it's just hanging out on my nightstand.

On a completely different note, I joined up with Framed Frosting's secret blogger swap and I'm really excited!! If you are a blogger and are interested in participating go check it out!  She is taking sign ups until May 11th.  Can't wait to share with you about my swap!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!!  Thanks for stopping by!

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DIY Rosette Necklace

Its official, we have entered the busy season.  CPA's have tax season, Youth Pastors have summer season (graduation, summer camp, mission trips, vba and new year kick offs).  Don't get me wrong, we love it - its not a bad busy, its a fun busy and we love every minute of it and I can't wait to share some of the things that we experience throughout the summer.  But more involved projects have taken a back burner and I've been enjoying some crafty things as of late.  So today starts a crafty project parade of sorts that I will be sharing over the next couple of weeks, yay!  So let's get to it.

One of my favorite craft pastimes is jewelry making.  Most of you know I have a little etsy shop where I sell some of the things I make.  For me, sitting down, being creative and making something new is such a relaxing and mind clearing pastime.  If I'm feeling a little stressed or overwhelmed making jewelry is my go-to project.  It just works for me.  I'm actually surprised I'm just now sharing a jewelry craft with you since I enjoy it so much and frequently spend time doing it.

Most of you have seen these cute and sweet little rosette necklaces on the web, but I still wanted to share my take on it with you.  This is a really easy and simple jewelry project to start with, you need basic supplies and I actually made mine with leftover scraps and materials I already had, so this was a free project for me!  

Ok, so basic jewelry making tools - these three tools will get you through tons of jewelry making hours.  You don't necessarily need all of these for this necklace, it's doable without them, but if you are using chain then it makes it so much easier.

Here's a list of supplies you will need:

- scrap fabric (could also be an old t shirt you could cut up)

- felt (I used a scrap piece - you can find packs of 10 at the $1 store)

- hot glue gun

- scissors

-chain, ribbon, leather (I used chain from a necklace I no longer used)

Optional:

- Round Nose Pliers/Flat-nose pliers (for attaching a clasp if needed)

- Wire Cutters (If you need to cut your chain)

So I'm starting out this tutorial with the assumption that you already know how to make a basic fabric Rosette - I have that much faith in your crafting abilities.  If you don't know how to make a rosette, it's pretty simple, it's basically twisting a strip of fabric and rolling it around, gluing as you go to make a rosette.  If you don't know how - here is a great tutorial!

So once you have made your rosette's - I made five for this necklace - you need to break out the felt and cut out a small circle for each. As you can see from the picture below, these are very precise circles - j/k.  I didn't care what my circles looked like, they just needed to be a little smaller than my rosette.  After you have your felt circles, hot glue them to the back of your fabric flowers.

Next, hot glue three of your rosettes right on a square of felt the way you would like to have them arranged.  I also glued a little between the rosettes to keep them together.

Then you need to bust out your chain.  I had a necklace I never wore anymore and decided to re-use that chain for this project (this is where wire cutters would come in handy since I needed to detach it from the old necklace and cut two equal strands).  If you don't have any available chain, its pretty inexpensive and available at any craft store these days, you can even find it at Walmart.  You could also use a different material instead of chain like ribbon or leather.  Just be creative, use what you have.

If you decide to buy chain, make sure you also purchase a clasp and jump ring to attach the clasp to the chain.  Here's a great tutorial for using jump rings (plus some more great basic jewelry techniques).

So after you have your two equal chain sections (or ribbon, etc), simply hot glue that chain to the back of the rosette and then to the felt - right next to your trio of previous glued-down rosettes.

Simple.  I did add a bit more glue to the back when I flipped it over to glue it down to the felt - just to make sure it was plenty sticky.

After you have glued everything down you are ready for the final step - cutting it out.  This is my least favorite part because you have to get in-between all of those flowers.  This is where a neutral colored felt piece would have been awesome, but like I said I just used scrap felt that I already had laying around. 

Now you are ready to put that cute little necklace on and take a picture of your dirty smugged mirror - this is a step, don't leave it out or else it won't turn out right.

So trying to take a picture of me wearing this necklace was a fail, I had some better ones but they were either crooked, dark or weird.  But, look at this sweet rosette necklace....don't you want to go make one now?

Thanks for joining stopping by today, more crafty things to come!

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