Cabinet Organization – Only $1.80 per box!

I’m so excited to finally get one thing in this house organized.  Even if it is just one cabinet.  I bought these boxes at Walmart.  They are 9.25” x 10.25”.  They come in packages of 3 and only cost $5 per package.  $5!!!  Anyone can get organized at that price.  (Okay, I just spent 20 minutes looking for these online and they don’t exist anywhere.  If they are at your Walmart I would snatch them all.  That is my plan tomorrow.)

I bought pretty paper at Hobby Lobby for $0.59 per sheet of paper.  (You can’t see it in the picture, but the paper is shiny cardstock.)
I used Microsoft Publisher to make the labels.  The exact same shape is in Word.  You just insert the shape into your document, add a text box inside.  Make the shape line 4pts and add the wording you want.  I kept the labels to one word because I liked the way it looked.  I then printed on my pretty paper, cut out the labels, punched holes in the top and then used ribbon to tie them to the boxes. 

This was my final result:

I know it still looks a little messy, but it’s the organized chaos that is my house, and I’m thrilled!  I’ve already made boxes for other parts of the house – light bulbs, pet RX, cats, dog, dish towels, misc.
Total cost for each box is $1.80!

Fresh Flowers Don’t Have To Break The Bank

I told you in this post that I like to buy flowers from the grocery store because they generally last 4 weeks or more.  So, a couple of weeks ago I bought flowers for myself.  I bought them off of the 3 for $12 stand at my local grocery store (I know, the price went up), and the vase was $2.50 at Walmart.  I got home and decided to take some pictures of how I put them together so that you can see how simple it is.

1.  Pick out some flowers that you like and that you think coordinate with each other.  I think 3 different types of flowers looks best (for a small bouquet when you’re on a budget.) 

 

2.  When you get home, cut open each set and spread out the plastic so that when you are finished you can just fold everything into the paper and throw it away.  Empty one of the packets into the vase and fill the vase with water.  (I use about a 1/2 in of hot water to dissolve the powder and then finish filling the vase with cold water.  Now you are ready to start on the flowers.

3.  Start with your base flower (generally what you have the most of and what is best at filling space).  Measure the flower stem against the base of your vase (just made me think of Ace of Base, random…).  Decide how tall you want the flowers and cut the stem at an angle.  (I saw the si-ign, and it opened up my eyes. I saw the sign.)  Also, pull off all the leaves that could potentially end up in the water because the leaves can make the water toxic to the flowers.  Then, place the flowers into the vase.  If they all stand at the same height try to make the stems cross in the vase to force them to stand at different heights.  If that doesn’t work then cut the bases of a few of them, but only cut them slightly.  You want them to lay as if there is a bowl upside down and on top of them, like bowl hair cuts. Ha!  Remember those?

4.  Start on the next flower.  I like to use a small bud with lots of leaves for my base, then I do something dramatic for the middle level, and something tall for the third layer.  Do your second layer about the same height as the first.  Gently place the second later flower into the vase so that the flower is resting on top of your first layer. Then, do the third layer.  In this arrangement I chose to cut the tall flower so that it was shorter than the others, but you can still see that it’s skinnier than the others.

5.  The finale.  Turn the vase all the way around and arrange the flowers so that there are no holes (like the one above), and then put them in a place where you can enjoy them everyday.

  

One of Life’s Lessons

Recently Brinkley learned one of life’s toughest lessons. 

CATS ALWAYS GET WHAT THEY WANT!

We tried to explain this to her when she first became part of our family,

but I’m not sure she ever fully understood it until yesterday. 

You see, several months ago I made Brinkley a bed.  She had been through countless store bought beds because as it turns out, the only thing they were good for was ripping them apart and eating the stuffing.  So, with all the brilliance I possess, I decided to make her one that didn’t have any stuffing.  I bought a really soft baby blanket and cut a slit in the back of it.  I then cut a twin sized $10 “memory foam” mattress into fourths.  I cut the four pieces to fit snuggly inside the blanket and then I stuffed them in and smoothed them out.  Voila, a doggie bed big enough for 65 lbs to comfortably sprawl across.  I didn’t even sew the slit in the back.  I just threw it on the floor and she was instantly in dog heaven. (This is the project part.)

    

That was until recently, when this started happening.

I felt so bad for Brinkley that I got out an old dog bed that had been given to us.  I sprayed Febreze on it and used a lint roller to get off all the old hair.  I thought I would see if I could coax Bub to start sleeping on the smaller dog bed.  It’s the exact same type of material and everything.  The only difference is that it is made with stuffing and it’s made for a 10lb dog. 

This is what has happened.

     

   

I wish we could help, but we gave up our bed years ago.  This is just one of those things in life that we all have to learn to deal with…

CATS ALWAYS GET WHAT THEY WANT!

Welcome to Hotel Pedraza

Two of our favorite guests are visiting from St. Louis.  As soon as they walked in Linda said, “Hey, you’ve added a coffee maker to Hotel Pedraza!”  (This is what Linda named our guest room last time she was here.  I love it!)

Since I travel, I am all too aware of what it takes to be truly comfortable when you are away from home.  I have tried to apply all of my favorite things to our guest bedroom so that our guests can be comfortable in their room in the event that they are aren’t comfortable wondering around our house when everyone else is sleeping  The only thing we are missing is a guest bathroom. 

Welcome to Hotel Pedraza:

Drinks and snacks.  There is nothing I love more than a cup of hot tea before bed and a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. 

 

An ironing board, iron and space in the closet.  Although the closet isn’t perfect, no one has to go looking for an ironing board in our house.

 

Good reading material.  Magazines provide quiet entertainment when you can’t sleep. 

 

  A full length mirror.  It’s not pretty, but it’s better than not knowing how your only pair of shoes look with your only pair of jeans.

 

   Fresh flowers, towels, and baskets full of goodies.  I have filled my baskets with things like a toothbrush, toothpaste, a contact case, eye drops, face soap, face lotion, eye cream, shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, perfume, cologne, deodorant, a razor, wrinkle free spray, antibacterial spray, Lysol, Kleenex, feminine hygiene products and a bottle of lavender linen spray.     

 

  Hooks on the back of the door for used towels.

 

A comfy bed.  Each of the four pillows is a different type of pillow.  This is very important to me in a hotel, especially when I am there for multiple nights.  There is also a memory foam mattress pad over the mattress.  A down comforter is in the basket (with the magazines) for people who like down.  The last thing I would like to point out about this picture is the frame above the bed.  I have placed pictures that were taken the last time Wally visited.  I will change out the pictures for our next guest so that they will feel just as at home. 

 

We love company.  So, if anyone is interested in booking a night at Hotel Pedraza please let us know. 

My Closet Gets a Makeover

I promised pics of my closet makeover.  So, here they are.

I have three different robes that I wear constantly.  They hang on a hook that is just to the right of my closet.  (You can see the pink fabric at the edge of the pic.)  My job requires scarves.  They hang on a hook just inside the left door jam of the closet.  You can see the array of colors on that edge of the picture.  I love hats.  So, my ball caps hang on a hook just inside the right door jam to the closet.  You can see the pink and navy hats hanging there.  Oh, by the way, we don’t have closet doors.  I read in an organizing book that closet doors on closets like mine only serve to take up space and create dark corners.  So, we are doorless and I love it. 

The brown on the right side of the closet is the book shelf I stuck in there.  I lost a rod, but I am making up for it in what I can now fold and see on my shelf, and instead of hanging my jeans and casual pants they are now folded on the shelf above the left hanging rod.  Folded like this I am not creating any more creases than there would be if they were folded over the hanger.  And, strangely enough, I can see them better.  When they were hanging on hangers there was a shadow and I had to study them.  Now, they are exposed to more light and I can see their color and specific fabric right away.

 

In the book shelf I have t-shirts, one stack are more like memories, the second stack I wear all the time, and the third stack are for getting dirty.  The second shelf are shorts, and the third shelf is a basket of socks and a stack of sweat pants.  The bottom shelf are the things that make me crazy when they are in a dresser drawer. 

The basket on the floor serves as a place for all my flipflops.  There is no reason for flipflops to be displayed, so mine go in the basket. 

My other shoes are displayed in a door shoe organizer on the back of the door to my room.

My belts, trendy hats and long scarves are hanging on a row of hooks just outside of my closet.

My purses and bags hang a little higher on the other side of my vanity desk.

You might be wondering where all of my husband’s things are.  Well, since we only have small bedrooms, small closets, and one bathroom, and we don’t have any kids, one of our three bedrooms is referred to as “the vanity” room, or “my/Britney’s” room.  This room houses my closet, all of my clothes, my vanity and Jason’s dresser.  

 

  

This is what the room liked before I hung the hooks on the wall, but you get the picture.  It’s wonderful!  I would recommend her own room to any woman who lives in a small space with her husband and has a little extra room somewhere else in the house, especially if there is only one bathroom.  I always get ready in here and there is never a fight for the bathroom, and never a fight about closet space or other closet preferences.

Thanks for letting me share my closet’s makeover with you.  Hope you enjoyed, and I hope you find a place where you can enjoy looking all your things too.