Memory Jar

I found this great jar at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.  You just can't go wrong with a Giant Mason Jar for under $10.  If you patiently watch and wait for Hobby Lobby weekly sales.  They rotate when certain items are 50% off.  This was part of the 50% off glassware weekly sale.  It pays to be patient and wait for the sale!  Yes, Hobby Lobby has the 40% off weekly coupon, but it is for only one item and their weekly sales are several different departments in a week.

I decided to use this as my Memory Jar.  I still have more items to add to it currently but I need to round up my items.  I'm not following a certain theme for this jar but should be in the future.  I am already thinking of an offspring such as a jar of all Steel's sports picture key chains since I already have 4 of them and Steel is only 6!

Currently my Memory Jar consists of:
Sports Picture Key Chains
Other Key Chains from trips
Key Chains with keys from past homes
My mother's occasion pins
My mother's passport, she loved traveling
Little trinkets I was given as gifts
My Girl Scout Pin

I'm still rounding up items but the jar is in working order!  

Think of the possibilities...
Souvenirs from your travels such as key chains or magnets
Foreign Coins
Ticket Stubs
Shells or Rocks
Wedding or Shower Favors
Funeral Memorial Prayer Cards

Empty out your junk drawers, there's tons of stuff that you have no where to put but you just can't seem to throw away!!!!

Embroidered Bins for Coat Closet

I'm trying to catch up with my winter projects (now that it's spring!!) and am putting the finishing touches (after painting) on the foyer.  I still want to install a new rod and shelf in the coat closet and shelving in the craft closet but both of those items are a bit lower on the list.  I will post on the final results of the foyer in a few days.  

As for my bins...

Organization was needed in our coat closet.  We all needed our own space for our items.  I found these bins at Walmart for a mere $3 a piece!  Yeah!  AND our bins needed personalized!  I decided to embroider our names on the bins.  

Click Read More for details...

Freezer Inventory

Ever find lost food in the freezer?  Well, I have.  I forget about things that get left in the freezer and then found when they are sometimes no longer edible.  I used to really have this problem when we had a chest freezer.  We now have an upright so it is not such a problem but it does still exist.  So I had this idea...

I put a white dry erase board on the outside of the freezer with a list of the contents.  This will make it easy to wipe off when you take something out of the freezer.  I will add to the list when I add items.  I think that it will work well, especially if I check the inventory on shopping day.

Steel's Kindergarten Binder

So many papers and packets for kindergarten this year!  I had previously put them in a basket but it was too much to handle and I didn't want to pitch any of them just yet.  I put together a binder to store everything in.  I have not elected to store homework assignments in it as that would be a bit crazy.  I haven't pitched any of the homework and schoolwork papers yet, I have other plans for them.  I will post about that later.

Greeting Card Storage

I saved old binders and plastic binder folders that are now coming in handy.  I have several cards that I used to keep in a small basket until I decided to organize them.  I do purchase some of them with intended recipients especially when I'm looking to purchase one for someone else and I find one very fitting for someone else.  My girlfriend, Michelle (in Dallas), and I used to send each others cards regularly and we find it crazy that we never ended up with the same card twice.  I must send her one now that I think about it.  There is something really great about getting a card in the mail.

I used the plastic binder folder to hold the cards of different categories.  I have them separated into the following categories:
Birthdays (2)
Valentine's Day / Sweetest Day
Anniversaries
St. Patrick's Day
Easter
Halloween
Christmas
Thank you
Thinking of you
Misc. Events
Blank

Re-organizing Bookshelf and Printer Cabinet

It was time to re-organize.  After 3 years, the old organization was no longer working.

The Printer Cabinet
This was originally a computer cabinet that no longer is used to house a computer.  Our house has been taken over by laptop computers that reside in our family room or anywhere else in our house at any given time.  We still need to house our printer that has since multiplied into 2 printers.  Plus I refuse to part with the piece of furniture because I still like it and it was the first piece of furniture that I purchased myself.  It is really quite a nice piece.

The Before Shot

This was really quite a mess.  It was easy to let it get out of hand since we could just close the door to the cabinet and hide the mess on the inside.  We have games stuffed in there that should go into the game closet, that too needs to be re-organized.  Our mail was in desperate need of filing /pitching.  Many other things somehow now called this cabinet home.

The After Shot

Nice and tidy again.  I really don't see a need for labeling.  I think I can handle it.  I just need to re-organized more frequently than 3 years.  LOL!

-Mail to keep temporarily includes coupons and ads.  I have my coupon book right on top.
-Mail to keep/file is just that.  We don't have a filing cabinet.  We have a hanging file box in the storage closet upstairs.  My plan is to file once per month.  I throw lots of mail away so this doesn't grow at such a great rate.
-Everything else pretty much speaks for itself.  I do keep the playing cards and some dice in a basket on the bottom shelf for easy access.

The Bookshelf
This bookshelf resides in our living room.  To make it look more appealing, I purchased baskets 3 years ago to house our many office type supplies.  I really liked the way it turned out.  It is time for a overhaul.  Baskets can be catch-alls and needed to be re-purposed to house more appropriate items for our current needs.

The Before Shot

Pretty bad, huh?  Lots of stuff needed to find new homes!  That they did!

The After Shot

-Yes, I really do have one basket just for batteries! 

-I have a great idea for the books that seem a bit out of place.  I plan to cover them it accenting colors to make them look nicer and go with the room.  

-I have tons of pads of paper, mostly the smaller spiral type and post its.

-I still have my old film cameras and some of my first digital cameras.  I'm still not sure why I have them but they fit nicely in the basket with the video cameras so I didn't pitch them at this time.  

-With Steel starting school this year we have tons of info papers and homework that you don't want to pitch just yet so I made a basket for those.  

-I have a misc basket that I am sure that I will find a use for.

-My office supply basket houses tape, stapler, scissors, hole punch, etc.  All the stuff that won't look nice sitting out.  I put these in a basket that has a lid.

-These are actually Steel's magazines, I wanted to put them on a lower shelf for him to access easily.

-Computer paper, large envelopes and legal pads fill the larger basket on the bottom shelf.  

Nice and organized again!

Whole House Revamp Agenda

I have many inside projects to tend to as soon as the weather takes a turn for the worse.  We have had a few days of cooler weather and it is getting me in the mood to start!  Now, I’m not really ready for winter but I am ready to get this house back in order!!!!!  Most of it will wait until the weather turns but I have decided to get all my objectives organized.  My plan is to post each item as they are completed so that I can post the results. 

I must first share with you that we have been in our house for almost 3 years now and the whole inside of the house needs painted!  It is horrendous!  We purchased the house from people that bought it to flip it.  We knew going in that things were going to be done as cheaply as possible to produce more profit.  So far we haven’t incurred any big expenses due to this fact.  Thank goodness!  The biggest problem that we are facing is the paint.  I do work for Sherwin Williams and I do get a discount so that helps monetarily but I am not a big fan of painting!  If it were easy enough to empty the contents of our house onto the front lawn and I could spray the whole thing it would not be so bad.  Well, that is exactly what these house flippers did!  They sprayed the walls, doors and molding all with this FLAT, CHEAP beige paint.  I try to wash the walls and the paint comes off but the dirt stays.  So, now the walls are hideous instead of just plain dirty!  LOL!  So, my plan is to tackle this problem room by room.  I am also adding all of the others things that are needed to each room so that my painting chore won’t be so cumbersome.  The ceilings are fine, we will not be painting those.  I must also note that we have a split level house so we are doing most of the house in the same color paint because the rooms on the first and second level touch each other.

Here is the outline of my objectives, separated by room,  as it stands now:

Foyer

-Paint trim white.

-Paint closet doors white.

-Paint inside of front door white.

-Paint walls tan, this color will be used for the foyer, family, dining, kitchen and living room.  It’s a bit darker than what we have now.  I hope that it isn’t too dark.  I jumped the gun and bought it already now having second thoughts.  We are starting with the foyer, we’ll see how it turns out. 

-Hang 2 new hooks low enough for Steel to reach to hang his own coat, etc.

-Install new closet coat rod and shelf, we currently have one of those plastic coated wire racks to hang coats and it has already fallen once. 

-Build/install new shoe organizer for the bottom of coat closet.

-Build/install new shelves in craft/games closet

-Install crown molding?  - undecided

-Need new tile – Will have to wait, not a mess we want to start now.  The floor underbeath the existing tile is uneven (the current tile is starting to crack).  We want to wait and do new tile from the foyer, through the utility room and up 4 stairs into the dining room and kitchen.  This isn’t a cost we can handle at this time so it will have to wait.  Mind you, the tile isn’t crumbling, just a few tiles have cracks in them and half of the tiles are covered by a rug. 

-Install door stopper protector – Our door stopper poked a hole in the door!  Ouch!  The round disc I bought will fix this. 
-Install new outlet cover and switch plate.

Utility Room

-Paint entire room, including trim, white.

-Install cabinets to house pantry items that are currently sitting on top up upright freezer and on the floor.

-Install cabinet to house laundry detergent and clean supplies that currently sit on two shelves on the wall next to the utility sink.

-We currently have a cheapy shelving unit to hold kitchen appliances that sit between the washer/dryer and furnace.  I have not decide how I am going to make that look more asthetically more appealing.  There isn't a lot of room so I'm not too sure what our options are.


Half Bath
-Install white bead board paneling.  
-Paint trim white or install new (white).
-Install towel rack.
-Install new toilet paper holder.
-Install new outlet cover/switch plate, if we can find one to fit.
-Accents?


Family Room
-Paint trim white.
-Paint walls tan.
-Install crown molding.
-Railings - install new wood ones?
-New carpet eventually, I cannot stand berber, it does not clean well.  It is too tightly woven to clean the fibers well.
-Install new outlet covers and switch plates.
-Make new throw quilts and throw pillows.


Dining Room
-Paint trim white.
-Paint walls tan.
-Fix cracks in wall by window.  The window was installed crooked and we actually had water leakage that led to a few cracks.  We have since had new windows installed properly and the problem has been rectified.
-Install new heater vent.  The current one is bent from the dining room chair sitting on it.
-Install crown molding.


Kitchen
-Paint trim white.
-Paint walls tan.
-Stain cabinet.  When we installed our dishwasher we had to take out the old cabinet to make move and install a small one next to the new dishwasher.  We have yet to stain it.  I don't even notice it since the finish on our cabinets is so light.  It's time to finally get it done!
-Install vinyl trim below cabinets.
-Rehang blinds.  When the windows were installed, the blinds have to be readjusted to fit properly.
-Paint corkboard.
-What to do about cabinets.  I do not like the light colored wood.  I'm not sure if I want to paint them or stain them darker or what.  Must think about it.  
-Make and hang chalkboard for menu.


Living Room
-Paint trim white.
-Paint walls tan.
-Install crown molding.
-Rearrange a few pictures on walls.
-Re-organize bookcase and computer (now printer) cabinet.
-Fix wall where old thermostat was.
-Pick and hang window treatment.  
-Change out pictures on floating shelves.


Upstairs Hallway
-Paint trim and door white.
-Paint walls tan.
-Install new baseboards that were damages when new thermostat was installed.
-Wall hangings?
-Re-organize storage closet.


Upstairs Bath
-Reorganize linen closet.
-Touch up trim and walls that were previously painted.
-Move towel hooks higher on wall.
-Move toilet paper holder.
-Install crown molding.


Steel's Room
-Touch up trim and walls that were previously painted.
-Install trim above closet doors.
-Window treatment?


Master Bedroom
-Paint trim, door and closet doors white.
-Paint walls a shade of blue.
-Install crown molding.
-Make and install window treatments.
-Rearrange furniture so that bed is not covering the heat vent.
-Move vanity chest to spare room.
-Make new quilt, shams and throw pillows.
-Install new wall hangings.


Spare Bedroom
-Paint trim, door and closet doors white.
-Paint walls a shade of lavender.
-Install crown molding.
-Make and install new window treatments.
-Make new quilt, shams and throw pillows.
-Install new wall hangings.
-Build and install closet shelves.




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