{f}ixing an office space

Turning spaces like these into organized, functional, and easy to access spaces can be quite daunting for some people. We are here to tell you that you shouldn't be so intimidated by such a project! With a few spare hours you can organize this space with a few baskets & bins.

The wicker baskets were found at Target for a great price and they are the perfect depth for the bookshelf. This space was intended as a storage space for art supplies and craft projects. Each of the wicker baskets has different craft supplies that can easily be removed from the shelf and returned when the project is finished. The large white bins on the top shelf are from T. J. Maxx and are the "finished" and "almost finished" bins to keep projects off of the table and stored safely. 

We then added some picture frames and mason jars to add a more personal touch to this functional space.

Other places we visited to complete this project were HomeGoods, Target, Staples, and the Container Store. The entire project {from beginning to end with shopping time} probably took 4 to 5 hours and in that time the room was quite a mess! If you commit yourself to a project like this for an afternoon {or a day!} you are guaranteed to find great results! 

As always, please send us any pictures of projects you do like this!

xo

GroopDealz Findz

We recently came across a website that has daily super sales... and who doesn't like sales!?!? The website is groopdealz.com and its full of great finds for very even better prices. Items on the site range from jewelry, clothing, home decor, to organizational things. Here are some of our fav finds from this week! If you want to order any of them, you have to jump on them fast as the sales do not last for more than a week most times.

These boot cuffs are on GroopDealz for only $8.99 and they are the perfect addition to any fall/winter outfit. 

This sparkly necklace is the perfect accessory for any holiday outfit and it's SUPER affordable {$6.99}

These bangles are perfect on their own or to add to a stack {find more about stacking here}. These bangles are only $5.99 {each}.

Monogram, monogram, monogram... This adorable monogram bracelet is $12.99 and it is a great gift for moms, sisters {hint, hint} , or friends!

This extension cord will add 12 inches of cord to any iPhone charger! Great gift for dads and its only $5.99!

This necklace comes in a few different color options that are all perfect to add a little bling to a simple outfit. Only $5.99!

Everyone's biggest fears with websites like these is that they are cheaply made products. We wouldn't ever want to lead you astray so we ordered a few pieces of jewelry a few weeks ago from the site and we were very pleasantly surprised! The jewelry is of great quality and it {so far} has been very long lasting. Sooooo, order quick...they sell out VERY fast! Send us pictures of you wearing or using one of  your new purchases, we'd love to see!

Paint Swatch Calendar

Staying organized is super super important during this time of year. With school starting, volleyball games happening and work calling I needed a place to keep all my information. Instead of going to Target or Staples to buy myself a boring planner or calendar that will need to be replaced in a year, I decided to make my own!

So here is what you'll need:

- Dry Erase Markers

- Large Picture Frame

- Scissors

-7 Paint Swatches

-Glue or Tape

Get Started

 

First, I took my 7 paint swatches and get them into squares. My picture frame wasn't super big so I had to cut the swatches down even more then just alone the white edges. Depending on the type of paint swatch you have you won't need all of the colors about 4 will do. 

Next, glue or tape the paint swatches onto your picture frame. Make sure you have a similar amount of white in between each swatch. 

Finally, place the glass back into the picture frame and begin writing with the dry erase markers.

 

This project is quick, easy and super cute! Once the next month starts you just erase the writing and start again! I love mine:) 

Binder Covers

For those of you who are heading back to florescent lit hallways, lockers filled with books, and the stress of tests this post is all about you! My favorite thing about going back to school is getting all my school supplies organized and making my binders look cute. I fell in love with monograms! If I could I would monogram monograms on monograms until everything was monogramed! They are obviously very personal and they make everything look more preppy and cute. Being the pinterest addict that I am, I found customizable monogram and chevron stripped binder covers! So here are some quick instructions on how to customize and print your monogramed binder covers:)

Here is the link to the pinterest post: http://ayearofmanyfirsts.blogspot.com/2012/08/monogram-chevron-teacher-heaven.html

The post gives step-by-step directions on how to download, customize and print your binders. It was SUPER easy to do! All you need to know how to do is add a text box and resize fonts. Once you make your monogram with the Monogram KK font you can save it and reuse it for other projects! I seriously love my binders, they are super cute, the colors are great aaaaannnnddddd the monograms are totally me {hehe}

So get to monograming!

DIY: Fabric Lined Mason Jar

I have noticed so many people experimenting with Mason Jars recently. They are everywhere and so useful. I've seen them used for smoothies and coffee, transformed into giant candles, and just used for decoration.  Soooo I decided to share with all of you a very easy and fun way to transform a Mason Jar {or any other jar} into something interesting and versitile.

DIY: Twist On The Classic Mason Jar

This DIY is quick and easy to do! The Mason Jars can be used for so many different things: desk decorations, pencil holder, candle, coin collector, etc.

So here is what you'll need!

- Mason Jar {size doesn't matter! for this project I used a pint sized}

-Scissors

-Small Paint Brush

-Ribbon

-Light Fabric {fabric quarters}

-Small Cup

-Glue

1. Take your fabric and measure {guestimate} about the length you are going to need it. Make sure the fabric will be long enough so that it reaches from the  middle of the bottom of the jar to the top {or a little out of the top}. 

{cut the fabric into strips}

2. In the small cup combine glue with water {1:2} and mix well. If needed add more glue as you start adding the strips. The mixture should be a thicker than water

3. Take a strip of fabric and submerge it in the glue-water mixture. Once the strip is covered in glue, slide your fingers down the strip to get rid of excess glue.

4. Take the glue covered strip and place it inside the jar and position it. Make sure the pattern is facing out! Use the small paint brush to get rid of any air bubbles and to push down the fabric. If needed add more glue to your paint brush.

     

{add more glue}

5. Continue submerging strips and placing them inside the jar until it is completely covered.

6. Once the jar is covered add more glue if needed and place upside down so excess glue can drip down.

     

{flip upside down}

7. Let the jar dry until the strips are not super wet and cut off the excess length at the top of the jar. Put the silver top back onto the jar and let it dry completely {over night} until use.

{finished Mason Jar}

          

And that is how you make a fabric lined mason jar!

Bookshelf Do-over

Bookshelves can easily look messy or sloppy when not organized to perfection. I was inspired by a blogger I absolutely love when she redid her office space, her son's office space, and her laundry room. Her name is Jen and she is so organized it's unbelievable. She has a mild obsession with bins, boxes, and cute printables; but when it is all put together it looks very minimalistic and it is very user-friendly. Check her out blog here. 

Because of how small my room is in my new apartment, my bookshelf needed to serve many functions. It needed to store books, hide some craft supplies and medicines, serve as a jewelry holder, and hold some documents that are yet to be filed away. 

Mum and I visited Marshalls, TJMaxx, and Homegoods to try to find some bins and boxes to serve all these functions. We were amazed with all the goodies we found! 

{drawer organizer for jewelry}

{magazine holder for loose papers}

{pretty boxes for craft supplies and medicines}

{final product}

The two pretty boxes were $5.99 each, the magazine holders were $9.99 each, the big wicker basket was $9.99, the drawer organizers were $3.99 each, the decorative flower was $11.99, and the books were previously owned. 

This bookshelf is now the perfect home to so many different necessities and it is very versatile. Can't wait till I move in and get to add this to my room!

Five Minute Fix: Coffee Table Organizer

{Before}

{After}

 I don't think any home is complete without a coffee table. A coffee table is one of those staple furniture pieces that has the ability to tie a room together. But these very loved and used pieces sometimes become cluttered with odds and ends. In my house, the coffee table is always filled with scrapbooks, magazines, coasters, playing cards and other random items. Although this clutter gives a home a "lived in" feel it just looks messy! So here is a quick five minute fix for a messy coffee table...

           

First, decide what you need and don't need on your coffee table. Are those mother's day cards from a month ago really necessary? Are the poker chips a must? If the answer is no, its time to find a new home for these unneeded items. If the answer is yes, it is time to ORGANIZE!

For my coffee table I found a wicker basket tray from Pottery Barn for around 70$ {I'm sure you can find cheaper ones at Home Goods or other furniture stores}. I put the tray on the table how I wanted it and neatly stacked the needed items on it. Scrapbooks and magazines were together, playing cards and poker chips were together and coasters where stacked together. 

And Voila! You have a nice and neat coffee table that took you five minutes to organize. 

searching for the perfect study space

Recently I have been searching for ways to make my study space in my new apartment custom. Throughout my search I have been attracted to anything that makes the space clean, geometric, and minimalistic. My mum {being the Pottery Barn addict that she is}, suggested I look at their new Daily Wall Systems. I was pleased to find that these were just the things I was looking for and they are so customizable. The only problem I was facing is that I need my TV to also be on that wall and my TV is much bigger than either of the largest pieces Pottery Barn offers. Thus, a DIY craft project was born...

{Pottery Barn Daily Wall System}

I knew I did not want a white board in my wall organizer because I think they always look messy. Plus, I write list after list on sticky notes so a white board really wasn't the thing for me. I did, however, LOVE the linen inboard {$54}. To make the Wall System look like a cohesive piece I needed to either make my TV smaller {ha!} or make my own linen pinboard that better matched the size of my TV.

So mum and I took a trip down to Joann's and {using our Joann's coupon app} found some great deals. We found that it would cost us about {$10.52} to make something very similar {and much more custom} to the Pottery Barn version.

What we needed:

~Ply Wood {Custom cut to the necessary size}

~Thin batting {to add some thickness}

~ 1/2 yard of linen or canvas fabric

~ 1 spool {about 18 feet} of white ribbon

~Staple Gun

~Scissors

Once we got home we had Dad cut the plywood into our custom size and rounded the edges just slightly-- to make it look more professionally made. 

 Then, we layed out the batting and cut it just larger than the piece of wood.

Then using the staple gun we carefully & tightly secured the batting all around the piece of wood. 

{We discovered that it was helpful to remove excess fabric so the staples could go through}

Once the batting was on, we ironed the fabric so that there we no creases. 

After ironing, we followed the same folding method that we did with the batting. We had to make sure we were extra careful with the corners so that no bumps could be seen when it was hanging.

Once the fabric was stapled to the wood, we laid out ribbon & measured how far apart each should be. After some careful measurements we tightly secured the ribbon onto the board with the staple gun.

The finished project.

When it was all said and done, this project was $46.72 cheaper and it is the exact size I will need to create this Wall System in my apartment.