Giveaway Weekend!

Well hello there! I’ve got another fantastic giveaway for you this weekend! Yippee! My advertiser Debbie is a Thirty-One consultant and was the first to make me aware of these fantastic products. I absolutely LOVE the bags and items at Thirty-One and I think you will too.

Thirty-One has a crazy good selection – not only bags and purses, but backpacks and baskets and coasters and adorable stationery, and, and, and… :)

I wanted to share a few cuties with you and then you can check them out yourself!

Because it’s actually been decent around these parts lately, I can feel spring coming!! These fun totes would work awesome for trips to the beach, the pool, a picnic, a barbeque, whatever! And you can get any of these items personalized:

Large Utility Tote. Item 3121.

It’s big and roomy and has a wipeable inner lining for the sunscreen that always pops open or that sippy that seems to leak all over the food and towels just as you get to the pool…can you tell I’ve been there? ;) Nothing worse than a sticky, hot beach bag. Uck.

Just look at the Pleated Top Beach Tote – all sassy and cute with that scarf!:

Pleated Top Beach Tote. Item 3060
Coordinating Silk Scarf. Item 3012
Lime Strip Mini Zipper Pouch. Item 3013
Beach Towel. Item 3234

Thirty-One has some adorable items for kids as well. The Cinch Sac has a front zip pocket and drawstring top and is perfect for sleepovers or even to hold gear for sport practices, dance rehearsals, whatever!:

Cinch Sac 14.5" x 19" (flat)
Item 3031

The Messenger Bag is perfect for tweens and teens (or maybe 30-something's who think they are really cute? Pleeeease?):

These are so cool because you can change the look easily with bag flaps that zip on and off:

Messenger Bag with Changeable Zip Flap
Item 3106
Bag comes with one reversible flap of your choice

I told you Thirty-One carries more than just the cutie bags – these baskets come in various sizes with liners available. There are also thermal containers that fit inside the baskets:

Summer Cottage Collection

The Small Magazine Basket is just stinkin’ fun – you can use it to carry items around, but it can also be used in the pot-tay:

Small Magazine Basket
Item 3019

I LOVE that! It could be used for magazines, books, toilet paper, whatever. And it makes your toilet paper look cute.

The Skirt Purses are ADORABLE!:

Skirt purse
Item 3196

Isn’t it cute? With this one purse, you get up to nine different looks!

This purse comes in basic brown or black and includes one skirt of your choice, then additional skirts are only $15 and come in nine different fabrics:

Seriously, a different purse for every day of the week peeps! How FUN!

LURVE this Organizing Shoulder Bag -- it’s the best selling purse Thirty-One carries and I can see why:

Organizing Shoulder Bag
Item 3165

This baby won't fall off your shoulder, and you can wear across diagonally as well for hands free purposes for those times when you could really use eight extra hands please. ;)

There is a big special going on for March! If you purchase $31 of products, you will get the Organizing Shoulder Purse for only $19. Half price the regular retail cost!(Monogramming is an additional $6.):

Debbie and Thirty-One have graciously offered $50 for one of you to spend as you wish! Whoohoo!

You know the deal! For your first entry, leave a comment here. To make this another fun one to read through, let’s share the most unusual thing you've found in your purse. (I know you Moms have some good ones…spill it!) You don’t have to share to enter – it’s just for fun. :)

For your second entry, visit Debbie’s Thirty-One shop here and browse through the products! Find your favorite, then come back here and let me know that item in another comment.

To get us started off – the nastiest most unsual item I’ve found in my purse was a bag of apple dippers from McDonalds…that had been in there for days. DAYS people. But I know someone can top that!! (I hope.)

This giveaway will end Monday at noon, eastern time. Have fun and have a GREAT weekend!

Finding space

I loved reading your sweet comments about the Bub’s room! Thank you so much! Many of you asked about the book holder in his room -- it’s actually a Goodwill find. It was natural wood and I spray painted it white and added the “books” letters. Love it. :)

I’m continuing to make progress on his room’s transformation, and I continue to get more and more excited! Yesterday and today, I’ve been working on the layout of the room – the addition of the full sized “big boy” bed has thrown me for a loop.

I think I’ve figured out a set up I love, but to get there I removed a few things – more on that in a minute.

We are SO lucky our house has a ton of storage space – lots of closets, a decent sized garage, a basement, and even some attic space we don’t even use. Don’t hate!  ;)

But I still try to find ways to store items in spaces that may get overlooked. Our utility closet in the laundry room holds things like extra filters, a step stool, etc:

You have to be careful with a space like this – don’t block any vents and watch the hot stuff. :) This space works well, because most of these items would go in the garage, and this saves me a trip out all the way out there. A whole ten feet.

I showed you how I painted this laminate TV cabinet here, and it’s held up great!:

The storage in this piece is great, which is why I wanted to rework it instead of getting something new. There was so much space inside, most of it was being wasted. So I got a piece of wood cut to the right size and attached it to the inside using brackets:

It almost doubled the storage space for tapes and DVDs! And no, I didn’t paint the inside of the cabinet. I got stuff to do peeps! I was onto the next project!  :)

All drawers in this house are home for something. The table in our foyer holds a few tools I use a lot, so I don’t have to run down to the basement:

And maybe a checkbook for the pizza guy. Oh, and a nerf gun my Stink Eye Sister got the Bub. She is an aunt, and thinks she’s fun and cool to get nerf gun for a three year old. Who shoots it in places he shouldn’t. So it’s hiding.  :)

In the linen closets, try rolling your towels instead of folding them:

It really does create more space!

Our linen closet in the loft also functions as toy storage:

I go up as high as I can in closets (that empty space way up there should be used for something!) and put stuff on the floors too.

This closet used to hold a bunch of games as well, but that brings me to my latest project. When I was trying to figure out the furniture layout in our son’s room, I was pretty positive I was going to have to put his dresser in the closet. I luuuurve to put dressers in closets. I’ve always done it! We have two in our master closet. :)

If you leave closets “as is” – they are such a WASTE of space! Soon after we moved in to our house, I took down every shelf they had just installed in our closet and rehung them so they were much more functional. I’ll show you that space soon – I need to do a load of laundry first. Or 25.

As you could see in my last post, the dresser I bought and painted for the Bub’s nursery is beautiful! And it wasn’t cheap. So the thought of sticking in the closet wasn’t really floating my boat.

I decided I would look into a closet storage system instead, but figured it would be at least a few hundred bucks to do, even if I installed it myself.

Wrong-o! Yesterday, on my 8th trip to Lowe’s out of ten already this week, we took a trip down the organization aisle and I found a very simple closet system that worked perfectly!:

The camera was crooked, the bins are not. :)

I was a little intimidated to do this, but it was SO EASY! Each canvas bin goes together in maybe three or four minutes, seriously. The only hard part was getting the two metal pieces on the wall level and the right distance apart:

The bins are HUGE and roomy! I can’t believe how much they hold! The dresser that held his clothes had three large drawers and two small, and now it’s in the guest room (which is perfect because I needed one in there anyway!) and for now, it holds games:

Can you believe the four canvas bins hold WAY more than the dresser? They are DEEP.

I cannot even tell you how much I love these! You just pull out each bin to get inside:

Uhh….I don’t fold the jammies. I pick my battles. And I already told you I need to do laundry –- he really does have clothes.  ;)

I wasn’t sure how this system would hold up to the Bub, but I’m really happy with it so far:

He’s already tested it out, and it’s working great.  :)

The metal pieces that go on the wall were $8 each, and they have extenders you can buy if you need it to go floor to ceiling. (I didn’t need them.) Each bin was about $25 – so this whole “system” was about $115. Now I want to chuck the dressers in our closet and put these all over!

I know $115 isn’t necessarily cheap, but it’s a LOT less than I thought it was going to be. I will probably need more bins as the Bub gets bigger and the clothes get bigger and more plentiful, but for now I’m thrilled with it!

So how do store creatively? Any fun tricks? Do you use every crevice like me?

P.S. These are made by Rubbermaid, and no, I’m not getting paid for this post. :)

Thank you to my sponsor:

My favorite parts of my favorite room

Well…the time has come. Sniff. I decided about a year ago it was time to start transforming the Bub’s room into his “big boy” room. This one has been a hard for me. I told you here how I worked on this room for weeks while I was pregnant, doing most of the work with my Dad.

It is an understatement to say I love this room. Almost every day of our son’s three years, I’ve sat in here at one point or another, looking around, relaxing in the serene that is this space:

I’ve made a few changes over the past month or so in preparation of the changes, but it’s still the same lovely, bright, calming room you see here.

I’ve struggled with what I want to do in his room, so it stayed in it’s nursery state well after I decided to start changing it to a big boy version a year ago. I knew there were certain things I wanted to incorporate, but nothing was really hitting me and making me want to paint over all the calm…

Until now. :) Over the weekend, the pieces kind of came together perfectly in my head, and now I’m READY. Excited. I want to start and finish the room in one day, excited. I made a few purchases yesterday and it has me even more ready to get moving.

I have to say, I’m going in a direction I never thought I would, but in my head, it’s going to scream boy and be totally classic, which is important to my husband me. ;)  Do you know how hard it is to create a boy space? Hard.

So today I decided I would show you a few of my favorite parts of my favorite room, because some of what I show you will be changed…not all, but most. :)

I know a blabber on and on and on about the beauty of painted ceilings, and if this room doesn’t convince you of it, I don’t know what will:

The blue ceiling will most likely stay…so I should probably go ahead and paint that vent. ;)

I put a couple phrases on his walls using my stencil technique I showed you here:

For a little texture, I took some wood star shapes, painted them and then stacked them on the walls in a few spots and just nailed them in:

The whole room was inspired by the Pottery Barn Twinkle Twinkle bedding – it’s a beautiful mix of greens and blues, cutie patootie lambs and bunnies,  stars and moons. Weird mix. But cute. :)

Someone on eBay was selling gorgeous prints with names and birthdates on them, but they were not cheap. So I decided to make my own:

I just painted stripes on a canvas, then stenciled his name in the middle. LURVE. And it was about $7! A little better than the $100 on eBay.

I fell in love with this acrylic lamp at Target, (which I think they still have!) and covered the shade with a super soft star-speckled fabric:

I couldn’t find a dresser I really loved, so I ended up getting an unfinished piece that I painted bright white:

 

The knobs were from Menards and I used them on the built ins as well:

 

For some reason I was obsessed with pulling the cutie animals from the bedding and putting them elsewhere in the room. So I sprinkled a few of them here and there:

    

To get them just right, I scanned the fabric into our computer (have you ever tried it? It works fabulously!), then used the stencil method I mentioned above to put them on the walls. I added the whiskers and eyes with a toothpick. :) These little guys  and their fluffy butts make me smile every day.

I kept looking for cute, functional storage but the only thing I found that I loved were boxes from PB that were, again, NOT cheap. So I bought a few different sizes of the cardboard boxes you can find at any craft store, and painted them in the colors I wanted:

 

Then I put the labels on with the cutest little star brads youeverdidsee! Obviously, the bibs are long gone. But the boxes are still going strong, so I’ll probably change them up to work in the new room.

Later I layered frames (from Michaels) throughout the built ins:

   

The “mats” aren’t mats at all – just poster board. I printed off the photos at home (on regular paper, mind you!) and just used double stick tape to center them on the poster board.

Just the look I wanted for el cheapo. That is what I’m talkin’ about. 

I saved the best for last…my very favorite part of my very favorite room…the stripes:

    

Sigh. Sniff. Then sigh again. I lurve the apple green stripes! Big. fat. puffy. heart. LURVE.

It took some time…but I really am ready to transform this room. I think. I’m pretty sure. OK, I am. But someone may have to hold my hand for that first brush stroke. Or hold the tissue box while I paint.

It’s going to be a true transformation. :) I’ll keep you updated along the way.

 

Thank you to my sponsor:

My craft “room”

 Well, it’s not really a room. There’s no real flooring, and zero drywall…but it works and I lurve it! I created this “space” a couple years ago, but recently have been making changes to make it function better and look cuter– as cute as cement walls and floors can get. ;)

The space started out like this a few years ago:

That would be a dumping zone. This is the first space as you walk down our basement steps, and because of that – everything just landed here. Well, most everything. It’s a big basement. :) Once this space was full, I would keep moving the piles around.

Last year, I added a folding table and shelving to hold wrapping and craft supplies and tools:

A few weeks ago, when I started the massive decrapification of the basement (AGAIN), I made a few adjustments – I have learned the way I had things placed down here contributes to the crapifying of the space every year.

The first change was to move a shelf that had most of my decor items from the back of the basement to this area – I found having in the back corner of the basement made it rare that I would actually walk back there and put the stuff away.

So I moved it to this area. Then I realized how much decor STUFF I actually had, and ended up buying another new shelf to hold more. I did a lot of thinking about where I wanted everything else as well, and moved it all around to function better.

Once I had everything in the right spot, this is what I was left with:

Schnikeys. Ummm…this was better than the before before! WAY. Even though I had put the table and shelves in this area a couple years ago, it didn’t prevent it from becoming a dump zone. The table actually encouraged it really.

But, after some rearranging, a whole lotta decluttering, and some fun additions, this is what it looks like today:

Ack!! Isn’t it precious? Yes, I know, as precious as cement can get?!

After I moved the shelves around, I thought hard about where I wanted to put everything on them. I realized a while back that the reason the table became such a pit was because the shelf with my tools was on the back wall – and that’s the one I use the most.

So when I was done with a project – done mentally and physically mind you – the last thing I wanted to do is put all the tools away! It was so much easier to throw them on the table. Because of this, I moved all of my tools to the first shelf as you walk down the stairs:

Brilliant. It’s the simple things folks. Do you know how many cans of spray paint were usually thrown on the “craft” table? Because I didn’t walk the extra ten feet? I know, it’s only ten feet. But mentally, when you’re pooped -- it’s miles.

The two shelves of extra decor are next. It will make such a difference having these so accessible! I used to trek around to a dark corner of the basement to put this stuff away, so it eventually, it just ended up in piles. I’m a piler, yes I am.

I didn’t really need two sets of shelves, but I was determined to sort the decor stuff and make it easy to find everything. I purged and still have this much left! A lot of this used to be in bins – things like candles, frames, to-do projects. Having it all out in the open is SO much better!

I moved the shelves with the wrapping and craft supplies to the back wall. My goal is to USE the table to wrap or craft – so now they are right there where I need them!:

Last year I came up with a way to store my wrapping paper, and it’s worked out GREAT! I drilled holes into the shelving and hung the paper rolls with twine:

Wrapping paper drives me nutty – all the unraveling, rolling, bouncing around. Argh! This has worked awesome! I love that they are out of the way and still allow for items on the shelf.

When I want to wrap something, I just hold it up, determine how much I need, then cut the paper. If the item is too large to hold up, it usually just goes in a bag.  :)

Once I felt like everything was in it’s place on the shelves, I moved on to the fun stuff. Whoohoo!

I decided a long time ago this spot would be as girly as it wants to be. I’m the only one who uses it, and even though I’m not what you would call a typical girly girl, I really wanted a space to just have fun with! Fun colors, fun prints, fun textures. This was the perfect spot!

The table is a simple folding table – and it is U.G.L.Y. on top. Last year I got some striped fabric and put it over the top with hot glue. This year, I wanted to amp up the fun and color a bit, so I went with this fabric instead:

Shut the front door…adorable. Aren’t the colors FUN? As you can see, I added the “skirt” with hot glue as well, so you can’t see these:

One is a bin I keep gifts in, one is a tool box for extra crap junk stuff.

The table cover fabric is from Hob Lob and was $6 a yard, 30 percent off. I only needed two yards. The fabric holds up surprisingly well! If I spray something like spray adhesive, or am painting, I just cover the table with scrap paper. (Usually the stuff they wrap my purchases with at Hob Lob!)

I literally hot glued it under the edges of the table. The skirt is leftover drapery lining and I glued that on too:

I wanted a cutting board for this table foreva, and decided to treat myself to one when I was done decluttering this space. It was $23 at Joann’s, 40 percent off:

Now I can craft, glue, cut, whatever, and not worry about the table. And it’s bright and happy! See the little green flower shaped thingy? It’s a silicon pot holder from Pier 1 – I got it for our kitchen, but realized today it would be the perfect little spot to rest my glue gun.

I tried it and by golly, it works!! (Yep, I sure did just say “by golly.”) The hot glue literally wipes right off of it. How stinking cute is that?

All the sudden I was finding the most adorable little accessories that worked with the colors:

The little clips ($1) and pencils ($2) were from Michaels – the pencils MATCH. Dying!!

Check out the eraser ($1):

I. am. dying.

Then I found this little pin cushion at Joann’s and couldn’t resist it:

Hmmm…maybe I am a girly girl?  ;)

The organization of this space was HUGE part of this project. The color and little extras were fun to add. But the biggest change in this area was the lighting. As you can see from the first couple pictures above, there was just a single light fixture for the whole “room.”

Because my hubby often works down here during the summer (more on that spot later), we decided to add more outlets in the basement. Since the electrician was going to be here anyway, I asked him to add another light fixture in my craft area, and then a third light so I could swag a little fixture over the table.

I found a little brass beauty at the local ReStore last summer – it was spray painted and waiting in our garage all this time:

Let there be light!! It makes SUCH a difference to this area! It’s so bright and fun and now I can see what I’m doing when I work. Whoohoo!

I bought a glass lamp from Goodwill last summer as well. I took it apart and spray painted just the brassy parts with the same fun green:

The $4 lamp shade was dressed up with a strip of extra fabric and some hot glue.

Can I get a “CAAUUUUUTE?!” Say it with me Squeezies!

My husband walked downstairs tonight and when he got down there, yelled up the stairs to me -- “Honey! It looks so cute down here! I love it!”

And that is why I love him. :)

The before shot that was really the half way shot, that’s how bad it was:

And my girly, bright after:

So worth all that work. I’ve got a few spring project I’ll be working on down here this week –- if they work out I’ll show you soon. Heck, I’ll show you even if they don’t.  ;)

 

Thank you to my sponsor: