Wrapping paper station DIY!

With the holidays coming up I decided to get my wrapping paper and ribbons under control so I don't have to dig through the attic. Usually I forget what I even have stored and buy more and so I end up with way too much. That past practice has left me with quite a stash so I really need to work on using what I have this year. For easy viewing I decided to take an old bar stool and spray paint it black. Then I turned it upside down. I placed all my rolls of wrapping paper inside the stool. I had some old laundry bags I got from the dollar store, and I tied those onto each side to store my ribbon in. Still need to find something larger to tie on the remaining 2 sides to store tissue paper and maybe even some gift bags, but it's a start!

                   Before:                                                                      After:

Insomnia + nesting = closet makeover

Ok, after 3 hours of trying to sleep last night I finally took a sleeping pill. But before that I decided to organize batteries in the junk drawer (I'm really grasping at straws to find ways to nest at this point). Anyway, I came across some old curtain hooks we used to use in the living room. Then in the next 10 minutes I came up with no less than 50 ways to re-use them. All of which I woke my husband up to tell him about. Since I only had about 12 I had to really cut back on what exactly I was going to use them for so at this point in time I've only tackled 2 of the ideas I had. First, I hung them in my closet and attached scarves to them since fall is here and having my scarves organized will hopefully help me to remember to accessorize! Second idea was for the nursery closet. In the nursery we do not have any drawers, so I have been looking for ways to make sure that the outfits stay together. So really simple, I hooked the opening over the hanger that has the shirt on it, put the pant hanger through and even used the clip to attach the matching hat. Baby pant hangers must be in short supply because I didn't have any more of those, but for outfits without matching hats I just used the clip to clip the matching pants with the top on the hanger. I think this will also come in handy helping my husband dress the baby, since unlike me he doesn't have all the baby outfits memorized, and he would not even know that certain shirts have matching pants and I can see him just grabing everything.

Other potential uses I have in mind if I come across any more (for old shower hooks too!)
1. Slide across bottom of a hanger and clip baseball caps to
2. Slide across bottom of a hanger and place in entry way closet to hook winter scarves/hats onto. My current system involves them shoved in a bag on the floor.
3. Slide across bottom of a hanger and use clips to hang my clutches from. I don't think they would be strong enough or open wide enough to clip purses this way.
4. Slide across bottom of a hanger and place in laundry room to clip baby clothes to in order to dry. In my first attempt at washing onsies I shrunk them all but it's not exactly like you can put them on hangers to air dry.
5. Slide across bottom of a hanger and clip my dogs sweater vest collection onto. My dog is awful at keeping his clothes folder in neat piles!

Ok I know that only totals 7 ideas so far, not the 50 I mentioned. But it was after midnight and I didn't write anything down. If you have any other ideas feel free to leave them in the comment section!

Jump start on Thanksgiving!

It's about one month to Thanksgiving but I decided to get a head start on my decor since when the holiday does roll around I will have a 2-3 week old baby. I love fall decor and so far I have tackled a few spaces in the house. The first picture is on top of the cabinet in the dining room. You can find plenty of print outs online or just recreate your own in Word. I picked up some frames from Michaels that I can reuse for Christmas with other printouts. I also picked up some fake pumpkins and decorative twine, along with a pumpkin candle.

In the kitchen I started on my coffee/dessert station. Once again I just used a print out and a frame from Michaels. Really easy and fast and now I just need to start on ideas for my tablescape!

Nursery nesting despite pinterest disasters

So I've finally used up my last available vacation day before maternity leave. I used the day organizing the house and finishing up the nursery. And by organizing the house I mean sitting on my couch pinning ideas from Pinterest on good organizing ideas. It's the thought that counts. I did manage to complete the nursery. We went with a Winnie the Pooh theme. I've added photos below.

I tried a lot of DIY crafts from Pinterest for above the changing table. DISASTERS. I googled to see if there were blogs about Pinterest DIY fails and there are so many, it's clearly an epidemic, and I'm glad I'm not the only one. You will notice there is just a picture now hanging. I did manage to make the closet dividers which I think turned out pretty well! Also, in the picture of the shelf you will notice something I loathe...nicknacks. Ok, here's the agreement: I display the Lenox winnie the pooh my dad gave me at my shower as a one time exception to the rule. I've also agreed not to sell it at a garage sale and save it for the baby. All future nicknacks are headed right for the yard sale bin though. I give people an inch, they will take a mile and next thing you know I'll have some sort of display case to show off my "collections".

One of my mom's basement saves actually made it into the nursery! That winnie the pooh lamp was from my nursery as a child and it's pretty cool. So ok mom, you got me. One of the 500 items you have saved from my childhood I'm using. Still, statistically speaking, that's not really good odds.

See, rainsticks are funny.

Ok, I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy growing a human inside me. So deal. However, let's talk about last night. I'm sitting on my couch watching Up All Night on NBC. In the episode (season 2, episode 3), Ava becomes a hoarder and what item is found in her house? A RAINSTICK.  Ok, see my post about 2 down on my basement find. Coincidence? Have rainsticks become the new rave? I know sometimes people hold onto things so long that they come back in style, but I've found no proof of this in my moms basement so I'm sure that is not the case.  Anyway, no progress on cleaning moms basement but I've organized my entire house. We have a neighborhood yard sale tomorrow and I don't even have anything to sell! I mentioned it to my mom but she did not take the bait to come unload her basement. Probably since she's too busy turning the office into a guest room and the guest room into an office. If you are going to be looking for an update ever on that I can guarantee there won't be one.