{DIY} Headband Storage

Over these past eight weeks, Claire's collection of headbands has multiplied by leaps and bounds! It didn't take long for the basket I was storing them in to completely overflow. And when I could no longer see most of them, I decided it was time for some additional headband storage. Enter my little afternoon project.

I'm quite proud that the inspiration for this little solution was all my own, no Pinterest necessary! All it took was a piece of twine (which I already had), two drawer pulls ($1 at Michaels) and two packages of hot pink, glittered mini-clothes pins ($2.99 for 10 at Michaels). Granted, I could have saved a few bucks and glittered some clothes pins I already had, but I saved myself the time and the glitter mess (since, as we all know, glitter is the herpes of craft supplies!) which was totally worth the extra money!

All in all, I am really happy with the turnout! Three cheers for simple, inexpensive (and not to mention, cute) organization!

Savoring the Last Days of Summer

As you all know, Fall is nearing and the months of sunshine and warmth are coming to an end. But this year, instead of skipping past the last glorious days of Summer, we decided to celebrate the wonderful 80 degree temps by going to the zoo. Always an enjoyable outing in my opinion! Of course, Pinkberry was thrown into the mix, making for a perfect day!

Otherwise, the weekend was a welcome opportunity to declutter and organize those small spaces that often get overlooked and neglected, aka: the "junk drawer", linen closet, laundry room and hall closet. Amazing what a little organization can do! But I'm not done yet...stay tuned for my next home makeover project!

Happy Monday!

Inspiration: An Organized Pantry

I am one of those people who thoroughly enjoys being organized. But even more, I love finding new ways to declutter and simplify everyday tasks. After all, these days I just don't have the time to fuss with messy spaces.

After seeing my Mom's pantry recently, once I got over being jealous that she thought of it first, I decided to be productive and "borrow" her idea. She so cleverly used her canning jars to hold everyday items such as nuts, dried fruit and grains. It turned out so cute I just had to get some for myself!

So after doing the routine purge of old items, I purchased a bunch of these canisters (also pictured below) in various sizes and some 1/2 quart Mason jars and completely reorganized my pantry! I am amazed at how easily accessible everything is now. Especially the grains that I purchase in bulk at Whole Foods that inevitably end up stacked on top of one another to a point I don't even remember what I have! Now I can easily see exactly what I have, plus it's so much more pleasing to the eye!

The picture above gives an idea of the finished product, though ours is enclosed.

And on a side note, wouldn't you love to open your pantry and see that yummy shade of yellow staring back at you? Definitely on my list of to-do's when we move!

Refreshing Weekend!

Happy Friday dear readers! Don't hate me for saying I feel really refreshed today. In fact, for the first time in several weeks, I felt totally relaxed and "together" all week! The credit must be given to a little plan of action Chris and I took to be more organized.

Lately it seems like I barely scrape by to get through the week and save all the cleaning, organizing and house chores for the weekend. But who wants to spend their weekends doing that? I certainly don't! So we came up with a manageable way to tackle a little bit each day and it has worked brilliantly!

This weekend, instead of stressing about getting it all finished, I can actually relax with my husband, finish painting and recovering my green chairs via this inspiration , enjoy a lovely date night at The Melting Pot and take a trip to Crate and Barrel to purchase some of the Normandy bakers from yesterday's post! And given my deep desire to bake lately, it might also be neccessary to use the overripe bananas sitting on my counter to whip up some of our favorite banana bread!

Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Why I Love Target

I know I cannot be the only person who goes to Target for two things and ends up spending $100, only to wonder what the heck I bought! I don't know how they manage to do it, but they ALWAYS have great stuff for cheap! This was especially dangerous when I was in college and my roommate and I would drive to Target without needing anything (yikes) and typically came home with a plethora of new yoga pants, yummy candles, magazines and such.

With that said, I love Target!

While there yesterday afternoon to pick up a birthday card, I naturally migrated over to the kitchen isle, but surely you know where this story is going so I'll cut to the chase...

I found these super cute canisters that are exactly what I have been looking for! They only cost $15 and come in 4 fun retro colors. I love them! They go perfectly in our kitchen and have a tight seal. What more could a girl ask for?

Now all my breakfast needs are within reach, my coffee, oatmeal and sugar in the raw! I know I'm a geek, but when I walked in my kitchen this morning, the cheery pop of color made me smile!

A Nice LONG Weekend!

I just love when the weekend seems to keep going and going! I ended up getting off work at noon on Thursday! What a nice boss I have:) And I was off Friday!!

The last 2 1/2 days have been filled with cleaning and organizing every room, closet and crevice, painting, shopping for stuff for the apartment, fun with the family, great food (you know how I love great food!), making money from Craig's list (we finally sold our dining room table!), and of course, fireworks! I am so pleased with how the apartment is coming along! More to come on that tomorrow:)

Here's a peak into our weekend so far! Hope you had a lovely 4th!!

We're off to Ikea...again:)

Girl With a Plan

As I was flipping through my Oxygen magazine a few days ago I read this, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail".

What a simple truth! I think it can be applied in so many areas of life. Whether it be an fitness routine, a budget, losing weight, staying organized etc. It's funny because I've been thinking a lot lately about being prepared and staying on top of things, especially when life get really busy. Without a plan I find that I get a bit lax and before I know it, my house is a mess, I'm lost at the gym and we end up having omelettes for dinner:/ Preparation is so simple if we would just take a few minutes away from the busyness and write down how we're going to accomplish everything. As a self-proclaimed "list girl" I love finding new ways to be organized. Here are some of my favorite finds.

For Food ~ I usually buy these adorable pads at Anthropologie, but I have seen them at other stores as well. The yellow pad is for your weekly menu and the red pad is for your grocery list (so you don't uneccerarily linger over the cookie isle!). I love these things!



For Budget ~ Chris and I use Mint.com for our monthly budget. There are many websites out there that do very similar things, but we happen to like the user-friendliness of Mint.



For Organization ~ It's true, I am not a child of technology and I would rather tote my cute planner around then make notes and appointments in an iphone:) The point is, writing things down is such a better way to keep track of a busy schedule than trying to remember every dentist appt, birthday party and game night you have planned! Did I mention how cute planners can be? This one is by Franklin Covey.



Now it's your turn. Got any great ideas for staying organized?