Up-cycle an old File box into a writers box

Project

Up-cycle an old File box into a writers box. Perfect project for  the Paper Addict.

You've seen these before

First I cleared out all the files and hardware inside the box.

Then I glued some decorative paper to the lid backing, and glued some Leather organizer pockets that I'd removed from an old brief case.

A couple of pieces of leather strap hold the lid in an upright position so it won't fall all the way back. 

Room for everything

 and it's portable.

Upcycled, organization with quirky style

Hubby surprised me with this one. He's always interested in these multi drawer metal cabinets when I find them. I picked this one up for him at a recent estate sale. Wish I had a before pic, but I don't .

Anywhoo...He surprised me with it's makeover. Hope you like it.

Here's his process in a nutshell. He need to buy  2 handles from Home Depot and spray paint. He cleaned Cleaned, sanded with scotch bright pads, and painted, and then found some fonts of various inspirational words, printed them and Voila!

I love his color choices.  Good Job Honey!

Fun project, Family Message Board

Thomas Edison said "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk"

Well I definitely have the pile of junk, So here's my project.  

Take that pile of junk. Grab anything and everything that might be used to make a family message organization center and start building.

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed125362.html

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed125362.html

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed125362.html

 

 You'll need lots of screws, and a drill and some glue.

Some things you'll need for a family message board are,  A place for magnets to stick to, a chalk board, clips for messages, hooks for keys or whatnot, some sort of container to keep supplies, and a place for a replaceable pad of paper. I'm sure there are more things that could be used, but with that formula here's what I made.

 Clock is the magnet board above, and the metal soap dish piece is the magnet board below.

For chalk tray I used a scrabble tile holder above and a piece of a picture frame below.

 Back board for this is an old ammo crate lid, I kept the hinges and they become the hangers to attach it to the wall.

 This one below is  a bit different. The backing is an old tray, I simply glued the chalk board and chalk holder to it leaving enough exposed on the sides for magnets to be used. Then I added one clip to the front and more if needed can be added at the fluted sides.  This cleans up the refrigerator chaos a little bit.

 If you don't want to build one of your own, two of these are available in my Etsy store here

Hope you enjoy this little project. It's a great way to use up all those little things we junkers have hanging around unused.

Projects, Painting, Goodies, and Grandson

This week on Instagram. If you are not following along, you are missing out on the Fun. This week I featured some quick projects, a bedroom makeover painting project, some funky shelf paper spotted at a local Estate Sale A cute photo of my Grand-son and Grand-dog and much more.  So click the link above and follow me on Instagram.

Getting Organized in the New Year with your junking finds

If you don't follow me on Instagram or Facebook you are missing out on most of my posts and ideas. So I thought I'd take a moment to catch you up.

 Every day this month, I'm posting ideas of how to use your fabulous junking finds to get organized in 2016.

 For the home office

 I love taking everyday objects and junk finds and giving them a new purpose. Many  old objects can be creatively used in your home or office to keep you organized, in a fun and interesting way.

Hop over to my Instagram or Facebook page for more ideas daily.
 Link at top of blog

In the Garden, Kitchen or Fireside

 For the studio or craft room

Even in the bathroom

Put your junk to work in 2016

A peek at my shelves and treasures in my newly organized creative space

Here is a peek at the treasures I keep in my creative space.

 

Once again, inspired by blogger Shabby Vintage Junk, All my goodies are gathered and sorted in clear jars, and various other containers that I had handy.

Instead of labels, if it wasn't abundantly clear what is inside the jars, I hung one object on the jar to represent what it holds.

Some of my favorite little trinkets and goodies live on this shelf too.

I also thinned out my collection of tidbits and you can find these treasures in my Etsy shop.

And a prized rotating bin is put to use, with more treasures, and supplies.

Getting the Creative space in order

I think my creative space is starting to take shape.  I've actually added more to this room to make it serve it's purpose better. But I've also re-defined it's purpose and gotten rid of a lot of stuff that did not need to be in here.

I organized and condensed my tid-bits of creativity in clear jars via the inspiration of fellow blogger Shabby Vintage Junk.
 See the before photo at the bottom of this post to see just how far this area has come.

This area has been greatly de-cluttered

 

I have no closet in this room, so I fashioned a make-shift divider with this old dresser.

Behind it are bins of my Etsy inventory, giving this room some more functionality.

As promised here is a before shot from a few years ago.  Creativity is Messy!!!! 

Purging the Purse

I want to share with my method of cleaning out and transporting all the stuff of life that lives in our purses.  I don't need to tell you that if you carry a heavy purse, you are hurting your shoulders and your back and this damage can be long term. 

But what exactly is the solution?

 Let's think about what men do.  They carry just what they need, in their pockets, and then they have a brief case, satchel or backpack for the rest, that stays in the car most of the time.  This system is based on the idea that we really don't need to carry everything with us all the time.

 First dump out everything in your bag, note:I've already edited my bag or there would be a lot

more junk here.  Then remove anything you absolutely do not need to be carrying around, ie trash, etc.

 You will be working with two bags. One large and one small. Even a large wallet can work for the small bag (see my note at the end of this post).  Look at all your items and decide what exactly you MUST have with  you when you run into the store, or restaurant.  For me this would be ...

 Glasses, Money, Credit cards/ID car keys chapstick and phone.

Here are a few of my solutions to make these items take up less bulk.  For Cash,

I took a plastic file folder, cut it to just a bit larger than my bills and they tuck nicely inside. These folders have one size fuzed, so it's closed on two sides,and open on two sides. I love this and it is much smaller than a wallet. 

For my cards, I have a snap close card case, when opened they are all easily visible and easy to get to.

 I purchased some of those dental tooth picks with the floss attached just for this thin case. Inside I keep a few tooth picks and a couple of Ibuprofen.

 My car key, chapstick and lipstick are tucked into the two built in pockets.  My phone can also fit nicely in here if needed,  and there is enough room for my reading glasses. This bag weighs only 1 pound and has a long strap for wearing cross body which I love. 

Note: Because my car is keyless I never have to dig for this key, it just stays in place. If you don't have a keyless car, Put that on your wish list for your next car. I absolutely love this feature.

Now for what goes in the big bag or what I call my Back and Forth Bag. This bag goes from home to car and work to car and that is it . I never carry it into the store, or restaurant for good reason.

 Once packed it weighs 3 pounds.

 First my non car keys go on an attached strap for easy access. I rarely need these, as we have a push button combination lock on our home door (Very much worth installing)

A ribbon can be pinned into any bag for this feature. A small pin flashlight is hand too.

 A plastic folder. In here I put items that I need to take from home to work or from work to home. A Few coupons etc. It is emptied daily, I don't  let things accumulate in there.

 I love pouches, and I picked up these two clear ones at The Container Store. I can see what is inside easily. One holds emergency snacks and the other is for medicines etc.

 the pouches, and kleenex go in the large zipper pocket in the big bag.

 I purchased this cosmetic case at Target, It's a perfect organizer for a bunch of other stuff I need at hand. I keep a calendar (purchased one that fit inside) checkbooks, business cards, business cash,

paper, pen and tape measure in here. All zipped up and easy to get to.

 In the open pockets I have a pen, comb, lipstick and gum. The small purse fits nicely inside and I'm ready to grab and go.

As you can see I love Orla Kiely bags, but any bag will do. Just make sure it's as wide as a file folder and large enough to carry any planner or other items you need handy. But remember, those things stay in the back and forth bag.

I like the cross body pouch better than a wallet for a couple of reasons. 

1) I've actually laid a wallet down or dropped it and lost it in the past, I can't do that with a cross body bag. 

2) If a wallet is in my hands or on my wrist my hands are not free to browse and a cross body bag is not in my way.

Adjust this system to fit your own way of doing things. Your back and shoulders will thank you.

Reducing the clutter...Magazines

I'm like you, I love magazines, and I've kept them and they have accumulated over the years.
But the truth is I only browsed through them rarely. 

 In an effort to truly de-clutter my house I decided to tackle this problem.

This small stack of Country Home is only about 1/5 of the quantity of magazines I had accumulated. The plan was to slowly browse through each and every one, pulling out the articles and photos I wanted to keep. This is a good project for TV couch time.

Once a magazine was thoroughly flipped through, I did what is so hard.

I threw it out!

Now for the ugly truth. because these go back so far, some as far as the 90's, most of them were not all that interesting. Maybe it's because I'd thumbed through them so often, but I did not find them all that inspiring. What I liked, I kept and discarded the rest.

 I was able to reduce about a hundred magazines down to just this binder

Then I separated them into categories and placed the photos and articles in sheet protectors.

I added simple tabs made from post it notes to separate the sections. 

Now it's easy for me to grab the binder, and find the idea or project that I felt was 

important enough to keep.

It's also easy to remove and replace them as I find new projects. 

Think of it like a pinterest board, but in a book.

And I cleared out a bunch of bookshelf space too!!!!