05-23-2014

Home Organization for Frantic Families [Guest Post]

Running a family is no easy task. We know that we can’t be in ten places at once… but we certainly try. From picking up the carpool at soccer practice, to finishing up a science project and prepping dinner – our heads are left spinning at the end of the day! The last thing we want to worry about is wasting time searching for things as we rush out the door or a twisted ankle thanks to tripping over that pile of who-knows-what that has toppled over.

The added stress of keeping the house in order adds weight to an already heavy load on our shoulders. These family home organization pieces and tips will make your home management a breeze. The newfound structure will add some sanity to not only your space, but to your schedule as well.

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The best storage solutions are simple, yet strategic. The kids tend to play on the floor, so why have their toys stored far from here? Place fabric bins under the coffee table to organize superheroes, dolls, and videogames. These bins come in a variety of textures and colors to easily coordinate with your room’s décor. These bins also work well in the kids’ bedrooms for categorizing school supplies, toys, and clothes.

Extra tip: Looking for extra seating? Or maybe just somewhere to put up your feet? Tuck away the toys in a storage ottoman. These also work great in the living room for clearing clutter, such as remote controls, electronic wires, DVDs, and magazines. These storage solutions are easy access to ensure the kids to do their own tidying up that will only take a quick minute.

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Arts and crafts make an inevitable mess, but this doesn’t mean that finding your favorite supplies should always cause a hassle. Organizing your craft corner will minimize clean up time and allow you to enjoy your time to paint and create without the stress of losing the scissors or a favorite set of watercolors. A clever way to create order in this area is by bringing in a pegboard. Hanging on the wall adjacent to a craft desk or table will maximize vertical storage and will put all of your favorite supplies within arm’s reach. Add hooks to hang scissors, paintbrushes, and yarn. Hang mini containers to the board to hold markers, pens, and pencils. Place rods horizontally and slide on ribbon, tape, yarn, or wrapping paper for a fun and functional display. Have a frenzy of fabric taking over your workspace? Vertical file organizers are perfect for finding that special fabric for your project. Just neatly fold the fabric around cardboard and file away to your wall display.

Safety for kids crafting is always a top priority. Store their special supplies in a clear, over the door shoe organizer. This way they can see what they need, reach with ease, and keep each item in its proper pocket!

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You’re halfway done cooking a meal and after rummaging through a disorderly pantry, you realize you’re out of one of the ingredients. Feeding a bunch of hungry mouths is stressful enough – don’t let the jumbled snacks, pastas, and spices get you steaming. Transparent jars are a life saver…and food saver, too. Placing pasta, rice, snacks, and cereals in clear containers will allow you to see what needs to be added to the grocery list, while keep your foods fresh. Afraid you’ll mistake the honey nut cheerios for the regular cheerios? Add chalkboard paint decals to the jars so you can label and re-label what each one contains. These label decals can also be added to bins for the kids’ snacks. Prevent disorder by categorizing them. For example, place bagged chips in one labeled bin and snack bars in another.

Place similar ingredients near one another. This way you can see if you have all of the ingredients before you get started and they are ready to go –no searching required. Don’t put the spaghetti sauce next to the baking sprinkles! Put all your baking needs on one shelf, your Italian dinner ingredients on another, and taco night’s necessities on another. These simple solutions will reduce the burden of cooking and might even get you enjoying it on even the toughest days.

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The garage can be a dark and dim place – but it doesn’t have to be scary! The key to a fright-free garage is getting loose items off the floor, like baseballs and repair tools that can roll under the car or get someone easily injured if left out to bump into. Make use of the walls for your storage needs. Bring in cabinets to keep clutter clear of dust and dirt and to maintain organization.

The kids’ sports equipment always tends to be missing, especially when running late for practice or a game. Keep all of their sporting stuff together by creating cubbies for each. Hang bat bags, place balls in bins, and store cleats where you’ll always know they’ll be.

Steven Athea is the co-founder of Modani, a contemporary furniture store with locations across the U.S. Steven has a degree in Design and Architecture from The Architecture School of Antibes in France.

03-14-2011

Handmade Tuesdays [Handmade Pact]


Welcome Everyone!! I hope you have had a fabulous beginning to your week!! Thanks for coming to link up to Handmade Tuesdays!!

I don’t really have any rules but I would love if you added the banner to your post, linky page, wherever you post those things :)

And I would be honored if you would follow me. :) Please link up anything you have been working on- crafts, recipes, remodels. I love seeing what you have been working on!! And now for this weeks tutorial…

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Wow! Thanks Kristen for having me as a guest on your fab blog… It’s just occurred to me how hard it is to introduce myself when I blog under a pseudonym. I’d normally start with a my name is… but failing that you can just call me “The Spangler”. You can find out a little bit more about me at my blog…

I started my blog The Quick Unpick about 5 months ago and have quickly fallen in love and awe with the craftiness, kindness and sharing spirit that is literally a keystroke away…

selection

You can find a little bit of a mix of projects over at The Quick Unpick… including my Stitched Photo Canvas, a foray into jewellery making, some cake decorating, a funky boot sleeve project etc… but my favourite thing to do and display on my blog is definitely refashioning tutorials. I love finding an ugly, neglected, unwanted or simply wrong sized thrift shop bargain and attempting to turn it into something unique and stylish for one of my girls.

So that’s what I have here for you today… A refashioning project that transforms this large size 24 tailored jacket (found at local thrift store for $2.50)

before …Into a cute little vest and capris pant set (with enough fabric left to also make a coordinating skirt at a later date!).

refashioned jacket

And remember although this is a girly jacket, with a few tweaks here and there and a thrift shop tweed men’s jacket you could make a rather dapper short (or pant) and vest set for a little man!

The pants are the easiest part of the project and I know turning sleeves into pants isn’t a new concept but here’s my take on it… (you can enlarge any of the photo’s by just clicking on them).

  1. Remove sleeves
  2. crotch seam
  3. cut sleeves
  4. pant legs
  5. inside out legs
  6. crotch seam done

  7. waist casing

  8. elastic waist
  9. elastic feeding

Taa Daa! Halfway point victory dance – the pants are done!
Now onto the vest… Size, measure, pin &mark:

  1. pin neck measurement
  2. excess collar
  3. vest cut out
  4. open vest
  5. pintucks
  6. pint tuck fan
  7. collar bias
  8. finishing collar
  9. arm holes
  10. front lapels
  11. topstitch lapels
  12. bottom top hem

To finish, I added some ribbon ties (made from bias trim) to the front of the vest to tie it closed….

front vest refashion
… A short strip of bias at the centre back over the end of the pin tucks…. the trim on the pants was already part of the original jacket sleeves.
finished back outfit
Woo Hoo… here it is all finished – a cute capris pant & vest set (yes it is time for a victory dance ?)

finished outfit

Modelled by my Little Little Miss M (My big girl is having pants issues at present and refuses to wear anything but a skirt!) but yes there STILL was bribery involved…

bribery was involved

Thanks again Kristen for having me here taking up some room in your corner… Please stop by say hi – let me know you came from Kristen’s fab blog – and I’ll get working on that matching skirt (and dealing with the sugar high my little lovely is going to have from that enormous lolly pop!)

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Now it is your turn to link up!!

Filed Under: Handmade Pact, Handmade Tuesday Tagged With: ,