I have also included a picture of my storage units for all of the small craft items, most are labeled.
Showing posts with label household projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label household projects. Show all posts
Another Custom Job
I had a small shelf for printer and other paper, created specifically to the dimensions of the standard paper size. It was 3 shelves high with a back extending higher than the top to keep the paper from falling off the back side. It worked well, but took up table space. After surveying the scraps and leftovers in our basement, I found enough materials to create another custom shelf to fit over the printer. See picture below. My motto is, if you can build up, build up! There never seems to be enough work surface, especially when you share the room with 3 other people! The same day I made this shelf, I put up a board with hooks to hang scissors, rulers and other cutting tools up out of the way, but easily accessible. I found a good use for the other shelf. In a cabinet where I keep craft supplies, I put the "paper" shelf on the upper shelf. It now holds cards for every occasion, categorized accordingly. This freed up space in the cabinet. I call this custom job a 2-for-1. I have also included a picture of my storage units for all of the small craft items, most are labeled.
I have also included a picture of my storage units for all of the small craft items, most are labeled.
What's Up?
It has been a while since I have posted anything. I have been quite busy the last couple of weeks or so. In addition to organizing, I supplement our family income by substitute teaching and occasionally working in the cafeterias of our school district. Both have been keeping me working, almost on a daily basis. The days I have not been working in our school district, I have had plenty of other things to keep me going. My younger daughter, JMW, and I spent last Saturday cleaning the house and finally decorating for Halloween/Autumn. One thing I discovered, and I am not sure why I had not used it before, is that Windex is great for cleaning the outside surfaces of the refrigerator. It now looks as good as it did when we bought it for our first home over 14 years ago! We even purged all of the refrigerator art, magnets and other "stuff" that cluttered the front of the fridge. Our calendars (one family calendar, one lunch menu calendar-extremely important!), a special frame for displaying artwork (that will be changed out periodically), magnets from businesses that we frequently call (such as the pizza shop!) and a few photos in magnet frames (I love those magnet frames!) are left to grace the fridge. It looks so much better!
One other project I undertook was building shelves for my canned goods. I canned peaches, applesauce, pickles and some preserves and jams. All I needed was a place to store all of those jars of goodies. The project took more time than I anticipated, but I ended up with plenty of shelf space and have a convenient spot at the bottom of our basement stairs to keep it. Looking at the filled jars lining the shelves is almost like looking at a work of art. The deep colors of the strawberry preserves, the bright yellow-orange of the canned peaches, the summery green of the pickles and the rest of the preserved fruits, all of those colors come together for a display that is candy for the eyes. I will post a picture sometime soon.
Before wrapping up this post today, I have to share this. This morning I woke up with this song in my head: "Jesus is a friend of mine. From now until the end of time. He is in my heart; we will never be apart. Yes, Jesus is a friend of mine." The only reason I can come up with for having that tune dancing around in my head is that maybe I needed that reminder today. I hope it doesn't mean anything for the rest of my day!
One other project I undertook was building shelves for my canned goods. I canned peaches, applesauce, pickles and some preserves and jams. All I needed was a place to store all of those jars of goodies. The project took more time than I anticipated, but I ended up with plenty of shelf space and have a convenient spot at the bottom of our basement stairs to keep it. Looking at the filled jars lining the shelves is almost like looking at a work of art. The deep colors of the strawberry preserves, the bright yellow-orange of the canned peaches, the summery green of the pickles and the rest of the preserved fruits, all of those colors come together for a display that is candy for the eyes. I will post a picture sometime soon.
Before wrapping up this post today, I have to share this. This morning I woke up with this song in my head: "Jesus is a friend of mine. From now until the end of time. He is in my heart; we will never be apart. Yes, Jesus is a friend of mine." The only reason I can come up with for having that tune dancing around in my head is that maybe I needed that reminder today. I hope it doesn't mean anything for the rest of my day!
Rain Barrel
Just a quick update on my rain barrel. I didn't have a proper seal on my "spigot" at the bottom of the barrel in time for the passing of Hurricane Hanna's leftovers last weekend. However, after running into a friend while at Lowe's, she passed on a tidbit of information from another, mutual friend. You know those commercials you see on t.v. where the guy is shouting at the camera about some amazing green putty? Well, he wasn't lying! It wasn't green putty, but blue, and it is amazing. I sealed my "spigot" and have a full rain barrel! Due to the barrel being made of plastic and the pressure of a full barrel of water on the "spigot," I was doubting it would work. But it did! Now I have a late winter project-a second barrel for the other corner on the back of the house. I'll be happy to share my plans with anyone. Even a little bit of rain will fill up a 32 gallon barrel with all of the water collected off of your roof, saving your water bill (or your groundwater if you are on a well) and your plants when summer rains dry up!
A couple of recent projects
This summer, I had in mind a couple of projects I wanted to complete. And I did. It took nearly the whole summer to finally bring them to fruition, but with just one full week left before school starts up again, complete them I did. Now, for the disclaimer (and without getting into my political ideology): I am not "green." There. Moving on.
We live in the woods. We have a well from which all of our water is supplied. I have always wanted to supplement our water usage by catching rain water. Those who know me, know my love of growing things. Therefore, I have quite a few plants that require water every few days, particularly if we do not get rain. A rain barrel is my solution to conserving the water table and benefitting my plants. And I love to make stuff! I have it set up right next to my vegetable garden where I can simply hook up a hose and water those plants without any extra labor (not that walking back and forth with 16 pounds of water at a go or hauling out and reeling the hose back in hurts my figure). I found several plans on-line, combined and modified them to suit my needs and budget, and voila! A well-placed cedar tree (found as a sapling on our property, carefully transplanted into a container and lovingly nurtured all summer) will grow up full and tall to shield the neighbor's view of the barrel.
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The other project I tackled I had on my mind for a couple of years. It just took me awhile to actually get to it. It was not a priority, but now that it is completed, I don't know why I didn't finish it sooner! Our master bath is a very nice size. However, there are some areas that could use additional privacy. A simple screen was all that was needed to create privacy. Using 4 sheer curtain panels, 5 8' 1x1's and decorative hinges, I found the privacy I desire! I used one curtain panel on each side, folding over the botton half for maximum privacy. And, we have the privacy without sacrificing the penetration of natural and artificial light.
We live in the woods. We have a well from which all of our water is supplied. I have always wanted to supplement our water usage by catching rain water. Those who know me, know my love of growing things. Therefore, I have quite a few plants that require water every few days, particularly if we do not get rain. A rain barrel is my solution to conserving the water table and benefitting my plants. And I love to make stuff! I have it set up right next to my vegetable garden where I can simply hook up a hose and water those plants without any extra labor (not that walking back and forth with 16 pounds of water at a go or hauling out and reeling the hose back in hurts my figure). I found several plans on-line, combined and modified them to suit my needs and budget, and voila! A well-placed cedar tree (found as a sapling on our property, carefully transplanted into a container and lovingly nurtured all summer) will grow up full and tall to shield the neighbor's view of the barrel.
.JPG)
The other project I tackled I had on my mind for a couple of years. It just took me awhile to actually get to it. It was not a priority, but now that it is completed, I don't know why I didn't finish it sooner! Our master bath is a very nice size. However, there are some areas that could use additional privacy. A simple screen was all that was needed to create privacy. Using 4 sheer curtain panels, 5 8' 1x1's and decorative hinges, I found the privacy I desire! I used one curtain panel on each side, folding over the botton half for maximum privacy. And, we have the privacy without sacrificing the penetration of natural and artificial light.
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