Organizing Winter Gear - A Quick Tip

I LOVE this idea and had to pass it on to all of you! Here's what Janice sent in (thanks again!):

Here's what she says:

Much like Spring cleaning when the weather begins to warm up, I always get the Fall organizing bug this time of year. It seems like once the weather cools off and we are starting to spend so much time inside, I like to make sure everything is in its place.

Now that it is time to pull out the jackets and gloves, they seem to end up all over and start to make me crazy. I stole this idea from my sister-in-law, Holly, and it has been working well for us for us, so I thought I would pass it along for any of my friends that just don't know where to put all the scarves and hats and mittens without having them spill all over the closet when the basket tips over!

I just bought an over-the-door shoe organizer and put it on the inside of the coat closet. I bought one with clear pockets so I can see exactly what is in them without having to dig through each pocket. Then I put all of the kids' things on the bottom which makes it easy for them to get on their own winter wear, and also to be able to put them back in their "home" when they are done.

This has really helped to keep us prepared for the cold without a lot of hassle or a lot of mess in the bottom of the closet. Just a quick and inexpensive idea to what used to be a big problem.


Do any of you have organizing tips to share?! Anything to help with all of the art supplies, for instance, would be greatly appreciated.

Love this tip, Janice! Thanks so much for sharing it. It is being put to use in our house right away!

Because It's Monday & A Giveaway

I'm not very productive on Mondays...just recuperating from a crazy weekend and time together as a family! So I thought I would post a quick (literally 5 minutes and however long it takes your glue gun to heat up...) and easy project that anybody with a "case of the Mondays" (name that movie) could do.

It happened to be my 6th wedding anniversary this weekend, and my husband brought me a wonderful basket of mums as an anniversary surprise. I loved them because I had wanted to bring a little fall to my front porch.

Here they are straight in the planter from the garden store. Not bad, but I had five minutes to kill before we left for our date, so I decided to make it look not so straight-from-the-store.

I just took some leftover yummy fall-like brown ribbon and got my glue gun and went to work!

I made sure I started in the back of the planter, where the wood strip meets.

Finished product! Not bad for free and 5 minutes!

Tomorrow I'm going to post my first giveaway! I have been totally inspired by a few giveaways on some awesome sites, that I thought I would try and share the love. So....check back tomorrow for details on how to enter to win your own set of chalkboard labels! Perfect as the holiday gift-giving season (yeah, I just went there) is just around the corner!

P.S. The movie quote above is from a total classic (in my opinion), "Office Space".

A Quick Change

Does anybody else just hate having to decorate that awkward space between the tops of the cabinets and the ceiling in your kitchen? Confession...this is what that space looked like in my kitchen for the first, oh, nine months we were in this house.


Yikes. It was a convenient place to store those nice, big mixing bowls that I only seem to use every year around the holidays. But I didn't LOVE the way it looked. So...my mom came to visit, took me to Hobby Lobby and we came up with this:


Much better!!!! The red vase on the left I already had in my basement, the key-shaped candleholder was on clearance at HobLob for 3 smack-a-roos, and the four plates are actually chargers that were less than 2 bucks a piece.

I have loved having something nice in the area where I spend a LOT of my time during the day! Lately, though, I've just been getting the itch to spray paint SOMETHING (you all know how that feels, right? Right???) and I just wasn't feeling the red of the plates. Too much color, maybe? (Sorry, mom.)

Considering they were $1.75 plastic chargers from Hobby Lobby, I thought "Why not?" and broke out the Rustoleum.



And I have to say, I LOVE the results!!!! Now it looks all white and creamy (much more my style lately) and like nice pieces of china. Extra credit for the Curious George white board on the fridge. Gotta love having toddlers in the house - they have their own decorating style, don't they????

What have you spray painted lately?

Ode to Craigslist

The best bet for building your own home in progress is to look for home decor steals. Check out some of the blogs I have listed to the right for some inspiration. In honor of Thrifty Decor Chick's latest blog post on "de-crappifying" (her term, I LOVE it) her garage, I decided to show what happened when a Craigslist find met my frustration with my basement/playroom. My kids toys were kept in this bin storage set from Target for the past year. I love it, but the openness of it all was killing me.


Then, while browsing through Craigslist one night I found a great deal. A lady wanted to get rid of her pantry cabinet/armoire for $30! We picked it up the next day. It needs some new paint and shelve liners, for sure, but I was so anxious to get out with the old, in with the new we just brought her in as-is.




I love that it is a versatile piece that (hopefully) will be used for a while.

So, what are your favorite Craigslist/thrifty finds for your home in progress???

Chalkboard Labels

**If you're just visiting for the first time, make sure to enter my first giveaway - 8 of these little labels. Click here to enter!!**

Count me as one of the many people who have fallen in love with the chalkboard spray paint. There are TONS of great posts out there in blogland showing what you can transform into a fun chalkboard with the help of a little Krylon Chalkboard spray paint. I decided to make some chalkboard labels - they were SO easy and cheap. I think (not counting the spray paint, which I already had in my arsenal) the total was less than $4.00.

Here's what I did. First, I bought these puppies at Hobby Lobby - they are in the back of the store next to all sorts of wood projects.


I think there were 8 thin pieces of wood for $.99 - not too shabby. There are TONS of different shapes - I went for the plain rectangle shape.


Then pull out your trusty can of chalkboard spray paint. I think it took about three thin coats to get it covered sufficiently. Then you let it dry overnight (as torturous as waiting for things to dry is, my experience with chalkboard paint is LET IT DRY).


Then, I usually just swipe the newly created chalkboard label with the side of a piece of chalk. The paint can suggests you do this, so I just follow the directions and it works. (Maybe like seasoning a new skillet or something?) I supposed you could live on the edge and just start writing on it - who knows?


Then, because I am using these as labels - I drilled two tiny holes in the top. I threaded it with some black ribbon (could have used white for contrast now that I think about it) and ta-da....new labels for my linen closet and laundry hamper.



Next week, I'll show you what happens when chalkboard paint and a filing cabinet collide. It's good - oh yeah, it's good.

How do you feel about chalkboard paint? Have you used it in an interesting or fun way? If so, let me know about it! I would love to share your ideas here on A Home in Progress.

Linking up to Kimba's DIY party at ASPTL. Go check out other great projects!

Magnet Board DIY

Here's a quick and easy project for your kitchen, mud room, or any other place you can think of. Thanks, Rachelle!

Magnet Board


I got this magnet board from Robert's Crafts to dress up my kitchen. I first painted it black.


After finding a variety of red and black scrapbook paper I liked, I cut them to size and painted a layer of Mod Podge on the board to glue the papers down. Make sure to smooth out the bubbles (try a credit/debit card).


Let that dry and then apply a layer of Mod Podge to the top to seal it all in.

Thanks, Rachelle! I love that you can use a variety of colors to help bring your room together.

I'm linking this over to a linky party at Twice Remembered - go take a peek at other great DIY projects!

If you have a project, recipe or any other tip that has helped you with your home in progress - please send it in!

Cheap & Easy Flour Jar

While I'm waiting on the reupholstered cushion pictures to come through, here's a quick and easy project that I literally did in about fifteen minutes and for less than $15.


I needed new flour and sugar canisters and I LOVED this etched glass look from Martha Stewart. However, I didn't have the time, energy or money to get all of the supplies needed for a project like that. (If anybody has done this project, send it in because I LOVE the look of the finished product!) I loved the jars, though, so I used that as my starting point.

First, I got these amazing glass jars that look similar at Hobby Lobby for 50% off - which means the large one (and it is LARGE) was about $4.00 and the smaller one for about $3.00. SCORE!


Then, I bought these craft stickers from the scrapbook aisle on sale for 50% off. It's a BIG pack of these cute, whimsy letters that I KNOW I will use for cards and future projects. An investment, if you will.


Then, I just strung the letters on some thin silk yarn that I had around. I first thought the letters were a little too scrunched (technical term) together, so I added a few beads in between the letters to give each one some definition. Then I just tied the yarn onto the jars necklace style pretty snugly and then just trimmed the excess yarn.


I loved the Martha clean and streamlined look, but I think this brings a tiny touch of color and fun to the kitchen without having to commit to anything big - when I get sick of them, I'll change them out!


Linked to Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest - click on over to find some GREAT thrifty finds and DIYs!