Inexpensive Organizing

This is Part 3 of my How I Organized My Entire House for $0.00 (Really!) series.
Part 1 (Intro) is here.
Part 2 (Simple Rules to Create Organization that Sustains Itself Plus Master Bath Organization) is here.

Some things I've learned for organizing on the cheap:

1. Organizing is about your life, not about how much money you spend (obvious, but it took me a little while to learn. I love pretty, fresh school supplies, um, I think I've mentioned my love of pretty containers, I love pretty interior design--all that generally costs money--even though I try to manage to spend as little money as possible). I used to want it to be pretty and perfect or not at all. It doesn't work that way. It can be pretty later. Right now, it just needs to be organized. In fact, it's better to see if what you come up with works, then buy whatever pretty things to put it in. That way you're not investing a money in a system that won't work for you in the long run anyway.
2. Don't get caught up trying to create the perfect system. Very related to #1. Trying to make the perfect system generally has the effect of making me want to spend $. No system is perfect, but there are systems that work. Like I've said before, if you see a problem, think about how to fix it. Sometimes it's as easy as providing a trash can in the right spot, grouping the right things together, or moving something so that you have easier access. And sometimes it's just accepting that you have to change your habits (hard!).
3. Get rid of stuff. Less to organize! I recently made a goal to get rid of 100 things. This is something I plan to do regularly. Along with that, don't buy new things. I recently read that if you are contemplating buying a (non-perishable) item, put it on a list and wait a designated period of time: two weeks, a month, whatever. If at the end of that time, you still want/need it, buy it.* I find delayed gratification so hard, but it does help a lot with clutter.
4. Use "trash" to organize.** Food comes in great containers. If all you have are oatmeal containers, cardboard boxes from cereal boxes, fruit snacks, peanut butter jars, strawberry baskets, mayonnaise jars, peanut containers, empty spice jars, even boxes of soda, then use those. There are lots of ways to dress them up, if you want.*** Baby wipe containers are also quite amazing--ask friends if you don't buy wipes yourself. I've seen great things done with paper towel rolls--and toilet paper rolls, but that grosses some people out.
5. Use what you have already.**** You've probably bought baskets or plastic containers already. As you organize, you'll find you get rid of things (see #3) or find new systems. A lot of shifting will occur and you can reuse those old containers.
6. To help with costs, go second-hand. Thrift stores and garage sales can be great for finding containers (the flower vase in the picture came from a garage sale). Canning jars are often easy to find and make pretty good storage containers; also, muffin tins. Sites like Craig's list can be great sources for free cardboard boxes people are looking to ditch after they move. This can work great for some things (the free section even has furniture if you are looking for bigger storage solutions--it doesn't have to be pretty--think basement or garage and hide it--and even if it's ugly for a while, if it's free, you won't feel like you wasted money by buying a cheap temporary option). Even cups or bowls you don't use much can make great storage containers.
7. Hit up your friends. Trade around. Find an organizing buddy and see if you might have things they can you use and vice versa. When I told my friend Natalie about my project, she said she might have some things I could use--funnily enough, I just realized she gave me those jars that appear in the picture above! 
8. Another cheap source is the dollar store or bargain stores (although I think this can add up quickly if you're not careful and sometimes you don't get much for your money. Caution.)
9. Make your own storage.***** There are great tutorials out there for sewing your own fabric boxes, and if you use fabric you already have on hand, it doesn't have to be too much out of pocket. Or use the $4 bed sheets from Walmart for the fabric to get a more uniform look. I've even seen sturdy baskets woven out of paper.
10. Make your own cleaning supplies. This isn't really about organization, but it will save you tons of money, and when things are clean, you want to keep them organized. There are a few products that I really love that I still buy, but for tons of things, I make my own. There are dozen of recipes out there, and I will probably do a post on my favorites at some point.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Picture Ledges (from scrap wood--so basically free!)

David and I are nearly finished with a huge project in the basement family room, which I will show you very soonish. I'm very excited about it and I will give you a clue--it's made out of wood. Soon, my friends, soon.

Anyway, we had some scrap pieces, so I commissioned David to build me some picture ledges out of the scraps. Which apparently annoyed him, as I wanted him to do it while he was building the other thing he was building. I was helping with the other thing he was building here and there, but I was also sitting around sometimes, so I thought it would give me something to paint.

He built them out of MDF and cut the groove in them with the table saw. Then it was a matter of nailgunning the pieces together.

Then I painted quite a few coats.

Then I bugged him again to help me hang them. Apparently, David is a methodical builder who likes to do one project at a time, finish it, and then move onto the next project. I didn't realize that. Technically, I was asking him to help when he wasn't working on the other thing he was building, but oh well. He was nice about it, but he usually doesn't betray that much annoyance with me.

Which reminds me of this morning, actually. I got up when he did (I usually get up right as he leaves for work) and he was in the shower) and I knocked to get into the bathroom. I drank too much water last night right before bed, so I had a bladder about the size and approximate weight of a bowling ball; I hate getting up at night and I probably should have anyway. He was definitely annoyed when he asked what I wanted (we don't technically have a master bathroom--it's across the hall). I said I wanted to use the bathroom and he told me to go downstairs. No way was I using that pit. I make the kids clean it unless we are expecting company (then I double clean it and use highly concentrated cleaners before I will touch it), and I'm not sure when the last time I made them clean it was anyway. We have three boys. Enough said. The bowling ball was staying until he got out the shower.

Apparently he thought I was Maxton.

Anyway, here's some of the stuff I put on it. You can see how I made the dragonfly frame here. The tree and the monogram letters (they are hard to make out in the bottom left corner; I need to set them on something) are from Hobby Lobby. The bird is from Dollar Tree. The frame near the monograms is getting an ampersand and the other two frames will get photos of David and me as soon as I figure out a way to scan our wedding negatives. I never could get my negative scanner to work and I got rid of it.

I don't particularly want to take it to a developer, as it's a medium format negative and I'd like to get them all done and I've only seen 35mm offered. I'm sure I could have it done for a fortune. I'd rather do it myself, but I'd like a negative scanner that would work with my existing scanner and would work with my medium format negatives and I have no idea where to find one. Our photographer let us have the negatives after 5 years--how awesome is that! Just need to have them digitized to make them really useful.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Tutorial: Aged Compass Decor Stand

Back when I begged David to help me do the great epoxy cake stand marathon, I also stuck together this hideous dollar store candle stand and a slightly less ugly plate, and got this:

Yeah, we can do way better than that. Pretty sure that mottled mess on the bottom needs to go.

A little later, after some spray paint, aging and vinyl, I had this pretty thing:

So much better! This is pretty much the exact green that is on my kitchen walls, although this is probably going to end up in our downstairs family room.

For this project, you will need:
A candle stand
A plate
Epoxy glue or other strong adhesive
Spray primer
Spray paint
Black acrylic paint
Paint brush
Spray bottle
Rag
Round vinyl decal
Clear spray sealer

Step 1:
Mix epoxy according to directions. Apply to surface of candle stand. Center on plate. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. You can move after time specified on epoxy, although full strength is usually not reached until 24 hours. You are probably ok to move onto step 2 before 24 hours.

Step 2:
Prime and paint with desired color. Allow to dry overnight.

Step 3:
After letting it dry overnight, I aged it a bit with some black acrylic paint. This was my first time trying this sort of aging technique, and I really liked the way it turned out. First, have on hand a largish paint brush, a spray bottle filled with water and a rag. Squirt a little paint on the surface, and spread around in different directions with paint brush, squirting with water. Once you have it everywhere, wipe off the excess with the rag. Work quickly. Repeat on underside. Let dry (it dries pretty quickly).

One of my kids needs to hurry up and get old enough to press the button on my camera in a reliable manner so I can get action shots of these sorts of things. I didn't get great shots of this process cause it was just so fast to do.

Step 4:
Cut out vinyl with Cricut. I used the Graphically Speaking cartridge, which has this cool compass star. My plate was 10.25", so I cut it out 8.75" tall. If you are using your Cricut to cut the vinyl, I used the settings blade depth 6, speed 4, pressure 2 to cut through the vinyl, but not the paper backing (you may need to adjust slightly).

Find the center of your plate and mark. I use a quilting pencil, which will rub right off. Apply your vinyl, and burnish. I admit to cheating a bit and not using transfer tape, although that probably would have been a lot easier.

Step 5:

Coat with a clear spray to protect the finish and your vinyl. This is going to go perfectly in my world/travel themed family room. . .

Linking Up Here:

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.