Cereal & Other Box Upcycling: Organizing Children's Books

I think this the project that started it all for me, when it comes to upcycling boxes.  Believe it or not, it was not something I discovered via Pintrest.  Instead, another preschool teacher, whose break I cover daily, uses this method in her classroom (to some extent).  For this project, I used cereal boxes, a packing box (similar to diaper box size), and other miscellaneous boxes.

My children have quite a few books and, honestly, I didn't realize no many until I was organizing them and stuffing the last one in.  Before they were all strewn across this shelf above their toy box, but now they're in this nifty little combination of boxes.

I've yet to decide on a permanent place for their book box, but I might just leave it downstairs. This is where it has been been since I finished it.  This project basically requires you have two items: boxes and a pair of scissors.  Just like in my organizing tupperware post, I took off one set of flaps, cut at an angle, and then straight across.  For the larger box, I cut off all flaps and cut a sort of smoothed V shape in the front.  Then, there you have it.

As always, feel free to decorate however you like or not at all.

How are your children's books organized?  Do you like this method? Why or why not?

Cereal & Other Box Upcycling: Organizing Tupperware Lids

Yet another brilliant Pintrest discovery while filling up my DIY House Cleaning & Organization Pinboard. Pintrest has enlightened me and inspired me to reuse what would otherwise be considered trash.  One of my favorite and most popular upcycled items are cereal boxes and other miscellaneous boxes.  This is part one of a multi-part miniseries of posts dedicated to upcycling boxes.  Look for Organizing Children's Books, Organizing Mail & Paperwork, and Organizing Canned Goods in the near future.

Anyway, I'll show you what my tupperware lids looked like before I organized them with the boxes.  You might notice that these are, also, mostly upcycled butter, sour cream, and other containers.  More on that in a future post, as well.  As you can see, it was very messy

In order to create these nifty lid holders for my tupperware, I simply saved empty macaroni, cereal, and fruit snack boxes.  I then removed the flaps with scissors wherever the box was open.  Finally I cut at an angle most of the way down and then straight across.  I did the same on the other side.  I like this way best, but I'm sure you can modify the whole process to your liking.

As you can see, mine have yet to be prettified. I suggest colorful duct tape, fabric, wrapping paper, or scrapbook paper.  Or you could not do anything at all with them (for now or for forever) and let them simply be functional creations sans pretty.  Now, instead of needing an entire shelf for themselves, my lids are on the same shelf as my tupperware.

Have you done this or something similar?  Please share your own organization tips, creations, or recreations of this post!  Thanks for reading.

DIY Laundry Detergent: My First Guest Post

So I was super excited to finally land my first guest post, but it was written before I started switching to the new blog.  However, it's still worth skipping over and taking a look at.  I shared with Adventures of a DIY Mom how to make DIY Dry Laundry Detergent.  If you've ever wanted to make your own laundry detergent, you should check it out.  And if you're not sure if you want to make your own laundry detergent, just take my word for it and do it!

Cereal & Other Box Upcycling: Organizing Canned Goods

I'm sharing this organization tip/craft, even though I'm still not sure if this arrangement will continue long-term for me.  When I first discovered this idea and pinned it to my DIY House Cleaning & Organization Pinboard, I was super excited to try it.

At the time, I was fortunate enough (I suppose you could say) to have purchased several 12 packs of pop that week.  As the boxes emptied, I saved them.  Finally I three emptied out and I was ready to start organizing my canned vegetables.  First I tried the method that is most commonly shown around Pintrest, and that is to cut a little square in the back to insert cans in.

 Personally, I did not like this method.  I ended up cutting off the entire top of the box (it's better explained by the pictures).  Then front where you will have opened the pop case might need to be reinforced with tape, as these cans place a little more burden on the box than cans of soda.

My boxes are side-by-side in a bottom cabinet because it was the only one deep enough to fit the pop cases.  This is my biggest pet peeve about the whole thing.  However, I'm not ready to go rearranging my kitchen after I already did so a few weeks ago.  The pros of this method of organizing/storing your canned goods range from optimizing space to knowing at-a-glance what needs blights from the grocery store.  You might even want to prettify your box with duct tape, scrapbook paper, fabric, or wrapping paper.

What are smoother ways to organize canned goods or other places in the kitchen? Have you tried this method/project?  What did you think of it?  Thanks for reading.

Stove Grate Cleaning With Ammonia

This may have been one of my happiest discoveries while creating my DIY House Cleaning & Organization Pinboard over on Pintrest.  I'm, in no way, the inventor of this cleaning idea/tip, but I will advocate for it.  It truly saves you the headache of scrubbing, mostly unsuccessfully, to clean your stove burners/grates.  I also cleaned those things underneath the grate, though I have no idea what they're called.  The process is simple.

1. Pour some ammonia in a Ziploc bag or other sealable container/bag.
2. Place grates/burners in bag and zip up.  For people with single burners/grates, unlike my double ones, you can usually fit on per large Ziploc bag.
3. Let sit overnight or so on your front porch or in your garage.  I opted for the front porch because of the fumes.
4. The fumes from the ammonia will make it so that getting all that grime off your stove grates is much easier.

I, as you can see, have double grates.  I double bagged my grates in a trash bag, but it's not as air tight as the Ziploc bag I used for the other part of the stove.  Therefore, I've determined that you'll have better results with an air tight container or bag.  I'm still very satisfied with the results, but I'll probably have to do my grates one or two more times so they're squeaky clean.

Have you tried this?  Do you have anything to add?  What are your favorite cleaning discoveries?  Or Pintrest discoveries?

DIY Air Freshener/Neutralizer from a Baby Food Jar

DIY Air Freshener from a Baby Food Jar

This simple neutralizer/air freshener is simply baking soda plus 20 to 30 drops essentials oil.  The idea can be found all over Pintrest, so don't think I'm too original.  Use an open container or one with a lid and poke holes in it.  Shake every day or so to renew scent.  I shake mine daily and intend on decorating the baby food jar, as some point when I get around to finishing up all the projects I've started.

Valentines Worth Giving

Crayola Heart Valentines @ Whipperberry

Valentine Ombre Specimen @ Lolly Jane

Valentine Pretzels & More @ Pint Sized Baker

Love Bugs @ If I Had a Million Hours

Cream Cheese Mint Conversation Hearts @ Twigg Studios

Rice Krispie Love Letter Mailboxes @ Hoopla Palooza

My "gifts" to you, considering I'm seriously lacking time to make anything super awesome myself.

Plants VS Zombies Pinatas

A pinata? Piece of cake! At least, that's what I thought. With Etsy giving me prices between $20 and $60, or more, I was determined to make my own pinata. How hard could it really be? I promise you, if you Google homemade pinatas and, later, paper mache, it'll sound like such a simple task. Flour, water, newspaper, and a balloon? I can do that. You can do that. Why isn't everybody making their own pinatas? Well, let me tell you, it's not as easy (or fun) as it sounds. Other than saving money, I convinced myself (and anyone who'd listen) that my six year-old would love it too. Wrong! First off, Talon was not happy about getting his hands covered in gooey paste. The uncomfortable look on his face and the pleading look in his eyes when he asked, "Can I go wash my hands now?" after three pieces of paper mache... Well, let's just say, I knew I was on my own. Thankfully, my sister was a lot of help. With pinata #1 (a Pea Shooter from Plants VS Zombies) nearly finished, we thought it'd be okay to pop the balloon inside before we added the final layer of paper mache. As I began paper macheing the second pinata (a Wall-nut), the Pea Shooter crumpled before me. It was a very sad moment, indeed. We did, eventually, get two relatively successful pinatas. It only took one crumpling and one exploding Pea Shooter to get a half-way decent one. The Wall-nut, thankfully, never crumpled or popped. He turned out to be my favorite, too. So, here's my recipe for making a homemade pinata...based on my own not-as-terrific-as-expected experience.  

Paper Mache & How to Make It 

Paper Mache can be bought for ridiculously more than it costs to make it. At my local art store, I originally bought (before later returning) two bags for roughly $8.00 each. At home, I made paper mache for the cost of a bag of flour. Paper Mache is not just the flour and water--you have to dip the strips of newspaper in it too.

Materials Needed

• Water
• Old Newspaper
• Flour

If you have trouble rounding up enough newspaper, try asking your local stores, such as Dollar Tree. My local Dollar Tree puts all of their old newspapers in a bin to be picked up and recycled. It was mighty full when I was there buying other stuff and I asked if I could have some to make pinatas with.

Paper Mache Recipe

1. Pour desired amount of flour into container.
2. Mix cold water with flour to desired consistency. Electric mixer preferred, but not necessary. I prefer it to be really thick for the first layer and runny for the others. However, it's more of a personal preference.
3. Shred newspaper. All other sources say that cutting it is not as effective? I have not personally tested the difference.
4. Dip shredded newspaper into paste mix & apply coated paper to balloon (or whatever you're paper mache-ing).

Tip: You can add salt to your mix to prevent mold from growing. Mold is unlikely to grow, anyway, unless you make a large, single batch and let it sit for a long period of time. You could add some salt, just to be on the safe side, anyway.

I'm definitely not an expert in this area, but I am proud of what I did accomplish! I mean, look how cute the Wall-nut is! If you're trying to make a pinata, you might want to use google to find better resources (like Martha Stewart).