Often times as I cruise around Pinterest and my favorite blogs I am constantly saying to myself, "Why couldn't I have thought of that?" It just seems like some people are inherently creative and can think of 1001 ways to use a mason jar at the drop of a hat. And while I fancy myself a crafty person, I am one that has to see what somebody else did and then do it.

So as a challenge to myself, I have been actively trying to look for ways to be more handy with the things around my house instead of running out and buying something when I think I need it.

For example, I was tired of this daily scenario in my bathroom


The hairbrushes. Yes, I use all four to tame the mop on my head. And usually they lay (lie?) on the bathroom vanity which is way too small. So I have been throwing them into a small container in my bathroom closet.


But then I have to either take them out or dig around to get to things I need in that container and there is hair everywhere.

So what to do?

Enter my empty and delightfully patterned Kleenex box.


It about a minute I cut the top off and I was in business. A perfect size box to corral my brushes.

Now I realize this isn't rocket science but I'm pretty darn proud of myself! And with this it just shows that you can train your brain to think of how to reuse materials to meet your needs.

How about you? Are you one of those lucky ducks who can look at something and see a new use? Or are you like me, a sometimes copycat learning to train their creative eye? Tell me about it!

Linking up with:

Oh my goodness, it's here! It's Pinterest Challenge Reveal Day! Woo to the hoo, I think I might be more excited than a kid on Christmas. Although I have to admit, I have rushed to put this post together because finishing up my project to reveal has taken way longer than I thought it would (isn't that how it always is?)

{Via Young House Love}

If you remember a couple of weeks ago I posted about my need for a large desk space that both me and the boyfriend can sit at and also double as a great place for crafting. Thanks to furniture goddess Ana White, I can check "desk" off my list of things to do.

The inspiration for this project came from Pottery Barn. I fell in love with the Bedford Project Table when I searched for craft tables on Pinterest.

{Via Pottery Barn}

But its $1000 + price tag me no likey. So after a bit more searching on Pinterest I found a knock off version on Ana White.

Though the magic of the internet, here is what I created! Ta-Da!





There are still some kinks to work out and some styling that needs to happen in the room in general because right now it is basically a box with desk in it. But hey that is what spring break is for :)

But let's back up a second, how did this table come to fruition being that I own no power tools? Nor a car that could transport giant pieces of plywood or lumber. After considering going to Lowe's (then not considering after many people I talked to said that often time their cuts were crapola) I found a wonderful local lumber yard that cut all my wood to size for free! Boo-yah!



They even marked all the sizes on the wood so I wouldn't have to re-measure. Talk about the most wonderful customer service that made this DIY newbie feel all warm and fuzzy. Total cost of lumber, screws, wood glue, and finishing nails: $124.37.

Following Ana White's plans was easy. We (my handy Aunt Cyndi and I) had everything put together in about 3 hours, which included drilling pilot holes and screwing everything together. When we were finished it looked like this:

This thing is solid as a rock but surprisingly not too heavy and it is actually three pieces. The only part I can't lift by myself is the top. Next came the finishing which is where my project when from being quick and easy to long and challenging.

There was one snafu with the Ana White plans, pieces that helped finished the shelves were too short, so I was left with a small quarter inch gap in four places.

Nothing a little wood filler can't fix. Actually it took a lot of wood filler. The first go around gave me the above. A second coat and some sanding left me with this:

I am happy to report that after priming and painting, you can't even tell there was a gap.

After filling all the holes and sanding everything within an inch of its life, I was ready to prime and paint. Check out my gansta sanding gear - yes, I was too cheap to buy a mask. I may have been sneezing dust for a week.


There aren't any pictures of the painting process mostly because it took two weeks. I made sure to let everything dry completely before painting additional coasts. I used Zinser Cover Stain Oil Based Primer, some off the shelf satin white Valspar paint, and Minwax Polycrylic.


 After one coat of primer, two coats of white paint, and two coats of poly, this baby is dunzo.



 Unfortunately the room is too small to fully capture its glory (these picture were taken from the closet so I could get as much of the desk in the frame, haha).

Total cost of this project was about $200, luckily I taught one section of 6th grade math last year so I know that I saved 80% of my hard earned dollars by crafting this baby myself. Heck yes!

 Now I just gotta move everything from our spare bedroom, organize, and style...my favy! Definitely stay tuned for some updates over spring break. I am thinking the color palette in here is going to be with some cool blues with pops of yellow. Design Seeds provided some color inspiration.

{Via Design Seeds}

{Via Design Seeds}

I can't wait to check out all the other great Pinterest inspired projects on Young House Love and Bower Power. If you are stopping by from the link up be sure to leave a comment with a link to your post - I would love to see what you did and see some new blogs.

I've been busy this Presidents Day, building and prepping my new project table!

 Excited doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about this baby. I am ecstatic! I keep going downstairs just to stare at my handy work.

Update: I finished the project table (like a month later but hey it's done!) Check it out here!

The design might look familiar...a quick search for "craft table" on Pinterest will bring up plans for the lovely Modern Craft Table by Alaskan furniture goddess, Ana White.


The plan to make this table has been on the books since the beginning of the year and this weekend was finally the right time to get to work. My very handy aunt helped me put it all together and it was really quite simple. However, I have to make a huge disclaimer. I had all of my wood cut for me at the hardware store. The only tools I own are a hammer and screwdriver so cutting huge pieces of lumber just wasn't doable for me. Luckily, the awesome folks at Hackmann Lumber helped me out by cutting everything perfectly to size. They even labeled all the pieces so I wouldn't have to remeasure. Some truly awesome customer service!

Right now I am in the prepping stage for painting my new table, filling screw holes, caulking seams, sanding, and priming. This is the first time I have ever used oil based primer...the label was not kidding when it said to use in a well ventilated area. Holy fumes, Batman! Luckily, I'm still breathing but just a little lightheaded. Not too different than usual ;)

I'll be back with the finished product hopefully by the end of this week even though it absolutely crazy town this week at school, two nights of parent teacher conferences, a field trip to the botanical gardens, and I am teaching my first ever online class tonight. But it will be so worth it to get it finished!


What did you do this long weekend? Tackle any projects that you've meaning to get done for some time? Or did you get your party on for Mardi Gras? Tell me all about it!

Today was one of those days where I just couldn't sit still. I was into everything...organizing the kitchen pantry, breaking down cardboard boxes from the plethora of Christmas gifts received, purging old beauty products under the bathroom sink, running errands, and cleaning out my closet. It's probably because I have literally sat on my arse the entire month of December - but hey, a little break every now and then never hurt anybody.

It was very satisfying to get so much done in one day and actually see the results. I wish I would have taken a few more before and after pictures. My kitchen pantry didn't need a whole lot of love, just some plastic grocery sack wrangling. I swear those things multiply by the minute! The previous owners of the house left a grocery bag container, we just hadn't been using it. So I stuffed it to the gills and then pitched the rest.

My closet was the next area I tackled. I am too embarrassed to show my entire closet because frankly I own too many clothes, shoes, handbags, for any one person - I mean I'm not a Mariah Carey proportions - but I may be a bit of a shopper who doesn't have enough room to nicely house all of the purchases.

But I will show you what I decided to purge. Behold!

- 3 pairs of shoes
- 1 handbag
- A bajillion Old Navy tank tops and tees
- 7 pairs of denim
- Tops of all sizes and colors

I am going to try my hand at selling some of the items to a local resale shop before sending the bulk of the items to the Family Resource Center here in St. Louis. A clean closet AND helping others...SCORE!

Hopefully, I will keep this organization/purge streak alive in Twenty-Twelve with a little help from Anna Moseley over at Ask Anna. She is hosting a challenge I've decided to participate in


All in all a productive day. What about you? Any good organizing going on at your house?