Simplify -- Master Bedroom Closet, Part One

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

Today's focus is on our master bedroom closet.  Sometimes, simplifying means making a mess first, taking everything out, then putting back only those things you do want.  Everything else needs to go.  So make it leave!

Part One, 
In Which We Remove Everything in the Closet, Then Paint and Re-Floor It.

We received an incredibly generous gift of laminate flooring from my parents.  We held on to it until we knew we would get to keep our house (read all about that here).  Once our house issue was settled, this project--in the master bedroom closet, of all places--became a symbol of hope, that we would stay, that we had a future right here.  So we forged ahead.

Not only did we receive a gift of flooring, but a gift of funds for a closet organizing system.  The Lord is exceedingly generous, isn't He?  In order for this huge project to go forward, we first had to empty our closet.  Time to declutter, people!

Here's the before picture; I have decluttered this space in the past, so it doesn't look that bad.  Notice I'm focusing the camera on my side of the closet.  Fernando's side is a bit, um, messier.

You can play Guess What's Missing? with these next two images.  Before removing everything, I decided to declutter clothing that I knew I wouldn't be keeping.  May as well get that taken care of, instead of sorting through it later.  I removed only a handful of items, maybe seven or eight things.  What you see is the extent of my wardrobe, except for some tee shirts, shorts, underthings, and workout clothes.

After the quick once-through of my clothing, everything else came out, starting with the stuff on top of the shelves.  I donated a whole bunch of stuff, and set aside some other stuff to sell.

Fernando's side--the scary side.

I hung a lot of my clothing around my bedroom, and folded the rest, which fit inside a Rubbermaid 44-quart box (below).

We splurged on a quart of paint, a beautiful brown color named Armadillo.  Huh?!

Our bedroom looked like this:

Fernando ripped out the closet carpeting and tack strips, and then he was ready to install floating laminate flooring.

My hero!  *sigh*

That's the end of Part One.  Join me soon in Part Two, where I'll show you the final result, and what our closet looks like now--can't wait!


Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify and Beautify -- My January Mantel

I took a few close-up pictures of my mantel, and thought I'd like to share them with you.  But first, a spelling lesson.

1.  mantle -- a loose sleeveless cloak or shawl, worn especially by women.

2.  mantel --  a beam, stone, or arch serving as a lintel to support the masonry above a fireplace.

Please don't confuse the two.  Thanks.


Now, my mantel isn't that original or unique, and will never grace the pages of a home decorating magazine (or blog).  And I don't even have a full image of the whole thing!  Here are (most of) the elements I used for my winter mantel.

1.  A pine-scented soy candle bought when we purchased our Christmas tree.

2.  A rectangle serving dish, Pfaltzgraff Ocean Breeze pattern, from my dishes.

3.  Pine cones gathered at a nearby park.

4.  Acorn and butternut squash picked from my garden this past autumn.

5.  A Mason jar from my canning collection, filled with...

6.  Dried flowers from a birthday flower arrangement, and

7.  Three snowflake decorations given to me by my brother Jeff for Christmas.

(That's my wedding picture tucked back there--I can't even remember how it got there, lol!).

8.  Ash tray purchased at a farmers market on vacation several years ago (used as a candle holder and now my snuffer tray).

9.  Little wooden plaque given to me by my mom after I surprised her for her 75th birthday.

That's it.  Many of the elements will be used elsewhere during other months, the pink flowers will be tossed, and the snowflakes will be stored in one of four boxes of Christmas decorations.  And the squash is being eaten, of course!


Back to life,
Christine

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Furniture from Friends

March 31.

Friends moved away.  *sniff*  I really miss Becky now, but I've got some "pieces" of her, physical ones outside the treasured friendship in my heart.  We helped Becky's family pack up, then pack some more, get rid of things, de-clutter, pack some more...

Packing and moving is a tedious process, and I don't want to do it any time soon.  I sure hope I don't have to.  Anyway, Tim and Becky gave us two dressers--one tall chest of drawers, which went into Joseph's/Jacob's bedroom, and one long dresser, which went into Danny's/Thomas' bedroom.  Before that, though, they gave us an end table with an attached lamp.  I found the perfect spot for it, and I think of the S. family every time I sit in my family room.

We had a nightstand my grandpa made for me, and that was between the two single chairs.  It served its purpose well, and held all of Thomas' schoolbooks, which was better than having them strewn all over the floor.  Those two holes you see in the back of the nightstand were ones I cut out very long ago, I think to hold cords for my alarm clock and something else I can't remember.  We moved the nightstand into the dining room for a little extra storage in a corner.

Now I just need a beautiful canvas photograph on the wall!

In order for the boys to have dressers in their rooms, one big "dresser" had to be removed (from Danny's/Thomas' room).

Want a dresser/chest of drawers?  We're selling it for only $30!  Let me know!  :)

Now, my big strong guys muscled the long dresser up and into the younger guys' room.

Yeah, the walls are blue.  Very blue.  We painted it in an ocean theme many years ago, and now the guys are grown and have outgrown it.  But we don't have new paint.  Maybe when the move out?  Oh, well, they usually just read and sleep in there, so it doesn't matter too much.  :)

One day when Jacob and Danny were gone for the day, and Fernando was training at his new (hopefully) job, I got Joseph and Thomas to carry the chest of drawers up to Joseph's/Jacob's room.

Okay, so those are Thomas' shorts sticking out from his sweat pants.  Just fyi.

Oh, I'm so totally sure you're marveling at that pile of clothes on Jacob's bed.  He and Joseph have captain's beds, with four drawers, but Jacob's clothes seemed to never make their way into those drawers.  He claimed they were full.  ;)

This chest of drawers is basically Jacob's.  He was very thankful that I organized all his clothes inside.  I hope they're still at least inside the drawers and not all over.  One can hope!

And now I have physical reminders of my treasured friend who moved away!


Back to life,
Christine

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Decorating for Valentine's Day

Yes, you read the blog post title correctly.  I decorated.

It was just one little thing, really.  I'd actually like to change the fireplace mantel every month or so, or every season at least.  Or maybe when I feel like it.  No--that would mean hardly ever.  Okay, at least every season.

But when I saw my 3M hooks still up in my foyer, without Christmas garland hanging, I figured I'd decorate them somehow instead of letting them sit bare until next Christmas.  Here's what I did:

To make this heart "garland," I first found a template for a heart shape in different sizes.  I printed it out on printer paper, then carefully cut the hearts out so I'd have a stencil of sorts.  It was flimsy, but I used a pencil and traced the shapes very lightly onto scrapbook paper (the back side), then cut them out.

I cut out three different sizes, doubling the amount I thought I'd need since I'll need two hearts for each spot on my "garland."

I used a variety of blue and brown patterned and solid scrapbook paper.

Any kind of string or twine will work; I bought some with a coupon for a few dollars at Hobby Lobby.  I measured what I'd need for length, then cut the string with extra at each end for tying.  I tied slipknots in the ends of each strand of string, then hung the strands along my hooks in the foyer.

Don't worry; you can always untie a strand and re-tie it if it's too long, or if the weight of the paper hearts pulls it down lower.  I ended up doing it, too, plus I realized that the one doorway opening on the dining room side is actually longer than the living room side.  :/

Choose two hearts to go together (of the same size, and lightly squeeze glue around one.  Place the gluey heart right over the string where you want it to hang, and press the other heart onto the other side of the string, evenly heart to heart.  :)

Hold the hearts together for just a minute until they stay, then move on to the next set.

The view into the foyer from the dining room.  Ignore the fact we have no molding around the door!

Looking into the front living room.

Standing in the living room, looking toward the foyer.

It's just a little something, but I enjoy having them hang.  Next year, I hope to put these along my fireplace mantel as a family room centerpiece.  If I keep up this "decorating" trend, I'll have to start just one box for non-Christmas decorations.  Just one--because I can't abide clutter and stuff.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Simple Christmas ~ Decorative Jars for Food Gifts

Since some of the gifts we gave at Christmas were homemade food items, I wanted to make sure they were packaged beautifully.  This may have presented a problem budget-wise, but I have Pinterest to thank for this idea!

Original idea from Pinterest:  Click here to go to the link

Items Needed

Mod Podge - matte finish
foam brush
various glass jars, thoroughly cleaned and dried
scrapbook paper -- the thinner kind, not the cardstock quality; most patterned paper will work

First, I set the jar lid on the back side of the scrapbook paper--and I used leftover scrap scrapbook paper--and traced around the jar lid with a pencil.  Then, I free-hand sketched a circle about an inch or so wider than the first circle.  I cut out each piece around the wider circle.

Then, I snipped into the circle at about 1/4" widths, cutting up to the inner circle and stopping, all the way around the circle.  No need to measure here!

This is the Mod Podge I bought below.  I had no idea there were so many varieties!  I brushed the Mod Podge (no need to go heavy) in the inner circle, covering it with a thin layer.  Then I set the lid on, picked it up, and smoothed the paper over the lid.  The paper shifted every now and then, so I did this carefully.  Pretty soon it began to set and I could really work on smoothing the paper, pushing it into the crevices around the lid.  (Sorry I don't have a picture of that step!)

I set one lid aside to really dry, then repeated the above step with the next lids, one by one.  Then it was time to fold over all those little strips cut around the circle.  First, apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to maybe three or four strips, then work them up and over the edge of the lid, pressing them in, over, under, and around the edge.

Once I worked all the way around, I set the lid on a piece of waxed paper to dry, then repeated the process with the next lid.

Once all my lids were dry, I carefully held one lid with my fingers from underneath, and spread a thin layer of Mod Podge over the top and around the sides of the lid.  It looks pretty much like glue.  Try not to apply too thick a coat--you may get bubbles which will dry into it.  I did get a few bubbles, but they didn't seem to matter.

Once the entire lid and sides are coated, carefully set it down on the waxed paper to thoroughly dry.  Each drying process takes maybe 15 minutes or so, but for this final step--coating the tops and sides--I let the glue dry overnight.  Below is one finished, dried-overnight lid!

I had made some maple-sugared almonds, which went into a few of the jars.

Isn't it the prettiest thing?  I almost didn't want to give it away.  For the label, I created a chart in Microsoft Word with a triple border, chose the Nauvoo font for the writing, centered it, printed it out on printer paper, cut it out, and taped it to the jar with clear packing tape.

This was just one of the food items we packed in gift baskets for two very special people whom two of us had picked in our family grab bag.


Back to life,
Christine

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