Rake Hooks

Let me start off by saying that I am not some brilliant gal filled with ingenuity. At least not with this. People have been using broken rakes and other garden tools as rustic decor long before even pinterest existed. That being said, I flippin love them. They make me swoon. Maybe even blush a little bit.

Our rake broke this summer because I regularly, aggressively, abuse it. Nobody will tell you I'm a gentle or graceful person, nevermind gardener. However, I didn't cry too much. This broken rake had another life in its future. After a quick wire brushing and scrubbing, it still looked perfectly weathered and worn but without the jagged rusted parts. Now... where to put it?

Years ago, the hubs and I made a chalkboard out of a poster from homegoods. It has been sitting in our basement for a few years waiting for a home. Finally I caved and put it in our kitchen. But it's so plain! I wailed. Hubs rolled his eyes. Practicality rules in our house. Aha!  The rake! Badabing! 

I can't wait to hang all kinds of cute seasonal decor on this beauty. But please note. Unless what you are hanging is very light, please use more than one nail, preferably one on each end of the rake. For your sanity's sake. Otherwise the rake will swing to one side and it will drive you batty. Learn from me.

But really... can you imagine all of the possibilities???  Ugh... wreaths, holly, garland, ornaments, fresh flowers.... you should put one in your house and share all of the ideas you come up with in the comments section. and we can have a little rake-turned-hook fan club.

Cheers,

Bridget

XOXO

Firewood Tote

Last Spring we chopped down a half-rotted crab apple tree in our backyard. It was dangerous - it overhung our house and our neighbors and it scared the poo outta me every time the wind blew. So down it came. We hired people to cut the parts that might do damage. And we did the rest of the work ourselves which, I admit, wasn't super smart but did save us a lot of money. So the tree came down (everyone's limbs stayed intact... get it? ha) and we chopped it all up and saved the logs for firewood. TONS OF WOOD.

Fast forward a year and the wood is finally cured. And thanks to my hunk of a hubs, it is now nicely chopped and stacked in the back of our yard. TIME FOR FIRES!

Nicely stacked at the back of the yard, this wood is in the perfect spot - it's not near the house (no critters, no ants, no termites...). BUT, it's a nuisance having to carry two or three logs at a time to the firepit. They're awkward. Ok, maybe it's me and my small arms, but I had to make like ten trips for our last fire. I needed a solution. So I made one. Boom.

Firewood Tote

What you will need:

-Wooden dowel 18'' x 2

-Canvas 21'' x 36''

-The Usual Suspects: thread, sewing machine, scissors, ruler

1. Cut your canvas to the above dimensions: 21" x 36". I used a leftover piece from another project.

2. Cut your wooden dowel into 2 pieces, 18" long. I used a 3/8" diameter dowel

3. Sew a 1/4" seam down the longest two sides of your canvas.

4. Fold your canvas in half the "hamburger" way - short ends meet together. Using a medium sized bowl (mine was about 6" in diameter) trace a half circle in the center of your short edges. Cut this out with your rotary cutter. This will be space for the handle.

  

5. On either side of the cut-out half circle, fold the edge down 1/4" and crease. Then, placing the dowel along the edge, fold the crease down over the dowel and pin. This will make a pocket for the dowel. Sew along this edge.

6. Sew one end of the dowel pocket closed along the 1/4" seam previously sewn.

7. Slide the dowel into the pocket and sew the other end closed along the 1/4" seam. 

8. Repeat steps 5-7 for the other side.

Now load 'er up and make a fire! There's never been a diet that couldn't (or shouldn't) be broken for a few s'mores. Just sayin'. Beach bod dreams aside, a roasted marshmallow is happiness in a bite. MAKE SOME HAPPINESS. 

Go forth and enjoy SUMMER!

Cheers,

Bridget

XOXO

Bridal Shower Card Book

Just over a year ago, my friends and family threw me an amazing bridal shower. In fact, just the other day it popped up on my "on this day..." page on Facebook. I got a little bit misty, honestly. As awkward as I was in the center of attention, I felt like a queen that day. All thanks to some amazing women.

As I clicked through the pictures that surfaced on Facebook, a full-on case of nostalgia came over me. There was no hope. I decided to dig up my bridal shower cards. I knew exactly where they were - neatly piled in a basket... on top of a pile of other wedding and craft crap that I needed to find a place for. Real romantic. I had to fix this situation.
Years ago someone had told me they had their wedding cards bound, which is an amazing idea. I didn't want to pay for this and I didn't have the patience to sift through Pinterest [sidenote: is anyone finding Pinterest to be getting SUPER congested these days?], so I figured out how to do it myself. It isn't rocket science. But nonetheless, it came out perfectly and it was far less daunting than I expected. It was exactly what I needed to honor this little memory and keep it safe to look back on from time to time.

Bridal Shower Card Book

Things you will need:
1/4" wide Ribbon (length - about 2 feet, cut into 2 equal halves)
Scissors
Hole-punch
Bridal Shower cards

Start by stacking your cards - all with the bindings to the left - and in any order you choose. I chose to stack my cards from smallest to tallest and I aligned them all on the bottom.

• NOTE: Depending on how OCD you are, you can do this a number of ways. I'm rather compulsive so I chose an organized route, but feel free to stack your cards in whatever order floats your boat.

Next, start hole punching. Choose a width between holes that will fit the smallest card at it's widest - this will ensure stability with the rest of the stack but won't leave the small card dangling with only one hole in it. Also, hole punch close to the edge of the binding, but not too close. You want to be able to open the cards when the book is finished, but you don't want them to tear easily. Also, be deliberate here, you don't want to oops on your most precious cards. Also, also, yeah. Don't mind my aforementioned OCD.

After hole punching your first card, align your second card with the bottom of the first, stacked. Hole punch through your first holes into your second card. This will ensure that your second card has the exact same holes and hole spacing that your first card had.

Continue this process with each next card (using the prior card as the hole punch guide).

Once all cards are hole punched, stack them neatly again. Pick your favorite card for the front. Maybe it has a sweet saying or maybe it's from a special person. Put it front and center and honor it.
Taking your ribbon, start threading each card, one by one. Tie the ribbon. Repeat for the second hole. Trim excess ribbon.

All done! Store is a safe, dry, cool place so the cards will last. 

This whole process took me half an hour. I'm pretty sure I did it while Joe and I watched TV. Extra time allotted for nostalgic reading, of course.

This post concludes our wedding season craft party... time for Summer crafts to happen!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,

Bridget

XOXO

Getting Organized: (The Lonely) Hall Closet

My hallway closet has been a problem since the day we moved in. We needed a place to put about 2350987209487 things, but this tiny closet could only fit about 4. What takes the highest priority? I don't know - this is our first house. I'm literally clueless and winging this. So I tried to be logical - linens (sheets, towels, towels, towels) because there is no other hall closet (and no space in the bathroom), cleaning supplies for the bathroom (see prior), first aid and all other ailment supplies because they should be local, and the brooms/mops/swiffers because again, no other hall closet. It all made sense when we did it. Until after a year we realized that every time the door opened we braced ourselves for falling objects and tipping brooms. Then we got married ---- add more towels, linens, etc. Dear Mama, we have a problem.

The only way I could fix this closet was with purging and diverting.  Sheets, towels, face cloths, and kitchen towels that didn't meet a basic quality standard were either pitched or sent to the basement for rags. Out of season holiday themed anything went to the attic. And a few creative solutions for storage went a long way.

Sheets went (aha!) up to the bedroom in a nice new rolling covered basket. Because really, there is no need for sheets on the first floor where we have no bedrooms.

Most cleaning stuff went under the kitchen sink - ONLY bathroom specific cleaning supplies stayed in the closet.Under the kitchen sink we added these two collapsable shelves to double surface space. Kitchen and dish towels also we in the kitchen (go figure!).

The broom and swiffer went to the cellar stairwell on hooks. I have a steam mop so I pitched the old school mop (aint nobody got time for that).

This is what my closet looks like now. Only the essentials. AND IT FEELS SO GOOD.

I'm still thinking about what I could put on the top shelf... there's so much space up there (it goes up to the ceiling!). Also, disclosure: this is real life, so I'm not going to apologize for the not-perfectly-folded-and-color-organized towels. 

This closet clean-out was a blast. I was able to solve multiple problems by tackling this mess. It all just works better now. Also, I get a little buzzed when I shop for baskets. I could have named this post 'If you have a basket fetish and you want a fix'. This closet allowed me to go to Homegoods about 6 times for baskets.... just to find the right ones and maybe a few more. Guilty. Don't care.

I hope you feel inspired - if so, check out my last post where I organized my dining room closet!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers, 

Bridget XOXO

Getting Organized: Dining Room Closet

Of all of my organizing endeavors so far this year, my dining room closet is my favorite so far. 

My house is a small Cape with four bedrooms. That sounds more lofty than it is. The upstairs is split in half into two bedrooms each with a small closet. My downstairs is split in half also- one half is the open kitchen and living room and the other half is the other two bedrooms. BUT. Those bedrooms are not used as bedrooms. One is used as our dining room and the other is the office/craft room. 

There is very little storage in my house. We utilize our unfinished basement to the best of our ability and we stuff the closets in the rest of our house. Alas, after two years, stuffing isn't really cutting it. We just got married and have an acute influx of stuff from our wedding. It's time to purge, tidy and re-think our storage options.

My dining room closet has not been utilized to it's potential. I apologize for not taking before pictures, but I'll try to describe it. Boxes of stuff piled on the floor :: one small shelf with a few dishes on them :: random stuff we never use on the top closet shelf :: extra and off-season coats hung up :: lots of new boxes of things and decor strewn around the dining room and cluttering the table rendering it useless. Get the idea? Dining room turned dumping ground. Sad.

So we did what most cheap 20-somethings do when they need furniture but don't want to commit to anything crazy. We went to Ikea. We got a couple of OMAR shelving units for about $50 and went to town. Mind you, we did not have a plan in mind at all, we were just winging it. But it came out great.

 

We unloaded the boxes in the living room and got rid of some stuff we hadn't touched in years. We moved the jackets out (they don't belong in the dining room anyways) and we hung tablecloths and runners up instead. Since we don't have a sideboard yet, we placed placemats, serveware and dinnerware together so we can set the table in a snap. Basically, we added surface area to hold the stuff we needed to put away. When I put it that way it seems so logical and obvious, but it still took me two years to do it. It's not always rainbows and butterflies to tackle a closet (or in this case room) full of junk. Amiright? But I'm so glad I did it. 

Do one closet at a time. Or one corner. Or one room. It feels so good when it's done. Then reward yourself - maybe with a party in you new clean room. Or do what I did: I sat in my reclaimed room and drank a bottle of wine.  Whatever makes you happy!

Cheers!

Thanks for stopping by!

Xoxo, Bridget

A New Year

I've been in a bit of a blogging funk lately. I'd blame it on the holidays taking all of my energy, but that excuse is getting stale... it's January 27, after all. I'm feeling a little uninspired. I don't know the exact reason why, but I'm determined to shake it by writing SOMETHING. So here I am. Snap out of it.

I think I'm going to do what I do at work. I clean like crazy so there is no visual clutter. For me, visual clutter = mental clutter. I find it hard to think when I'm surrounded by mess. And ever since the holidays my house is a disaster, like usual after the holidays. And every January I get the itch to organize - I know I'm not alone here. I think when you're trapped inside because of the cold and there are no parties/events planned in the near future, you can't ignore the slop anymore.

So I'm dedicating the next two weeks to organizing some areas of my house that have made my eye twitch for a while. I'm gonna tackle them. And I'm gonna share it with you. And you can judge, that's totally OK. 'Cause that's what I would do if I were you.

The BIG BAD List:
The linen closet.

The dining room closet.

The craft room. ugh.

I am legitimately intimidated. But writing this blog post means I'm going to hold myself to this task. It's not going to be a ton of fun, but I'm going to love the results later. And isn't that how it goes? Nothing worth while comes easily.

How are you feeling this January? Are you cooped up too? Ready to purge your closets and revitalize a little? We can do it together. Let me start:

Hello, my name is Bridget and I have a house filled with crap I can't let go of.
                                                                    ....Hello, Bridget.