It is time for another Build It Challenge!  This month the theme was “Organizing” and I decided for my project, I would tackle the messiest space in the house: THE JUNK DRAWER!

There are 8 other bloggers who also came up with fantastic projects for this challenge, so don’t forget to visit them too!

Now back to MY DREADED JUNK DRAWER…

Admit it.. we all have one.  And getting control of it can be a huge headache, since it is the place you put stuff that has nowhere better to go.  For us it is things like rubber bands, match books, flash lights, take out menus, paper clips, safety pins and super glue.  And one of my most populous ‘homeless’ items has always been batteries.

After Christmas this year, our junk drawer was awash in close to 100 batteries (since you can never have too many on hand with all the hand held electronics and other gadgets that are floating around this house) and of course, they are all different types and brands.  It was a mess!  This was the pile of batteries I dug out of the junk drawer:
And now, inspired by this challenge.. Here was my solution:

15 Unique Teacher Mason Jar Gift Ideas:  

Keeping your fabric clean while working on a large embroidery or cross stitch project can be a challenge.  When your fabric is hooped up and you are working with it, setting it down or even just storing it in a tote bag, the edges of the work can come into contact with dirt and oils.

These marks, usually left in the shape of a circle due to the hoop are often permanent.

If you are a regular reader you probably know by now that I am a Cans Get You Cooking Canbassador, which means I always have a TON of canned foods in my pantry.  Since I’m also a busy mom of three, having a large pantry stash of ready-to-use healthy staples makes my life easier.  But one thing that it does mean is that my pantry cabinet is always a mess!  Cans everywhere!  (A good problem to have, since if I was stocking up on their fresh counterparts, I would be throwing most of them away every week!)

I have shared with you how I organized my upper cabinets, using in expensive photo storage boxes.. And that system works great..in my upper cabinets which are very shallow and at eye level.
On the other hand, where I was running into trouble was my pantry in my base cabinets, specifically the bottom shelf where I keep all the tall and oversized cans.

I literally have to crawl on the floor to see all the way to the back of the 24 inch deep cabinet.  Plus pulling something out from the way back is a nightmare.  It just isn’t a good system. 

I’ve always been a huge fan of letting my kids make their own school lunches.  I think it teaches them independence, and gives them a little more control about what they are bringing to school to eat.

When they were younger the kids would select a lot of ‘grab and go’ type foods, more like a collection of snacks than an actual lunch, but now that they are older, they are interested in bringing more ‘lunch like’ meals in their lunchboxes.

So I recently set up a sandwich making station to make it easier for them to find everything they need (and not tear up my fridge or kitchen drawers looking for everything.)

If you have children or pets at home (or even if you just occasionally get pets and kids as guests), it is always best to store detergent (including concentrated laundry packs) in their original containers, up high and preferably out of sight.  That makes a cabinet above your washer or dryer the perfect place.

I’ve talked about laundry room safety before on the blog, but today I want to make it even easier on you.

Today I’m throwing back the curtain and making a big public admission: I am a MESSY crafter. Some people may be afraid to fess up to a trait like that, but I must.   And not only am I mess, but I am also not focused on any one type of craft, I have a commitment problem. I love quilting, crocheting, cross stitch, water color, hand lettering, paper crafts, and working with my electronic cutting machines. I could never pick just one.  My creative mind is JUST as messy as my creative space.

Over time the ceramic insert in my slow cooker has become discolored and scratched up.  I love to shred chicken breasts in my crock pot using my hand mixer and the mixer blades leave grey marks all over the bottom and sides. 
Regular washing doesn’t take the marks off, but there is something that does.  Bon Ami powder cleanser! 

Look at my slow cooker insert NOW:

You already know that April showers bring May flowers, but did you know that April showers also mean.. the start of UMBRELLA SEASON!  And if your family is like mine, you have extra umbrellas for every occasion. We have them in the closet, each kid carries one in their backpack, I have a bunch in the car, one in my gold bag.. Umbrellas EVERYWHERE! And the last thing I need is wet umbrellas dripping all over my house.

So as my entry into the Power Tool Challenge (This month was a One Board Challenge), I designed a simple umbrella stand to corral all the stray umbrellas and to give them someplace to drip off when they came home wet.

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY!!  It is time for the big reveal of YOUR reorganized space!

At the bottom of this post you can submit your 'after' photo of your creative space. I'm joined with my fellow bloggers to redo our spaces as well.

• Gail from My Repurposed Life
• Jeanie from Create & Babble
• Debbie from Refresh Restyle
• Wendi from H2O Bungalow

This was such a fun and super quick project, I whipped it up a crocheted basket (or maybe it is more of a bowl) in under 2 hours and it used EXACTLY one skein of yarn with zero waste! (Those are the kind of projects I love.)


It is a super simple crocheted basket or bowl made from t-shirt yarn.  The yarn makes the bowl really stiff which is perfect since you can get a great geometric shape that won’t collapse on itself. (I'm including the instructions below but you can download the free printable pattern at the end of the post. )

The yarn I used was Zpagetti by Hoooked Yarn. I love that this yarn is made from leftover fabric from European textile factories and so I know the labor practices used in it’s manufacture are safe and legal (no child or unpaid labor).

Hoooked is a European company, but you can buy their products on Amazon or by ordering from them directly. They also make adorable little amigurmi kits with their yarns, which is another way to try them out;

How to crochet a t-shirt yarn basket

The pattern from the bowl starts with a simple circle (I use continuous loops)

I used a 6.5MM hook, and the stitches were pretty tight. You could use a larger hook, but you may need more yarn.

R1: SC6 (single crochet) into a MagicRing (6)

R2: SC2 in every stitch (12)



R3: SC2 in every stitch (24)

R4: SC2 in every stitch (48) slip stitch ring ‘closed'

(This last row will probably start to curve upa little, which gives the basket the ‘round’ bottom. The “right” side of your work will be the inside bottom of the bowl, the “wrong side” will be touching the table, therefore the outside of the bowl is also the ‘wrong’ side.)

R5: In BLO (back loop only) SC1 in every stitch (48)

R6:  SC1 in every stitch (both loops) (48)

R7: In FLO (front loop only) SC1 in every stitch (48)

I wanted a pattern in the crochet (and I wanted to extend the yarn to finish a complete row) so the final row is partially decorative.

R8: *In BLO SC1, CH1 (chain), skip next stitch* Repeat 24 times (48)

Invisible finish off.

You could also weave a second color of t-shirt yarn though the CH1 spaces left in the final row. I used some white to demonstrate what it would look like:
But I think I like it plain.

A super simple project for a pretty little basket!   Get the printable easy-to-follow instructions in PDF form by email:

Can you believe we are in the home stretch of this month’s Clean Up Your Act challenge?!

I am sorry I missed last week’s post, but my grandmother died and while traveling back to the midwest for the funeral I caught the flu.  Needless to say, my garage clean up came to a screeching halt.   I still hope to complete the clean up by the deadline for this challenge.. JANUARY 30th! 

If you are working on your space, or if you still want to join, there is time!  You have a little less than a week to clean up your space.  




Here is the progress I’ve made on the challenge so far:


This week I need fo focus on polishing everything off so I can get my car back into my garage.  Right now I’m struggling with how to store all the bikes.  We have so many and so little wall space.  That is the last big obstacle of this clean up.

It is week 2 of the Clean Up Your Act Organization Challenge!

Earlier this month I joined four other bloggers (Gail from My Repurposed Life, Jeanie from Create & Babble, Debbie from Refresh Restyle and Wendi from H2O Bungalow) and we are challenging ourselves (and YOU) to get our creative spaces into tip-top shape for the new year.

On January 30 we will reveal our spaces.. and give you a chance to show off yours. Anyone who successfully completes the challenge is eligible to win some great prizes.   (You can read all the details in the kickoff post.)



Now for an update on my garage/workshop:

I have a dirty dirty confession to make.  And I am sharing it today, because I can almost guarantee I’m not the only one.

Remember this amazing garage and workshop reveal I posted a while back? If not, let me refresh your memory:


This was my workspace, everything in it’s place, and I could even park my car in the garage.

Well, like most of what you see on social media and in the blog world, that was only PART of the truth.

Sure, my garage looked like that for the first few weeks after the reveal.. but what happens when you start to accumulate stuff and just aren’t organized enough to put it all away?  I present to you (hangs head with shame) my garage right now:


Yes, that is the same space.  5 years worth of stuff have piled up in there.  It has gotten to the point you can’t even WALK though it.. forget about parking a car.

It reminds me of an episode of Hoarders or something.  And I just can’t take it anymore!

It is impossible to do ANYTHING in there. I can't build things, I can't get to my workbench, I can't find anything I need to decorate for the holidays.  The kids can barely get their bikes in and out.. don't even think about using the coat rack or parking the car. 

The clutter is shutting down my ability to use the space and hinders my ability to build and create things.   

There is one thing that makes me feel better about my situation.  I’m realize I'm not the only one.  After confessing to some DIY blogger friends about the state of my garage, I learned that I wasn’t alone.

A LOT OF US have spaces that just need to be cleaned up and organized.  No matter what we show on social media, or on our blogs.. we all have things that are cluttering up our spaces.  The clutter that is hurting our creativity. 

So this month, myself and four other bloggers decided for 2018 we would tackle our creative spaces and get them organized.  We are giving ourselves 30 days to do it.   We are calling it the "Clean up your Act Creative Space Organization Challenge."
Today we kick off the challenge by coming clean.  We are all HONESTLY showing you our creative spaces on our blogs today. How they really look right now.   You can see the other blogger's "befores" on their blogs today:

• Gail from My Repurposed Life
• Jeanie from Create & Babble
• Debbie from Refresh Restyle
• Wendi from H2O Bungalow

Be it your workshop, or craft room, office or studio.  Whatever space you use to create things, if the clutter is holding you back.. NOW is the time to do something about it.  If you are like me, you have been pushing it off too long.

I am inviting you to share YOUR current space (no judgement or shame.. I showed you mine, now you can show me yours!)  Hopefully knowing that we are all working on our rooms at the same time, it will be just the motivation you need to finally tackle whatever mess is holding you back.

And at the end of the month, we will be giving you a chance to share your AFTER spaces.

BUT WAIT! THERE IS MORE!!!

As even MORE motivation to get the job done,  there will be PRIZES!  Yes.. you could actually win some great swag just for cleaning up your messy creative space.



On January 30 myself and the four others will reveal our spaces.. and give you a chance to show off yours. Anyone who successfully completed the challenge is eligible to win.  (*some restrictions apply.)  You have until Noon EST on February to 3rd to submit a photo of your newly reorganized space to be eligible to win.


I'd love to hear more about your space and your plans in the comments below!  I'm all fired up.. LET'S DO THIS!!!


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Fine Print:
**WINNERS MUST BE 18 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER AND RESIDE IN THE CONTINENTAL U.S. Both a "before" and "after" photo must be submitted to be entered. Decisions of the judges are final. We reserve the right to disqualify entries that do not meet the criteria. Winners must provide shipping address within 24 hours of being notified or a new winner will be chosen. We are not responsible for lost or mis-delivered prizes.

So this month, the All Things Creative team joined forces to take our best organizing tips and DIY projects and put them together in one spot.  From organizing closets to toys, kitchen cabinets to craft rooms, there are more than 100 ideas! 


Here are a few of my favorites: