A Craft Sanctuary

It's been way too long since I have written any thing on this blog... Ahh... I feel awful.

Since the day my Husband finished his studies, we have been spending a lot of time together, traveled to a few places ~ California for vacation/celebration, France to visit my family and an RV trip from Phoenix to Denver ~, and I just haven't found the time to write.

Grenoble, France

Dish Organizer

Seems that I am much into kitchen organization lately... :)  After a new kitchen utensils set up and an efficient way to store food containers and their lids, I wanted to share with you how I organized my dessert dishes for better access.

Dish Drainer for Dish Organizer

In a Pile

When the dishes were piled up in the cabinet, I was having a hard time using them the way I wanted because I often had to move the ones on the top to reach the ones on the bottom...  ~yes, it may sound crazy, but depending on the kind of dessert I am having I will want a specific kind of dish... It also depends on my mood!~

Organizing Food Storage Containers and Lids

Since I do not have a lot of counter space, I work as much as possible on keeping a clear counter.  Optimizing the kitchen cabinets to the best of their storing and organizing abilities is one of my most important tasks, and the corner carousel is definitely getting there.  On the top shelf, I have my kitchen utensils organized in metal mesh letter tray, and the bottom shelf is filled with food storage containers and their lids as well as the pots and pans lids!

I used to have the containers piled into each other, on top of each other, in a cabinet, with the lids on the side, sometimes if possible staked into a larger container.  

Of course, the one container I needed was the one all the way in the back most of the time, and the lids would fall all over the place, on the floor, etc.  I had enough of that mess, as you can imagine...

Better Organization

Storing Kitchen Utensils in a 3-Tier Letter Tray

How a metal mesh letter tray unwanted in the office becomes super handy in the kitchen...

Upright Utensils

Since I do not have many drawers nor much counter space, I store the cooking tools in a cupboard right by the stove.  I had them standing up in a basket, but this one used to fall over a lot from the weight of all the utensils and/or as it bumped into a metal hook.  It was getting frustrating.

DIY Storage Box ~ Lonely Shoe Boxes Find New Purpose

Instead of throwing out shoe boxes, you could reuse them and make pretty storage boxes out of them.  

We'll always need a specific place to put special items!

All you need is a shoe box, wrapping paper and glue.

Pimp My Jar

A simple way to make a glass jar more attractive

Here was a simple sauce jar I had and wanted to use to store rice away.

Storage Bags Extravaganza

Here in the U.S., storage bags ~ziploc~ are a must in a household.  Whether it is to pack a sandwich, put some leftover away, or store chips and crackers in a resealable bag, I probably use them on a daily basis, and I am sure I'm not the only one!! 

So of course when we moved into the house, I had to buy a bunch of them ~4 different sizes~ which I had tucked away in a drawer next to the rolls of aluminium foil, etc.  

Making a Box

I needed a box for some baking supplies.  I wanted a pretty one and one that fit perfectly in the cabinet it was going to go into.  I looked around, but no luck.  None of the boxes I owned could fit in the cabinet.  So I had to find a cardboard box, and I got this one ~perfect size!~.  I decided to transform it into a pretty baking supplies box!

Need:

- A cardboard box

- A pair of scissors ~or box cutter~

- Some shelf liner ~the sticky kind is the best~

- Some packaging tape ~its width is great for this project~

{make sure to click the "Read More" button under the picture for more detail}

Prettifying Metal Can for Office

I like to reuse household items whenever possible.  A simple example of this is using an empty ~and cleaned of course!!~ can as a pen holder.  
So I figured that if I was going to use such a cheap thing to hold my pens in the office, I could at least beautify it a bit! 

Needed for this project: 

• a can
• duck tapes ~2 different colors~
• a pretty ribbon

~Vegetable Can becomes Pen Holder~

Updating Under-the-Kitchen-Sink Cabinet!

Rearranging the kitchen is a lot of fun, especially when you end up with more space in the room! 

Last Tuesday, I rearranged the cabinet under the kitchen sink {click link to view post} by just adding an upside-down cardboard box ~found in my basement, ready to go to the recycle center~ and 2 small plastic bins form the dollar store.

 

It's been more practical.  Now I can get anything I need right away, without moving stuff around!

Today, I wanted to beautify it a bit.

I simply added a colorful polka dot shelf liner on top of the box ~found at my local dollar store~ and... Ta Da!!

It makes it so cute! Or at least more enjoyable to look at!

Simple, easy, tiny change... Love it!!

Make Little Changes For  A

Life in Positudiness!

Xoxo

~Sandie