Mission Impossible

You know those girls, the ones that have it all together all the time?  Hair done, mani and pedi'ed non-pajama wearing; perfect cookie bake sale cooking; clean car driving at drop off? Yeah, well I'm not one of them..not even close.  I hate them, but classically (as in high school) because I secretly want to be them.  I admit it.  I am a neat freak wanna-be.  I try really hard too.  Probably too hard (geek for sure,) but to me there are few things more calming then walking into a neat, organized space.  And the lack thereof is probably why I am pretty much always stressed out!  Even so, I won't give up.  At least at this stage in the game, I've come to terms with the fact that organization will not come natural to me. It will always feel like work, and I will always want to be doing one million other things than what I have to do to keep myself sane (or at least passable in everyday society, LOL.)  So on with the show.... one of the things that I have picked up along the way, and which I am pretty sure is like a proton or an electron in the neatness atom (and is also something your grandmother told you a time or two) is having "a place for everything and everything in it's place."  Now it sounds pretty simple, but of course if you ever really thought about it, you know the ugly truth of the complexity that lies behind that statement.  It means being real about your "everything" and I mean everything and finding it a place.  Not simple, and matter of fact, just when you think you might be getting a handle on, and a holder for your things, things change.  That being said, here are a couple of my things, and the places I have made for them (for now.)

This was made from an old magnetic dry erase board, this one in fact:

All I did was cover it with some old material, stapled it to the back, picked up several sets of those magnetic hooks ($1.97 a set at Walmart) put the spools of thread onto some dowels and placed them on the magnets.  Super simple and kinda looks like artwork? 

Next, since I was all about my sewing crap, I took a basket and simply rolled up all of my material and tied them (mostly with yarn) and created something that if you squint your eyes, sorta maybe looks like a bouquet?

Who knows, if I keep trying, maybe someday I will be one of "them."

My (not) dirty laundry

The linen closet...one of the only places in a home that specifically names what belongs in there (aside from the medicine cabinet in which medicine really shouldn't be kept anyway) and yet for some reason, I just never grasped the concept.  Maybe I should have named mine the miscellaneous closet or the I-have-nowhere-else-to-put-it closet.  Part of the problem is that it is not a high traffic area.  I am in there once a week to change my sheets, twice at the most.  The door shuts, and I forget about the chaos that exists in there until the next time.  The door opens and my first thought is "I have to do something about this" and then the door shuts and it is all forgotten about again.  Then I saw it, the monthly challenge over at I Heart Organizing; bathroom and linen closet organization.  Perfect! A challenge!  Just the kick in the butt that I needed. So I immediately went to work.  This is what I started with, ugggh!

  

Horrible, I know but there it is for all to see...what I was hiding in my closet.  Not pretty, but it's the first step towards healing LOL.  Next, was emptying it all to see what I really had.  It's amazing what you carry around from place to place and year to year and never use.  I can't even tell you how many pink pillowcases I had, and not one set.  And since I am the only girl in the house, I can only deduct that the last time they were used, I was lying on my twin bed and talking to my boyfriend tangling myself all up in my pink CORDED phone.  Yeah, time for the donate pile.  Once I figured out what was going to stay, I had to figure out a way to organize it.  I really liked some of the divider ideas I found on the web but lucky me, I have these really useful, efficient, thoughtful (do you sense the sarcasm yet?) wire shelves the builder installed.  So, it was back to baskets (my old faithful Walmart ones.)  I still couldn't get past the shelves though and then the idea fell into my lap (literally when the "curtains" basket pile fell over because it was too tall!)  I had purchased a whole bunch of curtains at Goodwill for $2 a piece (how could I not buy a whole bunch?) and had used only a few in the boys playroom.  I loved the simple gingham pattern and knew that I would find another use for them in the house someday.  Well that day came...shelf liners! 

Amazing what excites me.  I just cut them down to shelf size, used a little stitch witchery for the hems and put a couple of yarn stitches through the wire to keep them from going anywhere.  Whipped up a few Avery brown craft labels to let me know what was inside, and ripped up a few strips of canvas (from the same old organizer I used to make the box for my wrapping center) to tie around the handles.  Had the cute little clothespins from a craft I must have done so long ago I can't even remember, and that was it.  So the only cost was the baskets (total under $20!) Oh, and a bonus for having wire shelves I discovered after.  I can slip dryer sheets in the wire to lay between the material and the shelf so they are invisible, but the closet smells really, really good when make my weekly visit.  Does it even need a door now?

Bed Skirt !!

So, ever since I put my bed on risers to gain some extra storage, the space between (love me some Dave Matthews...... ooh, sorry, snapping out of it....) has driven me totally crazy!  (She says, as if the rest of the bedroom hasn't)..... and not crazy in the Dave Matthews sort of way.  Anyway, I really needed a bedskirt to cover up what was lurking underneath.  I don't know about you, but I've never really  had good luck in the bedskirt (or dust ruffle, if you please) department.  They were always such a pain to put on and getting them to stay in place was a nightmare (figuratively and literally!)  And then, the dawn broke (yes I am cracking myself up with all of these metaphors, although not quite sure metaphor is the right word...anyone...anyone?)  I stumbled across this tutorial from Live from B5 .  Honestly, it is genius !!! Sew or no-sew simple to do!!  It took practically  no time at all and I absolutely love the faux tailored look.  Right now I'm into burlap (until linen is in the budget) but who knows a month from now?  This project is so easy that I could do one for each season........

Or maybe I should settle it down and work on the rest of the bedroom, so obviously in need.