Cook Book Covers
Do you remember when I organized my most used recipes last month? Do you see those cookbooks in the back? They didn’t match and it was bugging me, so I had to do something about it.
I started with the binder in the back. It’s actually for take-out menus, but we probably use it almost as much as the cookbooks.
I just inserted some cute scrapbook paper behind the clear plastic cover.
Made a cute label out of paper and stickers.
Then stuck it on the scrapbook paper and called it good.
Here’s the inside. I just slid the menus into paper protectors and now they’re easily found when we have the urge for take-out or when nobody feels like cooking.
The paperclip is for take-out coupons, so we don’t forget to use them.
I covered the next cookbook with scrapbook paper too. First I adhered it to the original cover with a glue stick.
Front and back.
Then I made another cute label with paper and stickers.
I embellished this one a little more with rub-ons.
Then I just adhered it to the front of the book and mod podged the whole cover.
Now food spills should just wipe right off the cover.
For the next 2 covers I thought I’d try my hand at using fabric. First I cut the fabric about an inch bigger than the binder, all the way around.
Then I used heat’n bond on the back of the fabric. Just iron it on for about 10 seconds. Let it cool.
Then peel it off. It made the fabric a little stiff and easier to work with. It was easier to apply the mod podge too, without worrying about it seeping through the fabric.
I mod podged the outside front, back and side of the binder first.
Then I started working on the inside. I didn’t worry about it being perfect, but I did want it to turn out smooth with nice corners. I started by folding in the corner and mod podging it in place.
Then I glued the top, bottom and sides with mod podge.
Making sure the corners layed pretty flat and looked nice.
Here’s the completed inside of the cookbook.
And how it looks from the outside.
I covered this book the same way.
But used a vintage fabric that was sent to me in a gift swap by Kolien at Kitchen Table Productions. I have some fun ideas for the other fabric she sent me too, but you’ll have to wait until I dust the cobwebs off my sewing machine.
Doesn’t this corner of the kitchen look so much better? I might even cook more now, but probably not.
See that grinder? That also came from Kolien and I love it. Right now it’s holding rocks from places that are special to me.
Before and After Party at Debbiedoos
Spotlight Yourself at It’s So Very Cheri
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Hookin Up with HOH at House of Hepworths
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs
Craft Schooling Sunday at Creative Jewish Mom
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
DIY Projct Parade at The DIY Showoff
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do
Making the World Cuter Mondayat Making the World Cuter
Organizing My Most Used Recipes
I have a lot of recipes and a lot of duplicate recipes. It was time to get rid of the duplicates and make it easier for me to find the recipes we use more often. I started by taking out all the recipes I had stored loosely in a binder. It was starting to be a mess and it was taking longer and longer to find the recipe I wanted.
I bought these picture display boxes a few months ago at Big Lots (for only $1 each) and thought they would work perfect for what I had in mind. Ignore the picture in it, I think it looks kind of creepy.
Then I went through my scrapbooking stash for items I might want to use to decorate them.
I started by putting my tried and true recipes into categories. Ones I knew weren’t duplicates and were family favorites. Most of these were recipes from family members or friends.
I made another pile of recipes that might already have duplicates. I went through my cookbooks to look for possible duplicates and tossed the ones I already had. Sometimes I had made changes in the recipe, so I would make a notation of that in the cookbook.
And this was the discard pile of recipes I really didn’t use or ones that were duplicated.
In one of the boxes I put main dishes, salads and breads.
In the other one I put desserts, drinks and dips.
I added some recipes to these cute tags, but later decided to only use the one on the left. It has all my family’s favorite recipes listed on it. I put them in the order listed in the box so they could be found easily.
I added some scrapbook paper to the front page.
And then embellished it with a couple tags.
To the front of the box I added a flashcard tag and a ribbon around the bottom.
Then I added a couple embellishments and ribbon to the second box.
And here they are by my cookbooks. Now it’s a lot easier to find the recipes I use most often. And don’t they look cute? I can also change out the front cover as often as I like if I want a different look. Now I need to cover the cookbooks to match. Oh, and I love my canister of paper straws by them.
I just had to show you this picture of my kids favorite thing to do with the straws.
What have you been organizing? Don’t forget to link your organizing posts to We’re Organized Wednesday this week. I’d love to share what organizing projects, tips or ideas you have.
I’m linking to:
Home and Family Friday at Home Is Where My Story Begins
Look At Me Party at Fun To Craft
Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints On The Fridge.
Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs
Show and Share Day at Just A Girl
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Saturday Is Crafty Day at Along For The Ride
Craft Schooling Sunday at Creative Jewish Mom
Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime
DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do
Market Yourself Monday at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Show Me How at It’s A Blog Party
Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios
Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family
Filed under Kitchen, Organizing Tools, Recipes | Comments (21)Decorating the Top of the Kitchen Cabinets
Or maybe I should call this undecorating the top of the kitchen cabinets. As usual, I forgot to take a picture of the top of the cabinets before, but this is all the stuff that was up there. I get a thought in my head and I just start doing it, remembering to take pictures later. I’ll try to be better about that. Most of the items are pretty dark and I wanted to lighten things up a bit.
I’ve been storing all my drink dispensers and dessert stands in the mudroom on a shelf. I have to use a stool to get to them either place so I thought why not move them here to lighten up the space above the cabinets.
The cabinets are varying heights so I experimented with the stands in different places.
I put the drink dispenser on the easiest cabinet top to get to because we use it the most often.
Here’s the cabinets above the stove.
This cabinet is on the other wall. I put the white milk glass footed bowl on top of a cake plate to give it more height.
Here’s a look at most of the kitchen cabinets. I love how much lighter and open the top looks now. Hubby even noticed the change as soon as he came home from work. And hubby doesn’t notice much when it comes to decorating, so I’m thinking it’s a good change.
I’m linking to:
Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie
Spotlight Yourself at It’s So Very Cheri
Show and Tell at BLue Cricket Design
Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Decorating Your Home at It’s A Blog Party
Remodelaholics Anonymous Meeting at Remodelaholic
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
Filed under Decorating, Kitchen | Comments (16)Kitchen Snowball Effect
Do you remember on Friday when I said my new shutters had a snowball effect on my kitchen decorating? I had to take all the bottles down from my window, but I wanted to keep them in the kitchen. It’s time to lighten things up a bit around here for Summer. I already owned all the accessories I added to the kitchen. The blue, green and yellow glass bottles are the perfect things to add this time of year. So I moved some of them from the window to here.
Did you see that little bird under the glass cloche? Yeah, I made another candlestick transformation. I can’t help it. When I’m busy and have no time for crafting or big projects, making something fast and pretty gives me a big lift. See how pretty the plate is? It’s a light powder blue and goes well with the glass bottles.
Plus the little bell jar fits perfectly on top.
Then I moved the rest of the bottles here. I love random bottles. I’ve collected them over time from many places. I try to find ones in different shapes and sizes.
The green bowl holds pieces that mean things to me. The “faith” stone is from my sister’s wedding. The “create” one is from a friend. The other ones come from places I’ve visited.
I now have 8 of these blue canning jars. I have another idea for 2 more of them that I’m really excited about. The galvanized double bucket was outside last Summer, but I thought it would look great in the kitchen next to the cheese boxes.
Then I added some flowers I had stored in the basement. I know, I know, I haven’t even started on the backsplash yet. Don’t be looking for it to happen to soon. It’s not going to.
I moved the cookbooks out of the cabinet thinking maybe I’ll use them more here. I’m sure hubby’s wishing for that to happen too. I love my straw dispenser. Now I need to find those paper straws to put in it. Wouldn’t that look perfect?
So, do you ever change just one thing and then it snowballs into changing the whole room? Good thing I love decorating and have a lot of accessories stored in the basement.
I’m linking to:
Thrifty Thursday at Bloggeritaville
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Look At Me Party at Fun To Craft
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Home and Family Friday at Home Is Where My Story Begins
Remodelaholics Anonymous Meeting at Remodelaholic
Shop The House Sunday at Finesse Your Nest
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
Filed under Decorating, Kitchen | Comments (20)Shutters for the Kitchen Window
My kitchen window has looked like this for over a year now. I took the white blinds down to wash them and never put them back up again. I decided I liked the window bare and enjoyed it that way for a while. But having to squint inside the house got to me after a while. The window is West facing so it gets the hot afternoon sun, plus there is often a glare on the TV and we can’t have that now can we?
I started looking for treatment ideas (make my own cute cafe curtains with ribbon and buttons to hold it on the rod, use different types of material, like burlap, painters cloth, scarfs, tablecloth or decorative napkins, or just put the blinds back up). Then hubby bought this RV to work on. It took away the tiny bit of a view I had out that window and I knew it was time to get it covered.
I have to drive to Ogden for some medication once a month and I try to stop by a consignment shop while I’m up there. The minute I saw these shutters I knew they were exactly what I needed for the kitchen window. They were marked $18 each, but I was able to get them for $12 each. I didn’t think that was too bad.
I can open the bottom and let the sun come in.
Or open the top and close the bottom.
Or when it’s 5:00pm and the sun is blazing in the window, I can close both the top and bottom.
Here’s a close-up of the color and finish on the shutters. I love them just the way I bought them and won’t be doing anything to them yet.
Here they are at night. I like how they add height to the window making it seem taller than it is. I have 9′ ceiling and the cabinets are really tall. The window always seemed a little small to me.
Here’s the before again:
And the after. Isn’t that a huge difference? Please ignore the dinner dishes in the sink. I could either do the dishes or take pictures and I decided I’d rather take pictures.
Did you notice I raised the light and took the cover off? Yeah, I have another idea for that light above the sink now. I had to move all the bottles that were on the window sill too. That started me moving something else, then something else, then something else again. So, at this point pretty much the whole kitchen decor was moved around. Do you find yourself doing that too? When you add something to the mix does it start a decorating snowball that just gets bigger and bigger? I’ll show you the changes in a few days.
Have a beautiful weekend and I’ll have another post in celebration of Mothers tomorrow!
I’m linking to:
Creative Cats at Poppies at Play
Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs
Remodelaholics Anonymous Meeting at Remodelaholic
Saturday Is Crafty Day at Along For The Ride
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality
Metamorphosis Monday Between Naps On The Porch
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land
Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented
Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home
Spotlight Yourself at It’s So Very Cheri
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Favorite Things Friday at A Few Of My Favorite Things
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous
Filed under Kitchen | Comments (26)Extra Storage Space For Dishes
We don’t have a lot of cabinet space in our kitchen. The dishes cabinet looks like this, but I still had more dishes to fit in. They’re ones we use everyday so they had to be easy to access.I could crowd things a little more, but if I did things wouldn’t get put back where they belong (you know, kids and a husband).
I was in Target and found something in the bathroom accessory area that I thought would work great. And it was on clearance for $22. I don’t have a before picture, because that was one of the times I dropped my camera and it decided not to work for a while (I’ll have to tell you about my self fixing camera one of these days). Anyway, here’s the after.
There’s enough shelves for bowls, large plates, small plates and dessert plates. It came white, so before I assembled it I painted it black. It was easy to assemble and I’m surprised how sturdy it is for something that was probably not suppose to have much weight on it.
It sits at the side of the cabinets so it doesn’t take up much space even though it does intrude into the dining area a little. The side panels are beadboard which I love.
The kitchen island and the counter tops are black, so it fits right in. And did you notice it’s the perfect depth of the buit-in cabinets? I love it and it was a great solution to a “short on space” problem.
I’m linking to:
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous
Creative Cats Friday at Poppies at Play
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered
Make It For Monday at Cottage Instincts
I Made It Without My Hubby at Shanty 2 Chic
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land
Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog
Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Filed under General organizing, Kitchen | Comments (11)Dessert Stands
I have seen these a lot in specialty stores and boutiques. I can’t see myself paying $10-$20 for something I know I can make for around $2. I found most of the plates at my local thrift store or Ross, all of them cost between .49-$1.49. I found all the vases, candlesticks or glasses at my local thrift store for between .25-.99. Now I just had to put them together to make something I would love.
I applied the gorilla glue super glue to the rim of the candlestick or vase. Make sure you apply it to the highest points on the candlestick so the glue can come in contact with the other surface.
Turn the plate upside down, then attach the candlestick to bottom of the plate. This way worked best for me, so I could find the center of the plate. Hold down for 30 seconds, then it’s glued together.
I love how they turned out and no two are alike.
I also had some candlesticks that needed to be painted, so I decided to use Heirloom white and started spraying. This is what they looked like before.
And now this is what they look like. I love these plates and I love how the candlesticks turned out painted.
Here’s a top view of the plates. So pretty!
I can’t wait to use these dessert stands at the baby shower this Saturday. And I’m sure I’ll find more excuses to use them all the time.
I’m joining The DIY Club Inc.
Filed under Crafts, Decorating, Kitchen | Comments (39)More Kitchen Cabinets Organized
Here’s the before and after on the kitchen cabinets I still needed to organize. Not a huge difference, but I can find what I need now and I got rid of some expired spices and tubes of icing that were pretty gross.
Before
After
The top shelf is much better. See my cute little toothpick holders I just found this last week on the bottom shelf.
Before
After
Middle and bottom shelf look better and it’s so much easier to find what I need.
It took 10 minutes to do both cabinets, so even if you think you don’t have enough time to get something organized, you probably do. Just get started and you’ll be done before you know it. You’ll feel so much better everytime you open the cabinet.
Don’t forget to send me your Organizing Dilemmas. Every Wednesday I’ll tackle your Organizing Dilemmas and give you suggestions on how to solve them. Send me your dilemmas either in a comment or an e-mail (leanneja@organizeyourstuffnow.com) so I know what you need help with. Look for suggestions every week on Why Not Organize Something Wednesday.
Filed under Kitchen | Comment (1)Organizing Kitchen Cabinets
It’s Why Not Organize Something Wednesday again! I mainly do this every week to keep myself motivated and on track.
I’m linking this to Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage and Kimba’s DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land. Be sure to go there and check out all the wonderful, inspiring projects that are being shared today.
How does the inside of your kitchen cabinets look? Would you be embarrassed to have your neighbor peek inside? It doesn’t really take that long to get your kitchen organized. You can do it in a morning then whip up a yummy zucchini bread for the kids after school (can you tell I really need to do something with all the zucchini from my garden?). Zach will even eat it and he doesn’t like anything! Okay, back to the cabinets:
1st- Start with one cabinet or drawer and decide if you really need each and every item in there. Do you use it? Do you have several of them? Do you even like it? Do you know what it is? I had a utensil in a drawer for 4 years that I didn’t even know what it was, not alone how to use it. I had received it at a shower and thought I had to keep it for some reason. I finally got rid of it and I still don’t know what it was.
2nd- Once you’ve decided what you’re going to keep, divide things up so it’s easier to find what you need. I use the cheapest plastic containers I can find. I don’t spend much money and it does the job. I also look around my house and see what other containers I have that I might be able to use:
I keep the baby spoons for my grandchildren:
This is my love of shakers drawer and other items that I need, mostly just for parties:
3rd- Keep “like with like” so you don’t have the items you need for baking, making lunches or other food prep spread out all over the kitchen:
Tea Light candle drawer:
4th- Store items close to where you will be using them. It saves on time and just makes more sense. Maybe the rest of your family will put things back where they go if they’re stored conveniently (or maybe I’m just dreaming):
As you can see, I don’t have many cookbooks and probably don’t use them a lot since they’re on the top shelf and I have to get on my toes to reach them. See the sideways binder? That one has take-out menus in it. Yay, for take-out. The lunch boxes are easy to reach though. I use those everyday, because my kids are picky and won’t eat school lunch:
5th- Make items easily accessible to you. Store the most used items on the easiest to reach shelf and the little used items on the top shelf. If you have deep cabinets, like I do in my island, use pull-out shelving. I took out the long stationary shelves and put in this sliding shelf. I could never get to the pots and pans I wanted without kneeling on the floor. Now I just pull out the shelf. So much easier, but they are a little pricey so I’m still saving for the one on the other side:
Love this side. They slide out individually:
Don’t love this side. I’m working on it. I can’t want to get the new sliders and put them in:
6th- Re-access your cabinets at least once a year. What once worked for you might not be working anymore. If it’s not working, change it. It’s easier to keep things organized and put things back where they belong if it’s convenient and takes little time. This would also be a good time to purge items you’re not using any longer.
Now, get those cabinets organized, so you won’t be embarrassed if your mother-in-law opens the cabinet to get a glass for water. Here’s what I’m working on today:
I would bet a lot of those spices are expired. That will clear up some space.
Happy Organizing!
Filed under Kitchen | Comments (2)“I Can Get It Myself” Drawers
First, don’t forget to enter the 1st Anniversary Giveaway. You can enter now through this friday. If you add me to your RSS feed, you’ll be entered a second time for a chance to win. Don’t forget to include which watchband and face you want if you win. Thank you for your comments and I hope you continue to enjoy reading this site as much as I enjoy writing it.
It’s WHY NOT ORGANIZE SOMETHING Wednesday again. There comes a day in your child’s life when you are no longer needed to make their cereal or get them a drink of water. They can do everything for themselves and make sure to tell you at least 50 times a day. “I can do it myself”, “I can get it myself”, “No, I can do it”, “Don’t help me”, “Let me do it”! This usually happens around the age of 2 or 3 and ends at about the age of 12. So, why not take advantage of the situation while you can? Put things down at your child’s level so they can get their own plates, bowls, cups and eating utensils. This drawer is next to the refrigerator and second from the bottom so they can reach everything in it easily.
Since the kids have always wanted to be in the kitchen while I’m preparing dinner, there’s also a coloring/playdoh drawer below. They can play on the island counter and then quickly put everything away before dinner.
Do your kids like to get things for themselves and be around you while you’re preparing dinner? Clear out a couple drawers and make things easily accessible to them and easier for you.
Filed under Children, Kitchen | Comment (0)
