Where Did I Put That? Etsy Treasury by Ellie

Ok, here goes: My name is Kristen and I love Etsy. Whew! Glad I go that off my chest. :)

I visit the Etsy website daily... Okay, I visit the website hourly. I like to look at the shops, I like to browse the products made by hand from around the world, I like to get ideas for how I can improve my (and my family's) life. I understand I can do this through Pintrest too, but unlike Pintrest, Etsy is more than pinning ideas to a wall. Etsy is your place to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage or a craft supply. There is something special about being connected to other creative people... I feed off their energy. They make me want to be more creative.

On Friday January 4th I received an email from fellow Etsy shop owner and Blogger named Ellie of My Little Chickadee Creations. Ellie shared a new treasury she created to help us get into the spirit of Spring Cleaning with a collection of handmade items from sixteen Etsy shop-owners around the world. To honor Ellie's Etsy treasury and the sixteen shop owners, I wanted to share these awesome organizational tools with you.

Why? Because a Crafty Betty is also an Organized Betty.

Below are the sixteen items Ellie included in the "Where Did I Put That?" treasury as well as links to each shop where the organizational item can be found. Check out the "Where Did I Put That?" Treasury by Ellie below:

Vintage Expanding Rack

I'm Not Messy, I'm Organizationally Challenged

Ohio Wall Decor

One Vintage Griffith Spice Jar for Spices

Set of 6 Laminated Yellow Cards

To Do List, Printable PDF

Storage Labels for Laundry

Jewelery Organizer for Jewelry

Recipe Box, Custom

Organization Zipper Bag

Handmade Paper Bowl

Scrabble Magnet, To Do

Yarn Bowl, Knitting Bowl

Rustic Vintage Wooden Textile Mill Spool

Leather Key Holder, Brown

Hanging Storage Pouch Pattern

DIY Pottery Barn Floating Shelves, As Seen on Ana White

Holman Shelf from Pottery Barn

I like to think of myself as creative, artsy and have good design esthetic. I am not en engineer, though. So when I stumbled upon Ana White's website and blog, I was hooked. Ana is a momma from Alaska with a purpose in mind: to make great furniture like the items found in our favorite stores but for a small fraction of the price. I love making knock-offs from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware items, so Ana and her design plans are heaven-sent. Who doesn't love a chick who knows her way around power tools? Seriously, when you have an hour or two available, go to her site and explore. And then come back and tell us what you made!

Although I totally made these shelves by myself, all the credit has to go to Ana for inspiring me in the first place. On her site she offers detailed plans (what to buy, how much to buy, and how to make it) for everyone so they too can make her Ten Dollar Ledges. Oh, did I mention her plans are FREE?

Now, this is why my small bit of expertise comes into play. I loved the 8' long floating shelves, but didn't need shelves for that large of a space. Also, since my husband works (a lot!), I knew he wouldn't be available to help hold the ledges while I attached them to the wall. In my pictures, shown are the two (2) 4' shelves instead of one 8' shelf, 2" wide shelves I made. So, I took one Ten Dollar Ledge and made two Five Dollar Ledges. Not bad, eh?

Great for Artwork and Trophies.

Shown with Ballet Photo, Play Bill and Special Knitted Doll.

Four Feet Long is the Perfect Length.

These space-saving wood shelves provide a handsome place for storage and display, and can be hung in any room of the house. Ana put her shelves in her dining room, I put mine in my children's room. What would have cost me $75/ each Floating Shelf at Pottery Barn ($150 total), I was able to make for $5 /each.

Another Knock-Off has been mastered! Thanks for looking, :) Kristen

Repurpose and Upcycle Things in Your Home

With the end of the winter season for those of us in the northern hemisphere in sight, our minds naturally turn to spring. As we open the blinds and pull back the draperies in our home, that's when we see it-- Dust! Clutter! Disorganization! Everything in our home now tells the story how we hunkered-down this past winter and were too cold to do anything.

Then we get a brilliant idea-- SPRING CLEANING. And that, my friends, is when we go crazy trying to make-up for lost time by cleaning and organizing every nook-and-cranny. We pull out the garbage bags or boxes for trips to the local thrift store, and we open up garbage and recycling cans for everything else. Although I can write an entire post about where our thrift store items actually go, instead I'll let you read this March 8th article found on GOOD, and write about repurposing and upcycling items already in your home: egg cartons, aluminum cans and glass jars.

The words REPURPOSE and UPCYCLE may not be found in the dictionary, but they are becoming commonly used in the English language. To repurpose or to upcycle something is to give an item new life other than its original intended purpose. To recycle is good, but most products in the marketplace that claim to be made of post-consumer waste are still made with 70% new materials. To repurpose an item reuses 50- 100% of the original item--much better than the average 30% used in recycled goods.

Let's Begin! 

Simple and yet oh-so-helpful!

Egg Carton.
Original Purpose: Place to safely hold eggs to prevent cracking.
Upcycled Purpose: Organizer.

We like to craft. We like to decorate. We like to build. Isn't it nice when our beads, needles, piping tools or screws aren't mixed up? Next time you begin working on a project, use an egg carton to keep you organized!

PS- Muffin tins are also great organizing tools too!

Step four: Can, towel, nail and hammer.

Aluminum Can.
Original Purpose: Preserve your vegetables and fruit for consumption.
Upcycled Purpose: Lantern.

Did I mention we like to craft? Here is a fun craft that only requires:
an aluminum can
water (ice, actually)
towel
hammer
one nail
tea light

1. Remove paper wrapper from can and thoroughly wash inside and out.

Step 6: finished product.

2. Fill can 3/4 full with water.
3. Freeze overnight.
4. Lay towel down on kitchen counter or table. Use nail and hammer to make holes in frozen can, starting from the bottom to the top.
5. If there is still ice in the can when all holes have been made, melt ice and dry.
6. Place tea light in bottom of can and enjoy!

Glass Jar.
Original Purpose: Preserving sauce or other condiment.
Upcycled Purpose: Fancy storage container for dried pasta, sugar, powder laundry detergent, etc.

Although not as messy as the activity above, this is still a fun crafty project that looks oh-so-pretty when complete. This upcycle requires:
one jar (I used a glass spaghetti sauce jar) with lid

Step six: finished product.

sand paper
drill
screw & cabinet know/ fixture
vinyl sticker labels (optional)

1. Remove paper wrapper from jar and thoroughly wash inside and out. Don't forget to wash the lid!
2. Remove the stamped label/ wording on the lid top with sandpaper. We want this to look pretty, right?
3. Using drill, make hole in center of the lid.
4. Attach decorative knob to top of lid using screw.
5. Apply vinyl sticker label to outside of jar.
6. Fill jar with desired dried item, attach lid and enjoy!

Summer: A Plan of Attack

Summer break will soon be upon us.
Sooner then any parent would like to think or even believe!
I feel that a little structure makes for a much more enjoyable and fun summer break.
In fact, structure might be too rigid a word for some -- lets say a plan of attack.

I want my boys to have a fun summer that isn't full of playing video games or watching tv.
However, I still want them to be engaged and to have a little bit of education oportunities to stimulate their brain so that they are ready for the next school year, come fall.

I did a whole post on my summer routine for a friend of mine last fall, if you want to read more, you can visit my home blog at the Peterson Party Page. There I break down what I did every day with my boys during the summer. Including a morning devotional (of sorts) and the workbooks I used.

Below is the books that we will be using this summer.
Summer Bridge books are amazing (and I've actually been surprised that the boys teachers' haven't heard of them).
You can purchase them at almost any bookstore or educational supply store and even online from the publisher itself.

The worksheets take very little time (so the kids aren't dreading doing some school work every morning of summer break) and they are one sheet front & back of spelling, math skills, reading, fitness....the creators did a spectacular job with these books.

I am taking it one step further this summer.
Now, you might be thinking that I'm a little too organized for your taste if I already have my schedule ready for the summer.
The reason that I am, is because I know that if I don't begin planning and organizing my summer now, I won't get it done and then I'll listen to "I'm bored" all afternoon, every afternoon. And I'll kick myself for not being more prepared for the summer.

So I won't mentally kick myself I have done a little scrounging on Pinterest and other websites to create a daily schedule of an extra thing to do each day -- mostly during #3's naptime (at least the "at-home" activities are.).
I've planned a different day for a different activity: games, science, crafts, cooking, library & or field trip.
I've also included the website I found the activity on so that I didn't have to write out all the instructions (if they were long), or where I needed to reserve something.

If you would like to create your own, I found the template in Word, in the template menu under "planners" and just inserted everything you see here.

If you would like a copy of your own in PDF format, click HERE.

If you would like a copy of your own in Word format, click HERE.

(fyi: this document is only for the 1st five weeks of the summer, if you want all my summer activy scheduling, contact me and I will send it to you)

The most important thing for a active, fun summer is flexibility.

I will also be making room in our schedule for musical theater camp for #2,

swimming lessons for #1 & #2,

and some camping fun.

Have a fun summer and make some great memories with your kids!

Routine -- a little bit better

Happy New Year!
Do you have any resolutions for 2012?
It always seems as though I do; and then half-way through the year
(and sometimes a few weeks into the new year),
I forget all about them.

In honor of the new year, I am going to share with you something that has made the morning routine for my boys and I a little bit less angst-ridden.
--And hopefuly help you be a little more organized as your kids start school up again this week.


I started a morning checklist with my oldest last year when we went to the pediatrican for input on some ADHD tendancies he was exhibiting.
She suggested that we try a checklist for morning and before bed to help him (and us) not be so agitated.

I think that we, as adults, sometimes feel that our kids -- especially our older ones -- should be able to remember what to do every morning.
I mean, good grief; they do it
every. single. day.
It's not like it is a surprise that they have to brush their teeth, or put their lunch in their backpack.
However, kids have wandering minds.
They actually do have a difficult time staying on track and remembering what needs to be accomplished before they head out the door (or go to bed) every day.

Hence a tad bit of agitation from mom -- because son should be able to remember to do all these things, and he doesn't and so I'm constantly reminding him when I'm busy getting everyone else ready --
--and from son because he's just trying to do everything right and feels like mom is constanly nagging him
(sound familiar?)

Ahhhhhh --- in comes the solution!

This is extremely basic and simple.
But it is effective.

I paste the morning and bedtime schedule back-to-back; laminate and put magnets on with a dry erase marker attached so that they are in charge of their schedule.

All mom or dad has to do is ask: "Have you completed everything on your list?"
And the kids love to check off their list and see it completed.

Feel free to print these off for your use. You can find them right HERE.
Or create your own.

I've also found other "chore charts" in the blogosphere that you could use.
This one is really cute; using magnetic pictures that your kids can move from the "to-do" side to the "done side"

Lil' Luna shares her tutorial for this magnetic chore chart here.

Good luck in the new year and may you be a little more organized and stress-free as your kids begin school again!