Tool Time Tuesday...Ideas For Shoe Organizers

I haven't had an organizing post in a little while, so I poked around the house for something I haven't shared yet...so today it's shoe organizers!! We do use them for shoes, but we also use them for other things too. This is a short post of a few ideas that might be helpful in your home.

Here's one of two over the door hanging shoe organizers in Kelsie's room. Most all her shoes are with her at school, so I played around with some ideas to inspire you.

Shoes of course...

How about scarves, gloves, mittens, hats, belts and other accessories.

One pocket for each skein of yarn. Keeps it clean, organized and easy to see.

Toy holder...stuffed animals, barbie dolls, games

This is a small narrow closet in the girls' bathroom.

Holds all the essentials...easy to see when you are running out and need more soap, lotion, toothpaste, floss etc.

I actually cut this in half. The other side is hanging in Courtney's closet. She has a mirror on the inside of her door and this bag fits perfectly without covering the mirror. When you cut it the length of the bag, make sure you keep the seam for each pocket intact.

You could also hang this on the back of your kitchen pantry door. Keep all those small things from getting lost with the cans.

This clear over the door hanger is on the back of my husband's office door. Holds all the over flow office supplies.

These are the shoe bags that hang from the rod in your closet.

Nice and deep front to back.

Ahhh...fabric!!!

Charm packs, fat quarters and yardage all in one place!!

There are so many other things you can store in shoe organizers...

• cleaners
• medicine...as long as they are locked and out of reach from children. Great for child free homes
• canning jars filled with craft supplies (buttons, beads). Each jar fits in the pockets
• children's snack bars and treats
• socks, nylons, pantyhose, tights
• bra organizer...keeps them from getting crushed your drawer
• dog supplies...toys, stuffed animals, bones, treat, leashes, collars, brushes
• hair accessories...head bands, clips, bows, brushes, curling irons, straighteners etc

The list is endless what you can store in these bags. They are neat, tidy and out of sight behind the door.

Go through your home and see what you can gathered up and stored in one place. "Like" things stored together keeps things organized and easy to find...which equals less stress!!

Happy organizing,
~Karen~

Need Your Sewing Machine Opinion...

For those of us who sew, you know your sewing machine is like a member of the family and an expensive one at that. Some of us have a hand me down machine from our moms or grandmothers and some of us have invested in a new one. No matter where our machines come from, we all have our favorite brand, favorite model, favorite feature or accessories...and with that, this is where you come into the picture.

Rebecca, from the blog Trial, Error and Triumph, emailed me asking what type of embroidery machine I had. She is looking to invest in a new machine, has done all the research online, but (like all of us) is overwhelmed by all the info.

What better way to get true, honest opinions about sewing and embroidery machines...than to go right to the blogging world.

She would like to do monogramming and appliques to make gifts for family, friends. She also wants to make beautiful things for her Etsy Shop.

I would love it if you could share your opinion about the machine you have. Keep in mind Rebecca's goal is embroidery...monogramming and applique.

• what brand
• what model
• approximate cost (if you're willing to share)
• features you like
• accessories it has that you love
• ease of use

I think this may help so many other people out there too. There's nothing better than a "blogging friend" telling you things she loves. So let's hear from all of you out there!!

Thanks in advance for all your help,
~Karen~

Don't forget to visit Rebecca and follow her new blog too..cute, cute. Click here to pop over there

Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 51

Hope everyone had  fun looking through all the wonderful projects in last week's Sew Darn Crafty Party. Thanks to all who linked up and thanks to all who came by for a visit.

Sharing thoughts and ideas is the theme for crafty linking parties, but with Valentine's Day just around the corner let's see what we can share with the color red, hearts or love theme.

You can still link up anything you'd like, but if you have an old post from a previous Valentine's Day project you can share that too.

If you want to add the button to your blog...Click HERE for a tutorial for adding a button


If you're NEW to Sew Darn Crafty, then grab a cup of something tasty, sit back and join in on the fun (starts Sunday and lasts all week long at Sew Many Ways).

WHAT IS SEW DARN CRAFTY...

• "Sew" for anything to do with sewing,
• "Darn" for anything to do with knitting. I always think of darning to do with knitting, but in my case "darn" is similar to the word I say when I mess up crafting!!
• Let's not forget the word "crafty"...which is every thing we create
• ...the dot, dot, dot means you can share just about anything!! 

WHAT IS A LINKING PARTY...

So now we all know what Sew Darn Crafty means, let's explain a linking party again. I subscribe to a linking service, which provides the ability to link thumbnail pictures on my blog. The picture is a link that other bloggers provide to share their projects.

Two things can happen at a linking party...looking and/or linking

• you can be greatly inspired by wonderful projects, ideas or vacation pictures (looking) and/or
• you can share what you've been up to (linking)

If you want to be inspired by all the great ideas...just click on a picture and it will take you to that post from a wonderful blogger willing to share her thoughts and ideas.


HOW AND WHAT TO LINK TO THE PARTY...

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your entire blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects, vacations, parties etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• grab a Sew Darn Crafty button for your blog (on my right side bar) or just link to the party in your post.
• the more we share, the more people will join and then there's more inspiration to look at!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the "click here to enter" button and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week,
~Karen~

Blog Buddy...How To Add Your Follow Me Pinterest Button

I've had lots of requests on how to add a "Follow Me on Pinterest" button to the sidebar of your blog. If you're new to Pinterest...it's fabulous! It's a virtual pin board where you "pin" all your favorite things you find on the Internet to your own boards. It's like having a cork board for all different categories, right there in your own account!

If you want to see what Pinterest looks like...Click HERE to visit my Pinterest boards. I add new things to it all the time.

If you already have a Pinterest account and want to add the "Follow Me" button to your blog...here are the quick steps.

Click these pictures below to enlarge so you can see it better.

Log into your OWN Pinterest account...you must log in so your Pinterest address shows up in the HTML code.

• click the "About" drop down menu
• click on "Pin it Button"

Under the "FOLLOW BUTTON" section, there are several different styles to choose from. Click on the one that you would like...

A different HTML code will show up for each one.

Put your cursor over the code, right click and click COPY.

Now go to your Blogger dashboard...I'm still in the old interface, so I click DESIGN. In the new interface, I think you click LAYOUT.

Click ADD A GADGET...

Scroll down and click HTML/JAVASCRIPT

A box will pop up. You can type a title in there if you want...not needed though.

In the main bigger box, put your cursor in there and right click then PASTE the code in there. For some reason lately, blogger or my mouse won't let me paste in these boxes. I can paste in other places, but not here.

If you have problems with right click pasting, just place the cursor in the box and then on your keyboard..

• hold down the Ctrl button and the "v" button at the same time. Should paste right in there

After it's pasted in the box, make sure you click SAVE

The new button will appear at the top of your sidebar.

If you want to move it down in a different spot on your side bar, DRAG and MOVE it down where you want.

If you move something you must click SAVE again.

There it is...a button that will link to your Pinterest account.

Hope this helps,
~Karen~

Thoughts on Thursday...

Our kids introduced us to a (new to me) tv show about a month ago..."The Big Bang Theory". A comedy about nerdy science guys. I love it, so funny.

What's your favorite tv show?

Happy Thursday,
~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Button Bracelet Tutorial

Happy Tuesday! Today is an easy tutorial for a button bracelet. Get your button collection out. If you don't have one, find someone who does and go through it!!

I have a small button collection made up of things from my own projects, from my mother and my grandmother. They were both frugal and both loved yard sales...so I'm not sure where any of these buttons came from. If they had clothes that were no longer wearable, buttons were removed and saved in big glass jars. If they were at a flea market or yard sale and there were buttons...they would buy them.

and this is the result of all that button saving!

A family history on one bracelet...

Here's what you need...

I bought this charm bracelet at Walmart in the craft section for $2.00.

I also had these larger jump rings for the larger buttons. The little ones came with the bracelet, but didn't fit any of the buttons. You will need the larger rings for the width of the button from the holes to the outside. This package was about $2.50 for 60 and the size is 10mm.

You will also need buttons of course! You can buy new buttons in craft stores. Some actually come in group packages of the same color.

I used mostly pearlized buttons in different shades of cream.

First step...open up the large jump ring.

Slip the ring through any hole in the button.

Add to a loop of the bracelet and close the ring.

Plan out the larger base buttons to add them equally across the bracelet.

To make it look fuller without using a ton of rings, add 3 different sized buttons to one ring.

Depending on the thickness of the buttons, you might only fit 2.

Work your way down the bracelet.

This is so cute and you could be finished at this point.

or you can start adding different sizes, shapes and textures.

One pearl bead button and a small flat button.

I also found these clear crystal looking buttons. Can you see the thread still left on one of them? That shirt didn't have a chance. Lol

Look at this bunch someone tied up...so funny.

Added both on the same ring for a little bling!!

I love this picture of the pearl button towards the bottom of the picture. Can you see the shank of the button? It's verdigris. It must be brass or copper and old. I didn't want to clean...there's a story with that button.

Here's a Tool Time from someone out there...either my mom, my grandmother or someone who they bought the buttons from. My mom and grandmother are both looking down on me, so I can't ask, but I'll give credit to both!

They used bobby (hair) pins to hold the buttons.

Slide buttons onto the hair pin...and twist the bottom closed.

I love it!

I hope you had fun in my button box...

Hmmm...I'm thinking earrings too.

Have a great Tuesday,
~Karen~