Organize Everything - The Medicine Cabinet

Hello everyone!  Sorry I have been MIA this week.  It has been one of those weeks with a million things to do and no time to do it in!  As my "To Do" list grows, I tend to get a little overwhelmed and nothing seems to get done.  But the weekend is here and I can finally get caught up on a few things!

I am continuing on with my Organize Everything project and will be tackling the kitchen over the next couple of weeks.  When we moved into this house nine years ago, I remember thinking that there would be no way that I would ever be able to fill up all of our kitchen cabinets.  Well, let me tell you, I have FAR exceeded my expectations!

Since there is so much organizing to do in the kitchen, I will be breaking down the tasks into smaller jobs that I can actually finish in an hour or two.  First up on the list is my medicine cabinet.  This is the worst cabinet in the kitchen and I am very lucky if I can actually take something down from it without at least 10 other items coming down with it!

Sorry, I didn't get any BEFORE pictures of my lovely cabinet.  I actually wasn't planning to clean it out when I did, but after a ton of bottles came tumbling down on me, I figured I better get to it.  So here we go!

• Empty out everything from the cabinet.  {Sadly, this isn't even all of it.}

 

• Go through everything and discard any unused, expired or out-dated medication.  {Yes, this bottle is actually dated 10/99!}

• I emptied all of the discard pills into a ziploc baggy along with the liquid medicine to take back to our pharmacy.  Most of the empty bottles were recyclable.  

{Yikes!}

Although, our pharmacy takes back any unused medication, they are not required to do so and some will only take back prescription medication purchased from their pharmacy.  If you need to dispose of medications yourselves, DO NOT JUST FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET!  The FDA does advise that some drugs can be flushed {find the list here} but the majority of them should be disposed of by other means.  I'm not an expert in this department {and I'm sure guidelines vary depending on where you live} but here are a couple of ideas that I have come across:   

• Many municipal or local trash services have household waste facilities where you can safely drop off your medications for incineration. 
• If you need to deposit over the counter medication in the trash, crush solid medications or dissolve them in water.  Then combine them with kitty litter or coffee grounds and place them in a sealed bag before adding them to your trash.  

Now comes the fun part - organizing everything that is left!  Our storage cabinet is a tiny, pie shaped, corner cabinet that is pretty much useless for storing much of anything.  

{the one on the right is where the medication goes}

I am a huge fan of using bins to organize but it was difficult finding something that would fit in this space.  I ended up using these bathroom caddies {purchased from Kohls}and just removed the suction cups.

I divided the medication up into categories for each shelf and added a little label.  

The baskets can now easily be removed to find what we are looking for without knocking down everything else in the process!

As a side note, when picking a place to store your medication, here are a couple of guidelines to follow:

• Make sure that all medications are stored away from children and pets and kept in their original, tamper-proof container.  You can actually purchase lock boxes {like the one here} if you do not have somewhere to store your medications out of harms way.  
• Medications need to be stored in a dry, cool place that is away from moisture.  This keeps them from breaking down and becoming less effective.  This obviously rules out the bathroom!  If you store your medication in the kitchen like I do, make sure it is away from the stove and other heat producing appliances.

Okay, one project done and about 5 more to go!  Has anyone else been working on organizing their kitchen lately?  I would love to see what you have done or have you join along with me as I organize mine.  Under the kitchen sink is up next!

I linked up with Modern Parents Messy Kids, The CSI Project, Org Junkie, Tatertots and Jello, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Whipperberry, House of Hepworth's, Christina's Adventures, Delightful Order, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Blue Cricket Design, The Stories of A to Z, Homemaker on a Dime, Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Skip to My Lou, Embellishing Life, Ask Anna, Craft-O-Maniac, The Girl Creative, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, I Heart Naptime, Thirty Handmade Days and Under the Table and Dreaming. 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Go Canucks Go!

Hi all!  I was planning on doing a post tonight but am too emotionally spent from watching the hockey game!  Seriously, I thought I was going to pass out.  But, like a good ol' Canadian girl, hockey must come before blogging!  Game 7. OT. Canucks defeat Chicago 2 to 1!  Hope you all have a great night {sorry to any Blackhawks fans out there!} and I will be back later in the week!

GO CANUCKS GO!

Subway Sign with Hidden Travel Journal

I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!  I have really been enjoying the extra long weekend {and the piles of chocolate!}.  I seriously could get use to this!

Last month, we purchased a trailer and plan to do a lot of family camping trips this summer.  I wanted to make something for Matthew to record all of the places that we go and a few of his favorite memories from each trip.  He likes hidden places so I decided to create this canvas subway sign and store his journal in the back.

The back of a canvas provides a perfect place for a little journal or photo album!

MATERIALS

• Canvas.
• Paint. 
• Vinyl letters or stencils.
• Cardboard for the front and back covers.
• Jump rings.
• Scrapbook Paper {Mine is from Kaiser Craft}.
• Distressing Tools {optional}

TO DO

• Paint your canvas on both the front and back sides.
• Add your words to the front of your canvas.  I used cream vinyl cut from my Silhouette but you could always stencil them on as well.  I chose words of places/trips that we have already done.  
• If you are having trouble with your vinyl sticking, place a piece of thin paper over the words, heat the blow dryer over it for about 20 seconds and then press the vinyl down again.  {I see I have a few letters that I need to straighten up!}

• For the journal, cut out a front and back cover from cardboard.  Mine is approximately 5 x7 {just a bit smaller}.  Then cut out a piece of scrapbook paper that is slightly larger than the cardboard.  Trim the corners as shown.

• Fold the corners up and adhere with double sided tape {or lots of glue!}.  Glue another sheet of coordinating scrapbook over the cardboard.
• I cut the inside journal pages to 4 x 6.  That way I can easily add photos to the album.  Punch holes for the jump rings.  Decorate as you wish!  I used some brown ink and a paper cutter to distress the paper.

{The word "journal" was downloaded from the Silhouette site}

• My paper is from Kaiser Craft {Pack Your Bag Line}.

• I added a few little tags throughout the album.

• I also divided the journal pages up into three categories: boat {my parents have a boat that Matthew LOVES going out in}, road trips {for our camping trips}, and air travel {hopefully there will be something for that tab soon!}.

• The journal actually fits quite nicely inside the canvas.  You could always add some ribbon or elastic across the opening if you wanted it to be more secure.

Now we just need to get traveling!  I can't wait for the summer!

I linked up with Shanty 2 Chic, Skip to my Lou, Embellishing Life, Ask Anna, Craft-O-Maniac, The Girl Creative, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, I Heart Naptime, Thirty Handmade Days, Under the Table and Dreaming, Young and Crafty, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, 504 Main, Tidy Mom, Sun Scholars, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Elements Interiors, Night Owl Crafting, Passionately Artistic, Blue Cricket Design, The Lettered Cottage, Sew Chatty, Tip Junkie, and Today's Creative Blog. 

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER, my friends!!   We had a great Easter Brunch and Easter Egg Hunt with the kiddos this morning.  Here's a look at the kids' table before the chaos began!

The little baskets and plastic chicks were purchased at Target.

And the printables were from Anders Ruff.

Of course we had to have some Peeps!

It wasn't really feeling like Spring on Thursday as Matthew headed to school with his Easter treats.

But the sun was out shining today and we were able to do an outside Easter Egg Hunt for the first time in years! {Can you believe that this is just 2 days later?}

On your mark, get set, GO!!!

Some of the eggs were labelled with the kids' names {well, the first letter anyways!} so the little kids got some eggs too!

 I hope you all have a wonderful Easter with your families!!!


I linked up with Funky Junk Interiors.

Catch the Easter Bunny

Want to catch the Easter Bunny in action?  You can go here and they will tell you how to set up your camera to get a great shot of the Easter Bunny at your house!

{Hello! Mr Easter Bunny!}

We did it at Christmas and it was super easy to do.  The kids thought that they were pretty tricky catching ol' Santa!

  

{This is at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve}

Good Luck!!

Goldfish Carrots

With only 4 days left until Easter, I am bracing for a sugar-filled weekend!  Knowing how much chocolate will be around the house, I wanted to create a little treat for the kids to take to school that wasn't quite so sugar laden!  I first saw these goldfish carrots on Pinterest {my new favorite place!} and then saw them again over at The Moody Fashionista.  Here are mine:

Here's what you'll need:

• Disposable decorating bags {the kind you put icing in}
• Goldfish crackers
• Green ribbon.  I used just under a yard per carrot.
• Tags {mine are from Anders Ruff}
• Wrapped chocolate eggs.  Yes, I know I said I wanted a healthier treat, but a chocolate surprise is always nice!

I'm pretty sure you don't need instructions for this one but just in case...Fill up the bag half way with goldfish, add a chocolate egg or two, and cover with more goldfish.  Wrap the top of the carrot with some green ribbon and add your tag.  Now you just have to keep them away from those pesky wabbits!

20 done for Connor's class, 20 more to go for Matthew {he has informed me that he requires at least 2 chocolate eggs since he is in grade 1!}.

Okay, I'll give one to the bunny too! :)

I linked up with Be Different, Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, 30 Days, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Sun Scholars, The Shabby Nest, Chic On a Shoestring and Delightful Order.

Initial Wreath

Hi there!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  I have been working on this wreath FOREVER and finally got it finished today.  For some reason, I wasn't particualrly motivated to work on this project.  It has been laying on the basement floor for weeks so I decided I had better get it done!

{Sorry the colours are so washed out!}

I have loved all of the moss initial wreaths that I have been seeing around the blogosphere and knew I had to have one! I really wanted a nice symmetrical letter like an 'S' or a 'T' but, alas, I am an 'L'.  I did ask if my husband would consider changing our last name but no luck!

If you are making a moss initial I would highly recommend spending the extra money and getting the sheet moss.  If you use a coupon, there is not a huge difference in price.  It was still messy but so much easier than gluing a whole bunch of random moss pieces on!  My letter was a large, cardboard {papermache?} one that I purchased at Jo-Anne's.  I think it was about $3 or $4.   I just cut the moss out like fabric and wrapped up the letter almost like I was wrapping a present.  Add some hot glue and you are done!  It literally took me about 10 minutes.  

To add a little more interest to my boring ol' L, I added some berry twig branches that were left over from my Spring tree and Butterfly projects.    

I attached the letter with hot glue to the grapevine wreath.  The 'L' looked very unbalanced on the wreath by itself so I spent another few days pondering over what I was going to add.  Since I LOVE fabric {even though I cannot sew a stitch!}, I decided to add some fabric flowers.  

The burlap flower is just the basic rosette rolled flower with a little brad in the middle.  There is an awesome video tutorial on how to make these little guys over at Freckled Laundry.

Here's how to make the pink one:

• Cut a bunch of circles out of your fabric. I think I used about 12.  I actually would have liked to have added a few more but ran out of fabric.  The circles don't have to be perfect.  You should be able to cut 5 or 6 at a time. 
• Take one of your circles and fold it in half.

• Take one corner and fold it forwards towards the middle.  Hot glue in place.

• Take the other corner and fold it backwards towards the center.  Hot glue in place.

• Cut out a circle from felt to use as your base and start hot gluing your cones to the center.  Since I was short on fabric I staggered them a bit. Keep going until all of the gaps are filled in and your flower is as full as you would like.

• Add a small rolled flower to the center {like the burlap one}.

For the blue flower, I cut out a circular piece of felt for the base and a fabric strip that was approximatley 3 inches by 20 inches.  I folded the strip in half {width wise} and simply did an accordian fold all the way around.  Every 5 or 6 folds I adhered it to the center with hot glue.  For the center, I cut out a couple of circles from yellow fabric and added a button. 

Finally I have a wreath for the front door again!

Now I just have to do the rest of the front entrance!  It definitely needs a good clean and some flowers to spruce things up.  But for now, at least I have my wreath!

Have a good week! 

I have linked up with Southern Hospitality, 504 Main, Tidy Mom, The CSI Project, Elements Interiors, Night Owl Crafting, The Lettered Cottage, Sew Chatty, Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Craft-O-Maniac, CRAFT, The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Thirty Days, Fingerprints on the Fridge, The Shabby Nest, Chic on a Shoestring, Delightful Order, Paisley Passions, Katie's Nesting Spot, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Christina's Adventures, Blue Cricket Design, Passionately Artistic.