Author Archives: Blonde on a Mission

Closet Organization: Shelves + Junk Drawer(s)

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This project started off with my increasing disdain for the look of my bookshelf. It was filled with teenager chick lit reads and while I enjoyed them when I was 15, I wouldn’t be reading them again.

I took all the books and DVDS off the shelf and put them into a box to donate them. I kept my favourites and found a fridge insert — yes, a fridge insert — that held my leftover books and DVDs perfectly! Since all my new books are on iPad and all new movies are on Apple TV, this setup will be good for the long run.

Much. Much. Better.

After that, I was a woman possessed. I decided to tackle my “bedroom junk drawer”. This drawer houses extra wallets, memories, pens, jewelry and miscellaneous items.

I took out the felt insert that came with the closet organizer. It was meant for jewelry, but the layout was awkward and it didn’t really keep anything organized, per se. One quick trip to Home Sense later and I have an organized jewelry/memory box (there is a hidden drawer on the bottom) and a divided container for my extra wallets, pouches, phone cases and screen cleaners.

Aaaaaand my other bedroom junk drawer, located in the little table I have underneath my TV.

Yes, that’s a sock. My dad’s sock. I think I had intentions of turning it into a sock bun that never came to fruition.

Here’s the after!

I used a divided container to hold my iPod/iPhone armbands, headphones, pens, coupons and passport. In the other drawer, I used a displaced makeup holder for my dry erase markers, camera cord, Apple TV remote and headphone splitter.

Organization is definitely a long process, but I love working on one small project at a time because it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

Now I’m off to spend the rest of the day listening to NSync’s greatest hits and work on a magazine article! NSync definitely needs to reunite. I think boy bands are the way to go! It just seems that no matter what kind of music you listen to now, you can put on any song from 1998-2004 and practically everyone knows the lyrics and/or still loves the song. Also, now that we’re old enough to understand the dirty lyrics from boy band songs (O-Town’s We Fit Together and Liquid Dreams, B44′s Down on Me just to name a couple), we might even enjoy the music more!

Easy Upcycled Candle Jar!

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Turning this…

into this…

…is surprisingly easy.

What you’ll need:

- a candle jar that’s at the end of its life (I used a Slatkin & Co one from Bath and Body Works and the scent was soooooo last Christmas)

- Mod Podge

- Glitter

To easily and efficiently clean out the candle jar, stick it in the freezer for about an hour. Run a knife along the edge of the candle and then in the centre to break it apart. It should come apart easily. To get the wicks out, pour hot water into the jar and gently use a knife to unstick them. The stickers will wash off easily in hot water.

Clean the jar out thoroughly with dish soap and a sponge. To remove remaining residue, use a cotton ball and nail polish remover. Then it’s time to begin!

Paint the inside of the candle jar (or whichever cylindrical jar you use) with an even coat of Mod Podge.

Watch out for globs because they won’t dry evenly. Once it’s even coated, dump a generous amount of glitter at the bottom and then turn the jar on its side, rolling the glitter around to evenly coat the entire jar. Dump excess glitter onto wax paper/newspaper and funnel back into the glitter container.

And you’re done!

These ones aren’t fully dry yet, but after they dry for several hours (at least 10), you’ll have cute glitter jars to store make up brushes or what have you! I would also recommend spraying a sealant (I use Krylon) to ensure you won’t get glitter all over the stuff inside the jars.

 

Bathroom Organization Part 1: Makeup/Nail Polish/Under Sink

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The first step to getting my spaces organized was to throw out all the things. All the things that I hadn’t used in over a year, all the garbage, all the expired makeup + polishes and the random things I have acquired from who-knows-where over the years.

So…first step = throw shit away.

Second step = raid Home Sense or Home Goods or a similar discount Home store for organizational trays. Like I said in the previous post, this just gives a space to come back to after everything gets out of place.

This is my makeup drawer. Right off the bat, you’ll notice I don’t have a lot of makeup. That’s a personal preference. I don’t wear foundation, bronzer, concealer or pretty much anything on my face except tinted moisturizer and blush. The tray was $6 from Staples.

Palettes: Too Faced Natural Eye & Too Faced palette (Sephora 500 point perk). Clearasil Daily Cleansing Wipes. Blush: Nars Orgasm. Mascaras: Tarte Lash Primer, Too Faced Lashgasm, Benefit They’re Real!. Eye Liner: Stila Gel Liner in Black. Urban Decay eyeshadow in Baked. Moisturizers: Bliss Oxygen C, Perricone MD Face Finishing moisturizer, Philosophy 100 point Sephora sample. Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream. Tweezers: $2 Forever 21. Benefit PoreFessional cream.

Under the Sink

Some things I have found helpful for organizing under my sink are the graduated shelving unit ($9.99 Home Sense), the bin containing tampons/pads/etc, the cotton ball container and a plastic bin behind the graduated shelving containing replacement products/products I don’t use as often.

The graduated shelving unit makes everything easy to see (it’s also great for the medicine cabinet!) and is perfect for organizing my nail polishes. I am obsessed with Essie polishes.

(From left) Blanc, East Hampton Cottage, Set in Stones, Mint Candy Apple, Turquoise & Caicos, Mesmerized, Navigate Her, Pretty in Pink, Tarte Deco, Cute as a Button, Off The Shoulder, Peach Daquiri.

That’s it for this chapter of Operation: Organized Life. I will also post on the rest of my bathroom (all the drawers, countertop and shower).

I’m learning as I go and it feels so refreshing to gradually make a place for everything in my life.

Some posts that I have planned out for the next few days/weeks:

- Step-by-step organization of a terrible bathroom cabinet (see all my garbage & shit!)

- Closet organization

- Diet changes/weight loss

- DIY Tutorials

It feels good to be back!

Also…does anyone watch Girls on HBO? It’s my newest favourite TV show. It’s so awkward, weird, and uncomfortable to watch, but I find myself watching each episode 3x over because I can’t get enough of it. Highly recommended.

Basic Car Organization

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I fell off the blog world planet and into the abyss. It was nice out there! But I hopped on a homemade, Pinterest-inspired rocketship and now I’m back! For the time being.

I guess I just didn’t know if anyone was even remotely interested in what I had to say. I don’t have elaborate stories to tell, but rather just discoveries/activities that I make day-to-day.

But anyway, I organized my car and I’d like to share my tips!

I’m really into organizational accessories right now, because when things get out of place (and they do quite often), I love when they have a place to go back to. Ideally, I’d like to have a series of organizing posts from bedroom to bathroom to kitchen, and so on.

I’m not a fan of clutter in my car, so I have a few tricks to keep everything tucked away.

I’ll start off in the trunk. I keep hardly anything in my trunk, and that’s good because that’s the place where everything I buy has to go.

Just a snowbrush (in pink of course), that gets moved to the backseat during winter, and my yoga mat + towel.

Backseat:

I keep a storage tote containing a towel, an umbrella, reusable grocery shopping bags and a spare pair of flip flops ($4 from Joe Fresh). These totes will also come in handy during school, because I can keep all my notebooks and textbooks organized in one. I also keep a box of Kleenex under the seat and a portable container of moist towelettes in the back cup holder.

In the centre console, I keep a few necessities/emergency items, mainly a hair tie, bobby pins, bandaids, tampons, iPhone charger, a comb and I guess my student card.

Underneath the console is a little groove for spare change, but I have found it to be perfect to keep a little bottle of Febreeze to keep my car smelling fresh.

In the glove compartment, I keep my ownership/insurance for all those times I get pulled over, a lint roller and a notepad + pen. All that is pretty easy to imagine. For my dash, I just keep my USB cord there to so I can charge my iPhone and play music. 

And that’s it! I don’t keep a garbage bag in my car — I just throw everything in the side compartment on the door and empty it out once a week.

And I guess that’s it for my first post back in two months! A lot is new, some things big, some miniscule. I welcome anyone to ask questions, or wait (with breath that is baited — ten points for whomever knows where that’s from) for my next post to find out all that is new. Also, if you like the organizing posts, I would love to do a series. Most of the search engine terms are organizational, so I figure I can build on that.

Ciao for now!