Beautiful Balcony - My Outdoor Oasis

Well, eventually I'm going to get the hang of taking time to actually write posts.
I finished this project quite some time ago, but I've been spending quite a lot of time designing my next project (no spoilers yet) not to mention this post is a long one.
As an apartment dweller, there isn't a lot you can customize.  One thing I was determined to enjoy was my balcony. I finally moved to an apartment with a screened in porch and a fireworks view!
Balcony's are pretty confined and boring and limited on design options, but after seeing the balcony in this post, I knew exactly what I wanted to do!

First things first-fixing the view.  Talk about first world problems, when I sat in my chair, the railing was directly in my line of sight for the fireworks show.  Now I already had this chair from Pier 1 Imports and I really didn't want to buy something new. It's a great buy; comfortable, long lasting-though I recommend covering the cushion to make it last longer.  So I called my good friend Cameron over with his many power tools and bought him pizza in exchange for him building this:

Lovely little box isn't it?

Jaxon really enjoyed the build process-sawdust can't be good for the digestive system...

Later on, I took a little time to sand and stain the platform (I used some leftover stain from a previous project, I don't remember what it was)-not that it helped it fit in on the bland balcony any better. So far total project cost is $30 and a pizza. But wait…there's more!

Side table is actually a repurposed shower stool I had used in my previous apartment shower stall.

After looking for quite a while online and almost buying some from Ikea, I found the coolest outdoor tile pavers.

They're made from recycled rubber, slightly raised from the floor to allow water runoff and won't mildew (at least so far and it's humid down here).  They come in different styles/prints too!

They do vary in size up to 1/4" difference per tile, but I didn't really notice it.  You're supposed to use clips that are sold separately to hold them together, but honestly I didn't see a need for them.  They were heavy enough to stay in place on their own.  And the best part?  I can take them with me wherever I go! I bought them through ebates.com with a 40% off Home Depot coupon and free site to store (Love Ebates!) But they are an investment nonetheless.  To cover my balcony (7'x12') I would have had to buy quite a few tiles; however, I decided that I would rather not cut too many of these tiles to fit (or pay that much money) so I planned on only covering a perfect rectangle and doing something else with the random edges.  This is where my silly giant box worked in my favor.  It takes up quite a bit of square footage and hides the back corner.

In the end, I settled on covering a b shaped space with four square on one side and 4 long in front of the  platform and 2 spares in case, so 22 total (Project total now: $150)

Jax took a long time to decide he was ok with these.

I only experienced two cons to the tiles:

1) The boxes are ridiculously heavy, I had to carry them upstairs one at a time. 

2) They honestly smell pretty strongly of rubber for a few weeks and can be slick for a while.

I got them how I wanted them, but it just didn't look right as a perfect square edge all the way around, so I took advantage of the flagstone print and cut some of my border tiles.

This is when I learned con #3, these things are really hard to cut!! I used a combo of really good scissors and a hand saw (surprisingly, the scissors were better) and I finally got them cut, but if I were doing it again, I'd recommend a power saw of some kind.

I don't have pictures of just the two tiles cut, but I cut one tile down one whole side (2/3 for one tile and 1/3 for the other) and then I cut three flagstones out of the corner of the other.  In the end I had one full tile and a tiny flagstone corner left over-I keep them just in case-might need them next time I move!

Now to fill in those pesky gaps left around the tile.  I went to Lowe's this time (ebates coupon and site to store!) and picked up some Mexican Beach Pepples. I ordered 4 bags, but ended up going back and paying full price for one more because they looked like they were spread too thin. (Project cost: $190)

I bought two new ivy plants at Lowe's for my weird corners and some fake mondo grass plants (I struggle to keep mondo grass alive outside but I liked the look) at JoAnn's (Project cost: $220)

I got two retaining wall blocks for ~$3 each for a step up.  The other plants I already had inside, and moved out into the sunshine!

So…what do you think?!

Total project cost: $230

But it was totally worth it to get my outdoor oasis and enjoy this view in style!

Excuse the terrible cell phone photo. The fireworks truly are awesome.

Now to keep Jax from eating the plants….

'Til next time!

Post Project-Closet Cleanup!

So…I definitely failed on the one post a week plan…
Major work projects will do that.
Now that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is on it's way to officially opening (May 28th!!) I am slowly starting to get my life back.

See an article about the mine here.
You can just see me in a picture at the bottom of the page.
As a way to feel like I'm getting back on track I decided to finally clean out my closet.

For a small back story, almost a year ago I started to organize my closet in an attempt to dress faster and better.  Part of this cleanup included the use of the Stylebook app (but more on that later).

The first step to cleaning out my closet started with this post on Organized Simplicity.
I did exactly as it says-I turned all of my hangars backwards in the closet.
After almost a year, I went through and took everything out of the closet. And i mean everything!
Jaxon of course wanted to help!

Anything that was still backwards went in the reject pile (with the exclusion of special dresses).
Anything properly facing I divided into two piles:
1. Keepers
2. Worn out Keepers

Depending on the level of wear of some of my favorites, I took note on style and color and made the very difficult decision to toss.
If it was acceptable but on it's way out, I also took note to keep an eye out for similar items on sale to eventually replace.

Unfortunately, I failed to take before pictures of my closet disaster, but I do have some lovely after photos.  As an apartment dweller, I am forced to use the existing wire shelving that comes with the closet.  However, Target and the Container Store are my best friends for all my organizing needs.
I purchased the 24" shoe shelves at Target which are stackable or hang-able as I have done.  I used a wall mount coat rack from the Container Store for my belts, scarves and hats.  The flip flop hanger and the boot hanging clips are also from the Container Store.

I used two standard key hook racks to hang bras.
Big bags and totes i hang on the back of the door.
The large basket is for small bags/clutches.  The small basket is to hold any specials I need to set aside for laundry day.
As you can see my closet doubles as my laundry sorting station.

Due to limited space in my apartment, I also store my Christmas tree and seasonal decor and extra bedding and blankets in the top of the closet.
To be honest it is frightening how few clothes I now have in my closet.
I am working on maximizing my outfits by only purchasing and keeping versatile pieces.

More to come on using your closet to it's fullest potential!

Window Shutter Mail Sorter

So…my first post took me longer to get around to then I originally planned.

I decided to start with a simple home decor project I did a while back.

I get a lot of compliments on this, and it was super easy.

A while back I saw a pin on pinterest that I wanted to mimic.

It showed an old shutter being used as a mail organizer.

Picture below:

The hardest step for this proved to be finding a shutter.  I went to a few garage sales and an antique store, but I struck out.  Of course, in my usual impatience to start a project, I went to Lowe's and bought a shutter pack.  I bought the smallest set they sold-although, the fact that it was plastic added a new step.  First step-primer-I used Valspar Primer for Plastic.

I was trying to give the shutter that aged look that a wooden shutter would more easily have.  I found this great tutorial here about creating a crackle effect using simple elmer's glue.  First the base paint color. I wanted a really bright pop of color to peek through.  I love buying sample jars from Lowe's-they're great for testing colors or for smaller paint projects and are really cheap!

After the base color dries, add a layer of Elmer's Original Formula glue (this is important as the new formula does not work as well) and spread evenly over the entire shutter. Don't forget the top and sides!

Once the glue is nice and tacky, top with your final color.  I chose a sample container of antique white.  Make sure you don't put it on too thick.  I made this mistake on one part of the shutter, so all of it didn't crack as much as I wanted.  Don't worry about it dripping through the slots, wait for it to dry and take a box cutter or knife to separate the layers.

As it dries, the paint will start to crackle, pictured below:

I added this step after playing with the painted shutter and having almost all of my mail fall through to the floor.  I don't have any pictures of this step and I apologize.  I will try to explain best I can.

The shutter is 12" wide.  I took standard 12x12 scrapbook paper in the same color as my base coat and cut into different size strips:  4", 6", 8" and 10".  I took all of these strips and folded 1/3 of them up lengthwise.  For example, the 4" strip was now 1.5" on one side of the fold and 2.5" on the other.

These would become the folders to hold any items that fell through the shutter.  I hot glued 1.5" edge to the bottom of the first slot on the backside of the shutter.  I glued the 2.5" edge to the bottom of the 2nd slot. Thus, I had a pocket for slot number 1.  I alternated the sizes per slot so i could store receipts and gift cards in the shallow slots and letters and invitations in the deeper pockets.

The last step was mounting the shutter to the wall-I used four drywall screws to make it more secure.

As you can see-I use it a lot.

I hope this tutorial was useful. I plan on updating soon with more detail on creating the pockets.

Until next time!

New Blog!

I'm very excited about my newest project-This Blog!
I've been crafting and scrapbooking my entire life and have finally decided to share my craftiness with the world (or my Mom since she will probably be my only reader).
With each new project I do, one of my friends will invariably ask me to show them how I did it.
Those long conversations and texts of pictures and how-tos inspired the creation of this blog.
And maybe it will help someone else find some crafty inspiration.

Happy Crafting!