MAGNETIC ALPHABET SWITCH-UP

Posted by Lori~

Do you have sets of the magnetic leapfrog farm animals or alphabet?  Well, we do.  I love the toy, but I just hate how gross it gets in the kitchen.  YUCK!

First, we tried the fridge. Then, we moved it to the dishwasher. 

Finally, I decided it was time for an all together new solution outside of kitchen.

First up, I pulled the farm animal set, cleaned it, and discovered we were missing 1/2 of the duck.  Why is it there is always one piece missing?  Honestly, Mur-Man is 4 and a little advanced for this kit, so this will go into storage.

Then it was time to wash the alphabet.  Mur-Man is still working on his letters, so keeping the alphabet kit was a MUST.  

I decided to move them to Mur-Man's red metal (and magnetic) bed.  We practiced his letters as we went and of course are missing just one letter in this set too.

 

Much more organized and much cleaner!

MUR-MAN'S ROOM ORGANIZATION UPDATE

Posted by Lori~

I feel like I am non-stop organizing (and re-organizing) Mur-Man's room. Prior to this organization overhaul, we had Mur-man's toys mostly in two toy boxes (one purchased at a garage sale) and my childhood toy box.  I loved them both, but neither of them were the most practical or useful.  It was hard to know what toys he had and where they were. When he did open up the toy boxes, all the toys would end up all over the room.  That's when I decided we needed a new toy plan.

I decided to pull an IKEA Expedit shelving unit out of Steve's closet. Honestly, it wasn't getting used fully and this will be a much better use for the shelf.

We sorted and organized the toys (and loaded up the shelves).  SO MUCH BETTER!

Mur-Man's happy with his new set-up (and so is Steve)!

UNDER BED DRAWER STORAGE!

Posted by Lori~

I am thrilled to post about this project...honestly one of my all-time faves!  And this project cost me under $3.00!  WOW!

My goal is to get storage under Mur-Man's bed and eliminate some of the room clutter.  First up, I was on the look-out for FREE DRAWERS!  I found them at a hotel that was updating their furniture.  They had the old dressers outside--I simply called them and they were free!

My girlfriends and WOM-MOM followers Holly and Steph decided to have a Modge Podge party to cover the interior of the drawers.

Holly opted to use full sheets of fabric.  Steph and I opted to cut fabric into squares to cover the drawer interior.

For my drawers, I used scrap fabric I already had and Modge Podge/sponge brushes I already had.

To apply Modge Podge, using a sponge brush you simply apply it under the fabric, press it down (smooth out any wrinkles), and then apply Modge Podge on top of the fabric.  Once the interior of the drawer is completely covered, you will want to ensure that all areas are smooth and have Modge Podge covering them.

 

Once the drawers were dry, we attached the wheels using stainless steel screws.  I was lucky to pick-up the castor wheels at IKEA for ONLY $2.99/pack! 

Now it was time to paint the drawers.  We first used primer (which I already had in my paint stash).

Once completely dry, we added our paint color.  Holly had purchased a metallic blue paint that I LOVED!  I used it too--thank you Holly!

I ended up using three coats of the blue paint--I did use a sponge brush for the final coat to eliminate any brush strokes.  
 

I also decided to use silver Rub 'N Buff on the handle and the drawer trim. 

It fits perfectly under Mur-Man's bed.  I am ready to create more drawers and eliminate more CLUTTER!

Here's Holly's drawer!  ADORABLE!

Here's Steph's drawer!  LOVE IT!

A few things we recommend from doing the project--take the handles off prior to the Modge Podge.  We forgot and then were stuck with the handles!  Thank goodness they were not too ugly.

Also, using smaller pieces of fabric was easier.  This makes it easier to attach the Modge Podge without wrinkles.

DORM ORGANIZING CRAFT NIGHT: WHITE BOARD PICTURE FRAME!

Posted by Lori~

Thank you Alannah (WOM-MOM FOLLOWER) for sharing photos and a tutorial from your recent craft night held at the college in my little city, ND town.  You say Alannah like banana, and she is GREAT!

Gather your materials (picture frame-with glass; scrapbook paper; paint-if desired).

Remove glass and backing and lay out paper on the work surface.

Paint frame (if using spray paint, please take it outside).

Cut scrapbook paper to area big enough to fit into frame.

Once dry, replace glass, and stick paper in before replacing backing. Add any ribbon or decals. It’s done!

What a great idea!    Alannah demonstrated several dorm organizing craft projects courtesy of Pinterest!  More to come soon!