Pinspired on wheels (a double whammy)

I realized that without context, my title sounds pretty much like gibberish. So here's your context, then.

Double whammy:
This pinspiring was brought to you by THIS PIN and THIS PIN.


I thought those clutter crates were totally a good idea and was totally (maybe?) going to get around to making some. And then, more recently, I saw the BHG drawers on wheels. And that's when the pinspriation hit. I totally had an old drawer in the basement that I had saved when we were demolishing stuff down there. I could get my clutter crate and not even have to build it!

So here's the drawer:

It's pretty big. There was some wallpaper in the bottom that just pulled up. I decided I wanted to put it back after everything got a good scrubbing, so I kind of washed the off the sticky side (which had a bunch of gritty dirt and cat hair on it) and then reattached it with a thin layer of mod podge on the bottom of the drawer.

 I also added blocks to the corners because the kind of casters I used had a post on them. I used liquid nails and it got a little bit messy, but I didn't really care.

After the blocks were secure, I drilled holes and attached the casters as per the instructions on the package. And....DONE! Super easy.

Here it is, all filled up and on wheels. Now my big girl can drag her blocks wherever she wants to.

{It's hard to see the wheels because they're sunk into the carpet a bit, but they're there.}

I'm so glad her blocks have a permanent place to go. I had them in an under-the-bed tupperware, but there were too many and it could be tricky to get them all in and still have it fit under her bed (especially for a 3 year old). No under the bed problem with this, because I don't want it under the bed. It's too cute/handy to be hidden away.

See how I made the blocks HERE.
My last Pinspired post HERE.

Easy zippered bags

These have been on my to-do list for awhile. I first decided to make some for my daughter's Polly Pocket things (so so tiny) and then I was like, hey, it'd be nice to have one for her crayons, too. And then I was like, hey, I want one for my make up. And then I told my friend I'd do a boutique with her, so I was finally motivated (a deadline!) and I made a bunch. Nothing sold (ahwell) and so now I have a bunch of pouches (over 20). I have several in use around the house and they're handy little things for sure.

So here's what I did:

First, cutting fabric. Most of what I used was quilting cotton, but I also used other materials I had on hand, like some vintage sheets and scraps left over from other stuff.

I made 2 sizes, a 5x9 and a 7x9. I cut everything an inch larger in each direction to give me plenty of room for seam allowances. For each pouch you need 4 rectangles, two for the lining and two for the outside.

After cutting, add whatever embellishments to the front. Some I sewed stuff to, some I freezer paper stenciled.

Then you make your first zipper sandwich- the front piece right side up, the zipper upside down, then a lining piece face down. Sew them all together along the top, staying right next to the zipper (use a zipper foot).

After that, do the same with your other lining and outside fabric pieces (you'll have to fold the first two out of the way in order to make the same sandwich).

Then you can open it up and make sure the zipper is in the right place and everything.

Then fold the front pieces right side together and the lining pieces right side together.

IMPORTANT: unzip your zipper at least half way. If you don't, it will make trouble when you try to turn the bag right side out. Sew almost all the way around that rectangle. Leave a gap of about 3-4" in the long side of the lining pieces. Clip your corners.

 Turn everything right side out through the gap

 Take the gap....

 

And sew it closed.

{Sorry to switch bags on you again.}

Stuff the lining back into the bag and TA-DA!

 Very easy. It gets even easier after you make about 25 of them:

{I had kind of a really fun time matching linings to outside fabrics. Like, it's kind of weird how much fun it was for me.}

Some freezer paper stenciled (tutorial from HERE).

{My favorite one is the alligator. Makes me smile every time.}

 Some I sewed embellishments to:

Here's most of what I did:

 

Anybody need a zippered pouch? If you need one (and even if you don't) and you're related to me/good friends with me, guess what you get for your next birthday. Go ahead, guess.

I hope you guessed zippered pouch, because really.

Even if you didn't...you will still get one anyway.

Dresser --> Entertainment Center

 I have such a distinct memory of taking "before" pictures, but I might be going crazy because I couldn't find them anywhere. Oh, maybe they're still on the broken camera! (lightbulb!) So, in lieu of a real before picture of just the dresser, here's an after picture of after I cleaned the garage that happens to have the dresser in it! Ta-da! I got the dresser for either $60 or $80 on KSL (a local classifieds) last summer, when I was giant pregnant.

Here's why I was looking for one to turn into an entertainment center:

 We couldn't fit all our stuff into our itty-bitty Target buy from when we were first married. Here's what it looks like now:

{Sorry about the crappy cell phone pics again. Also, I love "How to Train Your Dragon."}

 Here it is all opened up:

 DVDs fit perfectly into the drawers, they're just the right height. The bottom middle drawer has all our exercise gear like weights, yoga mat and resistance bands.

I made the labels with my Silhouette; the font is Lobster. 

I took out the top two drawers and lined the cavity with 1/8" mdf. I put a thin molding around the open areas to make them look more built in and to hide the seams from the mdf. I know we don't need need 2 missing drawers worth of space for just an xbox and a DVD player, but I'm planning ahead for speakers, a receiver, a BluRay player, and whatever else they come out with. I'm going to move the DVD player up to the top level once I find a basket that fit that spot. Then I'll use the basket for extra storage until we need the open space again.

 

 

I love it. You maybe also noticed the tv upgrade. Woot!

You can freeze everything

First, my disclaimer:  I'm no food expert.

Freezing food is great, especially if you didn't get around to canning anything this year.  Like maybe you had a baby right around the time the whole canning season rolled around...or something.  It was always my plan to go big on canning once we had a garden, but it didn't happen for me this year.  However, our garden was still kind of planned around canning in future years.  We had 6 tomato plants.  And I don't even like tomatoes (in their unaltered form- I love salsa, red sauce, ketchup, etc.). 

My mom totally saved the day when she told me you can freeze whole uncooked tomatoes.  You just wash the tomatoes, cut off the top, and stick them in a freezer bag. Awesome, right?  I had no idea.  They're great for using in sauces and soups, apparently.  You can even use them in fresh salsa in the winter, but you need to make sure that those frozen tomatoes are blemish free, since you're not cooking out any possible germs. 

{These will be sauce.}

Another of my recent favorites when it comes to freezing food: pesto.  I know you can freeze fresh herbs (though I've never done it), so it made sense that you could freeze the finished pesto.  I especially love it when I'm making a creamy pesto sauce, because it removes half the process.  I should have done this with more of my basil before it all flowered.

{I freeze it flat, breast milk style.  It makes thawing it so fast.}

Your own pie crust.  The pie crust recipe I use makes 5 single crusts.  I don't often need that much at once, so I freeze it like they do in the store- I roll it out on top of wax paper, then roll it up.  I wrap that in saran wrap, then aluminum foil.  Another way to freeze it- if you have any of those disposable pie plates, you can lay the dough in those, trim the edges, and seal it up with saran wrap.  They don't take as long to defrost as the rolled up ones.

{They remind me of Christmas crackers.}

As well as freezing this stuff, I also froze broccoli and cauliflower.  We planted more than we could eat fresh, so I just blanched the excess and stuck it in freezer bags.  

That's most of my new freezer-ing.  I need to go check out the frozen foods aisle for more ideas.  

I can park in my garage again!

Great news, right?  Too bad I didn't get it done before Mim had to suffer through hot car seat buckles all summer, but at least I won't have to scrape the car this winter.


I also didn't get any before pictures.  Too bad, because it was sooooooooo awful.  It was still a huge mess from Mim's Christmas gift and it just got worse this spring- we put a lot of stuff in there and un-put away a lot of things that never ended up being put back.


Here's what it looks like now:

That dresser there in the back, that's going to be awesome someday.  I got it for $60 (I think- it might have been $80) on KSL (a local classifieds here in Utah).  So just you wait, it's going to be excellent.  Eventually. 

Remember how I said "Next up, the basement!" like a year ago?  I would say it again, but I don't want to jinx anything.

Until next time!