Quick Organizing

Basement under step storage.

The thing about being organized is that it’s continuous. You get organized and have a space for everything and then you have too much of everything and then you have to purge, and there you are, back at the beginning. This is what happened to my under stair storage space in the basement. It was a form of “organized” in the beginning. It held all of my boxes and some toys in boxes that we needed to get rid of. Some of the boxes had a specific use, the boxes that the wine glasses came with in case I rented them out or had to bring them to an event, the boxes for my parfait glasses also had the same purpose. There were also some boxes from USPS for when I mailed out items that I sold on eBay or wherever I posted items for sale and other boxes for who knows what. I did use some of the boxes for their intended purposes at some point, but I haven’t listed anything on eBay in years but the boxes just kept accumulating as we purchased items for our now toddler son, as I ordered items from Amazon…..  

My first intention was to get some custom shelves built by my husband and all of these other grandiose ideas that are extremely difficult to implement when your toddler is trying to keep the tape measure hostage. In the middle of my dream rant about the possibilities reality hit in the form of my husband, who told me that he wouldn’t help me until I emptied out the space. So I had no choice but to start working on clearing it out.

I made 4 piles.

1.    Boxes to be broken down and recycled         - 90% of the items

2.    Boxes that I would like to keep            - One box full of boxes

3.    Items to be sold                                   - Play mat/ large toy

4.    Items to keep and be relocated             - Nothing (surprise/surprise) lol

Check out the empty space. Unfinished but still filled with possibilities. 

All of the boxes to be recycled were broken down and cut up immediately and placed in our giant recycling bin. Next we took some measurements and we made our way to Home Depot after we went to Once Upon a Child to sell our toys for pennies on the dollar. But at least we got rid of the stuff that was junking up our basement.

I originally wanted some metal wire shelving or the metal shelving with wood shelves however none of them came in the dimensions that I needed to fit snugly in the stair area. My intention was to slide the shelving into the stairs with no access to the back of the stairs. This changed after we placed the shelf in and saw that placing it against the wall offered more storage space and access. I can’t believe how much space I now have and I even have room for more items. YEAH!!!!!!

Check it out!!! I know what you are thinking. You want to go into your storage space and do the same thing right? No you were just admiring the bird cages. LOL Those were used in the 50^th Birthday Party that we recently decorated for (Bird Cage Centerpiece).

Thanks for joining me on my mini organizing journey. This was definitely one of the smaller organizing projects that I have undertaken with the biggest impact. I almost went into the other back area (yes there is more stuff) and brought over some other miscellaneous glass votive holders and candle holders to put on the shelf but instead I decided to just bask in the glory of completing the project.

Let me know what you think. Do you have a mini organizing project to share? Do you live in my area and need my help?

~Darley

Its Party Time

Hola Readers. 

I hope you all have had an amazing week and a great start to your weekend. Last weekend we had the fun task of doing decor for a 50th Birthday Party in the colors Royal Blue and Gold for my clients boyfriend. There were definitely some initial challenges, one being that we were approached by the client 4 days before the event and saw the space 2 days before, the second was that our client wanted the head table to not have breakable items as half of the guests who would be sitting there were children. Surprisingly in such a short time frame I was able to get an amazing baker to create the 50 plus cupcakes that we needed and I styled below, as well as partnering up with another very talented crafter, Evelyn to create the banner for the head table. My design partner Margo and I hit up the favorites JoAnn Fabrics and Michaels and then Party City in search for the items that we needed to decorate the table along with any and items that said 50 on them. Although in my head I would think that 50 was a milestone and would be quite common however the party store only had items that referred to a 50^th Anniversary. Needless to say we purchased the only item that would work (confetti that said 50) and then created additional labels and tags ourselves. I will apologize in advance for the photo overload although I am sure that most of you enjoy viewing a lot of photos. LOL I will also try to give some good details on the DIY’s that we did. Many of the items that we wanted to use in our decor would have been completely over our clients budget if we purchased pre-made, and given the limited timeline, we did not have time to shop around so Margo and I used our crafty magic and created a memorable event. 

In order to get the gold backdrop underneath the cupcakes, we used regular cake sheets and wrapped them in Gold Foil Wrapping Paper made by Wilton. I thought it was a bit pricey at around $10 however it did the trick and created the look that we were going for. In hindsight it was somewhat reasonable……..maybe…… LOL You will notice the table also has these amazing Gold Flameless Tealights from Michaels, which we used in other areas of the event. Many venues in my area are no longer allowing actual flames which leaves you to using flameless candles in order to get that glow. The flameless tealight candles are way more expensive than their flamed counterpart, however nothing can replace the ambiance that flickering lights create. This to say if you are planning on booking an event check with the venue first to make sure you won’t have to dish out 4 times what you intended to purchase flameless candles. It sounds like a no brainer but there’s something going on in CT and I haven’t been able to put my hand on it… LOL BTW the cupcakes were DELICIOUS! Although I am an amazing baker myself, when you are doing so many items in an event, carving out the amount of time that it takes to bake a great product from beginning to end with different flavors and decorations is almost impossible. It is better for me to pay a vendor and focus on making the finished product look amazing when presented. 

Paper Napkin Rings

Did your eyes elude you or did you already know? In keeping with disposable items as much as we could and with the limited budget I created napkin rings using a punch and some beautiful gold crafting paper. I came up with this idea on a whim, no Pinterest or anything else and I definitely think it is something I would use again, especially in a kids party just to create a chic look without all of the fuss of hoping and praying that the kids don’t lose or break valuable items. 

Fun Table Signs

Head Table

Table Center Pieces and Decor

Additional DIY items were spray painting the round votive holders with gold sparkle spray paint. This was 75% less expensive than the designer votive holders which had a similar look. We also wrapped gold ribbon on some of the votive holders because someone may have not bought enough spray paint, someone possibly me, but I am happy with the final result and having two different styles. Each table had three balloons which we blew up at the event with a disposable helium tank. This was at least $30-$40 less expensive than having the party place blow them up. Other than the price the main reason we decided to blow them up ourselves is because we didn't want to have to go through the hassle of picking up balloons and fighting to get them into your car and then getting angry as one gets away after you spent all of that money on them and then you cant see through your back window... Oh is that just me? That hasn't happened to you? Well if it hasn't then it will. Sorry in advance. The center pieces are decorative bird cages, with craft foam and coordinating artificial flowers. 
I will tell you that after this event I realized that it is way way less stressful having others help you (people who are professionals at a specific task) than if you try to do everything yourself. If you are working with processionals, most of the time you don't have to worry about the end product not meeting your expectations. I will definitely work with the two ladies that I worked with on this event in future events if the opportunity arises. Although I am a crafter I am probably even better at delegating and think I fit nicely in the event planner role.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to sharing my future events with you!
If there is an item in any of the photos that you have a question on that I did not mention please feel free to write a Comment and I will provide you with an answer. 

Darley~