Upcycle: Coffee can into cute storage canister!

My son has crayons stashed in every corner of our home. Some are in bags, some are in pages of coloring books and there are even some stuffed in my couch.

I am in the process of attempting to get his closet as organized as possible, to make a little corner for doing artwork. This will be a big challenge, storage in our home is non existent so I am starting small. Storage for the little things, like crayons.

So I took a coffee can (we have many, I knew I hung onto them for a reason!) and got a little crafty.
Here is what you will need to turn your coffee can into a cute little storage canister:

- Coffee can
- Thick paper (I used scrapbook paper)
- Hot glue gun

Step 1: Lay out your coffee can on the paper. Use a pen or pencil to mark on the paper where you will make the cuts. As you can see by the arrows on the picture below, I cut only to cover the colored area of the coffee can, leaving the silver rings at the top and bottom.

Step 2: Make your cuts on the paper. 

Step 3: Put the glue on your paper and quickly wrap it around the can before it dries.

And viola! 

This will be filed away in my, *super frugal* file. I didn't have to purchase anything for this because I had everything I needed on hand! Easy, cheap and a great way to store little items!

~ Miranda

Small Apartment 'Mud Room'

Recently my family downgraded from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment. One of the biggest challenges, especially when you have kids, is the lack of an entryway to put your shoes and bags. This is how I solved my problem:

*First I got frames from Ikea for $1.99 each! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80188456/
I used these as dry erase calendars for the family to remind them of upcoming events. They're perfect for dry erase boards because their plexi and not glass. Instead of putting a picture inside, I used dark scrapbook paper so my dry erase markers would stand out. It's hard to see but it's really cool paper with a light chevron design. Finally I wanted some cool colors so I got a pack of neon dry erase markers from Target.

*To mark who had which calendar, I got wooden letters from Michael's and painted them the color of my choice. For easy removal, I put them on the wall with velcro.

*For our key's I used reusable plastic hooks with double sided tape. These are perfect for apartments because they don't destroy the wall!

*I used 3 Robe Hooks that I found at Target for hanging up belongings like diaper bags and purses. I chose robe hooks because they hold 2 items per hook and are also meant for heavier things.

*AND finally my husband has to have somewhere to put his phones and wallet so I purchased a frame shelf from Ikea. It's perfect for small things because it's like a shelf with a lip at the the end so nothing falls off and it's not too deep :)


That's it! Not a lot really and it's completely transformed the way we organize our things we we come in. For shoes, which are our biggest clutter issue in our house, just put a basket or boot holder on the floor beneath!

Happy Crafting!

-Kelsey

super easy DIY kids shoe storage

My son has this problem. Too many toys. My son has been blessed with toys since he was little, but he doesn't like to part with any of them. So we are always left with finding places to put his toys so the house doesn't look as cluttered. In an effort to utilize his closet for toy storage I had to figure out a way to get his shoes off the floor. I would use an over the door shoe holder, but some of those do not hang low enough for him to reach. Plus I would rather use something we already have to save money. 

So this is what I came up with. 

I took some unused baskets and hung them up on the inside of his closet. By hanging them on the side he can use the inside of the basket as well as the top. Make sure the nails you use are heavy enough to hold the shoes!

Super easy, cost me nothing and the baskets are low enough so my toddler can pick out his shoes. And it may not seem like just by getting rid of shoes on the floor it would clear up space but, boy oh boy it really did!

And if you want to really jazz up the baskets line the back with scrapbook paper. 

~ Miranda