DIY Mason Jar Bathroom Organizer

Posted on September 22, 2014 by simplyschulze

Since moving on base in June we have slowly been adjusting to living in significantly less square footage. We have been making the best of it by doing lots of organizing and rearranging to make our furniture and style fit this little cookie-cutter home. One room that I am having a very hard time getting used to is our new bathroom which is basically the size of the powder room in our old house, lol (to see our old master bathroom and how we transformed it on a budget check out this post). The lack of space is killing me, the vanity won’t even provide enough space to fit our toothbrushes and toothpaste and there are no drawers, just a small cabinet below the vanity that is already crammed with bathroom paraphernalia and extremely disorganized. So, in the spirit of organization and making the best of our tiny bathroom, I decided to try my hand at a Pinterest project that I had been eyeing for quite some time – a mason jar bathroom organizer. Since I already had mason jars all I was going to need to do was get a piece of wood (which I ended up getting out of my neighbor’s trash, score! lol) and some metal hose claps (I’ll explain below), for just a few dollars (literally a few, I think my total project cost was just under $4.00) I was able to create a beautiful and functional little addition to our not-so-master bathroom. This is SUCH a simple project and can be fashioned using scrap wood and any size jars since the little hose clamps come in several different sizes. Need more than three jars? No problem! Just a use a longer piece of wood and additional jars. There’s nothing I love more than a project that is simple with many options for variation so that I can duplicate it in other areas of the home (I plan to make a cute little addition to our laundry room soon so be on the lookout for that!) so I’m super excited to share this with you as a tried and true Pinterest trial!

SUPPLIES:

NOTE: if you are happy with the look of your wood as is you need not go through the trouble of painting and distressing it, this just happened to be the look I was going for. This supply list and step-by-step instructions apply to my specific variation of this project.

1 piece of scrap wood – mine was cut from a 12′ board we scored from a neighbor’s trash. I cut mine to be 16″ long, it was the perfect fit for the space and the three jars.
grey chalk paint – I used left over paint from my hand-painted sign and shutter shelf, check out this post here to see how I made my own chalk paint using sample sized latex paints, this one is “Stone Mason Grey” by Valspar.
white latex paint
Minwax Paste Wax in “Special Dark”
2 keyhole fasteners
black foam brush
regular 2″ paint brush (for dry-brushing the wood)
sanding blocks, sand paper or electric sander
3 mason jars (I used standard 16 oz. jars)
3 stainless steel metal hose clamps (available where the HVAC supplies are at your local home improvement store, if you can’t find them just show an employee a picture of the craft, they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about)
6 standard picture hanging hooks and the nails that come with them (see picture below, these are available at the dollar store, supermarket and countless other places, make sure they look like the ones that I have pictured or they will not work!) NOTE: if you have a good quality power drill and strong drill bit you can skip the picture hooks and drill a hole directly into the backs of the hose clamps and use a 1/2 inch screw to attach the hose clamps to the wood. I will tell you that takes some SERIOUS elbow grease and a very strong drill, when our drill bit wouldn’t even make a dent in the steel my hubby improvised the hook idea so I could finish my project that night – ain’t he sweet 😉
Needle-nosed pliers (you only need these if you are planning on using the hook method)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: I began by prettying up my trash wood. Please refer to my post on creating my DIY Rustic Picture Display for a detailed description on how I go about painting and distressing most of my wood pieces. In short, what I did was apply a coat of chalk paint to my wood (or two, I can’t remember, lol) using a black foam brush, then once it had dried I used my regular paint brush to dry-brush the surface and once that had dried I used my electric sander to distress the edges and surface with 150-grit paper (this can also be done using a sanding block or regular sand paper). Finally I used a rag to apply a coat of paste wax and then buffed it once it had dried.

wood – before

painted wood

wood – finished

Step 2: Once my wood was ready I attached my keyhole fasteners to the backs of my wood piece, one in each corner. Don’t leave this until the end as it will be very hard to do once the jars and hardware are attached.

Step 3: I then marked where I wanted my mason jars to be placed on the board. NOTE: if you have a fancy drill and plan on drilling holes in the backs of the hose clamps and screwing them into the wood this is the point at which you would do that (then simply fasten the clamps around the necks of the mason jars), if you are planning on using my less conventional “hook” method read on! We (I say we because this is where J’s crafty brain stepped in, ha) then fashioned make shift little holders for the mason jars out the picture clips. I took my picture hangers and using pliers unfolded the top part of the hook so it sticks out (kind of like the bottom does to begin with) then flattened both ends over the back of the metal hose clips, two per (making sure to unscrew the hose clips first). The key was to ensure that when I folded over the the tops of the hooks (the part with the hole was always facing UP) the two holes at the top became pressed together to form one nail hole (this is how I nailed them to the wood).

we tried a nail first, didn’t work out so well, lol.

The picture hooks I used. See how if you flatten the tops the two holes will come together to for a tab with a hole in it?

Hose clamp after attaching the “hooks”, two little tabs stick up with holes through which the nails can hammered.

Step 4: Once all of my hooks were fastened to the hose clamps I used the nails that came with my picture hanging hooks to nail the hooks into the board (using the little tabs at the top that were created by flattening out the hooks). After my three hose clamps were attached to the board I re-screwed the clamps around the necks of the jars. All done!

Although the “hook” method may seem a little wonky these jars have stayed put and since they hold our toothbrushes and toothpaste we are handling them multiple times a day. That being said, this is a GREAT project for a renter, not only does it free up space in smaller bathrooms but you only require two small screws in the wall to hold it up. Additionally this project can be made using items readily found at your local home improvement stores (which will cut the wood to size for you), Walmart and dollar stores, which is great for people who may not necessarily have many tools on hand (you can buy a hammer and pliers at the dollar store, I checked, haha).

Our Favorite Meatloaf Recipe

Posted on September 19, 2014 by simplyschulze

photo (7)

When it comes to comfort food I’m a huge fan. Lucky for my waistline my hubby doesn’t share my love for comfort food so we don’t really indulge in it too often, however, the one thing I do require that we eat on occasion in order to satisfy my comfort food fix is meatloaf. I love a good meatloaf, partly because I love anything that you can put ketchup on (lol) but also because it’s kind of an all-in-one type meal (since I include lots of veggies in mine). That being said I have tried out a lot of recipes for “the loaf” (as my hubby refers to it, ha) trying to find one that would magically convert J to a meatloaf lover like me. While I am still yet to have him go ga-ga over a plate of meatloaf this recipe below is the one that I’ve had the most success with. I am a huge fan of this recipe because I was successfully able to use beef with a lower fat content and still achieve a nice moist meatloaf! Additionally I include lots of veggies and top it a special glaze (that is also great on chicken!) that yields a yummy caramelized crust. I am also happy to report that this recipe was baby P approved 🙂

Baby P enjoying some meatloaf for lunch! Did I mention it makes great leftovers? 🙂

INGREDIENTS

FOR MEATLOAF:

1.5 lbs. lean ground beef (I used 93% lean)
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic
1/4 cup parsley
2 large eggs
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tbsp. dried thyme
1/2 cup ketchup
olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

FOR GLAZE:

3/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. oregano
juice of half of a lemon
3 Tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Step 1: Begin by dicing your veggies, then heat about 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a pan and add onion, garlic, peppers, zucchini, thyme and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until just soft, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool.

Step 2: In a bowl combine beef, pork, parsley, eggs, panko, parmesan cheese, ketchup, salt, pepper and cooked veggies. Mix by hand until just combined, don’t over mix.

Step 3: To make glaze combine all ingredients and mix together, set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a sheet pan covered with parchment paper form meatloaf into a log (mine was about 10″ long), baste with some of the glaze and bake for about 1 hour, basting again halfway through cook time. Once meatloaf has finished cooking, allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

I serve mine with mashed potatoes, yumm!!!

Adapted from Food Network

Pottery Barn Hack – DIY Faux Succulent Wreath

Posted on September 19, 2014 by simplyschulze

So I have a confession to make, despite the awesomeness that is this wreath, until I made it I hadn’t gotten swept up in the whole succulent craze. This is probably because anything that becomes popular automatically becomes unnecessarily expensive, even fake plants, lol. Come to think of it, back in the day I knew succulents as “rubber plants” and my parents would lure us to the Home Depot with the promise of being able to buy a little rubber plant or cactus if we cooperated (don’t worry, since then I’ve learned to extort better items from my parents in exchange for favors, lol), haha. Anyway, back to the wreath. J’s sweet Aunt M asked if I would be able to make her a wreath and sent me a picture of a Pottery Barn faux succulent wreath (pictured below) and went on to explain that since the wreath would not be under the shelter of a porch or storm door it would need to be made of materials that would withstand the elements and this one seemed to be fitting. I was super intrigued as I hadn’t attempted a faux flower or moss wreath before and couldn’t wait to get started. Well, in typical Natasha fashion I got caught up in approximately one million other projects (worst niece ever! lol) but the other night I was determined to get both this succulent wreath and my own September wreath done and did so in just a about two hours (which makes it all the more embarrassing that it took so long for me to start, ha)! The wreath turned out beautifully and is made even more attractive by the fact that the cost came in at around $50.00 while the PB version was $99.00! I was almost sad that I wouldn’t get to keep it for myself, lol, but I am happy to know that it will have a good home being enjoyed by J’s Godparents 🙂 I also think that it is worth mentioning that this is one of the most simple wreaths I have made although it looks the most complicated, all it requires is a wreath frame, some Spanish moss and artificial succulents so please don’t let the illusion of complexity be off-putting to you!

Pottery Barn inspiration! No offense to PB but so not worth $100!

SUPPLIES:

18″ grape vine wreath frame
14 artificial succulents (there are SO many out there, I just picked mine based on the PB version to achieve a similar look)
Spanish Moss
Glue Gun/Hot Glue
Wired Burlap Ribbon or Ready-Made Bow
1 Pipe Cleaner

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: I began by laying out my my wreath components: the faux succulents, the moss and the bow. I messed around with the arrangement and grouping of the succulents and moss to see what looked best. I made sure that wherever I wanted to place the succulents their stems could be wedged between the vines and that they would lay flat as possible against the wreath frame.

Step 2: Once I was happy with the layout of my wreath I used hot glue to attach each succulent one by one by covering the stem and bottom of the succulent with a generous amount of glue and wedging it back between the vines and pressing down firmly. For each moss section I would cover the area atop the wreath frame on which the moss was to be attached with a generous amount of hot glue and gently press the moss on. NOTE: When handling the moss and separating your packaging try to tear it apart as little as possible aside from separating it into sections. To get it to cover the area you need gently stretch it.

Step 3: I worked in the above manner until all of my moss and succulents were attached, the long stringy succulents I secured by applying a little glue to the top of the moss or frame where the long strands would lay and attached them that way. Finally I attached my bow using an olive green pipe cleaner, that way if Aunt M chooses she can switch out the bow at her will!

Obviously there are tons of variations on this wreath, there are so many varieties of faux succulents and they can be arranged in any manner. If you don’t want the trouble of having to use moss you can purchase a wreath that has been pre-covered in moss (although this may run you a bit more price-wise). I will report back to let you know how this wreath withstood the PA fall and winter, however, my DIY Felt Flower Wreath made using the same frame held up nicely without shelter so hopefully this one is equally as resilient!

Football Themed Wreath – NY Giants

Posted on September 17, 2014 by simplyschulze

The past two nights have been all about wreaths! One of which was my “September” wreath which I decided to make football themed to both support our favorite team and because I felt weird putting out a fall themed wreath when it’s still too hot to go outside most days, lol. The other was a faux succulent wreath I made for our dear Aunt Maryann who patiently waited for it while my scatter-brained self took forever to get around to making it (and even longer to send it out, shame on me!) but I finally got them both done – yay! In this post I will be sharing my September football wreath which happened to be my first attempt at a mesh wreath. While we have been transplanted to the south we’re still NY fans to boot so since we don’t have cable at casa de Schulze (we pinch our pennies, remember? lol) this wreath will be our method of team support for the season. Aside from the fact that this wreath turned out HUGE (which I decided was fitting because “Giants” lol) I was very happy with the results and even happier with how easy it was to create! My only gripe with this wreath is that mesh is more expensive in comparison to burlap, however, I do like that mesh gives you the option for super bright fun colors which are great for holidays like Halloween and Christmas which is what will keep me coming back to this method. If you’re yet to jump on the deco mesh bandwagon give this method a shot, it’s just as easy as creating a burlap wreath and super fun!

Squishy baby wearing his Giants tie onsie! 🙂

SUPPLIES:

Wire Wreath Frame – I used a 24″ frame because my craft store was out of 18″ frames but I would definitely suggest going with the 18″ or even a 12″ frame unless your door is exceptionally massive. The mesh adds a LOT of volume to the wreath so a small frame goes a long way!
Blue and Red 5″ X 45′ Rolls of Wired Deco Mesh – I used two of each, but if you were to use a smaller wreath frame you would definitely only need one of each.
Red and Blue Pipe Cleaners
NY Giants Scrap Fabric – left over from my DIY Little Man Tie Onsies
Mini Giants Football
2 Mini Giants Helmets
Blue 1/4″ ribbon
Scrap Burlap Fabric – left over from my DIY Rustic Burlap Pennant Banners
Stick-On Fabric Letters
Glue Gun & Hot Glue

WHAT I DID:

Step 1: I began by cutting the pipe cleaners into thirds to shorten them, then twisting the shorter pieces around the wreath frame wherever I was planning to bunch up the mesh. Then I used basically the same method I used to create my 4th of July Burlap Wreath, by weaving the mesh in and out of the wire frame (in an over-under-over-under manner) using the pipe cleaners to secure the mesh to keep it “poufed” up. NOTE: Another method would be to use a styrofoam wreath frame (as I did to create my Chevron Wreath) and create loops out of the mesh by stapling them directly to the styrofoam frame to achieve the same look.

Step 2: After I had finished creating the mesh portion of the wreath I attached my embellishments. I cut a small hole in the back of the mini football and threaded a pipe cleaner through the whole and attached it to the wire frame. I did the same with the mini footballs which already had holes in the sides that were perfect for threading the pipe cleaners through.

Step 3: I then moved on to my mini “Go Giants” pennant banner which I created by cutting mini triangles out of my scrap burlap and then smaller triangles out of my scrap Giants fabric to fit atop the burlap triangles which I attached using hot glue. After I had created all of my little triangles I went ahead and attached my fabric letters which were actually stick-on but I used a bit of hot glue on the backs of the letters as well to ensure that they really stuck since my wreath was going to have to brave the elements. After adding the letters I created the pennant banners by gluing the triangles to my blue 1/4″ ribbon, one reading “go” and the other “giants”. I secured it to the wreath by tying each opposing end to the wire frame.

Step 4: My final step was not planned but after finishing my wreath the episode of SVU I was watching still had a few minutes left (lol) so I took that time to play around with the idea of adding the Giants logo and helmet to the mesh. I cut the logos and helmets out of my fabric and used hot glue to secure the fabric to the top of the mesh and another piece of scrap fabric to hold it in place on back (inside of the mesh) since the hot glue would not fully secure the logo/helmet to the mesh without a backing.

please disregard my disgusting doormat! hehe This is the GIANT wreath in all it’s glory, you can see it from space! ha

TA-DA that was it! Now that I’ve attempted this method I will most likely be making another deco mesh wreath for my Halloween/October wreath (except I will use the appropriate wreath frame this time, haha).

Documenting Baby P’s First Year – Month 11

Posted on September 11, 2014 by simplyschulze

Baby P is 11 months old! How did that happen?! I can’t believe I will have a one year old in less than a month, it’s so bitter sweet because while I am loving how he has become such a fun little boy I still miss him being a squishy baby. This past month alone he has become even more of a little person, he is even starting to form his first little words, in addition to “Mama” and “Dada” he now says “this” and “that” (words that are usually accompanied by a little finger pointing frantically at the object of interest, lol), he is even beginning to be able to mimic words we say, although he doesn’t know what he is saying, haha. He still loves the outdoors, animals (dogs especially!) and nature in general, we genuinely feel bad when we bring him back indoors after playing outside because he looks so sad, ha! We are also enjoying his love of food as he much prefers to share what J and I are eating than his own food (which is fine by me, less time spent making separate meals for him, lol). Here he is with his football themed chalkboard (since it’s still 90 degrees here almost everyday I thought doing a fall themed board would be a little premature, ha!), sporting one of my DIY tie onsies in support of his favorite team – the NY Giants, duh! If you love these chalkboard updates as much as I do check out his other boards for birth-six months, seven months, eight months, nine months and ten months as well as all of my pregnancy chalkboards. Next chalkboard update will be for baby P’s one year marks, somebody pinch me! 🙂

I should have redone the lettering but it was midnight and I was tired 😛

Happy little frog!

I wanted to get the football in the picture but he was more interested in throwing it, lol.

He was super excited!

Meal Planning – Week of Aug. 31st

Posted on September 10, 2014 by simplyschulze

Eeeek! So as I predicted I am way behind on posting our weekly meal plans as the last two weeks have been kind of crazy! Unfortunately when choosing to cook or craft it’s either feast or famine at the Schulze home – I’m either crafting up a storm and relying on our favorite no-fuss meals to get us through the week or I put my crafts on hold and take the time to try out new recipes. If you’ve been following my last few posts you’ll see that the past two weeks have undoubtedly been crafting weeks. I did however, get the opportunity to participate in two meal trains for new mamas last week so I plan to make a post on meal trains soon! This week the pace has slowed down a bit and although I’ve still got lots of projects in the works, I did take some time to try out a few new recipes so I’m happy to share this week’s meals with you!

SUNDAY // Ordered In – Since Monday was a holiday I was eager to keep my crafting buzz going and not be bothered with cooking on Sunday evening, so Chinese deliver it was! 🙂

MONDAY // Tacos – Just plain old tacos! I make my taco meat by browning the meat with canned green chilies, onions and homemade taco seasoning (paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, salt and cumin).

TUESDAY // Grilled Chicken Wraps – I love turning salads into wraps. It’s a great way to work a carb into the meal and make the salad more of a whole meal. One of my favorite salads is one that I make using grilled chicken, spring mix salad, craisins, Gorgonzola cheese crumbles, bacon bits and pecans with a raspberry vinaigrette. For this night’s dinner I simply turned this salad into a wrap.

WEDNESDAY // Pasta e Fagiole Soup – I am SO happy I found and tried this recipe! It is so simple to make and absolutely delicious! Even though it has been ten thousand degrees outside this week I still couldn’t resist whipping up this soup for dinner and boy am I glad I did 🙂 I subbed turkey sausage for regular Italian sausage. NOTE: If you want to make it super healthy just brown up some ground turkey sausage then add some salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and fennel – this way you omit the fat of the sausage (even turkey sausage is pretty fatty) but still achieve those sausage flavors.

THURSDAY // Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli – This is one of my favorites. It’s super simple and great to cook up when you’re craving take out. It only requires a few ingredients and can be prepped the night before.

FRIDAY // Miso Glazed Salmon – Help! I’ve created a monster! lol. Ever since I made this recipe for my hubby a few weeks ago, he requests it anytime I suggest we have fish! However, I hardly mind – t’s hard to argue with a recipe that is so healthful and delicious!

SATURDAY // Inside-Out Jalapeno Popper Burgers – Finally a new original recipe! As I mentioned I have been seriously slacking when it comes to my creativity in the kitchen but I like to think that this recipe helped me to redeem myself a bit. It is super delicious and the perfect lightened-up gourmet style burger just in time for football season. If you’re like me and are always torn on whether or not you should order an appetizer and a meal, now you can have both! 🙂

To see more of my favorite recipes check out my “Tried and True Recipes” board on Pinterest!

Inside-Out Jalapeno Popper Burgers

Posted on September 8, 2014 by simplyschulze

So you’re probably reading this post and thinking “wait, she cooks?”, lol. On account of my crafting spree the past few weeks I haven’t tried out many new recipes but luckily I have an arsenal of easy favorites that I can rely on during the weeks that I lack creativity in the kitchen. Last night I came up with this amazing new burger recipe that I am so excited to share with you! I like to think of this recipe as rolling two bar favorites, a burger and a jalapeno popper, into one delicious bite. In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that the motivation for this burger was actually to get rid of some lingering cheese, sour cream and scallions in the fridge (throwing out food drives me nuts!) which reminded me of typical dip ingredients and then somehow my mind wound up at jalapeno popper, lol. No idea how that happened but I’m glad it did because I love a good burger and I’m so happy to add this one to my list of favorites (I’ll have to write a burger collective post soon!). I wouldn’t classify any recipe containing cream cheese and sour cream as “skinny” (lol) but for what it’s worth I did lighten it up by using reduced fat ingredients and lean beef feel free to adapt it to your liking whether that be dialing back the amount of cheese or using full fat ingredients! With football season officially upon us I hope you can feature these at your next game day get together, served up with lots of cold ones 🙂

Even though baby P wasn’t awake for burger deliciousness he still thought our weekend was fab! 🙂

INSIDE-OUT JALAPENO POPPER BURGERS

INGREDIENTS (makes 8 regular burgers)

2 lbs. lean ground beef
4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 medium jalapeno, diced (I removed the ribs and seeds to reduce the heat a bit, but prepare to your liking)
1/3 cup crumbled bacon or bacon bits
1 cup mild shredded cheddar cheese (pepper jack or mozzarella cheese would also work)
1 scallion, sliced
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Combine cream cheese, sour cream, diced jalapeno, bacon, cheese, scallions, garlic powder, salt and pepper, stir to combine.

Step 2: Separate your ground beef into eight equal portions. Working one at a time, separate each section of beef and form two equal patties. Take about 1-2 Tbsp. of the cream cheese mixture and place it in the center of one of your patties, then take the other patty and place it on top of the filling using your fingers to pinch the edges of the two patties together around the filling and reform the burger. Continue until you have eight equal sized burgers.

Step 3: Brush your burgers on both sides with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Grill on conventional grill or grill pan to your liking! These would be delicious served with homemade onion strings but if you’re lazy like I am just throw your onions on the grill while your burgers are cooking 🙂

ignore my weird choice of lettuce, yet another fridge item I was trying to burn lol

For two other great burger recipes check out my recipe for Kitty’s Mediterannean Turkey Burgers and Greek Sliders!

DIY Fabric Covered Photo Mat – Made from a Cereal Box!!!

Posted on September 7, 2014 by simplyschulze

Who doesn’t love free stuff? I actually have quite a few “free” projects in the works currently that I’m super excited about, but for now I’ll share this one with you as it was part of our gallery wall which I will reveal soon! This project actually happened by accident when I realized that the frame I was using wasn’t a standard photo frame and I was going to need to cut a photo mat to fit it. Since the piece of art (I shouldn’t say art, it was a weird picture of a cat or something, lol) that was originally in the frame had an ivory mat around it I was going to have J cut it to fit using a box cutter. Of course he misunderstood me (anybody else have an issue with their men having selective hearing when it comes to their crafting requests? lol) and cut the wrong part of the mat, rendering the part I needed useless. Boo-hoo! It was time to come up with a plan B, which I thought would be just to buy and cut a standard mat to size but then I realized that a standard mat wouldn’t fit this frame either (gahh!). Just as I was getting super frustrated and about to ax the use of that particular frame altogether, I remembered that I had seen a picture mat that somebody had covered in fabric by simply mod podging fabric onto a plain picture mat. Now, that still didn’t solve my problem of not having the right mat size, but if I thought that if I could only find a thin cardboard to fashion my own mat I could take advantage of my left over fabric from past projects. I knew that a poster board cut to size would work just fine but in the interest of not having to traipse into town to get one I thought to myself “what do I have in the house that is of similar thickness/material to a poster board?” and then it came to me – a cereal box!!! About a half hour and a little mod podge later I had myself another fancy photo mat (check out my first DIY photo mat here) that not only matched the fabric on our side-light window panels but was free!!! All it required was a little thinking outside of the “box”, so to speak (get it? cereal box, ha.ha.ha). I hope this inspires a free photo mat on your end (you need not use a cereal box like I did, any thin cardboard will do) and should you not have the need for a photo mat right now, keep this one in mind as a great DIY gift opportunity come the holidays!

I’ll have plenty of more frame projects in the works if I keep catching more adorable moments like this! These two melt my heart ❤

DIY FABRIC PHOTO MAT

SUPPLIES:

1 large cereal box or poster board of some sort
fabric of your choice
mod podge (I used matte finish but it doesn’t matter what you use)
glue gun & hot glue
foam brush
measuring tape
scissors

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: If you are using a cereal box break the box down by cutting along one of the corners so that it can lay flat like a piece of cardboard. Then measure and cut four strips of equal length or four pieces that can come together to form a rectangular mat since it wont matter what your pieces look like beneath the fabric as long as the shape of the mat is even (depending on the size of your box you may not be able to get four equal pieces but rather four pieces just long enough to overlap and connect to form a rectangle). If using a poster board simply measure and draw out your mat and then cut it out already formed.

My cereal box! In the interest of pinching our pennies I opt for “crisp rice” instead of rice krispies haha

Step 2: Once you have your four pieces connect them so that your print side (if using a cereal box) is all facing one direction using hot glue to form the mat. Ignore this step if you have used a poster board and your mat is ready to go. Now you are ready to measure and add your fabric!

ensuring that it fits in the frame

Step 3: Measure your fabric by laying the fabric print side down (upside down) and laying your mat on top, use a pencil or pen to mark an area just a tad bit larger than your mat size or enough to be folded over the edges (I will explain in the subsequent steps). Once you have marked your rectangle on the fabric, cut it out using your scissors (this should be obvious but keep the rectangle in tact! To cut the center simply puncture a hole in the center of your fabric and cut along the insides).

Step 4: Place your mat so that the non-print side is facing up and lay your fabric cut out over the mat to make sure that it will line up correctly. In each of the inner and outer corners cut a small slit that extends from the edge of the fabric to the corner of the mat (this is so your fabric can be tucked underneath without puckering at the corners).

Step 5: Now you are ready to attach the fabric to the mat. Using your foam brush, brush a generous amount of mod podge onto the mat surface and then lay your fabric atop it and press down to secure. Some mod podge will likely seep through the fabric, this is fine, simply use your foam brush to brush it off so that it doesn’t form clumps. At this point your fabric will still be larger than necessary for the mat but allow it to dry this way before moving onto the next step.

Step 6: Once your fabric has dried for the most part, turn your mat upside down and use hot glue to attach your fabric’s edges to the underneath of the mat, making sure to pull it tightly so that isn’t loose along the edges and holds to the mat securely.

Step 7: Now turn your mat back over and add another coat of mod podge to the top of the fabric, ensuring that you are adding and even layer and are not allowing it to pool or clump along the top. Allow it to dry and you are ready to use it in your frame!!! Ta-da!!!

My DIY frame displayed on our gallery wall!

To see more of our family pictures from baby P’s 6 month photo session see this post!

DIY Printed Photo Mat

Posted on September 6, 2014 by simplyschulze

When planning my gallery wall I knew that I wanted to incorporate some unique design elements when it came to our pictures and frames. Since I had to scale down the size of the gallery wall due to lack of space in the new house, I decided that instead of incorporating typography prints into the design I could free up room for more photos on the wall by simply adding a printed mat to one of the larger photos. I drew inspiration from a photo mat I had seen handwritten on using a sharpie but didn’t duplicate the idea exactly because while I do believe my hand writing to be pretty neat (*hair flip* lol), I figured given that I would have to see this project on display everyday that I would leave the printing job up to my trusty ol’ laser printer. The particular photo I was needing a mat for was one of our wedding photos, so what better wording to surround it than the lyrics to our first dance? Which is “The Book of Love” by Peter Gabriel if you’re wondering (if you want to see me cry buckets just wait until I finish my third glass of wine and put this song on repeat, lol), if you’re a Scrubs fan you’ll know this as the song that plays in last scenes of the series finale. Anyway, enough about that (but really, how awesome is the show Scrubs? lol). This project is quick and easy and with the holidays right around the corner, would make a great gift! This can be done using any text, you can use song lyrics, the text from a love note or even an excerpt from a novel (for all the book worms out there like my hubby!), to name a few. Lastly, if the adorableness that is my hubby and I in the vineyard hasn’t already made you nostalgic for your own wedding and itching to craft (haha), allow me to further convince you – this project costs next to nothing, all you need is access to a laser printer, a photo mat and some mod podge! I hope this inspires you to frame one of your favorite photos or jazz up an existing framed piece 🙂

WHAT I USED:

Plain Photo Mat
Laser Printed Wording – it must be a laser print! If you use an inkjet print it will smear when you paint on the mod podge. If you do not have a laser printer you can print the document at your local print center for a few cents a page. NOTE: I printed mine at home and cut it into sections. If you are going to be super OCD about your wording all lining up, print your wording on a paper size that is LARGER than your frame mat and cut the paper to fit the mat using an x-acto knife. This way your paper will fit your mat exactly.
Mod Podge – matte or glossy, doesn’t matter. Personally, I prefer matte.
Scissors
Foam Brush

WHAT I DID:

Step 1: I began by typing up my wording. I simply copied the lyrics from a lyric site, then pasted it onto a Word document and lined it up as shown below. Next I copied the entire body of text and just pasted it over and over until I had a full page of wording then printed.

Step 2: Next I cut the pages into sections to fit my mat. I did not care about my wording lining up perfectly since it was going to be displayed at a distance, but if I had wanted it to be perfect I would have done as I suggested above by having a 16X20 sized document printed at my local print center then cutting it to fit the mat using an x-acto knife.

Step 3: I coated the backs of each of my printed pieces with mod podge and placed them carefully onto my frame mat. I gently smoothed the paper once I had placed them onto the mat ensuring that there were no air bubbles trapped between the paper and the mat. I then allowed the mat to dry.

Step 4: Once my mat had dried I used a my foam brush to coat the top of the mat (atop the print), then allowed this coat to dry. That’s it! Once the mat dried my beautiful picture was ready for assembly and display 🙂

Total project cost was right around $5.00!!!

Laundry Room & Command Center Transformation

Posted on September 5, 2014 by simplyschulze

Finally! I am so excited to share my laundry room and command center transformation with you! Now it may not seem like much of a “transformation” to you, but in the short time that we had been living in this home pre-transformation this room was one of my least favorite rooms in the house. Not only is the room barely big enough to fit a standard size washer and dryer, it quickly became the catch-all and family dumping area of the house, anything that didn’t have a place would just get tossed in the laundry room. I was on a mission to fix this problem room because as much as I disliked the laundry room, I knew that if I was successful in transforming the room it would be so wonderful to finally have an actual “laundry” room as opposed to having the washer/dryer hook-ups in the garage as it was set up in our last home. Additionally, I was super excited to draw inspiration from so many of the amazing laundry room and command centers that I’ve seen on Pinterest but were never able to apply to our Honey Tree home.

A lot of this project was simply de-cluttering and organizing the space. With the addition of a few storage solutions and DIY decor I was able to transform the space for very little money (and it was worth every penny! lol). The “command center” was just my little addition to help organize our random to-do lists, receipts, coupons etc. and centralize all of the little “hey-where-the-heck-did-I-put-that ______?!” items. Oh, and to display a calendar of course, which is a great point of fascination to my hubby who had no idea how busy our lives were, haha! I hope this inspires a transformation on your end, you will be amazed at how easy this project was and even more amazed at how much it has organized us with just a few small additions to a tiny under-utilized space. Check out my pictures below for DIY ideas and links to their tutorials, as well as sources for all of my decor!

Before! Okay, I know a lot of this transformation ha to do with organization lol but I think a lot of people can agree that the mudroom tends to become a family dumping ground for miscellaneous items and I was determined to change that!

After! Organized and stylish, if I do say so myself 🙂

Command area, before and after!

Laundry area, before and after.

See sources below to see where I found these free printables!

Follow this link to find see how I went about creating this sign!

These serve no purpose other than to cover up the ugly wall and washer hook-ups behind them but I think it adds a little pretty somethin’ to the room 🙂

These descriptive chalkboard signs are held on to the totes by magnets, the perfect thing for me since we are not staying here long and who knows what we’ll be using these bins for in our next home. Follow the link to see how I made them!

DIY calendar I made using paint chips, unfortunately I didn’t have my day planner handy so I could only remember two things we have to do this month, haha, obviously I REALLY need this calendar! lol This picture links to my tutorial so check it out, this project is basically free!

This transformation cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $200.00, however, to permanently organize and stylize this room using items that can easily be reused wherever we end up next, it was a small price to pay! That being said, a similar look can be achieved for next to nothing if you’re open to different color schemes and products.

1 // Fabric Totes with Magnetic Chalkboard Signs – Totes available here via Amazon for $13.97 each. These were a little pricey but were exactly what I was looking for, they are sturdy, just the right size and will I will definitely be using them in our future homes. The magnetic chalkboard signs were a little DIY addition that I came up with out of necessity for these bins, check out my tutorial here.

2 // Fabric Curtains/Wall Coverings – These do not serve an actual purpose other than to cover the ugly water hook ups and white wall behind them. I simply used left over fabric from my living room curtains using the same method as I did when creating my sink skirt, just added little loops of ribbon to hold the decorative shower curtain hooks (available here via Amazon for $7.64, lots of other colors available!) I used to hang the curtain from the wire shelving.

3 // Sink Skirt – This is a DIY project I finagled to cover the ugly laundry sink using left over fabric from my side-light curtains, check out my link to see how I made it!

4 // Chevron Rug – Available here via Overstock for $35.49.

5 // Ironing Board Holder – The perfect thing to free up space for the bins above the washer/dryer. Available here via Amazon for $34.99.

6 // Ironing Board Cover – Purchased at Walmart for $7.50. It was just a coincidence that it happened to match my wall coverings perfectly!

7 // Family Bulletin Boards – Available here via Amazon for $6.53, I attached them to the wall using Command picture hanging strips. I personalized them using unfinished letters from Walmart ($1.97 each) that I spray painted white and attached to the boards using hot glue.

8 // Large Striped Totes – Available here via Target, $25.98 for a set of 2. I used the fourth bin as extra toy storage for baby P. These bins are perfect for holding our daily items (pocketbook, keys, wallet, hats etc.) so that we need not leave them randomly about the house. I used left over chalkboard favor tags to label each with our initials.

9 // Dry Erase Paint Chip Calendar – Check out my post to find out how I made it!

10 // Laundry Room Printables – I printed and framed these two free printables I found via Pinterest: “This home has endless love and laundry” and “Laundry, drop your pants here”.

11 // White Floating Shelf – Originally purchased at Home Depot, I reused one from our guest bathroom update on our Honey Tree house.

12 // Metal Wall Mounted File Holder – Purchased via Amazon and available here for $25.00. It is very helpful in organizing receipts, coupons etc.

13 // Candy Jars – Used for holding detergent pods and dryer sheets. I purchased mine at Walmart for $2.98 each.

14 // “Schulze Central Command” Hand Painted Sign – Check out how I made this sign by reading this post!

15 // Wall Clock – Cheap-o wall clock purchased from Walmart for $2.98! Gotta love all that cheap back-to-college dorm decor!

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