Valentine’s Day Printables

To finish off our week of bookshelves, we shared a set of free bookplate printables.  We’ve been working on a few freebie Valentine’s Day prints and we’re ready to share them with you. 

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

Love Birds

Love Squared

I Love You This Much ∞

We’re trying a different sharing method this time around, too.  If you want the Put a Little Love in Your Heart PDF file to print, click here

 Click the links for the labeled print: Love Birds, Love Squared , and I Love You This Much ∞

All prints are ready to print on 8.5 inch by 11 inch cardstock and fit a standard 8 inch by 10 inch frame.  Valentine’s Day prints are for personal use only and may not be sold or altered.

(Re)Organized Boys Closet

As our boys grow, I find the need to reorganize their belongings, namely, their closet.  With Ev out growing clothes at a rapid rate, I need access to larger sized clothes without the hassle of digging them out of storage.  Without a dresser in the room, I have to get creative with their storage.  When we last shared our closets, I had it organize, keeping larger clothes on the shelf in a clear covered bin, but it became cumbersome for me (being 5 feet, 4 inches tall) to get large, heavy bins down often.  We needed a change.

Here was Vincent’s side.  All of his current sized clothes are hanging, larger clothes in the big bin on top, diapers in the small bins in the cubes, and socks in a bin.

Here’s Everett’s side.

Everett’s side was pretty much the same story.  After a while, I started hating that I had to slide the doors to get to their stuff.  As I mentioned above, the large bins were really becoming a hassle, too.

What was our solution?  Ben installed a second closet rod.  We didn’t move anything around, so the rods are close together, but they’re boys.  They don’t have anything that really hangs down, so it’s fine for a while.  By installing a second bar, we can hang both boys current clothes on one side, eliminating the constant sliding of doors.

Another benefit, we now have room to hang larger clothing on the other side of the closet.

We still use a laundry bag to save shelf space.  A small hook holds it securely and out-of-the-way.

As for the storage cubes, we keep our baby wipes (which we buy in bulk from Costco when we have a coupon), bedding, Everett’s socks, and one bin of diapers for each boy, rather than all their diapers.  The clear bins on top of the cubes have Vincent’s socks and underwear and the yellow bin has pajamas.  I love those yellow bins because they fold flat when not in use, saving space.

We still have a large bin of clothes, but we don’t need to access it often.  We also have shoes, puzzles and a bag of other random items that I still have to sort through.

Where did all the diapers go?  On the top shelf of the right side.  The yellow bin is our donate box.  Anything that I decide our boys no longer need, I put in the bin until it gets full.  The next time I go to a thrift store, the contents get donated.

Previously, we had a plastic baby bath tub.  Everett has since outgrown it, so I donated that, too, which freed up a lot of valuable space.  Now we have a box in its place.  Whenever one of the boys outgrows something, I put it in that box.  When that box is full, I sort the clothes into the proper bin in our basement.

By adding a second closet rod, we’ve doubled our storage space and we have plenty of room to expand.  Score!  Do you have any storage tips, tricks or products you can’t live without?  What do you do with outgrown children’s clothes?  Do you hang your kid’s clothes or prefer to fold?  If you hang, do you use the size dividers?

Dog Gone Cute

Did you know I have a blogroll at the bottom of the home page?  I do and it’s filled with my most favorite blogs, including Yellow Brick Home.  Kim and Scott have created a fun, vibrant home filled with personal touches.  Even better, Yellow Brick Home also offers a way to bring a touch of their style into your own home with their custom pet paintings.  Seriously, how darn cute are their paintings?  I just had to have one for myself, so I contacted Kim.  I sent her this photo and my ideas.

I wanted a blue-ish green background and possibly a thought bubble with a bone or something in it, depending on what Kim thought looked best.  I was so excited when she sent an e-mail telling me my painting was (already!) done.  Later that afternoon, she sent this picture of the finished design.

I knew whatever Kim made would be cute, but this was beyond my expectations.  It made me even more excited to get my painting.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long.  I received it two days later!  I opened up the package to find a beautifully coördinated package.

Even the YBH stationery and business cards are cute!  After opening the tissue, I found this:

I love the attention to detail, too.  Check out the shading on Jack’s face.

And the thought bubble and dog bone are equally cute.

When we released our Modern Portrait print line, I decided to switch up the artwork on my office bookshelves.  I had a geometric cut out set.

When I ordered my painting, I knew right where I would display it.  Right next to the rest of our family.  Oh, here’s a cool feature; all YBH paintings are created on a 4 inch square by 3/4 inches thick canvas, requiring no frame!

I love the pop of color against the black and white portraits.  I think Jack is pretty happy, too, even if she looks unimpressed.

Thanks again, Kim and Scott.  Our entire family loves this custom little painting of Jackie.  It’s prefect!

Office Storage: Revealed

To continue our bookshelf week, we’ll share our office storage system and what’s inside.  Sounds like fun, no?  Well, hold on to your seats because this is a wild ride.  We’ll start with my wall o’ shelves.  Here’s an overall picture, just for reference.

First up, these IKEA storage boxes hold my assorted envelopes. 

The storage boxes to the right hold overflow and odd sized envelopes, ink cartridges, and miscellaneous junk because I don’t have drawers yet.

The large boxes at the very bottom in the center hold 12 inch by 12 inch scrapbook paper.  Below those, boxes store fabric, yarn and thread. 

In the far right column, I have a row of magazine files, some empty, some not.

Let’s take a look inside.

These two files have tutorial books, including a trim, origami, and Ben’s workout book.  Another has the boy’s baby books and other baby items like a baptismal candle.

A few more files hold mine and Ben’s baby books and cards from our wedding and showers.  To the far right is a spiral bound scrapbook.

That completes the wall of shelves, but what’s above my desk?  Glad you asked!

To the right, my stock of papers fill a row of magazine files.  I found three-ring binders that look similar to the magazine files at Office Depot a few years ago.  One keeps samples of my designs.  Another is empty but I like to keep it out so I have room to expand.  Helpful hint: The binders also work great to store cds and dvds.  We removed the pages from a four square dvd file and placed them in the prettier file and it’s great!

To the left of my desk I have a few more magazine files (gotta love ’em) storing mailing labels.  Next to those are two boxes for mailing envelopes and files.

Oh, I created simple labels for everything, too.  I know, my OCD tendencies are back, but at least it’s useful!

Above that, I have a shelf that looks purely decorative.

But I’ve got a secret.  I use those pretty marble vessels to store extra paper clips, rubber bands, and pencils.

Pretty sneaky, huh?  That completes our office storage for the day.  I want to know if you have any helpful hints or surprise decorative storage in your home?

P.S.  All the magazine files and storage boxes hail from mother Sweden (aka IKEA).  The boxes are part of the Kassett series and the files are the Flyt $1.99 for 5.  Great price when you need so many and surprisingly durable!

Amanda’s Rules in Use

In keeping with our bookshelf theme, I’m back to share rules (more like tips) I follow that Cobi didn’t mention.

So, what are my rules?

1.  Turn ugly books around.  If you have ugly books, you have a few options to make them fit in with your aesthetic.  The easiest way is to simply turn the spines to the back.  Other options: place said books in a basket, magazine file or create decorative book covers using wrapping paper.

2.  Don’t keep all books in the same direction.  As Cobi said, place some books on their side to create pedestals.  I think it’s more natural to line books along the left side, but you can face the fronts to the right, too.  This will make it easier to balance the shelf and create visual interest.

3.  Use decorative pieces as bookends.  Put pretty, heavy objects to good use.

4.  Add art to create layers.  Place small art in front of books or hang art on the back of the bookshelf.

Find that adorable bird printable here.

5.  Hide ugly items behind books and art.  We all do this, why shouldn’t you?  It’s valuable real estate!  If you have ugly items that you need access to (not especially often), tuck them in behind a frame or books.

6.  Display decorative pieces you love or have meaning.  Not every piece will have meaning, but buy items you love.  It’s a bonus if they function.
7.  Give yourself room to expand.  Not your waistline (like I do) but with your shelves.  If you use storage boxes, leave empty ones on the shelves, this way you’ll have a place to put overflow without rearranging everything.
8.  Take pictures.  If you like an arrangement but need to move items around, take pictures before removing everything.  This will give you a reminder if you just can’t get the new arrangement right.
9.  Organize your books!  Find an organization technique that works for you.  My books are sorted by genre (fiction, biography/autobiography, science, classics, travel, history, and miscellaneous).  Then, I group each genre by color and display in rainbow order with white, black, and brown at the end.