{Get Organized} Pantry Makeover

This is one of those projects that has been evolving over time.  

A few years ago, we did a Pantry Makeover at Two Price Points $0 and $22 and the system had worked pretty well.  But this summer things started getting out of control.

 

I even did the scary infomercial black and white photo to show you just how bad it was (also in color which is even more scary to me).

I started by emptying out the pantry and purging things I no longer used or needed.

These square shaped containers also got the ball rolling. I found a set of them at Costco (they are the OXO Good Grips Pop Top line) and ended up buying two more sets by the time I was done with the makeover. You can find them at other stores too but they can get pricey that way. The cheapest ones I found were at TJ Maxx but they don't carry all of the sizes. The sets from Costco were a really good deal (8 pieces for $39).

 The pantry door was another area that I felt could be better utilized.  Previously it had a couple of hooks on it that held our plastic shopping bags for reusing, lunch bags and a basket for chip clips.

 After some research and a trip to the Container Store, we he installed an Elfa rack system to the back of the door.  It attaches to the top and bottom of the door so there are no holes to drill and we can take it with us when we move.

 Cue the angels singing!  The Elfa system has all different sized baskets to customize the rack.  It took a little tweaking, and a few more trips to the Container Store but now it's perfect for us.

 At the top, we added an accessory bar that holds hooks for the lunch bag. It's also magnetic so we're able to keep our chip clips right on the bar. I found the magnetic clips at Walmart.  The plastic bags are now in the laundry room in their own dispenser.

 I love how deep and wide the baskets are.   They can hold full size Costco items in the larger baskets and regular sized cans in the medium baskets.  I like how I can see everything in the baskets so I always know what we have on hand and what we need to shop for.

For the rest of the pantry, I repurposed bins that we already had.  The larger white bin holds opened snacks and it's now easy to pull it out to see what's in there.  

I found this shelf liner at the Dollar Store but I also found a larger roll at Walmart.   Eventually I'd like to paint the back of the pantry a fun color too.

I tried to organize so the shelves at eye level hold our most used items.  I love the lazy susan for open items that don't fit in bins like nut butters and agave syrup.

On the floor we've got some lidded metal bins that I was using before (from Ikea). They hold items that don't get used as frequently like cookie cutters and sushi making tools.  I got the lined baskets from our hall tree in the den #shopthehouse and they are working out nicely for the potatoes and onions.   The blue bin was one of the girl's and was headed for donation.  It holds silicone baking cups and a few other baking/decorating items that we tend to use on a regular basis.  That way we can just grab the bin for a quick baking job instead of digging through one of the metal bins.

 Ahh...so much better! It's been a pleasure to open the pantry door now and see everything in it's place.  I really love the Elfa rack system and think I could use one in every room of the house.

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Linking up:
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{Get Crafty} Silk Dyed Easter Eggs (with old neck ties!)

I saw this idea last year on Pinterest but I was too late to try it for Easter.  The idea of using old silk neck ties to dye eggs sounded so intriguing!  I immediately started looking for inexpensive silk ties at the thrift store.  

I found four for .99/c each and promptly put them away and forgot about them...until now!  If you want to try this technique, make sure your ties are 100% silk. You can also use any other patterned silk clothing.  You will need some white cotton material(old pillow case or dish towel works well), twist ties and white vinegar plus a large glass or enamel pot.

I created an additional step of blowing out my eggs. I like to keep my creations from year to year so they need to be empty.  The best method that I've found for emptying out the eggs is to pierce a hole with a pushpin on either side of the egg, then gently break up the yolk with a paper clip. This makes it easier to blow out the egg. After getting all of the yolk and white out of the egg, rinse well and let dry.  If you want to have hard boiled eggs, you can skip this step.

Cut up the silk fabric. The ties had a lining in them that I removed. Place an egg on a piece of silk that will wrap around it completely. The egg goes on the right side of the fabric.  Wrap tightly and secure with twist ties.

Cut a piece of the white fabric and tightly wrap that around the wrapped egg and secure with a twist tie.

Place a large pot(glass or enamel) of water on the stove, bring to a boil and add 1/2 cup of white vinegar.  Gently place the wrapped eggs in the water, keep it at a low boil and make sure the eggs are all covered with water.  I did four eggs at a time.  I had to add the steamer on top of my eggs to keep them from floating up since they were hollow.   Keep the eggs in the water for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the water with tongs.  Let cool and remove the fabric.  This is the hardest part, waiting for it to cool! I couldn't wait to see what they looked like.  Some of the ugliest ties, made the prettiest eggs.

You can reuse the silk 4-5 times.  I even tried another one with a wet piece of silk and it worked.

Here are the eggs on the ties they were dyed with.  You can see that even eggs from the same ties aren't identical.

I got 10 eggs out of my dozen. I broke one while blowing it out (dropped in the sink) and broke another after dyeing. :(  They are SO fragile.

What do you think of this egg dyeing method? I'm totally hooked and will be on the lookout for interesting patterned silk ties from now on.

Other egg crafts you might enjoy.

Calligraphy Eggs

Easter Egg Garland

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Linking up:
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{DIY} Make Your Own Fire Starters

Did you know you could make your own DIY fire starters from stuff you probably throw out? If you do, then you can move along and check out one of my many other posts. If not, here's a tutorial for you!

To make these {DIY} fire starters, all you need are:

Empty toilet paper rolls

Dryer Lint

Old birthday candles (optional)

Wax Paper (optional)

When I found out I could use dryer lint for these guys, I started collecting it with a vengeance. I store it in a vase in the laundry room.  Once I have enough lint and tubes, I can get to work on the fire starters.

Loosely pack the lint into the tubes.  Add an old candle (optional) into the center. The wax from the candle keeps the fire starter burning longer.

These are all ready to go but if you like, you can also wrap them in wax paper (more wax=more burn time).

Plus they look pretty cute and keep the lint inside.

Set up your fire and add a few fire starters. I started with two of them.  Light the fire starters.

Add more as needed.  The trick is for the fire starter to burn long enough to get the wood going. I used 3 or 4 for this fire because the wood wasn't super dry.

Enjoy your (practically) free fire! 

What's your favorite recycled/upcycled household tip?

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{Recycle} Birthday Vase to Fall Decor

 I received this beautiful floral display from my sister for my birthday.

 Pretty amazing, right?

 I did eventually cut the twine that was holding the birch vase to the wooden tray.

When the flowers died, I had a moment of inspiration to reuse that birch vase right away.   I popped some fresh, but fading hydrangeas from the garden into the water tubes that were inside the foam filled vase(adding fresh water to the tubes).

 I put it up on my mantel with my other neutral fall decorations and it blended in perfectly.  I kept the little wooden tray and that's holding another bouquet elsewhere.

It's a nice little pop of subtle color among the creamy whites and other soft hues.  I love this birch vase so much, I'm sure I'll be figuring out how to use it with my Thanksgiving and Christmas decor too.  How's that for repurposing something for the same purpose? See you tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

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