Tuesday, April 26, 2011

6 IHeart: Earth Day Challenge Link Party!

How did you all do on the earth day challenge I posed last week?  Anyone take an idea and run with it?

As part of last weeks "Be Greener Campaign", I posed a challenge to find something in your home, and re-use it to organize something in your home {vs. buying something new}.

I thought it would be fun to join in on the fun.  However, I also realized it was Easter weekend and we were insanely busy so my craftiness hit a time roadblock.  But I was still up for solving a problem in the home, without leaving the home, and I hope you all were too!!

So what did I come up with?

I have always wanted to ultimately move all of my painting supply storage to our laundry room since I seem to be painting ALL of the time, and our laundry room is better suited for painting cleanup than any other area in the home.  Plus, we have great storage potential in our laundry room and our utility room where it is stored now, isn't exactly ideal.

Whenever I complete a painting project, I head to the laundry room, rinse out my paint brushes, stick them by the utility sink to dry, and then pop them in a large ziplock baggie in a bin in our storage room.  Then, back to the bin I go about three days later to pull a brush back out to get my paint on.  Sad story right?

So, I went into my clutter cabinet and grabbed, you guessed it, an empty white vase!  You know where I am going with this don't you?

After adding a little pretty paper embellishment, I tossed my paint brush supplies into the white vase, which I placed above our utility sink!




I am so excited to have my paint brushes right in arms reach each and every time I get the itch to get crafty and whip out a painting project!!


The white vase was the perfect storage solution for the brushes and my lifestyle!  And it was an uber easy and quick under 5 minute fix!  Love when that happens!





And a button for you:



IHeart Organizing




Aside from organizing greener by reusing and re-purposing, did anyone make an additional earth day resolution?  Less paper towel usage?  Green bag shopping?  Make your own cleaning solutions?  I would love to know!

6 comments:

  1. I'm a new follower and I just love your blog. Such great tips and projects. I was wondering about what you use to organize above your sink.

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  2. I don't have a blog but I recently repurposed an old melissa and doug ice cream set box as a drawer organizer for my end table. It works perfectly, and is kinda cute. But it was woefully inefficient as a storage box for the ice cream, which just went in the general toy-kitchen-box. It fits almost perfectly in my end table with just enough space to stash my comb along the outside edge. I have several other non-divided m&d boxes waiting for a similar fate!

    I have started a big box of boxes that can be repurposed in a similar fashion. Lots of the boxes that come with toys don't really work for us; or we chose to combine multiple sets into one bigger box. I never throw away plastic, fabric or wooden bins or baskets or buckets or anything like that.

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  3. Jen! that is seriously the cutest paint brush holder-EVER!! Where do you find your darling white vases? Is that an ikea one? And did you punch out the paper embellishments or is that a strip? You do the most darling things!! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. @Amanda: Here is the link to the rail: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50072645, here is a link to the bins on the rail: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30184446

    @Renee: The white vases are from Ikea, and the paper strip was actually just sliced down from a larger piece of scrapbook paper and attached with a little Mod Podge.

    Thanks so much!!

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  5. Ok...silly question maybe, but how do you care for your paint brushes. It seems like no matter how expensive I go with paint brushes, they are always destroyed by the end of the painting and cleaning process. I hate buying new paint brushes every time I decide to paint. :( It feels so wasteful. I am about to tackle painting my bathroom and cabinets, so I want to try to preserve the paint brushes I get. :)

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    Replies
    1. I have learned a few things along the way... first, I always purchase the nicer brushes because they really do last longer. In-between coats, keep them wrapped tightly in plastic wrap so they don't dry out, which will make it easier at clean up time. They make brush cleaners which are sold at Home Improvement and paint stores, which have sharp metal picks to run through the brushes while you clean them. They really do extend the life of the brush and I I swear by them: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C0T6YO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=iheaorga-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000C0T6YO

      xoxo!
      Jen

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