Books on a Box

Happy Wednesday! While I'm not doing any blah to TADA! make-overs this week, I'm sharing crafty ideas I've stumbled upon. Maybe they'll inspire you to make your own?

via Etsy

Isn't this storage box darling? The face is decorated with spines from old books! 

via Etsy

When the box sits on a shelf, it looks like a bunch of your favorite books all lined up, but in fact, it's secret storage. I think that's TADA!

Old Tin Boxes

Hi there! This week, I'll be quite occupied organizing our apartment {we had a bathroom leak that led to one blah after another}. We'll also have some house guests, and we're going on a short trip, so crafting will temporarily be put on hold. I'm leaving you with inspiring photos for the rest of the week.

Do you have plans to garden this summer? Why not use old, blah tins as planters like the girls at A Beautiful Mess did. Or try empty tin cans with pretty labels. These add color, as well as character, to your garden, no matter how small your garden is!

Organizing Ideas

Hello friends! I hope you had a nice weekend and a celebratory Father's Day. I wish I could say I had a relaxing one. Sigh. You see, there was a leak in our bathroom, and water found its way in our closet floor. Um, our closet floor is carpeted. I was more afraid of mold and smelly carpets over water damage to our possessions. What a blah. The TADA! part of this experience was that our apartment's maintenance team quickly responded by fixing the leak, and bringing in industrial fans to dry the carpet. They also put fresh padding before securing the carpet in place. 

We spent the weekend returning our stuff in the closet, and vacuuming like crazy people {the industrial fans spread dust everywhere!}. The damage was minimal -- just a soak under the sun to make it all better {very happy that the sun was out and it's summer; just imagine if this happened in winter!}.  

I'm also grateful that I organized our shoes last year. I put them in plastic shoe boxes similar to this one: 

via The Container Store

It's an organizing tip I've seen in many magazines. My initial reaction was, "Who does this?" I thought it was too much work, and depending on the number of shoes you own, you'll need A LOT of these boxes.

via The Container Store

 But I finally succumbed and realized what a good solution it was. Here's why:

• It keeps shoes protected from dust, and in my case, water
• Because the boxes are transparent, you can easily see what's inside {makes getting dressed/picking shoes easier}
• The box sizes are uniform making them easy to stack or pull out

Take a peek at my version:

I got the boxes from here and here, and I even printed photos of the contents. It's a TADA! investment, when considering both time and money. I know for sure that my shoes will last a long, long time.

More organizing ideas all this week!  

For Dad

Here's another idea on how to turn a box that was once filled with tea bags from blah to TADA!

 A pretty tea box...

 ...but it's empty! 

Allow box to air out for a few days to eliminate the trapped tea aroma. Paint it white for a clean slate.

 To embellish the box, I'm taking these neatly folded dress shirts from an old catalog.

 Cut them out with a pair of scissors.

 Then glue them onto the box. 

 Here's how it looks like from the back.

 And how it looks like from the top.

Use this to wrap a present for Father's Day. Top with a ribbon and heartfelt message on a card. That's sure to make any Dad/Husband/Grandpa smile from ear to ear.

Have a fun weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the Pops out there!

Tea Box to Gift Box

In the past few days, we've turned empty tea sachets into cute envelopes. Today, let's see what we can do with the box that those tea bags called home.

blah: empty tea box

I really like how the flap opens and how it "locks" itself to the rest of the box when it's time to close it. 

Air out the box for a few days to get rid of the tea scent. Then give the box a make-over with several coats of paint, inside and out. 

To add color and whimsy, I tore this page from an old magazine.  I'll use the playful illustrations to decoupage.

 Cut-outs of girly things...they remind me of paper doll dresses.

Randomly attach the cut-outs to the box and seal with a layer of Mod Podge. 

 Finish with a cardboard handle {use hot glue to attach it}.

TADA! Doesn't it look like a lady's handbag?

Tuck in a gift like a scarf or make-up for your bestie or some hair accessories for your little niece.

Don't be surprised if this box gets used over and over again. Well, because it's adorable... and because that's what recycling is all about. TADA!

Something for Father's Day

I hope your week is going along superbly.

I have yet another idea on how to 

recycle tea sachets.

Mind you, this isn't a plug for this tea brand.  I happen to like different kinds of tea. This one is readily available and the packaging is ideal for crafting -- it has a flap and is made of matte paper. 

It makes paint easy to adhere to it -- all you need is two to three coats. 

 Here are the white-washed tea envelopes.

For today's project, my inspiration is this iconic I Love NY t-shirt. 

Write "I Love Dad" on the tea envelopes. Or "I Love Pop", "I Love Daddy", "I Love Papa" -- whatever you call your old man.

Then on a separate sheet of paper, write the many reasons why. 

 Do this on your own or enlist the whole family.

After which, tuck the "reasons" inside the envelopes. 

Attach these to a place where dad will surely notice -- the bathroom door, the fridge, on the Sunday paper, or around his frequently-used computer or tablet. 

Make sure to shower Dad with lots of hugs and kisses on Father's Day. That would totally be TADA!

Something for my Journal

I drink a lot of tea. It's very soothing and studies indicate that tea is healthy. I acquired a new collection because of this daily habit:

...lots of empty tea envelopes! 

They have the potential to turn from blah to TADA!, as I've demonstrated the past few days.  

With just a little bit of paint... 

 ....and some hand decoration -- it's now an uber-cool 

secret keeper.

Write your thoughts or blessings on the inside flap. 

Then slip in a souvenir from your day. 

 Attach this to the pages of your journal or 

date book with glue.

Apart from your journal entries, you'll have something

tangible that helps tell the story of your life. TADA!