Trash to Treasure Coffee Can

Life has been busy. I have some big projects in mind that I hope to share soon (valances, closet reorganization, painted dresser) but in the meantime I have just been trying to catch my breath since getting the kids started at school and soccer and everything else that seems to pop up.

Yesterday my son had to stay home from school because of a little cold. So - as he drew pictures at the kitchen table - I tried out my new silver contact paper. It's FUN. I want to cover everything in silver now! But, knowing my husband would think I lost my mind...I just spruced up my little coffee station. I've had this coffee container for several months and keep refilling it because it is a convenient shape, size and my three year old can open it (she loves to make her momma coffee and I'm not going to discourage it). So, to make it a more attractive permanent fixture on my counter top - I covered it with silver contact paper, a paper bag label, decorative paper on top, and some mod podge to seal the label. So easy and silly - but a fun little project to do while my son did his thing - and it got rave reviews from my personal barista daughter this morning.

My reusable coffee container

All spruced up with it's silver self. Notice the matching cinnamon?

This is a view of the whole area a couple months ago before I also redid the mail spot and medicine spot.

See? Looking better! I love getting things organized, a little cuter and simpler. A little change goes a long way in making a busy household feel manageable!

Linking up to Poppies at Play to give you a chance to see some way more creative projects! Also, for some impressive Trash to Treasure - check out Reinvented!

Easy trays have changed my life

Ok - right off I'll admit I didn't snap before pictures. I didn't expect to love these little trays enough that I'd post pictures of them here. But I do! One of them is wooden and was metallic gold. I got it on clearance at TJ Maxx around the holidays. The other one is a hard plastic and had a bright, kind of ugly, picture of wine and grapes on it. I think I got it at a grocery store maybe?

SO - some (you know what's coming) spray paint and then some coordinating contact paper and they are now completely useful (easy to wipe clean) and look like they belong in our family room instead of just being there.

We use a big Ottoman as one of our coffee tables and it is so handy to have these trays to put drinks on and then to also move on to the couch to hold my coffee if I'm working there, the kids snacks, etc. Seriously, for about $10 total... I am definitely getting my money's worth. So - voila - here they are:
On the ottoman:

A quick Before and After

Editing to Link up to a Goodwill Party Post! Scroll down to the old banguet chair!

I've been doing some improvements to my work area (I mainly work here... but am organizing and making changes that will allow me to do more of my sewing and craft stuff up here too - as opposed to the dining room table). Here are some pics of what I did this week. I've had fun - but, like all projects, the starting is more fun that the finishing for some reason.

An old filing cabinet in the garage. Ugly.

A $3.99 chair from the Goodwill store. Ugly.

The space - I know this looks like a holy mess... but I had pulled everything out of it's place and had a huge pile of fabric scraps, etc.


Ta-Da! - My little workspace. I just use a laptop, so I will be able to easily move it and set up my sewing machine. So far - I'm loving it! Note the chair and filing cabinet - so much better, huh?!