THIS YEAR I HAVE MADE A COMMITMENT TO DO MORE OF THE “GOOD IDEAS” IN MY LIFE. THOSE IDEAS WHICH REMAIN SUSPENDED FOREVER IN MY MIND, BUT NEVER USED.  Pinterest is a perfect example of that. I love the browsing of cool crafts, neat outfits, and beautiful rooms, but how many of those ideas am I going to put into practice? My friend Meghan began a group of Pinterest lovers who are putting their pinboards to work. Last week was the first “linky” link up at her JaMonkey site. Interesting to see how ideas are put into action from this sharing.

So for the second week of this group challenge I decided to find the organization idea using a parts bin from Harbor Freight mentioned by kinseywilson.com on her Jiminy Pinterest profile. She obviously does scrapbooking and has her rotating bins perfectly organized, but it looks great!

This is the article on her blog. 

So we went off to Harbor Freight to buy the 12″ Revolving Four Tray Bin. Actually, we called ahead with the information from their website and found out that this little parts bin was out of stock in many places. I blame Pinterest. I wonder how many saw this and plunked down the twenty dollars to organize their projects and supplies? This would be great with jewelry beads and materials, stamps, makeup or kid art supplies.

We bought the last two parts bins in the store. Once my husband unboxed them and laid out all the parts he had over 75 screws and matching washers to piece this item together. To say it was tedious was an understatement. It does seem sturdy though! We were missing parts from both boxes so my husband simply made one complete one until we could put the other one together for our teenager.

I am completely thrilled with the result though. I placed it in my art area. About a year ago I began to assemble some of my supplies together in the unfinished part of our basement − in a lockable situation away from kid sleepovers and other parenting hazards. It’s nothing fancy and it has no natural light…BUT the mere fact that I can leave a project in progress is worth e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! I do art with the kids also (of course) but this is where I keep my good Prismacolor Pencils, my nice watercolor paper, and my empty canvases.

My husband made that beautiful dresser from scratch about four years ago. At one point it was supposed to be in my closet and it is a beautiful 5 drawer cabinetry piece he has mounted on the studs at my request. I have a desk to the left of it which is actually a 1930s Hollywood Blonde Wood table. I bought it at an estate sale in my hometown for 40 dollars before going off to college. 27 years later and it still serves me well. One day I’ll have the whole set up ready for a photograph and show you my little nook away from the computers and technology. For now this Project Pinterest idea will have to suffice.

Are you on Pinterest yet? If you want an invite please leave me a comment and I will send you an invitation so we can share ideas. Make sure you visit this week’s Project Pinterest page on JaMonkey’s blog for more project fun. I love seeing what everyone is trying.

I AM AT IT AGAIN…FOLLOWING THROUGH ON AN IDEA FROM PINTEREST! We spent the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend sorting through lots of memories and junk in our basement. We’ve moved l-o-t-s in our marriage and though we sorted and threw away before moving, it never seems enough. I blame part of that on the fact that the last two moves were made with active toddlers. Jordan was only 20 months old when we moved from Hawaii to Maryland. A few years later, William was 21 months when we moved to Georgia. I have some scary memories of how harried our lives were then. William was a speed machine and could keep anyone exhausted with his toddler antics. Did I mention that about six months after moving here I became pregnant with Grace?

Grace is now 7 so I really have no excuse. My dear husband helped me do a bunch of ‘honey-do’ items this weekend. When I said I wanted to visit Harbor Freight he was perplexed. I followed that statement by saying that I got the idea for an organization project off of Pinterest. His reply?

“I’ll never turn down going to a hardware store with you, but what is Pinterest and why do you use it?”

And that is where I’ll leave you hanging…you are going to like my new storage idea for crafts. Come back tonight and I’ll show you.

I REVEALED MY LOVE OF THE VISUAL BOOKMARKING SITE CALLED PINTEREST RECENTLY. Initially I was drawn to the graphic feel of the site. You can browse images for hours looking at all kinds of crafting ideas, home design and organization, gorgeous outfits and even shoes. It’s a type of shopping…only no buying. (My husband should appreciate that fact, right?)

The real strength of Pinterest is it’s ability to organize ideas and line up projects for special occasions like birthdays or Christmas. Pinboards filled with ideas for a kitchen makeover or laundry room reorganization are easily kept together for you as you pin them. I used this board:

to keep ideas for Grace’s 7th birthday together.

And I keep all the craft ideas I want to try on one board:

When the holidays came around I began to put some of those idea finds to work. I needed teacher and hostess gifts and I didn’t want to buy the usual items. I remembered a project for tile drink coasters which was posted on my friend Ashley’s awesome blog, The Handmade Home. I’ve been following Ashley’s art and design work for years – not to mention laughing along with her growing family’s antics. Not too long ago she was on the Nate Berkus Show and rocked that fame big time. She’s an Auburn girl like me, so you know we have the best in design training. {War Eagle to all the Auburn design geeks out there!) Anyway, I used my handy dandy Pinterest link to find the tutorial.

So I set about to buy all the items necessary:

• Mod Podge
• Cotton Fabric
• Ceramic Tiles
• Felt “feet”
• Brushes
• Scissors

As usual, I started the project after kid bedtime. It didn’t take me long to get in the crafting zone. So relaxing and satisfying. The step-by-step directions worked perfectly and I can honestly say that the options are endless with this idea. You can take it and put your own spin on it. I used cotton quilting fabric because it was the right weight and price, but you may want to use a favorite shirt or a pretty napkin you find. That’s the beauty of Mod Podge and the technique combined with your ideas. Here are three of the sets I created:

and they’ve gotten good reviews thus far from the teachers and friends I’ve gifted. In fact, I plan on having some of these on hand regularly as hostess gifts.

Head on over to my friend Meghan’s blog, JaMonkey, and look at the other Project Pinterest ideas shared there. Add yours to the linky or use her Project Pinterest Facebook page to share. Time to put those Pinterest ideas to work!