The Organic Poptart!: My Morning

The Organic Poptart!: My Morning: This morning I woke up and it was a typical morning for a mother. My children were still asleep, I manged to wake up before they did, but I ...

Ways I Save Space (Mom Edition)

It is hard to save on space, especially when you are a parent. Right now in the space I live I have lots of little awkward wall space. The fact that I also have two children also makes saving space hard becaus toys can end up everywhere.

One rule I have for my family is that if toys come in, toys must go out. Whenever a birthday or Christmas happens we go through all their old toys. We keep whatever is loved or used often and get rid of everything else. When my kids get new stuff they have enough to store it. This can sometimes be hard to follow, but if you take a week before a birthday party it can be much easier. I have done it each time before Christmas and never run into the problem of not having a place to put my kids new toys.

(This also applies for clothes. But I have a hard time following this one. I still find new born clothes in my 2 year old son's drawers.)

Another spot that seems to take a lot of space is the diaper changing station. When I had my daughter I found having a diaper changing station was really more a hassle than helpful. It took up a lot of room, the shelf space could only store so much and it was a piece of furniture I would only use for so long. 

When I had my daughter I used a changing cushion on a dresser she uses now as her regualer dresser. It used a space I was already using and freed more room in her nursery which was literally a large closet at the time. However when my son came along I found it much easier to store my diapers and wipes in a garden shelf I got at Hobby Lobby for 80% off. I could just grab what I needed and change his diaper right on my bed. 

Now for the thing I swear by. A great way I save space and have easy clean up is lots of those storage ottomens. I swear by those things. Square or circle or retangle, they all store toys perfectly for easy clean up and out of sight. I have three I keep in my livingroom. Each child gets one ottoman and another is filled with my husband extra game controllers. Its extra seating when we hae guests and again perfect hiding storage! 

Also in the pictures on the right are mugs of pens and brushes. I wish I could say I keep cute containers, but nothing beats a large with handle. I use my mugs to carry my pens and paint brushes more than I do my tea or coffee. Nothing beat having that handle, at least for me.

Anyways, these are just a few ways I save on space. Each person is different and each house is different so their are no one set of rules or instructions that fit every home. Hopefully these can help you or inspire you to find ways to save on space in your own home.

Stay Creative and Inspired.

~Nata

Randomly Build a Table

So have you ever had the great desire to randomly build something? Now and then I get these overwhelming urges to hold a hammer or handle a saw and build something with my own two hands from wood. Last time it was a toddler bed for my son. This time it was for a long skinny table.

I got the idea when I saw four old banister poles at my local Restore Store. For two dollars a piece I had legs for a table. I wish I could say I followed exact measurements, but in reality I pretty much eye balled everything and with a jigsaw and hand tools I built a thin table for living room. Perfect for not taking up too much space but having a space to place things!

What I used

• Four banister poles (Not sure if this is what they are called. I got for $2 each)
• 1in x12in x 4ft board. (Scrap I had from another project.)
• 1 in by 2 in wood. (I cut it to build a frame that fit just under the larger board.)
• 2 pieces cut to four feet
• 2 piece cut about a few mm longer than 10 inches. Again I eyeballed most of my measurements accept for my legs.) 
• Nails
• Screws
• Little one hole "L" brackets
• Hammer
• Jig Saw
• Screw Driver
• Tape measure (For people who work smarter than me. )
• Sand paper

The first thing I did was measure out how long I wanted my legs. I wanted the table to be pretty high so I could easy put things on it without stopping down. I had plans on putting it by the door and just wanted something thin and tall enough to toss my keys and phone on when I came home.

First thing I did was cut my thin pieces of wood and build the frame for under the table. These are the pieces that will help secure the legs in place.

I used four of the little brackets to secure the frame to the table top. Then flipped the table top over and put a few nails in it for extra security. There is probably a more professional way of doing this, but I found it pretty secure. Also i forgot to mention that four of these little "L" brackets along with screws cost less than $2 dollars.

The next step was to clean up the old banister poles and saw off the angle edge. Here I used pliers to remove the old nails and then a jig saw to clean up and cut the edges I needed. I kept the legs around 3 feet tall. I had my husband watch T.V. and sand the rough edges to keep a clean look.

 The next part is little hard to describe. I used small "L" brackets to secure one side of each leg up against each corner of the underneath of the table. Then put nails through the frame into the legs of the table. Then I ran out of "L" brackets. It was lat at night and the hardware store was closed and Walmart didn't have what I wanted. So I there I was stuck with still slightly wabbly legs that needed that other side secured. I tried doing the triangle brackets, but it just wasn't working no matter many I used. A bunch of poor nails died along with some screws...It was an epic battle and a long night.

However it is like I meantioned in a previous post, sometimes the answer is just right infront of you. With four simple screws, I secured the other sides of the legs and got four solid and secure legs. I had to stop for a little while my little helper inspected my work.






By now you will notice the couch and rug and living room type setting around my project area. And yes, this is my living room where I decided to randomly a build a table. My home is small so I don't have a large space to build anything other than between my kitchen and living room. No worries my precious babies where in the other rooms fenced off watching T.V. By now they are use to Mommy doing crazy things in the other room.


After a few tweaks and little extra nails, the table was complete. I still need to paint it, but for now it does a pretty good job holding some pretty flowers, a tea pot and a sippy cup. :)

My little helper even approves. :)

Hopefully this can inspire you to go a build your own peices. Don't be afraid to pick up a hammer and take a crack at something..

Stay Creative and Inspired

Lacking Luster Days

It happened. A boring day overcame you. All the things you have to do, all that you could do suddenly don't matter and you are bored out of your mind. Slowly the boredom trickles into aggravation because you can't find yourself doing anything other than wallowing in boredom and feeling useless. Its suddenly a bad day for no reason at all.

Inspiration in the everyday is sometimes hard to find. There are long hours where I wish I could find the right quote, do a fun craft, find the perfect outfit, just something to lighten my day and put in skip in my step. It is not that something bad happened, it is just a boring day grabbed a hold of me and went with it. Without realizing it I find myself stumped. The easy thing to do would to be hang out in jammies and sit on Facebook secretly complaining how everyone else is having fun or at least someone to talk too.

Sometimes the answer is right in front of you. Maybe it is not that you can't find something to do, but your mind is telling you not to do something. Instead of feeling you need to fill time, it is time to waste time just being at peace. Go to the couch or your favorite chair. Heck crawl into bed and let yourself rest for a few moments. Push the negative thoughts and feelings of boredom aside and simply exist. Let yourself just be.

Sometimes when you are stuck in mental rut it can help by doing a simple task. The other day I went and bought myself some flowers. With the weather being wonky with it sunny one day then snowing the next it felt nice to have some dusty pink flowers in the house to brighten the place up. It gave the place an airy and springy feel and gave me inspiration to get back into my groove.

And who doesn't like a hot shower or bath? On my worst days of being cranky, bored, or losing the luster for life I hope in the shower to feel the relief. As cheesy as this sounds with the pun not intended, a shower washes away my troubles sometimes.

Again these are not the worst days, just ones the seems to lose their luster and really seems to suck for no reason other than to be a bad day. Take a step back and make sure to breathe. Go out for a walk or snuggle in bed.

Stay Creative and Inspired

~Nata

My central blog

I randomly do things. Each activity I do is spontaneous, which makes things confusing at times. One moment I am capturing memories for a friend while another I putting together a table in my living room from scrap wood parts. Since the things I do happen at random time I decided to make a central blog/website. Everything I do with posted here.

Hope everything gets updated in  timely manner and is more organized. :)