Simply in Control: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

ABFOL Planner Challenge Part 2/2

You might remember a Planner Challenge I was doing for A Bowl Full of Lemon. Part 1 is here if you'd like to check out the pics! Here are the remaining 15 days, hope you enjoy!

Day 16: Supplies

Day 17: Creative

I use this Family Binder for some planning as well. Made the cover from scrapbook paper and stickers, and the tabs from colored stickers as well. The back has an emergency phone numbers list for quick access.

Day 18: By your drink
Recipe here

Day 19: Caddy

Day 20: Handwriting

Day 21: Color Coded

Day 22: Post its and sticky notes

Day 23: To Do List

Day 24: Brand New
Got my tabs for 2014!

Day 25: Pockets

Day 26: Pen Case
Travel makeup case by Sonia Kashuk, Target.

Day 27: Charmed
My name engraved in Arabic

Day 28: On the Shelf
I keep a figure of a ship (given by my grandmother) next to the planners to remind myself that life is a journey.

Day 29: Love.
I love this new journal I got for blogging. It has Rumi's spiritual quotes throughout the pages along with beautiful artwork.

Day 30: Wide Open

Just set up my new Martha Stewart planner for 2014 this morning!

Thanks for visiting this page! If you'd like to know where any of the specific accessories came from, please leave a comment below and I'll reply as soon as possible! :)

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Re-purposing Makeup Travel Cases as a Pen Case

I purchased this small train case from Target. The name of the brand is Sonia Kashuk, and although it appears that this specific print isn't on sale anymore, new prints can be found here. They are also pretty!

The quality is great and it's very sturdy. I've taken it on trips many times and put my makeup in it. The lip products being contained in a small removable pouch prevent them from making other items sticky, and the brushes hold up well when enclosed in the plastic. The whole case can be easily wiped clean.

I keep liquids like foundation and under-eye concealer in a separate ziplock bag while traveling and keep it upright in my purse. It would be a disaster if the containers leaked or the glass broke in the airplane so I keep it with myself!

However, I can also re-purpose this handy case by using it as a pencil case. It works perfectly for pens, post-it notes and notepads. Back in school I remember when I used a pencil case, the pen cap would somehow open and get all over the eraser, or a mechanical pencil lead would break and fall into the case. Glue caps would open and make everything sticky. I thought using a makeup case was the perfect solution, since everything is compartmentalized beautifully!

Hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any questions about where I purchased any of the products in the pictures, please feel free to leave a comment below!

If you'd like more updates, don't forget to Like me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest! Thanks for visiting! :)

Linked up to: A Bowl Full of Lemons , Serenity Now and Remodelaholic

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Wrapping Paper and Tissue Paper Storage / Organization

Once upon a time, I had a lot of time on my hands. And I had developed a hobby...gift wrapping:

After having a baby, I definitely don't have enough time to make my gifts look pretty. That, and he would destroy all the wrapping paper by the time I started putting the bows on. However, I still have storage to worry about. Wrapping paper, tissues, cards, bows. Where does it all go??

For the longest time, I had my heart set on this Gift Wrap Work Station from The Container Store:

I've been wanting to buy it for a couple of years now, but just couldn't justify dishing out $50 for something that merely holds gift wrappers! So I went to The Container Store, looked at it one last time, and sighed. I would have to think of an alternative. I looked around the store for something that could hold all of my supplies and not take up much space. I ended up just buying an Umbra Skinny Can in white for $6.99:

At home, I found an extra mason jar that looked like this:

It was an empty one, so I just rinsed it up a bit and dried it. I prettied it up with some bows, then proceeded to fill it with tissue paper of various colors:

I collected the cards I had:

And filled up the wastebasket with all the supplies:

And now I have my own Gift Wrapping Work Station. In a garbage can. Yeah, doesn't exactly sound like a fairytale ending, but it's affordable and doesn't take up valuable space in my apartment!

I'll do another post on gift bag storage at some point in the future. Hope you enjoyed this entry! :)

Linked up to:

Monday, September 23, 2013

Undersink Kitchen Cabinet Organization

Organizing under the sink is always a problem because of all those pipes taking up so much space! There was a disaster going on under mine when the maintenance workers decided to push everything to the side to put in a fire extinguisher.

I decided to try and fix it up a bit. I thought it would become amazingly open like those pictures on Pinterest. I thought it would become like this beauty here:

But no, no such luck. Living in an apartment, there's very limited cabinet space in the kitchens to move things out of the way and make it look open. So here's what I came up with:

I cleaned out the whole cabinet with some disinfectant wipes and lined the bottom. I then arranged these items:

This is a plastic bag organizer I got from Amazon. It's really great quality and keeps the plastic bags looking neat and tidy.

For my reusable grocery bags, I cut up an old garbage bag box and folded up all the totes, lining them up so they're easy to see. That's some free organization right there!

I also used this old box of baby jar food to store wash cloths and rags. Re-purposing old boxes is a great way to organize without spending a dime!

I rolled the wash cloths up so they are more easily contained.

Finally, I made this purchase for this specific organizing project. It holds all of the most used cleaning supplies, and being a caddy is a plus as it can be taken from room to room!

It cost a grand total of $2.78 from Target! Quite a deal! It can be found in the dorm section and its actual purpose is for carrying shower supplies from the dorm room to the shared bathrooms.

Do you have any other tips for under the kitchen sink organization? I'd love to hear it in the comments below! :)

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Mint Chocolate Chip Drink

Need a break from organizing or cleaning your house? It happens. Why not settle down for a bit with a nice drink of Mint Chocolate Chip? Here's what I came up with:

To serve two people:

*1 and a quarter cup milk
*4-5 tablespoons of Cookies'n'Cream ice cream
*Chocolate Mint Truffle coffee creamer
*1-2 tbsp roasted coffee
*1.5 tbsp cocoa
*5 Andes thin mint chocolates
*Sugar, to taste

Blend all the ingredients together until creamy. Taste for sugar. Pour in cup, and top with whipped cream. Add 3 Andes mint chocolates for presentation and enjoy! =)

Linked up to orgjunkie.com and:

Monday, September 16, 2013

ABFOL Planner Challenge Part 1/2

I took up this challenge from A Bowl Full of Lemons during the month of September, where we have to take pictures of things related to our planner:

Most people in the challenge had Filofax, Erin Condren, Franklin Covey and other amazing high-end planners. Mine was a basic, 10 buck, BlueSky planner from Target. It has everything I need...but I'm thinking of at least upgrading to Martha Stewart next year, which is also reasonably priced.

So in this entry, I will be posting the pics from the first 15 days. Part 2 will come after the second half section is over!

Here we go: