it's time to organize: part two

well, as promised, i moved on to my sweaters. this was not as hefty of a task as the closet was...i do have a lot of sweaters, but they are way easier to manage. so i will keep it short and sweet.

here is the pile of sweaters at the start of the project...they had nowhere to live for the time being

 yep, that pile of sweaters is 18 inches high

and the finished project – all boxed up and ready to go under the bed

in our house, you have to take storage wherever you can make it. so if i have to crawl under the bed every time i want to wear a sweater, so be it. at least now they are all organized. one box contains all the cardigans and vintage sweaters, and one contains all the turtlenecks and tunic sweaters. way easier to find what you're looking for when it's organized. i could get used to this...

it's time to organize

i promised myself a few things this new years...i hate to call them resolutions, because you feel like a failure if you don't get to them. but i really, really need to get organized. i bought so many new clothes the day after christmas, that i literally didn't have room for them in my closet. so i vowed to get organized...at the very least least get my closet(s) organized. i know i've said this before, but minneapolis closets are teeny, as you will soon see. i use our closet just for my clothes, chris uses henry's for his clothes, plus, i use eva's closet just for my blazers and jackets. i know it's pathetic, and it will become more and more difficult once the kids grow older and actually need their closets.

so i took on the difficult task of downsizing. it's a lot easier when you have a few days off from work, and kids who are willing to jump on the bed for the hours it took me to do this.

it started with a horrible mess. a mishmash of lounge wear, jeans, trousers, and dresses and tops on hangers in no discernible order. i will admit, i am very embarrassed to be posting these pictures. please keep in mind that i am not a slob...it's just that i have so many clothes and so little space! please don't judge!

messy hanging clothes...

 jean pile...

 trouser pile...

 baskets of workout clothes and lounge wear...

 one of these vintage storage boxes is filled with scarves

the other is filled with bathing suits (i will tackle those at a later date)

 more messy hanging clothes...

 just look at the disorganization (said i with my tail between my legs)...

and alas, here is the pile of clothes that would not fit...

and so i began. i took all the clothes out to begin with and rifled through the piles. i found things i forgot i even had, things with tags still on them! it was like christmas all over again. i got rid of so much stuff, and at last was able to start putting the clothes back in the closet. the end product excites me more than it should. i believe that the pictures do it no justice at all...

 folded and neat lounge wear (no i could not bring myself to get rid of the snowflake pants)

 organized jeans, minus a few old pairs...

 organized trousers, minus a lot of pairs!

 everything fits!

 what?? color coordinated?

 hangers are all neat and tidy...

 dresses are all intact...

 dresses that i forgot i had...

i told you the closets were small!

and lastly, here is the pile of clothes that I AM GETTING RID OF!! and the hangers that were attached...

 

tomorrow's task...tackling my sweaters (one thing at a time, right?)

i love getting organized...i hope i can stay that way!!

inspiration monday

i wanted to start off the new year with a little color and pizazz. plus, when i cleaned out my closets yesterday (more on that later), i found a ton of clothes that i completely forgot i had...this dress being one of the items. it just so happened that i was looking at pictures of alexa chung – i knew i wanted to be inspired by her today – and i found this great outfit. she has such great fashion sense, and she can pair things up that normally people wouldn't think of pairing...and it always ends up looking great. so, here she is...

and here's my version...

i know the dresses are different silhouettes, but i love the idea of taking a strapless summer dress, and making it winter appropriate. any way to give your clothes more wear works for me!

dress ~ vintage, thrifted
shirt ~ brunch swap
tights ~ Target
earrings ~ F21
shoes ~ Kohls
belt ~ ? don't remember!

happy monday, everyone!

day-off crafts

i have been wanting to make a terrarium for a long time now. i have pictures saved in my email of cute little terrariums that i think are adorable. so about six months ago, i bought all the items i needed to make one...but i never got around to it.

last friday, i was home alone, so i decided to take down the christmas tree and clean up all of the holiday decorations. we have the cutest little vintage deer set that we put up for the holidays, and i thought to myself...why don't i keep these out all year round? they are way to cute to have out for only a few weeks.

the thought came to my head...i've wanted to make a terrarium, and i have these cute little dear. so lo and behold, here is what i made...

super easy....just a layer of rock, a layer of fresh soil, some cute succulents, whatever decorative items you want, and a layer of moss. the cute jars are from ikea, but a used pickle jar with a painted lid would work just as well. they really look cute in our house. i'm so glad i finally made them. what about you....is there something that you have been wanting to do or make that you just haven't gotten around to?

Rihanna Hairstyles for 2011

It’s no surprise that Rihanna is becoming known for more than just her great music. In fact, today, there are a lot of people that want to pull off great Rihanna fashion looks and great Rihanna hairstyle looks. If you are interested in trying to see what kind of hairstyles Rihanna sports and getting one of her great looks, you’ll have all kinds of different options to choose from. With her hairstyles, there are all kinds of different ways out there that you can do your hair and with a good hairstylist, they will be able to help you pull off those looks and look great.

One of the most popular Rihanna hairstyles is the sexy short haircut that she often sports. This haircut can be styled in a few different ways and looks great. It can be worn spiky on top, it can be worn with bangs, and there are a lot of different ways that you can wear this style. There are also different ways that this Rihanna hairstyle that you can color it. You have a lot of choices with this great style and it is one of the most popular options that are out there today.

With the Rihanna hairstyles you have a lot of great choices. Make an appointment with your hairstylist and see what she can do. With all the great choices out there, take some great pictures with you and leave the salon sporting a new, sexy, popular Rihanna hairstyle, you’ll love your new look!

happy new year's day!

1-1-11...can you believe it? another year has gone by. and what a great year it was! last night, we had our family tradition...it's pretty boring, but we always have a ton of fun. we make the kids a dinner consisting completely of appetizers, give them fake champagne, and change the clock to say midnight. that way, they get their own little new years all for themselves.

then off to bed they go, and chris and i get to celebrate together. we make our own appetizers, and grab a few cocktails.

then we start with our little game. throughout the night, we ask each other three questions. basically reflective questions like, "what was your favorite memory from 2010?" we answer them, and then we give each other a gift for the house...something that we can use for our new year's resolutions. we do the questions intermittently throughout the night, with the last one just after midnight. this year's gifts: new pillows (we both got them...but i think we will be returning chris'...they are hard as rocks!); a family board game called "camp"; the tupperware that has lids that connect to the bottoms (no more lost lids!); new door mats; and tons of storage for all of our legos, toys, clothes, power cords, and miscellaneous papers and bills!

we usually make a huge dinner, but for some reason, the crackers and cheese and olives filled us up. so here is what we would have had!

wild mushroom risotto with parmesan and blue cheese...perhaps this will be tonight's dinner instead!

and of course we also filled up on the addicting "christmas crack"~ recipe here if you dare want to make it. SO addicting * and SO easy to make!!

and of course we do the obligatory countdown, champagne and kiss at midnight!

and here we are (ok, mostly me), being silly, taking self portraits in the mirror! even though we don't go out, we still dress up for each other...at least for one drink! ; ) i decided to go all print...why not, it's new years!

happy new year's! i hope your evenings were magical! how did you spend your last day of 2010? what are your resolutions for 2011? xoxo!!!