How To Store Purses and Bags

If you’re like me, you have more than one purse or bag. After all, each has its purpose, so a few are necessary! Now, since you can’t use them all at the same time, you toss them in your closet or have them piled high on a table somewhere. Sound familiar? Some time later….you reach for a purse or bag you haven’t used in a long time, only to find their shape has gone away! I’ve got just the solution.

Note:  This is NOT JUST FOR WOMEN…..MEN THIS IS FOR YOU TOO! Laptop bags, satchels, cross over body bags, purses…hey I’m not judging. Just saying I’m not excluding you! 😉

Purses and bags piled up in the closet was me. Moving several times has taught me to be more organized… and well my motto is… “An organized home is a happy home.” One day I was organizing my closet. I had a bunch of scarves in paper sacks, crushing one on top of the other, also taking up valuable space. It hit me…why not put them together?!

Bags sadly collapsing. (insert tear here!) 

All you need are scarves. The more fluffy the better! You can also use old t-shirts, baby blankets, a few of your 180 pairs of socks! Anything soft will work. 

Stuff away!

Nice and stuffed! Integrity of bag is in place! Great way to store winter scarves or anything soft that’s not needed at the moment. Win-win! I love that. 🙂  

I am going to admit these are just a few of the purses/bags I have. I may or may not have 10 or 15! I do use them all, and I love them all, and each has a special memory attached, as all bags were gifts to me from my family over the years.

I hope this tip will help you out which in turn will help all the sadly misshapen purses and bags all over the world to stay in their original form! 😉

Smile friends for life’s too short to waste a second of it!

Hugs and more hugs, Koko❀ ……………… Oh and this is how I store them ………..

Displaying them this way makes it easy for me to find what I need as well as out in the open makes me remember what I have!

See that cute puppy? It’s a purse! Hahaha. I told you all my bags were gifts! This one is from my son. According to him, “You had to have this Mom!” (Green “Ash” sneaker wedges from my daughter. “Mom, everyone needs a”cool” pair of sneaker wedges!”) And I totally agree! 🙂

Boston Terrier purse… up close and personal! 😉 Adorable right!?

The end… If you want to see what I’m up to, you can follow me on Twitter or Instagram or both! I don’t always post all the things I build, create, do, but a lot of it makes it onto one or both of those!

I appreciate it from the bottom to the top of my heart that you follow me!

Peace, Koko❀    (This time it’s for real… byeeeeeeeee!)

Save Space Shoe Storage DIY

Look, look, look! Over 15 pairs of shoes, virtually taking up no space at all!

Save space shoe storage DIY. Say that tongue twister three times fast! 😉

Whether you have a lot of space or a little space this shoe/multi purpose shelf will come in handy. This shelf is great to show off any collection whether it’d be tea pots or books or toys! Possibilities are endless.

I built the shelf over the closet and corner shelves for shoes as my daughter has a small collection 😉  I like that it displays her shoes in a pretty way as well as not take up any precious floor space!

When the shoes were stored in their boxes, my daughter found she didn’t wear them as much. This way she can see them and it makes choosing a pair very easy and fun!

Also don’t overlook over the door hooks to hang a jacket, purse, or next day clothes!

Check out more info on this awesome vegan leather jacket on Smashing Glitter. here…

Very convenient to have things out for easy access, but not taking up any “floor” space. And you avoid “the stacking over a chair” look!

This is how I did it…

I picked up these brackets at Target on sale for under five bucks for two! You can find brackets at any home improvement store. They come in many ornate shapes in metal as well as wood. All I did was decide how wide I wanted the shelf.    In this case I got a 1″ x 10″ which in reality is really 1″ x 9 1/4″. (That has always bothered me. A 1″ x 10″ should measure exactly that!)  After you decide how wide you want it, the next thing is to decide how long. I wanted it to go from the corner to a little beyond the closet door. You can have the home improvement store cut it for you or you can cut it yourself. I already had the wood in my go-to-stack-of-lumber, so I just cut it myself using a compound miter saw.

I lightly sanded the board and stained it with stain I had left over from a project. You do not need to sand or stain the board. You can leave it as is. You can also paint it any color you want or you can just varnish it with a clear water based varnish.

Okay…moving on to the corner shelves.

Corner shelves can be bought at Target or home improvement stores. You can also make them. I normally would make them, however these were on sale and to make them would have cost me more. So in this instance it was a no brainer to not have to put the work into it.

Here you can see there are cleats that hold up the shelf. Find the studs in the wall. If you do not have studs use wall anchors. You can learn about them on my other tutorial here. Once the cleats are attached to the wall, you place the shelf on top. You can then screw it down from the top or hot glue the shelf on like I did. How you attached the shelf really depends on what you are putting on it.

Don’t you love it?!

From below…………then above. 🙂

Creating more space without really “taking” up space is a win-win! Shelves like these will help you be more organized and being more organized helps you find things! Make more room without “taking” up space! You too can do this!

Please like, follow, and share. Your support means the world to me! Also if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you will get sneak previews of upcoming posts and snippets into my life!

If you have any questions drop me a comment. I’m always happy to help.

Happy space creating, Koko❀

Help your sensitive skin by using natural ingredients.

I’ve used all of these homemade concoctions! Love them!

Smashing Glitter

I’ve been sick for days now. When I am sick, my skin becomes very sensitive. I can’t use traditional cleansers to wash my face without my skin feeling dry and irritated. Because of this I normally make my own face washes and masks. The best part about these homemade face products is that the ingredients can easily be found in your kitchen!

Honey – Honey is a natural humectant, which means that it can help retain moisture. Not only does it help to put moisture into your face, but honey can also kill bacteria. It is a great skin softener as well. Apply a teaspoon amount of honey to your face and massage it into your skin. Leave it on your face for ten minutes or so. Not going to lie, I have left honey on my skin for a half hour before! Nothing bad will happen from leaving honey…

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Kissably Soft Lips…Are Seconds Away!

Easy, easy recipe for kissably soft lips. Hey, you men out there…this goes for you too!

Two ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.
Olive oil and sugar. This recipe can also be made with grapeseed oil, avocado oil, apricot oil, almond oil… As for the sugar, you can use white or brown sugar.

Mix equal amounts and then gently scrub your lips. Next, find someone to test it out on! ;P

I also use this as a facial scrub/body scrub. I will do this about twice a month and usually at night, as it tends to make my face red. (Though the redness doesn’t last long.) I’m out in the sun a lot and even with sun screen, my lifestyle takes a toll on my skin. This scrub is a great way to exfoliate. Same recipe just obviously make more of it. For the body I will make about 1/2 cup of sugar to 1/2 cup of oil.

You gardeners out there and barefoot enthusiasts, try it on your hands and feet.

So let’s run to our kitchen cupboard!  Kissably soft lips are seconds away!

Do you have a remedy for soft lips you wanna share? Please kiss and tell!

Please like, follow and share…your support means the world to me!

Lavender-Peppermint Lip Balm

Lavender and peppermint essential oils; I never run out of theses two oils. They are so good for so many concoctions that I make.

Butters, essential oils, and finished lip balm in tin (still warm) 😉

Here’s a great lip balm using these two essential oils.

1 teaspoons shea butter
3 teaspoon cocoa butter
5 drops of lavender essential oil
8 drops of peppermint essential oil (don’t worry if you put a drop or two more of either oil in; I’ve put up to 10 drops of peppermint oil in this recipe)

*This makes a soft lip balm.  If you want a harder lip balm; add 1/2 tsp of beeswax (melt down with the butters.)

*You can buy tins or jars to put the finished product in or just reuse an old lip balm container. Just wash it well (sanitize it).

*As for the ingredients; there are many places you can purchase essential oils. Just make sure they are essential oils and not scented oils. Huge difference. Stay away from scented oils/scented anything. (Toxic stuff; in my humble opinion) Mountain Rose Herbs sells many things besides essential oils. Check them out for teas too! Swanson Vitamin (on line) sells essential oils and oils such as, almond, sesame and avocado; I use for my face serums. Whole Foods has essential oils and other oils like olive oil.  I’ve bought pure cocoa butter from them before. Just read labels. Make sure you are buying the real stuff.

How to:
Melt shea butter and cocoa butter. You can use a small pot with heat set on low. You can also use a heat proof glass dish set in a pot of boiling water. What I do is use a glass measuring cup and set it in a pot of boiling water to melt my oils, butters, any facial product, or salves that I make. Makes it easy to pour into containers.

Small pot filled half-full of water. Heat proof measuring cup set in pot.

After your butters are melted let cool for about 5 minutes. You don’t want the heat to evaporate all your essential oils away!

Add your drops of essential oils.

Stir and pour into container. Let cool completely before capping.
There are a virtually thousands and thousands of ways to make lip balm. Experiment on your own and have fun. Orange essential oil and cocoa butter makes for a deliciously chocolaty smelling lip balm!

Finished lip balm. Solidified nicely! 😀

Am I blue…yes I’m blue…

But the happy kind of blue!

This post was inspired by an awesome blogger at http://buttersugarflowers.com/ She makes the most delicious cakes.  I can’t wait to make the hazelnut cake.  I think will be a favorite of mine!

Okay back to nails…This is called Cartwheels On the Catwalk!  I guess with hundreds and hundreds of “blues” out on the market, you have to get creative with the names.  😉  I do like this color.  Fun and goes with everything!  I painted on three coats.  I didn’t paint a bottom coat or top coat and the polish has been on for almost 2 weeks.  Yep worn at the tips of nails but remember I play in dirt almost daily and built two garden gates as well as my normal lawn care every three days or so.  So for this polish to stand up to that and so much more (don’t want to bore you totally) it’s saying something.  I just took it off before I sat down to write this and it wiped off scary EASY!  They sure are making better polishes.  If you are looking for something that lasts and easy to remove, give this brand (SEPHORA by OPI) a try.

Nail polish; SEPHORA by OPI……..Sunnies; Kenneth Cole Reaction

What is your go to color?

Green Tea Face Mister…ahhh feels so nice!

Face Mister

I like the cool feeling of misting my face.  Making them is just as easy as spraying.  I’ve made this with several types of teas.  Green tea and chamomile teas are my go to’s but it’s limitless to what kinds of teas you can use as a face mister.  For this recipe I will use green tea.  Green tea is fab for skin; full of antioxidants, is anti-inflammatory, and a free radical fighter as well!  It’s said to have anti aging properties and helps with skin elasticity…all I know is I love it on my face.  I spray it on my body too.

Brew a cup per directions on the box.  I usually brew mine for three minutes.  Let cool completely.
Pour into a clean spray bottle.
Store in the refrigerator.
Spray as often as you’d like. Pour into a travel size bottle and take it with you. Great to up-lift you especially when you are sleepy. I love it right out of the refrigerator. The burst of cool is invigorating. Spray it on before you put on make up for some extra protection. I also mist over my make-up. It doesn’t melt off the make-up. (though 98% of the time I only wear eye shadow and lip stuffs 😀 )

Keeps in the refrigerator for about 5 days.
I wouldn’t use it more than 2 days outside of the refrigerator. What I’ve done; when I make a cup of tea for myself I save back enough to fill a travel size bottle to take with. I usually use it up by that day or I store it in the refrigerator and use it up by the following day.

FYI: Great for the inside, great on the outside. Since it’s a free radical buster, try spraying it on before putting on sun screen. It can help reduce sun damage! See article on “Let’s Make Some Tea” for more fun facts.

This Clipper green tea is so good.  It’s light and delicious.  Not bitter.  If you are lucky and can find this near you, give it a try!  Make time to check out their web site.  So cute!  http://www.clipper-teas.com/

Fresh Face; Skin Brightener!

The awesome part about making beauty products at home is the versatility.  What works for some, may not for others, and in a lot of cases, one ingredient can sub out for another. Know what you are allergic to, and know what is SAFE to use.  Do your own research. Read, read, and read some more!

Here’s what I use when my face is feeling congested.  This recipe is great to loosen dead skin cells.  I really do notice a brighter, fresher complexion.  I make variations on this and I will post them in the future; so stick with me.  Lot’s of fun ideas and tips.  There will be plenty of recipes to choose from for different skin types and concerns.  Okay, let’s make something fun.

Fresh Face; Skin Brightener…

5-8 aspirin (uncoated aspirin)
1/4 teaspoon Vitamin C powder (can purchase at any health food store.  I buy mine on-line through Swanson vitamin.)
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice (I just pour enough to cover the aspirin.)
1 tablespoon half and half or milk.  I like the fat kind.

Dissolve aspirin in lemon juice.  Then add half and half and vitamin C.  Mix well and brush on face with an artist brush; fingers work too.  Leave on for 5-10 minutes.  (I usually leave mine on for 30 minutes.  (If I have left over mask, I will often times reapply about ten minutes later, also I put this on the back of my hands and upper chest area and neck.)

When I’m ready to take it off,  I dampen my skin and massage the grainy stuff in small circles all over my face (more exfoliation action!) (If you have sensitive skin or broken skin, I would skip the massage.)  Rinse with warm water.  Follow up with moisturizer.  I use a facial oil I make; gentle massage in upward strokes.

Do you have a homemade facial that makes your skin glow? Please share!  😀

Mellow Yellow…

Perfect color for summer.  Sunny yellow!  It’s actually called “Mellow Yellow”,  by Sally Hansen; their Xtreme line.  It’s so pretty.  Instant happiness!  I painted three coats of this color; no bottom coat, no top coat, and the polished lasted over a week.  That is saying a lot coming from me, since my hands touch water 20 or more times a day, plus I’m out in the garden daily.   Needless to say, my hands take a beating and the polish stayed strong.  I’m thinking if I was easy on my hands I’d probably get well over two weeks on this; sadly,  the world will never know!  😉  The kitty is pretty too, don’t you think?