Fabric Bin

I was doing laundry the other day and managed to knock one of the many random things that have found their way onto the top of my washer behind it. Our laundry room is the walkway into the garage, so the washer has become home to everything and anything that would go from garage to house and back. After spending 5 minutes reaching behind the washer to retrieve it and being terrified of what kind of pest was going to jump out at me (unfortunately we have more than just dust bunnies lurking in dark places), I decided that this scenario didn't need to be repeated. Luckily, I had a shoe box and a fat quarter of fabric hanging around to make a fabric bin to wrangle all of the random stuff that finds its way onto the washer. This literally took me five minutes to make and is a great organizational tool!

DIY Fabric Bin

Materials:

- shoe box

- hot glue

- fabric (I used a fat quarter because it was the right size for my box)

- scissors, if you need to cut the fabric

Directions:

1. Remove the lid from the shoe box. If lid is attached like mine was, cut the lid and any other flaps off.

2. Lay the fabric out, printed side facing down. Set the box in the middle of it and test folding the fabric up the sides to make sure there will be enough and that the box is positioned correctly. 

3. Spread hot glue on the bottom of the box and carefully smooth the fabric over it. Spread glue on one side of the box, then  pull the fabric up over it, smoothing out any wrinkles. Repeat for all four sides. There should be some overlap to go into the box, glue that down inside of the box, one side at a time.

Ta-da!

5 Ways to Reuse Containers Around Your House

It's no secret that I'm a little bit obsessive when it comes to recycling. I try to reuse as much as possible and wanted to share a few of my reuse ideas with you!


1. Grease Collector
Many people use a metal can to collect grease and throw it away after one use because it can't be sealed to keep the stink in and the bugs out. Try using a glass jar with a lid instead so it can be used until full and keep unnecessary metal out of the landfill!

2. Drawer Organizer

I learned this one from my mom. Thank you cards, Christmas cards, really any set of greeting cards or personal checks that you buy comes in a box. Those boxes are usually the perfect size to hold items in a desk drawer, junk drawer or bathroom drawer. I used Christmas card boxes and lids to organize the supply drawer in our office. This drawer is a little bit chaotic at the moment, but you get the idea.

3. Laundry Soap Drip Catcher

Since most of the world is taller than I am, everywhere we live seems to have a high shelf over the laundry area that I can barely reach. Getting the soap out is enough of a challenge, so when the extra drips, there isn't much I can do about it. My brilliant hubs came up with this idea after watching me get angry at the laundry soap puddles on the floor next to our washer. Cut the bottom section off of a water bottle, leaving about 2 inches of the body of the bottle attached. Punch two holes on opposite sides of the little cup, thread with some yarn or string and hang it over the dispenser of your detergent. Drips stay in the catcher and my floor/ironing board/mop underneath stay soap-free!

4. Compost Collector

Being the pretend avid gardeners that we are, the hubs built us a composter (post to follow) to create fertile soil to add to our crappy, sandy soil. Hopefully next spring we'll have great garden soil to use! I washed out an Oxiclean container (because it has a lid) and am using that to collect fruit and veggie scraps and coffee grounds in my kitchen. This has to get emptied every night otherwise the compost items will putrefy, but it works great! It doesn't leak, the smell is contained until it's ready to go out, and I don't have to worry about leaving rotting food scraps in one of my kitchen bowls! 

5. Baking Soda Sprinkler

As I posted before, I have been using baking soda to clean just about everything in my house. Since I buy the big box, it has become somewhat cumbersome to lug around the house and shake out the right amount. A Parmesan cheese container is the perfect solution! Baking soda is stored in a dry container and it can be sprinkled or poured, depending on the job!