Make Packing Lunch Easy! No Pantry - No Problem!

Y'all, sometimes the simplest things make life SO much easier!  This is hardly a DIY project.  It's more like something that I did years ago just to make life a little more organized and easy.  About 7 years ago I was trying to loose weight I started taking my lunch and snacks everyday to work.  I would go grocery shopping on Sunday and plan out my lunches, snacks and dinners for the whole week.  I would put all of my snacks in little baggies to make sure my portion sizes were correct.  That's how I came up with this idea.  I found it was a lot easier to have everything displayed and easily seen then stuffed into a basket. 

Fast forward to now and I have an amazing husband that I get to pack lunch for everyday!  I don't have a pantry at our house but our laundry room is attached to the kitchen and this is what I use to keep all of his snack stuff for his lunches!

Snack Solution

 

 

 

 

I go grocery shopping and come home and take about an hour to go through and put everything into little snack size baggies when I get home.  Then each night when I pack his lunch I can do it in record time!  It's a great way to save time! 

 

 

 

All I did was pick up a Shoe Organizer (you can get this at Target or Walmart; maybe even the Dollar Tree) and lots of sandwich baggies.  Then just take the time to put all of your chips and cookies into the baggies and you have a great snack system!  Just make sure when you get your organizer that it has see through pockets so that you can see your snacks! 

 

 

 

Anything that doesnt fit into my snack organizer I just keep in a little basket! 

 

What about you?  What are some organizing timesavers that you have?  I would love to hear your ideas!  





The Painted Chairs (Painting Over Fabric)

Y'all, I seriously couldn't be any more excited than I am right now.  I have finally finished my new (old) chairs.  Let's start off with this, I found these at Goodwill 2 years ago.  Yes... 2 years ago!  They were UGLY and only $10 each.  I really loved the look of the chairs and thought I would give reupholstering a try.  Once I got them home I knew that I had bitten off more than I could chew.  There was NO way me and my beginner self would be able to reupholster these.  So I did what anyone would do, I threw a blanket over them and ignored them for 2 years...lol.  Every time I looked at them they were screaming out to me...MAKE ME PRETTY, I HAVE SUCH POTENTIAL!  Once we moved into our new house and I had a Parlor (really it's an Office/Craft room but Mark insist that we call it the Parlor) I knew they would be perfect for a sitting area in front of my Desk.  I decided that because I didn't think I could reupholster them that I would paint the fabric just like I did on my Painted Couch. 

Chairs Before

So, here's what I did.  :)  I used an old Tupperware bowl and mixed 2 cups of paint (just flat latex), 2 cups of Textile Medium (got from Hobby Lobby with my coupon) and 2 cups of water.  Make sure you spray the material with water before you start painting so the paint doesn't soak into the material as much.  Then I just used my favorite paint brush and went to town painting.  I didn't really worry about getting paint on the wood because I knew I would be painting the wood anyway. 

This is after 1 coat of paint

It only took 2 coats of paint!  I made sure to keep some paint for mess ups that would happen when I painted the wood and I'm glad I did!  Next step was to prime the wood.  I used 2 coats of Zinsser Primer Bulls Eye 123 which is my favorite primer ever.  Once I had the primer on I knew that the final product would be amazing.  The dark gray painted material looked so great even against the white primer!

2 coats of primer

I used Valspar Latex Enamel (interior/exterior) Paint.  I had used that on the Bookshelves as well as the Desk and loved the finish it gave me.  I did 2 coats and it was perfect!  Last step was just to do a coat of Minwax Polycrylic to seal it. 

I love the final product!

I love the process of painting fabric and it's so easy anyone can do it.  These chairs are a little firm right now, the feel of them is something very close to leather.  Plenty comfy enough to sit in!  When I painted the couch it had the same feel (leather like) for around 2 months and then it felt just like any other normal non painted fabric.  I love them and I know from my experience with the couch that they will hold up great! 

I also wanted to share a beautiful chair from 11 Magnolia Lane!  This beauty was the inspiration behind my gray and white color scheme.  So beautiful!  It is also a painted fabric chair with another great tutorial.  Hop on over and show 11 Magnolia Lane some love!

What do you think?  Would you ever consider painting fabric?  I would love to hear your thoughts on the before and after of the chairs!  Happy Painting! 







The Painted (ugly) Lamps

Let me start by saying I'M SORRY for the horrible before picture.  I thought I had others but apparently, this was the only one.  When we first moved into our home we were pretty much starting from scratch as far as accessories go.  So whenever someone offered us something my only reply was yes, please and thank you!  Who am I kidding, that's still my reply when someone offers us something.  LOL.  You never know how you can transform a piece no matter how ugly it may seem.  Case and point, these lamps.  They were not my style at all but I knew we needed lamps!  So I rolled with it!

Lamps Before

After a few weeks of walking in and seeing them I knew that I had to do something to change them up.  I thought about the new spray paints Mark had bought for me and went to see what fun colors I had.  I could pretty much pick any color that I wanted because as you can tell, I didn't have any theme yet that I needed to stick with.

I decided to go with Krylon Jade.  I took the lamps outside and gave them a little wipe down and started spraying!  It took 2 coats of the Krylon Jade.  I didn't use any primer because this isn't something that will get a lot of wear and tear.  Just a pretty for my nightstand.  :)

Lamps After

 

 

 

It's amazing how a little bit of spray paint can change something so quickly!  I have also added a cute little throw to the bed to give the room another nice little pop of Jade. 

 

What about you?  Are you looking around for something to spray paint now?  :)  Spray paint is my go to if I need a quick change! 

 

 

 

Do you like the new color of the lamps?!