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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Drapes from Tablecloths - A Wednesday Quickie

Wednesdays are a busy day for me so this will be a short post.  In addition, spring is definitely here in north Texas and I've had a serious allergy headache for a few eight days and my brain is running very slowly.


This photo of the chandelier shows the lovely  toile wallpaper
that is now gone from my dining room See the chandelier makeover here
  

In a future post I'm going to tell you about getting rid of the blue toile wallpaper in my dining room, but today I want to talk about my drapes.  In my previous house I needed something to dress up the window that coordinated with my dining set.  I found these copper color tablecloths at Bed, Bath & Beyond that were the longest tablecloths you can buy.  I used them for side panels around the one large window and for a long swag across the top.  We sold our house to someone who planned to rent, so I brought them along to my new old house.



Have to give credit to SuperDave for installing
the little rods to hang these.  Without the rods, the drapes
would still be lying on my sewing table.
When we moved into the new house, the dining room had blue and white toile wallpaper (see photo at top of post) and I had no time or energy to deal with it, so removal went on my list of someday projects.  My husband and daughter actually liked the wallpaper.  On closer examination I found that the pattern on the paper consisted of musical instruments and gardening tools.  I found this combination so quirky that I decided I could live with it for a while five years. 

I needed to tie the blue wallpaper to the copper color of our table and chairs.  (my husband's idea of comfortable seating at the table involves rocking, rolling, and swiveling). More about buying furniture with a guy later.  So I hit my local fabric store.  I found this blue fabric that has a copper sheen and a coordinating one with embroidered flowers.  I cut the copper panels in two pieces, sewed a strip of the blue floral fabric between two blue solid pieces and sewed the whole blue section it into the middle of the copper fabric that I whacked in half.


The really funny thing is that I get SO MANY compliments on these drapes, but I don't usually tell people that I made them from tablecloths. Let them think I can afford custome draperies!

Happy Leap Day,

Laura

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Family Heirlooms or Old Kitchen Gadgets?

In my breakfast room I have a built cabinet with glass doors.  This could have been intended for fine china, but I use my china every day. Bone china is probably the most durable type of dinnerware on the market so why not use it for every day?

So what do I keep on display?  For some odd reason I have an assortment of kitchen stuff from four generations of my family. (I'm counting myself as the 3rd generation)


 I'll begin with this shot from inside my cabinet
which includes, but is not limited to
Glasses and a meat grinder that belonged to my grandmother
Coffee cups that belonged to my husband's grandfather
A thermos my husband used in elementary school
A clay something made by my daughter
A cookie frying thing from my mother-in-law and
A little rose rock sculpture because you can only find this type of rose rock in Noble, OK



 





My mother gave me these two items she and my Dad
received on their 25th anniversary when I celebrated
25 years of marriage, she said she had 50th Anniversary stuff now so I could have these.

Below you see a cake plate that belonged to my grandmother and
this brown jar belonged to my OTHER grandmother, my Mom calls it a snuff jar
and I don't want to know more than that
The canning jars came from my Mom - she has a lot of old stuff she's willing to share
Isn't the blue glass beautiful?





















This bowl belonged to my great aunt












This crystal bowl was given to us for a wedding present a LONG time ago by my aunt and Uncle.  Use two hands - it is HEAVY!



The most interesting item in this shot is the bottle. When we built our second home, this bottle was in the sand they delivered for our foundation.  The sand came from the river and so the bottle had probably been in there for decades.  The cork is still in the bottle but being dried up it is in the bottom.  There are no chips in the bottle from it's journey, it's just sort of "sandblasted".  Most people would have probably thrown this out but I like to think about it's story.


I know some people are going to gasp or groan when I say this but these jars were actually stuck in the back of my pantry just holding beans and stuff.  (more treasures from Mom)  Since jars are so interesting and I have awesome ones I dug them out and put them in my kitchen window sill.  They will make me smile while I wash the dishes.



I have more stuff, an old coffee pot, a garlic press, a cheese grater and a cherry pitter.  I thought you would get bored if I posted all that stuff.

One person's junk is another person's treasure they say.  I just like the stories that my old junk treasures can tell.


Live, Love, Laugh, Reminisce,

Laura

Friday, February 24, 2012

How a Mole Hill turns into a Mountain

Some projects just beg to be done and it's hard for me to understand why in the 21 years between the time my house was built and the time I bought it someone else hadn't already tackled the project.  But it's probably for the best, because their taste might not suit me anyway if green and gold Japanese wallpaper is any indication.  See the Half way makeover of a outdated guest bathroom post for more on that subject. 

I have an L-shaped hallway that starts in the entry way goes past the master and guest bedroom and bath and ends in the family room with easy access to the breakfast room on both ends. In order to reach either downstairs bathroom in my house you must go down this hallway. For 25 years this hallway was covered in CARPET.  I am not a fan of carpet, but when it's the only way to get to a bathroom and you have a pool in your backyard, it's REALLY a bad idea.  Plus hallways are such high traffic areas, that carpet in a hallway IS A  REALLY BAD IDEA.

This project didn't start out with the hallway (exactly).  It started with me finding an amazing deal on some leftover tile.  :)  18x18 porcelain with coordinating mosaics and several pieces of granite tile for $50.  We could put this in our guest bathroom!  And maybe the hallway too!  Visions of no more carpet in the hallway danced in my head! 



So I brought this tile home to my hero husband, SuperDave.  I asked him to figure out how 'we' were going to make this work.  He spent some serious time at the computer drawing up layouts for the tileso we could do the bathroom and the hallway.  It just wasn't enough.
  The mole hill started to grow.

So we started with bathroom.  I wish I had a before shot, but it was so ugly I never took it's picture.  Imagine non-descript white 4x4 tile with white grout set on the diagonal. That was before.



The bathroom turned out so well, the carpet in the hallway looked even worse.

So I thought, no problem we'll just buy some more of the large tiles or something similar that will COORDINATE.  I'm big on coordinating, not so much on matchy matchy.  We soon discovered these tiles were not a standard size and we could not buy another brand the same thickness and dimensions.  I finally tracked down a supplier and MIGHT  have been able to get more if I was willing to drive all the way across the DFW metroplex.  Another thing I'm not a fan of - driving across DFW, so I set out to find another option.  We eventually bought more mosaics because I found a local source. 
This project was now officially a mountain.

AND THEN....SuperDave being the genius DIYer that he is (not to mention an engineer and my resident math whiz) created a layout. Then BLESS HIS HEART he spent a LONG LONG time on his knees laying tile and making countless trips to cut tile until he finished my project of tiling the bath and hallway.  You see why this man is my HERO

I'm the grouting "professional" at our house.  He cuts and lays tile and I do the grout.  So when it was all down, it was my turn to go to work.  We both had plenty of aches and pains from this job.  He also replaced the baseboard and someone soon (soon being a relative term that means before I die) I need to caulk along the top of the baseboard because apparently that is my area of expertise also (or my husband is just SO done with this project.) 

Here's a lovely picture - before the baseboard was installed!


I smile every time I walk down this hallway because it is so BE-U-TI-UL and easy to clean.

We eventually recovered from the
bruises and sore muscles
and are really glad to be (almost) done.


Happy Friday!

Laura

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Cookie Monster

Above my desk I have this sign


The first time my husband saw the sign, he laughed at how appropriate the sign is for me specifically.

I'm not talking about store bought oreos - I can totally pass on those. 
I'm talking chewy soft homemade or bakery cookies. 
The kind that make you sigh with pleasure as they melt in your mouth. 
Full of good stuff like pecans and chocolate, lemon, anise, cinnamon, almonds, oatmeal, caramel.  I can resist all sorts of cakes and pies. 
But a nice homemade cookie - NOT A CHANCE. 
Perhaps at first, but eventually I'll break down.

Over Christmas I made new (to me) wonderful anise cookies called Biscochitos,  Oh my!


Bischochitos (star shaped),
Butter Cookies from a press (flower and Christmas Tree) and
Turtle Cookies (the cup shaped one)
 I make the WORLD'S BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Seriously. You can ask anyone who has eaten a half dozen.  I have a friend who said when you get to heaven this is what they feed you. I'll share the recipe one day, but let me warn that I don't measure carefully. I just know that when a wooden spoon will stand up in the dough it's right.  More than one person has tried the recipe and said it didn't work as well for them.

Today I'm going to share a recipe with you that is super easy that I created myself at Christmas this year and we all LOVED them.

I got the idea from another yummy cookie recipe made with mini peanut butter cups and store bought peanut butter cookie dough in muffin cups.

Laura's Very Own Original Turtle Cookie Recipe

One roll store bought sugar cookie dough
Rolos
chopped pecans

Cut small pieces of Sugar Cookie Dough and place in a mini-muffin pan (I found paper liners worked well with these, but you can lightly grease the pan and cookie them directly in the pan)

Cook about 10 minutes at 350. 

When they are all puffed up but not necessarily brown, remove from the oven and press a rolo into the middle of the cookie, as it begins to melt add a few chopped pecans, press them down into the chocolate. 

That's it, now all you have to do it eat them and that's even easier than making them. 

Happy Baking!

Laura

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A Quickie for your Wednesday - Front Doors

Happy Hump Day!

It's Wednesday which means I am looking forward to my mid-week lunch date with SuperDave.

I thought I'd share a Before and After QUICKIE one day project with you.

Here are my beautiful double front doors that make bringing large furniture and appliances into (and out of) the the house so much easier - I highly recommend double doors.  Unfortunately these doors were installed in the mid 80s so they have seen better days.  If you don't know how much exterior doors cost, do a little research and your eyes will pop out. 

I REALLY wanted to strip ALL the paint off the door and stain and varnish them, but I could not do that project without MAJOR assistance from my hero of a husband or hiring a contractor.  So once again I chose an inexpensive fix that would make me happy and I could do almost by myself.


BEFORE
So a good cleaning, a couple coats of paint and a metallic glaze and now I can live with these doors for a good long while (unless I win the lottery or something) then I'd install something more energy efficient and beautiful.  I used the same paint technique on the mirror frame in my master bathroom, check it out here.

AFTER  :)
Did I mention new hardware installed by my hero, SuperDave?  That really completes the look.

My dream doors look something like this - and includes the view of the ocean.



~ DREAM ~


Linking up to

Boogieboard Cottage

Live, Love, Laugh,

Laura

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Life with Hypothyroidism, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I was 38 years old when my sister called me and asked the following questions,

Are you having problems maintaining your weight? 
Yes, for the first time in my life, but that’s part of aging, right?

Are you tired all the time? 
Yes, I have 3 kids, a husband and a full time job, what you do expect?

Are you cold all the time? Is your skin dry? Do you lose a lot of hair? 
Well……..

Then she told me she had just been diagnosed with hypothyroidism.  My other sister was already being treated for this condition. Her doctor recommended I have a blood test.  Sure, ok.  I’ve always tried to take care of my health, so I went for my check up and told my doctor about the family history and the test came back…..

Positive

I was devastated when I was told I needed to take a little pill every day for the rest of my life. There's just something about anything that is for the REST OF YOUR LIFE.   I would need frequent blood tests to monitor my TSH, T3 and T4.  I didn’t know what all this meant but I didn’t like it.  After a few days I told myself to be happy that I had a treatable condition. At least I wasn’t told I had a disease with no treatment. 

But what I have learned over the last 11 years is that while the medication may protect my organs from permanent damage it doesn’t necessarily relieve the symptoms. I have also learned that I had passed this disease on to both of my beautiful daughters.

My brother was also tested and he was fine.  After looking at a list of hypothyroidism symptoms, he told us, “Now you have an excuse for everything.”

My oldest daughter was in college and she had gained about 40 pounds.  After my diagnosis I hauled her in to the doctor for blood work and her tests came back positive as well.  She was only 19.  Hypothyroidism in younger people is harder to regulate, her numbers were much worse than mine and she had to have even more frequent blood tests.

Initially we were treated by our family doctor, using the TSH number to determine medication.  I really wanted a doctor who would treat not just from that lab number but pay attention to how I felt, so we found an endocrinologist.  The endo doc prescribed our meds not just on the lab number but on how we were feeling.  He told me no one knows what your normal was before the onset of this condition.  Normal range for TSH is .4 to 3.0, I feel best in the .4 to 1.0 range and the new doctor was willing to push that number down with medication.  But even with my fatigue somewhat improved, I still didn’t lose weight easily.

Prior to the onset of my hypothyroidism I had weighed 131 pounds for 22 years, no matter what I ate, without a regimented exercise program.  The only exception was during my three pregnancies where my weight topped out at 140, 146 and 152. After my children were born my weight quickly went right back to normal. 

Since acquiring hypothyroidism my weight has never been “normal” again. For the last 11 years I have lived on a reduced calorie diet and tried to increase my activity level – I don’t sit around, but I don’t care much for working out at the gym at the end of the day. 

My days are already full – work, errands, buying groceries, cooking meals, cleaning house, doing laundry, driving my kids around and going to doctor appointments. 
At the end of the day, even 30 minutes for exercise seems like a burden –

I’m exhausted I HAVE HYPOTHYROIDISM. 

THE NUMBER ONE SYMPTOM – FATIGUE! 

And now I have to find energy to exercise to keep fat pants at bay!  My weight keeps creeping up, the first 20 I could live with; I was still in the recommended weight range for my height and bone structure.  The second 20 I can’t accept.  But it isn’t coming off easy. Am I doomed to a life of working out on exercise equipment several times a week?  I feel like my life is being reduced to work, work at home, exercise and sleep.

Four years ago due to some growth issues I asked my doctor to check my youngest daughter’s TSH. She was 14.  Her numbers were off the chart.

Since she started taking thyroid meds she has grown 3 or 4 inches in height.  We have no idea how long her thyroid gland had not been functioning properly. At age 5 she was in the upper percentiles for height and by age 11 she was at the bottom.  She had regular medical checkups, but the doctor’s office was not charting her growth after she got older.  I believe if they had put those points on the growth chart we might have realized sooner she needed medication.  So make sure your doctor charts your child's growth rate right up through middle school.  She was small for her age, but so was I until I was 14 and my husband got his height in high school also, so we thought it was genetics.  We were right, just not about which genes she inherited.

Here are some of the most common symptoms of Hypothyroidism
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
  • Coarse, dry hair
  • Dry, rough pale skin
  • Hair loss
  • Cold intolerance (you can't tolerate cold temperatures like those around you)
  • Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
  • Constipation
  • Depression
  • Irritability
  • Memory loss
  • Abnormal menstrual cycles
  • Decreased libido
Each individual patient may have any number of these symptoms, and they will vary with the severity of the thyroid hormone deficiency and the length of time the body has been deprived of the proper amount of hormone. 

Hypothyroidism is completely treatable in many patients simply by taking a small pill once a day. However, this is a simplified statement, and it's not always so easy

The internet is full of helpful information regarding hypothyroidism. The medical info on page came from the website below.  If you suspect you have this condition, please see a doctor.


The estimates vary, but approximately 10 million Americans have this common medical condition, as many as 10% of women may have some degree of thyroid hormone deficiency.  Hypothyroidism is more common than you would believe, and millions of people are currently hypothyroid and don't know it.

Although not listed above one of my main symptoms is weak brittle fingernails.  When I was younger I had long strong beautiful nails.  I also have the fatigue, weight gain, feel foggy headed (almost like I'm on pain meds), hair loss, dry skin, cold intolerance and more.  And I've been on medication for hypothyroidism for 11 years. 

I'm sorry if it doesn't sound very encouraging.  But I'm not giving up.  I'm eating light, exercising, taking my medicine and living my life and trying very hard not to be discouraged.





Live, Love, Laugh, Eat Healthy and Exercise,

(and if you have symptoms of thyroid disease, please see your doctor)

Laura

Monday, February 20, 2012

Half way makeover of a outdated guest bathroom

Sometimes you just can't live with an outdated look any more - but your budget won't allow for a total makeover.  Such is the case with our guest bathroom.  In those cases I like to do some inexpensive updates that make it tolerable until I have the money for the more expensive updates.

It started out looking like this when we moved into our new 1980's house. Strangely enough this paper is not original to the house, this wallpaper was someone else's update of this room.  When I peeled it off I found traces of plaid wallpaper that was every bit as bad.

I have one question regarding this paper...REALLY?


Wait, that's wrong, I mean it is SO wrong, but I actually have a second question - why do they even make green and gold wallpaper with Japanese people on it? If you sell it someone will buy it and no one should ever be given this option.  The same goes for hideous faux marble colors like brown and maroon - why do they give people those choices?  And laminate counter tops for kitchens - seafoam green and orange should not be available because someone is going to pick them and....okay, enough.
Since my last post showed by husband hard at work removing the old floor tile in this bathroom, I thought I would share the half makeover of this very small but much visited room.

Here is a list of things we changed

Removed wallpaper, applied troweled texture and new paint
Removed sliding polished brass shower door, replaced with shower curtain
Replaced polished brass light fixture, sink faucet, and towel rods and rings with new bronze faucet and fixtures
Replaced old floor tile with new floor tile
Replaced toilet
Replaced the baseboard

Thinks we didn't replace or improve (yet)

The vanity and linen cabinet are not great, but I can live with them for now, may paint those someday
The faux marble counter top needs to go away and be replaced with granite and a new sink
The old tub and tile have seen better days and with that updates will come a new tub/shower faucet assembly
Here are a few after photos - first the lovely tile flooring



It's a BIG improvement even though we didn't update every thing



 

This project required more labor than material cost and was well worth the time and effort!

Happy Monday!

Laura

Friday, February 17, 2012

DIY (with the husband's help)

We are big DIY people.  I grew up with parents who rarely called in help from "professionals."  My Dad was Mr. Fix It and my Mom can do pretty near anything.  I helped my parents paint and do electrical work. I've helped shingle the house and crawled under the subfloor and helped my Dad with plumbing.  I've helped with auto repairs, home repairs, gardening, feeding cattle, the list could go on and on.

Fortunately my husband is also mechanically inclined and the man has SKILLS.  Me - I'm just willing to try anything - I can always do it again if I'm not happy with the first try, right?

I love watching Yard Crashers and Room Crashers - if it was up to me the TV would stayed tuned to HGTV (almost) all the time.



My SuperDave, hard at work
 We're usually in the middle of a project (or three) at our house - on tap for this weekend - my husband and son-in-law are doing some vehicle repairs and I need to get started sewing my daughter's prom dress.

I told my husband last time we moved that if we just sat on the couch and ordered take out, hired someone to do the lawn and clean the house and picked up the phone when we needed projects and repairs that we wouldn't have so much stuff to move.  There's kitchen stuff, tools, painting supplies, ceramic tile supplies, gardening and lawn equipment, sporting goods, sewing and craft supplies, cleaning supplies,more tools, and more kitchen stuff.

If I have any spare time I fill it right up with another project or a book to read.


Christmas cookies!
I like cooking


A great salad, one of the tastiest and easiest dishes!


and sewing
I recovered the cushions on on patio furniture and made the dining room curtains


and texturing and painting
(not crazy about removing wallpaper, but I like the end result)

I sometimes wonder if it is worth the effort (aches and pains),
but my brain just won't turn off the possibilities. 

So we just keep on doing it ourselves.


Live, Love, Laugh,

Laura

Thursday, February 16, 2012

For Love of (internet) Shopping

I love to shop for just the right gift for just the right price.  I especially love to shop online, because I can wear yoga pants and fuzzy socks and shop from home.  Also, there is no search engine at the mall.  How can I quickly find the stores that have the item in my brain for the best price without a search engine?

And you know I'm not going to come home from the mall without a stop at Aunt Annie's for a Almond pretzel which has who knows how many calories.

I love free shipping and online coupons and discounts and comparison shopping from site to site.  And "window" shopping online is awesome, you can add items to your cart and you don't have to put them back, you can just walk away - I would never do that in the store.  You can log off and not spend a dime. 

Finding just the right gift is so much easier online and you don't have to dig through bins and racks.  One day I went to The Wal-Mart - not my favorite store - the DVDs weren't even alphabetical. Really? I took a quick look and said forget it, I'm not going to look through every movie on this rack, I'll just buy it from amazon.com.

And I did - on Blu-Ray  -  for $7.99



Another  recent find - A John Deere tractor FLASHLIGHT!  Kids LOVE flashlights!  And my nephew loves tractors, perfect!  (also amazon.com)


Squeeze of the trigger activates engine sounds and turns on light, auto shut off, free rolling wheels


And on a totally different wave length.  I find all sorts of awesome natural and stone silver pendants on ebay, like this brecciated onyx.  I've purchased several pieces from ana-silver-co on ebay and have always been pleased with their products and service.




This pendant and the beautiful earrings are from our friend Jenny's etsy shop











I know some people like to touch and feel and try on before they buy, but I just really LOVE to shop from my computer.


Happy Shopping,

Laura

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Hump Day




Hump Day – it’s a fitting name for Wednesday. If you work the Monday to Friday schedule when it’s 5:00 o’clock on Wednesday you really do feel like you can probably make it through the rest of the week.

Five years ago we moved to the big city and for the first time ever my husband and I work close enough to each other that we are able to meet for lunch.  We chose Wednesday as our lunch date day.  My sweetie says meeting me for lunch on Wednesday is what gets him through the week. 



I can honestly tell you that on Wednesday morning when I’m groaning about it being VERY EARLY and time to get up and he’s headed out the door and says, “See you at lunch!” that little reminder that the day holds something different and special makes it much easier for me to get out of bed.



So whether it’s a lunch date, dinner out, movie night, game night, video games with your kids or picking up dinner instead of cooking after work, I encourage you to find something special to get you out of bed and through hump day. It will make your whole week better.  I promise!






Cheers!

Laura

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Be Mine!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We "celebrated" sweetheart day a little early this year by going out for a very special dinner on Saturday night.  We were having so much fun that we decided during dinner to GO OUT TO A MOVIE!  I know that's regular stuff for most people, but we really like watching movies at home.  My husband has a rather large TV, a pretty decent surround sound system and an extensive collection of DVDs.  At home we can put our feet up, take our shoes off, cover up with a blanket, pause the show for bathroom breaks, and choose from a wider selection of snacks and drinks.  So we just really love movie night at home.  :)



I got this lovely rose at dinner
 We saw The Vow and it was good even without my feet up.  A blanket would have been good since it was 27 degrees and windy on Saturday night. (which is bitter cold for Texas, people)  But I warmed myself up with a Chai Tea Latte.

After the movie we started talking about Rachel McAdams and I told my husband she was in Sherlock Holmes and asked him if we had that movie.  He said no and I asked why not? because I really like that movie.  ( I've always been a Robert Downey Jr. fan) My sweetie's ring tone is from Iron Man.  Ok, on with my story.

So this morning when I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30 and went into the bathroom I found my Valentine's Day gift from my super guy.



I laughed out loud!  That's a good thing!  This is proof that my husband listens when I'm talking. (sometimes)  And he also knows I like DARK chocolate.  I love that guy.  And he got me two cards - when he starts reading mushy stuff he can't express his feelings with just one card.  So bonus points for the big guy today!

But all of this wouldn't mean much if it were just one day a year - it's the little things 365 days a year that prove he really really loves me, warts and all.

Then I had to decide which heart necklace to wear today. (gifts from you know who through the years) I chose the silver one in the middle because it went best with the shirt I'm wearing.  I always say this is the most expensive piece of jewelry my husband ever gave me. It was his anniversary gift at his previous job for working there 20 years.  They gave him one of those books where you choose a gift and he didn't want anything so he told me to pick something for myself.  I tell him he worked 20 years to get me this necklace.



So real quick before I headed out the door today, I spread out several years of Valentine cards I've given to my hubby on our bed.  One year I put out all the Valentine's cards we had given each other for 25+ years and it completely covered the bed!  I've told him we should stop buying cards and just choose from the box for the next 32 years. We could start our own card store (except these are all signed) and we're starting to buy each other duplicates!


Sweetie, this is what it looked like when I left,
if the cards are a big mess when you get home,
blame the tabby boys

Love bears all things, believes all things,
hope all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7

Hugs and Kisses,
XXXOOOXXX

Laura

Monday, February 13, 2012

Easy Organizing Projects

It's a cold, wet Monday morning and I am not sure I'm completely awake yet.  So I though I would share some quick easy projects that didn't require assistance from my husband (for once).

Some people use jewelry trees for necklaces.  I have a lot of necklaces and some are way too long for a normal counter top jewelry tree.  Plus, I want them out of site.  So here are my cheap easy solutions.


Stick on hooks on the inside of the under sink cabinet doors in the bathroom

For 16" - 18" necklaces I put stick on hooks on the inside of the cabinet doors under my bathroom sink.



Belts and long necklaces in the closet
Inside my closet is a long board that the rods are attached to, I added larger stick on hooks to the outside of the board for necklaces and belts (I also hang bras in my closet on hooks like this but I didn't think you needed to see a photo)


Purses!
High above the top shelf of my closet I installed a spring tension shower rod.  It took a little searching but I found some shower curtain hooks at Target that work well for hanging purses.  I keep a light weight ladder in my closet for easy access to the top shelf and the rod.  I also using it for projects around the house.
Happy Organizing!

Laura