Showing posts with label Home Organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Organization. Show all posts

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Display Case for Small figurines/Toys

I have this drawer organizer which did not really fit well into any of my drawers. So, as I was reorganizing Sera's toys, I used it as a display case to showcase some of her "My Little Pony" figurines and "Disney Princess Magiclip" dolls.







Sunday 17 April 2016

Our Leaflet and Flyer Box

I was looking for the right material to make a leaflet and flyer box for our flat. It so happened that Lynn bought a box of Lego and the size of the box was just right for this.

I cut the sides of the box and punched two holes behind as shown in the picture below.


I typed some words,  printed it landscape on a piece of A4 sized paper and pasted it on the front to the sides of the box.


Then, I used 2 fasteners bought from Daiso and tied the box to the gate of our flat. This type of fastener can be removed and re-fastened or re-adjusted.




This helped to reduce the mess created from pieces of leaflets and flyers that dropped to the floor. This also made it easier to open the main door as sometimes, those people placed the flyers/leaflets in weird positions that made it hard for us to open the door without first removing the leaflets. This was a problem when our hands were full of things.

Most of the flyer distributors were quite cooperative and put them inside this box. There were some who still placed the flyers and leaflets elsewhere, but those were in the minority. So now, we can take the leaflets out when our hands were free.

Thursday 9 July 2015

Fridge Organization

We bought a new refrigerator a few weeks ago. This new refrigerator was smaller than our previous refrigerator so it was a challenge to squeeze in the food, beverages and other items. 

We decided that we needed to do something to optimize the usage of the interior space. We didn't want to buy those stackable containers to use in the fridge because this would give us more work. We would have to remove food stuff from its original packaging and place them inside the container immediately after coming back from grocery shopping. We have to wash the containers before and after every use which takes more effort on our part. Furthermore, we preferred to leave the beverages, sauces and other items in their original packaging to prevent contamination and spoilage. 

For the lower part of the fridge, we thought we could get a drawer box, a rack or a metal partition/panel (to have another slot to put things) to fully utilize the vertical space. We did not find a suitable drawer for this purpose. Similarly, we could not find the right size for the metal partition/panel at Daiso. So, we settled for the small metal rack (green) sold at Daiso and bought another plastic basket. The basket worked somewhat like a drawer as we only needed to pull it out to take the item on the innermost corner of the basket. We no longer need to take out everything from that shelf just to get the item. This worked quite well, leaving the other half of the shelf space for tall bottles. We could also place some small items on the metal rack. 




On another shelf, I used another plastic basket that I already had to put packets of chrysanthemum, curry powder etc. as the packets were not stackable. This freed up at least half the space previously used. The extra space could be used to defrost meat and put other items.


Basket with packets of food stuff in it on the right

Another shelf with a tray


As mentioned in my post on Hitachi Refrigerator R-H350P4MS on Anne's Product Reviews Blog, it was a bit cumbersome to take ice cubes out from the freezer as we had to take the twist ice maker out before we could take the ice cubes from the transparent ice tray. To solve this problem, we bought another metal rack (white) with a shorter width from Daiso. So now, we could take out the ice cubes more easily.




You could see from the picture above that I had used another ice tray to put packets of frozen food. I used this instead of a plastic basket as I was concerned that the plastic might not be able to withstand the cold air in the freezer and might crack. So I thought using the ice tray was the safest way since it was meant to be put in a freezer in the first place.


Related post:

Hitachi Refrigerator R-H350P4MS (Anne's Product Reviews Blog)




[S$14.90][Mega Sale]★Fridge Side Suction Rack★Multi-Purpose Fridge Side Storage Rack Shelve Frame Organizer / Suckers Kitchen Storage Organizer Fridge Holder Rack Hook
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Saturday 2 November 2013

Metro Expo Sale from 1 Nov - 3 Nov 2013

Metro is currently having its Metro Expo sale at the Singapore Expo from 1 Nov to 3 Nov 2013, at hall 4. 

With only about one hour to shop around yesterday, naturally shopping for clothes was out for us (have to spend time queuing for a fitting room and change). The next thing to look out for were bargains for shoes and other items.

When we were at the right corner (looking in from outside) of hall 4, we saw some ribbons meant for Christmas tree decorations. Metro was selling them at 5 for $15. I didn't want to get five rolls of ribbons, then I realized that we could mix many different items to make up the numbers. After looking around, I finally decided on these 5 items.


Ribbon

Bells for Christmas tree decorations

Accessory holder

Accessory holder


The accessory holders shown in the pictures above were available in 3 colours, two of which I had bought. The other colour was black and light grey. These could hold hook earrings and bracelets on top as well as small stud earrings and rings below. 



The accessory holder above was in the shape of a lady's body. This could hold necklaces, bracelets, bangles, rings, hair ties and hook earrings.

I think this was a good deal. Normally, such accessory holders would cost about $10 each. 

Other items that were sold at 5 for $15 were piggy banks of various shapes, party masks, party hats and other Christmas tree decorations.  

The pictures below shows the accessory holders with accessories on them.







Saturday 14 September 2013

"My Little Pony" Display Stand

My daughter, Sera, always liked to play with her "My Little Pony" toys on her desk, so I wanted to have a small display stand where she could put her little ponies neatly on her desk.

Yesterday, I had some extra cardboard so I thought it would be a good idea to do a display stand for Sera's toys. I cut and folded the cardboard to the right size, then used scotch tape to stick them together. After that, I wrapped it up with some wrapping paper. Here's the finished product with the "My Little Pony" toys on it.








Friday 6 September 2013

New way of Storing Clothes in drawers

I accidentally chanced upon a video on organization of clothes in drawers. I thought that was a good idea. I had never thought of storing my clothes in this way. So I started with the drawer where I put my home clothes using the folding techniques shown in the video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rbogDaB-n0.

As there were differences in the size of drawers used and the size of my clothes, I didn't follow all the steps exactly when folding, but the basic idea was there in the video. After folding, I placed them vertically and each piece of clothing can stand on its own as shown in the picture below.


This new way of storing clothes was much better. Previously, the clothes on top would inevitably get messy if I dug further in to choose the clothes that I wanted to wear. As a result, clothes that were placed way at the bottom tend to be forgotten and not worn for a long time. Now, I can see everything at one glance and take the piece that I want to wear without messing up the rest. Besides that, it also frees up more space with this way of storing clothes.

After that, I also reorganized Ardon's drawers and it did free up a lot of space too. 

I took one step further and organized the drawers where the face towels, hand towels, big handkerchiefs and small handkerchiefs were placed. It now looked more organized and it's easy to find the face towels, hand towels, big handkerchiefs and small handkerchiefs. This was especially important for this particular chest of drawers because, somehow, the drawers could not be opened fully, which made it even harder to find the stuff we wanted with the previous storing method.




I am quite happy with this result. The only problem was it took a little more effort to fold it in the right way but is worth the slightly extra effort. This method of folding is also useful for packing luggage.




Tuesday 3 September 2013

DIY Hair Ties/Bracelet Holder

I had an old cushion cover that was no longer in use. The cloth used for this cushion cover had a shiny surface that looked like silk and I had wanted to do something else with it since I liked the cloth. Last weekend, I had an idea. I had found an old calendar stand hidden on Lynn's desk. So I decided to do a hair tie/bracelet holder for Sera.

I cut the cushion cover and placed it over the old calendar stand. Then I used 4 pieces of elastic bands to tie the cloth to the front and back of the stand (you can also use string). I slid some curtain hooks on the elastic bands and put the hair ties on the hooks sorted by colours. This was how it looked.


I added some hair clips on it as shown in the picture below.


For thicker hair ties, you would need bigger hooks. On the other side of the stand, I hung some of Sera's bracelets as shown in the picture below.



Side View of the Hair Ties/Bracelet Holder


Sera was happy with this too.:)



Saturday 31 August 2013

My First DIY Watch/Bracelet/Hairband Holder

I saw a Youtube video on how to make a watch/bracelet holder and wanted to try making one since it looked very easy. Sorry, I don't remember the Youtuber who did/uploaded that video. What she did was just roll up a magazine, stick them together and cover with another magazine paper. Then place the rolled magazine vertically. The magazine was thick enough and was able to stand without falling.

I did it in a slightly different way. I rolled up a women's magazine and stuck them together with scotch tape. Then, I took a piece of cellophane paper and taped it over the magazine. 



The picture above was how the end product looked like, standing on its own with some belts on it. I realized that it was more suitable for those chain and cloth belts that could be wrapped around it easily. It was not so suitable for the other types of belts that I have. As I didn't want my belts to be scattered all over the place, I put them back into my drawers and put some watches on it instead. 

As my family did not have many watches, I took one step further and added a stand to the watch/bracelet holder so that I could place all our hairbands on it. I took a rectangular box and cut 2 semi-circles as seen in the picture below.


I folded down the sides and covered it with cellophane paper. I put a small piece of cardboard at the bottom of this box to make it more sturdy when standing. Then I placed the rolled magazine on top of this box. 




The picture above showed how the finished product looked. Let's call it a T-stand. I could glue them together if I wanted to, but I preferred to keep things simple and have more flexibility. So I just placed the rolled magazine on top of the box without sticking the 2 items together to make the stand. I was glad that the box below was able to hold the rolled magazine with all its stuff on it without toppling down.

Sera said the T-stand looked like a watch store. Glad she liked it too. :)


Wednesday 28 August 2013

My First DIY Earrings and Necklace Holder/Display

The picture below was a jewellery/accessories organizer that I had previously bought from  Mustafa Centre. Mustafa Centre always has items not found in heartland stores. This organizer was good because I could hang it on the inside of my wardrobe's door without taking up extra storage space. However, after some time, the plastic cover of one of the slots started to tear. I  also realized that it was not that easy to see all the stuff in the pockets at a glance as I had more than one item slotted in most of the pockets. So it was not easy to choose or decide on what to wear and I ended up not using the costume jewellery and accessories at all especially when rushed for time. I also used those small plastic boxes with partitions to store my earrings and put in the drawer. So out of sight always means out of mind (at least for these).
Jewellery/Accessories Organizer 

After I made my first ring box, I was also looking for ways to display or keep my jewellery in such a way that I would be able to see everything at a glance and, at the same time, keep them in good condition. 

There was one very easy method to display necklaces that I found on YouTube which used a curtain rod to hang the necklaces and bracelets. I had a spare adjustable curtain rod but I did not have a suitable place to place it. Bearing in mind that Singapore has high humidity, it would not be a good idea to place the costume jewellery in an open area. I also prefer to keep these jewellery in an enclosed area like my wardrobe, drawers or boxes lest they oxidize or get dirty. Another easy method was just to put hooks on an unused mirror, a wall or door to hang necklaces and bracelets. However, this would mean I had to buy extra hooks. 

Another method that caught my attention was using a scarf to poke in all the earrings and then placing the scarf on a hanger. Necklaces were then hung on the rhinestones that were glued on the hanger's slanting sides. I didn't want to sacrifice any of my hangers to do this since I am not that good at art and craft as mentioned in the previous post.

After considering all the factors and methods, this was what I decided to use.


The above was something that we had bought previously and had set it up so that the kids could display their soft toys. However, as time passed, the connectors (the white round things in the picture above) dropped off. It was not easy to fix back once it dropped so we dismantled a few of the partitions recently. So I thought instead of just throwing them away, I might as well use one of them for this project. 

I used the square frame and cut away the orange cloth (not sure what type of cloth this was called). Then I slotted the square frame into an unused white legging/tights that I had bought for Lynn a long time ago and tied the "leg part" of the tights at the bottom. 


I tied a string to the top part of the frame so that I could hang it on the inside of my wardrobe's door. If I do not want to hang this in future, I can also place it on a book stand so that it can stand on its own and can be displayed on a table top.

I had some extra curtain hooks, so I just slide them onto the top of the frame to hang my necklaces. I can also just open the clasps of the necklaces to hang them directly on the middle part of the metal frame. Paper clips or even bobby pins could probably be used as hooks but I prefer non-metallic hooks in case they rust. The earrings could be poked through the legging easily. 


Now I can see everything at one glance. I do not have many bracelets, so I did not make a bracelet stand. I just placed them in my small storage box.

I hope this earrings and necklace holder/stand works well.


Sunday 25 August 2013

My First DIY Ring Box

I was contemplating buying a box specifically to keep rings so that it was easier to see or find them. However, I have many empty boxes lying around so I thought maybe I could make use of these boxes to make a ring box. I had thought of using a fleece blanket to make the bumps in the ring boxes but wasn't sure how to make the finishing touch. So I went to search on Youtube.

The first video I came across used a fleece blanket and a nice silky cloth over it as a finishing touch. Then I went on to watch more videos to get more ideas on what materials to use. I wanted to use materials I already had at home and not spend extra money. I am also not good in art and craft, so I used the easiest possible method. 

Protections Sheet

I used the protection sheet that I had previously bought from Daiso and cut it into smaller pieces to fit the width of the box that I wanted to use. Then I folded them into the shape below. For this project, I made a fold at every 1.5 inches.


After folding nine of these, I put them into a box. I had to make sure the protection sheet rolls were just enough to fit the box so that they could hold the rings well.


Then I cut a piece of cloth the same width as the box but left it longer on top and bottom. Then I used an old credit card to press in the folds. See the picture below for the end product.




I was glad that the ring box was able to hold the rings in place. The rings did not fall off even when I turned the box upside down. 

For this project, I used the protection sheet to make the bumps in the box as I had some at home which I had no use for. A fleece blanket or magazine paper can also be used in place of this.

Below is a video with instructions on how to make this ring box.