Makeup Organization for Small Spaces

I live in a small house where storage is at a premium.  I realized the other day after tripping over my canister vacuum for the 90,000th time that something has to give. My kitchen linens are stored in a dresser in the living area.  The utility room closet is so inconvenient that I put things there that by all rights should be in the garage.  The only thing that has ever persuaded me to lug the vacuum into the inconveniently placed and awkwardly shaped utility room closet was the prospect of my mother knowing exactly how I keep house.

The bathroom has the most closet space in the house.  My clothes closet is in the bathroom rather than the bedroom, which has no closet at all.  The linen closet, also in the bathroom, is spacious.  Both do triple duty as generalized house storage.  Which is to say, they are a mess.

Compounding the problem, there is no medicine cabinet in the bathroom.  The toothpaste and brush, hand soap and air freshener are housed on the sink top out of necessity. Everything else has found its way into the oversized linen closet. That closet hides an extraordinary amount of sins.  If you want to know how someone can own five different bottles of shampoo, 13 different bottles of hand lotion, 18 hair brushes--all essentially the same, it's because of overtaxed linen closets where things can get lost.  I've tried all sorts of things to bring organization to that closet, but it just has to meet so  many different objectives, nothing seems to work.  And the makeup is buried in that zoo of shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, towels and sheets.

I've never been one to wear a lot of makeup.  It's not that I don't like looking put together. Perhaps I'm not your ordinary girl. If things aren't sitting right in front of me and beyond easy to access, to hell with it.  Such was the case with makeup.  So I decided to try something to put the makeup front and center.  I made it conveniently available.  I put up a magnet board inside the linen closet door and stuck the makeup to it.  Isn't it cute?  If you only knew how cheap that was.

Here's what I used, where I got it and how much it all cost.

Lowe's

12" x 24" piece of sheet metal: $3.68 (the $24.97 aluminum sheet is for another project coming soon!)

Primer for metal: $4.98

Chalkboard spray paint: $5.98

Magnets (bought 2, only needed 1 - 1 going back) $1.97

6 screws, $0.05/ea, $0.30

Kohl's 

3 stainless magnetic pockets $6.99/ea. (with 15% off coupon) $17.82

Repurposed

Magnetic hook FREE!  (already had - cost unknown)

Gorilla glue.  FREE!  (Already had this. I think it was about $5 for the bottle, but I only used about 2 cents worth.)

Total cost of project:  $34.73.

I primed the sheet metal with two coats of spray-on primer.  Then I put on two coats of spray-on chalkboard paint.  Then I glued the magnets to the bottoms of the various pots of makeup I had.  I drilled 6 holes around the sheet metal to accommodate the screws.  I screwed the thing to the inside linen closet door and then just slapped all the magnetics to the sheet metal.  Voila!

The three pockets are organized so that they contain lip items, eye items, and brushes.  I was surprised that even the large brushes and tubes fit really nicely into the metal pockets.  I need to think of something that will prevent the tubes/pencils/etc. from tipping over when I remove one. Rice might work.  I'll let you know.  

The nice stainless steel magnetic pockets were more than half the cost of the project.  I could have shopped around for less expensive alternatives.  I'm pretty sure that Staples has plastic magnetic pockets, but this was still pretty cheap and it looks sharp.  In fact, it was those stainless pockets that caused me to think of this project.  I could have  opted for basic black matte paint and possibly saved some money (I didn't comparison shop so I'm not sure about that).  I could have opted for no paint at all and saved $11 off the project costs.  But really, it's my bathroom and I wanted it to look nice, not like the garage.

I'm pretty pleased with the results.  I'll let you know if it prompts me to wear makeup more often or if this was just another crafty project gone wrong. Then again, if I find it doesn't work, it's a chalkboard I can use to make a grocery list.

Great Kitchen Idea: Recipe/Take-out menu holder

If you are like me, when you cook, hanging on to the recipe gets to be a problem.  You lay it down, walk away, clutter the counter tops, and just when you are at that emergency point, you can't lay your hands on the recipe.

Problem solved.

Cost:  About $4.00.

Put it on the back of the cabinet door where I do most of my food prep.  

Then I thought, why not find a good place for those take-out menus while I'm at it!

Problem solved.  Recipe is always where I need it at eye level, never misplaced and in case of spills on the counters, it doesn't get soiled!  Take out menus are always handy!

Homemade laundry soap - Not a Fan!

** Read to the bottom for my 6 month update**

I've been beyond derelict in getting around to fulfilling those New Year's resolutions, one of which was to explore means of "greening" my life.  So today I decided to try my hand at making my own laundry soap.  I found a recipe online and headed off to the local Rural King in search of various detergents.







It's really very simple to make. One large box of baking soda, another of borax, Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda, one tub of Oxi Clean, and 3 bars of Fels Naptha soap.

Unwrap and stick the soap in the microwave for 2.5 minutes at half power (it puffs up like a marshmallow).  Then spin the bar soap in a food processor to create soap powder.

Put everything in a 3.5 gallon bucket, mix well and voila.

You use much less of this since there are no fillers.  Each load gets 1-2 tablespoons of soap, depending on its size.  It took minutes to put together, and the cost is about half that of the cheapest liquid laundry detergent on the market.  Here are the figures.

	Homemade	All  Free & Clear Laundry Soap, 150 oz.	Tide 2X Ultra, 150 oz.
Product Cost		$               11.97	$            17.97
Borax	$            2.99
Baking soda	$            3.99
Oxy Clean, 96 oz.	$            4.00
Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda	$            3.24
Fels Naptha Soap (X3)	$            4.47
Tax	$            1.40	$                 0.90	$              1.35
Total	$         20.09	$               12.87	$            19.32
# of Loads	250	97	90
Cost per load	$            0.08	$                 0.13	$              0.21

After using this for a week or so, I've decided that there is too much filler and not enough soap in this.  So I'm going to add two more bars of the Fels Naptha and see if that doesn't improve its performance some.  Check back for more updates!

OK, after using this for a while I have some feedback.  First, unless you wash in hot, hot water, anything but the completely powdered fels naptha soap fails to melt.  Unmelted soap can't do it's job. In fact, even in hot water, I sometimes find little balls of fels naptha soap in the dryer vent screen.  So, I have to say, in many instances, I'm washing my clothes in softened water without soap!  So no, I can't say that I'm a fan of this for everyday use.  I now use it as an additive to my laundry soap.   Softened water does allow the soap to do a better job, but I've returned to using store-bought liquid laundry soap as the main cleaning agent.

And no, I won't be making this again.  I can always add a little washing soda toand borax for much less $$.