Fact: I’ve been in a crafty mood lately. I’ve felt like breaking out the paint and finding an excuse to get my hands messy. Maybe it’s the weather getting warmer outside? I’m not sure. Anyway, we have a set of four coasters that a friend gave us when we got married (they’re cute, with a “B” on them), but when we were having a game night with some friends a few nights ago, I realized we didn’t have enough coasters to go around. Rather than going out the next day to pick up another set, I decided it was a perfect excuse to get my craft on.

The design inspiration behind the coasters, oddly enough, came from one of my favorite things on my desk: my mousepad. I love the simple, modern design and the ultra soft texture of the leather… and it smells really, really good, haha.

I found this can of gold spray paint at AC Moore for 99 pennies. At the time, I had no idea what I was going to use it for, but I thought, “Hey, I like gold. It’s only a buck. Why not?” When I got to the cashier, they ended up giving it to me for 50¢ because it didn’t have a top. Score!

For the coasters themselves, I picked up a pack of Tumbled Marble tile at Lowe’s for $3.95. I picked this particular tile out because it was a heavy, thick tile (perfect for coasters) and I thought the textured surface would give them some visual interest. Plus, you couldn’t beat the $3.95 (for all nine tiles!) price tag.

In an effort to “think Spring”, I picked out six fun, bright colors from my paint stash. Just in case you wanted to know, here’s a list of the exact colors: Gray Wolf, Geranium, Green Olive, Yellow Jacket, Love Bird, and Pool – all from the Martha Stewart Crafts line. This particular paint is guaranteed to adhere to everything from wood to glass to metal. It’s even indoor/outdoor and dishwasher safe. Yeah, it packs a pretty big punch for a craft paint, huh?

I started off by cleaning all of the tiles with a bit of alcohol making sure all of the “tile dust” was off – then took them outside and gave each tile several light coats of gold spray paint. As with any spray paint project, a few light coats give much better results than one heavy coat. One thing I love about metallic spray paint is that it dries super fast – so you don’t have to wait a long time between coats.

Next, I took a piece of cork tile left over from another project and cut it into squares just a tad smaller than the tile. Then, I attached each cork piece to the back of the tile with a few dabs of Liquid Nails.

Now, for the fun part… color! I gathered my paint supplies and some Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape and settled in at my desk for the latest episode of Once Upon A Time on Hulu.

I put a piece of Scotch Blue Painters Tape from corner to corner on each tile and painted away. I used the half inch painter’s tape that is specially formulated for freshly painted surfaces. The half inch width is perfect for small craft projects like this. Another thing to note, by putting the cork on before I did the detail painting, it made things a lot easier when it came to painting the edges because it wasn’t sitting directly on a flat surface. That was Greg’s idea. He’s a smarty pants.

I had to post this photo simply because I get giddy every time I pull back painter’s tape to find a nice, crisp line. #diynerd. A few more minutes of painting, plus an hour or two of drying time, and we had a whole new set of fun “modern rustic” coasters…

Aren’t these guys fun?! I love the metallic gold shimmer next to the satin finish of the bright colors. Since we have plenty to keep on hand in the living room, the green one has been staying put on my desk. Oh, and I had to include a photo of one in action…

Even though the process of this project was super simple, it was a lot of fun, and I love the modern flair of the final product. Craft paint, Liquid Nails, painter’s tape and an episode of Once Upon A Time… my kind of party.

I have to admit, I’ve never been one to be big on making my own dish detergent, laundry soap, toothpaste, etc. Even though we usually buy natural cleaning supplies (like Method and Seventh Generation), I’m one of those people who thinks it’s easier to just go to the store and buy it. I know, total slacker. However, little by little I’m exploring and experimenting with homemade alternatives like using a Dawn and vinegar mixture as a shower glass cleaner, dry mustard as a deodorizer or the thousand and one uses for vinegar. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me about a homemade, non-toxic alternative to Goo Gone (that orange-y smelling stuff that gets the gunk from price tags and labels off of things). Little did I realize that products such as Goo Gone or Goof Off have a long list of warnings, including eye/skin irritation, unconsciousness if ingested (wow!) and high flammability. So, in an effort to attempting to try more homemade alternatives, I decided to give a natural, homemade solution a try. And… I loved it. I might even go as far as to call it brilliant. I was so excited about this stuff that I had to share it with you here on the blog…

To make this concoction, all you need are equal parts baking soda and coconut oil. I don’t know if it matters or not, but I used organic unrefined virgin coconut oil. Right out of the jar, it’s pretty hard (kind of like the consistency of creamy wax).

Because of the hard(ish) consistency, after I measured the coconut oil, I popped it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds then added the baking soda. To fill a 4oz canning jar, you’ll need 1/3 cup of each ingredient.While the mixture was still warm, I poured it right into the canning jar.

I let it sit out on the kitchen counter overnight (with the lid off) to solidify. Since I’m pretty much head over heals for this stuff, I decided to make a few more jars of the concoction to give to a couple friends and my Aunt Dee Dee – who is totally crazy about things like this. She makes her own…everything, haha.

Obviously, I immediately had to take this stuff out for a test run. I’ve been collecting glass jars for a while (for what, I have no idea yet), and some of them still have some of the sticky residue from the label on them. I took a bit of the mixture, rubbed it on the sticky areas, and let it sit. About five minutes later, I used a paper towel to rub off the “goo remover” and the label remnants started coming right off. I rinsed the jar using warm water and a bit of dish detergent, and it came out clean as a whistle. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised at how well it worked. It smells so good – much better than the weird orange smell of the other stuff. Greg even mentioned that he thinks it works better than Goo Gone. Go figure! Plus, my hands were super soft after I used it, haha.

Needless to say, being the label-lover that I am, I had to design a label for the jars. I also included the ingredients just in case my friends/family fall in love with this stuff as much as I did and want to make more. You can download the labels in four colors by clicking the button at the bottom of the post.

Overall, this is definitely a “baby step” I’m glad I took, and a jar of this stuff has found a permanent home under the sink.

In an effort to be one step closer to having every nook and cranny in the entire house organized, we decided to get the linen closet in order this week. Since we moved into the house, it has just been a place to stash extra towels and toilet paper, rather than a real, bonafide linen closet. Until now…

I talk about about the linen closet and the organization process in my latest contributor post over at iHeart Organizing (check out the post here). But over here on our blog, I wanted to chat a little more about our favorite feature of the newly organized linen closet.

When we started organizing this area, the first thing we did was find a solution for the linen storage on the bottom shelf. Since the bottom shelf is a little hard to get to – especially when you’re trying to put away clean linens – we came up with the idea of installing a pull-out drawer.

After some shopping around, we bought this Bamboo Roll-Out Cabinet Drawer from The Container Store. We contemplated sliding wire metal baskets, but ultimately decided the bamboo drawer wouldn’t put little dents in the linens like wire baskets might and, well, it just looks better. The opening of the door is a very tight 17″ wide, so we purchased the 14″ drawer to make sure it would clear the door and be able to slide all the way out. We have roll-out shelves similar to these in all of our lower kitchen cabinets and we l-o-v-e them. They make everything easier to keep organized.

We wanted the drawer to match the color of the shelves and the door trim, so we painted it using RustOleum’s Universal All Surface Spray Paint in a Satin finish. This stuff is seriously the best. spray. paint. ever. It has primer built in, so we didn’t have to do any prep at all. The final finish is super smooth, and the drawer looks like it came from the factory bright white, rather than natural bamboo. We’ll definitely be using this line of products again in the future. And no, this isn’t a sponsored post, haha.

The installation process was really easy, and it only took Greg a few minutes – hence the lack of photos of the installation process. The reason it was so easy is because the drawer came with a nifty cardboard template. To get the drawer positioned properly, all he had to do was center the template on the shelf and line the rails up with the template. Once that was done, he drilled a few pilot holes, turned a few screws, and done.

Once Greg had the drawer installed, I put the linens in. I was really happy with how much storage space it offered, but it seemed like something was still missing.

Ahhhh… much better. Everything is better with a label. I took one of my go-to Martha Stewart Adhesive Bookplates and coated it with a few light coats of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. If you ever plan to spray paint these yourself, the key is to keep them on the adhesive backing (I normally spray paint a whole set at a time) and do two very light coats of spray paint so it will end up being nice and even. I really wish they would just come in black or oil rubbed bronze. That would make me happy.

What I didn’t expect, and really like about this set up, is that there’s a little space on either side of the drawer – perfect for storing back up soap. That, my friends, was one of those quirky giddy moments I get when something just works out unexpectedly well.

It feels so nice to have another organized space to mark off the to-do list. Having this done makes me feel hopeful about the other closets in the house – oh, except for the foyer closet. It’s not messy, it just houses a whole bunch of different “categories” of things that I’m kind of stumped as to where to start. But for now, let’s just think about good things, like this newly organized and functional linen closet. Ahh… happy thoughts.

Check out the details on the rest of the linen closet in this post over at iHeart Organizing.