Violet's Wardrobe Storage Ideas

I get a lot of storage related questions in my email, at least one a week and they are usually along the lines of “how can I store X without shoving it in a drawer?”. So this post is majorly overdue and I feel quite guilty in letting it drag out this long but I have been trying to think of a way to do this as well.

I’m always a little wary of how much I share on the internet because my house is a very personal place, only my absolute best friends have ever visited and even then I invite people over sparingly because I like my privacy very much.

The way my apartment is set up I have very limited storage space so every little bit has to count. In the bedroom we have a large mirrored built in wardrobe but even though there is lot os space it’s 50% useless because one of the door opens to a wall which hides the water heater and another of the doors opens to a hanging space which isn’t wide enough to actually hold coathangers -_-‘ I swear whoever designed this apartment had never actually lived inside an apartment.

So once all of that is blacked out, my wardrobe space is effectively reduced to this:

Storage Ideas

The storage here has been a work in progress ever since we moved in as I experimented with the space and found out what worked and what didn’t. Today I’ll show you what worked and what didn’t in this space and if you guys like this post I might do something similar with other areas in the apartment.So here’s a quick run down of the above:

  • On the left you can see where I hang my clothes, shirts/skirts up the top and dresses/jackets down the bottom.
  • Below that is where I was keeping my books stored on a shallow shelf, that wasn’t working because I needed to get them out quite often so I moved them to the shelf at the very top of the cupboard which until then was holding random junk I hadn’t found a place for yet…
  • Which brings us to the top shelf holding random junk I hadn’t found a place for yet! Most of the stuff up there were bits and pieces left over from when we moved in. Since this photo I have cleared it out, replaced it with my books and boxes of keepsakes we can’t seem to get rid of.
  • Under that we have a set of 3 shelves. I will go into detail about each shelf below but one thing to note is that I have attached stick on hooks to the sides to hold scarves and hats. I no longer keep the hats in this area because I now have too many but this is a really good way to display them if you’ve only got a couple!
  • Lastly under the shelves there are 4 sets of drawers holding important things like stockings, pajamas/roomwear and unmentionables. ‘Nuff said ^_^

Below you can see a closer picture of the three shelves.

Storage Ideas

So let’s go through shelf by shelf and have a look 😀

The bottom shelf holds most of my jewellery. Other than a few prized pieces most of this has been sourced from junk stores but even though it’s not expensive it’s all very pretty so I want it displayed. Also I tend to be forgetful so if it’s not displayed to remind me I’ll never wear them XD

The main storage points to note here are:

  • Silver tray to hold bracelets and wrist items
  • Homemade stands to display necklaces
  • Shelving at the back to hold neck ties, gloves, socks and stockings

With shelves that are quite deep like these the best way to get the most out of your storage is to add levels. If you just pile stuff in then you will have wasted the whole top half! I took advantage of the space by having the tray down low, the necklaces midway and the shelves right up to the top. The shelves are made up of the cute round box that my favorite tea set came in, similar the box at the back of this picture.

The shelves are the most packed area and as they are quite shallow they are perfect for holding (and displaying at a glance) things like stockings, gloves and scarves. I keep the things I use the most (scarves and handkerchiefs) in the middle because it’s the most accessible area. The stockings and socks I keep here are generally the ones I don’t use very often but are still pretty enough to be on display. It’s kind of annoying to get things out of those areas so I keep my every day stockings in the drawers below.

Storage Ideas

At the bottom of this shelf is a silver serving tray I picked up a thrift store for 20c. This area is the key to my jewellery storage because if I’m in a hurry it becomes a dumping ground but still looks relatively nice. I keep bangles, bracelets and watches here because they can be easily picked out when getting dressed and are still displayed very nicely. When you have a lot of similar colours and elements like pearls and diamantes stuff looks pretty even when it’s all in a big messy pile. In fact I’m sure if I took a close up picture and stuck a vintage filter someone would call it art ;P

Storage Ideas

Now moving up to the second shelf!

This area basically holds pretty things and trinkets that are too nice to be shoved in a box but also not particularly useful and therefore not going to be touched on a day to day basis.

Again here I’ve created levels to utilise all of the available space. Up the back are my Japanese magazines, next to them is a lovely box my tea set came in which is full of small toys and trinkets. That is used as a shelf for one of my hats which has other smaller accessories that I never use but don’t want to throw away inside it. In the front half of the shelf from left to right are:

  • A collection of small toys including my absolute favorite Sylvanian Families in a picnic setting.
  • Trinkets including a broken but adorable clock, collection of oversized diamantes and a ship in a bottle that my Grandfather made.
  • A velvet necklace display holding my nicer necklaces, behind which is space for small accessories like a pink bow belt.

Storage Ideas

Now the very top shelf is fairly self explanatory… bags… lots of bags.

I don’t have a huge number of bags compared to a lot of girls but storage for them is still important. Unlike a lot of girls I also don’t change my handbag very often, I really only go between two depending on how much stuff I need to take. The two that I use regularly live on my dresser while these are all of the left over ones that I bought thinking I would use but never actually do >_<

When we lived in our previous house I had one of those bag hanger things that is like a strip of fabric that hangs off a hook with various clips (sorry couldn’t find a photo of one) but it was so bulky and awkward that I ditched it here in favor of the shelves.

The largest bags get filled with either smaller bags or my traveling gear (like luggage tags, travel wallet etc) because that’s pretty much the only time they get busted out hahaha! It also helps the floppier bags to stand rigid and be stacked like books. Smaller bags like the fluffy bunny one get stacked on top of the big ones  so it’s like a solid cube of bags 😀

Storage Ideas

So I guess that concludes the first storage area in my house! Hopefully this post was useful and answers a bunch of questions and requests, if not feel free to leave them in the comments. Or tell me your favorite storage tips for living in a small apartment, I would love that too!

Writing this post was actually a lot more fun than I was expecting so if you would like me to turn it into a series just let me know ^_^

How To Make A Cute Felt Door Stop

Our bathroom is really poorly designed so there is no way to keep the door to it open, in fact it actually just opens onto the laundry door which was so badly thought through that it can’t physically close all the way either >_< Seeing as the door won’t stay open by itself I decided to make a door stop 😀

Door Stop

What you need:

  • Felt or fabric or something similar
  • Scissors
  • Needle and thread or hot glue gun for quick jobs XD
  • Rice or something equally heavy to fill it with.

Ugh, felt scraps are so messy, I haaaate them >_<

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

First let’s cut a base. This is the shape you should cut out:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Now cut the sides! Below you can see the shapes you need, to make the back ones it’s basically a square with a corner cut off. For the front it’s a square with the top cut into a semi circle. Make sure you leave an extra centimeter on each side for a seam allowance.

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Now let’s put it together! Start with these piece:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Lay them together like this:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Stitch (or glue if you’re in a hurry hahaha!) down the left side. Open it up and it looks like this:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Repeat on the other side 😀

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Now join the two flap pieces to form a back seam like this:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Now it’s time to make the front ^_^

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Stitch/glue the front piece around the curve:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Turn the whole thing inside out so the seams are like this:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Stitch/glue the side until you reach the little corner.

DSC_01Cute Door Stop Tutorial76_01

Leaving a hole in each side stitch/glue the seam at the very top!

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Now let’s make some ears! Cut a triangle of matching felt and a square of pink.

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Put them together like this and secure:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Fold them up like this and secure:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Time to put the ears in 😀 This is roughly the placement you want to use…

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Fold in the loose edges so the ear is sandwiched between them and stitch/glue!

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Now using the hole on the other side, fill it with rice!

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

And close up the hole with the second ear sandwiched in!

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

From the back it looks like this:

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Now add a cute face and you’re good to go!

Cute Door Stop Tutorial

Unfortunately ours suffered a slightly gory death as James was getting dressed, lost his balance and accidentally stamped on it. Brains everywhere >_<

Door Stop

I made another one to replace the blue one then fixed him up to live at a less action packed door XD

Door Stop

How To Make A Custom Mousepad

This is how I made a cute little mouse pad for my Mum’s computer ^_^

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

What you need:

  • Paper
  • Pens
  • Clear contact
  • Scissors
  • Sheet of foam
  • Thin double sided tape

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Firstly you need a design for your mousepad! I decided to draw my own but you could use a picture from a magazine or what ever you want really!

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

First I inked a rough sketch…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Then added some colours…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Some shading…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Thicker lines…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

And in about 10min my picture was finished 😀 So next step is to cut out the drawing in the shape you want the finished product to be and get your other materials ready.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

You will need to use the really thin kind of double sided tape for this part because if you use the squishy thick kind your mousepad will be bumpy *_*

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

So place a bunch of strips on the back of your paper:

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

And stick it carefully down to the foam. This is the thin kind of foam that you can buy at the craft store in the scrap booking supplies section.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Cut the felt out in the same shape. I decided to use it as a border for my drawing so I left a couple of millimeters gap but you don’t have to.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Next remove your contact from the backing sheet.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Carefully stick your drawing to it and press out any air bubbles.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Cut off any excess leaving around 2cm hanging off the edges.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Snip the overhang every few centimeters.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Fold it around the back!

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

And that’s it 😀 Super simple to do but very pretty and effective!

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

What do you think?

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

I imagine you guys probably wouldn’t want a Violet-themed one but you could use something personal XD I think I spend so much time around my computer that I want it to look pretty!

 

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Making Cute Face Washers Or Wash Cloths

Aaaand continuing in the series of making house hold things a bit prettier today we have face washers!

What you need:

  • Face washer
  • Lace
  • Embroidery thread
  • Pretty fabric

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

First cut out your pretty fabric into a nice design, I chose two hearts.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Thread your needle with matching embroidery thread.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Place the hearts in the corner of the towel.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Stitch them in place ^_^

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Now using the embroidery thread start stitching the lace around the edges.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

I decided to do a simple running stitch but you could do something much more elaborate 😀

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

All the way around the edge and you’re finished! This is how mine turned out:

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

It’s nice and easy to make and still very pretty. This is a something that looks really effective but is still easy enough to do that I wouldn’t be put off from doing it to all of the ones in my house XD

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

I figure that if I start doing little things like this now, by the time I actually can afford to buy a house I’ll finally have nice stuff to put in it XD

How To Make A Sewing Needle Case

If you’re anything like me, your needles and pins tend to wander which is really terrible when they wander somewhere your feet tend to go too *_* I have a pin cushion but I don’t like keeping needles in there so I set about making myself a little needle case.

This is what I ended up with:

Needle Box Tutorial

What I used:

  • Plastic case that some nail supplies came in. You could either make something similar out of felt or find something along these lines.
  • Pretty paper or paint
  • Pen, scissors
  • Felt
  • Needle and thread
  • Glue gun
  • Decorations eg. rhinestones.

Needle Box Tutorial

First thing, trace around the outside of your container onto the pretty paper and cut out 2 of that shape.

Needle Box Tutorial

You should have something like this:

Needle Box Tutorial

Fit them into the inside of the container. They should be very snug so they don’t fall out.

Needle Box Tutorial

Alternatively you could paint the container, here’s one I did another time to hold my letter writing stuff:

Needle Box Tutorial

Now cut out a bunch of felt pieces which also fit on the inside. I cut mine in both full length and sections:

Needle Box Tutorial

Then stitch them together down the side to form a booklet:

Needle Box Tutorial

And using the glue gun put a line of glue down the spine and glue it into the container.

Needle Box Tutorial

Like this:

Needle Box Tutorial

When you close it all it will look like this:

Needle Box Tutorial

I decided to add another strip of felt on the other side to hold my most used needles:

Needle Box Tutorial

Add your needles or pins!

Needle Box Tutorial

And decorate the front! I used some diamantes from my stash ^_^

Needle Box Tutorial

A cell phone charm to make it easy to carry and find and it’s all finished!

Needle Box Tutorial

Now there will be no more stepping on them or losing them and the case is pretty damn cute if I do say so myself XD What do you all think?

DIY Felt Flower iPhone Case

It was requested a little while ago that I make a tutorial on how to make a felt case for an iphone or ipad touch. I made one of these for a Christmas present so it seemed like a good chance to show you what I did ^_^

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

These could be used for phone or little bags, hell make it bigger and you could use it as an evening handbag ^_^

To what you need:

  • Felt
  • Scissors
  • Needle and thread
  • Pearls

So get whatever you’re making a case for, in this case an iPhone, and use it as a measuring guide on your felt.

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

 

 

Fold the bottom up to make a casing:

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Fold the top down so it hangs as far as you want the closure to go…

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Trim the edges so there is around 2cm overhang on each side to allow for the seams.

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Using a blanket stitch, go up the sides to secure the bottom flap :

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Now blanket stitch the first 1cm of the top flap. This is just to form a base that the pearls will attach to while keeping the shape of the bag when it’s held by the strap.

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Now let’s make a big flower for the front. Cut out a bunch of petals like this in varying sizes…

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Starting with the biggest petals, pleat them a couple of times in the middle and then stitch through to hold it in place.

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Repeat for all of them and you get something like this…

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Now let’s start putting it all together! Stitch the first row of petals into a circle. I used 3 large and 3 medium:

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Continue with another layer of less petals. You should place them so their points sit between the points of the layer beneath ^_^

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Keep adding layers until you run out of petals!

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Finish it by stitching a big pearl in the middle to hide the ugly parts. I only had blue felt at the time but it would be really pretty if you used a gradient of different colours for the petals.

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Ok so let’s put it all together!

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Stitch the flower on to the flap of the bag. I added a green leaf too.

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

You can hide the stitches with another piece of felt or a dedication to whoever you’re giving it to ^_^ When it’s opened up it looks like this:

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

Lastly stitch a string of pearls at the top to use as a strap. You can clip cute cell phone straps there or use it to clip into your handbag so you never have to search for your phone again ^_^

Tutorial- Felt iPhone Case

There you have it! These make really cute presents for people and you can customise them with different decorations on the flaps to match the person ^_^

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