Lego Storage

When I saw this ecard, I knew it was describing me!  And it just so happens to describe my latest project too.  Jay loves his LEGOs.  And I love to see what he is building with them because it gives me some insight as to what's going on in that brain of his.  What I don't love is the mess that comes along with it.  All those colors mixed in together is madness!  And how in the world can you find what you're looking for? 

You know that feeling when you walk into the LEGO Store and see all the LEGOs divided by color? 

Well, that's what I wanted but a wall o' LEGOs wouldn't really work in my house.  And our LEGOs need to be able to be packed up and travel well.  So I found this at Lowe's.  It's the Kobalt 14 Compartment Organizer ($22.97).



It's great because it is really meant for tools or tool kind of stuff (you know what I mean!) so it is really heavy duty.  So I don't have to worry about it breaking or the latches opening while its being carried.  And all the individual containers are removable.  I also found these great stickers at Wal-Mart.  They came a set of folders with all of the school supplies.

I just sorted all the colors out first.  I had to combine so of the colors that we had less of and have two of some colors we had more of.  I love that the case had two larger containers.  I used one for all of the Lego Minifigures and  one for all of the car parts. 

And here's what it looked like about 30 seconds later.  See what I'm telling you?!?!?



Habitat for Humanity ReStore Furniture Redo

I love checking out the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for new projects.  This trip I was looking for a "new to me" piece of furniture to keep mail and the backpacks hidden.  Hey, at least I can fool people into thinking I'm organized!  So here is what I found...

Okay, so it looks a little pitful and it's missing a knob.   But never underestimate what a little DIY lovin' can do!  I knew I wanted to paint it black so I got all my supplies together.  Here is what I used:

Sand paper

Valspar latex enamel in Satin Black

Mini paint roller

Mini foam roller cover

Wooster Pelican Pail

New knobs (also from the Habitat ReStore for $.25 each)

1. I took off all the remaining knobs and the magnets on the doors.
2. Then I sanded the whole thing lightly.  I didn't want to get down to the wood.  I just wanted to make it rough enough for the paint to stay on.
3. Then I wiped it all down to make sure there was no dust left on it.
4. Then I applied three layers of paint and let it dry thoroughly between coats.
5. Last, I put the new knobs on it.

And here it is!

And here is one with the doors open so you can see where I hide the backpacks.

I hadn't really given much thought to what we might call this piece of furniture but then my sweet husband referred to it as the "credenza".  Seems like an awfully fancy word for some furniture that someone donated but I think I'll go with it!