Andy Worhol might have made art out of painting soup cans, but that’s just not gonna fly in my kitchen.

So we continue with the ongoing saga of  “how the hell do I organize my kitchen space, or lack-there-of”.

I have a surplus of “Cream of ‘whatever’” soup cans for use as a base in my crock pot meals.  The problem I’m having is that I’m running out of cupboard space.  I have a large shelf that I will be converting into a “pantry” (since I don’t have one) but I have major issues with is displaying ugly cans of soup, pasta, etc in my kitchen since it’s an open shelf.

So I came across an idea on Pinterest, the original idea came from Then She Made, which is a fabulous blog I plan on spending a lot more time reading!

With a little bit of decorative paper, some mod-podge, and a couple empty boxes of soda, I’ve got something I’m actually don’t mind displaying!

(I take horrible pictures, they are MUCH cuter in person and brighter.
My kitchen is just too dark for picture taking)  

I do have a few little places to cleanup but overall they came out great. The result is cute boxes for storing soup cans in a rotational manner and also re-uses 12 pack soda can boxes.

I know you can use those soda dispensers for soup cans but it doesn’t take out the “ugly” factor.

Some tips:

• Find cute corresponding paper at places that have scrap-booking paper. I got my sheets at Hobby Lobby , 6 for $1.00.  The outer shell took 2 sheets, the “front cap” took 1 and actually made 2 front pieces so I could do another box. So for 4 boxes in alternating patterns, was 10 sheets of paper, so $1.80 in paper.
• Cut the back hole where you insert cans out BEFORE applying paper. Kinda forgot to do that on the last 2 boxes and it wasn’t fun trying to cut out while the glue was still wet.
• Trace the front pieces with a pencil, cut out one side and then trace it on the other side of the paper so you have 2 front covers… also add a little bit of padding to wrap it into the inside of the box. I traced it,  but then about 1/4 of an inch above the trace, added dashed lines.
• When using mod-podge, put glue on both the paper, and the box. Smooth for 1-2 minutes with your fingers to keep bubbles from showing up.
• You’re gonna end up with glue on your hands and everything else. Put something on top of your work station if you don’t want to scrap glue later.
• Apply mod-podge to the outside to seal it and give it extra strength.
• Use a paint brush, not paper towels, to apply the glue. Learned that on the first box.   Also, if you can find a paint brush that has a hook on it to keep it on the lip of the mod-podge jar, it’s very handy. Keeps your brush from getting stuck to surfaces or dripping glue. I found mine at walgreens.
• Final thing, these are NOT meant for stacking– they won’t be strong enough to stack once the first row of cans are out.

So I’ve been on a mission to organize everything, especially my kitchen. I’ve been “couponing”  to save money to help out with my new “stay-at-home” status so when I find good deals on food that isn’t perishable, I’ve been snagging it up. But what about perishable foods? How can I keep my fridge/freezer organized when I’m buying more food? And even more,  how can I buy bulk meats and store fresh veggies in the freezer long term so they don’t get freezer burn?

This is how!!!  Meet my freezer’s new best friend, the “Large Freezer-Mate” with adjustable dividers and trays by Tupperware®.

I’ve used the small ones before, they’re really amazing, and my favorite feature is that all the ice ends up collecting on the inside of the lid instead of on the meat itself, saving the food from freezer burn.  It’s perfect for freezing large quantities of meats or vegetables which is going to come in really handy for my vegetable garden foods. It includes two trays with handles and four snap-in dividers.  They are flexible too so when I need something, I just bend it and pop that area out.

Oh… did I mention is has a life-time guarantee and it’s 50% off right now? Oh yeah! I bought 2 of them for my freezer.  ((Note- this blog is time-sensitive so if you’ve come across this past January 2012, it might not be 1/2 price or available. If it’s not, sorry, but check my friends site, they may have other sales on other freezermates and stuff going on. my.tupperware.com/lisazarecki)

(There’s a link below to an online “party” I set up through my friend who’s a representative… click “No” for the RSVP and it will let you shop the exclusive area!!!!)

The reason this one grabbed my attention (other than the 50% off price, ha!) is because I buy these bulk packs of chili cilantro chicken from Fresh-n-easy that come with 8 thighs and 8 drumsticks per pack for about $7.00, pre-marinated, and they are divine!
Unfortunately, I need at least 8-9 containers to store them in “meal size” sections since there’s no way my husband and I can go through 16 pieces of chicken in one setting.

So when I saw these, I had to have them. They come with moveable dividers so that you can section off the room  you need for the meats or vegetables.  This is what I did with mine.

I have 6 “meals” broken up of the chicken (I set aside the last set to cook up for dinner), and I used the last slot for hamburger. (That’s 2 lbs of hamburger on each side, lol. 4 lbs between that one divider, and please note, I think I was supposed to break that up into smaller sections, we’ll see what happens when it expands from freezing, ha!)

Then I just threw ‘em in my freezer:

I have plenty of room to stack vegetables or other frozen goods around the boxes.

So I set up a party through my rep and I’m throwing the link out for my chicky-followers.

Click the link below, make sure to RSVP   NO  to the party (since it’s not an in-home party), and then go to “Online Exclusives” !

Liz’s TW Party

 NOTE::: Online show is only through January 27th, 2012. If you come across this post later than that, just go to http://my.tupperware.com/lisazarecki which is my rep’s site and contact her (Lisa) for any specials going on.

PS… I was not paid to review this and opinions expressed are of my own.

This is a strange little side-topic but while on maternity leave, I’ve found myself up late at night with Ms. Fussy Butt and have taken to recording episodes of various shows on the Tivo so that when she’s up at 1am and won’t sleep, I have something to watch other than paid infomercials or movies I’ve seen a million times.

One show I keep watching is Hoarders.  The show overall is pretty crappy, I look at the probably faked up drama bits and roll my eyes, but I look at the MESS and I instantly want to clean the living hell out of whatever house they’re in.  It’s really weird but I can’t help but watch the show just to look at the mess because all I can think of is what I would do if I were to walk in that house, where I would start, how I would organize it, how I would clear it, etc. etc…

I’ve got some “clutter” areas of my house where everything makes a pit-stop and crashes (cough, my office), and the other thing I like about watching Hoarders is that it makes me get up and move and clean around my own house too. Lilly’s been crashed out tonight (for once), so I’ve been tackling my office… I have about 1/2 of it done, taking a break on it to blog so I don’t burn-out.

My friends and husband are teasing me, saying that I’m “nesting” due to the Peanut, but technically nesting is supposed to be something that happens a few days before going into labor.  Call it Nesting, or call it “It’s time to clean out all the **** while I still have time”, or call it Mission: Organization.

All I know is I am getting a ton of stuff done around the house that’s been needing to be done lately, and my husband isn’t sure what to make of it.

The next task I tackled last night:  THE FILING DILEMMA

We have a clip-board where we put bills that need to be filed. It’s been a poor system at best but it kept papers together for awhile before they were filed away.

Unfortunately, it finally got to the point where nothing more would fit on the clipboard, so more piles were started.  The reason? There was not an ounce more room in our filing cabinet, which has been crammed full of paperwork going many many many years back. We haven’t been able to fit anymore papers since probably November of last year. Not good!

So I made a run to the store at 3 in the morning. I got plastic filing containers, 3 of them to start.  They are also inexpensive which made me happy.

These have sealable wing lids and file hook catchers on the sides. It was just a simple task of grabbing the old file folders out of the cabinet and shifting them over.

This also means that the old files can go out in the bunker in the barn (Which is our water-proof tack room for saddles, halters, etc.) and I can get them out of the house completely! HECK YES!! I also feel this is safer for old paperwork. If anything were to happen, such as a fire, at least most of our records would be completely out of the house.

My plan is to have 7 containers, each year I move the old stuff out, and set up for the next year. After 7 containers are filled, we can start recycling the old material (Since 7 years is as far back as you need to keep stuff in case of tax audits.)

3 hours later…. my clipboard is completely empty, I have an extremely organized 2011 filing container, the files in alphabetical order for once. The tabs, I used my logo maker on (which my husband got me for Christmas, yay) and everything is nice and tidy and makes sense. FINALLY!!!!  YAY!!!