The best wine bottle opener I've ever owned

I seriously can not believe I have not blogged about this product before now.

I currently own one of these rechargeable wine bottle openers and it's the best thing to hit my bar since I turned 21 (and I have to admit that wasn't recently :).

I have mine plugged in inside my bar and grab it any time I need to open a bottle.

It's so simple and does all of the work for you.
1. Cut the wrapper with the included cutter.
2. Hold opener down on top of the cork and press the down button until the cork comes out of the bottle.
3. Hold the up bottom until the cork come out of the opener.
4 Return it to its charger.There is seriously no work on your part.

I even take it with me to parties where I am bringing wine to drink. Everyone always comments on how easy it is!

Now I see it's only $11 on Amazon! Rechargeable wine bottle opener at Amazon  Well worth the money!

I think I paid $20, but it was worth that.  Here's mine in the cabinet.

Twine candle holder

Another Pinterest inspiration completed. A twine covered candle holder. I absolutely love this one, and it was completely free (my favorite kind of project).

Here it is lit : )

I actually had a spool of twine that the previous owner of my home left.  It has sat in my garage for at least 8 years now.

I also had these frosted candle holders that I hated but kept because they protect other containers from candle wax.

So this morning I started hot gluing the twine around and around for probably 20 minutes (though it seamed like an hour).  I could hardly believe how great they turned out. I think they look even better because my twine was old and rotting.

Here's the before and after shot:

Tips:

- Glue more times than you think you need to ( I thought I was going to put one spot of glue on the top and one on the bottom, but it's more like 4 times per line at least).

- Use just a little glue at each spot (you don't want to see it through the twine...here's a pic to show how little).

- Glue the entire bottom and top row to keep it from slipping off.

- Glue as needed to keep it all straight (you can manipulate it as you go by gluing and pushing down spots that aren't staying in line).

- If the twine breaks as you go, just glue the end, then glue the new start right next to it (if it's a blunt cut) or a little overlapping (if it is a frayed cut).  The above pic shows a spot where my twine broke...obviously it happened a lot since I've figured out this twine is basically unusable for its original purpose since its so rotten :)

- Depending on your type of twine, you might need to trim hairs off the outside when you are done

- This takes time and patience, which I dont have ver much of, so be prepared for that.

Hope this inspires you like the twine container I pinned inspired me :)

Spa sinks in my master bath

Well I finally got back to the dollar store yesterday, so I have added the river rocks to my master bath sink now. We begin the test to see how they do in sinks where toothpaste is being used. I'll kept you posted. I may have some really cute dirt cover for my patio pots here shortly :)

Use baskets in cabinets to maximize space!

If you've read my blog, you know I am a basket lover. I use them everywhere to help manage all of the clutter that comes along with kids.

One of my favorite places to put them is inside a cabinet. It turns an impossible place to store things into a drawer that can hold so much more. You can use every inch of space in there. Plus you can pull it out and take the contents where you need them.

In this case, this is my single lower cabinet in my laundry room. We use the top basket for everything swim team related, and the bottom for all things Girl Scouts.

These days it's so easy to find baskets that fit (at a great price, too). Ikea, World Market, TJMaxx, etc., etc...they are everywhere!

So look around your house for cabinets that would be better utilized if they had a basket "drawer", take note of the opening dimensions, then take them with you when you go shopping (I personally keep all that info in my Notes app on my phone). I'm sure you'll find the perfect ones in no time. Good luck organizing :)

Insulated beverage tub!

I was hesitant to blog about this product (you'll see why in a minute), but after getting it out for the first time this season I just couldn't help it. I absolutely LOVE this find.

It's the Coleman Party Tub Cooler. I always wanted a beverage tub, but knew it needed to be insulted or it would drip sweat. I happened upon this a few years ago and searched the Internet for a good deal on one.

Luckily I'm also an avid Craigslist shopper, and found one for $30 in the original box. I jumped on it and have never looked back. Might be the best summer product I've ever purchased.

The bad news... They don't sell them anymore! I've looked all over the Internet to no avail. I decided to go ahead and blog about it though.  Not because I like to brag about great products I have that you can't get :), but because there are other insulted beverage tubs out there. That's the main reason I love this one. It can be used indoors because it wont drip!

So if you love the looks of this one, start hunting Craigslist (I saw one in the Dallas area a few weeks ago). If you have seen any of these around, let us know where.

If you just like the idea of a beverage tub that is insulted, here are a few I found as options.

This one is by Keter and is actually a table, too. Keter Cooler at Amazon The cheapest I have found is on Amazon for $69 with free shipping.  Only four left as of now.

I actually saw is at Target as well this year, but I think it was $100 (it comes in a lot of color combinations at Target, so pay attention to the sticker on the box that tells you the color inside and out). It's called a cool bar I think.  I actually discovered this one at Bed, Bath and Beyond when I was first looking, and I see that they sell it online as well.

I must admit I'm a little jealous of this one.  It can stay outside and be protected, and function as a table when in use or not. Nice!

Use old plastic lids as ceiling medallions

I don't know if you have ever bought a ceiling medallion at Home Depot, but essentially there are a piece of plastic you hang between your ceiling and light fixture cap to make it look more substantial. They cost $10 to $20 each for a piece of plastic!

Now if you've read my blog you've seen me use iron wall art and old mirror frames as ceiling medallions, but by far the cheapest solution I have is old plastic lids.

Basically I found an old bucket lid laying on the ground outside my house (someone's trash most likely), and when I picked it up I thought, "that looks just like a ceiling medallion."  It was too beat up to use, so I decided to see what I had around the house. 

I looked in my tupperware drawer. I put all the pieces together to see what was left. I had a couple old larger plastic lids that didn't fit anything left, so I painted them, and put one under my bedroom ceiling fan.  You just need to cut a hole in the middle of it to make room for the wiring, etc.  (just like a real medallion has).

I put the other under my bathroom chandelier.

Easy FREE solution to something I would buy anyway (I for some reason just can't stand the look of a little 4" cap on a big light fixture).  I would have preferred larger bucket sized lids, but I used what I had.  In the future I'll be hitting up construction sites for more, when I ready to add them to my daughters rooms : )  Happy hunting.

My wine cork letter :)

Today I decided it was time to do a project I have pinned an Pinterest :). Mainly because my boards are getting cluttered, and I'm ready to start deleting the completed ones.

I realized I had everything I needed to make my wine cork letter "A". I wanted it to sit on something vs. be free standing (wanting it to have a little more presence). So I started by gluing two corks on each side of the base (a bamboo soap dish holder I had from Ikea). I used hot glue to put it all together, and it worked great.

I then added one cork at a time to each side at a slight angle. Once the sides met I just glued the top two together.

Being a letter A I also had to place the cross bar. I held two corks up to see where I wanted it, then started gluing. It turned out I needed three across the middle, but it worked out great and I just love it.

Thank you again Pinterest for all of the ideas :)