and the winner is.....

happy first day of fall everyone! thanks to all of you who participated in the double giveaway. all of your names were written on a piece of paper and put into a bowl. one was chosen and i am pleased to announce that the winner is........

Cynthia!!!!!

we will be in touch about your prize! check out my mom's blog to see the winner of the autumn clutch! have a great weekend everyone!

double autumn giveaway

friday is the first day of autumn! to celebrate, my mom and i are hosting a double giveaway! i have been meaning to introduce you to my mom's etsy shop..... and this is the perfect opportunity!


wanna win a super cute autumn clutch?

wanna win a vintage fabric bag of your choice?

i know you do! here's how you win:

1. Comment on this post! 


2. Post a link to this 'blog posting' on each of your social networking sites. 


3. Share about this giveaway on your own blog with a link back to my blog. 

Each of these activities will earn you a chance to be a winner. Make sure to comment about each of these activities to add up your chances to win. 

You will want to do the SAME on my Mom’s blog too.  You have until Thursday at midnight to enter. Winners will be announced on Friday, September 23rd.

my mom's blog is called garden clippings. 

her blog is located at http://www.lauraclauson.blogspot.com/

she creates amazing home decor, clutches, and word art.

visit her etsy shop to see more: 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lauraclauson    

good luck!

organization: expedit boxes

finally! i am posting an "organization" entry. i love to organize, rearrange, and then rearrange again. i can't help it! i come from a long line of organizers. my mom, my grandma, and even my great grandma. without even knowing it, i grew up knowing how to sort by color and size, try different furniture set-ups, and how to make the most of a small space. i am constantly looking around my one bedroom apartment thinking "what can i do to make this space work better?!"

here's an idea i came up with a few years ago while living in another small place. this house had one closet! yikes! like most people, we immediately went to ikea to find a solution. again, like most people, we ended up purchasing the expedit bookshelf. you know the one with all the cubbies? ikea also sells weaven shelf baskets to slide into each space. even though our bookshelf has 16 cubies, i only bought four. buying 16 is out of the question! but i still wanted boxes i could slide in and out and use to "hide" our stuff.

this is what i came up with.....

1. i found some retro wallpaper at a thrift store.

2. for almost the same price as one ikea basket, i bought a 10 pack of generic storage boxes from an office supply store.

3. i covered the face of the box with the vintage wall paper.

4. i filled each box with our things and created inexpensive yet fun storage bins!

here is the finished result! you can do this with any kind of paper, fabric, or even paint. be creative and  have fun!

inspiration: deploy that fabric

my sister-in-law loves to send my husband and i little notes and letters of love in the mail. i love it! there's nothing like getting a letter (and not bills) in the mail. sometimes it's an amazing drawing by our niece and nephew or perhaps a clipping from a magazine that reminded her of us. the other day, i received one of these fun letters and found a newspaper article inside. the article is titled "Uniforms return to Service." it features artist Jen Eskridge's new book Deploy that Fabric. I am extremely inspired by her idea to upcycle military uniforms. check it out... what a great & creative way to honor service members.

inspiration: container cities

i saw this article on etsy today and was intrigued. i know i've seen this idea before but i never took a good look at it. today i was drawn in. architects are creating not only homes but cities out of old shipping cargo containers. even swimming pools! i love the eco-industrial look. i love the re-invention.

bags: autumn listings

it's HOT in los angeles today. i can't wait until september 23rd when autumn officially begins. (not that october is any cool here in LA) here are some of my newest listings. all of these fabrics were purchased at thrift stores. hooray for green craft, autumn colors, and upcycling!

olive green

vintage vera

mustard floral

play and be inspired: the great outdoors

you must excuse me for not posting. school started yesterday and i've been focusing on work. but i'm taking a break to share with you! i am thankful that my husband and i were able to take our annual vacation this year. although we love living in an urban area, sometimes it's nice to get away. when brainstorming places to go, we always gravitate towards the national parks. how lucky are we to have so many in the united states! this year we went to redwood national forest. it was a long drive but worth it!
we had fun drinking in the colors, textures, patterns, and design of the great outdoors. hope you are inspired!