DIY Shoe Storage Bench

Hello friends.  Who's thinking about clearing out all that clutter now that the holidays are over?  I'm right there with you, it's overwhelming and chaotic and you just want to clear the decks and start fresh.  

Today I'm sharing a diy shoe storage bench with free plans made specifically to fit four large crates.  These crates corral and contain all the shoes, hats, gloves and mudroom accessories plus the bench provides a nice spot to sit while putting on those shoes.

I've team up with Crates & Pallet to bring you this shoe storage bench plan.  We will use four of the large crates for this build but Crates & Pallet makes all types of crates, various sizes and shapes, you'll want to check out all the options.

To get you started on clearing the clutter Crates & Pallet is offering a giveaway to one lucky reader for a Home Depot $50 gift card!  If the holiday mess isn't motivation enough to clear the clutter than perhaps this giveaway will get you going.

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DIY Kids Play Patisserie

A super sweet treat this week and we're starting off with this kids pretend patisserie playstand.  My fellow blogger Stefanie over at Brooklyn Limestone puts together the most beautiful parties and her daughter's 3rd birthday was nothing short of amazing.

It all started when Stefanie posted a quick sketch of her Pretend Play Paris theme over on Instagram.  I saw it and knew I could build it so I offered.  Long story short we came up with plans, I built it (plus 2 more playstands coming this week) and delivered the unfinished stands to her Brooklyn home.  We only live about 45 min. from each other so it's a win, I get to build and she gets the stands!

Today I'm sharing the plans for the kids play patisserie, step by step instructions including cut lists can be found down below but first you must see the finish patisserie playstand.

For the love!  That's the birthday girl enjoying some pretend treats.  All the party details and sources for play food are over at Brooklyn Limestone here, be sure to check it out.

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DIY Coloring Gift Tags

Create your own gift tags by coloring inside the lines! I made small, simple holiday themed lined drawings and used colored pencils to bring them to life. Adults love Christmas crafts just as much as kids and what better way to sit down and relax than coloring gift tags.

Use any blank tags, gift cards or cardstock for your coloring surface.  Then doodle away with Prismacolor Premier colored pencils and markers.  I purchased these pencils at Michael's, there are a ton of colors to pick from or you can buy a whole set!  The consistency and quality of their colored pencils is exquisite, there's no crumbly bits and the workability is unmatched.

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Smart Door Hardware Giveaway

Everything is getting smarter these days, including home technology.  I must admit our home is definitely not the smartest (yes I manually adjust the thermostat every morning and night) so one of my goals for 2016 is to make small changes that will help our home work better and smarter.  When Schlage contacted me asking to try their new Schlage Sense^™ Smart Deadbolt I had to give it a whirl and bonus they are offering one lucky reader their own Schlage Sense^™ Smart Deadbolt and Handleset!

Look who's smart now?  I can control the deadbolt on my phone.  I can even have Siri do it for me with voice control!  No more fumbling with keys while my hands are full because my phone is usually in my hands anyways.   The Schlage Sense^™ Smart Deadbolt is designed to work with an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.  And if you happen to have an Apple TV in the home remote capabilities are possible too.

Naturally you would most likely be standing outside to unlock the door but I was having too much fun playing with the app inside I snapped this picture.  The Bluetooth technology works up to about 40 feet in range from the door so you can unlock from the driveway with no problem.

The giveaway entry details are down below.  Schlage has a variety of styles and finish options to choose from for both deadbolts and handlesets, you can see them all here.

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