This is one of my favorite crafts in a long time! I wasn’t quite sure how it
was going to come together during the process, but I couldn’t love the
finished product more. 🙂

Best part is, I saved about eighty bucks making it on my own. YES.
That was 8-0:

When I saw it weeks ago, I knew this would be a cute DIY project that I
could do for WAY less than the Pottery Barn version. 

And then every single person on the internet did the same thing. OH
WELL. I’m still sharing my version! 

The Pottery Barn version measures 24 inches across, and when all the
little ghosts were attached, mine is was the same size. 

Did I mention the PB original costs $90?

That’s…nine zero. I had most of my supplies on hand so I only
spent $12 for mine. But even if you have to buy all of the supplies, it
will be a fraction of the cost!

I share a lot of the details in the video I share below, but here are a
few more helpful details:

• You can use just about anything for your wreath form. There are
  wired versions, inexpensive wood/MDF wreath bases, or even taping a
  pool noodle together will work! I used a grapevine wreath that we
  already have — I take things on and off of these all the time for
  the seasons. They are so easy to work with.
• I used a mixture of medium and large clear ornaments — five of the
  large and eight medium. Mine were from Hobby Lobby (half off), but
  you can find them at almost any craft store this time of year. 
• I purchased foam balls to try out as well, but I’m glad I ended up
  with the plastic ornaments. Placing the lighting inside the bulbs
  makes this look even better! (The foam will cost about half of the
  ornaments though.)
• You can use any battery-operated wired lights, but I chose
  this long strand that comes with a remote and timer. That way we don’t have to turn them on and off every night. Just
  turn them on when the sun goes down and then set the timer for how
  long you want them to stay on every evening. 
• I attached the battery pack on the back of the wreath with another
  zip tie. This also prevents the wreath or zip ties from scratching
  up the door: 

I absolutely LOVE how this one turned out! It’s adorable and looks
great even from the street at night: 

Mine has a bit more personality too — I added a few tiny witch hats I had in
my craft stash. You could have so much fun with the faces and details!

Here’s a full list of the items I used to make this DIY light up ghost wreath:

If you’re starting from scratch with your supplies, a finished ghost wreath my
size will cost around $30, but with discounts and sales could be significantly
less! The light strands are the most expensive item, but most I’ve purchased
come with a few strands per order. 

This would also be adorable in a mini version — what a cute idea for a crafty
get together. If you used a smaller wreath with smaller clear ornaments it
would be at least half of the price. 

I saved about $78 by DIYing my own version of this wreath, so it was worth the
hour or so it took to make it. Have you seen this DIY
floating around the internet
lately? 

Reuse leftover wax and cute seasonal decor to make your own fall candles in
just a few steps!

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to upcycle and DIY a couple
candles. This was my first try at making my own candles and I learned a few
helpful tips along the way. 

I decided to do this last minute, and ran into Dollar Tree to get a couple
things. Otherwise I was winging it with items from home, but I’ll share a
couple suggestions later in this post that make this project even easier!

I’ve wanted to attempt this candle making process for awhile, and the broken
glass jar on one of my favorite candles finally made it happen: 

I LOVE this scent from Aldi so much, I got three of the candles when they
came out years ago. This is my last one and I didn’t
see a crack in the glass when I lit it one night and some of the wax
spilled out of the cracks. 

I was trying to use what I had for the most part, and if you’re able to do
the same this project will won’t cost you a dime! But if you want to avoid
the first few steps I’ll share an even easier way to do it at the end. 

I had two pretty containers that I wanted to fill — one was a candle we had
used up last year and one was just pretty glass dish. 

My favorite method for removing wax from an old candle is to place it in the
freezer for at least a few hours. It will pop out easily and with little mess after freezing!

Assemble your wicks

I had my containers and needed wicks for my two would-be candles. You can
find them at craft stores, but I wanted to use what I had on hand. 

I grabbed a votive and a long (broken) taper candle: 

Obviously the wick in the votive was too short, but I still needed that for
the metal base. The taper candle was going to provide my long wick. 

It worked perfectly! I was able to get two out of the one candle. 

I took the wick out of the votive to use the metal base: 

It came out with a slight tug and then I was able to push up from underneath
with a nail driver. It fit perfectly inside to open up that small clamp a
bit. If you have skinny pliers those will work as well. 

I inserted the new wick and used pliers to clamp and secure the wick in the
holder. 

Adhere your wick to the container

The votive isn’t necessary, I just figured I’d fill up some space in there
since I had it on hand.

As you can see, I used a pencil to keep the wick upright as I poured the
wax. You can use just about anything — as long as you don’t care if it gets
wax on it! 

Melting the old wax

There are a few ways to melt your wax once it’s out of the candle, but the
easiest and safest way (in my opinion) is to warm it in the oven on low
heat. 

I used an inexpensive bread pan from the dollar store and heated my candle
wax for about 25 minutes at 200 degrees. I wouldn’t go much higher with the
heat — you don’t want the wax to boil and make a mess. 

I placed my pan on a metal sheet to protect the oven even further: 

And no, the oven doesn’t retain any of the wax scent. I made salmon ten
minutes later and the fragrance didn’t linger at all in the oven. 

Check on the wax every five minutes or so to see how it’s doing. I turned
the oven off for the last five minutes to let the last of the pieces melt
away. 

Fill your new candle!

I placed my glass vessels on foil and a cutting board, then used a
wide-mouth funnel to pour the melted wax into my two vessels: 

I found a set of three funnels at the dollar store and the biggest one was
perfect for this. You want the top to be wide so you don’t have to worry
about getting the wax into narrow area as you’re pouring. 

I thought this part would be a lot scarier than it was. It was quick,
easy and I had zero mess. 

If you’re reusing an old candle like me, make sure not to let any of the
debris from old wicks get into your new candle. 

You can remove it with a spoon before pouring, but I found it wasn’t
necessary. Because those bits sat at the bottom of the melted wax as I
poured there were no issues — they stayed in the pan. 

Make sure to go slow and have patience as you pour!

If you have leftover wax, pour it into the metal votive casing with a wick
to make scented votives! 

That’s it! I let my new candles harden and dry overnight and then cut the
wicks down: 

I kept the excess wicks for future candles, because I’ll definitely be doing
this again!

I love that I was able to use something that would have been thrown away
otherwise (well, if I hadn’t planned to use the wax for our warmer at
least), and I was able to reuse some really cute vessels. 

So many of the old jars from spent candles are too pretty to toss
afterwards!:

I couldn’t believe how easy this was! If you don’t have an old broken candle
around like me, you can use the following to make your own scented candles:

If you have an old saucepan or pot already,
this wick set
will be all you need. Either of these will allow you to prep your container
in just a couple minutes, so you can skip my recycling steps at the
beginning of this tutorial.  

I LOVE how these turned out and can’t wait to make more! 

Have you tried making your own scented candles? If so I’d love to hear your
tips and suggestions!

How I organize our everyday household items throughout the house!

I’ve been on a mission over the past few months to get our house decluttered
and organized…for good! 

This year I’ve been determined more than ever to
rid our home of unneeded stuff
and get all of our random household clutter organized. I don’t know what got
me so focused on it, but I’ve been a machine…we’ve gotten rid of so much
and now (almost) everything else is nicely organized. 

I feel like I’m finally getting our life in order (at least the stuff
part!). We’ve only lived here seven years. 🙂

I figured I’d share the ways I’ve organized our everyday household items
throughout the house. 

Keep a few things in mind as you read this! First up, I’m nearing the big
5-0 and with every year I want less and less things in our home. I thrive
and function so much better in a clutter-free home, but even ten years ago
that was not the case at all! 

Our son recently turned 18 (!!) and will be going off to college in just a
few months, so I’ve had more time over the past few years to tackle these
types of projects. (And the days of Nerf bullets and toy clutter are gone,
although I still step on the occasional Lego!) 

This may sound like I’ve gotten rid of everything in our house, which is
soooo not the case. I love my stuff. 🙂 But what we do have, we use and
enjoy AND most everything has a dedicated spot. 

1. Take advantage of your closet space 

Closets are great of course! But if you don’t utilize them well, that
storage space won’t benefit your home as much as it should! 

A few years ago I showed you a main floor closet had been full of random
crap. At the time
I called it my Monica closet (Friend’s sitcom reference) because after we moved in I just chucked
stuff in there.

I did a quick declutter and it looked so much better!: 

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I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links. 

But it still wasn’t functioning as well as it could. So I’ve been working on
it here and there over the past few years. 

The real organization started when I found these plastic basketweave storage
bins at Big Lots a couple of years ago: 

RIP to Big Lots by the way, I’m SO sad about them closing! I loved that
place. 

They had a taller version (pictured) and a shorter version. I grabbed a
bunch of them, mostly in the larger size. I grouped like items in the bins,
like tissue boxes, trash and grocery bags, medication and vitamins. 

Just random household items we need throughout the day with easy access. Of
course I needed a way to label them, so I used my
trusty clip on bin labels: 

They would pop off occasionally, so I grabbed some of my
glue dots
and just put one behind each label and that’s worked great. 

We reach for something out of this closet every single day, and I can’t tell
you how nice it is to find exactly what we need quickly: 

I still hate the wire shelves and plan to address those someday, but the
plastic storage bins slide easily and don’t get caught on the wire at
all. 

That closet off is probably supposed to be more of a linen closet, but we have
a dedicated linen closet upstairs that I use for that purpose: 

I made better use of this closet by making the new shelves a bit deeper so
they would comfortably hold the bulky bedding. I also added a smaller shelf up
above to hold seasonal items we rarely reach for. 

Plus, the wood shelves work SO much better in general — everything slides so
much easier. 

I prefer this method to hanging everything, plus it’s easier to store seasonal
or holiday themed clothing. 

In our first house, I noticed how much unused space there was at the ends of
our guest room closet. If you have a closet full of clothes you’re probably
using it, but if not, it’s just awkward and difficult to optimize. 

I recently added one more small shelf on the other side to store our dust
buster that we keep plugged in. 

2. Use pretty dressers and furniture for everyday storage

I’ve blabbed about this for years, but it’s worth mentioning again! I have
found the most beautiful vintage dressers on Craigslist and Facebook
Marketplace: 

But I don’t just use dressers for clothes — actually usually there aren’t any
clothes in them. 😉 

In our bedroom dresser, I store our travel supplies (we have a lot because my
husband travels so much for work): 

I also keep all of our travel items like extra charging cords, travel bags,
etc. The bottom drawer holds extra sheet sets for our bed.

We moved it to our foyer and I absolutely LOVE it here. It’s just
beautiful. 

What a shame it would be to not use all of that glorious storage! In the top
drawers I keep some everyday tools like a hammer, level, screwdriver, etc.
It’s so convenient to grab them here instead of the garage. 

I have a supply of candles that I use throughout the year, and this dresser is
a great spot to store them: 

We have a gorgeous credenza in our basement that serves as storage as well:

We keep some odds and ends like extra charging cords in the drawers, and
puzzles in the bottom cabinets: 

Our main bathroom is quite large, but the storage is lacking. We have one tiny
closet and the vanities have very little useful space. 

This tall Ikea Hemnes cabinet gives us so much more storage for towels
and toiletries: 

See that
Hemnes cabinet makeover here
— this is one of the simplest furniture makeovers I’ve ever done, but might
be my favorite. 

3. DIY custom built ins and cabinets

If you’ve read my blog for long, you know I LOVE a good DIY built in or
bookcase! So of course I have to include them in this list. They create SO
much useful storage space! 

The bonus is all the stuff is tucked away in cabinets, so everything looks
great no matter how organized they are inside. 😉 

We have one room that combines our mud room needs and laundry, but the
storage was seriously lacking when we moved in. 

The base cabinets ended up looking like built in furniture, which I
love. 

These are FANTASTIC for so many random items like gift bags, cards and party
supplies pictured above. 

I think that cabinet was one of my smartest storage solutions ever,
and it’s beautiful! We now have a couple of empty drawers because
I’ve purged so many things lately. 

I hope we never move from this house, but this added storage will be a big
selling point someday!

Bookcase built ins in an office are the perfect way to create both form and
function: 

I keep all of my craft and office supplies in these cabinets, as well as my
sewing machine and computer supplies: 

We keep photo albums, toys (for friends and family) as well as all of our
board games in these: 

If you’ve been considering adding something similar in your house…this is
your nudge to do it! 🙂 

I love using bins and containers for stuff, but sometimes you can make
storage go much further with shelves.

4. Storing paper, photos and art

When our kids were little, paper clutter was my nemesis. I just
couldn’t get a handle on it. 

This thing is a game changer — so helpful to be able to carry it around. We
keep our daily mail in one of the mud room drawers I shared earlier, and
every week or two I go through it and file papers away. 

I usually do this at the dining table, so it’s GREAT to be able to file
everything right there. 

They come with labels — both monthly options and plain ones you can
customize. I find the easiest way to file them is by month. 

Our accountant recommends we keep three years of receipts and tax documents,
so I have three that I rotate out every year. 

I went through almost all of our photos (I’d still like to do a deeper
dive into those someday), the kids’ artwork and all of our keepsakes from
travel and school. The portfolios I found have been wonderful for
organizing all of these items! 

It’s so nice to have them sorted and labeled, and we can quickly find what
we want. It’s also lovely to be able to pull them out to reminisce with
family and friends. 

I’m getting closer to getting our home organized and clutter-free!
Thisclose. I have three problem areas remaining — our son’s closet
(which is in progress, I’ll share that soon!), my husband’s office closet
and his main clothes closet. 

It will take at least another year to complete those, but maybe by our ten
year anniversary in this house I will have it all organized.

On a more personal note, I wanted to share what’s been going on with
our family over the past few months. Our dog Peanut was diagnosed with
collapsed trachea more than a decade ago, and we made immediate changes
to hold off the progression. 

(It’s recommended to use a harness on your dogs instead of collars. CT
can affect any dog, but especially smaller breeds.)

Unfortunately last year the CT got worse, and on New Year’s Eve we had
to rush him to the ER because he couldn’t stop coughing. 

We were able to control the cough somewhat with meds afterwards, but
collapsed trachea is a progressive condition. Deciding the right time to
say goodbye to Peanut was one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever faced.
(With our other angel pets, their decline was so fast we had no other
choice. Peanut hid his pain well.) 

Fortunately we were able to say goodbye to him at home, with him
cuddled in our arms. It was actually quite beautiful, having that time
with him. I will cherish that forever.  

We know it was the right decision and he’s at peace now, but we are
completely devastated. Living without him is unimaginable. 

Our family is healing, but I wanted to let you know why I’ve been
quieter over the past few months. I didn’t realize how much of my time
and attention was going to lessening his discomfort until he was gone.
We fought so hard for him, but he fought even harder. 

Today was the first day I haven’t cried, until now as I type this.

I know many of you have been here with me for years and have seen him
in photos over the past 14 years. He was so loved and we miss him
terribly. 

My posting schedule will go back to normal shortly, thank you for
hanging in there with me.

Rest in peace, our most beautiful boy. 

We love you, we miss you.