Organizing and Room Decor

I've recently been making more organization and decor in my room. The first bit started with a bit of insomnia. I don't like the look of my pills case, and, in a random fit of creativity, decided to deco it.


I did not plan it out and simply glued random gems on and then a ribbon around the base. I don't like to have the entire thing covered in rhinestones, but if you have daily vitamins or medication to take, this is a cute way to brighten it up!

A day or so later, I got out some empty glass food jars and decided to use them to store brushes and vitamins. The lids weren't very pretty, so I colored them like so:

I used a base of white paint to make the nail polish colors brighter.

While I had all my craft material out, I decided to organize my deco tape so they would be easier to get to. I rolled up a piece of thick paper (it was a file envelope), hot glued ribbon around it, and then hung it up on the wall. I'm not allowed to stick hooks on the wall (not even 3M command hooks because they still leave a mark!) so this is the only hook in my whole room! It was left by the previous tenant :)

The foam tape is really unruly, but this way is easier to see the deco tape I need!

I also went on a shopping spree and got new hangers and a shower curtain rod (the extending type) so I could create a new space to hang up my clothing. It's right over my bed area and is supported with two hooks in the middle section to help hold up the weight of the clothing.


This has freed up so much space in my closet so I can finally put my books in the upper shelf levels!! I've lived here for nine months and finally unpacked the last box, haha!

This was the outfit I wore for my shopping at the department store:

Aurora's Chambers~ Dividing Space

I've recently had bouts of insomnia and extreme energy surges and rather than doing homework or something productive, I've taken to cleaning and organizing my living space!!

My main focus is to be cheap because I don't have much money to spend and I don't want to end up with a lot of storage units that I'd have to move if/when I move out of this space.

Today, I'd like to share some of the things I've done recently. I apologize in advance for the sporatic photos. I made these after taking my nighttime medication, which causes side effects such impairment of motor skills and slight short-term memory loss.

This post is going to be on dividers that I made from scraps of thick board; the same as I used in this earring frame.

Materials:
Thick board, foam board, tag board, or cardboard
Cutter
Ruler

Directions:
1) Measure and Cut
Measure out how long and wide your divider pieces need to be and cut them to size. The decide where you want the dividers to intersect and cut a slit halfway into the depth of the divider. You will do this to both intersecting pieces so they will interlock.
This is how the cut pieces should look:

This is how they interlock:


2) Repeat
Make as many dividers as you need. I don't really remember what I was doing at this point, and probably just didn't measure properly so my spaces are rather wonky:


That's it!!
If you don't want to bother with the cutting and you have enough items to fill a drawer, you can actually just place the cardboard dividers between sections like this:

I fold my shirts this way so I can easily see what each shirt is. The green lines represent where I have placed dividers. The "files" of shirts actually do not fall over if you remove a few shirts, so it's quite handy! After rearranging my closet like so, I realized that I have a disproportionately large number of black tank tops and camisoles... Good reason to go shopping for summer, right?

In my previous closet post I had been keeping my clothes under the bed and sewing supplies in the closet for some reason. Not very handy. Since spring has arrived, I've done a complete overhaul and used the shoe boxes I was previously using as dividers to store my winter clothing in out-of-the-way cabinets and begun using these scrap board dividers instead. I now also have more room to hang up my clothes!


As you can see, my dresses and tights are hung up. The four mushrooms are pens... don't ask why they are in the closet!! I have no desk space due to my sewing machine, serger, and laptop taking up the entire table and my printer taking up the end table! Hopefully I'll be able to figure out a more effective method of organizing my desk supplies soon.

The other side of my closet has stayed pretty much the same with the exception of moving my bras and underwear (the two boxes) from under the bed to the closet. I'm also hanging up my non-Lolita skirts in the top portion with my blouses.


The space under my bed is now home to my sewing and crafting supplies!!! There is a small section of winter clothing that didn't fit into the cabinet, but I put them in the very back so they would not get in the way.


As you can see, the items I will use most often are now arranged in front and the items I will not need as much are put in the back. This system has been working out fairly well for me.

Now, I just need to finish coming up with ways to arrange my shoes, accessories, and miscellaneous junk such as files and folders and textbooks!

Thanks for reading! And if you have any tips or stories about your own organization methods, please share in the comments below!

Aurora's Chambers~ Earring Frame

Earrings, earrings, everywhere! I love earrings, but am sadly I am part Wolverine and if I don't continue to wear earrings, the piercings heal so I re-pierce them every time I want to wear earrings. This has led to me tossing my earrings into a box and forgetting about them, which is really sad!

Last night I had a burst of manic energy and decided to put together an earring frame so that my earrings are in plain sight and hopefully will have me wear them more!

Space is incredibly limited, so I chose to make a hanging earring frame in order to conserve surface space. Now my earrings are hanging on the back of my door so I can choose some to wear right as I leave for the day!



This is very quick and easy to make, so I took photos of the progress to show you.

Materials:
Frame base - you can use a picture frame, cardboard, tag board, foam board, or anything sturdy enough to hold its shape
Decorative fabric
Netting fabric
Ribbon to hang it with
Any other decorations you want (buttons, lace, ribbon, etc.)

Directions:
This is so simple you probably don't even need directions!

1)Cut
Cut the frame to the size and shape you want. If you are using some type of paper board, I recommend that you leave the thickness of an inch to two inches so it doesn't become weak.

The back looks a bit messy, haha!

The front is nice though!

2)Glue
Glue your decorative fabric to cover the frame. Then glue the netting fabric for holding the earrings up.


3) Hang
Glue or sew ribbon to the back and hang it up. I made a wire hook to hang it over the back of my door. Put your earrings in and you are done!


There you go! Super easy earring organizer! I plan to make an organizer for necklaces and bracelets to hang beneath this one, so stay tuned for that!

My Dream Closet (i.e., small space organization!)

Welcome to this week's Lolita Blog Carousel! The topic is: Design your dream closet.

My dream closet, in one word, would be "organized."

Space is very lacking in Taiwan. Staying organized is a real challenge, especially when you wear a fashion that takes up a lot of room *cough*Lolita*cough*

I have been trying to find ways to stay organized with such limited space, but all the "small closet" organization sites and solutions I found still showed closets that were 3-4 times the size of mine. Plus, I actually use half of my closet for storing my sewing things! Most of my clothes actually need to go under the bed.



The storage space under the bed is only divided in two, so the clothes tend to all clump together and the back is difficult to reach! I used shoe boxes to divvy up the space into "drawers" and use a filing technique to keep everything as organized as possible, but recently I have been lazy, as you can see...


Currently I am very sick and cannot stand for a long period of time without falling over, so I am unable to reorganize. I will split this post into two pieces so that I can show the before and after when I am better.

The filing method I use is shown here. It's very simple and actually allows you to see the print on your t-shirts and cutsews.

I save my limited closet space for hanging blouses and skirts which don't fold well. The skirts take up more room than the hangers, so I offset the bulk by hanging hangers on hangers so the fullness at the waist is staggered.

If you have the room in your house/room/apartment, you can buy a clothing rack to hang your pretty Lolita dresses on display, but I don't have the room in my apartment!

So how to deal with so much folding to stay organized? Somethings that I have discovered after using this method for a while:
Blouses are prone to wrinkling, so I think it is better to hang them!
Put the clothing you will wear the most often (underwear, socks, bras) in the easiest access point so you can grab them quickly in the morning
Divide a large space by using dividers or boxes. The space between boxes will also serve as a "box" that you can adjust the size of!
Hang up your tights so you can see the print of them and so you don't need to spend a long time on folding and unfolding them.
Keep accessories in an easy-to-see display. I will be making a ribbon accessory organizer when I get better, so I will post a tutorial as well!
Fold and iron your clothes as soon as possible. The longer they sit around, the less likely you will do them! Schedule time for this task!


Sorry my post this week is severely lacking! I hope the second portion will make it better :) For now, check out other Lolitas' take on the topic!
Toothless Tigers
Lace a La Mode
Loli Dreamland
Lolita Corderosa
Hello Cinderella
Suns in Our Hands
Hello Batty
Red Tonic
The Bloody Tea Party

Aurora's Chambers~Jewelry Organization Tutorial!

A looooong time ago I said I would do some "household" type tutorials and here is the first post! Finally!
好久好久以前說會PO些關於家庭整理教學，終於發第一篇文章了!

I have quite a few necklaces and bracelets which were kept in a box and become tangles constantly, so I finally decided to create a cheap little organizer that looks pretty and keeps my necklaces from becoming one huge knot!
我有許多項鍊和手還可是放在盒子裡常常會打結。 有一天忽然想到個好辦法來把他們整理好!

There have been many jewelry organization tutorials on the internet that I found. Most of them consisted of an empty frame with netting stretched behind it or a corkboard you can hang up. Since we are renting cannot hang things on the wall, I had to make a free-standing organizer!
在網路上搜索了好多配件整理教學可是都是用相框加沙布掛在牆上的那種。 目前租的房子不能掛東西，所以只好自己創照新的方法吧!


Tada! A Wire Tree!
完成的鐵樹架!

Materials材料:
*Wire in varying thicknesses 鐵絲
*Wire cutter 剪鐵疵的夾子
*Pliers 小夾子


Directions做法:
1) Cut your wire into several lengths that are LONGER than your necklaces.
將鐵絲剪成許多比項鍊要長的一段一段


2) Curl one end of the wire into a little spiral, and the other end into a hook.
用小夾子把一邊捲起來，另一邊彎個鉤

The bigger the spiral, the more stable your tree will be. Vary the sizes of the spirals to make your tree more interesting!
卷卷那頭越大樹站的越穩。每隻的大小都會有點不一樣

3) After all your wires are bent, bend the spiral end at a 90 degree angle to make the roots of the tree and your tree will stand up. Gather all your branches together and begin to wrap the trunk with more wire. I found that using a thinner wire for this part was easier
接下來把樹根彎成90度，讓書站起來。 再把所有的樹枝用細一點的鐵絲綁起來

You can also add more branches at this point. Just make a V with a wire and bend BOTH ends into hooks, then wrap around the trunk of the tree. Secure it all with the thinner wire as a final wrapping
現在像多加些樹枝也可以。把鐵絲灣個V形，兩頭彎鉤鉤，在把它繞道樹上用細鐵絲蓋住

4) This is what it should look like when done:
最後的成果:


5) Hang your necklaces on! If you find that your tree is not balanced (some pendants on necklaces can be quite heavy!) you can bend the tree branch to let the heavier necklaces just barely touch the surface of the table or wherever your tree is standing. This way, the table will help support some of the weight of the necklace, but the tree still holds the chain portion up so it doesn't tangle!
把項鍊掛上吧! 如果有些項鍊比較重讓樹站不穩可以把樹枝網下彎，讓像練輕輕碰到桌面。 這樣桌面會幫忙撐住重量，樹枝把常常的鏈條拉高就不會糾結囉!


Doesn't that look so much nicer?
看起來舒服多了!