How to Make an Easy Cargo Net Car Organizer

I have a bunch of junk in my trunk.

The trunk of my car, people. Not my badonka donk! Although truthfully….oh never mind.

The biggest mess maker is the stash of reusable shopping bags we keep in the car. They slosh out of the big shopping bag that is supposed to contain them and into everything else in the trunk.

Pin this tutorial for later!

The last straw was when the mess hid a container of orange juice that popped out of a grocery bag and it sat in a hot car for several days. I still have nightmares about the stench that followed. So. Evil. Horrible. BAD.

Most car organizers I found are not made for sedans, only SUVs. Besides we don’t want a shopping bag and stuff organizer that doesn’t allow us to fold the back seat down. This is mostly an issue during the summer when I’m hauling color guard equipment back and forth to practice.  The flags don’t fit in the trunk unless I fold the seat down.

Would you believe this is what my trunk looks like when it is neat? Sad. I know.

 Dollar Store Cargo Net Car Organizer Tutorial

I gave Lisa my idea to hang her shopping bag organizer on the side of the car trunk instead of the back. She came up with using laundry bags because the mesh is small enough to contain the most important thing in our car (besides snacks) my Frisbee and tennis ball for the dog park!

You will need:

Mesh laundry bag - This mesh laundry bag is similar to the one I used  

Fabric - I used a fat quarter of fabric

Interfacing

Scissors

Large grommet kit (I used this grommet kit from Dritz)

Iron and Ironing board

Thread

Straight pins

Sewing machine

Magnet hooks (I buy my magnetic hooks here)

Hook and loop tape 

A canine project manger – Try to find one who doesn’t sleep on the job.


 

I am not sleeping on the job! My eyes are open!

Make it:

1. Remove the drawstring from the laundry bag. I cut the end off with a pair of scissors.

2. Use the scissors to cut a horizontal side open from the closed end of the bag to the open end of the bag.

3. Measure the circumference of the horizontal opening in the laundry bag and add 2 inches to that measurement for a seam allowance.

4. Use this measurement to measure and cut a piece of fabric and interfacing that is that long and 4 inches wide.

5. Fold the rough lengthwise edges of the fabric right side (the pretty part) to wrong side (the back of the fabric) in and iron them into place to make smooth edges to your banding.

6. Fold the banding wrong sides together and iron it into place. This will be the banding for the top of your cargo net trunk organizer.

7. Use the straight pins to pin the banding around the top of the open mesh bag.  Use the sewing machine to sew the top and the bottom of the band into place.

I used a zig zag stitch because I forgot to reset my sewing machine back to a straight stitch after a previous project and I figured why not? You can use a straight stitch too.

8. Pin the raw open end of the laundry bag closed. Use the sewing machine to sew the bag closed.

You should use a straight stitch to make this seam.

9. Set two grommets (also called eyelets) into the band of the bag using the grommet tool that comes with the grommets. Read my tutorial How to install grommets if your kit doe not come with clear instructions.



10. Sew a piece of the hook side of hook and loop tape to the back side of the fabric band. This will help keep your trunk organizer in place and against the carpeted wall of your car trunk.

Warning: This will not be strong enough to keep the organizer full of stuff attached to the side of your car trunk. Guess how I know? That’s why we need Step 11.

11. Attach the magnet hooks to the metal sides of your trunk, hang the cargo net up, and get that organize that junk in your trunk!

This is such an easy way to organize the stuff in our car and make sure it stays put! I made two net car organizers for each side of our trunk. One cargo net keeps our reusable shopping bags organized. The other cargo net keeps our picnic blanket, Frisbee and toys, and car seat covers from sliding all and hiding fetid orange juice containers for days on end.

 

Easy organization. Love that!

The net organizers are easy to remove if we need extra room in the trunk for a trip or when I buy something big at the home improvement store.

How do you keep your car organized?


Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.

18 of the Best Father's Day Gifts for Dad!

I asked Husband for cool and usual Father's Day gift ideas we can either buy or DIY and give to our Dads for Father's Day.

I never should have asked. I had to stop Husband after he added a box of live ferrets to his long, humorous, and wildly inappropriate list of gifts for the men in our life.

Besides everyone knows a box of ferrets is more of a Christmas gift idea, not a Father's Day gift idea,  obviously.

Pin this post!

After some quality Pinterest and Internet time, I found some unique Father's Day gift ideas that are a step beyond the World's Greatest Dad coffee mug type of gift.

Not that Dad doesn't deserve a World's Greatest anything gift, mind you. It's just that you can give him a Father's Day mug only once. After that, you need to come up with another awesome gift for the following year.

I created a Father's Day gift guide with my gift suggestions and posted it on my food blog Lazy Budget Chef. Click the link for great ideas and save the box of ferrets for Christmas.

18 Unusual Father's Day Gift Ideas Dad Will Love!

Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.

How to Install Grommets (Eyelets) in Fabric the Easy Way!

 Knowing how to install grommets (they are also called eyelets) is a useful DIY skill to have. You can fix a tarp or make it more hangupable (a word I just DIY’ed on the fly because I’m creative like that.)

Crafty folks use grommets to make no sew shower curtains, yard flags, or any and all things hanging. I use grommets to make historical clothing, which are why my sewing button hole skills are nonexistent.  You don’t need to know how to sew to install an eyelet.

Do you want to learn? Of course you do! Keep reading my tutorial to learn how.

 Pin me!

How to Set Grommets/Eyelets

Everything You Need to Know About Indoor Allergies and Air Pollution but Didn’t Know You Should Ask

  This post is brought to you by a partnership between Condo Blues and Air Filter Buy.

I thought I had reducing household air pollution and allergens all figured it. As soon as I change the filter on our HVAC system and clean regularly with green cleaners I should be good when it comes to my air born allergies, right?

Nope. Not so much.

My new allergist not only gave me a more comprehensive list of my allergens, he also gave me marching orders to reduce the amount of indoor pollutants in our house. 

I’ve been doing a ton of research on indoor air pollution. I found this info graphic called Everything You Need to Know About Indoor Air Pollution helpful and want to share it with you.  I personally found it helpful because it shines some light on the health issues related to indoor air pollution as well as telling you what simple steps families can do to protect themselves.

Pin this post for reference!

Not to scare you or anything, but do you know indoor air pollution caused nearly 8% of worldwide fatalities in 2012?

Help a girl out, what do you do to reduce dust and allergens in your home?

Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.

How to Make Clever Bottle Cap Placemats

I have a large bottle cap collection and it’s all my Husband’s fault. Shortly after we bought our condo and were enjoying our traditional TGIF bottle of craft beer he put the empty bottle into the recycling, looked at the cap and said, “It’s a shame we have to toss the cap. Can you make something cool out of bottle caps?”

10 years of saving bottle tops later, I have hundreds of metal bottle caps to recycle into arts and crafts.

I need new placemats and I like polka dots and penny tile. Do you know what looks like cheery polka dots and penny tile? Bottle caps!



Pin this post to find my bottle cap tutorial after you collect all of the bottle tops you will need for this project!

Let’s Make Painted Bottle Cap Tile Placemats!

Sporty Safe Sun Sunscreen with Goddess Garden Organics (Review)

This post is sponsored by Green Sisterhood but the opinion is of my own.

I seriously need to up my safe sunscreen game. My allergist gave me a new medication that makes me extremely photosensitive and I will be for most of the summer while the meds do their work.

No big deal. Sunscreen is a way of life because I’m pale.  I’m very familiar with the affects of UVB sun rays because you can see how they damage the top layer of your skin with the naked eye. For me UVB rays always cause a sunburn but for some of you hardier types the skin damage shows up as a sun tan.

My doctor told me that is a good start but I have to be just as concerned about UVA rays too.

Pin this info  for later!

How to Clean Sandpaper on a Belt Sander

Sandpaper lasts me quite awhile because I rarely have a project where I bust open a new sanding belt and sand all the grit off the belt before it is time to switch to a different grit during the project.

Needing to change a still gritty sanding belt because it is clogged and gunked up with sawdust is a different matter.

Why does it always happen when you’ve got just a little bit left to sand and you’re out of new sanding belts? Is it some DIY conspiracy I don’t know about? Possibly.





Did you know you can clean sandpaper and prolong its life? Yep, you can! Cleaning a sanding belt is a cheap and easy thing to do. You might already have just what you need to do it too.

3 Cheap and Easy Ways to Clean Sanding Belts and Prolong Their Life

14 Epic Star Wars DIY Projects

Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you!

When Star Wars came out, it was the first movie to have have major toy tie ins. Some of the toys were pretty good like the action figures. Some of the toys were not so great like the flashlight light sabers. And most of the time, the toy or character thing you wanted as a kid didn’t exist so you had to make it.

Now all of those Star War maker kids are grown up. They share the Star Wars movies with their children and play with the cool new Star Wars toys they didn’t have when we were kids. But the coolest thing of all is those maker kid grew up and are still making epic Star Wars DIY projects. Some for their kids but mostly for themselves.

May the Fourth Be With You: 14 Star Wars DIY Décor Projects

How to Make Aluminum Can Coasters

I have another aluminum can craft for you today! Today’s tutorial is for round soda pop can coasters.

 Aluminum can coasters a fun handmade gift!

Husband and I often work at our computer desks with a coffee mugs or water glasses in front of us. Anything on the desk is fair game to be used as a coaster because we don’t want to ruin our wood desktops. As you can imagine, that doesn't always work well because spilling things is my superpower. Paper envelopes pulled from the recycling bin make lackluster and sometimes soggy coasters.

Let’s fix that.

18 Awesome Playhouses You Have to See to Believe!

I think one of the best thing about being a parent is being able to build your child a playhouse or tree fort. Sure, you can buy your kid  one of those  little plastic huts at the toy store and call it a playhouse. But why when there are so many crazy fun and unusual playhouses out there to build instead?

Pin this post for inspiration!

How fun is this little crooked house on  A Place Imagined? A former Disney artist built this whimsical fairy playhouse from found materials.

Adorable!

Mother’s Day Tool Giveaway with WORX Tools: 3 Winners!

One of the benefits of living in a condo is having a homeowner’s association that mows our yard. Unfortunately sometimes the lawn guys are more about doing the job quickly than accurately.   Husband and I figure it time to invest in lawn tools so we can trim and tidy up the edging the lawn service hits and misses.




Husband and I checked out the WORX 20V MaxLithium GT Trimmer/Edger/Mini-mower and it’s pretty neat. It take the place of three power lawn tools in your garage, a grass trimmer, an edger, and a mini-mower, very nice for those of us with limited tool storage space. The other feature Husband and I appreciate is the how easily the telescoping shaft adjusts to the user’s height. When it comes to yard work Husband and I trade off jobs as our schedules permit (and who gets tired of wonky edging first.)

Recycled Kitchen Cabinet and Wood Pallet Workbench

I needed a workbench in the garage. I also wanted one place to store all of my tools in my workshop. I’m low to the ground at 4’11”. It makes more sense to store my tools in my workbench than above the workbench on shelves or peg board.  

Originally my plan was to buy matching bathroom cabinets at the Habitat Restore since bathroom base cabinets aren’t as tall as kitchen cabinets.  I would finally have a work surface that is at the correct height for my size!

Pin this idea for later!

Father in law said there were  two mismatched kitchen base cabinets that have been forgotten in his garage for years and offered them to me.

Change of plans. Free is good.

Our Wedding Story

Once upon a time, because that’s how stories start, a dashing man and lovely lady were married 18 years ago on this very day.

This is my favorite picture of our Elizabethan bridal party because is was impromptu. We were walking to the cars after the photo session and the photographer yelled “STOP!” and took this photo. A copy hung in his shop. I should also mention that the gazebo in on the grounds of a mental hospital. Somehow that seems fitting!

 

The man is still dashing. I call him Husband. He says the lady is still lovely. He calls her Lisa.
Husband and I met as new performers at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. I can still show you the spot on the grounds when the thought flashed through my head that I was going to marry him. I quickly pushed it out of my head thinking it was a result of being a single Maid of Honor in a recent family wedding.

I was wrong.

Recycled Pendant Charm Bracelet

I am in Spring Cleaning mode and nothing is safe. I cleaned and organized the garage, reorganized my closet, and tidied the drawers in my nightstand.

During my decluttering binge, I rediscovered some pendent necklaces I haven’t been wearing and my old charm bracelet.

 Pin this for later. Memory charm bracelets make thoughtful gifts!

Many of my old necklaces were gifts and have special meaning. I know I don’t need a necklace made from one of my grandfather’s tuxedo buttons to remember him but I don’t want to get rid of it either.

Refinished Retro 50’s Diner Table and Chairs

It may not be fashionable to admit this, but I kinda have a thing for theme restaurants that hang all sorts of crazy things on the walls. My dream job would be the designer who gets to hunt for and decorate with all of those forgotten treasures.
What can I say? I never met an old advertising sign I didn’t like.
You know what is even better than old advertising signs? Pairing them in your house with a dining set straight out of the 1950’s Daddy-o!

You will never believe what Morena used to replace the peeling laminate table top – fabric!
I think the bold 50’s print and takes it to the next level. Learn how she made a durable replacement table top with fabric on:

Crafts Unleashed from Consumer Crafts: How To Refinish a Table With Fabric and Resin

ycle
Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.

How to Make Reusable Rosacea Makeup Remover Wipes

April is Rosacea Awareness Month. Although for me the horrible scars on my forehead that I shamefully hide with my bangs reminds me that every day is Rosacea Awareness Month.

You can’t cure rosacea (bummer) but you can control it and minimize breakouts and flares. The problem is that everyone who has rosacea may have different things that trigger it and it may not respond to the exact same treatment for every person who has it (another bummer.)

In my personal experience, the only way I got my disfiguring rosacea under control was with a specialist dermatologist after years of trying every home acne treatment I could find. Once my doctor got my skin cleared up with medication, we moved on to ways I can reduce my rosacea flares without meds.








Before we go any further, let me remind you that I’m not a doctor. I strongly suggest that you see a dermatologist if you have acne that never goes away or you suspect your constant red face is rosacea.

The National Rosacea Society has some good information and resources if you need them.  This isn't an ad. I find them helpful if I have a question in between doctor's appointments.

How to Make Reusable Makeup Remover Pads

I use disposable face wipes when I travel for the convenience but once I’m out I forget to buy more until the next time I go on a trip. Besides, I try to limit the amount of one time use disposables I use on a regular basis and let’s face it, wash cloths are reusable and face wipes are not.

Too bad I have a bad habit of by passing the wash cloths at night and not washing the makeup off my face before I go to bed. Why? Laziness I guess. 

Pin this post for later!

Fortunately, I found some leftover terry cloth fabric during one of my Spring decluttering and cleaning binges. I turned that into a reusable and green answer for my lazy face washing problem – reusable terry cloth makeup remove pads.

 

How to Sew Terry Cloth Makeup Remover Pads

How to Organize Your Closet and Clothes in Three Easy Questions

I am convinced bedroom closet organizers are made for tall people. If you are short forget it. You are doomed to live in messy and unorganized squalor.




Or at least it feels that way to this short person.

I loved our Elfa closet system when we first installed it. Husband and I can share a closet and not fight over space. It the custom design works but we later learned it sorta doesn’t. 

What’s Better Than a Vacation? Winning a MAKEcation of Course!

I have a decent collection of tools and know how to use them but there a number of things I’d like to try but would feel more confident if someone showed me how to use say, a lathe, so I can keep my figures while working on my first project.

I can’t be the only one who feels this way about using tools, can I?

I guess not because Craftsman is holding another MAKEcation event this September Sept. 24-27 in Brooklyn, New York and will teach you how to use all sorts of tools to make really cool things. It sounds like DIY Vacation Heaven!

Last year they taught everyone how to make a wood goblet on a lathe. Learning how to use a lathe is on my Bucket List.

 

You can win a chance to go to the ultimate making vacation that will put true makers' blood, sweat and tools to the test, letting you sharpen skills and learn new ones. 

How to Clean and Disinfect a Yoga Mat Naturally

My husband and I recently joined the YMCA so I can take their fitness classes to rebuild my balance and muscles for my adult beginner ballet class.

Given my recent history of buying a new stuff for working out and eventually quitting, I’m making do with what I have until I get past my ”what have I gotten myself into? I don’t think I like this” hump. In the meantime, I’m borrowing the yoga mat Husband has to do floor exercises at home. Sharing is working well since we use it at different times. It doesn’t hurt that we aren’t cluttering our space with extra stuff either.

Although there is one teeny, tiny problem with two people sharing the same exercise mat. IT REEKS OF TWO PEOPLE WORKING OUT AND SHARING A YOGA MAT.

I became aware of our problem during my second Face Plant Piyo class.

 Pin this post to Pinterest for later! Share this tutorial with your friends!

6 Green and Frugal Things for March (and a Few That Aren’t!)

 Sometimes I post a list of little frugal things we do each month on my food blog Lazy Budget Chef and thought I’d do it today on Condo Blues. Some of these things are big, most are small. You don’t have to look to closely to see that most of them are green too!




1. Turned off the heat Saturday when it reached 60 degrees ( F) outside. Husband and I did a little dance thinking we were good to go until Fall.

15 Unique Garden Border and Edging Ideas

Now that it is officially Spring, I’m ready to start planning our landscaping. I found a bunch of clever, unusual, and some down right weird ideas for garden borders and edging one day while I was researching what to plant and where to plant it.

I thought I’d share because maybe you need new garden borders too.

Or you just like to look at garden p*rn. that’s OK too.

 Save these ideas to Pinterest for later!

21 Drought Tolerant Plants for Your Yard

You are getting excited for the Spring planting season?

Me too!

Although I am not looking forward to how much it will cost us to keep a new landscape watered all summer long.

One way to avoid a high summer water bill is to plan my new landscape with native plants. Since I often forget plants need water to grow, they should be drought tolerant too.

Since I know pretty much nothing about native or drought tolerant plants, I'm cruising over to Organizing Made Fun and reading her 21 suggestions for Going Native: Drought Tolerant Plants for Your Yard.

Check it out now and pin it for later!

Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.

8 DIY Fire Starters

Last summer during a impromptu gathering, my friend  Tim and his neighbor Marc when out side to start a fire in the backyard fire pit.




From the kitchen, we hear unintelligible squabbling followed by:

Tim (raised voice): No, you are doing it wrong!

Marc (bellowing): Well then put on some more!

FOOM!

A HUGE fireball erupts over the fire pit!

The rest of us tumble out of the house and into the the backyard. Fortunately our friends weren’t charred crispy critters. Oh no. Instead  Tim and Marc were a safe distance away and laughing like two naughty kids playing with too much lighter fluid.

Husband turns to me and says, “THAT is why you will never have a fire ring.”

Au contraire my dear Husband, there are ways to start a fire without lighter fluid. You can start a campfire with homemade fire starters!

How to Make Fire-Starters

Make Candle Wax Warmer Melts, Tarts, and Cubes: The Complete DIY Guide!

I got a candle warmer for Christmas and fell in love with it. I use it every night after dinner to clear cooking smells from the kitchen. 

The candle warmer it is more convenient than candles because it is flameless. Unfortunately I don’t quite know  if wax cubes I melt are phthalate-free and paraffin-free. Two things I try to avoid.

Pin this tutorial for later!

Being a candle maker, it didn’t take me long to clue in that the only difference between a candle and a wax melt is the container and a wick. Since I make non-toxic candles, I knew I could make non-toxic wax cubes too. Here’s how.

How to Make Non-Toxic Scented Wax Melt Cubes

How to Make Aluminum Can Shamrocks and Four Leaf Clovers

If you drink something from an aluminum can in my house, I probably have a hidden agenda. No, I’m not trying to fill you full of the BPA that most likely lines the can (actually I’m sorry for subjecting you to that,) 

 Pin this recycled aluminum can craft to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

Most likely it is that I bought your favorite pop and I had to buy it in a can. Or I bought the can over the bottle version so I can use the can in recycling project. Thanks for helping me out.

I have green aluminum cans in my stash. Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up. Let’s make shamrocks!

Can Your Laminate Flooring Kill You?

Last Sunday, 60 Minutes investigated Lumber Liquidators Chinese made laminate flooring for unsafe levels of formaldehyde in  Lumber Liquidators Linked to Health and Safety Violations. 




The basics of the story I linked to are this:

• 60 Minutes bought 150 boxes of laminate flooring from several Lumber Liquidators stores throughout Californian.

• 60 Minutes asked three independent labs to test the samples to see if the formaldehyde in the laminate flooring (mostly in the glue used to make the laminate) meets California’s strict formaldehyde emissions standards, called CARB 2.

• The lab results showed all of Lumber Liquidators Chinese made laminate flooring was from 6 to 7 times over the state limit and some laminate samples were up to 20 times over the state limit.

• Lumber Liquidators American made laminate flooring as well as Lumber Liquidators flooring they purchased from Lowes and Home Depot passed testing.

• 60 Minutes then purchased 31 Chinese made laminate samples from Lumber Liquidators stores in four states and sent the samples to two certified labs for formaldehyde testing.

• Both labs reported that 30 samples were over the formaldehyde limit, some as high as 13 times. 1 sample of Chinese made laminate flooring passed testinga.
• 
  

Make a Play Workbench for Your Little DIYer!

When you have a toddler, more often than not, you or Santa gives them a kitchen play set. I had one. It was a pink metal play kitchen. Fun fact: My first apartment had pink metal kitchen cabinets.

Naturally I am pro play kitchen. I am also pro make sure it looks cool because it could show up as a real kitchen later in your kid's life play kitchen.  That being the case, I am all over the upcycled furniture turned into a play kitchen.

 But do you know what every kid needs after they get a play kitchen? A play workbench! How else are they going to play fix the kitchen appliances?

I am loving this nightstand recycled into a play toddler workbench on Apartment Therapy. It is a simple DIY that any child - boy or girl - would love to pretend tinker around the playhouse.

I wish I had one as a kid!


Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.

Luck of the Irish $1,500 Paypal Cash Giveaway!

I'm always looking for ways to thank you for being The Most Awesome Community on Planet Earth.

Unfortunately, I can't do it in person or by anonymously shoveling your driveway (especially for you Australian readers. You are having as hot a summer as we are having as cold a winter, I'd love to personally visit you to thaw out say hello) but I can thank you with a giveaway of something that always fits - cold, hard, Paypal cash. $500 dolla, dolla bills to be exact!

I'd love it if a Condo Blues reader won this giveaway!

29 Best DIY Coastal Wall Art Ideas

Anytime I need to take a breath and chill out, I close my eyes and picture a lovely Caribbean beach. It is my mental happy place. The crystal blue ocean, gentle sound of the sea, and warm beach calm me down. Daydreaming about the attentive and attractive pool boys serving me tasty Mai Tais on my personal pretend beach doesn’t hurt either. My Mind Palace. My Rules.

I can’t help but think that’s the reason why so many people like to decorate their homes in a nautical, coastal, beach style. So they can live on a pleasant, peaceful beach year round especially for those of us dealing with snow, cold, and landlocked cities.

Or you might just like that coastal style for the sake of just liking coastal style. That’s cool too.

Whatever your reasoning, beach lovers, check out this roundup of 29 Beach Crafts: Coastal DIY Wall Art by Crafts by Amanda for ideas on how to add a dash of beach style to your life on a DIY budget.




Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.