Mudroom Shoe Rack : $98.00

Metal Shoe Rack: $29.99

Small Cherry Shoe Rack: $106.99

Find more affordable shoe racks at Smarter.com.

Some savings to share:

The Space Bag:  Ah the space bag, like a dehydrator for your clothes, manages to shrink the clothes to unbelievable sizes (only in space, though, when you finally unzip them from the bag I’ve been told the clothes themselves have not shrunk in size!) Primetimesolutions.com offer the space bags for the measly price range of $6.95-9.95.  No more musty clothes for me with these kinds of savings!

Hanging Closet Organizer:  If you’re a little wary of packing up and squishing down your favorite Bebe or Dior dresses but still need someplace to store them in the off-season, check out the sleek and fashionable wrought iron instant closet from TaylorGifts.com.  Easily transportable, the wrought iron design is beautiful and modern, and at $119.98 this is a versatile piece that can compliment any and all sections of the home and seasons of clothes!

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more closet organizers.

To add to my post about drawer organizers….I heard this weekend from a friend that she puts empty shoe boxes in her drawers to help keep them organized.  Great idea!  Here are some other uses for your old shoe boxes that are taking up much needed room in your closet:

• Paint your shoe boxes the color of your choosing, or use wrapping paper and use them as gift boxes.  You can get creative and they will appreciate the effort!
• Store your precious photos:  This sort of seems old school considering the majority of us store our pictures on discs and memory sticks now, but its a cute idea for those old photos you want to keep available to show family members’ friends for a good laugh.
• Store your greeting cards for the year: Having a wide variety of greeting cards handy so you don’t have to run to the store for every occasion is great! Usually when you can buy them in bulk you will save money as well.
• Create a masterpiece:  You can get creative and make something yourself or have the kids use their imagination.
• Make a gift ribbon dispenser: Check out directions on how to do this here.  It’s an awesome way to keep the ribbon from tangling.

How do you re-use your shoe boxes?

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There is a way when you have nifty drawer organizers like the ones below I found online after I slammed the drawer shut and plopped my lazy derriere on the couch.

Diamond Drawer Organizer: $7.95

Rolodex Expressions Mesh Drawer Organizer: $9.94

Linus Dresser Drawer Organizer by InterDesign: $7.99

Stackable Bamboo Drawer Organizers: From $3.99-$7.99 - depending on size

If you don’t want to spend your hard earned cash on new drawer organizers, here are some links to instructions on how to make homemade drawer organizers:

Drawer Organizers You Can Build from UBuild.com

How to Make Custom Draw Organizers from Home-Museum.com

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more drawer organizers.

Long lasting resin construction ensures that it will put up with whatever manner of garbage you stuff it with! Best of all we offer you a variety of merchants who sell the Suncast Trash Receptacle, but the cheapest one seems to be offered by Target at a price of $39.99!

Sold for as much as $62.99 at some venues. To shop for or purchase the Suncast Outdoor Trash Hideaway, click here.

Check out this great deal on unique shelving options offered by Wrapables.com! Add a floral and contemporary touch to your home décor with Growing Together Shelf w/ Tube Vases. This wall shelf helps you get your reading material organized and can also double as a CD holder. Male and female figurines are molded into a kneeling position. The female figurine is holding a watering can and looks like she’s watering the test tube vases. One side of the shelf has three test tube vases where you can put decorative pebbles or fresh flowers.

I think this shelving option would make a great addition to your home office or perhaps as creative shelving by your entertainment equipment. The Growing Together Shelving Unit would make a wonderful addition to your college bound child or to decorate your child’s bedroom.

Originally priced at: $68.95

On SALE for: $44.99

To purchase the Growing Together Shelf with Test Tube Vases, click here.

Join one women’s quest (Astrelle) to turn Trash into Treasure at Apartment Therapy, Los Angeles.

Take your tunes to the shower, the kitchen sink, to the beach with tear drop, water resistant speakers that connect to your iPod or MP3 speakers. Read more about it at 2ModernDesign Talk Blog…

Check out the Organic Furniture with a Twist post on Blinkdecor.Features environmentally friendly furnishings and linens, their lighting selection is especially fun and original. It includes a twisted vine floor lamp made from old jungle vines and a chandelier made from reclaimed French Oak wine barrels.

This week in Smarter Home and Garden Blog:

Apple-Shaped Rattan Baskets - Take a bite out of these apples! Use them to store office supplies, napkins, whatever your heart desires.

Let Dine Without Whine help you plan nutritious and delicious meals for your whole family! Learn more by reading the “Dine Without Whine!“post.

If you do not possess the time nor the patience to hand select your sheets, you can shop online and select a “bed in a bag”! Read more about the great deals being offered at JCPenney online shopping store…

Comment on the Photo of the Week! “Hey Buddy the Erasures Won’t Erase the Smell!”

Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day! Check out the Ceramic Umbrella Stand to house all those wet umbrellas this season…

Bedroom Furniture Deal of the Day! West Elm is has marked down their entire Narrow Leg Storage Collection, save up to $300 dollars on some pieces!

Ahhh, RAIN. Can’t drive on California freeways with it, can’t live without it! Ha! It is common knowledge that once it begins to rain in California, drivers lose their minds and start wailing and weeping. News stations become peppered with “Storm of the Century” alerts. Come on folks, it’s just water, not the seven biblical plagues.

One exceptionally annoying and yes dangerous bi-product of rain is the slippery floors and droplets from umbrellas. Sure we all snicker when some poor sap slips and slides while rushing into a restaurant or department store, but if they really fall it’s quite sad.

Thus, I feel it is my civic duty to recommend that you invest in some sort of umbrella stand. The ceramic umbrella stand I featured is from Lillian Vernon. Fully glazed inside and out to store wet umbrellas— it saves floors from drips and your hips from breaking. It is big enough to house your whole family’s collection of canes, putters and hockey sticks. Plus, it’s kitschy design is very cute.

Costs: $39.98

To purchase or read more about the Ceramic Umbrella Stand from Lillian Vernon, click here.

To shop for assorted discount Umbrella Stands, click here.

Slow down, and Drive Safely! Whats the rush anyway, is there some sort of sale I don’t know about? TELL ME!

Well I recently came across a website called “Dine without Whine” that should help you score some major points with your family. The premise is simple and catered to busy families like yours. They send you shopping lists and menus every Thursday via email in the form of attachments or PDF files. The difference between “Dine without Whine” and other menu planning programs or cookbooks is that the menus are actually “kid approved” and the grocery lists are simple and easy. The grocery lists are detailed, down to the aisle, the ingredients are all familiar and open to substitution if you wish.

This saves you the stress of thinking up something healthy and nutritious for your family to consume and let’s face it more often then not, settling for fast food (yeck!). Plus, anyone who has done the math will quickly discover the savings available when you give up fast food and start making regular trips to your local grocery store.

Hmm, let’s sum up:

• they email you the menus and grocery lists on Thursdays (you don’t have to go anywhere for them)
• the meals are “kid approved” and yummy (your kids and husbo will think it’s delish and stand awestruck in your presence)
• the grocery list itself is easy, detailed, affordable and substitution friendly
• you get to actually sit down and talk with your family (please note: your daughter died her hair purple and your son now eats worms, ha!)
• Oops! I forgot to mention the most important detail of all, the price! It’s ONE PENNY ($0.01) for a one week trial and if you choose to continue on after that, it’s $6.95/a month. No obligation, you can end your membership at anytime.
• COUPON ALERT: Get 20% Off a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription to the Family Friendly Menu planning services. Just enter coupon code: 04AO (Expires on 4/15/2008)

Well I shall leave you with these fine lyrics from Ms. Dolly Parton herself, may it get stuck on repeat in your brain as it is in mine! Feel free to contact me with any complaints or good experiences if you sign up, I always love feedback. (Email: Michelle)

Workin 9 to 5
What a way to make a livin
Barely gettin by
Its all takin
And no givin
They just use your mind
And they never give you credit
Its enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it …

To read more or subscribe to Dine Without Whine, click here.

Don’t stifle your inner child, admit it, you find these hampers as adorable as I do!

These hampers offered by Home Decorators Collection is the perfect piece for your child’s bathroom or as an eye catching statement in their bedroom. I feel it will add a touch of whimsy and fantasy to your child’s boudoir. Say what you will, but they are definitely conversation starters!

On top of being just to darn cute for words, they serve a very practical purpose to boot, housing the piles and piles of laundry your young ones accumulate. Good bye floor, hello hamper! Start picking up the dirty laundry and chuck it into the fish’s mouth or the elephant’s head, that alone seems like a lot of fun. The fish hamper and elephant hamper are both handwoven out of wicker. The are available in assorted sizes and colors, here is a color and price list:

Fish Hamper:

• Color Options: Warm Brown, White (featured above) and Honey
• Price: (29″Hx14″W) - $99.00

Elephant Hamper:

• Color Options: Honey (featured above), White and Brown
• Prices: (22″Hx14″W) - $69.00 ( 25″Hx17″D) - $99.00 ( 28″Hx20″D) - $129.00

To purchase the Fish Hamper, click here.

To purchase the Elephant Hamper, click here.

To shop for more great deals and bargains in Children’s Decor-Hampers, click here.