Project Shoeshine: Part 1

My closet sucks. It's the one part of my room that I've never liked since day one and always dreaded opening my closet doors. First of all, it doesn't feel like a closet at all, but more like an upgraded dumpster with shelving and a clothing rod. So, over the summer, after perusing post after post of DIY's at Apartment Therapy, I some how came up with the thought that "Hey! I can so build my own closet! It's going to be easy!" Unfortunately, not so.....my first try was a disaster and a waste of money, but I've learned a few things.

1. Measure your closet. This is the very first thing you want to do in order for you to be able to plan correctly.  Below are my closet measurements. (It's a very, very tiny walk in closet!)

My Closet

2. Plan your closet layout. I went the easy route and used this website: EasyClosets.com. They have a great selection of closet basics to choose from for your design and it's so customizable to whatever size your closet may be. I was almost tempted to buy right there and then, but the price tag is a big ouch for your wallet. So I just used the design as a idea of where to design from since they give you 3D views  from all angles as well as dimensions and skeletal views. 

3. This is the important part if you're going to make your own closet system from scratch. You  absolutely need a plan....with diagrams! It's a tremendous help and means less mistakes. Thanks to ana-white.com, another blog I've become addicted to over the summer, I've sketched my closet plans in Google SketchUp modeled after the ones from EasyClosets.com. This is where I made my mistakes. I used the ones from EasyClosets as my diagrams and plans but I wouldn't recommend it since it is very general.

Wall B Design using Google SketchUp

I'm not going to show Wall A or C here since you'll see them later on in future posts anyway, but this is just to give you an example of what you want to do. This isn't going to be the final color either, mines will be painted all white in high-gloss paint. 

3. Materials and costs. Once you're done with your plans, SketchUp does a fantastic job of giving you the dimensions using the Dimensions tool. This will help you figure out your cut list. I'm very, very cheap/frugal and couldn't afford to lose anymore money (*cough*lastdisaster*cough*) so I found this site: Otimize Nesting which takes all your measurements and gives you the best cutting layout so you use the least amount of plywood (which saved me tons since I only needed 3 sheets of 4'x8' of plywood for the outer shells). Of course calculate for nails, wood glue, paint, and any other materials that need to be purchased.

4. Make! I'll show you guys this part as I go along. So be sure to check back and check out my closet DIY.

topshop

TOPSHOP, as of a few days ago, is having a GREAT sale and not to mention FREE shipping on ALL orders regardless of amount. So....if I were you, I'd head on over ASAP. Here are just a few items I saw some of which I snagged:

• Rust Horn Button Tapered Trousers
• Was $80.00
• Now $20.00

• Airtex Panel Vest
• Was $32.00
• Now $6.00

• Pink Floral Print Triangle Bra
• Was $36.00
• Now $16.00

• Solid Gel Eyeliner in Facet
• Was $16.00
• Now $1.00

CSS Layouts Tutorial - Great Links!

I've been coding since the age of 12 now and even though it's been more than 8 years, I am no where near the level of an expert. :(

So check out Smashing Magazine's and Noupes big huge list of CSS layout goodies. :)

Here's another one from Noupes on how to get super creative using CSS such as customizing your own search bars!

About Me

Over the years I've come to despise those "About Me" description boxes since I find it so hard to talk about myself. So I'll just give you a brief intro into who I am and all those good little details.

First and foremost, I am a child of God and a born-again Christian. So far it hasn't been easy, but I'm working on letting the Lord work in me. My name is Osirelis and it you're probably going to have a hard time saying it unless you have a gift for rolling your r's or you speak Spanish. My name doesn't mean anything since my mom just made it up, though I do wish it meant something cool. I was born January 2 which means I've lived all my life with people tending to give me an all-in-one holiday/birthday gift (bummer!) and really hard to plan birthday parties (everyone's out for the holidays).

I'm currently in college finishing my degree in Art Studio, but I plan to go to grad school for Education and get my Masters in the that while I simultaneously try to work on my Biology major (my real passion). I love all things in life and like my mom says, I was born with my "eyes wide open and full of curiosity." So naturally I try to do it all from sewing to crafting to woodworking and more. I'm definitely a jack of all trades, but I do try to master as much as I can in all I love to do. So this blog was made to follow my crazy adventures and attempts to create, accomplish, and conquer which has proven to be more of a disaster than anything else.

Here's a table of random info just to fill in the blanks :) :

Likes	Dislikes
Taro Bubble Tea Cheeseburgers Kittens Sleeping Anime Keifer/yogurt Sushi Shopping Sales Coming up with cool ideas Crafting (of course!) Swimming Running (sometimes) Music Painting Bubble Bars Crazy jewerly	Cardboard squeaks (shudders!) Grasshopers Having to change the oil in my car Washing my car Writing essays past 10 pages Skittles Smores Walking barefoot Sand in my shoes Humid weather Kitties meowing at 6am Laundry Dust Reading boring books for class Cutting onions Cutting fabric (tedious work!) Sound of forks squeaking on plates