5 Simple Repurposing Ideas for Your Bedroom

Over the past week or so, I've been re-organizing my bedroom and rummaging through all of my stashes of VITs (very-important-things, and no, I do not keep junk). I've been repurposing some of those VITs and using them for storage, decoration, etc. Below I've listed a few of the things I've repurposed, and I hope they give you a little inspiration in the way of bedroom décor and organization.

 

1. Repurpose an old fashion scarf into a door ornament. Choose a scarf that isn't too thick for the door handle, and also make sure that it's not too long; you don't want it dragging on the ground. Pick a scarf with a color goes well with your room; you don't want clashing colors and hues.

 

 

2. Repurpose large mugs into holders for the many things on your desk or dresser. I have three mugs that I find way too large for drinking my morning hot chocolate, so I use them to  hold some of my things. As you can see, one holds my hair brushes, the second holds my many nail polish bottles, and the thirds contains papers and this and that. It's very handy to have all of these things at easy access on my desk.

 

 

3. Repurpose small, pretty plates and bowls into jewelry displayers. I've had the little plate for ages in my drawer, and a green glass bowl that I purchased recently. I use the plate to hold my extra necklace chains, and the glass bowl holds my bracelets. I like having my bracelets out in plain sight, or otherwise I'll forget I even own them! I also like to throw my ring into the bowl as I head to bed.

 

4. Repurpose an old picture frame into a display for a colorful stamp collection. A few years ago I cut out the stamps from envelopes and taped them into an old frame, creating a fun picture to look at. If you want something slightly out of the ordinary, find an old picture frame in your boxes or buy one for a few dollars at a thrift, and get to work! It won't be long before you have a beautiful array of stamps.

 

 

5. Repurpose the boxes from your boxed book sets into magazine holders. Looking for a place to store your many magazines that seem to slip and slide all of the place? Browse your bookshelves for any boxed book sets and use the boxes to store your magazines. Not all boxes will be the right size, but I happened to strike gold, and my boxes were the perfect size! I haven't done anything to cheer up the rather ugly gray cardboard, but I have a few ideas. What are they? That's for another time and blog post!

 

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed my five simple ways to repurpose things and cheer up your bedroom! See you next time!

Rose of Prophecy

My sister, Hope Schmidt, has self-published an e-book on Smashwords and Kindle! Check it out here!!!

She is afraid. Not because she is alone. Not because thick roiling clouds obscure the moon. Not because the wind rushes through the forest like a wild dragon. She is afraid because she is late. And to be late means death.

Her life had been happy once. 

Despite the destruction wreaked by Tauscher, traitor to the King. Despite the distant war led by the Prince and fought with the help of her three brothers. Despite her own poorly-chosen nickname of Beauty, she'd enjoyed life. 

Of course, that was also before her father left home on a hopeful errand but returned weary and ill, bearing a velvety scarlet rose which he claimed would never wither. But even life in the ancient hall, tucked away in the center of Mosswood, surrounded by roses of every description, overshadowed with mystery and home to a scarred figure who is more beast than man, wasn't too bad after a time. 

But now...now, in a flash of light, Beauty finally glimpses the truth. And the cost. The price which must be paid, or the sacrifice which must be made.

It is a curse which even love alone may not be able to break.

 

Writing in the Light Publishing proudly presents the first of nine novellas in 

The Legends of Light series!

Rose of Prophecy,

a fantasy seeped retelling of Beauty and the Beast

containing an ancient promise, an invisible spy, and the legendary Stieg der,

is more than a mere retelling of a favorite fairy tale.

Each novella focuses on one of the

nine Fruits of the Spirit

while also following the conflict between the Prince and Tauscher

and expertly retelling and twisting some popular, as well as several lesser known, fairy tales.

 

Hope Ann is a Christian authoress who loves reading and writing fantasy, retelling fairy tales, and futuristic fiction. She has been writing for over five years and is currently working on several fantasy books as well as a futuristic trilogy. 

Some of her favorite authors include J. R. R. Tolkien, Serena Chase, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain. 

You can visit Hope’s blog at Writinginthelight.org. You can also follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter.

 

Sunshine Tag

I was tagged by my sister Hope for this Sunshine Tag, where I'm supposed to list seven random facts about myself. Well, here goes!

1. I recently changed my blog name from Joy's Country Kitchen to Joy's Country Kitchen and Diary (the URL link is still the same).

2. I love to bake artisan bread recipes out of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoe Francois, and I recently discovered the joys of using a pizza stone to get yummier and crustier bread.

3. I am endeavoring to learn French by using a free program called DuoLingo. It's such a beautiful language, and I look forward to being able to speak it fluently.

4. I LOVE the ITV show Downton Abbey!!! I love all period drama, and the story of an aristocratic family in Yorkshire in the early 1900's to the 1920's is truly fascinating. The show follows the lives of the Crawleys that live at Downton Abbey, and the stories of the servants downstairs. The final season is currently showing, which is kind of sad, but at the same time I'm happy because everyone is finally getting a happy ending.

5. I don't really have many "heroes" or "role models" in my life, but two people that I admire very much are Audrey Hepburn (see my Tribute to Audrey Hepburn), and Monty Roberts, a very unique and extremely talented horseman.

6. My whole life, I've never cared much for any popular singers, but recently I've really started to like Josh Groban. He has such a wonderful voice and I really like the fact that his songs are always clean. I don't care for all of them, but he doesn't sing anything inappropriate. I have a few of his CDs, and a few of my favorite songs by him are In Her Eyes, You Are Loved (Don't Give Up), and Brave.

7. Ok, last fact! I love horses, and I am currently working at a therapeutic riding center called Magical Meadows. I've worked there about a year now, and once February hits the classes will start again. I've learned a lot from Magical Meadows, and I can't wait to return there.

I think I'm supposed to tag a friend, so I'm tagging my friend Keturah!

A Tribute to Audrey Hepburn

Twenty-three years ago today, on January 20th, 1993, Audrey Hepburn died from cancer. She was only sixty-three years old.

My interest in Audrey Hepburn began early this summer after I happened, quite by chance, to watch a few movies, back to back, that starred Audrey. I'd always known about her; I mean, who HASN'T seen, or at least HEARD of, My Fair Lady? So while I knew about Audrey, I'd never had much interest in her life, but after seeing her moving and wonderful portrayals in Roman Holiday, Charade, and How To Steal A Million, I was hooked!

 

 

 

What first drew me to Hepburn was her beauty and her exquisite fashion sense! She dressed so elegantly, smiled so radiantly, and was loved by everybody. This superficial interest in looks and clothes drew me to start reading little bits, pieces, and facts about Audrey, and then I read Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Soul, by Sean Hepburn Ferrer (the oldest of her two sons) and Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris, as well as a few small books filled with glossy pictures and little facts about her life.

Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4th, 1929, and she originally wanted to be a ballet dancer, but WWII stopped that dream. She lived through the brutal Dutch Nazi occupation, and when the war was over she came to England. Audrey soon discovered that being a ballet dancer was not in the cards for her, but instead of sinking into depression she found work at the theater, and from there slipped into British films and finally made her way to Hollywood, where she starred in Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck as her first American movie.

 

After Roman Holiday, Audrey was made. She married twice in her life, having a son by each marriage, but although she was in huge demand she only made a few more than twenty movies in her lifetime, putting her career second to being a wife and mother. Audrey didn't care for Hollywood, and spent as much time as she could at her house and gardens in Switzerland.

After her second divorce, she entered into a relationship with another man and never married. Audrey spent the last years of her life as the special ambassador for UNICEF, visiting Africa, Vietnam, South America, and many other places. She made a total of eight trips to Third World countries, drawing enormous attention and support of the starving people there. It was after her last visit, this one to the country of Somalia, Audrey became ill, and died soon afterwards of appendiceal cancer.

 

I love Audrey Hepburn because of amount of importance she placed on being a good wife and mother; reading of the sacrifices she made for her family inspire me when I think of the future family I want to have someday. Also, everyone loved Audrey because she was gracious, kind, and gentle, and those are all traits that I struggle with quite frequently. While Audrey Hepburn wasn't perfect, I find the good in her life uplifting and inspiring.

My Ramblings

I've been wanting to expand my blog a little to accommodate the thoughts that come and go so quickly in my head, so I've created a new page called Ramblings. I hope you all enjoy it!