shoe organization

i really enjoy being organized. if i have the proper containers, shelves, cabinets etc. i will organize it all and love every minute of it. 

for a little while now i had the idea of storing my shoes in clear containers so i could easily stack them and also see what they were. i had googled a few websites and the plastic shoe containers were way to pricey for my liking so i figured when i came across what i was looking for i would know what.

surprise…surprise…my mom (the best) remembered our conversation from a while back and she came across these little gems so they showed up for christmas this year and i couldn't be happier.

these are 6 quart sterilite clear storage containers. 

i wish i would have gotten a before picture with all of the different sized boxes and how not so organized they looked. i must have been too excited because i didn't even think of the before shot till after : )

here is the start of my shoe organization…i actually need more bins to finish my collection and also will get some extra to have for new shoe purchases. 

the aftermath...

mario birthday partry

this extra special mario themed party was for our son ethan. his little heart was set on a tiered cake with mario and princess peach at the top…then a smaller cake set a little ways away from the larger cake with bowser on it. and yes he came up with that on his own…we opted for cake, cupcakes and cookies. 

we purchased the invitations from etsy. the original shop we ordered them from is no longer "open but just do a search of "mario invitations" and a ton will come up 

the mustache stickers on the cups, the coins and the mustache whistles were all purchased from the oriental trading company 

we absolutely loved the cake! reeves cake shop made the cake then i purchased the characters from amazon and made the pipe on the top. the pipe was made from a plastic pipe i purchased from the home depot found in the plumbing department. then i picked up some thick green foam paper at the flower factory (or any craft store)  and cut the size according to the pipe then added the additional layer of foam to the top of the pipe for added dimension and so it looked like mario. 

these little gems turned out perfect!! the star and toadstool cookies were made by meredith the owner of baked happy!! she does an amazing job and they even taste better than they look…which says a lot about her work. 

we hand made the piranha plants and the clouds. the clouds were cut from large sheets of styrofoam then batting was glued on one side. you could definitely do both sides with the fluffy batting if necessary.

the piranha plants were a little more tricky. 

you will need:

styrofoam balls 

red acrylic craft paint

green spray paint

white and green felt

dowel rods

flower pots 

flower arrangement foam for inside the pot 

stay tuned for a instruction post on the piranha plant

just a few little touches to add to the mario theme. toadstool radishes in the salad, blue sky punch and we served pasta and meatballs since thats what mario and luigi eat.

kids loved the mustaches and the party was a hit...

best gift of all was seeing ethan's excitement.  

i love our little family <3