Halloween Decorations

I hate living in a dorm because you can't really decorate for holidays like you would if you lived in your house, but that didn't stop me from doing a little decorating. I am a little too excited for Christmas, so its a miracle that I didn't just skip over Halloween completely.

I put some pumpkin lights up around our closet.

Last year I bought this orange, glittery beware sign for a dollar from Target, and it fits perfectly on my dresser this year!

On top of the printer I put a glittery purple pumpkin and a sequined black one, both from Hobby Lobby, next to a dish shaped like candy corn, full of candy corn! Yummy!!

I bought my roommate and I two of these little buckets from Hobby Lobby, hers is green though. I have some command hooks in mine, but nothing else.

And finally, on our door I put a Halloween wreath that I made. I am obsessed with the bow that I got to put on it!!

Pinterest Obsession: Classrooms

Last night I went to a future teachers information session at my University's education college. It got me even more excited to pursue teaching. I love kids and arts and crafts; what other career lets you combine the two on a daily basis. Summers off are nice too though! It may sound silly that one of the things I'm most excited for is decorating my classroom. Yes, I am only a freshman, but I don't think it is ever too easy to start a Pinterest board for something. Here are a few of my favorite teaching Pins on my teacher board.

Brownie Points

Zebra Boxes!

Colorful Classroom

Where are we? Chart

Milk Crate Seats

Classroom Organization

Everything is so colorful and fun! I linked all of the pins underneath the pictures, so you can check out the explanations and the wonderful blogs all of these pictures came from.

Dorm Room Organization

Let's face it. Dorm rooms are TINY! The best way to create more space is to maximize the space that you use, and the best way to do that is to organize it. Here are a few of the most useful things I have used in my dorm room. Just so y'all know, my bed is lofted so my desk and a few other things fit under there.

Desk Organizers

My desk would be a disaster without this thing! I use it to organize the random things that would sit on my desk such as, my ear phones, various sticky notes, tape, paper clips, magazines, notebooks, and other random things. I love all of the little compartments that there are, and everything has its little nook and cranny.

Stackable Shoe Organizer

This think is perfect for fitting all of my shoes because you can fit multiple pairs in each cubby and boots can go on top. If I wanted to, I could change how they are stacked, but I like the way I have it right now.

Storage Crates

These crates are a must! They are perfect for storing miscellaneous things, and you can stack them up. I currently have one at the top of my closet that has some file folders and extra school supplies.

Skinny Hangers

These are the best coat hangers because they are super skinny and the felt material prevents things from falling onto the ground. I also like that the thinness of the hangers allow more than the usual amount of hangers to fit in my tiny closet. 

Plastic Drawers

We have these in a few different spots in our room. These purple and pink ones hold my makeup, contacts, and nail polish. We also have some that sit on top of our fridge and microwave that hold our plates and utensils. They are very convenient and once again, they are stackable. 

Storage Baskets

I love the chevron print of the lining of these baskets. They are great for holding random things that you use often. I have one full of health and beauty stuff including my makeup wipes, mouthwash, q-tips, and vitamins. I have another one that I put all of my hair stuff in.

Storage Cubbies

I can't even explain how many uses these things have! I literally store everything in these. I have food, cleaning supplies, extra health stuff, DVD's, and a whole cubby devoted to Camel Back Water Bottles. I had this in my room back home, and I love it even more now that it's in my dorm. They don't take up that much space, but they utilize the vertical space that is sometimes hard to use.

Over the Door Hooks

I loved the idea of over the door hooks, but when I got to my dorm they didn't fit onto our door. Luckily when I lofted my bed I found a place for them on the bed frame. I use them to hold my towels, rain coats, and purse. They are perfect and I would use them for the same thing even if they were on the back of the door.

Command Hooks

These are awesome because they don't rip the pain off your wall and they can be used for so many things. We have two next to our door to put our keys since we have had experience with locking ourselves out of the room. We also use one to hang a wreath on the outside of our door, hang pictures in the room, and we are going to use some to hang a curtain rod in front of our window.

Hanging Sweater Organizer

This is the number one thing I recommend! These hanging shelves provide storage that you would have never thought of. I have clothes in some of the shelves, towels in others, and sheets in another. They easily double your closet space, and my roommate has a smaller one that she uses to store her shoes. 

Where I Got Everything:

Desk Organizer: Container Store

Stackable Shoe Organizer: Container Store

Storage Crate: Target

Skinny Hangers: TJ Maxx

Plastic Drawers: Wal Mart and Target

Storage Baskets: TJ Maxx

Storage Cubbies: Target

Over the Door Hooks: Container Store

Command Hooks: Target

Hanging Sweater Organizer: Container Store

Link Ups:

A Bowl Full Of Lemons

Delightful Order

My Dorm Room!

I have been in Wilmington for a little over a week, so I feel like I'm settled in enough to share my dorm room with you. I am in the newest dorm on campus, which is hands down the best dorm on campus. Our room is bigger; we have carpet and no cinderblock walls. My roommate and I decided we didn't want to do matching things because we have different tastes. My side is mostly pink and hers is mostly blue. I have some blue stuff on my side to try to tie it all together.

View of my side and my roommates.

My bed. It is lofted so it can be a challenge to climb up it.

I love my bed. It's not the most comfortable, but I'm used to sleeping on a cloud. I love how my throw pillows look with my grew and white bedspread.

I love monograms (clearly), so my pillowcases and throw pillows are all monogrammed. 

My dresser just has all of my hair products on it and a few pictures.

Under my bed I have my desk. I have a few pictures, all my makeup, my computer, and all of my books on my desk. Next to my desk I have a white wastebasket with a black monogram on it.

Next to my desk I have these cubbie shelves that are the most helpful things ever. I am going to go into dorm room organization in a future post. On top of these cubbies, I have my fan, alarm clock, and random toiletries. Hanging above these shelves I have my bulletin board full of pictures.

This is my favorite part of the room. This grey mini futon is a lifesaver since it is so hard to get on our beds and I want to sit in a comfortable place to watch TV. I also have a storage ottoman and fluffy blanket to make it super comfy.

Here is a sneak peak into my tiny closet. I'll go into this in more detail later.

Where things are from:

Bedspread: Target

Monogrammed Throw Pillows: Homemade

Pink Blanket on Bed: JC Penny

Futon: Wal Mart

Storage Ottoman: Target

Fluffy Blanket: Target

Pillow on Futon: Homemade

Cubbies and Bins: Target

Storage Baskets: TJ Maxx

Big Moments...

Tomorrow I move into college. I can't believe that I am old enough to be a freshman in college! I am excited, sad, but mostly anxious. Thankfully I know my roommate, and my best friend since the first day of 9th grade is going to the same school as me. Dorm life is going to be a new experience for me considering that I've pretty much always had my own room. I can't wait to do dorm room posts, but so far my dorm room is just a big pile of bags and bins in my guest bedroom. I've been packed for weeks and still don't feel ready! Wish me luck in this next chapter of my life. I hope college is ready for me!

Pinterest Obsessions: Dream Closets

I have always told myself that when I buy my own home I'm going to buy a house with a gigantic master closet. I always see pictures of celebrity closets and professionally decorated closets, and they just look so perfect. Here are some of my favorites that I found on Pinterest.

I hope my dorm closet can look like these...

Lilly Got It Right

My college doesn't have a football team, so dressing up for game days isn't really possible. However, I am going to find reasons to dress up; basketball games maybe? My schools colors are navy, gold, and teal (or green). Lilly Pulitzer has so many cute things with my schools colors in them, and it makes me super excited. I really hope that I can wear some of these one day.

From left to right:

Cassie Dress Slub

Tylar Dress (I absolutely love this one. The wave patter in the gold is just so perfect for a school at the beach.)

Laney Dress

From left to right:

Cody Cardigan Sweater

Izzie Top and Luxury Capri

Elsa Top

And these Set in Stone Sandals will be perfect with anything. The navy and gold together is beautiful.

Back to School Necessities

I leave for college in exactly two weeks. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE? I can't believe the summer went by so fast. It makes me sad to think that I am leaving everything behind, but I am also super excited to make new friends and a new routine down in Wilmy. The one good thing about going back to school is school supply shopping, yes I'm a nerd. Here is what I think is going to be necessary for me to survive my freshman year.

1 Agendas: I am super picky about my planners. I color code everything, and I have a super specific organizational system. I use two different kinds of planners: the Heather Bailey small agenda by MEAD (available at Target) and the large Lilly Pulitzer monthly planner. The Heather Bailey one has literally everything in it that has to do with school, work, or clubs. My Lilly one is reserved for social events and birthdays. I am planning on going through sorority recruitment in a few weeks, so I am going to make the Lilly Pulitzer planner my sorority planner.

2 Laptop Sleeve: I am absolutely obsessed with anything Vera Bradley; I have an unhealthy amount of Vera things. This laptop sleeve is the perfect size for my computer, and it is super cute. It will keep my computer safe from scratches and most bumps while it is in my backpack.

3 Laptop: I am going to be taking my 13 inch Macbook Pro with me to class to take notes. I am a super slow writer, so it will be more productive to type up notes then handwrite them later on. I love my laptop so much and I would take it everywhere with me if that was normal.

4 Backpack: The Jester backpack by The North Face is my favorite backpack. I had one all through high school, but I decided to retire it and get a plain black one for this year. I am thinking about monogramming it. I monogram everything.

5 Pens and Highlighters: As I mentioned above, I am a color coding freak. I don't use highlighters in my agendas but I use them for almost everything else. The Sharpie Accent highlighters are my favorite and they come in tons of colors. The Papermate Flair Marker Pens are perfect for filling in my agenda; I keep a bag full of them with me in my purse just in case something comes up that needs to be written down. For regular note taking and writing, I am a fan of the fine point Sharpie pens. 

6 Notebook: I have been using the 5 Star spiral notebooks since junior high, and they've never let me down. Why fix what's not broken?

What are your back to school necessities?

DIY Striped Picture Frame

I've been super into making things for my dorm room, so today I decided to make a picture frame in my room colors! This was a super simple project and I love painting even though I suck at it.

Materials: 

1 Plain Wooden Picture Frame (I got mine at Michael's)

A White Paint for the Base Coat

2 Accent Color Paints 

Painters Tape or Masking Tape

Paint Brush 

Newspaper or Another Surface to Paint On

Step 1: Paint the frame with a thin coat of white paint. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it will help the colors from your next two layers be more vibrant. Let it dry completely.

Step 2: Paint the top of the frame with one of your colors. I would choose the lighter of the two, so that it can be covered by the darker in the next step. Make sure this layer covers the whole frame and there is no white showing. Wait for it to dry completely before continuing. 

Step 3: Use the tape to create a design on the frame. I chose stripes. 

Step 4: Paint the space not covered with tape with the other color. Make sure there is not gapping in the tape, so there is a straight edge. Let it dry before ripping the tape off. 

Step 5: When you rip the tape off you may want to touch up some spots.