Garage organizing - Hang it Up!

Hooks can be used in so many different ways in your garage. They are a very low cost way of getting things up on the wall. Of course those whole wall systems are wonderful, but many of us can't afford them. If you use your wall studs, then you can hang any kind of hook you would like without the big wall system behind it. Like in this picture a board was nailed across the studs to increase the surface area that is usable to hang from. Using your wall space is the best way of utilizing as much of your usable space. There are many different kinds of hooks and some have very specific purposes, but you can be creative.
The hook on the left picture above is being used for storing rakes, shovels, garden tools.
In the right hand picture it is a view looking down on the hook. This is the same hook but it is being used for hanging card table chairs and a tv tray.

This is another kind of hook. This is designed for hanging ladders from, but it is being used for lawn chairs. (you can think outside the box) It can also be used for bigger lawn equipment with the wide handles, like a spreader.

The bike hooks are great for winter bike storage, or a bike that isn't being used very much. You can also use these hooks for hanging other garden equipment, as long as it is back out of the way so people don't get hit by it when they walk by.



Peg boards are wonderful. Again they are another lower cost solution to using wall space efficiently. As most of you know there are all kinds of hooks to use in the peg board. Here are two ideas that may be a little different.
This hover board(I think that is what it is called) was a bit of a puzzle and I wasn't sure what to do with it, but this solution works great.
The pogo sticks and scooters can hang from these hooks on the board. Works great to get them out of the way.

One last idea for you. All those brooms, mops etc...and be hung without hooks or peg board if needed. Just throw a nail in the wall and hang them up, if peg board isn't an option, or you can't do it right now. Put them in a place that is accessible to your kitchen (or where ever you use them). You do need to have a hole at the top of the handle, or drill a hole if the handle allows.
Happy Hanging!!

Garage organizing - Balls & Bats

When it comes to organizing kids sports balls, they can be a down right pain! They roll you know? That basketball that got loose and is now lodged under the car? The baseball that rolled down the driveway and is in the street gutter heading towards the sewer? Ever happened to you? Yep...I thought so. (Me too!)
Here are some wonderful solutions for your garage. There are many others out there, but these 3 are from The Container Store. (click on the picture for a directly link to that item in store)


You know I love things on the wall up and out of the way. This would be my favorite of the 3 I am going to show you. You can put your bats, balls and hockey sticks on this. There isn't a huge amount of space for balls, so if you have more than one child chances are you would need a couple of these. (click on picture for directly link to buy)

This is a good solution. I have not used one of these myself, so I can not say for sure how sturdy it is made. I do know if it is made from PCV pipe like some of the laundry sorters, then I would not recommend it. If this has a metal frame then it may be better. But the PVC ones tend to fall apart. They drive me crazy. But you can fit more in here and divide up the space nicely. (click on the picture for directly link to buy)

Here is another alternative. You can see what is in this to find the ball you want. So that is nice. It is metal, so should hold up ok.




Here is another solution that can be very inexpensive. (if you click on this picture....you get nothing! LOL No link to buy...go look in your garage!) If you have an extra trashcan that is not being used, this can work great. No it is not as ideal as some of the others, but less expensive. You can't see down clear at the bottom, it does sit on the floor...but you know what? It still works great. It holds a lot, things won't fall out the sides and no extra money was spent to provide a great space for balls and bats.
Have fun finding solutions for those balls and bats. Let me know what other creative ones you have come up with that you didn't have to go out and spend money for.

Work On It Wednesday

Donna from Zookeeping 101 (formerly Stop and Visit the Zoo) has been keeping up with Work on It Wednesday and I wanted to recognize her efforts! She has already won my Gem of the Week Award (but consider this x2!!)
She is taking a small task each week and doing her best to work on it. They aren't entire rooms or a whole house make over in 5 hours. Last week was having a stuffed animal hospital day and mending her childrens torn stuffed animals. (She is better than I, if they have a hole in them...all the better reason to toss them in my book. But if it is a favorite that is really special I wouldn't do that.)
This week she is working on clearing off her dresser! This is great.
If you take smaller tasks that are manageable you will have success and be more motivated to keep going.
There will always be organizing to do, kind of like laundry...even if you get the big organizing done, there is maintenance to keep up with.
I have a bathroom closet that is dying for reorganization. Since I have started couponing, I have a few (yes I will say the word) stockpiled ...no, how about "extra" items to store and need to make some room.
Go check out Donnas blog. Oh...and look at her basement pantry pictures. This is how you feed a family with 9 children!

Add your name to Mr. Linky if you would like to participate in Work on it Wednesday.

Garage organizing - Roller Blades

I am going to be taking different parts of the garage and showcasing them to help show the detailed ways that you can organize.

Roller blades - they are great for exercise, great for kids....but they can be a nightmare for your garage. How many of you have walked out to your garage and found a mess like this? Trying to step over the roller blades and trying not to break your neck (and you couldn't even take the credit for being ON the roller blades for that broken neck)


This is one solution to roller blades. This is my favorite solution to use. These work great and run about $20 each. They get everything up off the floor. There is a place for the helmets, elbow and knee pads and even hockey sticks.
But you may not have the money right now to spend on these.

You can use a shelf that you aren't using somewhere else in your home. You can also find shelves very inexpensively at garage sales or resale shops.
You can't really see it in the picture but on the white wire shelf next to this one there is a blue plastic bin that is holding all the knee and elbow pads.
This method just takes a little more time and effort for the kids to put their roller blades back on the shelf. So it may take a little more maintenance.

Organizing a garage after a long winter!

"BEFORE" pics of a garage.


"Before" picture. This is in a garage. I know it is hard to tell. This family has a 2 car garage that has a small extra space in it. They have several children so there are multiple bikes, scooters, sporting equipment, skateboards and roller blades along with helmets and kneepads!! Not to mention the husband's workbench, tools, massive fishing supplies and lawn mower. There are chairs, both outdoor and indoor to store. A large freezer. Oh and did I mention they have 3 cars? So there is always the need for car space. Of course only 2 cars get to reside inside.

The mission in this garage was to organize and sort without spending any money on more organizing items. There were already some organizational systems in place, but for the most part it was just sorting through all the stuff and getting rid of some empty boxes, broken and unused items.

You don't have to spend a fortune to organize. You don't have to have a whole garage system (although I have to say it would be soooo cool.)
You can do a lot with some inexpensive peg board, shelves. Plywood shelves up high. Bike hooks are great too. Try to get as much off the ground as you can in a garage.
The single bike stands are about $20 and you can find them at The Container Store and Target. They help bikes from falling over, especially if the bikes don't have kickstands. Like I said there were several things already in place here, it was just a matter of finding them.
For the skateboards I ended up finding a plastic milk crate that ended up being empty and we put the 2 skateboards in that. It keeps them from rolling around on the garage floor or someone accidentally falling on them.
Big empty trashcans worked well for the balls and bats and sports equipment. These owners have the large trashcans that the company provides and didn't need their old ones, so we put them to good use.


"AFTER" pictures.

Making sure all the little things are off the floor is important.
Having and open trashcan near your door is a great plus. It makes it really easy to pitch those fast food bags and empty drink cup that are in your car. Just throw them away as you are walking in the door.
Make sure if you have pet food stored in the garage that it is in a rodent proof container.

This doesn't look perfect by any means. With the number of bikes that had to fit and having to have room for the cars, these 2 bikes had to kind of jut out into the garage.

With 3 hours, hard work, lots of dust but not spending any money...you can make a difference in a garage (or any room for that matter.)

Share my Recipe Sunday - Jalapeno Cheesecake by Sweetpea

This weeks Gem of the Week award goes to Sweet Pea of Newlyweds.
I first looked at this recipe and thought....(that doesn't sound right). But once you read it and really think about it, I bet this taste wonderful!!! The hot of the jalapeno along with the sweet of the cheesecake offset by the salty of the fritos. Yum!!
You will have to go visit her blog to see a step by step picture tutorial of how to make this. It was wonderful. I felt like I was on a cooking show from all her great pics!

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Jalapeno Cheesecake

Crust:

2 Cups Frito’s (crumbs)

4 T butter


Cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup water

2 cubes chicken bouillon

1 tbsp. taco sauce

1 T lime juice

1 T tequila

2 T pickled Jalapeno juice

4 oz pickled Jalapenos, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, water, chicken bouillon, taco sauce, lime juice, tequila, jalapeno juice and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place chopped pickled jalapenos on top of cheese cake and slightly press in.

Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

I used 2, 8 inch foil pans and baked for 20-25 minutes, but if you’re using a spring form pan, bake for 45-55 minutes.

5. Bake 20-25 until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Serve with Jalapeno jelly poured on top, and Fritos!


If you visit Sweet Pea's blog called Newlyweds you will see that she did this for the Daring Bakers Challenge. She has the recipe for "The original Recipe
Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake" on her blog along with some variations of that cheesecake.

Come visit Share my Recipe Sunday (hit link for more instructions). Add your name to Mr. Linky and submit your recipe. Pick up the button for your site, with a link back to Share Your Recipe Sunday. You may win my Gem of the Week award and have your recipe featured on my blog that week with links to your more links to your blog.