Hello, my name is Lizzie Tontz and I’m a messy person.
When I come home after work and class, it’s usually after a long day of five to seven hours of writing, driving, finding sources for stories and generally operating under a blanket of stress.
By the time I get home, I’m not thinking about operating at full capacity. I’m just trying to get myself up the stairs without collapsing. Is it any wonder my room looks like a Sharknado hit it?
Two of my biggest sins are throwing my keys down as soon as possible and setting my cups down on a coaster-less table after gulping down large quantities of water. This leads to much frustrated hair-pulling when I’m racing to class and I can’t find my keys, or when I notice that I’ve made a new ring on the coffee table.
If you’re anything like me, you probably have similar problems. Lucky for us, however, I have just the solution.
If you can spare the extra two seconds and muscle power to hang your keys up when you crash through the door, you can do so on an adorable, upcycled picture frame (and yes, I promise this can be made manly if you use a simple frame and stick a photo of your favorite team in the center). All you need is a picture frame, something awesome to go in the center and some screw hooks.
You can screw the hooks through the bottom panel of the picture frame, or you can screw them on the bottom of the top panel — inside the actual frame — so your keys will hang down as the object of focus. Somehow, I think this option might be easier. The best part is you can use any kind of frame you want as long as it’s porous enough, and you can customize it to your heart’s content.
I plan on using a distressed type of paint (more on that in a later column) and making mine look antique, like it’s been around for awhile and I haven’t been throwing my keys on the ground for years.
As for the rings on your tables because you’re just too darn lazy to walk across the room and grab a t-shirt to put under your glass, keep a stack of DIY coasters on hand.
Home Depot or another home improvement store should have small tiles for ridiculously cheap. After you clean them off, you can apply Mod Podge with a foam brush to the top. Stick your paper good of choice to the coaster and smooth out any bubbles with your finger.
You don’t have to cover the entire square with just one piece of paper, although that might be cute. You can cut out shapes, patterns or words: the sky’s the limit. Japanese washi paper has a special place in my heart, and all my coasters will be made with washi paper in ocean colors.
After you’ve set your design, wait about 15 minutes for your coaster to dry. You should apply two or three more coats of Mod Podge after the first layer has dried. After those have dried, add two layers of clear enamel spray, waiting 30 minutes in between each coat. When you’re done, hot glue colorful felt to the bottom of your coaster so the tile doesn’t scratch the surface of your table.
Voilà! Problem solved. You have your own set of awesome coasters to whip out when you’re thirsty or you’re having friends over.
I don’t think I’ll ever solve the problem of being messy, but I can make life a little easier for myself by creating tools that will help keep things cleaner and neater for longer periods of time while I tackle college and marriage.
