Projects with a purpose

Hi it's Sizzle today. Jules and I switched days so now I have Monday and Thursday for a couple of months until Toots comes home (yeah!).

My creative projects this week and probably for the next few weeks are going to be focused on organizing and preparing for my baby's 1st birthday. Now, you should know that I am not one of those people who goes all out with decor, cupcakes, homemade pinatas etc but I do want to have some cute presents and pictures from her birthday.

The organization part comes preparing to get our house ready to sell. We aren't doing it anytime soon but we have a lot of in-depth projects (tile, resurfacing, painting, back splash etc) we want to get done this summer so we are getting rid of all the non-essentials and all clutter. I already have a pile in my garage. I LOVE projects so I am excited about all the work we have ahead of us but I want to get on top of it asap; plus less stuff = less mess.

Before I get into all the things I am doing to keep on top of things I thought I'd share some pictures of things in different phases.

First a scrapbook page of ultrasound pictures:

Then I started making all sorts of binders for everything. All my pattern books or pdf patterns I printed off are going in here in sheet protectors.

This is my daughters birthday present, I plan to make two dolls so they can play. This one is cut out -except for the hair. Hopefully I will get it done in time - it is coming up fast!

Make sure to set some time away to be creative today.

Sizzle

Organization Week

Hey readers! Happy Wednesday. Lately I've been really motivated to clean out and organize everything—my pantry, my room, my desk, my drawers, etc. I suppose the Spring Cleaning Bug has bitten!!

Well, it just so happens that over on the blog Write. Click. Scrapbook., it is organization week! So I've loved the extra inspiration. Monday they featured a CRAZY organized craft room. And Tuesday they featured other rooms, like pantries, linen closets, fridges, bookshelves. I've not a naturally organized person, so this is pretty intense. But it definitely offers motivation!!

Here are some of the small things I've done lately to help me be a little more organized. Plus you'll get an embarrassing sneak at my craft closet that desperately needs focus!!

I got these cute mirror/hooks at a boutique a while ago, and I had forgotten about them. But I recently hung them in my bathroom to use for elastics and headbands. Somehow I have a ton! I could just never find them before.



I got a cute basket to sit on my toilet. I don't have a lot of under-cabinet space, so I use this basket to hold my hairdryer, straightener, brush, comb, and usually my everyday makeup bag.

This is a fun alternative to a magnet board. I got these strips at IKEA for 99 cents, but I haven't seen them lately. I use them to display important documents and fun notes that I like to keep.



I love these little plastic organization boxes. I use them in my desk drawers, bathroom, and dresser. I also use tiny hair elastics to keep the cords tidy in this particular drawer. Um, so my phone charger is not currently tidy. Ooops, I just use it too often, haha.

Just a look at my top drawer. It doesn't look overly organized but I put all of my note cards here and have another plastic box.

AND....
Yes, this is the next area I need to tackle. Whew, it will be intense.

The World's Greatest Commodity

Time.

Daylight Savings time is driving me NUTS. I hate it. Everything is off. Today I woke up at 8 which is usually when we wake up except today it was 9. Preschool starts at 9. Ooops. We got there 10 min late - but pretty good for what we had to work with.

The whole change though got me thinking about time. We all have the same amount of time per day. All over the world. Everyone. Yet, some people accomplish great things and others acomplish little.

 

I realized I need to do better with my time. How can I squeeze more time into a day? What can I give up to accomplish my goals? I have so many things I need to do that sit around for weeks, months...years before I actually get to them. Why is that?

 

Why don't I ever workout? Why have I gotten so behind on my journal and the boys'? Why have I never finished 2 kids first year scrapbooks? I have the same time as other people. The answer is I don't make time for it and time gets taken up by other things. I found that if I don't schedule my time it just disappears into the abyss and I have nothing to show for it.

 

So I have a resolution, a schedule for myself and for the kids. Because I have kids I need to make sure I get their things done too so I started job charts. For all of us...me especially.

 

There is something about marking off a little box that really gets you going. It really gets the kids going too. Yesterday we did it for our first time and lo and behold I got everything done. My house is clean, the laundry is folded and put away, the kids are playing outside more and being nice to each other (that is on the list).

 

I decided after they get a whole week completed, I will give them a YES card. So they can give it to me when I am saying no and get a yes instead. My 4yr old is excited about that. I don't like to reward with candy - except for potty training :) but that might change.  We will see.

 

Their charts are divided into morning, afternoon and night jobs.  They are laminated so they can mark them off themselves or scribble on them.  Mine is scheduled out in my planner by the hour.  Of course, I will have to be flexible but there are things that I have to get done EVERYDAY (workout, make bed, read scriptures, dishwasher, laundry etc) and hopefully this will help me better control my time. 

The things I have been putting off that I need my time for are the following (so I can remember in case I lose my list):

• Edit and publish BING book (my old blog chronicling 3 years of our families life)
• Finish kid games
• Pillows for couch
• Baby scrapbooks
• Frames for family pictures
• Painting

Thanks for following this blog.  Have you found something that works for you?  I'd really like to know what works for you.  Leave a comment. 

Organization made cute

Spring means cleaning and organization so I started on my binders - create (patterns/sketches), dream (home decor) and inspire (articles and cute pictures), learn (gardening-things I want to learn) --you get the idea.

I love using butterflies - to me they represent that things are always changing, improving and growing. We build a life for ourselves little by little and eventually we see the rewards. I love butterflies. I cut everything on my Cricut - home decor solutions cart. This cart has great images and it also has the blackout and shadow feature. It is a good one!

For the spine, I tried to get something down in the little sleeve but it got stuck and wouldn't come out so I just glued the spine on top of the plastic stuff. I am trying to decide if I should just put contact paper over it or mod podge or just leave it.

I think when I get them all done they will look really cute on my bookcase that I built last Sept. I am excited to cut all those pictures out of my piles and piles of magazine and organize them so I actually look at them again!

See my binders all naked.  Imagine them all dressed up sitting there - MUCH better. 

Well it is a beautiful day and I am off to the park to have a picnic with the kids and some friends.  What is your favorite way to organize.  Do you spring clean?

Fridge container

Last weekend my roommates and I reorganized our fridge. Before we had the bottom shelf for all milk and assorted things, but we each only had a small shelf for the rest of our things. It wasn't working out that well, so we decided to move the shelves around so we could all have our own shelf that we could fit our own milk on and everything else. (Oh the joys of sharing a fridge with roommates. :)) It works so much better now and I feel like I actually have room to buy and make food. Well that organization streak spread to the outside of the fridge when one roommate started cleaning off the outside of the fridge. There were a lot of random announcements and coupons, so I thought it would work nicely to make a little container that could hold all of that.

First step: I picked out a good sized box that I could cover and use. I chose a long fruit leather box that was about an inch wide. I cut it down so it could hold even an 8 1/2 wide paper.

I picked out some fun papers and elements to use.

And I finally bought some more Mod Podge...using a Robert's Crafts 50 percent off coupon.

I measured the paper to be just a little larger than the box so it could fold over the edges. It works best to spread the Mod Podge on the side that will touch the box first. Then as you place the paper, spread Mod Podge on the outside and try to smooth out the surface.


I used plain colored cardstock for the outside and to line the insides of the box. I placed four magnets in the corners and let those firmly dry.


For the front, I added a ribbon and bow. I covered the ribbon with Mod Podge too and in this picture, it is still drying, so that gunk you see will be clear. I will probably find a button, element or brad to go in the center of the bow.

And Wa-laa! Place it on your fridge, or for any other use!

I mention in my post last week how I have so many containers and boxes that I want to recycle for use around my house. I'll probably use this idea to make various other organization things around my house. Ooo, maybe I'll try a pencil/pen holder.

Easy Organizing

Like some of you out there, this weeks been spent trying to finish (or start...) Halloween costumes. It's been fun, but I'm still not done with and our Trunk or Treat is tonight. Luckily I don't work today :) Here's a glimpse for you. Anyway, today I'm not talking about Halloween, mostly because it's tomorrow and I'm assuming most people are further in their preparations than I am.

Something though that I've been wanting to share for awhile is simple organizing tricks that work for me. I'm really trying to be more organized because I don't have a lot of room, and the room I do have it usually stuffed full and cluttered. There are a few things I've done though that are working well. Here are my favorites:

Makeup:
I just got this one a month of so ago. I used to just have everything in a makeup bag, but I really hate having to shuffle through there trying to find something that falls to the bottom. Meaning, I would just leave things out so I could find them. Until.... I've seen these small drawers of course, but never thought about them for makeup until I saw it at someone else's house. And after $4 at Wal-Mart I finally stay organized. I have things separated so I just use things in order as I go up the drawers. I keep stuff in the back that I don't use as often. Foundation/powder on the bottom, bronzer & eyeshadow in the middle, eyeliners & mascara etc up top. Stuff always goes back because I know where to find it. Loving it.

Next,
Fridge/Freezer:

I have a cheap apartment fridge that just has 3 shelves and one large drawer at the bottom for vegetables. The freezer is just one huge hole, no shelves.

This results in having small things all over the place that you can't find. So I took what was making the biggest mess and grabbed the plastic shoe boxes from my closet organization that wasn't really working and threw them here:
And in the freezer:
(includes all those loose frozen bananas...)It's helped out a lot.
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Lastly, Papers & Magazines

I made this awhile ago to add to a few others on my bookshelf. I don't have many magazines, but I use them to hold random papers that I have everywhere, but still want accessible. (Maybe I just need a filing cabinet...)


This is something you can make yourself and a great project to make with your kids.
Cereal box Magazine Holders:

Mine's boring because I just wanted it black (spray paint), but you can cover them with contact paper, or scrapbook paper or anything. There's a great tutorial here on how to make it.

A few tips:
The cereal box needs to be about 9.5 inches across so things can move in there. Most of my current boxes aren't wide enough.
They are pretty flimsy so they need to be propped up against other things to avoid falling over.

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I also really want to know... What simple tips work for you?

Creative Space

I finally got my craft room finished.  I love it!!  I could seriously spend all day in there if I could.  All it needs is a big clock on the back wall between the bulletin boards.  I am hoping to find a great deal at a garage sale or a thrift store and paint it blue to match my desk. 

There are two 6 foot tables.  It gives me plenty of space to spread out and if I make a mess on one, as in this picture, I still have a clear workspace.  In another case, the kids can color at one while I work on the other.  The bonus is that I set it up so I can sit facing a giant window, look outside and watch the kids play and not feel cooped up. 

I used to keep all my craft stuff in a closet in the basement, but after moving bedrooms around I got space to put everything out in the open.  I still need to organize it a little more but it is so nice to easily see what I have. 

I made the four memo boards so I can hang up patterns, to-do lists, calendar etc and also to decorate the space.  I bulletin boards! 

I covered them with fabrics that make me happy.  I love the color they bring to the space and because they are small I can use a lot of different fabrics. 

My pegboard is useful to keep scissors and other things I don't want the kids to get out of the way.  I wanted a basket for the glues but I have 1/8 in pegboard and the ones they sell most places are for 1/4.  If I would have known that I would have got the 1/4 in size.  Live and learn, I guess.

I keep all my nice fabric in this although I might need to rethink that because the other day my son Wesley cut into one of my favorite fabrics.  He told me he wanted to make a bat. 

On the top I keep files of the kids artwork and patterns I want to try out. 

The last part of my space is my sewing table and chair that I re-did.  I put it right by the window so I have all the natural light and can look outside while I work.  I also have a standing lamp in the room that I can use for crafting at night. 

There you have it, my creative space.  It is just right for me.  I don't think you need a whole room for a creative space but it is sure nice.  Where do you create?

Photo Storage

Hey guys! So lately I've found lots of great deals for printing photos online. I haven't officially ordered the massive amounts of prints I've been needing to, but it got me thinking about the best online sources to store and print your photos—which of course you will use for some creative project! :)

My personal favorite site is Picasa Web Albums. First, because it's associated with Google, and I'm obsessed with pretty much all things Google. But second (and so on) because it's a clean, easy-to-use source that offers the best functionality...in my personal opinion. 

Their newest features let you search through your photos and collaboratively build albums, i.e. you and your friends/family can all upload your photos to the same album. 

Picasa easily lets you share albums and even create slideshows. For example, I've had several people trying to rent apartments, who simply put the photos in a Picasa album and send the link—which is shown directly to the right of the album.

Which brings me to another Picasa feature: privacy settings. You can make your albums public (like for renting an apartment), make all private, or select a specific few friends to have access—all determined for each individual album.

PLUS, you can download compatible programs that let you manage and edit the files without the Internet. Believe me, there's lots of other perks as well. Oh, and for you bloggers...if you operate on a Google account, Picasa will automatically create an album that includes ALL of the photos you have ever posted on your blog. Nice!

When it comes to PRINTING photos online, I don't currently have one site I'm dedicated to. Picasa does collaborate with several sites, but sometimes you can find good deals individually. I used to mostly use Winkflash because they offered a flat shipping rate of 99 cents. But that's changed, and so has my preference. I've also used Snapfish a few times. It's nice to get a feel for the quality and service that various photo printing sites offer. Plus, new customers are usually offered an introductory deal like free photos or shipping. In fact, until Sept. 16, Snapfish is offering 50 free prints and free shipping. 

What sites do you like? 

-- KK Signing off

P.S. Keep the Juices Flowing