Creating an Organizer

I have decided to create a home organization binder this year as one way of getting myself more organized and in control of my daily life.
I have often tried to do all these tasks on the computer before, but find it is not practical. The computer is not portable, a pain to get out every time I need to check something, and increasingly it is occupied by children working on schoolwork or games!
I decided if I was going to have a binder I wanted it to be pretty. I was not finding what I wanted until I was at a crafting garage sale and found a great chipboard one. The binding on it was already covered in pretty pink fabric. Perfect!

The next job was to find some paper I liked to cover it with. Luckily I have a daughter who also crafts as none of my extensive collection co-ordinated with the binder. However, she had a book of paper that I just LOVE that all co-ordinates and she very generously shared with me.

I chose a patterned piece for the outside covers and a teal one for the inside. Incidentally, the teal and green were our wedding colours. How cool is that?

I decoupaged them in, then added two coats over the paper to try to seal it a bit better so it would hold up. The key to successful decoupage, as in so much of life, is PATIENCE! Use thin layers and let it dry completely before adding the next one.

Next I added ribbon to trim the edges. This part was a bit tricky as my ribbon was not as thick as I would have liked. For those of you who preplan supplies, choose a 1" ribbon, then you can just fold it around the edges and be done with it! I attached my ribbon with Sookwang sticky tape, making sure to fold it over the edges of the binder to protect the paper edges from catching and ripping off. I started where the paper joins the cloth and worked one piece of ribbon around the top, outside, and bottom edge of each half of the binder.

See how the bottom and outside edge have a nice narrow border?

Next I used ribbon on the inside to make a thicker border as the ribbon wasn't wide enough to cover the inside edge well.

I figured out the hard way that I should have done the outside edge top to bottom first, then cover it with a horizontal piece. Why? Because it is hard to fold in the ribbon on the second end to the exact spot you want it. By doing that order you only ever have to fold one end, because the final ribbon piece, the vertical one close to the binding of the book, wraps around the whole book and is just doubled over on top of itself so it doesn't have to line up to a nice spot. See?
On the first one I did below, the ribbons didn't match so nicely, and my pretty rose is to hide my messy corner where I ended up with sticky strip and no ribbon!

Finally I added some Stampin' Up Vintage Roses to the front and voila! I was done!

My pretty binder has me all excited about getting organized!

Creating Memories

My daughter and I took advantage of the Groupons we found last fall and spent the afternoon at a paint your own ceramics place. I expected to be there about an hour, and I was dragging her out after THREE hours!

Painting was a lot of fun, but the best part was spending time with my daughter. She loves colour, she loves creative expression, and she loves spending time with her mummy! We had a wonderful afternoon together. She made a butterfly box for her dresser and a cereal bowl, and I decorated a container for the sponges and dishbrushes by my sink so I can get rid of my plastic one.

Pictures to come after we pick them up next week!

Going on a Trip

We have a family reunion next month in Australia. I am so excited. I get to go!!!

Now for the not-so-exciting part: it is my flat self going, not the flesh and blood version.
When I heard about the reunion (which was planned in about 6 weeks; can you tell my sister helped?) I wanted to go, but of course that is not possible.

Then I got the brilliant idea of combining the reunion with my homeschool plans to study geography by making and mailing a flat stanley. So today I spent my afternoon making a Flat Elouise.

For those of you so inclined to make a similar project here is how I did it:
I cut a piece of newspaper the same size as my cardstock (I used letter sized cardstock), then folded it in half and cut out the outline of half a person. I opened and checked it and trimmed it until it looked about right.

Next I cut a newspaper section the size of half a shirt so I could make a top in two pieces so I would have a seam down the front.

I then traced the original piece onto different papers to make the skirt and shoes. After cutting them out, I attached the pieces from the bottom up -  shoes, then skirt, then top.
Next I found a picture of me and cropped my head. I then measured the size of my Flat El head and custom printed the photo to match.

After attaching the head, I used a 1" circle punch to cut pieces of circles, then layered them to create my curly hair. The above picture shows me with half my hair on.
After this I got to do the fun part - embellishing. I used ribbon to make a belt. Because it was a light coloured ribbon, I found the seam showed through, and so I doubled the ribbon over and used glue dots to attach it.
Then I used halfback pearls from my Stampin' Up pretties kit to make a necklace and for buttons down my skirt. I used the Stampin Up vintage roses to accent the waist and for a flower in my hair.


Now I am packed and ready for vacation! LOL

Why I Now Save My Cans

I made this beautiful garbage can for my daughter a while ago. She needed something for her room to collect the endless bits of garbage she seems to make in a day. I had made smaller ones a few years ago for a birthday party, but now I am grabbing the true potential of containers.

To make this garbage can was so easy:
Open your cans with one of those can openers that removes the whole lid without leaving sharp edges. Clean and dry your can thoroughly before decorating your container.
Choose your paper and measure it to the right height, and cut it. I found it best to measure the height to the inside of the metal rim. Because my container was so big (this is the 2.84L Costco diced tomato tin) I needed two pieces of paper. I chose to repeat the same pattern but you could use complementary papers. My papers came embossed with these sayings. You can cut out or stamp words to add if you want something on there that's personalized, like a name.
I hot glue gunned the papers on the can, then covered all my edges with ribbon. I then embellished with a few punched out hearts and a couple flowers and I was done. 15 minutes for a gorgeous garbage can!
I have more can ideas in my head so hopefully they will be published soon, as long as I can keep my recycling-happy family from removing all my cans! LOL

Valentine's Day

We had a Valentine's party at our house yesterday so wanted to make it look pretty both for yesterday and today.
Sunday night the boys and I cut out a bunch of hearts from construction paper. We used red, white, pink, and purple paper. We folded them in fourth and cut a half heart shape so that it opened out to make 2 hearts from one piece of paper. Then we used the corners to make more little hearts. From one piece of 9 X 12 paper we got two large hears and four little ones.
The large hearts were taped on the mantle and mirror with edges overlapping to make a nice fake garland.

Isn't that pretty?

We punched holes in the tops and bottoms of the little hearts and strung ribbon through them to make vertical garlands, which we hung over the tables and in front of the windows. With narrow ribbon you would need to loop a knot at the top of each heart to anchor it in place, but ours was big enough that the hearts just hung in place on their own.
How easy it is to make things pretty and festive!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!

Creating a Treasure Hunt

Tomorrow we are hosting a Valentine's Party for some of our homeschooler friends. The kids used to say that missing the holiday parties was one of their biggest regrets of not going to school so we started doing our own. Of course ours are way better than school parties so it becomes another bonus of homeschooling!

Tomorrow our theme is focusing on the Treasures in our lives so we are doing a treasure hunt. Michael and I just had fun putting together our clue list. Most of ours, but we lifted a couple off the internet. I am sharing them with you, so SSSHHH! Don't tell my kids! LOL


Love is patient, love is kind,
Your next clue is right behind. (painting in dining room)

In this place we quickly heat
So we will have something to eat. (microwave)

Step by step walking I go,
Yet somehow nowhere I go. (treadmill)

While on your hunt for treasure gold,
You may be hot, but your clue is cold. (freezer)

Feeling chilled? You’d rather not!
Come get stoked! This clue is hot! (fireplace)

This box is mostly filled with things that rarely bring you glee
Like bills, and junk, and other stuff you'd rather never see. (mailbox)

You are doing quite a-MAZE-ing!
Find your way through, and I’ll help you! (Valentine's maze to complete and bring to me)

When you're feeling less than fresh there's just one place to go
To wash and get all squeaky clean and scrub between each toe. (tub)

When you need to have a rest
I am the place you love the best. (bed)

Wetter and wetter the more it dries,
Find it to find your surprise. (towel)

Creating a Pretty Atmosphere

For many years my kitchen focus has been on function, on making sure things are practical and work well. Pretty never came into it. I didn't have time or energy, and frankly, pretty things were too often a risky idea for lots of reasons. We have now entered a new season.

On a personal level I am no longer struggling to keep up with my kids and my home and just trying to get by. I have time to stop and smell the roses, or in this case, stop and look at the containers.

As a family, the kids are older and in a safer stage so we can have breakables out and be reasonably assured they will not be used as catapults.

 I took a trip to Value Village yesterday and bought a couple things. These pretty crocks now sit on our kitchen cabinet. They look much nicer than the Tupperware one we used to have. Plus, as a bonus, with Michael such a budding chef, we have more implements, and they weren't fitting very nicely in the Tupperware utensil caddy. Don't they look nice here?

While I was in Value Village I also spotted this lovely jug. You cant see the details very well, but tit has lots of lovely green and purple trim in my colours. I loved it but wasn't sure it would match my kitchen. After much debate, I decided to get it anyways because it was pretty. When I got home it clashed withe the kitchen but Michael realized it would be perfect by the front door. Isn't it pretty?

Oh, how I love creating a pretty home!!!

Creating... an Island of Opportunity (Literally!)

Anyone else have a wish list of what they would like in a house? And if you tell me no, I'll know you're lying! LOL We all have that list of things we wish our homes had, or that we would like to have "someday" in the next house, or when we renovate.
One of the items that has always been on my dream list is a kitchen island. Whenever we looked at those fancy contest houses, or flipped through magazines, islands were one of those things I was always pointing out to my hubby.
Our last home had a tiny galley kitchen. If we had put an island in there we would have had to remove the rest of the kitchen first. I don't think so!
Our new home, however, has a beautiful huge kitchen that came with a big open space. Michael immediately started planning all the ways we could put in an island. I wasn't so sure. I was afraid that an island would crowd our kitchen, making all our nice airy space disappear. He also noticed how our kitchen was huge, but because our pantry was so deep, as were all our big corner cupboards, I was actually wishing for more accessible space, especially drawers. Then my darling hubby came up with the perfect solution. He gave me an island for Christmas.

Isn't it cute? This little darling sits in the middle of our kitchen providing lots of extra drawer space and a great extra little counter to work on. I must admit, I wasn't sold on the idea, even on Christmas morning when I opened it. However, later in the day, I noticed that even though we had tons of counter space, we all gathered around our tiny island to prep dinner for the table. Since then, I have come to wonder how I ever lived without it! And that was just the surface and the top drawer! The other two drawers only got loaded yesterday!

Now to show you the planning and prep Michael (who is usually a December 24th shopper) put into this island, and how easily you could do one without breaking the bank!
First Michael visited a demolitions place and bought a used cabinet set (one with drawers obviously). Other places you could get them are Craigslist, Freecycle, talking to renovations contractors, or by asking around your friends and neighbours.
Next he got a melamine board and melamine strips from Home Depot and used them to enclose the back. He measured and cut the board to fit the back, then used the strips to cover the wood that still showed along the sides at the back.
For the top he attached a small kitchen countertop. We are lucky enough to have a friend who works at a cabinet shop and was able to match it pretty close to our kitchen counters, and to make it for Michael. Michael then just drilled it into the spots provided on the cabinet. Other options for a top would include using a large wood cutting board and attaching that, or cutting an old countertop to size and covering it with melamine like for the sides.
Now I have a lovely island in the middle of my floor, and it can even be shifted to clean under it! LOL

Michael says he has other home ideas up his sleeve. I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next!

Creating a Kitchen that Works

We have been here over three months and I have been amazed at how quickly we have gotten the house in order. It looks amazing.
However, the one room that has continued to be a challenge is the kitchen. Compared to our last one it is HUGE, plus Michael made me an island for Christmas - more on that tomorrow.
Yet in spite of all this space my kitchen was in continual chaos and I couldn't fit everything in.
Today a friend came over and we started pulling the cupboards apart and rearranging them in a way that made more sense.
It was AMAZING how much room we actually had! In fact we had so much room that the crockpot and rice cooker are both off the counter. My new 18 quart roaster has its own designated cupboard. Amanda's Easybake oven even got its own shelf in a cupboard!
After we got the dish and cookware organized we tackled the pantries. By the time we were done they looked fabulous, items were grouped in a way that made sense, and there is even an empty shelf. Oh, and that empty shelf is AFTER making another entire shelf into a chocolate shelf (because it only contains the chocolate chips and the leftover Christmas chocolate!)
Thank the Lord for a roomy and organized kitchen. We are blessed to have space and blessed to have organization!
Now my next mission will be to make my organized kitchen into a beautiful kitchen!