A Few More Tips for De-cluttering and Organizing

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about a link to some great de-cluttering tips and tricks. I received an email from Mini, who had a few more I could add to the list that were really good, so I thought I would share them with you here. Thanks Mini.

"I tape favorite recipes inside the door of my "baking" cupboard so I can stand right there and get the ingredient I want and look at the recipe at the same time

I put all suitcases inside each other and only have 1 to stash as well as stashing items I don't use often or only use on trips in the smaller inside one.

I use dressers or small items of furniture with drawers in so there is places to stash stuff

I have my cd's and other music inside a bench so they are put away yet handy .... near the player and the bench looks nice as a piece of furniture just inside my door"

Check out this great MSN Video: Incredible Hang Drum Duo

Check out this great MSN Video: Incredible Hang Drum Duo

Turn up your speakers, click on the title here, sit back and smile! This is the neatest sound! It really makes me smile!

15 Ways to De-Clutter Your Life

15 Ways to De-Clutter Your Life

Here are some great ideas for de-cluttering your life.  click on the title)  I am a self-confessed pack rat so clutter is a real problem at our house. I found some of these ideas really useful. Perhaps you have some hints you could share with me that would help with my clutter. If so, please let me know...just as long as your solution doesn't involve getting rid of all my "treasures" (which some would interpret as "junk").

Bathroom Decoration on the Cheap

 love magazine ads.  Some are beautiful, some are clever, and some make me laugh out loud!  "Fresh Step", a brand of kitty litter, had some of the funniest ads a year or so ago.  Naturally, being the pack rat that I am, I had to tear them out of the magazines after I read all the articles I was interested in.

I recently was going through all the neat pix I've collected from mag ads when I again ran across these funny pictures.  I thought, "These would be so perfect to hang in the bathroom."  So I went to my favorite store (The Dollar Tree) and purchased 3 cheapie frames.

I took the mat out of the frames and had to cut the middle bar off, as these frames were actually made to put two pictures in each frame (see the pic above).  Then I trimmed the ads and framed them and hung them in the bathroom.

Sorry about the glare from the glass of the pix, but here they are hanging on my bathroom wall.  Aren't they a hoot!?

Spring has Sprung

We have been having some really lovely weather lately.  Today, the west side of our pear tree had a few open blossoms and plenty of buds.  The birds have gone crazy here with a cacophonous song of spring.  Where there is grass, it has greened.  People are out in the parks, walking, jogging, playing and even picnicing.  Yep!  I think spring has sprung.

And here is a picture of the blossoms/buds on my pear tree...just wanted to share the spring thing!

Baby blanket and hat

As promised yesterday, here is a snap of the baby blanket and hat that I crocheted for our soon-to-arrive great-granddaughter.  I used Bernat's "Baby Jaquards" in the berries and cream color.  The stitch in the blanket is what I always called a mile-a-minute stitch, which may be a misnomer.  It is the stitch where you do a single/double/single and then the next row a double/single/double, which goes really fast and gives the item a wonderful texture.  The little hat is a single crochet with  double crochet ruffles.  And here is the snap I took of the items:

Hybernating mamma bear and cub (or cubs?)

What have I been doing lately?  Well, I finished a baby blanket and hat and have to get that sent off to my granddaughter for her baby due the end of next month.  I will post a pix as soon as I take one.

Today I discovered a cool site that has a hidden cam that is monitoring a mamma bear and her baby/babies.  Even though most of what you can see is a black bear breathing, and sometimes stirring in her sleep, occasionally you will see a little paw peek out...yep...a baby!  It's mesmerizing to watch.  go to the site and check it out for yourself by clicking on the title of this post!  A new life...how wonderful!

Crochet Your Own Snuggie

I was excited to find a crochet pattern for an afghan with sleeves (think snuggie?) and wanted to share the link to the pattern.  Whoo-hoo!  Wanna try this one!  If you wanna try it too, click the title of this post to go to the pattern.

Corned Beef 'n' Cabbage Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

Corned Beef 'n' Cabbage Recipe Taste of Home Recipes

I've never made Corned Beef N Cabbage, but my dh wants me to make this for St. Pat's day this year, so I hit the web in search of a recipe. This recipe is the one I will try. It is made in the slow cooker...a big plus to me! I love my slow cooker!  I think I will add a couple of red spuds, though. 

Sock Kitty

 

Here is a cat I made from a pair of socks:

I used one sock as the head, body and legs.  The other sock provided the muzzle, the arms and tail.  The head of the cat is the toe of one sock.  Using my sewing machine, I formed the shape of the ears in the toe of the sock.  Then I stuffed the ears and head and with a gathering stitch, I made the neck.  The legs were formed by cutting the cuff (or leg) of the sock in half and sewing the legs.  The body and legs were stuffed through the opening in the legs.  Then the openings were stiched with a gathering stitch and pulled closed.  Then with needle sculpting, toes were formed on each footl.

The arms were cut from the cuff of the second sock and stuffed, stitched to the torso, and toes were sculpted on the arms.  The muzzle was formed from the heel of the second sock.  It was stuffed and sculpted and attached to the face of the cat.  The tail was also made from the second sock, stuffed, and attached to the "rump" of the cat.  Finally, I added a heart shaped bead for the nose, black beads for the eyes, thick black crochet thread for the whiskers, and a pink ribbon tied around the neck for the finishing touch.

This sock cat now lives with my daughter, Jeni, in Wisconsin.

Altered Charms

A whle back I participated in a charm swap in an altered arts group that I belong to.  It was really fun and the charms were really cool.  Here are the charms I made for the swap:

I used pop can tabs and gold wire to attach beads in the holes of the tabs.  I put jump rings on so people could use the charms on necklaces or bracelets or ???  I got a lot of variety in the charms I received and made a necklace from them.

Art journal

I belong to a Yahoo group of art journaling, where they give challenges and word prompts. I thought I might share a few images from my art journal.  I don't have a lot of pages in it yet, but here is a pic of the cover:

As you can see, I call my art journal "Me, Myself, and I"   One page I made was a one-word description of myself.  Here is that page:

Another page I used the word prompt "hand" and this is my page for that prompt:

When the word prompt "Body" was used in the group, I made this journal page:

These are all pages I did a while ago.  I need to get back into doing more with my art journal.  I really enjoyed making pages in it before.  And as I make new entries, I will try to remember to post them here to share with you.

National Craft Month

March is National Craft Month.  How are you going to celebrate?  Follow this link, and find all types of how-tos that will give you instructions so you can try a new craft!  AND...have fun!!

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/craftstechniques101/a/National_Craft_Month.htm

Feel free to post in the comments what you are doing to celebrate!