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Thrift Store Calling: Paper Sorters Gone WIld

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A couple weeks ago I asked folks on facebook “What is the one item you can never pass up at the thrift store?”

Some people said shoes or purses or linens. Others said gloves or blankets or crockery.

Me? I like the office supplies. 

Yes, office supplies. There is usually a whole isle of them in every thrift store and hardly anybody goes there. Most stuff costs a dollar (or less) and I always come away with something nifty. My favorite thing: paper sorters. All styles and varieties. Chances are, if there is a paper sorter in the store and it’s not covered in schmutz, it’s coming home with me. Don’t care where or how — I will find a ways to use it, goshdarnit.

Since I am still not in my crafty swinging stride just yet, I thought I would whirl around the house this morning and show you guys a few of my paper sorters in action. This isn’t all of them, just the photogenic ones. Come by in person to rifle through my cupboards and you’ll find a bunch more. It’s like a family. Maybe a cult. A thrifty cult I can’t say no to.


PS: That thing about the freezer shelves is especially handy for storing winter soups flat (see here).

Okay. Now I have fessed up and told you what I can’t resist. Now it’s your turn; what is the one thing you can never pass up at the thrift store?

50 Home Remedies: How Black Pepper Saved Me $700

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Warning: this is a long post.

I have been meaning to write a comprehensive post on home remedies for some time but when I sat down to do it, I struggled with what to include or what not to include. I worry about people getting bad information. I trust we all know better than to lick a finger and stick it in an electrical socket, and yet, thousands of people go to the emergency room each year for that very reason. We is geniuses.

And speaking of emergency rooms…

Early Sunday morning I was washing dishes and I cut my thumb on a knife. Bad. Bad enough that I couldn’t get the bleeding to stop after 30 minutes of applying ice and restrictive pressure. It wasn’t a big cut but there was enough blood to make me worry. Normally I would have gone to an urgent care center but the one by me didn’t open for another three hours (remember this is early Sunday morning). Plan B was a hospital emergency room, but with my insurance, an ER visit costs $700 the second I cross the threshold. Don’t even ask me what a band-aid costs. Now, $700 is a price I’d pay it for a broken bone, but a tiny thumb cut? I decided to give it another hour; if I couldn’t get the bleeding to stop in an hour I would have to suck it up an go to the ER.

So what did I do? I googled “stop bleeding home remedy”.

Let me tell you, I read all kinds of crazy stuff. And I tried most of them. Vinegar, diluted bleach, sugar… Nothing helped. Then I read about fresh ground black pepper. I thought this was crazy but I tried it.

Keep in mind, the photos below would be far more effective if I had taken a BEFORE shot, but 1. I don’t think y’all would want to see that and 2. I didn’t want to get blood all over my camera. So you will just have to imagine and big bloody thumb. Go on now….

I cleaned the wound thoroughly, then packed a teaspoon of fresh-ground black pepper over the cut as best I could, then wrapped the whole thing it a clean paper towel and secured with a big piece of masking tape. After ten minutes I removed the paper towel and expected to see more bloody mess. To my shock and amazement, this is what I found…

What the?

Look, I’m not suggesting anyone tries to use this method to heal a gunshot wound, but if you are in a bind, give it a try. 

So while I am singing the praises of one home remedy, I thought I would take the opportunity to share some more. I emailed a bunch of friends and asked you guys on facebook for some tried-and-true home remedies. If you have one that is not listed below, take a second to chime in the comments below.

***50 Home Remedies ***


Colds / Nasal

Take a super hot bath. Mix in a couple of bottles of hydrogen peroxide, a hunk of fresh ginger (shredded), and five crushed IBprofen capsules. Soak for half an hour. This will detox your whole body by pulling the crud out through your skin (remember your skin is an organ too!). Drink tons of water to replace the stuff that comes out in the bath. Warning, you might grossed out an want a cold shower afterwards. If you have any cuts or hangnails cover them with vaseline before getting in the tub. Sandra

Remember that Ibuprofen is the only pain reliever made to work on mucus membrane (mouth, ear, sinuses). Christina

Eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptus oil. Sprinkle some in a hot bath. When you are dry, rub it on your feet, wrists, neck and scalp then over the ears with hats, scarves and put socks on top. I also mix it with a bit of chapstick and rub it on my temples and beneath my nose. The vapor helps loosen mucus, coughs, and opens up your lungs. It’s also an anti-inflammatory and just sinks into your skin and takes the edge off of the achyness of being ill. Susan  (Note, I, Aunt Peaches, second this method wholeheartedly. I am rarely without Vicks Vapo rub for this very reason. Love my menthol/eucalyptus combo!)

My family swears by ouzo. If you think you are getting sick, drinking a shot and/or gargling with it before you go to bed to fight off the cold. Cynthia
Homemade chicken soup. I make sure to put fresh ginger in mine (calms upset stomachs and is very soothing). Kelly
 
For a nasal infection, a cup of warm water with a tablespoon of table salt shoot a cc or so up your nose, then wait until you’ve caught your breath and do it again a couple of times, it dries all the gunk. You can also gargle the salt water for a sore throat. Rhonda

If you have to sneeze pinch your nose and rub the roof of your mouth with your tongue. Cat  

Skin Ailments


(For sunburns) Make tea; pour it over the afflicted area (while standing or sitting in tub) and gently rub the teabags over the area. Dawn

If you have a pimple, wet a cotton ball, wring it out, add a few drops of Yonka serum and hold it to your face as long as you can, or use a band aid.  It has oil of thyme, lavender oil, oil of geranium, and one other. They are all anti-inflammatories. Ann

Apple cider vinegar is great on warts. Soak a cotton ball in it, place on wart and bandaid over. Refresh every day for a week. That should do it. Bev

Honey and salt paste for a facial scrub. The salt will disinfect and pull out impurities while the honey is a natural moisturizer. Cassandra

Poke a pin in an Advil Liquid Gel capsule and apply to the spot. It will knock that sucker out in no time. Caitlyn

Tea tree oil is the real deal, brilliant antiseptic and good for spot-treating acne. Katie

For bee stings, cut a green onion and apply the raw end to the sting. Same thing works with banana peels. Herby

A spoonful of honey a day makes your lips super soft. Randi

Lavender essential oil will help a burn (like from a stove) and it helps it heal faster and scars are less visible. It has to be a true note or pure form not mixed with any carrier oils. Elizabeth 

Use Listerine as bug spray. Spray all over your skin and clothes. Mosquitoes hate it. Janet

Bug bite? Rub it with a dry bar of soap. Will stop the itching. Susan

Crush up an asprin and mix it with baking soda and lemon juice. Make a paste and rub over your face for a couple of minutes. Rinse with cool water and ice cubes. Great for special occasions. Reem



Stomach

An almost surefire cure for nausea, even extreme nausea (where things have already started to happen, ahem)….try saltines and coke. Not ginger ale or sprite–there is something about the coke syrup that works. Eat a tiny corner nibble of the saltine (has to be the salted kind), take the tiniest sip of coke. Wait ten minutes, do it again. Repeat as often as needed. Works almost every single time. Myra

Chewing on fennel and caraway seeds is a great way to calm an upset stomach. My mother is Persian — they have used for thousands of years. Salma

Hiccups

I learned this trick from a bar tender who said it works on everyone, even drunk people. Take a glass of water and drink 3 or 4 sips from the opposite rim. Meaning the rim that is not closest to you. This will mean bending over and probably spilling some water so do it outside or in the shower. Something in your diaphragm stretches in order to reach like that. It smooths the hiccups in two seconds. Amanda

A spoonful of peanut butter for hiccups. Works every time! Melissa

Especially for children: hold your kid’s nostrils closed with your thumbs (one for each nostril) while using your fingers to close their ears. (Push in the flappy guys that partially cover the ear opening; don’t try to plug the ear canal like a cork.) Have them take 10 sips of water. If they insist on breathing, let them do so only after the 5th and 10th sips. Voila! Works almost every time. John

Our sure fire hiccup trick: a glass of tap water, hold a paper towel over the top of the glass, sip the water *through* the towel. A few gulps ought to do it. Tracy

Ear problems

Mix equal parts vinegar and rubbing alcohol and put 4 drops in effected ear. Works great to prevent my kiddos’ swimmer’s ear. Jayme

To help babies and toddlers with ear pressure problems on airplanes (especially small planes)…during take-off ask the flight attendant for two paper cups and two of those piping hot towels (or ask for hot water and soak some towels yourself). As the plane is taking off, put the towels in the cups and cup them over your child’s ears — no gaps. The steam will escape from the cups into their ears and alleviate the pressure. This works great on my son who has chronic sinus problems. Stopped him from screaming bloody murder and now he thinks it’s a game. Learned this trick from a flight attendant and I never got a chance to thank her properly! Rebecca

Soar Throat / Coughing

Warmed lemonade with a teaspoon of honey swirled in cures a kid’s nighttime coughing fits. Amy

Gargling with salt water – works wonders. Sore throats, cough, even earaches. Becky

Eat a couple of marshmallows for a sore throat. Dawn

A spoonful of honey makes a sore throat feel better and stops cough better than OTC stuff. Our crew team (rowing) goes through a lot of “honeybears” at regattas when the weather is cooler- the coach is a doctor and he originally recommended to rowers, etc. Dawn

Headache

My favorite is eating a big thick shake (like a Blizzard) when you have a headache. Numbs it away. Lisa

I have to travel for work and I’m always getting headaches from smells on buses, trains, planes and conference rooms (imagine — perfumes, BO, cleaning products, etc). I keep a plastic bag with a tissue loaded with lemon oil. When I need it I waft the tissue under my nose to block or balance the offending smells. Justin

Splinters

Make a paste of baking soda and water. Pack it on the splinter and put a band-aid over it. 10 minutes later the splinter will pop out. Jennifer

Apply hydrogen peroxide. It draws the stuff out. Heather

Soak the area in olive oil before trying to pluck it out with tweezers or a hot needle. It makes it easier to grab onto the splinter. Natalie

Toothaches

Clove oil for toothaches. A couple drops from a Qtip helps immensely. Don’t swallow it! It will make your mouth water and it tastes horrible, but it works. Christina

Hold an ice cube between your thumb and your forefinger (same side as the toothache). The nerves hook up in a weird way. It will calm the pain long enough to get to the dentist and have the real problem taken care of. Grant

For a canker sore, gargle with warm water and salt for 30 seconds every few hours. If it is a particularly bad sore, soak a black tea bag in very hot very salty water for a couple of minutes, then press the bag directly on the sore for 10 minutes. The salt will draw out the crud and the tannins in the tea will relieve pain. Dee

Hangover

MSG. Cat

My roommate taught me a after a night of heavy drinking to take a multivitamin before you go to bed and one when you wake up. Mary Elena

A hangover is just a symptom of dehydration. You can prevent the worst of it by drinking 2 liters of water before going to bed (hopefully you can remember). I also take a small dose of an anti-inflammatory like aspirin. Coleman

Urinary Tract Infections

Alka Seltzer has never been advertised for such, but it will treat UTI’s. Cassandra

I get UTIs all the time since having mt second baby. I get no warning at all. Unsweetened cranberry juice will get rid of it in a day or two, but if you are worried about, ahem *making a mess* , and you can’t spend all day sitting on the toilet, you can fold a couple of clean cotton socks and stick them in your underwear like a pantyliner. It’s not glamorous but it gets the job done. You can tend to your kids and go to the store for medicine without worrying you will pee your pants. Anonymous

Baby Care

Pure cornstarch cures diaper rash better than any OTC remedy I’ve ever tried. Amy

Feet

Listerine is wonderful for a great foot soak. It’s a very powerful disinfectant and will keep your feet smelling yummy. I like the vanilla mint. Cassandra

Fever

Soak socks in vinegar and put on clean feet (stick a towel underneath). Wear until they dry out. Maybe an hour or two. Take temperature, it should have come down a bit. June

Lice

Natural Remedy for Lice: 3 tblspoon baby shampoo 3 tblspoon olive oil 1 tsp tea tree oil 1 tsp eucalyptus oil. Leave on hair for 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly.  Jen

Taking Pills

If your kid has to take yucky pills or medicine, have them suck on a popsicle first. It will numb their tongue and sense of taste long enough to make swallowing easier. Jennifer

OKay. That’s it for today. Feel free to chime in the comments with your favorite home remedy. Also, this is the part when I am supposed to encourage you to seek professional medical help in cases of serious illness, but I am going to assume we all have enough common sense to know that much already. Right? Right. Stay safe and healthy everyone!


How to Remove Candle Wax From Glass Containers

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I am writing this post for three reasons.

1. Because I am a hoarder and hate throwing away anything.

2. Because in a couple of weeks, I am going to show a craft project that requires leftover wax as one of the materials. I like to save my wax from old candles (see reason  #1) but I couldn’t find any comprehensive posts about this on Pinterest that I could link back to. So I am demonstrating it here. Back to the future….again.

3. Because Bath and Body Works had a candle sale last weekend and I had to mentally justify the cost of purchasing more candles by using them to pose for a pretty picture for my blog. Like this…

I have a thing for candles in general, but Bath and Body Works candles are like my crack cocaine. Like  fragrantly delicious crack cocaine. The fact that they come in these nice glass containers does not help my addiction.

Before I dive into this, I want to say that there are lots of ways to remove wax in these situations; freezing the glass, heating the glass, scoring the wax and taking it out chuck by chunk… All of these methods work, yes, but I have found that they tend to leave a residue or small bits of wax that I end up needing to scrub off by hand in the sink. Not a big deal, but I like to avoid it because 1. I don’t want wax and crud all over my sponge or down my plumbing, and 2. glass like this is not made to withstand a lot of handling and could easily break (as I have learned on numerous occasions).  All of this is to say, my method here might take a little more time but it is fool proof, requires zero elbow grease, and leaves the glass sparkling clear. Sound good? Read on.

What’s nice about a lot of scented candles is that they come in these handy glass containers. The sides are usually straight-up-and-down and are good for storing all kinds of goodies.  As you can see, I am using this one to corral my colored spoons. I have a thing for colored spoons.

Side note: The green candle there is called Fresh Balsam. It smells better than real fresh balsam, which is saying something.  The scent is super homey, not-too feminine, and neutral enough that you can burn them all winter long – not just Christmas. That is why they make a great Christmas gifts; the recipient can enjoy them in January. If you ever need to get a no-think $10 gift for a holiday gift swap, this is it. Stock up.

Another note: Just to clarify, this post is not sponsored by Bath and Body Works. Although, I can’t blame you for thinking that. I am doing a really good job of kissing their butt right now.

Okay. On to the tutorial!

About Labels: It occurred to me after I took these photos that maybe I should have included something about removing the labels off the glass. Nice one. Well, here is what I know: most candle making folks realize we want the glasses so they are making it easy to remove the labels (Glade has a whole series of commercials based on this). Still, some labels are stuck on with crazy tough adhesives and can be very difficult to remove. If that is the case, soaking them in a bowl of hot water with blue Dawn dish detergent is about as good as it gets. If you remove 95% of the label but find that dried up paper crud later on, smear it with coconut oil, let it rest for a few minutes, then go back with a scrubber. That should do it.

Okay. Now let’s get on to the tutorial. I mean it this time!


VERY IMPORTANT: Set the wax aside in a plastic bag to save for future projects.

The key is to get that paper towel in there when those last bits of wax are still liquid. They should cling to the towel without effort. Swish swish swish. Presto!

If you have to scrub, add more hot water and wait a minute, then try again. Except for a little windex or vinegar at the end (optional), there should be no rubbing or elbow grease at all. Rubbing = smearing, and the last thing you want is wax smeared all over your glass container.

Side Note: You don’t have to boil water just for this purpose. Hot water poured off a pot of rice or pasta works just fine. This process need not be pretty.

Also note: Don’t do this process in your sink or on your nice counter top. Lay down an old rag or newspaper. You don’t want to have to scrape hardened wax bits off your table or your drain.

Random tip for all those candles that come separate from the votive (and you want to keep it that way).

The candle will melt but the water will form a barricade between the wax and the glass (remember from science class: oil and water don’t mix). Eventually the candle will extinguish itself and you can just plop it out of the container and empty the water. No fuss. Neat stuff, right? This is a trick I picked up working at an Italian restaurant in college. Saves sooo much time. No picking wax out of a hundred votives at the end of a long shift.

And while I’m talking about candles, here is a trick for making them last much longer. Or, if you are in a pinch and need to do some scrubbing, this is the best scrubbing device I have ever encountered (and it was totally free). Woot!

27 Ways To Use Coconut Oil

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What is the Vietnamese word for buzz saw?
I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I heard it the last time I took my mangled feet to get a pedicure.
It’s true: I have ugly feet.
And half-way through sandal season (ie now) they are at their ugliest. I would show you pictures but I try to keep things wholesome around here.  Sufficient to say, they are dry and rough around the edges. One of my toes spreads out all crooked and scary like E.T.’s finger. It’s not pretty.
But…

But, but, but, but, BUT…they got a whole lot prettier when I discovered this body scrub recipe last summer.

Sit on the edge of your tub and rub on your feet for 2 minutes…rinse, dry, repeat. Boom, new feet!

 

Yes, there are about ten berjillion face and body scrub recipes running around Pinterest these days, but this one is better. Know why?
Coconut oil.
Yep. It’s that good.
It makes a huge difference. No, I mean that.
I had been using coconut oil soap on my hyper-sensitive/allergy/eczema-prone skin for years, but I didn’t join the official die-hard fan base until last spring. To be honest, prior to reading about the health benefits, I had the idea that coconut oil consumption was something to keep at a minimum – probably because it comes semi-solid like Crisco, and in my mind that put it in the same genre as vegetable lard, right?
Wrong. 
For the money, coconut oil is just about the best thing running. It helps to prevents wrinkles, heart disease, cancer, and lowers cholesterol levels, and research links it to improvement in memory and the prevention of a multitude of other diseases.
If you are anything like me – I had you at wrinkles (yes, it’s true: coconut oil is a natural antioxidant that protects the body from free radical damage and prevents premature aging and degenerative diseases (read: your skin is going to love it)).

Did you know that multiple studies on Pacific Island populations who get 30-60 percent of their total caloric intake from fully saturated coconut oil have all shown nearly non-existent rates of cardiovascular disease?
Plus, let’s be honest; what would you give to have skin like a Hula girl?
Yeah. Me too.
Coconut oil is antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial. It attacks and kills viruses that have a lipid (fatty) coating, such as herpes, hepatitis C, influenza, and mononucleosis. It kills the bacteria that cause pneumonia, sore throats, dental cavities, urinary tract infections, meningitis, gonorrhea, food poisoning, pneumonia, and many, many more bacterial infections. It kills the fungus/yeast infections that cause candida, ringworm, athletes foot, thrush, jock itch, diaper rash and more.
I could go on about this for a while, but seeing as this is not a health food store and I am not the All-Knowing granola guy in the Hawaiian shirt behind the counter, I’ll just link some sources at the bottom so you can do your own research. Or, just watch this video from Doctor Oz. That guy is is so crazy. He’s like 60 something 52 and looks 22. It’s creepy how he keeps asking me to look at my own poop but I’ll listen to what he to say because, well, look at him — the dude must be doing something right.
Anyway… I have been tinkering with the idea of doing a series of posts on common household remedies for a while now, and since coconut oil is something of a wonder-elixir in my book I thought I would start out with a post devoted to the stuff.

******* 27 Ways to Use Coconut Oil *******

  • Soothe chronic ulcers (Doctor oz does a good job of explaining how this works)
  • Diaper rash reliever (a friend of mine with three kids swears it works better than Desitin)
  • Breast feeding aid (certified organic coconut oil is an excellent anti-chafing balm for nursing mothers)
  • Condition wooden spoons, serving bowls and cutting boards
  • Tame dry ends  (rub a small amount between fingers and run over the end of your hair before brushing)
  • Rub on psoriasis and eczema plaques to help heal irritation (side note testimony: my own eczema improved significantly when I switched to coconut oil soap several years ago — far more helpful than any $100 prescription soap or tube of cream)
  • Pet-Friendly digestion aid (add ½ a teaspoon to dog or cat food to aid digestion and relieve constipation)
  • Oil pulling (I know several people who swear by this)
  • Use as shaving cream on legs or face
  • Cream foundation base (in the palm of your hand, mix a dab of coconut oil with powdered mineral foundation to create a matching cream foundation for around the eyes/mouth area)
  •  Deep conditioning hair mask (mix 2Tbs coconut oil + 2Tbs of real mayonnaise (ie: not miracle whip) then rub all over hair starting from the bottom up, put on shower cap and rest for 30 minutes before rinsing)
  • Magic shell (melt chocolate chips and mix with a spoon full of coconut oil. When you pour over ice cream it will harden off just like the magic shell stuff).
  • Help heal stretch marks (especially if you rub it in before the stretching starts)
  • Homemade Vapo Rub (mix 2 Tbs of solid coconut oil with 3 drops of tee tree oil and 3 drops rosemary oil. (I also like to add a few drops of Olbas oil) and rub on chest and neck to relieve congestion)
  • Guitar string cleaner
  • Kill head lice (for real)
  • Facial scrub (mix with equal parts sugar and baking soda for a brightening facial scrub)
  • Whitening tooth paste  (mix equal parts coconut oil and baking soda)
  • Eye make-up remover  (added benefit — after you smear away the makeup, the residue will sit on your skin all night as a mega moisturizing eye cream)
  • Massage Oil
  • Substitute for olive oil in cooking (I have found that most of the coconut flavor disappears with exposure to heat or any sort of spices – some people are more sensitive to the taste than others, though)
  • Frozen facial mask (mix with egg and honey for a frozen facial mask)
  • Deodorant base (smear a small amount on *clean* underarms and sprinkle with baby powder or cornstarch Or follow this recipe to make a real bar)
  • Healing ointment (use to help heal and seal small cuts, bee stings, minor burns or skin irritations)
  • Schmutz remover (mix with baking soda as a substitute for Goo-Gone or similar — get gum out of hair and carpet as well)
  • Leather sealant and conditioner (dribble a small amount into a rag and rub on shoes or bags vigorously)
  • Substitute for WD-40
Additional Sources:
So, OK, clearly I like coconut oil for lots of stuff around the house, but I have a question; what is your favorite home remedy?

$12 Artist’s Drying Rack

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I like to paint. 
You wouldn’t know it by the things I post on this blog, but I do. A lot. I like to paint big sloppy slabs of color layered onto canvases thick as peanut butter. It’s cathartic. 
The only downer is they take forever to dry. Sometimes weeks. And regardless of where I put the thing, Lola will want to walk over it and before you know it the whole house is paw printed in Rembrandt Burnt Umber #27. 
Nice.
I have been looking at artist’s drying racks for year, but the starting price usually runs over $100, which, to my mind, seems excessive for an item that serves no purpose other than circulating air. So I made do with what I had; I turned a $12 Ikea dresser frame into a drying rack by substituting the wire basket drawers for simple sheets of corrugated plastic. (Click here for earlier post on where/how to obtain free corrugated plastic from old political signs).
I am pleased as punch.
I think I might set up a couple more of these in the basement – one to store some framed art (I can’t hang it all!), and the other I’ll swap the corrugated plastic and use those sheets of window screen—should be good for all those sweaters and such that need to dry flat. Am the only one who avoids buying hand-wash clothes because it’s too hard to find a place to let them dry? Oh wow I’m lazy.

Unrelated: As long as I am showing y’all a peek at my project room, I may as well show you where most of the stuff that I make on this blog gets it start, aka; The Wall o’ Crap. There are more of those Ikea drawers on the opposite wall as well.  This is where crafts are born. Aww, sweet.
 

No-Sew Vintage Scarf Curtain

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I have the trendiest pantry in town.

Ubiquitous Trends for Spring/Summer 2012:
Mint Green
Geometric Patterns
Neon Finger Nails

I don’t consider myself a very trendy person, but if I hit two out the three big ones with something I already own, it’s coming out of the closet before the season is over. When I found this vintage Vera  Neuman scarf at the thrift store ten years ago (I collect them — and this one was less than $2.00 as I recall)… I remember thinking, Wow, could there ever be a time a time when hospital green was in fashion?

…errr, yes, actually.  No time like the present.


Unfortunately, this scarf has a major snag along one of the hems. Eventually I would like to repair it, but in the meantime I’m putting it to good use. Thanks to a $2.00 bag of curtain clips and a tension rod, I have a chic new curtain in my pantry. Woot!

* Note: If you do this at home, avoid using a silk scarf in an ultra bright window or the colors will fade. Then again, sun bleaching might be next summer’s big trend and you could be ahead of the curve 🙂

Easy DIY Paper Sorter

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I was over on Pinterest the other day, and somewhere between the Nutter Butter brownies and the hipster Granny wearing lip glasses, I found this crazy useful idea for creating a mini bookshelf for storing paper goods. 
I like this method because it keeps paper easy to access—no riffling through filing cabinets or messing around with portfolios on a shelf— it’s all right there in easy reach.  This is important to me because the easier something is to access, the more likely I will keep it in order. And when you store as much paper as I do, you take all the help you can get 🙂
All it requires is a handful of zip-ties and one of those wire cube cubby things. They sell them at Target, but I always see the laying around thrift stores for $5.00. Mine was free— it was already in the basement being used to hold mittens and whatnot. Seeing as I own exactly three mittens (not three pairs, just three), you can tell it saw a lot of action. Cubby is now much happier with his second life as a paper sorter.
*** Other nifty paper storage tricks I found on Pinterest

Custom Confetti Cards

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Mother’s Day is on Sunday.

Know what Moms like? Thoughtful greeting cards.

Know what Moms like even more than thoughtful greeting cards? Thoughtfully homemade greeting cards.

Know what Moms like even more than thoughtfully homemade greeting cards?  A thoughtfully homemade greeting card that reacts when you shake it that she can hang on the fridge or show it to all her friends as if to say BET YOUR KID NEVER GAVE YOU ONE AS COOL AS THIS.

Behold:

webcam to gif
Watch the confetti dance


Last Christmas, when I was fussing with window style CD envelopes to package my Holiday Jamz, it occurred to me that these little envelopes would make great tree ornaments. I was thinking, maybe little kids could use them as frames for their snowman drawings. Or their school picture. Or something cute. Then Christmas chaos happened and I was lucky to walk out the door in matching shoes. Another idea out the window. Until now…


Cute idea, no?

Let’s kick it up a notch.

Let’s embellish the outside and add some confetti to the inside.


That’s better.

This is a great project for kids of all sizes (even adult sizes). The CD envelopes serve as frames to just about anything you can imagine and make for a perfect canvas for embellishment;


Materials

  • Window style CD Envelopes. Staples sells a pack of 100 for $10.99
  • A drawing or photograph trimmed to a 5″ square.
  • Stuff to decorate the outside (paint, markers, ink, stickers, sequins…)
  • Stuff to float around on the inside (confetti, tissue paper, feathers…)
  • Glue or paste
  • Card slightly larger than the CD envelope (optional)


1. Decorate the outside of the frame with paint and a gold marker.
2. Add some sequins. Your Mom deserves some sequins, doesn’t she?
3. Insert your photo or drawing, then add a pinch of confetti in front of the image.
4. Seal the envelope and glue the back to a card slightly larger than the envelope (or just treat it like a postcard and write on the back.)

That’s it!


It’s hard to photograph the confetti moving around in there, but trust me, it moves.

And don’t worry — it’s sealed in good. No messy, exploding confetti all over your carpet, I promise.

Still nervous? OK fine. Be that way. Skip the confetti.

It’s still pretty darn cute:

What about adding some feathers in there?

Look, Lola made one too. She loves those stickers.


What? No pictures for Mom? Too insecure to draw? How about her name instead?  Use letter stickers to spell her name (MOM, obviously) then paint over it and remove the letters. Boom. She will love it!

Happy Mothers Day 🙂


Postcards from a Hoarder: Easter Baskets

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In early March, I made a mental note to pick up a few extra Easter baskets before the season was over. They are so colorful and cheap, I thought it would be fun to snip off the handles and use them to store potatoes and onions in the pantry. Good idea, no?

So I got a couple. Grand total $3.19. What a bargain!

As long as I was at Target again the following week, I grabbed a couple more. For the garlic, obviously.

And then I grabbed one at the dollar store. For paper plates, of course.

And then another one at the grocery store. For, ummm…sponges.

…One month and 23 baskets later, I am now cleaning out my pantry and deciding if my coffee grinder warrants its own Easter basket.

I’m heavily leaning toward YES.

   

Friday Flowers: Shannon’s Peony

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You have to feel a little sorry for flowers in my neighborhood. Last week they were blooming their hearts out, basking in the sunshine and getting a tan. If someone was serving umbrella drinks, they’d be all in. Then, unfortunately, this week happened. Yesterday was cold enough to drag out the winter coat. Again. Now all the brave little tulips who came out to play last week now find themselves frozen and soggy, their limpid heads pointed toward the ground. Like the tulips lining our street, my neighbor’s beautiful white peonies have also peeked, wilted, and faded away with the bitter cold.

This is what the peonies looked like last week.

Since we won’t be seeing them again until the fall (fingers crossed) I thought I would try making some peonies on my own. These peonies are far more tolerant of the cold!

I first heard of customizing bows from this Martha Stewart tutorial. They look super cute on a package, but I was thinking about using these as place settings or on a wreath. I can’t decide just yet, but I’ll keep you posted!

Do you have a suggestion for a Friday Flower? Chime in on Facebook.

Did you know, in the middle ages, peonies were “recommended to cure gall stones, control epileptic seizures, soothe teething pain and cure jaundice” or that it is the unofficial national flower of China? Click here to learn more about Peonies.