Fun and Mental Changes

So today is the day!!!  Today is an open house celebrating a friend's new digs.  More importantly.... her new crafting digs!!!  There is nothing more exciting than upgrading scrap space, I definitely know!!!  So for her housewarming (craft-room-warming as I'm calling it), I got her some organizational items for the new space.  You all know me.... it's all about the Chi!!!  So among some of the organizational items I got for her (and the thing I'm most excited about) was THIS little slice of awesomeness: This is the Dignitet curtain wire from IKEA.  It doesn't look like much in it's packaging, but let me share with you just how cool this unassuming wire really is!!! Use this wire with clips and hooks to store ribbon!!!  Get that ribbon OFF your work surfaces and on the wall!  It's visible, accessible and organized!!!  LOVE this idea (click on pics to go directly to the blog posts that featured each of these pics)!!! Hanging cu...

A while back I completed a closet conversion for my scrapbook addiction. I was so proud of the workability in such a small space that I wrote a blog post on it (you can see it here ). Well, since then I was honored to be asked to do it for someone else. So again, with the same sense of awe with what you can really do in such a small space... here is MY SECOND closet conversion done for Ms. Betty! And while my own closet was strictly for scrapbooking (yes, I installed lighting and even a table top), this new closet conversion was for general craft storage. I also want to say, and I've said it before, IKEA rocks! Most everything came from IKEA. It took me three days to complete and cost about $300 start to finish, INCLUDING the mobile, expandable sewing cart (look familiar?), shelving and storage tubs. The sewing cart runs about $125. The only storage items that were pre-existing were the black four drawer chest and a couple of tubs that you see on the upper shelves. Because of...

I have never really thought of myself as a movie or dvd collector until one day I woke up and had over 250 movies (in their cases) that needed a home. Those dvds sure do take up a lot of space! Well, because I'm always looking for ways to utilize verticle space (meaning that I love to put everything up on walls) I decided that it was time to invest in a dvd storage tower. "How many does the tower hold?" I couldn't find a single one that held more than 200 dvds and I certainly didn't want to line my walls with dvd towers. Enter the Discgear Auto Select 100! This little baby is somethin!!! It's about as big as a loaf of bread and holds 100 dvds. Each dvd is assigned a number that corresponds to the 'on board' catalog so you can always find what you are looking for in seconds. This magical invention has saved me so much time and so much space... I now own 8 that organizes all my computer programs, music cds, audio books and of course... movies! Oh, but w...

Yesterday I posted a blog with the recipe for my raw candied yams and mentioned slicing the yams. I forgot to put in the post that the fun little gadget that I used to make all my yam slices uniform was a "mandolin" slicer. So this got me thinking about all the gadgets in my kitchen that I use and LOVE. As I have posted in the past, I am a gadget girl and thought it would be fun to showcase some of my "must have" tools. Here are my top 10. This is my #1: the mandolin slicer. Mine is an OXO V-Slicer. It is, in my opinion, the very best slicer on the market and the one I used to make my candied yams. It is easy to use, easy to clean (everything goes into the dishwasher) and easy to abuse. Basically, "it takes a lickin and keeps on tickin". It will slice four different slice thicknesses as well as julienne and fry cuts. I literally cut an entire bag of yams in about 10 minutes. Seriously quick food prep. And speaking of quick food prep, #2 is a food process...

I talk quite a bit about organizing, because I believe that organizing has made me the happy person you don't see today (because this is a blog, get it?). It started when I wanted to decorate my house and began learning about Feng Shui. Now, I'm an Aries and I'm a redhead and stereotypically (and quite literally) I am NOT an organized person. Yes, this is all very true! But that's the beauty of organization... it is 100% learned. To date, I have never heard of the organizing gene. Some of us are a little more predisposed to "getting it" though, and I was not one of them. I spent many years frazzled because of disorganization. I would never have known that was the reason if I hadn't spent time organizing the things in my life. It is through that process that I felt the release of frustration.... I actually felt problems get solved. In a previous post , I talk about the problem with clothing in my bedroom. My husband and I argued over missing articles of cl...

Ok, so about 2 years ago I FINALLY decided I needed some separate space for my scrap booking, but was very limited on space and very limited on money (scroll down for pics). I had a budget of about $500.00 +/- and a closet in my office. You can probably see where this is going! I completely gutted the closet. I removed every shelf but the top shelf that is really too high to use anyhow, but everything else went! I painted the closet and then began the search for what to put in it. It dawned on me after watching many home improvement programs on Home and Garden Television, that most low cost/high function fixes of the pro's for home organization happens at Ikea. And I just happen to have one near me. Off I went armed with the dimensions of my closet. I was surprised to find out that there were MANY affordable options to choose from and ended up spending about a week going over them (they even have "planners" on-site to help you). I finally chose a "closet organizer...