Getting Organized

Sometimes drawing the line between getting your child everything they want and "you don't need that" is a toughie. Luckily there are a few things that keep my little one happy all the time - cars, crafts and trains. (Not necessarily always in that order). Keeping said things tidy can present it's own set of challenges, but I think I have come up with a solution. You can't imagine how happy I was to hear from a friend that, after seeing my son's toy closet, she was inspired to clean and organize her son's as well.

It seems like such a no-brainer now after seeing the closet all put together, I wonder why it took so long to get to this point. Keep in mind this isn't *all* of his toys. There are a few shelves in the playroom for books and cars and a toy box in his bedroom for little odds and ends and stuffed friends. The garage houses the outdoor toys like scooters and sports equipment.

Let me tell you how I set up the closet. The shelves were already built in and the closet is actually supposed to be a linen closet. If I ever get the opportunity I'd like to refit the shelves with the elfa line from the Container Store, but that is a whole other post! So, using what I have, I sorted the toys into containers and placed them with the ones that Z uses most often or doesn't need help/supervision with on the bottom. There are a few extra large bins at the very bottom that he doesn't play with as much, but since the bins are so big and cumbersome I placed them low to make it a bit easier to get out.

The top holds art supplies, craft kits, board games and items used infrequently. There is also a hook on the door for bags and such. To help keep everything in it's place I made labels for the bins with pictures of the items inside as well as text. Since he can't read yet the picture helps identify what goes inside while the text reinforces the word recognition. I plan on printing out some of the photos you see here in this post to attach to the back of the door. That way, when there is a playing frenzy and a bunch of the bins are out being used he can see from the picture where they belong and put them back in the correct place.

It's not so much me being OCD (which I have a tendency to be) but rather the hope that everything will return to the same place and actually *fit* in the closet! The biggest challenge will be weeding out old toys to make room for the new. For now there is a little wiggle room.

I hope this inspires you and now you'll want to go organize something! If you do, send me a link to see what you've done!

February Flashback

Hello! Yes, it's been too long between blogs again! I am working on a project that I want to post when I am done with it. But it made me miss my blog and I thought in the meantime I'd post something Zion and I did back in February and I never got a chance to post. Better late than never, right? Or we can look at it like this - it will help you prepare for next valentines... or give you a great rainy-day summer activity to do! Either way, enjoy!

Sweet Crayon Heart & Color-in Valentines!

If you have kids then you have crayons. Millions of them. And if you are a crazy, pack-rat, crafter like myself you keep all the ones your kids get when you go to restaurants too. So you have millions more. They are loving used by your little artistes, they break and then you have billions of broken crayon fragments! Well, for pete sake, DON'T throw them away! There are plenty of great crafty applications for broken crayons and perhaps I'll blog more of those later. But for this little handmade Valentine you melt them in heart shaped molds and make brand new multi-colored heart shaped crayons!. Of course you could use any shape mold, but these *were* for Valentines!

They are so easy! Remove the paper from your crayons and break them into tiny pieces. You can use an X-acto blade to slice the logs into smaller pieces. (Parents do this part!) Then let your kiddos pick out the colors to go into each heart. You may have to help persuade them to use a few bright colors along with the dark blue, green and browns. =) Bake them in the oven at 250º for 10-15 minutes or until they are melted but not so liquidly that you get brown sludge. After they cool just pop them out of the molds and rub any rough edges on a scrap piece of paper. Ta-da! Cute muti-colored crayons, perfect for coloring in the valentine.

For these cards I printed out sayings with my computer and used Stampin' Up's Sock Money set for the images. The sayings were all monkey related like...

Valentine, You got me Swingin’ on a Vine!
No Monkey-ing around, Be my Valentine!
I’m Banana’s for You!
You’re more fun than a Barrel of Monkeys!
You’re Top Banana!
Just Hangin’ Around, Hoping You’ll be my Valentine!

Then we used the Stampin' Up Top Note die to make the header cards for the packages. Put in a valentine, a crayon heart and staple the header card to acetate bags. Voila!

I let Z write on the header cards the To's and From's but you could go crazy and decorate that part as well! So many options. Now go dig out your muffin molds and broken crayons and have a ball. Because if it's like it is here, it's raining and the kids need something to do! =)

Happy Spring

Doing a little digital house keeping and updated the blog to a new springy-green! I am cultivating lots of real green growing things too. Z and I have planted parsley, oregano, basil, sunflowers, cherry tomatoes, watermelon, avocados, and palm trees. We still have cucumbers, carrots and potatoes on the list and every time we are out and he sees seed packets he wants more, more, more! =) I cannot wait for the yard to get put in so we can get out there and set up the garden. Will keep you posted on our progress.

Happy Stampin' - Baby Gift

So, it's been way too long... Since I have done any productive crafty work and I am so happy to share this one with you. I had a baby shower to go to this weekend and was hoping to sew some things. That requires a sewing machine (check), sewing supplies (sorta check) and a supply of fabric (uhhh, where are those boxes???) So, rather than go buy more of what I already have *somewhere* I opted for a stampin' project, even though I had to punt on a few things. I think it turned out really sweet.

It's a gift pack set of blank cards set up to be used as either announcements, thank you cards or other baby related goodness. The package is a wooden box stained with ink and embellished with decorative paper. A sample of the cards inside decorates the top slide out piece. Inside are 22 cards and the whole thing is wrapped in a belly band (which also hold the envelopes on the back).

The stamp set used is Stampin' Up's "Bundled in Love" and the paper is "Delicate Dots" Designer Series from the Sale-A-Bration catalog (which you can still get until March 31st - contact me if you'd like info).

The card is made of four layers. The bottom is a 4.25 x 5.5" piece of Certainly Celery card stock, next is 4 x 5.25" piece of the Delicate Dots designer paper, then a Top Note die cut Whisper White card stock and last a Top Note die cut piece of vellum. They are secured together by two punched holes at the top with a piece of ribbon laced through to look like a bow. The sentiment is stamped on the top vellum layer so a picture of the baby can be attached underneath. And since all the layers float freely they can be used to write thank you's or baby stats for an announcement. (The box art does not have the vellum layer and the ribbon is glued on).

Once the cards have all been sent out the wooden box is the perfect little storage container for baby memorabilia, photos and whatnot.

It was an absolute joy to put this together and I hope the soon-to-be-Mom enjoys it and will be able to put it to good use. Now, I am looking for excuses to make some more! =) What other occasions could this type of box be used for... hmmmmm.

Time, indeed.

Where does the time go? My last post was Feb 6th... really? It was an aptly titled IF (of which I am severely behind on now). My life has been totally devoured by the move, and trying to live among the boxes, unfinished projects, dirty laundry and bric-a-brac that will on day have it's proper place in my new home.

All things considered life is great.

Now it's time to dig myself out of the dark hole I've created for myself and welcome new beginnings. So bear with me, the cocoon will be shed shortly.

IF - Time

Time. She is not waiting. Not quite. It is more that the years mean nothing to her any more, that the dreams and the street cannot touch her.

She remains on the edges of time, implacable, unhurt, beyond, and one day you will open your eyes and see her, and after that, the dark.

It is not a reaping. Instead, she will pluck you, gently, like a feather, or a flower for her hair.

-- written by Neil Gaiman

From the cover song "Time" by Tori Amos on Strange Little Girls

IF - Flawed

well i found the secret to life
i found the secret to life
i'm okay when everything is not okay
i said i found the secret to life
i found the secret to life
i'm okay when everything is not okay
is not okay

tori amos - upside down

In an upside down, flawed world... I've found the secret, so I'm okay. =)