this weekend: photo wrangling

I spent the majority of this weekend trying to wrangle all of my photos from the past year into some kind of order so that holiday cards and calendars could be made and ordered.  Every year, about this time, I make a pledge, albeit silent and only to myself, that I will get my photo management issue under control and another year passes before I'm faced with the issue again.  It's a horrible, compounding issue that left unattended for several years, has become a daunting task of Everest proportions.   

But here, I will make the pledge again, loud (I'm yelling) and for all to hear (or read) that I will get this issue under control this year.  Promise.  Somehow, in between a graduation, a move to a new city, finding a new school for Ella, and renovating the bathroom in our current home, I WILL do it.  And here's the plan:

1_rank the best images on iPhoto (I mean, they have a built in ranking system so how hard can it be)

2_edit all of my 5-star images in Photoshop and upload to my online photo management account

3_create a yearly book of the photos for the bookshelf

4_archive all of the years photos on my external hard drive

5_repeat . . . for the past, oh, 3 years

On a positive note, I found these gems from last Christmas that made me smile and laugh, a lot!  Last Christmas was the start of the Ella-thinks-she's-smiling-but-not-actually-smiling phase.  Evidence below . . .

I promise that in both photos I requested a smile and this is what I got!

And between all the wrangling and laughing, I made some progress on the kitchen.  More on that tomorrow.

Hope you all had a happy weekend!

craft cabinet

As Ella has grown, so too has her collection of art and craft supplies.  She could spend thirty minutes coloring, painting, gluing, or drawing and, in toddler time, thirty minutes spent doing any activity is a great thing!  So we like to support her habit.  

When we returned from Cleveland this summer, I realized that her supplies were starting to overflow the spot I had originally used to stash it all.  Not only were they overflowing the space, but they were also impossible for Ella to access on her own without injuring herself (think boxes of items teetering upon more boxes . . . no good).  So I decided to clear out a cabinet in our living room and get all of these supplies organized for her.  

I started by making a list of all of the items I needed to store and a general indication of the size of container I'd need to store them in.  I already had a small collection of matching storage containers and so wanted to make sure that I purchased more of the same containers in the sizes needed.  I made sure to add labels to all of the bins so everyone will know where the items should be returned.

It's amazing how something so simple can encourage Ella's interests - she can now go to the cabinet and select the bin of supplies she'd like to use all on her own.  I only wish we had enough space to store all of her toys this way.

And for me, doing this has made me realize that not everything needs to be fantastically pretty to be incredibly useful and effective. 

before pinterest

Sometimes I wonder what I did before Pinterest.  Oh, I know . . . I didn't spend nearly as much time online sifting through images and ideas as I do now.  I used to read lots of magazines (printed on actual paper) and I tore out what I liked or interested me and organized them in these . . . my "picture books" as I like to call them - cardboard binders filled with plastic sleeves loaded with images and sorted into categories as basic as "wall" and "bath".

Not all of the images were kept because they were what I envisioned for my future home, but because I love a great idea, an interesting layout, or an innovative use of material.  It's interesting to see too, how my tastes and what I'm naturally drawn to has evolved over time.  It seems I used to go for a more contemporary aesthetic with a bit more color.

I have filled two binders with images until Pinterest came about.  And ironically, in going back to them to look for kitchen inspiration, I spotted several images that I saved but also pinned, not knowing that they caught me first years ago in print.  Like, for example, the kitchen image below, bottom of the page. Look familiar?  I included it in my mid-century kitchen love post

back to normal: meal planning

After my starting again post last week, I've been consciously trying to re-start many of our old routines that have worked for us in the past.  Part of returning to this whole normal thing has involved resurrecting our weekly meal plan.  I started this tradition when we moved to Ann Arbor to help avoid the daily "what do you want to eat tonight" conversation and minimize the amount of groceries we buy that go unused.  The dinner schedule also helps keep me motivated throughout the week to make healthy dinners for my family without feeling overly burdened by the task in the moment.

To date, I have been using a basic composition notebook that we had lying around to record the daily meals, and then a separate piece of scrap paper to record the shopping list.  It's a bit fussy and frankly, not very stylish.  So I set out in search of a more attractive option to keep me motivated to keep planning.  Who doesn't love a great paper product, right?!  Here are some of my favorites:

1_Let's Eat Menu Planner Notepad, OneCanoeTwo  This planning notepad has a handy, tear-off grocery list at the bottom.  

2_Meal & Recipe Planner Book, kikki.K  I like that this planner is bound with a hard cover to keep the pages protected from wear-and-tear.  Plus, this planner not only comes with the basic menu planning sheets with tear-off shopping lists, but also has space for you to record the recipes you use the most and where to find them in your collection of cookbooks and go-to websites.

3_What to Eat Pad, KnockKnock  I usually keep my meal plan on my cookbook stand with the various recipes for the week, but this handy planner can be displayed on your fridge (or any magnetic surface) to help keep your counters clear.

4_Dinner Planner Pad, kikki.K  The simplified version of their planner book, this pad has enough space to jot down your plan and make your shopping list, all in one.  Plus, it has a magnetic strip on the back.

5_Meal Planner Notepad, Miki.O  I love how simple this notepad is, with space for a shopping list to boot.  

*This weekend I actually picked up a notepad similar to this at a local paper shop here in Ann Arbor, Hollander's.  It's not made specifically for meal planning, but I like that it has both an AM and PM column for those rare occasions where I actually make a more involved breakfast or lunch.

Happy planning (and cooking)!

make: sheet metal earring display

I had a small piece of perforated sheet metal left after making my first sheet metal box and had propped it against a wall in my workroom. A few days later one of my husband's classmates (ahem, Ben) broke the glass in a small RIBBA frame I had. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good frame, I brought it, too, to my workroom and leaned it against the left over sheet metal. Then, genius struck! Ok, maybe not genius. To be fair, I already had the image in my head of the perforated metal earring display my sister had pinned (which inspired the sheet metal box).

I decided to cut down a piece of the sheet metal to fit into the frame and then ditched the board backing. I pressed the metal into the frame and secured with the existing clips and ta-da! A small earring display for the (maybe) 10 pairs of earrings I own. Sit on a dresser or hang on the wall. Now you'll never forget what you have stashed in that cavern of a jewelry box.

happy making!

make: sheet metal box

my sister recently pinned an earring storage and display solution using a decorative sheet metal panel. it reminded me how much i love a perforated metal panel!

since i do not possess an earring collection even a tenth of the size of my sister's, i decided to come up with another application for the material. enter: new trinket box, now slated to hold my collection of greeting cards.  here's how i did it . . .

supply list:

large sheet of paper (for box template)
tape
metal ruler
x-acto knife or scissors
pencil
decorative sheet metal panel
tin snips
pliers
embroidery floss
large craft needle
brass fasteners or binder clips

to make:

1_decide what size box you wish to make. the box pictured is 6-1/4" w x 8-1/4"d x 3-1/2"h. then make a template. draw an outline of the desired size box on the large sheet of paper (I used a roll of craft paper from IKEA), leaving plenty of space around the perimeter to add the desired height of the sides. refer to the photo for the final template shape and layout.


2_tape your template onto the sheet metal. place the template square to the metal's pattern and in such a way as to create the smoothest edges. cut around the template with tin snips.  note: the metal will be sharp! wear gloves or work cautiously to avoid cutting your hands.

3_use the metal ruler to help create straight bend lines, and fold the metal up on each side to create a box. fold the triangular flaps into the box and place brass fasteners through the flaps and side to hold in position.

4_ stitch flaps to sides and corners together with colorful embroidery thread. knot at inside, bottom of box.

5_to create the top, repeat all steps, adding about an 1/8" to the box dimensions on all sides (1/4" overall). determine your side height and add 1/2". the finished side height of the box shown is 1", so I created 1-1/2 sides on the template. before folding the box into its shape, fold all edges over 1/2" and press down with pliers or metal ruler to achieve a finished edge.

6_fill and enjoy!

happy making!

in the making: a place to make

i've been lax in posting lately, but for good reason. when ted and i moved to ann arbor last august, the rental house filled up up quickly leaving me to squeeze my workroom into our tiny dining room. the results of this double-duty space were disastrous. dinner was eaten often at the coffee table, my projects were often shoved onto chairs in the middle of assembly, and i couldn't seem to keep any of it looking presentable.

i've finally come to the conclusion that when one has a family, rooms that are programmed for more than one function are doomed to be stressful, overfilled, and unproductive, meeting the needs of neither purpose consistently. while i managed to create storage for all of the parts and pieces serving these two functions, too much storage became overwhelming.

solution: suck it up and create a proper work space in the dreaded basement. so this weekend was spent purging, organizing, and cleaning the basement. today i was able to put my work tables together while ella napped in the morning, and even got the rug laid out. in the afternoon, i moved all remaining workroom supplies and storage from the dining room to the basement. whew, i'm exhausted. but now i have a dining room to decorate and a workroom to execute the plan!

martha does it again

in my latest Parents magazine i spied an add for martha stewart home office products at staples. her ads seem to always hit the nail on the head and inevitably convince me that i need what she's selling. they offer the promise of becoming even better organized than i already am, leading me on a perpetual quest for more things to label and categorize.

today i made a trip to staples and beheld the beauty of martha stewart office products with my own two eyes. without only enough budgeted to buy a few of the small packages of stylishly overpriced items, i chose two items: write, erase and re-use 8-tab plastic dividers for my recipe binder and large brown kraft labels for the storage bins in my basement. it's a good thing.