The Big News

We are moving to Nagoya Japan in a little over a month!

There you go.  I've said it.  It's finally out there for all to hear.  Next week we travel to Japan to find a place to live and get things set up.  My first visit, ever.

Because of this impending news, I have been cleaning.  Why is it I wait for some big event to go through old boxes and files and CRAFT CLOSETS???  Then I get distracted by overwhelming projects like scanning every living single photo I come across.  I do work best under pressure, although there is too much to be done.  

I actually started in my closet.  Have you seen the craze over the book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Japanese author, Marie Kondo?  I knew I needed help in this area, so I gave it a whirl.  It worked really well, even though I've only used it for my clothes.  Sorry, this is an UGLY PICTURE ALERT.

 These are literally all of my clothes pulled out of the closet and drawers and stacked in my room. 

Empty, empty.  I gave away a large amount of clothes that I never wear and I don't miss a thing. Later, going through my photos led to a little panic over a rather large missing segment of our life.  I couldn't find those pictures anywhere.  Finally, victorious, they had been hidden under a larger box and not opened for years.  Here are some treasures from that period.  

Okay, skip a few years. 

 Look at how young I looked, even with gray hair!

Back to the not-so-pretty pictures.  There have been a lot of trips to the thrift store to donate, donate, donate.  I don't have the patience or time for a garage sale.  I'm not sure who would traipse up here anyway for one.  

Well, one last pretty photo for your viewing pleasure. Cuz who doesn't like flowers?

Goodnight all. Hopefully, I'll post more exciting updates next time.

As I Was Saying. . .

Okay, I need to take my own advice.  My last post was about how I saved some family photos while on vacation.  All the while, I had several piles of my own family photos spread out on the floor of my craft room.  Confession time, they've been there since last August when we had a wildfire scare up here.  Here's the post I did following that scare.

Well, guess what happened last night?  The view from my patio at about 5:30 pm.

The wildfire started about 5:15 pm.  So the troops were called in and handled it very fast.  It was pretty much out by 8 pm. They used four tanker planes!  FOUR.

They're awesome to watch in action. Especially flying so low above my house!

 Can you see the orange fire retardant they release? 

There were also several helicopters dropping water and many ground crew.

I grabbed my scrapbooks. And threw together the piles of organized photos that were on the floor of the craft room since LAST AUGUST.  So much for organization. 

Thankfully, no such panic was needed.  I definitely need to work out a plan and scan, scan, scan!

Thank you Firefighters!

Pantry Possibilities

Isn't this the cutest pantry?

 I love all the color.

{all pictures country living}

So, this is what I have to work with. Certainly not a Butler's Pantry, but it is huge! And look at all the wasted space above the shelves. The contact paper is going to go, that's for sure. I've never had a pantry this big. I may have to work with what I've got and rework the shelving at a later date. But, oh the possibilities. . . 

Project Finished!

 I made a little departure.

 From my usual scheme.

 It ended up boring and in serious need.

Along came beautiful inspiration

and a little project to help.

Thank you Amy Butler, I made it myself.

This little organizer will be great on my side of the bed in our apartment.  Too bad you won't be able to see it.  But, it will make me smile.  I need to make something for the top of the bed now.  Whoops, NO NEW PROJECTS!

40 Years in the Making

I'm so excited about this little room, that I don't care if it's not perfectly decorated yet. I've been officially sewing since I was in the 7th grade. That was A LONG time ago. I have never had my own sewing room. I've sewn on the kitchen table, in the Master Bedroom, in a big closet. All over the place, but never my own room. Finally, here it is! At this point things are just piled up in here. I have a long way to go with the organization. But, just since Sunday, I've already done some mending and started a new project! 

I've got a lot to work with, though.  This was our guest room that I previously posted here.  I have vintage curtains, and pretty rose paintings; four are real, two are Home Goods.  Now I've got to rearrange them around my new needs. I have fun plans for this little floor lamp.  My daughter's IKEA desk works for now, till she needs it back.  

I can get my Serger off the bookshelf soon. The bolster project will be finished this week!

This little guy likes his new digs.  Please ignore the dirty window. Yikes!

I have a lovely view when I'm sewing.

And my wonderful Pandora radio station keeps me company.

So does Buddy. 

Here's a hint of my next project.

Organized Chaos

{martha stewart}

Wouldn't it be lovely if all our organization looked this good even inside the drawers? 

{martha stewart}

Or if all of our junk was color coordinated and fit into beautiful little vintage planters?

{bhg}

This is a smidge closer to what my donations look like, sans the beautiful basket. I would never give that away!

{country home}

I do have some organization in pretty bottles.  But, who has only one color palette of ribbon and who in their right mind has only that much yarn?  

{country home}

I love this tray used as a bulletin board.  Maybe it's just the red. I also love the beautiful wrapping paper, does anybody really store theirs like this? I could show you my organization, but the pictures would not be nearly as pleasing.  Better to be organized well than beautifully, correct?

Hardware Organization

Yeah, I found it! This is from BHG in 2007. I thought the ideas were pretty creative. Here is another use for forks, similar to The Nester's post a few days ago.

This idea below is my favorite. I actually bought some of these drawer pulls to try this. Problem is they don't really show you that it's not on a wall. These pulls have long screws that hold on the pull. They need to be put on to a picture frame, which if you look closely, I think they've done.

This photo is more difficult to see.  If you click on the photo you can see the details.  There are several frames that are used as bulletin boards. They covered foam core or cork with pretty papers and fabrics. I'm going to do something similar over our desk. Wait and see!