Organizing, Schmorganizing.

You know those weeks where you are running around like crazy, doing errands, fixing this, replacing that, organizing these things?  And then at the end of your exhausting week you look around and realize, not only have you not blogged this week, you have not done one thing worthy of blogging.  Yeah, me too.  This was one of those weeks for me.

Here are a few shots of what I have been doing.  I dug up shoe boxes (why did I get rid of the original ones?), took snapshots of my shoes, and then put these all on a shelf in the closet.  The dog pile of shoes was getting depressing.  This is much better.

Living Room Makeover

So now that we've been in this house for just over two years, we really feel like things are coming together.  Obviously there is always something on the wish list and things that need to be done but we're starting to feel like this is our home.

Our living room had been a challenge for us because it had a huge 18-foot wall that we didn't know how to decorate.  We played with a bunch of different ideas:  painting a mural, putting fake windows up, buying a wall unit.  Nothing really worked,...until,.....we designed our own wall unit.  Here is the before:

Spring Fell

Remember earlier this week when I was waxing poetic over the arrival of spring?  Well, it's possible that I was slightly premature.

Girly Pink Frame

If you can keep a secret, I'll tell you that our neighbour, Sandra, has a birthday at the end of the month.  I wanted to make her a little something for her bedroom.  I decided this on the day I returned home from the dollar store with two corkboard squares.  This is how fate took over.  Okay, okay,..too much drama.  How about - this is how I made her a frame?  Yeah, I guess that works.

Bathroom Mirrors

This is a super easy mirror makeover for our bathroom.  I started with four mirrors from Ikea for $2.99 each.

Malma Mirror - Ikea

Has spring really sprung?

Hey, do you see what I see?

Homemade Yogurt

I do this all the time.  I get the urge to do something, start to do it, then discover I haven't left myself enough time.  This behaviour has found me doing odd things including leaving for Easter dinner with velcro curlers still in my hair (hopefully to be removed en route to my mother-in-law's).  And now, I've done it again.


I have been planning on making homemade yogurt for awhile now.  The book, "French Women Don't Get Fat", recommends yogurt as the key to feeling satisfied and still losing weight.  Well, I'm all about feeling satisfied and losing weight.  Not to mention all the research that shows the bacteria in yogurt to be a phenomenal boost to our GI tract and immune system.  Aren't they cute:

Lactobacillus acidophilus

Vacation Planning

We're not planning on vacationing any time soon, but it is so much fun to plan that I am starting now for next year.  I know, that seems a bit ridiculous, but I'm excited, that's all.

So,....we've pretty much decided that we are going to explore the United States.  Southern United States which will be presumably warm while we are freezing are tails off in Canada next winter.  So I'm looking for a little bit of help.  Here are a few spots that we are considering:


San Diego, California

Edgar - Transformed

Poor broken-necked Edgar was in pretty sad shape when I dug him out of the crawl space.  His head was across the room, he was beat up, and he was ugly.

First things first, we had to get that head back on.  I just used some wood glue but the clamp I tried to use wouldn't keep the two pieces together and I am way too impatient to stand there holding it for any length of time.  So, Problem Solving 101 -- can you see the black hair band (just below the crack) that I literally took out of my hair to hold his head onto his neck long enough for the glue to dry? A successful project is all in the tools.

Bathroom Decorating

We have been in our house for two years now and I figured it might be about time to do a little something to our bathroom.  We like how the paint and tile turned out but we haven't done a single bit of decorating in here unless you count the fish by the tub and the throw mat.

Make Your Own Decor Box

I love making something from nothing.  Paper crafts seem to be one of the easiest ways to do this.  One second you have a piece of paper and the next you have a flower or a leaf or a box.

Tiffany from Do-it-yourself-gifts shows how to make the box here.

Bird Rescue

This is Edgar.

Wall Clock Redo

We are in the midst of doing a complete living room renovation that will include a big wall unit being installed.  Part of this change is incorporating a gorgeous grandfather clock that my husband has been wanting for a lifetime.  The clock arrived so the wall clock we had in place is now redundant.  At the same time, the clock in our bathroom has recently died so this seemed like the perfect fit.

The bathroom is all antique white and elegant white.  Lots of white. The clock that we wanted to move in there was wood.  It’s pretty, but not such a great match.

An Addition to the Family

I still needed some more storage for pens and scissors on my desk so I whipped up two smaller containers, matching the larger nut containers earlier this month. (hmmm,..might want to find a better name for those).

Making a Simple Envelope

My card needs a nice envelope and fortunately it is small enough that a regular sized piece of cardstock will give me an envelope big enough for the card.  I found that the hardest part of making this envelope was not confusing the sides.  A couple of times I cut from the wrong side and had to start again.

Once you get the hang of it, however, it’s pretty easy.  For this demonstration I just used plain yellow paper but cardstock or scrapbook paper is a better idea for stability.

Homemade Cards

I have been playing around with all of my new cardmaking toys:  cricut paper cutter and scorer; Martha Stewart punches; ribbons; flower embellishments; overlays; scrapbook paper.  A bunch of things that I had not even heard of a month ago.  Well okay, I had heard of ribbon.

Here are a few of the cards that I have made this month.  I've noticed that my cuts and planning have gotten better with each one which is encouraging, and addictive.

Paper Piecing

Paper piecing involves cutting out separate pieces, most often using different types of paper, to create a bigger picture.  The Scrapbooks Etc. site is one of many that have free paper piecing patterns.

Super Easy Desk Organizer

This world of crafts is a new one to me.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I had the rug hooking and woodburning kits that everyone else had when I was a pre-teen, but I haven’t really done much since then.

Well that is about to change.  This is a project so easy that even a newbie crafter can do it easily and quickly.  The hardest part is remembering not to recycle your containers and keep them for this project instead.  How’s that for a sell?