Christmas ornament tradition

I wanted to share a little Christmas tradition that we have. Each year we buy the boys a special tree ornament to commemorate a milestone they have had that year. Here are Daniel's special ornaments:

2001 (Daniel's first Christmas): Just a simple "JOY" ornament because that's what we felt, having Daniel join our family. No real milestone as he was only 6 weeks old.



2002: One of the first words that Daniel said was "teddy" so we bought him a teddy ornament.



2003: He was going through a very clingy stage and would follow me around saying, "Huggy Mommy, huggy Mommy!" When I saw this ornament with the little arms flung wide it looked like he was asking for a hug so I bought it for Daniel.



2004: We were in Cape Town for Christmas. Daniel chose this bead and wire guinea fowl at a craft market and played with it while on holiday. When we got home I added a wire loop and some ribbon to hang it on the tree.



2005: The beginning of the dinosaur obsession.



2006: Daniel started school.



2007: He lost his first tooth.



2008: He learned to ride his bike.



2009 (this year): He learned to swim and got glasses. I found this Smurf toy on eBay and made some wire glasses for him, which I glued on. I added some embroidery floss around his waist so he can hang from the tree.



This year Daniel also got an extra ornament to commemorate his baptism - the white dove represents the Holy Ghost. The year he gets the priesthood he'll also get an extra ornament (a key).



We've continued the tradition when Noah came along:

2005 (first Christmas): He was such a chilled out baby that I bought him a snowman. If you squeeze him it plays Frosty the Snowman.



2006: He became obsessed with cars and adored Weetabix. He would eat 5 for breakfast! (For those who aren't familiar with Weetabix, it's a wheat biscuit breakfast cereal and most adults eat 2!) I bought this little Weetabix truck on eBay and added some wire to attach cord to hang it.



2007: The car / truck obsession continued. He didn't do much else!



2008: He was going through a very chatty phase and would NOT.STOP.TALKING all day long. I ordered this little wooden speech bubble from an Etsy seller and painted it white with a black border. I added the sentiment with rub-on letters.



2009 (this year): He started school.



I've had so much fun choosing or making each year's ornament and one day when each boy leaves home he'll have a box of 21 (or however many) ornaments, which tell the story of his life, to hang on his own Christmas tree in his own home. I've made sure I included each child's name and the year on the back of each ornament and I'll include a little photo album detailing the explanation behind each ornament.

Snow at home, yesterday and today

Noah, looking out of the window this morning: "It's fantastic! It's like a snow world!"



Daniel wearing my wellies (which are too big for me) as he has outgrown his. Noah's wearing Daniel's old wellies even though they are too big.











There's a little back that's getting cold!













Grant took these photos with his iPhone on the way home this morning after night shift - this is our road:

Snow in Cheshire

Some photos from our time in Cheshire visiting friends this weekend.

























At one point, after I took the photo below, we left the boys playing outside and the adults went in for a bit. After a while I went to check on them, only to find that Noah had taken the ice-scraper and "cleaned the snow off the cars" - including the Porsche next door!!! We just hightailed it indoors. I am (almost) 100% sure he used the rubber squeegee edge and there was no paint damage, but we weren't going to go sniffing around the Porsche.

So cold

Last week Grant and Daniel left a little plastic tray of water outside. The weather went cold enough that it froze into ice blocks.

Hello

I've been feeling so cheerful and festive lately, more so than I have in ages - in fact, I can't remember a past Christmas when I felt so relaxed and enjoyed the festive season so much, in a contented, calm, low-key way - no rushing around and doing lots of things. Then it hit me - it's the first time in 6 years that I haven't had a business to run at the same time. The last four years saw me dealing with photography clients (busy time of year for that) and the two years before was when I had my online scrapbooking store.

It's been absolute bliss to just be able to potter around and focus on home and family! It even snowed this weekend. We had a lovely time in Cheshire visiting our friends John and Sharon and their daughter Georgie, and then visiting Laura and Tim as well. It snowed down there and the kids loved playing in it, and then when we returned home yesterday we saw that we'd had some in St Anne's too, although it was getting slushy and melty. Then it snowed again today, how fun! Except that all of the slushy melty snow froze and it's treacherous out there.

But we're warm (-ish) and cosy indoors and the kids have been playing nicely and Grant has been snoozing (he's on night shifts this week but off for Christmas) and I've been pottering around getting the house clean and neat and even doing a craft project and having some time playing Boom Blox Bash Party on the Wii.

I'll post some pictures soon, but for now here's me wishing you peace and warmth and comfort and joy at this special time of year.

Organising question 4

Sonja from One Step Away said, "We are planning a new kitchen. I would like to incorporate some of my photography on one wall (above lower cabinets) along with some floating shelves and backsplash. I need it to look "kitch-y", artistic, yet not cluttered. Any ideas on how to incorporate some jars of stuff, or baskets, or some other kitchen stuff with photos? We are planning antique white shaker cabinets, medium dark hardwood flooring, saddle brown quartz countertops. We just really want fewer upper cupboards and some art that fits the style. ... Your kitchen inspirations gallery is wonderful!! I've found quite a few ideas in there to help me with decisions."

Well, Sonja, that's about all I can suggest - looking through lots and lots of photos. You'll start to get an idea of what you really like - pictures in all matching frames? Black and white photos? A mixture of frames and sizes? Lots of crockery or only one or two pieces? Some plants? Candlesticks?

Then you need to gather all of your items together and spend some time just trying different configurations until you happen upon a look you like.

Your new kitchen sounds wonderful, I can't wait to see it when it's all done!

Organising question 4

Hilarie of From Our Front Porch Looking In asked two questions:

1-i would like some/any helpful ideas for organizing/doing an inventory of pantry, fridge, deep freeze, and food storage (we try to do about a year food storage). Doing the inventory is probably the most baffling part for me.
Well done for getting your food storage in! We are nowhere near a year's supply and to be honest I've kind of stopped stocking up due to our impending emigration. When I was building up our storage the thing that kept it manageable for me was to keep it simple.

To find out exactly how much of each item to store for your family (after all, if you don't store what you use you won't use what you store) keep a log for a few months. Jot down the item and date every time you open something - a jar of mayonnaise, a box of cereal, a can of beans.

After 2-3 few months you will have a real idea of how much of each item to store for a year. There's no point storing 10 bottles of ketchup if you only use 4 in a year - they won't be rotated quickly enough.

Then, store your items in a place where you can remove (for use) from the back and replace at the front. This keeps your items rotating. It doesn't help to store 25 packets of something in a big garbage can - how can you get to the ones at the bottom?

To keep your food storage in place, every time you use an item put it on the grocery list. One can of beans in your meal? One can of beans gets bought next time you shop. You will keep your 1 year supply intact.

If you are building up your supply, buy two replacement items for every item you use, as and when you can afford it.

I am hardly the food storage guru though, so try Google for some fabulous tips from much more experienced storers.

2-Organizing my 5 year olds ribbons, loose and on a spool. I use ribbon mostly for her hair, but also for wrapping gifts. So maybe keeping them in two different locations. I don't know, just something I always wish I could organize better.

I have only recently come up with a ribbon storage system that I am happy with. I use ribbon for scrapbooking and other crafts, so perhaps my lengths vary from the lengths your daughter uses, but hopefully my system would work for you.

I used to store my ribbons on plastic bobbins in a floss box, like this but I didn't like the kinks it left in my ribbons. You can buy a ribbon iron which basically looks like a small hair straightening iron but I couldn't be bothered with the expense or bother of ironing ribbon.

I went to Google Images for some inspiration, of which there is plenty.

Loose ribbons

Wind your ribbons wound onto cardboard like this or like this or like this.
Advantages: you can see all of your ribbon at a glance.
Disadvantages: not suitable for very short pieces of ribbon; kinks left in your ribbon.

Make (or buy) a ribbon box out of a shoebox or any other kind of box or container or even a bag, like this or like this or like this.
Advantages: closed storage means the mess is hidden inside; cheap and easy to make
Disadvantages: you can't see how much of a particular ribbon you have.

Wind your ribbons onto wooden clothes pins and store them in jars or in a drawer like this.
Advantages: colourful and pretty to look at on the shelf
Disadvantages: costs add up for all of the clothes pins and jars; rummaging necessary to find just the right ribbon you have in mind

Spools of ribbons

Make ribbon spool storage out of an old container like this.
Advantages: cheap and easy to do
Disadvantages: only a few spools fit into each container

Add dowels to existing shelves or create or buy a purpose-built dowel storage unit like this or like this or like this.
Advantages: wall storage frees up shelf and desk space
Disadvantages: you'll need to be careful when adding / removing spools, especially if one in the center needs removing; drilling into wall may be required

Buy or make a vertical dowel storage system like this.
Advantages: cute and colourful
Disadvantages: takes up desk space; limit to how many spools it will hold

Make shelves for your spools out of plastic rain gutters like this.
Advantages: cheap to make; wall storage frees up shelf and desk space
Disadvantages: takes up quite a bit of wall space; drilling into wall required

I have mainly loose ribbons but am building up my collection of spools too. It was mainly my loose ribbons I wanted to find the perfect solution for. I was excited when I saw the Ribbon Ring online - it seemed to be just what I was after.

I decided to make my own by purchasing a large bookring and making little plastic tabs:



It was a bit of a pain making the plastic tabs - I wish I'd seen this blogger's solution: Judith Mara simply stapled the ends of her ribbons to cardboard tabs instead of creating or buying plastic thread-through tabs. The advantage is that they are easily labeled.

But I didn't like the ring hanging around - I like my storage to be closed and out of sight. In the end this is what I came up with and I love it! I stuck a bunch of 3M command hooks hooks inside my craft cabinet and hung the ribbon from the plastic tabs I had made.





When I ran out of tabs (I've been on a bit of a ribbon buying spree lately) I started using paperclips. Genius! It is so quick and easy.



I either thread the ribbon through like a buckle, or if it's a wide ribbon I simply clip the paperclip onto the folded ribbon like this:



My spooled ribbons are in little plastic punnets on a shelf in my craft cabinet.

Hopefully amongst all of those links and pictures there's an idea that you can use!

Snowflake cookies

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air."

- W.T. Ellis

With love

Christmas cupcakes

Last night at around 8pm Daniel informed me that the next day (today) was his class Christmas party (which I did know about) and that I was supposed to send cakes (which I didn't know about). Luckily I had some poppy seed cupcakes in the freezer so I took them out to defrost and then this morning I whipped up some green buttercream and piped little piles of icing on top of the cupcakes. Some sprinkles and a silver ball on top make each one look kinda like a little Christmas tree.



And here's my tip for transporting goodies to school: cut the side off a cereal box, add a staple to each corner for extra security (added after I took this picture) and pop your treats inside. You can wrap the whole deal in foil or plastic wrap. You don't have to worry about getting your container back and the teacher doesn't have to worry about returning it.

Organising question 3

June from Crafty Niche said, "One of my problem areas is my desk/craft area that is located in my kitchen. I don't want it to look messy and cluttered when people are around. I do plan on painting my table and putting up a table skirt and matching window treatment. But I do need help getting everything organized."

The kitchen is a great space for crafting - you have the sink nearby and all surfaces are easily cleaned. However, you don't want your crafting bits to get damaged by cooking steam or little ones using the kitchen and you don't want your crafty stuff permanently on show either. A table skirt is a great way of stashing loads of goodies out of sight.

For smaller items and tools that you want close to hand, try to find a set of small drawers, for instance the Fira drawers that Ikea sells:


They are easily customised with paint or by decoupaging paper onto them. (Alternatively, if you have no Ikea near you and can't find any of their drawer on eBay, try CD storage drawers.)

If you place one (or two - either side by side if you have a wide desk, or stacked on top of each other) of these sets of drawers on either end of your desk try placing a plank across them to span the distance and create a handy shelf for bits and pieces, freeing up your desk space.

If you choose to stack two drawer units on either end of your desk you could place a plank between them and on top of them, creating two shelves.

I hope this is an idea you could use. Without seeing your kitchen and desk space I've no other suggestions but if you'd like to send them to me and talk about what items you want to store I will try to come up with some more solutions.

Our Jesse tree

A few months ago, when Christmas wasn't even really featuring on the horizon, Daniel came and asked me if we could "do more Jesus things this Christmas". We have had my dad visiting with us for the last couple of Christmases and since he is kind of anti-religion we haven't really done any Christian activities leading up to Christmas. But since it's just us this year I decided to make a Jesse tree.

There are all sorts of ways to make a Jesse tree - it can be a separate Christmas tree with real ornaments or it can be a felt tree or a decorated branch. I decided to make ours on a cookie sheet.

I made the tree from scrapbooking paper, adding glitter edges and a star-shaped brad. I stuck it to the back of a new cookie sheet.





Then I made little marble magnets for the decorations and printed the daily devotions (which I got from this site) to be read each evening. The magnets are stored in the back (actually the front) of the cookie sheet.



Each evening we will read a devotion and talk about it. The boys take turns: one will pick out that night's ornament and the other will place it on the tree, switching the following night. I thought they'd scatter the ornaments all over the tree, but they have come up with little ideas of their own - the camel is standing on top of the world, the baby is hanging at the bottom of the tree where it's safer, the ladder is above the trunk to aid climbing, etc! They are enjoying it (although Noah did get piqued when Daniel refused to put the crown on the baby tonight!) Here's how it looks so far:



Daniel even mentioned in conversation one of the devotions, so I know he's listening and taking them in. He has been waiting very impatiently for some Pokemon toys he bought off eBay with his pocket money, and they still haven't arrived two weeks after ordering (they're coming from Hong Kong). I told him that he should just try to forget about them and then when they arrive it will be a nice surprise, rather than get his hopes up every day and be disappointed. He said, "I will just give up, like that lady." I asked which lady he meant and he said, "That lady in the Bible who wanted a baby. She gave up and then she had one." He was talking about this devotional that we had read:

Scripture: Genesis 21: 1-7
Reading: Have you ever wanted something so much that you thought you would die if you didn't get it? It's so hard to be happy when we focus on the things we don't have, instead of the things we do have.
Sarah wanted a baby more than anything, but even though she prayed a lot and tried everything she could think of, she didn't have a baby. As she got older she finally decided that God would not give her a child. But then God gave Sarah a son, and she named him Isaac. Sarah was very happy and grateful to God for giving her a wonderful son when she had given up on her dream.
Talk about: How has God answered your prayers?

It's been really nice to all connect to something new that is spiritual at the end of the day and also to anticipate Christmas together with the focus on Jesus, where it should be.

Imperfect gingerbread men

I baked gingerbread men for the first time. I made them for the Christmas fair at the school - they were asking for donations of baked goods.

I didn't have ground cloves so I left that out. The recipe I was using called for a little orange zest, which I didn't have. I was just going to leave that out too, but when I didn't have the cloves I decided to put in a little orange essence.

Then I had a little trouble rolling them out and cutting them and transferring them to the cookie sheet. But I got there in the end. Then they spread quite a lot when I baked them, losing their defined edges and becoming more like gingerbread blobs.

At first I was sad that they weren't perfect. But then I got over myself. How many other people bothered to stand and bake and decorate gingerbread blobs men anyway? The school would be grateful and I should stop trying to get everything perfect. Besides, a little icing added some definition to their blob shapes and the addition of silver balls (ooh, shiny!) distracts the eye from the imperfections. Right? Right??









Of course, I am still determined to try again and get them right. I am still me, after all.

Two Noahisms

1) He told me his teacher is like me because she has long hair. I said, "But I don't have long hair!" and Noah replied, "But you used to." (I guess we're practically twins then, his teacher and I!?)

2) We were eating cookies warm out of the oven. I went, "Mmmm, mmmm!" and Noah said, "That's what I was going to say."

Custom cookie jar

Inspired by Laura's buckets I decided to update my cheap cream cookie jar. I got it for next to nothing at a local discount store (B&M). I have to have a non-see-through cookie jar because I have to eat cookies every time I see them. Anyway, here is how it looked when I bought it:



Here's how it looks now that I've turned it around and added ribbon and a wooden tag. Much more "me". And now the kids can stop calling me Mrs Winterbottom!

I'm back

On Monday I drove down to Cheshire to help Laura's friend Jen (who is also a former photography client of mine) organise. We spent the day organising the wardrobes in her daughters' room. Unfortunately I only took "before" photos of the wardrobes and never got around to doing "afters" but it was fun and we got lots done.

Then I went to Laura's home for a nap on the couch while I waited for Laura and Tim to return home from work. We visited and had some supper.

When Tim opened the door to their under-stairs space (which is where they keep their fridge as it leads off the kitchen) I could smell gas. They said they couldn't smell anything but that they had smelt it when they first moved in a couple of years ago. I could smell it quite strongly and since I am the Gas Leak Queen (we experienced a gas leak in our first home due to nailing a pipe, in our second home due to new meter installation damaging a pipe, and there was even one in my studio when we first moved in here) I suggested they get someone out the next day to check for a leak.

Tim got on the phone to arrange an appointment for the next day, not knowing that they wouldn't allow him to do that and they would send someone out the same night (even though he phoned at 11:20pm). If I'd known he was going to phone I would have stopped him but we realised too late ... so Laura and I ended up waiting up for the gas man to come. He arrived after 1:30am and there was indeed a leak, which he managed to fix. Laura and I were so tired and went straight to bed after he left.

On Tuesday I went down to Jen's again to organise all of the cabinets in her kitchen (again, sorry, no pics) which took most of the day, then Laura and I headed out to do some shopping. Home for supper and some chatting ... we ended up chatting until 4 IN THE MORNING!! Shocking, but we didn't even feel that tired.

During the evening I painted a couple of plain tin buckets she'd bought and we added ribbon and little wooden Christmas tree - how adorable are they?? She plans to add a poinsettia to the cream one and fill the red one with nuts (in shells).



The next day I woke up and looked at the time and nearly had a heart attack when I realised it was NOON! I have literally never slept until noon in my whole life. Well, I guess I can't say that anymore! Anyway, Laura and I got ready and had breakfast and then headed out for some more shopping, then I drove home, arriving back at around 4:30. It was so nice to see my family again. I missed them! Noah was so funny, they phoned me in the evening each night I was away and the second time they phoned I answered the phone and I heard Noah going, "Look at me!" I had to remind him I couldn't see him through the phone! Apparently he was wearing the little black glasses that came with Mr Potato Head - I've since seen him wear them and it's hilarious.

Today I am just pottering around baking muffins, making bread and soup, tidying up and in about 2 minutes I'm heading off to the school to watch Noah dance in his nativity play. Hopefully I'll get some good photos to share.

Bye bye

I'll be away in Cheshire for the next couple of days, helping a friend of a friend organise (yay!) Grant will be holding down the fort until Wednesday, when I'll return. So if I take a couple of days to reply to emails or comments or do any posts ... that's why!

Winter wonderland

I was replacing the linens on the boys' beds and got distracted halfway. When I returned I found that Daniel and Noah had made "a winter wonderland" (as they called it) with the bare duvets and clean sheets:

Christmas decorations

I don't like clutter and Christmas decorations usually drive me mad. The day after Christmas usually sees me packing them away and cleaning because I can't take it any more.

It took me this long to realise that I don't have to add stuff, I can remove certain items that are usually displayed in my home and simply replace them with festive items. Duh! It does help to cut the clutter.

So here is how I have decorated this year (I don't go all out - see above re not being fond of clutter.)

Our Christmas tree. Grant and the boys decorated it this year as I wasn't well. I am resisting picking at it and moving things. The bench that usually sits in the bay window has been moved to our bedroom bay window, and the storage ottoman that usually sits there has been moved to the landing.



The feather wreath I made for the studio (I removed the bow, thanks to whoever suggested it!), and my ceramic nativity on the mantlepiece. The tub of candles that usually sits there has been moved to the open shelf of the bookcase and the basket that usually sits there has been moved to inside the bookcase.





A little wooden Santa added to the pictures next to the TV.



I removed the pictures from the mantlepiece in the living room and packed them away and replaced them with the stocking hangers I got for £1.75 each in the January sale at Matalan. I also added red gingham ribbons to the candles.





I packed away some of the items from the corner and replaced them with a large poinsettia, a snowman plate (99p at Dunelm Mill) and a stuffed snowman.





I replaced a few items on the bookcase with Christmassy tealight holders that I got in the Woolworths liquidation sale last year. The fat white angel is new, she was £1.19 at Dunelm Mill.



The picture and glass ornament on my kitchen windowsill were packed away and replaced with this little nativity from Home Bargains.



And the little green crate that held the dishwasher tablets has been put away and now Santa's head holds them.



Nice and clean and uncluttered, just how I like it.



I got this advent calendar a while ago at Dunelm Mill, it was like £1.75 or something. I buy chocolates or sweets to put in the pockets. It hangs on the cellar door. We put out the decorations last Sunday which was the 29th of November, so we told Noah, "The calendar will begin in two days' time." He somehow got it into his head that Christmas was in two days' time! Poor kid, we had to disillusion him. (I need to buy more sweets to fill all of the pockets).



This little metal ornament was also from Dunelm Mill for about £1.50. It sits on the shelf in the hallway, and then of course my angel (which is supposed to be a tree topper - from Matalan) lives on that shelf permanently.





I even do a few touches in the bathroom. I actually leave these out throughout the winter as they are more wintry than Christmassy - my lovely snowman soap dispenser and hand towels (sent to me by my dear friend Leith).







I add in some red towels and bath mat (from the ensuite).



I have plans to make a red and white striped or gingham basket liner for the basket that holds the toilet rolls, but I meant to last year and never got around to it, so we'll see if it happens this year.

Crisis averted

For a little while the mirrored cabinet in the ensuite has been bothering me.



Why? Because the left hand door started swinging closed almost as soon as you open it. It never used to do that. It's a pain when reaching in the cabinet for things when getting ready in the morning.

Then, yesterday when I was cleaning the bathroom I reached into the cabinet for the toilet cleaner. Something rang a little alarm bell in my head - the cabinet just felt different ... and I thought I heard the faintest of sounds. I pushed on the cabinet a little and something just felt a bit off. I stepped back and looked at the cabinet and realised that it was hanging slightly skew.

Grant and I immediately unpacked it and removed it from the wall. This is what the left hand screw hole looked like - absolutely normal, rawl plug still in place:



But this is the right hand side - it had started ripping from the wall:



I can't believe we almost had another wall-cabinet-falling disaster!! And it would have killed or severely injured whoever was sitting on the toilet at the time, and/or smashed the glass shower enclosure in the process! I am so grateful that I felt / heard / sensed something before it happened.

We now have to reinforce the current holes and add more brackets to hang the cabinet from - 6 instead of the usual 2, just to be sure.

While the cabinet is off the wall I have the chance to show you my new jewellery organising system: 3M Command hooks stuck to the sides to hang my necklaces and hoop earrings. They are removable without damaging the surface. You can hardly see them when the cabinet is hung.

Gingerbread house

We bought a little gingerbread house kit at Ikea and after I put it together with melted sugar the boys had fun decorating it.











Daniel's side - he asked for wavy lines of icing:



Noah's side - of course he wanted a car:



Some Skittles in the chimney (they proved too heavy to stick well on the icing.)



And of course the gingerbread was too delicious to display for weeks and then throw away. Oh no, much better to eat it!

It's our anniversary today

To the love of my life



Thank you for 14 years of wonderful marriage. I'm looking forward to an eternity more!

Organising question 2

Little Lexi asked, "What about all the kids artwork that they create?"

It's taken me this long to tackle this question because I was still developing my own system. It's now in place and I'm happy to share what I do along with some other ideas.

Firstly, there is no way you can keep everything. You just can't. Not if your little artists are as prolific as my own. So the first step would be to be selective. Make clear to your children that you love all of their work and you are proud of them and can enjoy their pictures, but that doesn't mean that you have to keep everything. And that not keeping everything does not mean you don't love everything.

My kids are okay with that.

Things I keep:
- particulary good pictures
- pictures that my sons choose for me to keep (they know that unless they specifically ask for something to be kept it will end up in the recycling bin after being admired)
- any self-portraits that my boys draw or paint
- any pictures of our family that they draw or paint
- all school reports
- particularly clever or amusing written work from school

I immediately write my child's name and the date (month and year) on each piece of art. Then I file their artwork in big, fat plastic ring binders, in plastic page protectors. This makes it easy to slot in artwork or school reports that turn up later, or move things around.

Here are the ring binders in my cupboard in the studio. I bought them on Amazon - they are each 3.5 inches fat.





This is Daniel's file. He has just turned 8 and this is all of the artwork and schoolwork I have kept (although I have a suspicion there are some items stashed around that will turn up later, and I have yet to go through last year's school books.)



Here is how his artwork looks like inside the ring binder:





But what about pictures that are too big to fit in a page protector? Or 3D models and sculptures?

Some pictures can be trimmed down to fit in a page protector, even if it means losing a little detail off the edge. Or I scan or photograph bigger items that I want to keep, and print them out in a size that will fit in the plastic sleeves. Same goes for a 3D item - I take a photograph of my child holding the piece of art, and that goes into the file as a printed picture (or, more likely, will end up in our family photograph album - either way, it's recorded).

Do I immediately file the pieces of art that I want to keep? Usually, now that I have a system. But sometimes I let them sit in a pile in a designated spot until I am ready to file the batch. This is key - having a designated spot. Our spot is on top of our printer and my sons know that anything precious that they don't want recycled should go there.

This is the system that works for me, but it may not work for you. Perhaps you'd prefer to keep all original pieces of art in those plastic bins that roll under a bed, or scan or photograph everything and create a Blurb book with the images.

Google turns up loads of ideas. I particularly like the idea of having a frame with clothes pins in it, or a wire with clothes pins to pin up and display pieces of art before filing. Have a browse and see if you can find a system that works for you - and then try and be consistent in implementing it. Good luck!

Organising question 1

I'm sooooo sorry it's taken me so long to answer the organising questions I asked for!!

Anyway, here is Marcsi's question:

"I have trouble storing mi painting accessories (spray paints, sand papers, brushes, masking tapes etc), I was thinking of building something for them and put them on the pantry floor under the shelves, but I can build only from wood and that would be too heavy to lift... :) Do you have any idea for me?"

My answer would have to include my favourite big plastic boxes from Ikea. The Samla boxes come in a variety of sizes and have lids too. You could keep your spray paints in one, brushes and rollers in another and cans of paint in yet another. An added advantage are that they are transparent so you can easily see the contents.



A more heavy duty option would be the Skrin boxes. However, they have no lids and aren't stackable, but they do come in two different sizes.



A super affordable option would be the Snålis boxes - again, no lids but two different sizes and the price is right.



I like plastic boxes rather than a wooden built structure or plastic shelves because they are more easily portable and easier to clean.

If you don't have an Ikea near you try your local Container Store or DIY store for plastic boxes - they are fairly widely available in a variety of styles and sizes.

I hope that was helpful (not sure it was worth the wait!)

Vacuuming

(Also, please note my adorable new [plastic] tablecloth.)



Daniel having his hair blown by the warm air at the back of the vacuum cleaner - gross!



Don't know what Noah was doing here!



Very serious about it.

Cool links

Sorry, I know I'm long overdue a proper post but not much has been going on here and of course with the onset of winter I don't take many pics due to low light. I haven't had the urge to pick up my camera in the longest time.

So, in the meantime, some more cool things:

Water light

Composite pavers

Interesting basin

Amazing low-cost kitchen makeover

Funny baby care instructions

P

On Friday the boys got to go to school dressed as something with P and take a pound for Children in Need. Daniel went as a penguin and Noah was a pilot.

For Daniel's costume I simply cut a piece of white fabric and safety-pinned it to his black top. Some orange cardstock stapled to his black beanie and a couple of white cardstock eyes completed the costume.

Noah he wore his race-card driver outfit. I created two stickers to stick over the car graphics - one of a plane and one saying "[school name] Airways".

Don't do it

Don't go over to Nicole's blog 60 Piggies. Don't visit her store and comment letting her know which item you love the most and would like to win.

Because then I have less chance of winning and I really, really, really want one of her stunning pieces of jewellery. I took the longest time picking my favourite because I want them all!

(Okay, you know I'm kidding - you have to see the goodies, they are to die for. Just don't win, mmmkay?)

Town

Daniel, Noah and Phillipa created this town in my bedroom. Daniel asked me, "Can you take a picture of it, please, and put it on your blog?"

Me: "You want me to do that?"

Daniel: "Yes ... it's that good."

Cool links

Lose 20 pounds in your photos

Amazing photos from the news

Dreams of flying

Amazing time lapse videos

Healthy eating, healthy body