Festive, Fast, & Functional Champagne Magnet!

Well, friends, we are well on our way to mid-January.  This weekend I packed away Christmas, we ate the end of the baking, and tomorrow I am buying a healthy, clean eating grocery order.  The "Christmas Hangover" is over and we are settling comfortably into the New Year.  And I must say, it feels good.

What's a "Christmas Hangover?" you ask?  Not what you think it is...but more on that in a future post.  

After a much needed break, I am starting to feel creative again.  The hand knit gifts (which you will see in the not too distant future) were much loved and appreciated, but yowzers my hands were sore by Christmas Eve!  But now, now I feel like making stuff!

The first urge came on New Year's Day.  I was tidying the kitchen and I found the cork from our NYE champagne hanging out on the counter where it had been left the night before.  As I was heading for the garbage I took a look at the cork and paused.  I've always loved champagne corks; I find them rather fascinating.  There's the excitement that comes with removing it, of course, champagne is a celebratory drink and it's always fun to stand around and watch someone work that cork out.  So much the better if it overflows, or if you have to duck to avoid a flying cork.  In the calmer light of day, the cork itself is a little marvel of science, design, and ingenuity.  How do they get it in there?

So, after a few moments with the cork, I realized that I was starting to get sentimental about it.  I am trying to stop doing this; we recently did a "purge" of our belongings and swore to each other that we would stop keeping every little thing that had "meaning".  (Rest assured, I threw away a lot of NYE paraphernalia from previous years.) But this cork, it was just so neat!  So special!!  Surely there was something it could do...

And then it came to me...it would make a really funky fridge magnet!

Turning to the fridge, I found what I was looking for; a plain circle magnet that had fallen off the back of another magnet a few weeks earlier.  I'm not one to toss something functional just because it doesn't look pretty anymore, and so my plain 'ol magnet was earning his keep on the fridge, holding stuff up.  Today, however, luck was smiling on my old, chipped magnet 'cause...it was makeover time!

Sixty seconds in my craft room plus time for drying and we were finished!  As soon as I saw it on my refrigerator I knew I would have to share this no-brainer craft with you.  The best part is that it is almost completely made of repurposed items (although if you don't have a spare magnet lying around, you can buy them).  Here's a tutorial:

First the fun part, drinking your champagne!  We got Henkell Trocken, 'cause I'm a classy chick.  Okay, okay, it's a sparkling wine, not champagne. Picky, picky, picky...

Next, get the cork.  Isn't it pretty?  Depending on the level of frivolity at your celebration, you may have to go looking for the cork.  May I suggest under the sofa?  Oh, and also depending on the level of frivolity at your celebration you may be about to have a whole collection of champagne magnets.  Good for you!  Cheaper by the case anyway!!!

Magnets don't stick to cork all on their own, so go get the glue.  I used Aleene's Tacky Glue; I find it's good for adhering different kinds of surfaces to each other (like cork and magnet).  A little tip; apply glue to both surfaces and let it sit for a minute before attaching them.  This will make the glue tacky and will aid in adhering the surfaces.

Now, let the glue dry.  I didn't take a picture of this because I mean, come on.  A picture of glue drying?  Really?

Be patient and let it dry well.  Leave it alone for a few hours.  This is the hardest part of the craft!!!  We are all adults.  Leave. It. Alone.

  

Hey look, it's dry!  I must say, that's one classy magnet!  And that's a mighty cute dog!  He was one of my Christmas presents.  They called him "Rodney" in the feature but the shelter workers were actually calling him "Rod Stewart."  And he lived at the shelter for, like, five months, so he really thought he was Rod Stewart...

"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

 There is a resemblance, no?  Five pounds of love there, folks.  Anyhoodle, the neighbors think we're wacky enough; yelling "Rod Stewart!" out the back door wasn't going to help our image so he became Max.  I loves him!

Good luck with your magnets!  If you don't have your NYE cork anymore, what luck!  Valentine's Day is right around the corner!

Friday is a Retro Recipe...and it's a goodie!!!  See you then!

The Thrifting Continues...And Filing, Too!

The weather has been cool and crisp the last few days, and it feels like "Back to School."  Of course, I haven't gone "Back to School" in years.  Despite that, I still feel like going shopping for school supplies.  As an adult, I fulfill that urge by purchasing office supplies.

Oh, office supplies, how I love you!  One of the highlights of my professional career was that, in many of my positions, I was responsible for office supplies.  Pens, sticky notes, correction fluid, notebooks, folders and files.  Oh the files and folders were the best!  I adore filing systems!  

Yes, it is safe to say that I truly love office supplies and filing systems.  Yet strangely, I have never successfully implemented a filing system at home.  We've tried a couple options, and we can always find what we need, but when compared to the meticulously organized systems I've maintained in the workplace, my own system was sadly lacking.  Many times we agreed to do something about it, but we never seemed to get around to it.  

Until now.

We recently purchased a filing cabinet at our local thrift store.  It is missing its lock, but that's OK, and it has a sticker on the front, but other than that it's in pretty good shape!  I am toying around with the idea of getting some spray paint and painting it a funky colour, but for now it is going to be put into use "as is".  In this spirit, we picked up some folders and files on our recent trip to town.  I was getting excited; I was getting to indulge in two loves - filing and shopping for office supplies!

Tonight, I took my new supplies and sat down with some Sharpie markers and labeled the folders and files.  I made a few categories, like "Utilites," "Accounts," and "Household," and then spent a happy hour neatly printing "Hydro," "Gas," and lots of other prosaic stuff on manila folders.  And I loved it!

Tomorrow I'm going to get out the not-so-system we are using right now and refile everything into the new cabinet. I can always take the files out if I decide to spruce it up a bit.  The cabinet is going to live in my husband's study so I will have to take this into consideration if I'm going to paint it.  If I do pretty it up, I'll be sure to document it for a future post. For now, I've included a picture of with my pretty kitty, Junior Mint, lounging in front of it.  We put it on one of her favorite blankets so it wouldn't scratch the floor while I'm doing my filing, thus the rare picture of our elusive white cat.

Normally I would not share a picture featuring a velour blanket on the floor, but so rarely do we get a photo op with Mint that I couldn't not share.  She literally walked (okay, rolled) in front of the camera.  So enjoy!

Sigh.  Some people get excited about racing, sailing, or sports. I get passionate about office supplies and filing.  It takes all kinds!  Is there anything "nerdy" that you secretly enjoy?

Have a great weekend!  I'll see you on Monday!

Hidden Treasure

One of the (many) great things about reading blogs is that I get inspired.  I have found so many amazing ideas, projects, and recipes that I want to try that I don't think I will ever get to all of it!  But recently, I decided to try my hand at one of the activities I'd read about that seemed particularly intriguing: thrifting.

As far as I can gather, "thrifting" refers to the process of shopping at a thrift shop, that is, a second hand store.  Not necessarily an "antique" store, but a store who's function is to sell second hand items, no matter what their vintage.  Back home in Cape Breton, I'd loved going "thrifting" with my mother; she is one of those people who is always making amazing discoveries at second hand and antique stores.  Indeed, I owe many of my better "finds" to her shrewd eye.  However, it took me a while to get back into thrifting in Kitimat.

We started going to the local thrift store more frequently and we began to find some real treasures.  Once, it was a pair of marble rook bookends which found a home in my book and chess loving husband's study.  Another day we found a metal mortar and pestle which I will use to grind oilier, more fragrant spices so that my marble one will not get discoloured.  And then finally, one day, we struck gold!

Now, don't get all excited. We've all heard of people buying "costume" jewelery at a thrift shop only to discover that they'd acquired an expensive bauble for mere pennies.  No, what we found was gold in colour alone.  

We found brass. In pairs.

First, we found the ducks.  There they were, sitting atop an old shelf, gleaming in the afternoon sun.  I couldn't decide if they were wonderful or hideous, but I was leaning toward wonderful.  I like ducks, and these were lovely shiny ducks.  We also love literature, and our home is full of books that, well, sometimes need something to hold them up.  And so, I decided to point them out to my husband, who was perusing, you guessed it, more books.  Well, as luck would have it, he loved them too, and so the shiny fellows came home with us. (They are nowhere near as smudgy as my photo would imply, I'm going to blame this picture on my camera.)  We haven't decided yet exactly where they will end up, but for now they are hanging out on our end tables, keeping company with our next shiny find...


Lamps!

Brass lamps!  I know, I know, if someone had suggested brass lamps to me I would have told them they were crazy (well no, I'm too nice to have actually verbalized that, but I would have thought it).  But, one day while browsing I noticed them and decided to take a closer look.  However, upon approaching the display I noticed that they had both the glass hurricane and wick key of oil lamps, and disregarded them as such.  I was later informed that they were indeed electric lamps, and I hastened in to purchase them.  My husband and I had a bit of a laugh over all our shiny purchases, but we realized that surprisingly, the brass items complemented many of the items we had in our living room. On our mantel we display a small pile of favorite books as well as a few nautical tools, both of which have gold coloured accents.  The hardware on our doors is brass.  And so our new items, which seemed so "not us," actually fit into our home quite well!

We love our living room now!  It's really coming together nicely.  It still needs a few things but our "thrifted" items really brought the room together and have given us focus as to how to decorate the room.  We purchased a few brass frames to contrast with the black ones we were already using and I have to say, all in all the golden touches have really warmed up the space. 


Have you found a treasure in a thrift store?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!  Have a great week and I'll see you on Wednesday!

Lemon Fresh and Oh So Cute!!!

I have a confession to make.  I'm a fool for packaging.


It's true!  I try to control it, and most of the time I do quite well.  However, every so often, a product makes its way into our home solely on the merit of its packaging.  Which is how a bag of lemons made its way home from the wholesale warehouse with us a few weeks ago.  One look at the adorable Mr. Lemon on the label, and I was sold.  So to the Bee Sweet lemon company, a hearty BRAVO!  Put a little lemon puppy on them next and I'll be buying them by the caseload:

Who could resist?  Luckily, I had plenty of recipes that called for lemons, so I made the following:

• Lemon Coffee Cake
• Lemon Salad Dressing
• Lemon Pepper Roast Chicken
• Lemon Basil Roast Chicken
• Gimlet Au Naturel Cocktails (a tasty little cross between a gimlet and a G&T that we came up with)

And while they were waiting to be consumed, the lemons looked quite pretty hanging out in a lovely blue and white china bowl. 


As I was unwrapping the lemons, I set aside the wrapper.  The scrapbooker in me said "save it, it's fabulous" while the woman who's been purging her belongings snapped "throw it out!"  This time, the emotional scrapper won, although I did neatly trim one incidence of the repeating pattern from the label and threw the rest away.  I put the scrap in my junk drawer (dangerous, I know).  Several times over the next few days, I would see it and think that I should just toss it, but one look at those big lemony eyes and back in the drawer he'd go.  I just knew he had a purpose!  And one day, while cleaning the kitchen counters with my homemade lemon cleanser, inspiration struck!

Here's how my lemon cleanser looked before inspiration struck:

Nothing wrong with it, but other than the "L" scribbled in Sharpie on the bottom, there's really no way to differentiate between the lemon, the cinnamon, or teatree scents.  But now...

This should barely qualify as a craft, it's so simple.  All I did was position the scrap of label on the bottle (hold it in place with some double sided tape if you need to) and then I neatly placed strips of clear packing tape over it until it was completely covered.  That's it!  I have no idea how long it will last, but the bottle cost a dollar and the label was free (since I used the lemons, it doesn't count as a useless impulse buy.  My blog, my rules!)  So if it wears off in a few months, oh well!  The label is plastic-y, so it will probably last longer than if it were paper.  Plus, it's a great bit of free advertising for the Sweet Bee company!  Anyone who makes labels this cute deserves a plug!  Now I'm on the lookout for labels for my other scents!


This may have been the quickest turn-around of any bit of ephemera I've saved in the name of scrap-booking.  If you don't think this is a big deal, ask any scrapper about their "stash" and you'll quickly understand!


Today I'm linking to Trendy Treehouse's Creative Share!


Have a wonderful week!  See you on Friday!

I Want to Ride My Bike!

As you know, Nesty is about pursuing a honeyed life through simplified living.  Sometimes, the things I can do to make my home's life simply sweet are obvious; cook healthy, delicious meals, practice a "greener" lifestyle, and  embrace time-tested crafts like sewing and knitting.  Other times, however, the simple pleasures of life take me by surprise.


Such was the case today, when, for the first time in well over a decade, I rode a bike.


I was getting ready for a walk, just tying on my sneakers when my husband mentioned that his bike was back from the shop if I'd like to use it.  I stopped.  In all the time this bike has lived in our home, it never occurred to me to ride it.  It was his bike.  Now, in retrospect, I realize how silly that was; he'd never said I couldn't ride it, it was just one of those things. I made a decision.


He helped me get it outside, and after a rather embarrassing moment when I attempted to ride it with the handle bars turned around 360 degrees ("Why are the brakes on the wrong side?" I asked as I careened out of control) I did a practice run on the street in front of our house.  Soon, I was ready to hit the road (or the paths, as the case may be).  With my husband's advice to stick close to home on my first run, I headed out.


It is true what they say; it really did just all come back.  Not just the skill, but the elation that comes with soaring effortlessly along asphalt, the wheels making that wonderful buzzing sound.  I veered slightly further from home than I probably should have,  but it was just so wonderful.  I took turns experimentally, and made a game out of finding my way home.  When one path led to a street instead of another path, I looked both ways and then, tentatively, made a turn in the street and headed back the other way.  Success!


I cruised around for a little while longer, and then made my way home.  As I turned up our street, I felt muscles I hadn't heard from in a while.  I'm sure I'll be a little achy tomorrow.  But it was so worth it, and I can't wait to do it again.  In fact, I'm thinking about checking out bikes when we go to Terrace tomorrow, so we can enjoy biking together.


Thanks for stopping by!  See you on Friday!!!!

The Perfect Girl's Night Crop!

To me, scrap-booking is almost meditative in nature.  Alone in my craft room, with a warm cup of tea or glass of wine (in a travel cup) by my side, surrounded by beautiful papers and ribbons, I can take my time and leaf through pictures.  As I visualize how I will arrange the photographs, I reminisce about the event that featured in the picture and quietly smile, shed a tear, or laugh out loud.  However, sometimes I take too much time, and my projects pile up and don't get finished.  I don't stress about it; scrap-booking is something I do for fun and if the muse goes away for a bit, that's okay.


I've gotten back into making cards the last few months (inspired after receiving several gorgeous greetings from my cousin Ainsley of Pattycake Manners, and after receiving a wonderful kit of Stampin' Up goodies from my mother for Christmas.)  Also, I made a few mini-albums for Christmas gifts, as well as embellished containers for my holiday gifts.  So I haven't abandoned scrapping.  But I have been "working" on two projects very dear to me for over a year, and despite wonderful pictures to work with and some great materials, they just weren't coming together for me.  Clearly, I needed something to put me in a scrapping frame of mind!  And so, I decided to invite two of my fellow scrappers over for a "crop night."


Of course, because I'm me and I can't help myself, I had to jazz it up a bit and have some fun preparing.  And so I decided to share my plan for the Perfect Girl's Night Crop!


What could be more fun than cupcakes!  To me, they are the picture perfect girl's night snack!  Pretty and delicious, they also avoid the need to put out plates, forks, and serving utensils.  Anytime you can avoid doing dishes,embrace the opportunity, I say!  Cupcakes can also be easy and super quick to make!  Now, you all know that I love to bake, and "from scratch" baking is near and dear to my heart.  However, there's a time and a place for mixes, and in my humble opinion, Crop Night is the time and place!


I picked up two mixes and two tubs of pre-made frosting.  I chose Cherry Chip and Butter Pecan; my theory is if you're going to use mixes, go for flavors you probably wouldn't engineer yourself.  I got a little happy when I saw Cherry Chip; there's just something so in-your-face cake-mix-y about it!  For the frosting, I chose of tub of "white" and another of "cream cheese." I added a dab of Wilton Icing Colour Concentrated Gel in Rose to the tub of cream cheese frosting and mixed it up well.  I placed a large tip into a disposable decorating bag and filled the bag with the pink frosting.  I used a large caterers tip with a plain open end to make "ice-cream" type swirls, and alternated between generous swirls and smaller rosettes (Since some people like a lot of frosting and some people don't!). A dusting of multi-colour sprinkles was the perfect finishing touch!


 Here is a tutorial from Wilton on making 1M Swirls on cupcakes using their 1M tip which fits into a coupler.  A coupler is a small tube with screw threads that fits into a decorating bag; once the coupler is in place you can change out tips on the same bag.  This is especially useful when you want to use the same colour for different techniques.  It also holds the tip in place; with the industrial ones I used you need to make sure that the tip doesn't "sink"into the bag of frosting.  The 1M swirl looks so perfect that I think I will pick up that tip for future cupcake projects.


The tip I used for the Butter Pecan cupcakes was similar to the 1M.  For these, I added some Butter Pecan flavouring essence to the tub of white frosting and stirred it well, then followed the same process for decorating the cupcakes.  To finish these, I added a sprinkle of pecan pieces.


Here are the finished cupcakes, all ready for the girls to enjoy!

And for inspiration, a Cabernet Savignon!

So, did the inspiration work?  Well, I got some perspective on my projects and definitely know where I'm going with them, but I didn't actually commit to gluing anything together. But that's okay, because when I was cleaning up afterward, I came up with another wonderful use for plastic clam-shell containers!


Some of you may remember this project from a few weeks ago:

Well, since I came up with this, I've been saving all my clam-shell containers and tea canisters.  The clam-shells come in a variety of sizes for different kinds of produce (spinach, cherry tomatoes, and strawberries ).  I haven't gotten around to decorating them all yet, and as I was carrying my stash back to my craft room, I saw them sitting there and got an idea.


My current projects (the ones I'm struggling to finish) are both "mini" albums.  One is a chip-board accordion album, and the other is a mini-binder with chipboard pages and brown paper envelopes for ephemera.  Add to these two pieces the paper, pictures, and add-ons and it adds up to a lot of stuff that I always seem to be rummaging for whenever I want to work on a project.

Scrap-bookers have been using large pizza boxes to organize their traditional 12x12 projects for years, but they are kind of big for mini-projects.  Well, now mini-albums have a home to call their own!

I was able to fit all of my project materials into the strawberry container.  I placed a sheet of the Martha Stewart Crafts matting paper (in a fun travel theme) that I am using for these projects on top so it shows through the lid and now all my materials are organized, easily identified, and ready to grab when inspiration strikes!


This would be a great way to gift-wrap scrap-booking supplies as well, since it would also give the recipient a nifty green project organizer as well.  If I were doing this, I would make a one sided card or tag and attach it to the top of the container so it would be decorative in the recipient's craft room!  Here is an example I made using a variety of Colorbok "Friendly Forest" papers, journaling cards, and embellishments:

Ready to Give!

Here are the materials I am using for my projects:

• Chipboard Accordion Album (unknown)
• Chipboard Mini-Binder with inserts (unknown)
• Canson # 505 Red cardstock, and other unknown assorted cardstocks
• Colorbok "Friendly Forest" Journaling Cards, mat papers, and embellishments
• Martha Stewart Crafts Travel Mat Pad

One final tip: I like to use mini-pictures that I get from the photo kiosk at Walmart. To keep these from getting lost (some aren't much bigger than a postage stamp) I place them all in an envelope, label the envelope with the name of the project I'm working on, and place it in the container with the rest of my materials.  No more lost pictures!


Have a wonderful and creative week!


PS - I'm sorry for the late post today; I was one of the bloggers effected by the Blogger isolated access issues going on Sunday and Monday!  Rest assured I was up late desperately trying to get this post to you on time!

The Great Vinegar Incident

As you know, we have been working on "greening" our nest over the past few months.  The Great Green Spring Cleaning Challenge has evolved past a one time challenge into an everyday practice.  We're not perfect; paper towels still have their place (although greatly reduced) and air fresheners have worked their way back in (although again, in a greatly reduced capacity).  I do aim to use "natural" air fresheners as much as possible.  Now that the weather is improving we can indulge in one of the best; opening the windows.  There's some blustery weather blowing in today, and so we have several windows open in order to make the most of the crisp, rain-drenched breeze that's blowing down off the mountains.  Although it's sad to see the sun go, it's the sort of day that gets into your blood and really makes you feel alive.


There are some odour challenges,  however, that call for the big guns.  Smells like fried food, sour milk, and fish.  Fish in almost all it's forms can leave a lingering smell, the memory of which can be enough to deter an individual from wanted to prepare it.  "Smells like low tide" is an East Coast way of explaining the lingering smell of seafood.


A sure-fire way to neutralize household odours, including fish, is to bring some white vinegar to a boil and let it simmer.  Yes, your house may smell a bit like pickles, but the offensive odour is gone and the vinegar smell fades away quickly and leaves the air fresh and neutral.  I've relied on this many, many times with good results.  However, like many things one comes to rely on, occasionally it will let you down.  And sometimes, it takes your friends with you...


It was a quiet summer day in Kitimat, and my dear husband had just returned from a day of fishing with a friend.  They brought back a couple salmon and gave them to me to prepare for the freezer.  I had been trying a few different methods of preparation, but for the most part I had simply been wrapping the whole, gutted fish in several layers of tin foil and plastic wrap.  This day, however, I wanted to try my hand at filleting.


I had queried several people about the best method of filleting, and had checked out videos and how-to's on the internet, so I had a pretty good idea of what to do.  That is, at least in theory.  However, what works in theory does not always translate in practice, and things got sloppy.  I managed to get the job done, but my filleting would not win any awards.  No matter, I now had a lovely pile of packets of de-boned salmon fillet-y things in my freezer, ready to be placed into stews and other tasty dishes.  I also had a lovely pile of friends coming over for the evening, and my kitchen was covered in blood, bones, and scales. It also smelled like blood, bones, and scales.  If cooked fish smells like low-tide, then raw fish smells like...well, there really are no words for what raw fish smells like.  Not exactly fishy, but...cloying, and very metallic.  Not at all welcoming.


No matter!  I had lots of elbow grease and vinegar!  I set to work cleaning, and before long I was scraping the last of the scales off the kitchen counter.  All that was left to do was simmer a little vinegar.  My buddies were arriving as I was doing the last of my work (filleting the salmon took a little longer than anticipated) so my husband entertained while I finished up in the kitchen.  I poured some vinegar into a saucepan, put it on a back burner, and brought it to a boil.


When I purchased this vinegar, all that was available was a vinegar that claimed to be "extra strong."  Well, nothing wrong with that!  As I was wiping down the counters with "extra strong" vinegar, I started to hear a few muted coughs coming from the living room.  "Someone has allergies!"  I thought to myself. Then another cough chimed in.  "Must be something in the air" I decided as I reached for a tissue.  Now why were my eyes burning...?


The coughs were becoming more persistent now, as were the mumblings and snickers.  Coincidentally, I was developing a tickle in my throat, too!  How weird!  I was just about to comment on it when finally my husband exclaimed "What are you cooking out there?"


Ahem. While the house may not have smelled like raw fish anymore, it now smelled like brine day at the pickle factory.  Funny, when I'm eating a dill I've never stopped to think how the cucumber felt as it stewed away in its juices.  Suffice to say, the "extra strong" vinegar was doing an "extra good" job of clearing the air, and taking everyone's breath away with it!  I removed the vinegar from the stove and made a mental note to only use it for cleaning from now on.  We ran around opening windows, and eventually the air cleared and we all had a good laugh about the incident.  However, it has become one of those stories that keeps popping up, and no doubt will continue popping up at least as long as we're in Kitimat.


As a result of The Great Vinegar Incident, I have explored other options for naturally freshening the air, ones that aren't quite so breath taking!  My favorites include simmering lemon slices, or oranges and cinnamon sticks, or even a few drops of essential oil in water (read warnings first).  When all else fails, the vinegar is still there, but now I dilute it with some water before turning on the heat!


Some of our best lessons in nesting are born out of disasters, and I've had some doozies!  I have found as I've grown older that having the grace and good humour to laugh at yourself makes these lessons much easier to learn!  I've got a couple of these stories I'm willing to share, and I'll dole them out from time to time.  If you haven't already, one of my best ever epic disasters is detailed in an early post called Mental Note.


So, the next time an attempt at nesting perfection comes crashing down around you, just remember this; One, you're not alone, and two, someday, it'll make a great story!

Wherefore Art Thou, Pens?

While shopping last week, I decided to buy myself a notebook.


I like notebooks, and in my professional life they were an integral part of how I organized my time. I would take time at the end of each work day to consider my tasks and would write out a "To-Do" list.  The next morning, after reviewing my email, messages, and meeting commitments, I would prioritize my list and set to work crossing items off.  Throughout the day I would make notes on the pages after my daily list, and then start the process all over again at the end of the day.  If a page of notes was of particular importance, I would use a page marker so that I could easily locate the information in the future.  Colour coding was VERY important to me, both in terms of labels and ink colours. In addition, whenever possible, I liked to use a dry erase calendar to have a visual map of the month ahead.  Nothing new or ground-breaking in my method, but it worked well for me.  And so, I have decided to apply this system to organizing my days in our new life, in conjunction with a new dry erase calendar on my fridge.  My husband has been away for 3 weeks, and I got bored.  Nonetheless, I think he will be very impressed with how much more organized our home and activities will be.


Now that I've left no doubt as to what a huge nerd I am, I'll return to the notebook.  I found a very pretty one with a large pink abstract flower on the cover.  It has a sleeve / folder, perforated sheets, and most importantly, a coil.  I was all set. I waited until Monday to start my new system.  With the first, fresh sheet of paper in front of me, I reached for my pen and wrote my first list.


A bit about this pen.  Several years ago, when we were still in university, we discovered a range of disposable fountain pens.  We adored these pens and used them for many years, until the office supply shop we purchased them at closed.  We didn't see them for several years.  A few months ago, on a lark, I mentioned the pens at our local office supply shop, and they were able to locate them.  We ordered six and split them between us.  I am down to my last pen.  I was confident that this pen was new, and so I made my list, imagining that all my lists would be written with the same ink.


As the day went by, I crossed items off the list with a red pen.  At the end of the day I decided that I didn't like the look of the "cross-outs" and that going forward I would "check" items off my list.  I promise I didn't rip out the list and rewrite it!  I picked up my fountain pen to start writing the next day's list, and quickly realized that the pen was bone dry.


Bother!  I quickly searched for another; I didn't remember using up the other 2 pens, so surely they must be around somewhere?  I rooted through drawers, purses, and desks, and came up with nothing.  Sigh.  But no matter, I had another favorite pen.  This is a pen I never have difficulty locating in stores, it's a good old fashioned Papermate stick pen, blue ink, medium tip.  A pen I watched my Aunt Irene use for many years, it's nostalgic and reliable.  I knew I had one in my craft room.  Off I went to retrieve it.  I wrote up Tuesday's list and went off to bed.


The next day I got up and got ready to tackle the list.  Of course, as the day progressed, there were more items to add, and it was as I was adding a note to check my husband's uniforms that my faithful old Papermate  scratched to a halt.  No.  It couldn't be.  I knew from my previous rummages that all the pens in the house were now housed in the pen cup that was in front of me. This flummoxed me.  We both buy pens by the case, as if they were going out of style.  However, at this time there were only three pens left in our house.  One was a Very Nice Pen that my husband gave me when he was buying pens for himself (he likes a nice pen, as a writer he is very particular, and when he finds a good one he buys a few and gives me one, so I'll have a nice pen too.).  But the ink in this Very Nice Pen was black, and that wouldn't do.  I moved on to the next two.  They were both from hotels; one side effect of driving across the country is that you end up with a lot of free pens from hotels.  I was immediately cheered when I read the familiar word "Papermate" on each cap. Excellent!    I uncapped one and started writing, and....black ink.  Blast!  The writing on the pen was blue!  It's just plain mis-leading to put black ink in a pen with a blue logo!!!  I tried the last pen, and of course, it had black ink.


Sighing, I put the hotel pens back in the cup and picked up the Very Nice Pen.  I turned to another list I'd started of "Items to Buy" and made a note, in black ink, "Pens."


Grumble, grumble, grumble.  The system had never failed me before. But it had one more little trick up it's sleeve.  Remember my enthusiasm over the coil?  The reason for that is that I like to have my notebook folded over so that just the day's list is showing.  Because I am Being Green, I am writing on both sides of the paper, and on the opposite side of today's list was the shopping list I had started with my fountain pen.  Towards the end of the day, as I was preparing to write tomorrow's list, I picked my book up from the counter where it lives during the day and carried it over to the table.  I opened it up to consult the shopping list and gasped; where once there was a neat list of dried goods and sundries was now a black and yellow blob of ink.  Fountain pen ink, to be exact.  In my enthusiasm I had forgotten that fountain ink is not water proof and was perhaps not the best choice of ink for a book that was going to live in a kitchen.  I took a closer look to see if I could still read the list and realized that, while it would still need to be re-written, it was not completely obliterated. In fact, there was one word that wasn't smeared or faded at all.  It stood out from the page, as clear and true as when it had been written in clear, black, water proof ink:


PENS.

Pretty With (Re)Purpose!

If I had to pick one thing that all scrapbookers have in common, I would have to say it would most likely be....their stash!!!!


I'm not talking about the twizzlers behind the paper boxes or the bottle of cabernet stashed under the sink for "inspiration" (although those both sound like fine ideas...).  I'm referring to the shelves, boxes, filing cabinets, you name it, full of 12X12 sheets of patterned papers, cardstock, ribbons, buttons, brads, rivets, clips, cutouts, chipboard cutouts, fabric cutouts, alphabets, tags, shiny flowery thingies, glitter, ephemera...did I mention 12x12 paper?

You get the idea.  Scrappers love stuff, we are creative beings that for the most part create because we are inspired...and nothing is more inspiring than pretty stuff!  And there's nothing wrong with that!  Scrapbookers are always challenging themselves to use up their stash, in fact right now I am trying to not buy anything else until I use up some of my existing stash.  But there is one part of my stash that I sometimes find extra challenging to use, and that's my scraps.  Often in scrapbooking you will cut into a piece of paper and will have some of it left over.  I keep almost all of my scraps and try really hard to use them up.  But the pile is there and sometimes I feel guilty about the waste, especially when I've only used a small part of the paper.


Finally, the other day, while I was changing the garbage of all things, inspiration struck.  I really think I'm a genius for coming up with this one.


You know those giant 454 gram tubs of spinach that you can buy? The ones that come in the big plastic container that isn't recyclable in many areas?  Well, I was about to cram one of those containers into a garbage bag when I thought, not for the first time, isn't there anything I can do with this besides sending it off to the landfill?  I took a closer look. These containers are well made, they have a lid that fits well, they are clear...really the only difference between them and a lot of other plastic bins is the label on top.


And then it hit me...the label could be covered...with....it's getting clearer....SCRAPS!!!!

 As you can see here, once inspiration hit I wasn't limited to spinach containers!  I'd been holding onto a few empty Tetley tea containers for awhile for the same reason, they were so well designed that it seemed like a waste to just thow them away. 


I took my "supplies" and headed for my craft room to create.  Once I was finished I had four snazzy new containers to use for storage, gift wrap, or organizing.

The best part is that this project is incredibly easy and fast! 

Start by taking a piece of plain white paper and press it into the inner most indent of the spinach container lid. Then, trim around the indentation and you now have a template for cutting out your paper.  Go though your scrap stash and find a piece of paper that will fit your template.  For my project I used sassorted scraps of Stampin Up Designer Series Paper in Razzleberry Lemonade (all four projects).  Once you've decided on your paper, trace the template onto the wrong side of the paper with a pencil, and then trim it with scissors.  Keep trimming until the fit is perfect! 

Once you are sure that your paper is perfectly trimmed, get out some good craft glue.  I like Aleene's Original Tacky Glue because it dries clear and bonds different surfaces together well (like shiny plastic to paper).  Apply glue to the wrong side of the paper, trying not to apply it too thick.  Then, carefully position the paper in place in the indentation on the lid.  Apply gentle pressure to the paper to ensure that there aren't any lumps and that the paper adheres to the lid.  Let dry.  If you wish, you can trace another template for the inside of the lid, as the label will show through on the inside (I wasn't able to remove all of the label).  This isn't necessary but it looks nice, especially if you are using the container to wrap a gift.  Once the glue is dry, you can place it back on the container and start thinking of what you want to do with your beautiful new designer container!  I've already decided to save the next three to help organize my coat closet.  I'm going to assign one to myself, one to my husband, and one for the dogs, to hold all the "things" that are always floating around in the closet (hats, gloves, leashes). 

Spinach Bin Container Holding Yarn

  The next project is to use up those tea canisters! The best thing about the Tetley canisters is their lids; since they sink into the tube they won't tear the paper (as potato chip tube lids and coffee tin lids can).  For each tin, I cut a strip of paper 7.5 cm wide by 24.5 cm long from scraps (also SU Razzleberry Lemonade).  I dabbed craft glue on the wrong side of the paper and, on the edge of the paper that will be seen, I applied a strip of Stampin' Up Snail Adhesive on the wrong side of the paper. Then I removed the lid from the canister, took a strip of paper, lined the edge of the paper up with the seam of the canister label, and held it in place with a piece of scotch tape.

I then wrapped the paper around the canister slowly, making sure to line up the edges and smooth the paper where the glue was.  When I reached the end, the Snail Adhesive held the edge cleanly in place.  That's all there is to it!  If you like you can embellish the tins a bit.  For the pink tin I used a scrap of Stampin' Up grosgain ribbon in a pretty spring green, and a few dollar store floral embellishments.


Here are my completed projects!

As you can see, this is a simple project but one that is satisfying because the results are attractive, useful, and green!  I will leave you with a few more images of how I used my new containers.

Holding yarn (I'm a wool snob!)

Pen Cup

Craft room organizers.

Retro Recipes - A Sweet & Sour Fairytale...

Ravines!

Once upon a time a thirtysomething young lady and her dashing Mountie left their home by the sea to travel many many miles across a strange and beautiful land.  They passed bears and mountain goats, crossed rivers and ravines, navigated through forests and finally, after winding their way through the mountains they arrived at their new home in the magical land of British Columbia.


The dashing Mountie found a charming chalet where they, their loyal Woodle, and their extremely peeved  loving and gentle cats could rest.  After a warm dinner and a good rest, the couple stepped out of the chalet and into into the thick fog brilliant sunlight of their new home. 


It was time to search for their castle.


They searched duplexes and condos, houses and apartments and were beginning to lose hope that they would never find a home for themselves and their pack of beasties.  And then, they saw it...not a castle or even a manor, but instead a charming little cottage, appearing through the mist.  Flowering shrubs gently hugged the front walkway, guiding the weary travelers inside to bright whitewashed walls and plenty of big windows to bring in the light.  A picture window in the living room parlour with a majestic mountain view was just about enough to convince them.  Stepping out into a back yard lovingly surrounded by rose bushes and mountain ash, the young lady saw it and knew she was home...


A rhubarb patch!!!!!!

Weary Woodle

Oh come on, if you don't write your own fairy tales, no one else will!!!  And it's all pretty much true, we did travel across Canada, through the Canadian Shield and the Rockies.  We did see bears and mountain goats.  We even stayed at The Chalet Motel upon our arrival!  And for our first year, we lived in a perfectly sweet little bungalow surrounded by decorative shrubs that did indeed have a rhubarb patch.  I was assured that the rhubarb was all mine to enjoy, and enjoy it I did.  That rhubarb made us friends, and was the star ingredient in many of my spring and summer recipes last year.  In fact, pretty much the only thing I didn't make with it was jam, and for the life of me I don't know why I didn't.  And so, all winter long, I looked forward to Spring when my rhubarb would reappear.


It reappeared quite early, actually.  The winter in Kitimat this year was mild, and we accidentally put a patio table over the patch, which we removed when the snow started to melt.  I personally think this acted like a greenhouse of sorts because my rhubarb was popping up through the dirt even earlier than expected.  Every time I took the dogs out I would have a look at its progress.  It grew steadily, and by late March I was counting my mason jars and looking up recipes.


And then we moved.


It's hard to admit this, but two things swayed me to stay in that little house.  One was the view of the mountains from my living room.  During the last year, when I would feel the occasional twinges of homesickness and the voice in my head would ask "tell me again why we're here?" I would look up at those mountains and remember that I did in fact love Northern BC.  The second thing was that rhubarb patch.  Silly, I know, but it was like a little patch of home in my backyard.  I watched for those sprouts the way most people watch for tulips and crocuses.


I got over the issue of the view rather quickly as my new patio has a fabulous view not only of the same mountain I could see from my old house, but of many of the other mountains as well.  And the smart girl in me who knew the new house was better for us reasoned that a rhubarb patch was not a reason to stay put.  And so we moved.  I didn't forget it though and one evening as I was looking through recipes, I remarked to my husband again how sorry I was that I wouldn't be able to make rhubarb jam.  He then pointed out something I had completely forgotten.  We held the lease on our old house until April 30.  The rhubarb was mine for a month.


Rhubarb Watch was on!  Whenever I visited the house I would peek at it, growing away in the backyard.  It was doing well and I was hopeful that it would flourish in time for me to pick some. Please, just one jar of jam, I silently begged of the tough leaves and sprouts growing away in the patch. Toward the end of the month my husband had to go home suddenly and in the rush to get him ready I forgot about preserving for awhile.  Then, the other day as I was going through papers making sure all loose ends were tied up at our old house, I remembered I had one piece of unfinished business there.  The lease on my rhubarb was about to run out!


It was a cold, miserable, rainy day, not a harvesting day at all.  But I had to check.  After all, whoever lived there next may not appreciate it, and the patch might not last if not cared for.  This could be the last jam made from the rhubarb that was no doubt planted by the home's original owners!  And so off I went, armed with plastic bags and a sturdy kitchen knife.  I held my breath as I made my way into the backyard.  We hadn't harvested any last year until late May...I knew I was being optimistic but the winter had been so mild and the Spring quite sunny so far...


It was ready!!!!  Giant green leaves were growing luxuriantly in the mist and rain, and the stalks beneath were pink and gorgeous!!!!  I harvested quickly and efficiently, trying to thin out the patch so that the younger stalks would have a chance to grow (I still foster a hope that the next tenant will love rhubarb, too).  Truth be told, after I finished you could barely tell I'd taken any.  I lugged my bounty out to the truck and whispered a final thank you and good bye to the little house that had been our home during our first year in this new land. 

Retro-licious!

And so began my weekend project.  For my birthday I had received a couple cases of vintage mason jars (a gift I loved because it was useful, thoughtful, and green).  This was great because a lot of my mason jars are holding craft supplies.  I loved going through them because, unlike brand new bottles, these were all different.  Some had fruit designs on them, others were plain, and there was one jelly jar in a diamond design that I hadn't seen in quite some time.  Anyone who cans will tell you that there is nothing better than being given mason jars!  If you're wondering why, take a cruise by the canning section of your local grocery or department store and see what it costs to buy them new.  One case may not seem like much but it adds up if you do a lot of canning.  And if you are lucky enough to have a friend who gives you homemade preserves, here is a bit of canning etiquette that will ensure the gifts keep coming; return the jars.


I took some time going through the jars and choosing the prettiest (since strawberry rhubarb is such a lovely colour) for this batch of jam.   I had prepared my rhubarb so I would know how much I had to work with and after much deliberation I had decided on two recipes.  The first was Bernardin's Rhubarb Strawberry Pie Filling, and the second was the recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Jam found inside the package of Certo pectin.  I couldn't find the same recipe for the jam online; this one from Certo and Kraft Canada is is similar, but it uses butter.  However, if you preserve you almost definitely have that Certo chart stuck in a cookbook, and if not your mother or grandmother certainly does!


With home canning, preparation and planning is everything.  It's not exactly difficult, but it is time-sensitive and requires you to do a number of things all at once.  As well, sterilization is imperative to prevent food spoilage. All that being said, preserving is fun and satisfying and I wholeheartedly encourage you try it.  (If boiling kettles of goo scares you, start out with freezer jam; nothing could be easier.)  I recommend that you read your recipe through several times, clean everything you're going to use and have it laid out before you begin, and prep and pre-measure your ingredients.  When you are boiling that much fruit and sugar, even a few seconds can be the difference between whether or not it burns.  My suggestion is to pick up a book on home canning basics (Bernardin's is good) and read through the methods before you get started.  If, like myself, you've been helping out with preserving since you were a child, this will all be second nature, but it can be overwhelming to a beginner.


I started out with the pie filling.  I was pleased with the results, although I didn't have a photo to reference as I was making it.  My filling looks different than the filling in the picture shown in the link, but it tastes delicious and looks beautiful.  My batch only yielded 4 500 ml jars, with a little bit left over.  However, mine is quite rendered down, so if it were chunkier it may have filled 5.  I am going to try it in a pie, however I can also see me using it as a dessert topping and in turn-overs.  I loved how this recipe tasted as well, with only 2 cups of sugar it had a  great "sweet and sour" flavour.  If you like your strawberry rhubarb pie a little tart, this is the recipe for you.


Next came the jam.  This was an "old-school" jam recipe with just fruit, pectin, and a whopping 6 1/2 cups of sugar.  But it is delicious and it set up beautifully.  In the picture you can see the difference in colour between the two recipes.  This recipe yielded 7 250 ml jelly jars after skimming, so I was quite pleased. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling (l) and Jam (r)

One of my favorite parts of making jam is listening for the lids to "pop" as they seal.  I was giggling away each time I heard one pop...and then I remembered the window was open and the neighbors probably thought I was losing my mind.  All eleven jars popped and as my husband's aunt pointed out, this is satisfying because it is a sign of a "job well done." Sealed jars can be stored away until you are ready to use them.  That's one of the real joys of home canning, you can preserve summer's produce for use in the winter without taking up any room in your freezer or refrigerator.


I find preserving to be addictive; currently I'm searching for other recipes I can make now, since it will be a little while before there's anything else local to put up!  Bernardin has a recipe for Strawberry Banana Jam that I've made in the past so if berries are still on special next week that may be my next project!


Thanks for reading; this was a longer post but it's one I've been looking forward to writing for a while!  Have a wonderful week and stay tuned for more strawberry rhubarb creations!