inspiration: Organization

So summer is here which means your house is all spring cleaned up and now you're just sitting back, basking in the glow of a spotless home, right? Yeah, er, me too. Well ok, maybe spotless is a little strong. Perhaps somewhat picked-up would be a bit more truthful. The fact is, with a newly mobile baby it's all one can do to keep him in one piece in a place that is a, for lack of a better word, death trap with cords and bookshelves lurking at every corner. Not to mention the constant sweeping and mopping you have to do to keep his shirt from looking like a total lint pad after a day of crawling. The truth is, my house may appear to be picked up but behind every door is a cacophony of clutter. It's really been bothering me, and I am working on it. But I've come to a realization lately... ready? it's o.k.! It is. It's definitely important to keep your home safe, but at least at this point in life, my job is to be right there on the floor with my little one exploring and learning, not caught up in scrubbing door jams. I can already feel the baby-ness of my son slipping away, so I intend to spend as much quality time as I can with him. Ok, I've made my point. Now for the reason of this post. Out of necessity, I've been coming up with unique ways to mask my behind the scenes clutter and wanted to share one of them with you. Think of a duck in the pond. From the on-lookers perspective you see a tranquil animal gliding along a serene pond. However, take a peak under the surface and you find two little feet furiously paddling away to keep things heading in the right direction. This tip will help visitors see your home as the peaceful duck. It can be adapted to fit various situations, here I chose to conceal the contents of my t.v. stand which has sliding glass doors.

It's simple, really. I had found this rad orange print fabric at a garage sale and waited for an opportunity to show it off. I decided to attach it behind the glass doors of my TV stand to give it a more clean look. I toyed with the idea of sticking it on with Velcro, but was too afraid of the commitment to adhere it to the wood so I settled on good ole' packing tape.

If you don't like my fabric (I think you either love it or hate it) don't let it deter you from trying this idea. I'm not married to it and will probably change it up soon myself. I could see this looking great with something more simple and clean like burlap or linen. All you do is cut two pieces of your fabric a little bigger than the space you're trying to conceal, pull taut and secure with tape. No fuss, no commitment, and best of all no ugly clutter!

Make it work Wednesday is back this week, but it’s a day early because of exciting Rubbernecker posts on Wednesday and Thursday!

This week I decided to reorganize my Rubbernecker Unmounted stamps to make them more accessible. Most of them were stored on photo refill pages in 3 ring binders. (See MIWW #3 below) The system works great until you have to pull out 6- 3” binders to select an image for a project. Not to mention the amount of space the binders take up. I purchased 1 Scrapbook Solutions Photo Organizer box to experiment. The Organizer retails for $9.99, but I used a Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon and got my employee discount to boot. The box comes unassembled with the exception of the lid. The box becomes quite stable after the assembled bins are placed in the box. The system comes with labels for the tabs, but I just used my label maker to print my own.

Each bin will accomodate 7 background stamps with EZ Mount cushion on them. My intention was to just store my backgrounds this way, then I took it a step further. The photo refill pages cut down nicely to 4” x 6” without the clear film falling off the white base. You can cut 3 out of each page and store stamps on both sides. So, I organized my images by sets (like Kittie Kits) and by themes.

I have 3 organizers filled now and LOVE this system. The assembled box measures 4 1/2” High, 12” Wide & 13” Deep. ( The cover is under the bottom in the photo, but pops on and off easily for dust free storage)

I have so many unreleased stamps, so I just took Post it Note flags and wrote the release date on them. Now, I can quickly find the next release while still keeping them categorized.

For previous make it work Wednesday's click on the links below.

#1 Ribbon & lots more (Clip it Up!)

#2 Cardstock/Scrap Storage

#3 DP & 12 x 12 Storage

#4 Punches & Wood Mounted Stamps

#5 Unmounted Stamp Storage

#6 Embellishment Storage

#7 Cuttlebug Embossing Folders

#8 Die Cut Storage

#9 Spellbinder Magnet Storage

#10 Ink/ Pads & Reinkers

#11 Sponges