Project Organize- The Fabric Stash

I have admitted before that I have a thing for fabric.  Among my other "things"!  I love the feel.  I love the colors.  I love the stores.  I love it all.  So in the past I have bought a lot of fabric.  Not, mind you , in the past month...it was No Spend January, remember!  And the madness, I mean savings, continues this month as well so no fabric this month either.

Anyway, since my oldest is also a fabric queen, her sewing room becomes a tad messy sometimes!

This is just a small part of it.  And in my defense, this part is mostly hers.  (sorry ALP!)  Yes, my minimalist daughter has a fabric thing too.  Ask her to your house to organize and clean and you have called the right girl.  She is ruthless at tossing things out and a pro at cleaning.  Unless you have fabric.  And then, all bets are off and you have lost your help!  Seriously, the man that marries that girl one day better love, or at the very least, be able to tolerate, fabric.  And lots of it.  She makes clothes and pillows and quilts and she LOVES fabric.  She got it honestly.  (The fabric part, not the sewing part.)

But she has redeemed herself since she made this mess.  Pinterest is her friend and she found the neatest solution to her, I mean, our, problem.

Yes, that is an old filing cabinet.  It is actually one that I have been begging my husband to move out of our lives.  It is a heavy piece of furniture we have been moving around for 20 years and every time we move it I am convinced the movers say bad things about me behind my back.  Looks like it is staying now.

With a few (or a lot in our case) file folders and a little patience...

look what you can do!

Amazing, huh?  It is as simple as wrapping the fabric around the file folders and pinning.  Because this file is quite old, it does not have the hanging capabilities and will not be quite as easy to thumb through, but the files work just as well for organizing.

Since she is back at college for a few more months I have been trying to finish up her project.  I still have a ways to go, but off to a good start.  For pieces with not enough yardage I just folded them as neatly as possible and stacked back into one of the crates we were using.  See how nice it looks?

And, no, ALP, I did not throw much away.  Really! ;)

Next week in Project Organize- The Bedroom Closet!  Clothes and more! 

The ladder is done!

Remember a few weeks ago I showed you my ladder?  Well, I am a little slow, but I finally got it cleaned up and quilts hung.  I think I like the natural color for now...or maybe I am just too lazy to paint it right now.  Regardless, I am pretty sure my oldest daughter will rearrange the quilts when she comes home, seeing as how half came from her room, but either way, I LOVE IT!  (Disregard the terracotta walls. remember, it's a rental!) 

What 'cha think?

 

Wonder how many ladders in a house one can use.  ;)

 

See you on Wednesday for another Project Organize post.  We spent all of yesterday working on the project for next week.  Can't wait to share with you.  This house is shaping up!  How about yours?

Fun Fridays- Muffin Madness!

When I first started blogging last year, I mentioned here about my family eating muffins for Friday morning breakfasts with a dear friend and her family.  We still do muffins almost every Friday at our house, without that friend to share with sadly (boo hiss, military!), but each time we mix them up it makes me smile at the memories we have sharing muffins with someone each week.  Warm muffins in the morning are yummy.  Warm muffins in the morning made by or for a friend are delightful!

So this month, Fun Fridays are all about MUFFINS!

First one up is a recipe I have been using for over 18 years!  No kidding!  When I was first substitute teaching, before our first was born, a preschool director introduced these to me.  She made them as bread in coffee cans.  We loved them and they are a staple in our house.  You can use whatever fruit you choose, I seem to remember her using strawberries, but we either use pumpkin or applesauce. 

I love this simple recipe.  It is one of those just pour it all in a bowl, mix and put in the muffin cups.  One bowl to clean, no fancy steps to remember.

Quick note- this is NOT a "healthy" recipe.  If you are looking for low cal or just good for you ingredients, better close your eyes real quick and change blogs for this one.  I do try to make up for it by using our own milled flour and usually substitute honey granules for the sugar.  I say usually, because I am currently out and have not reordered them.  So, white sugar it is....shhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell.  Hey, I gave up diet cokes this month, I deserve a little white sugar, right? ;)


Fruit Bread

3 cups flour (we use whole wheat)
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. sugar (or 1 1/2 honey granules)
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup oil
2 1/2 c. fruit (applesauce, pumpkin, strawberries)

Mix all ingredients together and fill muffin pans 2/3 full.  Bale at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Makes 2 dozen, so there are plenty to share with a friend or freeze half for the following week's breakfast.  Or snacks!

 

Enjoy and Happy Friday, friends!

 

Project Organize- The Pantry

This was not going to be my next project, but a friend who has joined the madness mentioned she had done hers and I thought I better catch up!  ;)  I thought it would be fast and easy.  It is after all a small space with not much in it!  I thought wrong!

Here are a few befores...

Then, I pulled everything out!  Ah, look how nice it looks!

This is the mess of stuff that was in there.  Not all went back in.  Some went to the trash (this is a perfect time to check expiration dates, just saying!), some went to where it belonged in the first place, and then what was left over went back in a more organized manner.

The results...

Can you tell Kroger had a sale on Goldfish?
One of the few crackers I still let the kiddos eat!  haha

Much better.

Amazing, my hubby said.  (don't ya just love him!?)

Now, I do feel the need to explain the cans, since many of you have heard me say that we are trying to have a bar code free pantry.  Actually, what we are trying to do is eat bar code free meals.  BUT, we also feel strongly about having a 72 hour survival "kit" in our home.  No, not for a zombie invasion or anything drastic, but for minor emergencies like loss of power from a hurricane or snowstorm.  Should those things occur, we do not want to be one of the families that runs to the store in a panic making the problem worse.  We want to be able to survive in our own environment to allow those that really need supplies access without us being in the way. 

The problem I found with this theory is that a lot of my real foods have to be baked, ground (wheat), or specially prepared ... not helpful if we have no power and are cooking on a grill.  So for that reason we do keep some simple canned food on our shelves.  Well, for that and when mom needs a break and the garden is a flop!  ;)

Anyway...it is off to the top floor of the house to tackle the sewing area next!  Wait 'til you see what ALP found to organize her fabric!  See ya back next Friday!  And please, we would love to hear how your organizing and decluttering projects are going!

No Spend January Thoughts and Results!

I can hardly believe that in three days the month of January will be over.  2013 is moving forward whether we are ready or not.   It all started with a simple idea to save money by spending less.  Spending less and saving more!  Great idea.  In theory.  But let's just be honest up front, it was challenging.  But not in the ways I imagined.

Here's how it shook out.  We budget each month in certain set categories.  For the month of January we decided not to spend in any of those categories except groceries, bills, tithing and gas.  In what I will call "savings" categories, our money went into those dedicated accounts as normal, but was not used.  Examples being, home maintenance, vacation, school supplies, etc. " Fun money" categories that usually get taken out as cash remained in our account- for example entertainment, clothing, and the allowances my husband and I give ourselves for pocket money.

I would like to say that we did not spend an extra penny outside the allowed categories.  That would not be quite honest so here goes:

We did spend about $45.00 to send two boxes of things to our college daughter.  She did not have enough room in her suitcase to fly everything back and so we had to bend here.  She did, after all, need her clothes!

I allowed my two middle kids to go to the movies one afternoon.  The deal was that they pay for it themselves.  My kids only go to the movies about twice a year.  Seriously!  We are just that strict on movies.  But this was one the older one really wanted to see and it was not going to still be in the theaters in February.  She spent her money and while I may have lost a few points with you all, I gained lots of points with her.  :-) Some things are worth it!

Other than that we have been faithful.  No lunches or dinners out.  No little treats at the gas station or food at co op.  No candy bars at the drug store.  Funny thing, the 5 year old seemed to miss it all the most.  He would ask if he could have a treat, I would look at him and he would say, "Oh that's right, it is no spend January."  Yep, I think he thinks that is really the name of the month.

As for me...well, I do not NEED anything, so I did not  feel like I really deprived myself of anything.  But, yes, I saw those 75% off Christmas sales or buy one get one free ads and felt a twinge of oh no, can't do that.  But really, guys, I did not NEED that stuff anyway.  It would have been just buying to buy...pointless and wasteful.  Shame on me!

 I did not do without things I NEEDED, I did without things I DID NOT NEED IN THE FIRST PLACE!

So where does that leave us?  About $500.00 richer!  And more content.  And empowered to make better decisions.  And challenged to change up our budget a little.  And crazy enough to declare a...

NO SPEND FEBRUARY!  Who's in?

Oh, and one little disclaimer on that...we are going on a date night for Valentine's Day, thanks to a gift card given to us at Christmas.  Just want you to know in case you see me out!  ;)

And for those who joined in with us this month, thank you!  I hope you were blessed and challenged a little as well.