Have a fab Friday!

Organize Your Chaos

I am putting myself out there.......hoping that everyone has stuff like this laying around??? Hoping that we are not the only clutter bugs. My "stuff" looked worse before I tied the cords with twistie ties (a.k.a. bread ties and rubber bands).

I purchased this Scrapbook paper a while back. It was only $5.00 and you get 50 pages of different acid-free patterned paper. Since I have been on an organizational roll with much work ahead of me....I knew I had to do something with this stuff.

I got this great basket, only $8.00!! Where you ask?? Wal-Mart! They have had great stuff lately. I love the color and chunkiness of this basket.

My labels were 2x4 inches, so I measured out an extra inch on both sides to have plenty of space to cut and hole punch. I chose this pattern to match the colors in our home office.

I printed labels in my Word Program. If you do not have the Word Program for Microsoft, not to worry, you can use other label maker options or even hand write them with a permanent marker in nice penmanship. You can also get shape cutouts from the Hobby Store in the scrap booking isle.

I cut the ribbon and put it through the hole as you would a suitcase tag.

Gently pull ribbon through the hole. The best paper to use would be card stock but I say use what you have.

I centered my label on the basket and using a paper clip, I pushed the ribbon through the weave of the basket.

Tied the ribbon in a knot.

Cut off the excess ribbon.

 Now for the second basket. 

You are done! Looks fabulous! Nice and tidy! You can try this with different sizes and shapes in different areas, like game rooms, kids rooms, kitchen, laundry room etc. I would love to see what you come up with.

Don't have time for labels...here is another great idea...a chalkboard basket! Though, hard to find in a variety of sizes.

Gift Wrapping Station

I, like a lot of you have been on an organizing kick this new year! This WAS my wrapping station....not very user friendly. I would have to take everything out of the box to find what I needed and it just got out of control because I never knew what I had, so I would just buy more....you know....just in case!

Then I received my February Edition of Better Homes. Got to page 79 and knew this was definitely doable and would work for me!!

I tore out the page and drove off to the store.

This is what I came home with. An over-the-door storage unit (usually for pantries), 2 glass jars with lids and 4 open clear containers.

When I saw there were screws for this project....I was not excited to say the least, but the assembly was very easy.

Simple linking system...even a caveman can do it!

I am ready to get organized!! I first, sorted my wrapping supplies in piles....tags, stickers, scissors, ribbon, bags, and rolls. I purged everything I didn't want or use. This is what I was left with...

After the storage unit was loaded with all my goodies, it was a bit wobbly. I found some adhesive squares in the bag of screws and put them on the areas that were unsturdy.

 Worked like a charm!

What do you know......screws left over on purpose!!



This is my finished project. It felt so good to get organized and I enjoyed putting it together. If you try this project, I know you will enjoy it too!

Items purchased:

Over-the-door storage unit - Wal-Mart Housewares $17.00

Glass jars with lids - (need 3) Wal-Mart Housewares $3.00 ea.

Open clear containers -  (need 4) Wal-Mart Crafts $5.00 ea.

Heavy-duty rubber band - Office Depot $2.00 for a bag

Feeling when you are done.....priceless.

Go Bananas!!

You will go bananas over this banana nut bread!! This is a great baked good to give as a gift for the holidays, or a new neighbor that just moved in or just something special for your family.

You will need: butter or shortening, sugar, eggs, bananas, flour, a sifter, baking soda, salt and walnuts or pecans and loaf/bread pan. Full recipe and ingredients at the end of this post.

Grease bread pan.

 I use stoneware to bake my breads. It seems to come out perfect every time and cleanup is easy. Stoneware has a worn out look after many uses but that is just baked in seasoning.

After you grease the bottom and side of the pan this is what your pan should look like.

Put 2 tablespoons of flour in the pan to flour the bread pan. 

 My mother-in-law told me that PAM has a new product out that has two in one, the flour and grease in one can. I might try that next time.

Shake it all about until you get flour all around the pan.

Pour out excess flour.



Put your softened 1/2 cup of butter in a bowl. I forgot to leave mine at room temperature before I started, so I just threw it in the microwave for 15-20 secs.

Add 1 cup of sugar to the softened butter.

Blend well.

In a separate small bowl, beat 2 eggs.

Add eggs to the butter/sugar mixture.

Add 3 bananas to the mixture. I normally mash my bananas in a separate bowl with a potato masher making sure they are nice and smooth. However, I forgot to do that this time.....

so, it was a little more work this way.

Stir well, until all is blended and smooth.

Add in 1 tsp. baking soda.

 

A dash of salt.

Now, you need to sift 2 cups of flour. So add the two cups of flour to your sifter.

Sift all the flour into the mixture, until nothing comes out of the sifter.

Mix well.

You can either mix in 1/2 cup of nuts here or add to the top right before baking.

Pour mixture into bread pan.

Add 1/2 cup of nuts to the top. (the method I chose)

That's a lot of nuts! You can go with a 1/4 cup, if sprinkling on the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Finished product. Smells divine!!! Let it cool and then run your knife all the way around the pan to loosen any parts that may be stuck to the pan. Turn over pan onto a plate and it should come out with ease.

How moist! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup butter or shortening                   2 Cups sifted flour
1 cup of sugar                                         1 Tsp. baking soda
2 eggs                                                     dash of salt
2 bananas, mashed                                 1/4 - 1/2 cup of pecans 

Recipe:

Grease and flour bread pan. Blend butter and sugar together. Add eggs and bananas and stir well. . Add baking soda, salt, and flour and blend well. Add pecans or walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

(if you just need the recipe copy and past it to a word document and save)