"New Year's Resolutions"

Happy New Year!
{Insert party poppers and blow thing noises here}

I know what you are thinking. . . . ."Is this girl crazy?? She is either 8 months late, or 4 months early!". Nope, I am right on time. Since my boys went back to school, I decided I would make some New Year's resolutions, of sorts.

The spring was crazy helping my boys finish school projects, wrapping up some of my volunteer commitments, spending hours in our yard planting and getting ready for what was sure to be a lazy, relaxing summer.

Summer. Ahhhh! I do love summer. I enjoy being outside. I love cooking out on our grill, sipping cold beverages. And I love watching my boys happily play together (most of the time).

Before I knew it our lazy, relaxing summer had turned into a full scale chinese fire drill! 4-H meetings, sleepovers, LEGO Robotics Club get-to-gethers, entertaining our out-of-town family visitors, an annual trip to Georgia to visit family, County 4-H Fair & Rodeo, birthday parties, a trip to the zoo and so much more! Whew!

Then it happened. I looked at the calendar and realized that the first day of school was upon us. How did THAT happen? Didn't they just get out of school? So much for my lazy summer relaxing in the hammock.

I always get a little melancholy on the first day of school. It means summer is over, my boys are getting bigger, and soon the calendar will start filling up with activities, projects and other commitments.

This year to ease myself back into the routine, I decided to try something new instead of feeling sorry for myself. So, I made some New Year's Resolutions! Hey- It IS a new year of sorts, right?

Since my last (and first) blog post, I have been getting back into my creative groove. This includes getting organized, my first New Year's resolution. I want to actually FIND all those cool art & craft supplies I know I have somewhere. I have made some progress, too. I found these cool metal rolling carts at JoAnn's. I put a box lid on top to make the most of the wire shelf for extra storage.



I also love the wire mesh basket drawers. They are perfect for storing small items and "working projects". See how nice my glitter glues look?


My Distress and Alcohol Inks look just as nice! I love that I can have different projects on hand: jewelry making, paper crafting, sewing, etc., and I can roll these carts into my family room or dining room to spend time with my family while I am creating. Then I can easily put them away to keep the clutter at bay!

Another organization project to tackle was the endless pile of paper that continually gathers on my kitchen island. I am left with only half a workspace, sigh. Homework papers, notes from school, along with other paperwork from clubs and after-school activities gather and form into one big mountain that will always turn into a paper avalanche when I am in the middle of making a meal. {Please don't tell me that you have no idea what I am talking about!}

When I was working full time I had these cool wall files in my office. They were screwed into the walls in various places to keep frequently used paper work handy. I always thought they were very helpful, but I didn't want to damage my walls mounting them with screws. I also didn't want to look at them. I ordered two sets of three so I could have four pockets. I am thinking about using the two extra pockets somewhere in my craft space. They would be pretty handy for keeping idea journals.

My solution was to use Command Hooks to hang them on the inside of my pantry door instead. Handy, but hidden!

I {heart} Command Hooks. They are right up there with Post-it Notes and my Zyron machine on my list of "I can't live without these adhesive inventions".


I am happy to report I haven't had a paper avalanche since I hung the wall pockets. Now if I can just figure out what to do with the rest of the island mess! {Resolution number 48}

I hope you and your loved ones are getting back into the swing of things. Make this time of year a time for renewal. Get out those goals and resolutions from January and dust them off. Have fun and change them up, or just make some new ones! While the fun and relaxation of summer is over, you don't have to be sad about it, you, too, can have a. . . . . .