Patty Rose Design

Pinterest

Pinterest is rocking my creative world.  I can't get enough.  I read and pin until my hand is paralyzed.  Inspiration pours from the site.  It's better than 10 magazine subscriptions.  As a creative, I have a constant thirst for inspiration.  This site gives me all I need and more.  So many projects, so little time!  My first truly, Pinterest inspired project. 

I saw something similar years ago and wanted to make one but of course could never find the source in the ocean of internet locations. 

I have this affinity for pretty plates and cups, mismatched and crackled.  I cannot pass one up at a flea market or thrift store.  I lovingly bring them home and tuck them away.  I knew someday I would turn them into something beautiful and useful again. 

Two tubes of E6000 (take my word, no matter what the blogs and posts say, avoid Gorilla Glue, it makes a huge mess) later, I have wonderful little tiers organizing my crafting table, dressing table and desk.  There are a couple of extra ones, just in case I find another corner that needs a pretty little organizer.

Garden totems are next in the grand scheme....I bought 4 tubes of E6000, so I should be good to go.

A Moment of Dry

For almost the entire month of April and most of May, we have experienced record rainfall.  In April alone we had almost 14 inches of rain.  This has left little time to get the spring outdoor projects completed. 

This weekend we had almost two days of sunshine.  The garage was in dire need of cleaning out the clutter that accumulated during the winter.  Additionally, we had yet to decorate the back porch with its summer goodies. 

We started with the garage on Saturday and worked into the evening, finishing this morning.  Over the winter our son moved and used the garage as a holding spot from one address to the next.  Funny how whenever he does that, items are always "inadvertently" left behind.  There's camping gear, boxes of books and unwanted furniture piled on every side.  And I have to be totally honest, I have a few projects of my own stuck in various areas.  Chandeliers waiting to be restyled, miscellaneous birdhouses, small pieces of furniture and garden items waiting to be repainted. 

A mountain of unwanted and unused items headed to the curb.  By early afternoon today, I'm happy to report, that many of the items found new homes, taken by several passersby.  Glad the items will be put to new uses and they are not going to the landfill.  It feels so good to lighten up.

I managed to nab a corner of the garage for a potting bench/painting area.  I took the old table that my son no longer wanted and an old dresser and created this little spot to work on projects.  I had a stained glass light that I picked up at an auction a few years ago. I installed it over the work bench just to give it that little extra fluffiness I love.  Sorry honey.  I know garages aren't supposed to be fluffy.  Notice how the painting projects have already started a pile?

We also managed to get the back porch mostly decorated before the storms hit. 

And Mr. Rose brought me a handful of peonies from the flower garden.  Isn't that so sweet?

We got most of what we wanted to do accomplished and then all hell broke loose.  The rain started again.  Not to mention the lightning and thunder.  We sat in the living room with the patio door open to enjoy the fresh, cool air when a bolt of lightning hit so close we almost came out of our skin.  Within 20 minutes there were 4 fire trucks and several police cruisers on our street.  The bolt hit close, a neighboring house was hit and caught fire!  Everyone in the house is okay, but I'm sure shaken and will now have to deal with fire, smoke and water damage. 

After all the commotion ended, the sun came out again. 

Everything looks so beautiful sparkling wet in the golden light of early dusk. No clue as to the scary storm that passed through just moments prior.

It's so true what they say, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes, it will change." Or however that saying goes.  Crazy midwest weather.  Glad the neighbors are okay. 

 

 

If Nothing Else, My Recipes Are Finally Organized

I'm not even going to say it because I'm tired of hearing it myself.  I've been camping out in the recliner for almost five days now with the (word I'm not speaking).  There is only so much you can do when you are recovering from (word I'm not speaking).  No need to do laundry (haven't changed much in these few days).  No dirty dishes (no appetite).  No stamina for anything that requires moving out of the chair.  I'm going stark-raving stir crazy, so cut me a little slack for my priorities.  Low energy levels narrows the list dramatically.  So.... my recipes have been stuffed in this bag for the last few years....

The bag has been stuffed in my closet.  So, imagine the pleasure of standing on your head to get the bag out of the closet amidst the shoes and clothes and then going through the bag to find that one little recipe that I need.

I decided now might be a good time to tackle organizing it since I could do it from the Recliner/Blanket/Tissue/Advil Central Command Center.  I gathered up a few little supplies and got to work.  

I had no idea how to manage all these recipes and that's why they were just stuffed in the bag in the closet.  The recipes were in so many different formats.  Heavens knows I had NO plans of rewriting each and every one.  Not a chance.  It finally came to me this morning.  I would put each of the recipes, regardless of size, shape or format into clear sleeves in a binder that I had already started at some point. 

 
That solves the consistancy issue!  Plus the plastic sleeves let me preserve the recipe in any format that it came to me.  I love that.  Because even the various formats have stories to tell.  Recipes written on napkins, torn from newspapers, copied from books, with notes from friends, printed off the internet, gathered free at the grocery, however they came.  AND I didn't have to re-write or type any of them!

Then I organized them in the categories that I use.  No unused categories begging for attention.  Just the basics, Breads and Scones, Cookies, Cakes and Pies, Main Dishes, Sides and Salads, Soups, Gifts, Misc.  No spare categories that I will never use.

I created a title page at the beginning of each section and then stapled on punched out shapes to act as dividers for the sections, writing the title of the section on the front and the back of the punched out shape. EASY. 

 
So just in little more than an hour, I have saved myself the grief and hassle of not being able to find what I need.  There is nothing worse than looking for something most of the time that you have alotted to actually DO the task.  That doesn't even factor in the loss of momentum and mojo due to the frustration!

So now I present to you (and myself!) my newly organized recipe file.  It's not over fancy but it gets the job done.  And more importantly, it lets me get the job done!

One more, just to appreciate the transformation:

 
Just in time to get out my Christmas cookie recipes.