thread catcher

Another finished project! I'm a sewing fiend these days.

I really needed something to corral all the loose threads and bits that pile up during sewing. After a look around blogland, I found this tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew!, and it was designed by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson!

I chose some fabrics from my stash, and set to work. There were a lot of little pieces (a lot of pieces in general) but I think it turned out great! The tute was easy to follow and had lots of pictures, which is great for us kindergarten teachers, haha.

personal cookbook redo

My recipe binder was a disaster. I had old recipes mixed in with ones I hadn't tried, there weren't enough sections for all the types of recipes I have, and the cover was a scrapbooker's embarrassment... from way back when I thought stickers were all you needed, haha. I refuse to take a picture, it's so bad.

But... I guess if other bloggers are brave enough to show their embarrassing stuff, I can be brave enough, too.

Captivating! Let's move in for a close-up, shall we?

SEE? I told you it was bad! Oy. I want to cringe. I finally decided enough was enough when I opened the binder and half the recipes that didn't have a home fell out all over the floor.

I pulled out Every. Single. Recipe. It took forever, because I had a ton of stuff. I had to decide if each recipe was binder worthy... if so, I filed it under one of my new categories:

Methods (cooking tips and tricks... right now I have a grilling cheat sheet filed there)

Breakfast

Appetizers

Sauces (yes, I actually had enough recipes to make this it's own category!)

Entrees

Soups

Sides

Breads

Desserts

Entertaining

Holiday Meals

Holiday Baking

Recipes to Try

Here's the plan: Each week I fill in the menu on my personal weekly planner. The recipes for the week go in the front of the binder. Then I don't need to flip through the binder constantly to find the recipes for the things I want to make.

If I make something from the "Recipes to Try" category and we like it, it moves into a permanent spot in whichever category it fits. I made caramel rolls for Easter morning from a recipe from a coworker and they were AWESOME! so that recipe will move into the Breakfast tab shortly.

This week I'll make Linguine with Asparagus and Pine Nuts from Real Simple, Ricotta Gnocchi from a Pampered Chef cookbook, and *hopefully* Mia's Bagels (that's how I think of them). Those recipes are waiting for me in the front of my binder!

And of course, I needed to make a new cover page to go in the front. I took out my scrappy supplies and got to work. It's simple, but I like it.

I am especially fond of the bow I made from ribbon and hot glue.

I'm really liking this new system! Yay for organizing!

personal weekly planner

I'd been looking for a weekly planner template (free ones online from different sites and blogs, as well as in stores) but I couldn't seem to find something that would organize me during the week. I do keep a calendar with a monthly view to track school meetings and personal appointments, but I wanted something that included to do's, meal plans and post ideas (so that an entire month won't go by without a post!). Finally, I decided to make my own. I use something similar for work with a lot of success... there are things I need to do daily in my classroom and some things I do every week (like lesson planning).

It's not as pretty as I'd like but it works! I made it in Microsoft Publisher, which is one of my absolute favorite programs in Office. I included a weekly menu space, post ideas, events/appointments, grocery list, to do list, and project list of my ideas and things I want to make.

Even with Spring Break this week I still had a lot to do and keep track of! I like this format because I can just fold it up and put it in my purse... it's not a book I need to hang onto. I also make notes to myself on the back... no more random pieces of paper laying around.

If you are interested, shoot me an email at seaschell AT gmail DOT com and I'll send it to you. Have a happy day!

craft organization

My craftiness has been overwhelming the living room for quite some time. Yarn, fabric, sewing machine, books, magazines, etc were everywhere. I had a notion to buy or have built an armoire where I could store my stash and declutter the living room. I had almost given up finding something in my price range when luck caught up with me and I found the perfect piece!

Isn't it beautiful? It's Brazilian pine stained in a dark cherry finish. Here it is before I filled it up:

I put the wire shelves that I had been using for yarn inside to help me organize.

And now here it is filled with my stash! I haven't fit everything in yet but I still have some room.

Hub can't believe I'm using the entire thing for my crafty stuff, but I assured him that other women have WAY more stuff than I do and take up lots more space. His reply to that was "If all those women jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?"

Oh well. I knew he wouldn't care what other people do. But I love my new storage space!

whooo do you love? and other random thoughts

First and foremost, tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. Hubs and I have been together for 9 years and married for 3. I have a great husband... supportive, loving, funny, handsome, hardworking... the list goes on and on. Honey, I love you so much... Happy Anniversary!

I love playing with the backgrounds and layout of my blog. So many cute free backgrounds out there! This particular background can be found at http://www.cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com/. It supports my current owl fetish quite well.

I'm trying to find a piece of furniture, maybe a junior armoire, to put in our living room to contain my craftiness. Yarn, fabric, and my sewing machine are spilling out of their current spaces and taking over the living room. Mr. Seaschell has been quite patient with it but I know I can be organized better.

I like to keep my crafty stuff in the living room because that's where I craft. We do have a spare room upstairs but it's no fun to be in there by myself when Mr. Seaschell is downstairs doing other stuff.

I'm also interested in the concept of the Bento lunch box. I've seen some cute bento boxes out there and like the idea of packing one for school. It sounds like a good way to eat healthier and watch my portions. I like this one and this one.