So Sew Organized

About a year ago, I showed you my lack-of-room-for-a-nightstand dilemma and how I solved it with a $2 Wal-mart purchase and a little ingenuity. I’ve always loved my little basket and how well it works in such a small space, but it was clearly time to rethink the function of the whole system. So yeah, normally the cough drops and dry skin lotion are not there, I have a cold, so bear with me, ok? Still, the space was lacking a little of the function and organization it once had. Here it is on a good day: I do a lot of writing and planning while perched on my bed, so a while back I had added the cocoa tin of Sharpies because I use them in my Planning Binder all the time. The books you see to the right are the current books I’m reading and my notebook holding my 1,000 gifts list . Those need to stay handy as well. The precious basket was holding pens and highlighters, sticky notes and a calculator, and my headphones. It turned out to be a little awkward, because the sticky notes and such...

This last week began the 40 day period typically called Lent, preparing to recognize the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. If you missed my thoughts on the matter, you can go here to read them. I am enjoying this practice once again! Taking extra time each day to, this year, focus on the attributes of God has already been beneficial to my walk with the Lord. I look forward more and more to the observance of Resurrection Sunday! This week, I am going to try adding to this practice the memorization of a verse that goes along with what I am reading. We’ll see how it goes! Here are the additions from this week to my “1,000 Gifts” list: 230. Having the supplies for a project 231. Special treat for lunch 232. Justin’s birthday party 233. Caramel Syrup in my coffee 234. Knowledge to fix serger (it stopped working in the middle of a project - I was sweating for a while! So thankful that God cares about the small things!) 235. Hot lobster sandwiches 236. Games on the Wii 237. Rest Th...

A couple Christmases ago, my mom gave me these Click It Pads as a gift. What are they, you ask? Well basically, they are like HotHands on steroids. :) I used to have a serious addiction to HotHands, the hand warmers fllled with activated charcoal that can be purchased in pretty much any checkout aisle. The trouble with those is that they are only good one time! When my mom saw these, she knew they would be perfect for me since I am always cold. The best part is that they can be used again and again! Here is how they work: They start out as a small gel pack, small enough to hold in your hand: To activate the heat, you just "click" that tiny tin button you see inside. This causes some type of reaction in the gel that changes it to a crystallized form and produces heat. Don't ask me how they do it, but they do! Here is a little video I made to show you how the transformation takes place: (please don't mind the wigglyness, I had a bit of trouble doing it with one hand!) ...

So, we both have blogs...I guess you guys already knew that...but we also both use different platforms. And that is what we'd like to chat about today! Holly: So which Blogging platform do you use? Nicole: I use Blogger. You? Holly: Wordpress all the way. What made you choose Blogger? Nicole: Well, when I started my blog (back in 2009, I believe) I didn't know a thing called Wordpress existed. In fact, I pretty much knew nothing about blogging other than I wanted to try it! I had seen Blogger used, and it looked fairly easy, so that is what I went with. So, you could say it was just out of pure ignorance. Holly: That's actually how I started with my first blog back in spring of 2007. I think most bloggers start out that way. What features make you stay with Blogger? Nicole: Probably ignorance there, too!  I never minded using Blogger, and really felt that I was doing everything I wanted to in the arena of blogging, so I had no need to change. Just when I was getting to the ...

Arrogance and Humility Arrogance is a consequence of focusing on oneself to the exclusion of others. This results from the basic flaw in our natures that we love ourselves but are afraid no one else does. Humility is the essence of focusing on others to the exclusion of oneself. Only with God’s help can our arrogance be transformed into humility. In the ideal world, everyone else would be concerned only with our well-being, just as we’d be concerned only with the well-being of everyone else. Humility is at ease only when the one loved is happy. In fact, joy arises most strongly from seeing the joy of others. Humility is love, which is not self-seeking.” Taken from A Year With Jesus by R. P. Nettelhorst I enjoyed that description of humility and pride and was rebuked at how true it is. What are your thoughts concerning humility? It is a hard subject to talk about without sounding prideful (hah!) but I’d love to hear your take on it. I enjoyed a full, busy week and was overjoyed with ...

I love Pinterest . Did you know that? Oh, you did? Well, just thought I'd say it again. Pretty fitting statement for this project, anyway! I finally went to town on this months project, and I just {heart} how it turned out! Here is the original pin that I saw (which is originally from here ): Source: duitang.com via Nicole on Pinterest And yeah, not sure what happened to the rest of the pin. Oh well, you get the gist. Anyway, it looked super simple and was soooo cute, I decided to try it! Not too bad, eh? It was super easy, and all the instructions you need are right in the pin - if only it would show up in this post! Oh well, you can go to my Valentines board to see the whole thing and see how it all goes together. While I was there, I saw this pin as well: Source: etsy.com via Nicole on Pinterest That image is originally from Etsy, but the listing was gone, so I'm not sure who to give credit to. Anyway, I saw that pin in passing, but while I was creating my heart garland...

Ok folks, I think I've gotten these pictures to work so I can show you the rest! In case you are just coming in, I took pictures of my 12-year-old sister Rachel...and then had trouble getting them to load to blogger . Boo photo upload. Things appear to be working now, so here are all the goodies for ya! I'm no photographer and don't claim to be, but I had fun taking her pictures! I think this is my favorite one...I love how beautiful the snow looks behind her! Outtakes: Huh? Smile? What does that mean? Killer was crying to be in the pictures...then changed her mind! I don't remember what was so funny...but she loses her eyes when she laughs! I also took some of Carrie and should have those to you soon! For now, lets play favorites. I already told you which was mine, now its your turn to pick your favorite and tell me which one in the comments section.

Finances are a very important, but often touchy subject. There are so many ways to track your finances in this computer age, with everything from a traditional transaction register to an online site like this one. Each works just as well as the other, depending on your various needs. In evaluating my expenses recently, I found myself wishing for some type of record that I could keep in my planning binder, and also a way to be able to evaluate my monthly expenses at a glance. It is easy to look over my bank statements, but with multiple accounts, both in the States and in Canada, plus cash and online transactions, rounding up statements at the end of the month wasn’t cutting it. I wanted to be able to see where my money was going, including cash transactions. So, I did the logical thing - created a matching printable to insert in my planning binder! I listed each of my accounts and a column for cash transactions. I plan to print one off each month to record where money is going and eve...

Happy Valentines Day! What are you all doing on this special day? I realize I have barely posted a thing (other than this Coffee Chat ) about this V-day, but I should have a project coming at you later in the week that is V-day related. Nothing like after the fact, right? I have a good reason for it, though. You’ll see in a few days. In the meantime, you can go see my project from last year (that are still in-tact for this year, ohhappyday!) and read about how much I hate February. The Monday of months. The armpit of the calendar. Anyway, more on that here. I didn’t get on here to ramble about V-day, but I did get on here to ramble about s e w i n g ! I’ve been doing quite a bit of it lately, and I’m loving it! There is something so satisfactory in seeing a project come together. When you start out with a bunch of squares or oddly shaped fabric pieces, and end up with a beautiful item that you made entirely. Nothing like that feeling, I tell ya. There are a few simple ways I’ve come ...