DIY Spice Labels with Packaging Tape

Hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was great! My dad and mom spent Friday night which was SO.MUCH.FUN! The roles have been a bit reversed. I could not wait for them to arrive. Caleb had a friend over and my hubby was at work, so it was a very fun thing to have them spend the night. We had popcorn and hot tea and then I got to kiss them goodnight and tuck them in...but before that, my mom said, "Lisa, come sit down and talk." As if we hadn't already talked enough. It is still music to my ears to hear the soothing voice of a Momma! So, there we sat, them in bed and me sprawled across the bottom of the bed. Although roles have shifted a bit, they will ALWAYS be my parents and I will ALWAYS take full advantage of the little pockets of times we can enjoy together. For those of you who know my Momma and know she never arrives empty handed, this is what she brought: Cereal for breakfast {doesn't want to "inconvenience me"}, hard-boiled eggs {Caleb made a sandwich for dinner last night with them}, sour cream {because she only needed a little bit and would not use up the whole container} and artichoke tapenade that is to-die-for! :} oops, I almost forgot...freshly baked rolls, too!

I love overnight guests! What about you?

Okay, on to the spice jar labels. A girl can only take so many labels from a label maker! What to do? You DIY! I don't know why DIY sounds so snooty to me, but I guess that is what it is called. Maybe it reminds me of my babies deciding they didn't need my help because they wanted to "do it myself" {yes, this is what they would say word for word!} as they would grab the crayon, spoon or washcloth!

I could not figure out how to make waterproof labels that were cute, so I started experimenting. Contact paper was too thick and "cloudy", sticker paper was not waterproof, so I looked at my label maker and decided that the top of the label looked like packaging tape, and guess what? It was PERFECT...and FREE!




My spices have been driving me batty! More like insane. I took every single one out of the cabinet and washed them out. I put them into the oven to make sure they were nice and dry before refilling them. This was awesome because there were quite a few spices I simply never use, so I was able to condense the mess. My sis is getting a whole bag of extra spices and bottles for her camper...so there is no waste!




I took sections of spices and made up labels on my laptop as I worked on the project.
It didn't take that long and I am really excited about the simplicity of all of the spices having their very own old-fashioned labels!

Punches are spendy and do not fit into a tight budget, {unless you use your JoANNS/Michaels 40% or 50% coupons} but most of us know someone who has a paper punch that would be more than willing to lend it out.

How to Make Labels with Packing Tape:

1. Using your computer, type up the words you would like on your label. Make sure it is the right size font and that it will fit in the space allotted. I punched out the label I would be using and held it up to the computer screen to make sure it would fit. I am sure there is some mathematical way of figuring this out, but I wanted the project to get done in my lifetime!

2. Once you have your page filled with what you will be punching out, print it out. I printed mine on regular, old printer paper because it needed to be lightweight to wrap around the jars. {Eventually, I will find some striped or polka dotted paper...but for now, white is just fine and dandy and it was what I had}. Card stock would be great to use to mark children's toy bins etc, because it is almost indestructible! Using your punch, punch them out. Be sure to flip the punch over so that you can see the writing and "eyeball" it for centering.




3. Place writing on to sticky side of tape. Cut out leaving a bit of sticky tape exposed on the outside of the label so that you can affix it to your spice jar.





*I buy most spices in bulk to keep them fresh and to avoid waste.

*A spice you rarely use could be placed in an extra spice jar with the bulk tie thingy twisted around the neck of the spice jar.

Do you have any spice advice? Do you store any spices in your freezer?

Happy Monday and Happy label making! I would love to see the ideas you come up with or if you have any suggestions. I am sure there are a lot of great ideas out there.

PS. I never noticed it was called packaging tape. Did you know that? I have always refered to it as packing tape.






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Paint Storage Organization {how to...}

{before}



{after}



It has been at least 16 years that I have put this project off. That is major procrastination! And you know what? It took less than an hour to get it done. Maybe I should have baked one less dessert or dinner or skipped a load of laundry somewhere over the years.

Please tell me I am not the only one that has had issues with nasty, dirty, bug- infested, rusty, old paint cans. PLEEEASE! Wanna know the straw that broke the camel's back? We had paint cans all over including ones that were stuffed under my hubby's work bench. I needed a color to touch up some spots. No, it wasn't in the closet or anywhere handy. It was jammed way behind the work bench. I have no idea how we got them under there because of the lip on the bottom shelf. Anyhoo, I had to use a rubber mallet to bang it out at an angle. Now you know why I had to get this project done ASAP.

Here is the tutorial: {fancy schmancy name for how to...do it!}

What you will need:

*a label maker, a sharpie pen, or adddress labels

*mason jars and platic screw lids OR clean plastic food storage containers {Cash and Carry}

*free paint stir sticks...Home Depot gives them to you!

*3x5 index cards

*an envelope to keep 3x5 index cards in

*hanging file folder for your files


Directions:


1. Stir paint thoroughly with stir stick and pour into new container.



2. Make label for top of paint container. If you are over 40, Do this right away! You don't want to forget what is what...unless you are only doing one can...then you shouldn't have a problem. :)




3. Take a 3x5 index card and write down all of the paint info. Where you bought it, color code, type of finish ie. satin, flat etc. If you are super organized, you could staple the info to a card. File the info away into an envelope.










NOW, that you are all oganized or thinkin' about it, be sure to do this every time you get new paint. It will make your hubby swoon and it will keep your knuckles from bruising up the next time you are digging for "that color"!


GOODBYE, NASTINESS!




HELLO, little beauties!





Happy Spring Cleaning to YOU!

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, at the picket fence

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Back-to-School=Back-to-Routine...Thursday

SOOO, how is back-to-school week going? Today is clean house day...because this weekend is going to be spent doing some fun things...and it starts this evening with going to cute shops off Alberta and Mississippi Avenue. We are having dinner at our favorite food cart The Native Bowl. Not only are they our sweet friends :} but their food is AMAZING!!! Then to see Laurissa at college!






Here are a few pics from our back-to-school dinner:

I used a small Bio Pak Kraft take-out box and twine from Garnish to make a back-to-school coupon box. It contained coupons to be used during the school year. To mention a few: Maid Service {I KNOW!!!}, A day of grace, Starbucks before school, Skip School, Extended evening curfew, Lunch out with Mommy, Lunch out with Daddy etc. These are like GOLD.

We don't do the whole "back-to-school" shopping, so they get coupons instead. SAVES a lot of money and they love coupons!

For the tag: I sprayed chalkboard paint on a luggage tag and then used chalk for his initial.

Table decor: I took two mini chalkboards and made a sandwich board for the table. Two mini hinges and ribbon keep it together.

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Back-to-School=Back-to-Routine...Wednesday

Today is the first day of school for our son. OH.MY! Where has the summer gone?

First day of school TRADITIONS:

*The only day of the year {unless we exercise GRACE} they don't have to pick up their rooms before school! {we will talk about bartering,bribing and coupons another day!} I have it nice for them when they come home from school. Kinda a nice fresh start from me to them! Nothing like having a maid show up while you're out for the day, right?!

*Autumn decorating: Simple, but fun!

*Their favorite back-to-school dinner. They always had to agree on their favorite. With one child left, he got to pick his very own favorite...I think his daddy may have had something to do with the dinner of choice: Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, sweet corn, steak and baby red mashed potatoes and dessert!

*THE OFFICIAL CHANGING OF THE FILE FOLDERS!!!! SEE BELOW!






As I was looking through Laurissa's memory box, now that she is getting ready for college...it was a bit sad. Hard to believe everything from her baby shower to her graduation is in one box. It will be complete at the end of this summer. WOW! I am glad I took the time to save the things I did and even the things she wanted to keep that at the time I thought were really NOT necessary. Those little scribbles and "important" papers have become just as precious to me.
It is no secret that I have no patience for scrapbooking. I wish I had beautiful books gracing my shelves of well-documented pages and labeled photographs of my children growing up, but I don't.

Baby shower cards were wrapped in recycled gift ribbon, and put into an envelope.

My children each have a memory box that is basically a rubbermaid portable file box. Pretty sure it is not of archival quality either. :)


AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY SCHOOL YEAR, I put a new marked manila folder with their name and grade and keep it with my everyday files. During the year I file everything that is special to them: pictures, sports awards, birthday cards tied together, movie stubs, tickets to special events, notes, drawings, report cards, notes from teachers, yearbooks and summer memorabilia. At the end of the summer it gets filed into their memory box. It keeps their rooms cleared from clutter, doesn't get lost, and is a fun activity to pull out once in awhile.

I know it isn't fancy schmazy, but it is a fast, easy way to stay organized and "scrapbook" your child's memories without being too time consuming.

When we were putting Laurissa's senior memory board together, it was easy to go to the box and get what was needed for a detailed project. I would suggest always marking the year and grade on the back of filed papers etc, so it is eay to put back if it is used for something...

So glad I have one box filled with memories for each of the children. It is nice and compact, so that when they leave home, it will not take up too much space.

I have given two of these away as baby shower gifts and they were so appreciated. I know. Not very fun, but for a mom who hates organizing things, it is a welcomed gift. :) I pre-labeled all of the manilla folders and made a label for the front. They turned out adorable! For you crafty people out there, I am sure you could really have fun embellishing this idea!

How do you celebrate Back-toSchool?

How do you organize your children's papers?

Happy Wednesday!

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Back to School=Back to Routine...Monday

As lazy summer days and evenings slowly blend into Autumn, it is a rude awakening that routine is a MUST! So much for flying by the seat of your pants for the past three months.

It seems as though everything that got pushed aside and was left on the "going to do" list is now keeping you awake at night wondering how you got so far behind the 8 ball. Well, I think we are ALL in the same boat!

Shortly after my hubby and I were married, I was working full time and he was working and going to school, so weekends were spent doing laundry, running errands, grocery shopping for the following week etc. It was a complete nightmare! Here we were, spending our "honeymoon year" existing and that was about it. SOOO, one weekend, we decided we were going to sit down with our calendar {we shared one and still do!} and figure out what we could do during the week that would allow us to spend the weekends and the time we had together LIVING LIFE. Doing the things that were important to us. Helping friends, having get-togethers at our home instead of at restaurants, celebrating family birthdays etc. It was a plan that we came up and stuck to for the most part. There are always things that do come up, but we are quick to be able to reign it in.

When your children are coming home with papers to sign, school calendars, school picture forms, volunteer needs at the school etc, it is a good idea to have a plan of attack...unless you are still flying by the seat of your pants and those things don't stress you out...then, maybe you have a blog and I will be your next "follower" not to mention YOUR BIGGEST FAN EVER!!!!!...

Okay, I am totally all over the place...we will talk about that tomorrow.
Back to MONDAY. ALRIGHT. Monday has been my stay-at-home day {there are very few exceptions!!!!} I HATE laundry OH.SO.MUCH, but Monday is the assigned day. Do what you can't stand first, so that you can enjoy the other things like cleaning toilets without having laundry or whatever else you dislike {HATE!!!Sorry, MOM!} stealing your joy. I get things organized for the week, answer e-mails, write letters, clean out the car from weekend field trips, road trips, etc. we all know what our cars look like on Monday mornings. Anyway, I am NOT telling you what to do, but if you can keep Monday to getting the MUNDANE out of the way, I can almost guarantee a better week. OKAY, and if you work, same thing. Spend a bit of time getting the yucky out of the way and just TRY to push yourself...knowing that this next WEEKEND is NOT about laundry and errands. Maybe you could plan an outing or something you have been wanting to do. Knowing your chores are done will allow you to enjoy your family and friends. FRIDAY is coming and MONDAY is on its way!!!! And I CAN guarantee you, your chores will be waiting patiently for MONDAY.

Happy {mundane} Monday to YOU!

I want to hear from YOU! Do you have assigned days or do you fly by the seat of your pants? Do you mind laundry?

Adorable picture by: Frances Heilprin...edited by Lisa Pearson

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Fall cleaning

...Cleaning in the fall is rejuvenating! It is a new start. The kids are back in school, you are back into a routine and the ambience outside is inspiring! {The preferred word for Fall...Autumn...will not be used here since most are not fans of cleaning. We will save "AUTUMN" for warm, cozy dinners, scones and crisp walks etc.!}
It is a perfect excuse to have your kids go through the clothes they have outgrown during the summer or the clothes that no longer fit because the ironing never got done! Please tell me I am NOT the only one that has happened to!!!

They might find old notes or even that library book that is WAY overdue. Shorts, snorkels and other summer gear can be exchanged for warm coats, raingear, and those most adorable polka-dotted rubber boots!

I love deep cleaning with the windows wide open. It seems like the last big rush before you start "hibernating" for the winter...unless your children are in sports, and that is a whole different subject!

When the fall deep cleaning is done, I try to restock and reorganized as well...that way the holidays seem much more enjoyable and less of a threat when out of town guests call at the last minute and want to drop by for a visit.

We grow rosemary that is prolific, so I add a few fresh herbs throughout the house for an extra fragrant touch. Again, it is the simple little "extras" that take a few extra minutes to make your home filled with sweet unexpected treats.

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