Jacob, Another Year Gone

January 27

Dear Jacob,

Well, another year has passed by, so quickly it seems.  I can't believe you're 23 today.  I remember, just like it was yesterday, the scintillating conversations we would share (or, more like you spoke and I listened intently)--even that one at about 2 a.m. when you couldn't sleep, and we heard the faint whistle of a train way off in the distance on the wind, and you just had to tell me everything about what kind of train that probably was, because freight trains sound like one way, and passenger trains sound like another.  I learned a lot about freight trains that night.  I was also lost in the wonder that was you.

I remember your loud three-year-old voice hollering out To God Be the Glory as we shopped our way through the grocery store.  And I mean all the way through.  Oh, and the things you would say, and the information you would share--well, I'm not going into detail here, that's for sure!  Suffice it to say that Dad and I laughed about some of those things.

And now, look at you.  You grew up on me, before I even realized it.  You even went away to college, and now you're home, working an internship and getting ready to graduate.  I would like to inform you that I will cry when I watch you walk down the aisle and receive your diploma.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'm so glad you consider Dad and me friends.  I'm so thankful that you are a passionate follower of Christ.  I'm tickled that you will still do the Silly Walk down the hallway, and that you laugh fully, completely, and whole-heartedly at things you find funny.  And I'm glad you still like to blow out candles.

Happy birthday, son!

Back to life,
Christine

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Football is not Over Yet!

After myriad practices, and eight games, the season ended.  Two banquets were attended and enjoyed.  Awards were handed out.  Oh, and one crock pot lid was lost.  (But that's another story.)  Thomas' football season was over.

But wait.  I forgot about Winter Workout.  Um, that would be Workouts.  (The "s" is in bold.)  *sigh*

We'll now be taking turns making the 35-minute drive to the winter workout location, but it is sort of fun, and definitely more relaxed than daily practices and weekly games (though the games were by far the highlight of every autumn weekend!).

Here are highlights from last week's workout.

Thomas going out for a pass.  (I thought he played nose tackle...)

The kid can catch!?!

Teem cheer!

Back to life,
Christine

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Decorating Storage Boxes for the Pantry

I'm linking up with the Clever Chicks blog for this post.  Please click on their button to the right to see what they're all about, and to visit others' blogs and be inspired!

I'm not the most craftsy person; actually, I freely admit I'm not craftsy at all.  That's why I love Pinterest--for the ideas I find that may actually be do-able for me!  I had discovered Mod Podge through Pinterest, and you'll see that gluey-sticky whatever-it-is coating stuff featured in today's blog.  Read on.  :)

Remember my newly cleaned and reorganized pantry?  Here's the reminder photos (left and right sides) from yesterday's post if you didn't see it:

Nice and clean, tidy and organized!  But, see those green Chicken of the Sea tuna boxes?  And the cut-out oatmeal boxes?  Even though I love them for their function--holding groups of smaller items in a neat and tidy way--I am somewhat disturbed, shall we say, about their "cluttery" and messy feel.  Let me amend that:  I was somewhat disturbed.  I am no longer, because I fixed it.  :)

To me, order = beauty.  And order means neat and clean lines, not busy, out-of-place colors.  Something had to be done with my free storage boxes.  I didn't need Pinterest to inspire me, either.  After discovering the beauty and ease of Mod Podge for crafts such as beautifying these glass food storage jars, I had just the thing for my pantry boxes, which now look like this:

What I used:

• Mod Podge -- matte finish
• foam brush
• scrapbook paper
• pencil
• scissors

Here's what I did:

First, I cut around the top of this Quaker instant oatmeal box (yes, my husband requests I purchase these for quick breakfasts on busy mornings), and cut out an opening in the front.

I traced this front section onto the back of a sheet of scrapbook paper (12x12 which is what I have plus these boxes were too big for smaller paper).  Then, I cut out the shape with about a one-inch or so border all the way around.  I cut slits all the way around the edges, and cut out corners at the tops (they look like tabs).  I figured the tabs would fold over those littler sections more easily than folding corners up and around and over (you'll see that below).

The reason for cutting the slits:  the paper folds more easily over the edges of the cardboard box in smaller sections rather as one whole section.

I love this stuff!

I coated the backside of the scrapbook paper with Mod Podge, staying within the pencil lines I had drawn.  I carefully set the front of the box down onto the paper (easier to me than lifting the paper up and putting it on the box, but whatever works for you is fine).  I carefully smoothed the paper toward the edges to get rid of buckles and air bubbles, and let it dry for several minutes before the next step.

Then, working in sections, I coated three or four tabs with Mod Podge, then folded them over and around and into crevices, pressing them down.  I worked my way around the entire front of the box with this method.

Those "tabs" at the top folded over nicely, without extra bulk.

The corners got folded over and around.

For the front labels, I used Microsoft Word 2010, created several identical one-cell charts, typed in my titles using the Nauvoo font, printed them out on simple printer paper, and cut them out along my border (I chose a fancier border than simple solid black).

I coated the back side with a thin layer of Mod Podge and secured the label to the front of the box, slightly higher than middle.

Once the label had dried, I coated the whole front and papered sides of the box with a thin layer of Mod Podge.

I let the boxes sit all afternoon to make sure the Mod Podge really dried well.  I didn't use any finish coats, or extra coats, since these were free coardboard boxes and they won't see heavy use.  Here's my baking box on my pantry shelf:

Here's another oatmeal box, below.  You can see that I didn't use scrapbook paper to cover the sides, but just enough to fold the paper over.

After two successful boxes, it was time to conquer my tuna boxes!

Below, you can see that I used extra paper to cover more of the sides of these boxes than I did with the oatmeal boxes.  That's because these boxes stick out a little further from the edge of my "lovely" metal shelves, so they'd be more noticeable.  I wanted to make sure they were covered more deeply.

Yes, I have a box for other stuff!

Here are the boxes on my shelves!

With metal shelving units, the shelves themselves are not even (you can see the Lunch and Snacks box above tilted along the sag in the shelf), so smaller jars and boxes always fell or slid over or never stayed together properly.  These boxes contain like items in a way that makes them easier to find.  Plus, they're so pretty!

Lest you think I'm this wonderfully craft-minded and awesome organizer, take another look at the photo above.  I completely missed one of the tuna boxes on the left!  I didn't even see it until after I took the picture.  *rats*

I have that last silly tuna box to cover, but it's not the only one any more!  Fernando and I just made our bi-weekly run to Costco, and I came home with three more boxes!!  Two of them are going right into my pantry to contain some bulk spices on the left.  Hopefully I'll remember to cover that other box along with my new ones!!


Back to life,
Christine

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Cleaning and Reorganizing the Pantry

I have been home a lot more this winter than I have been in a long while.  I don't really have cabin fever, although the bitter cold makes me feel closed in, almost as if I'm stuck here.  Which I'm not.  :)

Cold weather--I'm talking -11 without a wind chill this morning--is a great excuse to have an extra cup of tea and do something worthwhile indoors.  On this day, I undertook a major project--cleaning out and reorganizing my pantry.  Here's what it looked like when I started:

The right side.

The left side.

I wish I had a super-wide-angle lens to show you the full picture, but the space back there is just so tight I had to take two pictures.  This pantry is really a very wide coat closet in my "Plum Room."

PLuM = Pantry, Laundry, and Mud

Yes, there's mud back there sometimes.  When you're facing the coat-closet-turned-into-pantry, your back is to the door leading to the garage.  To the left of the pantry are the washer and dryer against the side wall, and on the same wall as the pantry is another door which leads to the back yard.  To the right of this pantry is an open doorway, which is a back hallway with a powder room and which leads to my kitchen.  You'll see it in another image below.

Needless to say, it's a multi-use room, and it's pretty small.  I have big dreams for the pantry:  I'd first rip out the coat closet doors and the wire shelving.  Oh, and the metal shelving units will go, way out of here probably to the garage where my husband can put them to good use with his man stuff.  Then I'd install real cabinets, even a countertop area, plus a space in there for my vacuum which currently sits against a tiny space of wall next to the left door (ugh).  But that's a thousand-dollar dream (probably more), and I doubt I'll ever have that.  So metal shelving units it is.  But that doesn't mean I can't organize it and make it look pretty.  :)

Above and below--everything came off the shelves, and I organized it sort-of in the hallway.  I have jars of grains, beans, and other stuff, and they're stored three-deep on the shelves, so I definitely had to keep those together.  I somewhat alphabetized them, hoping to put them back in a way that made more sense.

The above shelf got wiped down in a major way--you can probably see the dust and food particles all over.  All the items from the shelves are below, arranged in my hallway (that's the kitchen, then family room beyond).

Rule of Organizing:  It gets messier before it gets neater.

Finally, what I think is the most exciting, invigorating part--getting everything back on the shelves!  Woo-hoo!!  (I actually get goosebumps for this part.)

Next to some of the dry jar goods are small appliances I have no space for in my kitchen:  a toaster oven, a large crock pot.  That empty space above is for my Bosch mixer, which was in the kitchen at the time awaiting a bread-making session (that didn't happen for another week).

See the lovely green tuna boxes?  They stick out from the shelves, but that's a good thing since the jars barely sit three-deep anyway, and it gives me more room to store stuff.  They sit on the shelf nicely, and I can organize smaller jars--bottles of ketchup, mustard, vinegars, etc.--without having them slide all over the metal shelves.  The boxes keep them nicely organized.  I got these boxes at Costco.  I'm even bold enough to go down the aisle where the tuna is, and empty out the 12-packs of tuna to get another box (or two).  No one has ever said anything.  You should try it; I always feel like a criminal but I do it anyway.  ;)

Nice and neat!  You may think this post is done, but I wasn't happy with green tuna boxes (and cut-out oatmeal boxes, one of which you can see on the top shelf above).  Today's post shows you what I did to clean and organize my pantry; my next post will show you what I did to make my pantry look pretty.  Yes, it involves a craft.  But if it's easy enough for me, I guarantee you you can do it, too!


Back to life,
Christine

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