Busy Mom Full Of Ideas

Okay So I LOVE to scrapbook. I have been scrapbooking since 1999 and along the years have collected a lot of "stuff". The problem with scrapbooking for me is the mess and clutter. I can never find anything and end up spending so much time trying to find things or buying things twice. I NEED organization...a place for everything. Can you imagine...just close your eyes...and image being able to go straight to a drawer/cabinet/binder for something and know that it is there. I can dream can't I?

At one time my scraproom was organized but I believe as we group as scrappers (buy more stuff) and the industry changes(more stuff to buy) we need to redevelop our organizational system. If you find that it's not working for you anymore it's time to change it...and believe me my system was no longer working of me. Therefore, among my many New Year's Resolutions was to organize my scraproom. First let me show you my before pictures...can't believe I'm gonna show my mess.

This is the main view into my scraproom. I had the white custom cabinets and desk put in when I moved in. You can see I try to clean (Clorox wipes) but the room gets the best of me.

You can see that all my shelves are stuffed with stuff.

This is my desk area. That's my new Silhouette SD that I don't have room for. What is my hair iron doing in there?

My closet with paper falling out, albums not labeled and containers stuffed.

This is the left side view. You can see the room has good structure to work with. My husband put in the pegboard a while back. LOVE IT...just need more "holders".

So I got to it and cleaned and organized. It took me most of the day. I discovered things that I forgot I had like a Kodak photo printer, laminating machine and book binding machine that have NEVER been opened. Glad my husband didn't see that...they were Christmas gifts. So here are the new and improved photos.

My ribbon is stored in jars by color. You can get them from Wal Mart and can be decorative. My rub-ons and templates are hanging on hooks from the pegboard. I even have a spot for my newly found photo printer. I have my most used punches and wooden stamps hanging from the pegboard in racks purchased from Wal Mart. The tool spinner I got from Target. It's nice for having your tools accessible.

I got rid of a lot of magazines and binders and even found a spot for a basket to hold my new cutter accessories. The binders hold my embellishments by color and subject.

The top shelf is other craft items. The red boxes hold my extra adhesives and inks. The white plastic drawers have my chipboard letters.

I carried over the jar storage to the other side. They hold my extra small stamps, crystals, tags, etc. I even had enough room to display my favorite layout.

The plastic jars hold my letter stamps. The small silver containers hold my brads. They are stored by color. Not shown in the photo is another set with pink stickers that hold my eyelets by color.

This is my stamp drawer. My clear stamps are stored in CD holders

My desk area now welcomes me. I even have a spot for my new cutter. Now I just need to learn how to use it.

My paper is stored by color with patterned paper on one side and solid on the other.

An area for my Cricut. The drawers below hold my cartridges and Xyron adhesives.

Got these containers from Wal Mart. They hold loose embellishments by color.

So now it's organized. I just have to keep it that way.

Dinosaur Train is a new educational cartoon on PBS. My 4-year-old loves it! She has learned so much about dinosaurs and how to pronounce their names. So of course when I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted she said Dinosaur Train. However, after a complete search of the internet and party stores there are currently no Diosaur Train toys or party supplies. So I created this post to share with those moms out there who have children who are just insisting on a Dinosaur Train Party. Here is what I did:

1. I made an invitation on the computer by downloading an image and printing on cardstock. You can get images by either searching on google or by going to pbskids.com.

2. I purchased a cheap pinata and painted over the picture and posted a image from the internet.
3. I made a dinosaur cake. You can get the instructions from bettycrocker.com. If you have alot of people coming you might want to make cupcakes on the side because the cake does not feed that many people.