(Wh)Organizing kick off

Alright, bitches, enjoy your New Year's Eve fun because tomorrow is the first day of a month of organizing tips. As I warned ya, a couple weeks ago, more brand new tote boxes are not the solution. NOOOooooo more boxes until you get rid of the crap.

Straight talk and action are my methods so if you are looking for hand holding and quiet voices for hoarders, click on www.losersandtheirshit.com

I'm gonna hit ya with a mixture of common sense, feng shui and anal retentiveness and I'll make ya like it. You heard me, you'll love the results and then you'll start wanting the boss of everybody, just like me.

Invite your friends to join in on the fun and maybe I'll come with a giveaway.

It's a wrap

Sure, I enjoy wrapping gifts but have learned the kids destroy paper so quickly that a thoughtful choice of coordinating paper and pretty ribbon warrants no notice so I now place small items in brown paper bags.


And by now, you realize I am a ribbon whore but there's no reason to use for the brat gifts so simply wrote their name on box with silver Sharpie pen.

Managed to wrap sister's gift with a small kitty print remnant. See underlay of contrasting paper. I know it looks like a parsimonious paper miser at work but she likes feline print paper.

And I just couldn't "waste" this Burberry brief box so simply tied on a ribbon and gave it to the 20 year old niece. She approved.

Wish I had a photo of my muff

As a small tot, I had a white rabbit fur muff. Rarely was it so cold in southwest Louisiana to warrant the wearing of a muff but I loved having it so when my friend told us about her attire for a New Year's Eve wedding in Estes Park, Colorado, I just had to ask her if her ensemble would include a muff.

My childhood muff had a cord that fit through the opening and wrapped around my neck for hands-free motion. Not sure if adult versions of a muff include a ribbon through the hole.

Fancy fur muffs often feature zippered pockets for stashing of sterling silver flasks and snuff bottles. Men's muffs are typically larger in scale.

What would you place in your muff?

Costume jewelry quick fix

Spied this clever tip in January 2010 issue of Lucky magazine:

Krylon gold leaf pen for touch ups of discolored costume jewelry.

Think of other craft projects that need a quick touch of silver, gold, and copper!

Shiny stuff ~ caw, caw!

Liquor bottles - the new thing to collect

That is, the little bottles.
This miniature liquor bottle photo snow globe idea makes me wish I had more frequent traveler points. Dag-nab-it-all!
Check out Photojojo's instruction page HERE.

Come to think of it, how cute would a small bar Christmas tree look with "baby" bottles of liquor? Aw, HELLS to the yeah!

From tacky to understated / Shiny Stuff of the Week 13

When I imagine "tacky", I visualize shiny. Shiny satin dresses. Shiny glitzy sweaters. Shiny bright brass. Shiny yellowy gold. Shiny wallpaper.

Now, you've read many times I like shiny stuff but it is a particular ilk of shiny. White metals make me the happiest but gold can be done if with discernment.

So when I spied with my crow eyes these 2 gold tone costume jewelry items, both seemed to be that wrong shade of gold. What to do? Pulled out the small jar of "gold leaf" paint and brushed a thin layer to the metal and wondered if it would stick. It did and the finish looks great.

Heads up for (wh)organizing

Keep on with your slovenly selves for the remainder of the month because next month is (Wh)organizing January.
I'm gonna highlight organizing ideas and hopefully prevent us all to sliding into hoarder oblivion.
Until then, don't you dare purchase one single box, tub or container. Retailers push those bins the day after Christmas but don't you fall for it. Okay okay, if you cannot resist the gathering impulse, just promise to keep the freakin' receipt, y'hear? Because organizing is not putting things into nice new containers. Organizing begins by getting rid of CRAP!

Your job between now and January 1st: gather trash bags, cardboard boxes and markers

You're welcome.

Stuff added to Etsy

Plaid and tartan necktie wreath

Fleur de lis wall plaque

Preppy whale wall plaque
Check it out HERE

Plaid balls

No, not what you think . . . but it IS a cute make-it-yourself ornament idea by media whore Eddie Ross.
LOVING me some plaid!

Scavenger success

My new favorite buddy "Miss Sanford" hosted a shindig at her house this week and garnered lots of compliments on her fabulous bar. Now, I already liked her because she sews and has a super duper embroidery machine but when she told us that the bar was a hurricane Katrina curbside rescue and refurbish project, I knew I found my new dumpster diving partner.

She has the know-how.

+

I have a truck and zero shame.

=

We would be a team to be reckoned with, I tell ya!

Anywho, Miss Sanford sent me some "before" photos of said bar.

Please to enjoy, her successful re-do:

Pretty awesome, right?

Water meter cover of the day

Look at this neat reversible ring in sterling silver.

One side with the iconic Sewerage & Water Board Crescent Box Water Meter image and the other side reads "I love NOLA". (That's shorthand for New Orleans LA, for the rest of you people.)

Buy it here.

Christmas decor on the cheap

Tree branches painted white.

Tree bases made from plaster of Paris set in plastic bucket with PVC pipe in middle.

Branches stuck into pipe.

Inexpensive white lights strung on branches.

Gold spray painted Chinese lanterns hung from the ceiling.

Glass crystals hung from ribbon.

Shiny Stuff of the Week 12

Covetousness, envy or jealousy -
I don't give a shit what you call it but
I WANT THIS Johnny Swing coin furniture!!!!
Shiny settee and chairs and such ~~oh my!
That is 7000 nickels, people!

Let's see Sammy the Shredder destroy this furniture. AND if the heat conducting legs sat on radiant heat flooring, that might just be a warm seat indeed.

(Johnny Swing also offers bowls, baskets and small teddy bears. As Elizabeth would say ~~ cancel.)

Thanks (or blame) to Mr. Peacock for the pointer.

Hunk a Junque necklace

This necklace has been in my head for a year or so but after recently reading Amy Hanna's fabulous book, I pulled out all that People Give Me Stuff bauble and bead bounty, pilfered an antique watch from my crow-like candlelier and made myself a junque necklace from bits and pieces o' stuff. That's iron pyrite hanging from the shorter silver chain, fool's gold, I tell ya!

I wore my junque chains last night and received lots of compliment but kinda wonder if I look like a crazy lady that collects shiny bits, tin foil and cats and lives in a hoarder house?

F marks the spot

My friend Elizabeth has been dying to etch some glass casserole dishes for gifts but wisely experimented on an old glass pie dish first. Look how great it looks!