When I was looking at the webpage that sells a sheet music stand I noticed something that didn’t look like a sheet music stand at all, and it piqued me curiosity. I clicked on the picture to see if I could find out more about it, and it took me to a different page with a description of the item. It was a really long clip that is used to keep sheet music from shifting around on the stand. I immediately thought of all of the times I have used clothes pins to clip things together and how I’ve wished that the clothes pins were longer. Now I know exactly what I can buy to replace those clothes pins that are just too short to get the job done! This is awesome!
Many Uses for Binder Clips
One of the most useful office supply items is the binder clip. I’m sure you know what item I’m referring to – it is a black metal clamp that has two silver colored wire clips that you squeeze to make the clamp open. Some poeple call them “alligator clips” because when you squeeze the clips the metal clamp is a little bit like alligator jaws that slap shut with a lot of force. If you have an extra large binder clip that clamps down on your finger – it does hurt!
The binder clips were used in offices as an alternative to 3-ring binders to hold a stack of papers together. There are different sizes of binder clips that hold any number of sheets from extra small binders holding 2-10 sheets to the extra large binders holding up to 300 sheets.
But I use these binder clips at home for other purposes, too. My open bags of snack chips and pretzels are rolled and clipped to keep the air out and the chips fresh. When I have a big bag of fresh vegetables, like carrots or broccoli, I roll the tops of those packages and put a binder clip on them, too.
To hold batches of grocery store coupons together, I use a small binder clip on the bottom so that I can easily flip through all the coupons and easily read the expiration dates.
Do you keep any binder clips at home for a different use? I’d love to hear what you use them for, too.
Saving space
I don’t know about you, but I’m all about saving space. Having grown up in a house that gave me a very small bedroom, I am always looking for ways to maximize my space. Because of this, I end up using a lot of the walls to store things. One example of this would be using wall mount speaker brackets to put my small speakers, so I wouldn’t have to use up any shelf space of desk-top space. One advantage of this is that it protects the speakers from being knocked over by small pets that may be going exploring when your back is turned!
Unorthodox uses for things
Guest post by Linda Bradshaw
When I was teaching decorative painting at the adult education classes at night, I often found myself needing more than two hands to accomplish what I wanted to do. Sometimes I needed to prop up a teaching aide on the easel board, but it would not be convenient to put it down on the tray. A lot of times it would just topple off of the bottom tray. It was a real challenge! So one day I was in the hardware department of the local department store, looking for a solution to the problem and found some spring clamps that would solve the problem – I could use one of them to clip the teaching aide(s) onto the side of the easel pad. I’m pretty sure that was not the original intention of the clamps, but they do a great job and I’m glad that I found them!
The Great Closet Purge of 2013
I’ve decided it’s time I go through and clean out my closet, well closets really if you could my children’s and my husband’s closets, to get rid of anything we don’t wear, is tired and needs to be thrown out, and things I know I would like to give away or donate.
I have a bunch of closes in my closet taking up tons of space that I know could be put to better use I would like to have one of those fancy looking closets that you see in all of the home and garden magazines. I know it will be possible to have pretty baskets and shelves once I get rid of things to make space.
I’m sure I have sweaters and dresses in there that I haven’t worn in well, honestly I don’t know how long. I think I’ll go with the rule if I haven’t worn it in the past yea it’s gone for sure. I say the past year because of the different seasons. I can’t hold on to things that I think I might use someday just because it’s still in great condition. I think items that are in great condition are the perfect ones to donate. Who wants to buy a tattered old robe from Good Will? No one! But, you can be certain someone would be willing to buy a plush and cozy robe without any rips or stains. I have a robe, I’m just not using it so it’s going in the donate pile.
I’m pretty sure this project is going to take a while and it won’t all get done in one day. I think I’ll start with one closet at a time and go from there. I don’t want to overwhelm myself.
Save Space with TV Wall Mounts
We have three big flat screen televisions in our home. One of them is in our family room with a big entertainment center. I’ve been thinking of taking the entertainment center out to give us some more floor space and getting one of the crimson mounts to mount it to the wall. The kids have a lots of toys int he family room and I’m thinking it might be nice if there is more room to walk around all of the toys without having to avoid the entertainment center too.
Don’t get me wrong, I love our giant entertainment center, I’m not getting rid of it. I’m just moving it to another room and getting another television. I was thinking of getting one of those really neat mounts that swivel and can come out from the wall to face different directions. My neighbors have one and they love it. They have it in their living room and use it to turn the television toward the kitchen and dining room when they want to watch television at the table. Some times I’ll allow this, sometimes I won’t. It would be nice to have that option though.
Come to think of it it would be nice to use to watch cooking programs while I’m in the kitchen. Hmm, I might be having my husband pick up more than one of these for our home.
Crafty Storage Idea
Storage for magazines and remote controls can be made easily with a few pieces of fabric. Get yourself a table runner and then sew an extra piece of fabric at the end to create a pocket. If you want to be really lazy you can skip the sewing altogether and just use fabric tape that you iron or even fabric glue. Then you can add any embellishments you like.
This simple and crafty solution diminishes the clutter you have on your bedside table and add extra storage to a table that might not have had any to begin with. It would be a great way to store the book or kindle you read before going to bed. I’m going to make a few of these and give them away as gifts. I know everyone will love them
On A Hunt For Organization
This afternoon after I got off work, I planned to meet someone to pick up a baker’s rack that I found online in the classified ads. I’m going to use it in the garage as an extra storage area for the larger boxed items in our pantry. This will make a lot more room in the kitchen and make it possible for me to shop sales more frequently and stock up when there is a really good deal. I got out my notes that had the address scribbled on it and read the address signs on the street as I tried to make my way to the correct location.
It took me about fifteen minutes of driving up and down the street before I finally found the place. I eventually gave in and called the guy that I was purchasing the rack from because I was reading every one of the address plaques and couldn’t seem to find it. He came outside and said he was wearing a red shirt. As soon as I saw a man in a red shirt I turned the car around and headed in his direction. No wonder I couldn’t find the place, the address plaque was obscured by a big tree in front of the building. I paid the man, loaded it into the back of my car and came right home.
I’m really excited to have the extra storage and organization space in our garage. I bet I won’t have any trouble at all filling it up with everything I have planned to buy this weekend to restock the house.
Kitchen Cabinet Make Over
After spending the weekend organizing my kitchen pantry, the rest of the cabinets seemed jealous and were screaming to be made over too. I started the same way I did with the pantry by taking everything out. I found these great wire shelving units that I used to sort out all of our cups, bowls, and plates. Now when I want a plate I don’t have to dig it out from underneath the bowls.
A handy lid sorter helped to keep all of the lids to my pots and pans in an easily accessible area. I mounted it to the back of the cabinet door and it didn’t take up any additional space. Instead of putting all of the baking pans in the cabinet laying flat, I got another sorter from the organizing store that helps me put everything away vertically. It has a bunch of dividers to put things like cookie sheets and muffin pans in and not have to dig them out from each other.
After organizing my kitchen I’m feeling inspired to tackle other areas of the home. I don’t want to go overboard but walking into my kitchen now and being able to get anything in a second is a breath of fresh air. I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner.
Kitchen Pantry Organization
Organizing our kitchen pantry has been a chore I’ve been putting off doing for awhile now. I hate opening it up and seeing stuff everywhere and not being able to find what I’m looking for. Here’s my plan to have a headache free pantry.
First, I’m going to start by taking everything out the pantry and sort them items into similar types as I remove them. This pre-sorting will save me time when i go to put everything back. Once I have everything out of the way I’ll take the items I have sorted and put them in some type of box or basket. I haven’t decided if I want to use wicker baskets or plastic boxes to be honest. Either way the purpose of these bins will be the same. Each bin will house each category of items. This will make it easy for me to find items in the pantry and will make putting things away much easier.
I also want to get a few shelving units to organize all of my canned foods and spices. I’ve seen some really neat can sorters that make it so you can hold up to triple the amount of cans in the same space. As for my spices, I want to make them all visible so I’m not pulling five and six bottles out at a time trying to find the right one. A tiered shelving unit will make them all visible but I’m also concerned about it taking up a bunch of space. I think I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of unused space underneath the tiered organizer to make getting what I’m searching for not only easier but faster.
Finally I’ll label all of the bins and shelves. I’m going to use a combination of pictures and words so it helps everyone in the family regardless of reading level. This will hopefully make unloading groceries and such easier for my husband and kids. I won’t have to hear, ” Mom where does this go?” or, “Where is the peanut butter?” Everything will have it’s place and I will be headache free, at least from the pantry that is.