New Pieces, New Savings, Newness All Around

Hey there.  Now that both my boys are in elementary school (a totally new experience for all of us), I find I (sometimes) have a bit more time...although this is tempered by the fact that my husband is in Scotland on business for 5 (five) weeks (also a totally new development)!  A prime example of that whole giveth, taketh away thing.  Anyhoo, I was able to create and list 20 new pieces in my Etsy shop this week, in between working on some pieces for a friend, laundry, grocery shopping, running errands...

Here's a quick peak:

In celebration of all the newness, how about a new way to save?  Now through September 9, save 20% on any order from HandstampedOriginals with Coupon Code: SCOTLAND.

Speaking of Scotland, my shop will be closed September 10 through September 24 as the boys, my parents, & I will be traveling to Scotland.  :D

School Daze

Hey there.  Today was the big day--my babies are now in 3rd grade and Kindergarten!!!  How did that happen?  I wanted to share my favorite pic from this morning:

Can you see the excitement on my little guy's face?!?  So ready to be a big kid!

I'm in a bit of a school daze (sorry, the boys are big into puns right now) myself--restructuring my daily schedule, planning DIY projects, and working on new jewelry pieces.  More soon.

~Melissa

Back To School Visual Schedule & A Free Printable For You

So, I'm a sucker for a schedule--especially when it comes to getting the kids up, ready & out the door for school.  And, it turns out kids really respond well to schedules, too--especially visual schedules (schedules with pictures).  For years I've utilized the free resources of Do2Learn for picture cards for use at home with my kids.

As our school starts in just 8 days, and since for the first time ever, both my boys will have to be up and ready for a full day of school, I decided a little visual reinforcement might help...  As with so many past adventures, the Target Dollar Spot came to the rescue!

I found this handy dandy "Pocket Chart Scheduler" in the Target Dollar Spot for just $1 (I bought several colors because I anticipate several uses...):

Here's what our School Day Morning Schedule looks like:

My plan is to have a big colorful paperclip assigned to each boy (Jack=red; Sam=blue) attached to the schedule, which each boy will be responsible for moving as he moves through the schedule.  I'm thinking of including some incentive for completing the schedule independently (that is, without reminders from me--what are the odds?? :D ).

Here is a free PDF printable of our School Day Morning Schedule for your use.  I used a Landscape orientation for the document.  Enjoy!

Anybody else out there have some creative kid scheduling/organization tools, ideas or projects?

~Melissa

Summer School = Organizing & DIY Opportunities

So, I've been a cleaning & organizing machine what with both the boys in summer school for the first time ever!!  Inspired by a blog post I ran across here on the Mini Manor Blog, and fed up by all the searching for "that necklace" or "those earrings", I decided to clean out & organize my personal stash of jewelry.

I'd been storing my jewelry in these shallow top drawers of my dresser:

 Here's just one of the drawers, in two shots:

:

As you can see, what used to be organized jewelry drawers had become a hot mess!

I decided to both clean out & reorganize my drawers & to add hanging bamboo cutlery trays (a la Mini Manor Blog) to my walk-in closet for all my necklaces & my favorite rings.  I opted out of painting the trays, as I have both white & oak accents in my walk-in & figured the natural bamboo would look fine.  I did not use screw-in hooks, but rather some Command adhesive hooks--I went with silver hooks on clear bases.  Here's a picture of the cutlery trays with hooks applied:




I also added hooks to the bottom of one of the trays to hang long necklaces from (oops--forgot to take a before pic).

Here's what the drawers look like all organized.  I organized by metals, type, color.  Cue the angel choir!!

Drawer Number 1 in two shots:

 Drawer No. 2 in two shots:

That's all well & good, but what about the cutlery trays, you say?  Wait for it...

Here's the blank space in my closet before:

And, here it is after:

There are actually 4 trays end to end--I just screwed them into the wall--but my closet isn't deep enough to get all 4 in one shot.  Here are some close-ups of the cutlery trays in action--see how the long necklaces hang from the hooks attached to the bottom of the bottom tray?  :D

I am now positively giddy about picking out my jewelry for the day!  How about you?  Have you come up with any creative storage solutions?

~Melissa

A Whole New World...

So, my baby started Kindergarten summer school this week, along with my now 3rd grader, which means that for the first time in almost 9 (nine!) years, I have the entire day to myself--at least through the end of June, when summer school ends.  This will begin again--permanently--in August.  In the meantime, I'm driven to accomplish a long list of household organization & cleaning.  For years, I've thought, if I ever had a whole day to myself, I could accomplish so much...  So far, I've taken 5 bags to Goodwill, moved around the master bedroom, cleaned out & reorganized the master closet, including switching to those thin velvet hangers (Love.Them).  Next, I'm cleaning out the mass of jewelry...  Pics & more posted soon.  Happy Weekend!!

Summer(time)...

Turns out there's extra time in the day when you don't have to drive to school 3 times a day to drop off, drop off, pick up children...  So, I've been putting that extra time to work during the boys' screen time to make some new pieces:

You can find these and more in my Etsy shop @ www.handstampedoriginals.etsy.com.

Now, time to build today's fort...  :D

How are you using your summer(time)?

~Melissa

Some Savings Just in Time for Graduation

Hey there!  It's that time of year again--Graduation.  Need a special gift for the grad in your life--something besides a card with cash?  Maybe you just want to get yourself a little somethin' for no particular reason?  Either way, you can save 20% on any order from www.handstampedoriginals.etsy.com now through May 31, with Coupon Code: GRADUATION

~Melissa