Pink Saturday Spring Cleaning “Start Slow and Taper Off”

Pink Saturday and sunshine in Central Texas!!! Yea! It’s been such a cold winter with lots of time for staying indoors drinking hot tea and working on crafts projects. One evening I needed a sewing needle so I pulled out my vintage Pink sewing basket.

Isn’t it cute? look at the detail on the top.

But not so cute inside…I had dropped it one day and it had turned over spilling everything.

What a mess! Trying to find a needle was like looking in the proverbial haystack.  So I set about restoring order. It may be only a token attempt to start Spring Cleaning, but it’s not exactly spring yet. So I decided to take Susan Branch’s advice about housework, you know, “Start slow and taper off.”    First I had to wade through dozens of spare buttons. You know the ones that are attached to new clothes when you cut the tags off.

All those buttons are now organized in the spare button box.

Look underneath that pile of buttons.  Do you see the cross stitched tablecloth ? Hubby’s grandmother made it…I have a similar version in shades of blue made by my own grandmother. I’ll bet those ladies kept their sewing boxes in better order.

Then I found a couple of little mesh bags to hold all those odds and ends. And all those loose pins and needles are safely resting in the pincushion. No more searching the haystack.

Since I have officially started Spring cleaning, I think the weatherman should join the effort be sending some spring days. I love my little Pink Sewing basket, excuse me, my tidy little pink sewing basket.

My resolution for 2011 is to live a more purposeful life. I have been doing pretty well…not 100% on every front, but so far, I have met my goal of a weekly trip to leave items in the Hospice Thrift Store (without going inside to browse). My closets are starting to look more organized and less crowded already. The bookcases will be next. And the attic. And the garage…

I have written in my new journal every night and I am enjoying the day’s reflections…nothing profound to be sure, but affirming never the less.

The walking goals are on hold because of the cold,  but as I said, start slow… Enjoy your Pink Saturday and stop in to say “Hi” to our hostess Beverly who has organized a lovely way to spend a Saturday  http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ 

Beverly’s Featured Blogger this week is my very good friend Nancy http://www.mycraftylittlepage.blogspot.com/

She is the one who got me started with Etsy and it was she who introduced me to the world of blogging. Nancy is amazingly creative and her blog is always just what the doctor ordered. If you don’t already know her, drop in and enjoy. Every post is a treat.

Have a Pink Week.

Happy Homemaker Tag Along…

Happy New Year and Happy New Swap! I was able to slip in after the closing and join Elizabeth’s year-long tag swap! So this month’s tag had to be done in a Texas-Two Step Hurry Up! But theme has been picked and the year long plan is in place…So here goes…First, we were challenged to buy supplies only once and then use things we had on hand…I decided not to purchase new, but to use what was already in the paper drawer…it’s part of new year’s resolutions.(Yeah, for the last three or four New Years!)But this time I mean it!

Since I’ve chosen a Mexican Kitchen and “Panchita” as my Happy Homemaker, the papers are reds and greens for the Mexican flag…I’ll also be pulling from a pack of mulberry papers and a pad of card stock from Flavia in case I need some brights and some tiny tags…

“Back in the day “… late 60’s…there was a little booklet called In The Kitchen With Panchita. Panchita taught us everyday household Spanish. I thought of her immediately when I found out about the Happy Homemaker theme. I decided to do Spanish 101 with a year’s worth of possibilities to explore…the first tag features a vintage Mexican tiled kitchen with a Happy Homemaker fanning the fire in the stove.

I made an enlarged copy, cut her out, and popped her into the kitchen so she has a 3-D look.

A copy of the little booklet is popped alongside and the inside sub-title, “A Handbook For Housewives” finishes the front. Some bright Fiesta silk braid gives the tag a happy look. When you turn it over, you find this month’s Spanish lesson…

the Months Of The Year. Isn’t that a perfect lesson for Enero (January). There’s a little song to teach the months and, of course, the translation is just below.

The tags are lacking tassels and embellishments, but I need time to consider the entire year’s worth to see what I want to add. Living and shopping on the Texas-Mexican border for all my life has provided me with loads of bits and pieces that will come in handy and still keep me in Elizabeth’s plan to use what we have on hand. My tag is certainly not “over the top”,but since I came so late to the party, I’m not unhappy with it…until I start visiting everyone else’s January Happy Homemaker tags. Bet they are Amazing…I took a peek at Nancy’s last night… Yup, Amazing. One of the reasons I set this challenge for myself was to “Grow”…So let the challenge begin! I hope my December tag shows that I have done just that.