Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
95: maybe you could use bits of vintage wrapping paper to help
decorate a package that was mostly wrapped in a base wrap.
  

    
I have to admit I love the wrapping paper concept. 

But that brings up an issue for me. If I'm going to convert to simple
and easy gift wrapping, what the heck should I do with all the wrapping
paper I have now? And this is just a variation on one theme I hope you
talk about: compulsive hoarding of certain things. How do we learn to
let go?
  

    
Use it up slowly?  I was wondering about Christmas, all the presents
under the tree would look boring to me if there were only three different
wraps.  But I haven't done a large Christmas in a while, I was thinking
back to how it looked Christmas morning when I was a kid.
  

    
absolutely use up what you have. and larger hoarding issues? I'm going
to let Randall start on an answer to that one.

til then, to answer Jeff, Christmas morning inevitably maintains its
multi-hued magnificence since there will be gifts under the tree from
other relatives and friends. If if you were doing solo Santa, however,
you can achieve plenty of variety with three papers and thirty-three
(or whatever) different ribbons and other ties.
  

    
Love the wrapping paper, and all the ideas. I personally can't resist
lots of colored paper that mixes and matches and these are in a tall
trash can in my office. I've always wanted to make a dowel or have a
space for such that I could just roll ribbon off of, like they do at
retail stores or florists. That's, like, my dream.

Someone asked about children's art back there. We did something simple
that worked. When Anna was little, we bought 5 plexiglass frames (I
think they're 9x12) and put them up in a hallway in a row at her
height. The idea was that a rotating group of pictures could go in
them, but honestly we've kept the favorites in there for some time.
It's sweet, though, and cheap, and looks like a liliputian gallery. 
  

    
we applaud the idea of a designated location for children's art and a
gallery-like treatment. I particularly like your idea of hanging the
pieces at her height. 
and if your little artist(s) are *very* prolific, you can practice the
clutter control technique of my daughter-in-law, who generously SHARES
Ms. Haley Marie's artwork with grandparents and other doting
relatives. I *do* wish, however, that the daycare workers would steer H
towards some ingerpaint colors other than mud brown.
  

    
ingerpaint colors: very, very similar to fingerpaint colors
  

    
Before I go MIA again today (more client meetings) I better fess up
about my own organizational challenges. 

I'm more of a pile person than a clutterer. I tend to pile paper on my
desk and in the two woven-wicker farm baskets I use as "in" boxes.
Both are piled high, but I know what's in there (I DO!) Then,
routinely, I file and toss and once again see the bottom of the basket.
This happens when I'm having a manic moment of organization or when I
generally feel out of control. 

The other clutter center is a small closet I use to hold a five-drawer
file cabinet for client files and also bags full of fabric samples.
Each client has their own bag and I know it by site. However, the
closet is rather narrow so I pile them on top of each other, often
having to dig to get to the one I want. But this dog-pile system works.
And I'd prefer to have a place where I can throw a clients bag at the
end of the day, rather than having them cluttering up my living space.
I am thinking of having built-in shelves install that would give each
client's file and bag it's own shelf. Developing. 

As a rule, I do periodic weeding of misc. junk that I, a) don't want,
and b) don't need. I subscribe to the theory that if it isn't good"
it's "gone." Meaning if something is not worth sentimental or monetary
value - it gets tossed (usually onto the street and it's swiped in a
minute.) I'm lucky to have two storage rooms in my building, and a lot
of stuff that would normally fill my closets ends up them. Mops, files,
props, samples, furniture, reference books - you name it. I have a
rule though: Every time I open the door, I must toss something.
Sometimes it's outdated reference material, sometimes a torn apart
paint deck, and sometimes it's a piece of furniture I bought on
impulse.

Other than that I AM PERFECT .

I love <sooz> tiny gallery, applauding.

<Wellelp> I think that most hoarders may think that they could never
buy or get what they have again. So they keep everything. As if holding
on to the stuff gives them some sort of security. Sort of like if you
have a lot of stuff you are "rich" in someway. Yet what they don't
realize is when the junk is stuffed in the closets and under tables -
it leaves no room for new (and better) things to come into the house
and your life. This applies to relationships, too. If the jerk is still
sleeping in the bed, there is no room for the prince.
  

    
I have this wrap organizer that hangs in a closet.
  

    
Mrs Aaron Spelling (Candy) has her very own gift wrap room. 

Filing is my weakness.  I bought some old wooden dove tailed "in"
boxes at an estate sale specifically for my filing. They work great
until they start overflowing.  Then I stuff the excess in attractive
shopping bags and hide the bags somewhere (I know. I am bad).  I can't
get motivated to file, but by the time I do get to it, I will usually
toss lots of it away.  

 
  

    
My filing scheme is similar to <rosebud>'s and is an absolute
downfall. That's why I need this book! I have bags of photos awaiting
placement in albums (a digital camera helped in this regard -- now
they're at least in a hard drive), newspaper articles that when I
indeed wanted them again I have actually found quicker on line. It can
be hard to know where to start, so I do appreciate <randallk>'s tossing
advice -- ie. make room for that prince!
  

    
Randall, thanks for the suggestions about creating an entry space,
back in <19>. I've ordered the book from amazon; it should arrive soon.

Here's the other project I'd like to take on: In between my kitchen
and dining area, there are two large upper cabinets, above a bank of
lower cabinets. They have wood-framed glass doors on both sides.

I'm trying to decide if I'll paint the inside shelves, which are
currently unfinished, and use them as display cabinets, or hang
something behind the glass (fabric gathered on rods?) and use them as
regular kitchen cabinets.

I'm renting this house, and I'm not interested in making  investments
in decor that wouldn't move easily into my next home. I'm taking about
big cabinets - it's a lot of space for display. I wonder what kind of
things would work... On the other hand, I think it has the potential to
be an interesting feature of the room, and the open feeling from the
glass doors is delightful.

I'm curious what other people might do with them.
  

    
good question, cindy--looking forward to answer. 

i gotta share teh AWESOME wrapping "paper" <<mim> used for a lovely gift 
when my daughter was born. she wrapped it in a little square of 
buttery yellow vvintage fabric printed with 1950s-looking little 
chubby-kneed kids. i couldn't bear to toss it. it now sits on josie's 
dresser (vintage wooden thing, once my aunt's, with a very faded and 
crackly applique from the late 1930s of a puppy on it) with her nebulizer 
(asthma treatment thing) on it. like a doily. i should get it hemmed and 
put some ric rac around the edge but it looks so cool as is. 

for displaying children's art, i liked what my gay husband thom filicia 
did on queer eye. hung a taut wire against a wall and used little metal 
clips to hang the art. my friend diane did something similar but more 
homey--she hung a piece of twine and used old-fashioned clothespins to 
hold teh art. 

my friend jessica did a piece for martha stewart kids (which i note has 
been redesigned so that the KIDS is giant andt eh martha stewart is 
infinitesimal) about collecting vintage plastic children's hangers. it 
engendered those familar martha feelings in me of covetousness, longing 
and hostility. la la la. 
  

    
while discussing the brilliance of hanging kidlet art at kidlet
eye-level this morning (we can procrastinate all sorts of horrible
chores this way) randall and I decided that the ultimate way to handle
children's art is to take the pieces that have been replaced by later
efforts and scan the m into scrapbook pages.
then you can make a catalogue raisonne (horrific spelling) of their
ouevre (can you see me working this Christie's thing here?)with
appropriate art-speak notes such as "This was the first work in
McKenna's Purple and Glitter Period."
and then you could bind YEARS of these artworks--in volume after
volume
Randall and I were absolutely knocking ourselves out discussing the
details of such projects--because we don't have to actually do it, we
can just tell you to tell it.
  

    
tell you to DO it--can you tell someone's husband was a snoring
machine last nice and someone didn't get  enough sleep?
  

    
If ever there was an inspirational idea, getting rid of junk to make
room for my prince is it! Thank you, Randall!
  

    
I love the early childhood album my mom made of my stuff.  It only has
dates and quotations of my own kids-view comments.  Such as:  "the
secret icecream princess and the moon dogs running away over the yellow 
mountains."
  

    
quotations from the artist. establishes provenance and vastly
increases future market value.
  

    
I should mention here that Michelle Pesce <michelle> is a professional 
scrapbooker and I bet could take the kids' art into catalogue raisonne' 
idea and run with it.
  

    
In response to <loves2sing>'s question above. Both are great ideas. If
you paint the interior cabinets and use them as display (which I
LOVE,) it's your labor and the paint materials that are the expenses.
If it's fabric, the cost of fabric and minor labor. I'm reading this as
a kind of hall? If so, fabric would make it more of a pass through - a
kind of butler's pantry. The display option would make it more of an
effect, and allow for presentation (and showing off) of collections and
objects.

Maybe just start by displaying things without painting the interior.
If you like the look, then choose the paint color. If it looks to
cluttered, then opt for the fabric panels. They can be sheered to tiny
rods and installed on the backs of the doors.    
  

    
Small observation, if you specify the post number you are replying
to, it is easier to read the original post.  "o #n"  Not sure how
helpful that is to someone who isn't using pico.

Carry on.
  

    
They just need to type the number into the "go to message #" box at the top
of their screen.
  

    
Or post the number in brackets, and it is a clickable link for those logged
in using the web interface...   like this:  <112>   But it's not so tough
to find the post.  I love the idea.  It makes me want to buy some old
cabinets and install them on two sides of a hallway, then cut through the
wall...  but that's getting a bit over complicated!
  

    
no such thing as overcomplicated when in pursuit of an organized and
gorgeous home!

(and that's just the kind of nutso thinking that got me into my
current remodeling fandango)
  

    
fyi, got this in the mail today: CUTE toybox! love the polka dot one. 

http://www.bebeandbacups.com. click on toyboxes. the easel is great too, 
but mmm, if we're talking organization and space-conservation, not so 
much.