Resourceful Remembrances

Did you just smile? If you saw this handwriting and recognized it immediately, I bet it made you smile. It is, of course, the signature of my dear Grandma Betty. This particular example is from a hatbox she bought me as a Christmas present in 1995. My sister got one as well. And I wouldn't be surprised if cousins Logan and Jordan got them, too. I was in college at the time. It stayed at my parent's house. It got damp inside and got moldy. But my wonderful mom saved it, and returned it to me several years ago. It's been sitting empty in my basement ever since.

Until now, that is!

Now it is my wonderful new scrap box! And I just love it, love it, love it! Every time I open it I'll see that handwriting and think of Grandma. It is one of several great new additions to my studio remodeling project. Let me first show you the disaster zone I was dealing with. Please, no judgment. This is what happens when you have children and live in a small house. Everything you don't use at the moment gets hauled to the basement....

You can say it, it's TERRIBLE. DREADFUL. A pigsty! I've been living with this shame for a couple years. But I am bound and determined to get this house organized, downsized and functional. And when I put my mind to something, I most often, well usually, OK 52% of the time, follow through with it! And after four or five nights of working on it, I'm seeing results. Let's take a look at my progress:

Ooohhh, nice, huh! Look at that organization! It's even decorated with photos! The cute heart wallhanging was a gift from my mother in law. The cool dragonfly placemats on the middle shelf of the bookcase were made by Grandma Maxine. On the bottomshelf, left-hand side, are a stack of blocks from a quilt my Great Grandma Wine made. My sister chopped it up. I know. Isn't that AWFUL! Heidi, for shame! Just kidding. The poor quilt was literally in shreds and no longer functional. I need to make some pillows or other cool things out of it and give them to my sister, mom, and maybe my brothers if I deem them worthy. (I likely won't...)

Sorry for the digression. I'm just so excited about my little sewing area! And there's one more thing I wanted to show you that I found and have hung up but don't have a specific use for yet -- an adorable little backpack that Grandma Maxine made for me when I was in second or third grade. She made one for all four of us. Here's a detailed shot of it:

And that's the update for tonight. Our meatloaf, roasted Brussels sprouts, and sweet potato wedges were deeeelicious tonight! While it was baking, Shawn took the boys outside to play in the snow. It was so warm today! 30-some degrees out! And tomorrow it's going to be even warmer!

And it's Friday Night Family Movie night tomorrow! We have two movies coming from Netflix: "Nanny McPhee Returns" and "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief". I think they will be good. Steak fajitas are on the menu. See  how good we are the weeks we have a menu and buy groceries in advance??

OK, I'm off to watch "The Office" with Shawn, and then "Archer" -- a hilarious adult cartoon on FX. Bye!