UsedEverywhere.com

Just my type

Sure, technology is great. I’m not a total techno-nut, but I admit it has its advantages. The on-demand, right-here, right-now environment we inhabit certainly is convenient, but sometimes it’s no replacement for good, old-fashioned craftsmanship. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I attended Letterpress Love – a letterpress seminar put on by Articulate Ink and hosted by The Graphic Designers of Canada Saskatchewan South chapter at Regina’s Creative City Centre.

According to Wikipedia, letterpress printing is defined as, “relief printing of text and image using a press with a “type-high bed” printing press and movable type, in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image.” Basically, you’re pressing the image or letter into the paper, with ink. The result is so much nicer than the often flat, sterile things we can all make on our inkjet printers.

At this event we made our own Valentine cards, using two different letterpresses. The process was fascinating and the resulting pieces even more so – the Valentines had texture, character and a tactile characteristic you just don’t get with store-bought or computer-made Valentines. It’s funny that even with everyone using the same type sets, the differences you could get with finished products just by using more or less ink, stacking paper or positioning the paper differently was striking. The cards had a warmth and personality that reflected the person making it – a nice touch for something as personal as a Valentine.

The event itself was just a great opportunity to look back at the importance of craft with a bunch of great people. It’s made me want to look at other things I easily produce and how I can apply old methods to create something special that stands out among all the new “everything” out there.

Thanks to The Graphic Designers of Canada Saskatchewan South chapter, Regina Creative City Centre and Articulate Ink for an awesome evening. I look forward to more. Not in Regina? Take a look in your own community for events like this – trust me, you’ll love it.

If you want to see more about the event or the process, watch the video below:

Top Ten Things You Forgot You Had: Spring Cleaning Edition

Spring cleaning isn’t just about keeping up appearances. You might have a spotless foyer and dust-free living room, but what’s inside your closet and garage? Below are ten things you forgot you had and might want to get rid of — or maybe even turn into cash!

10) Baby Stuff

Newborn to 5T clothing haul via UsedPei

Are you still holding on to countless baby sweaters, shirts, pants, and shoes? No one is asking you to rush them out the door, but it couldn’t hurt to pick and choose the items that are particularly important to you and shed some extra weight.

9) Old Costumes

Is it unfashionable to wear the same Halloween costume two years in a row? Ask any costume snob and the answer will be a resounding “no!” Dig into the tickle-trunk and put a price tag on your Harry Potter and Twilight costumes… you won’t be needing them anymore.

8 ) Plant Pots

Various planters via UsedGatineau

Ceramic or terra cotta, plastic or cement, everyone with a green thumb has a plant pot or two that they just might need one day. Keyword: might. Think of the extra space you’ll have when you send them on their way.

7) Kids Sporting Goods

Sparring gear via @UsedNanaimo

You know that smell coming from the closet? It’s emanating from the sports equipment that your kids don’t fit into anymore. It can’t be vacuumed or washed, nor can it be Febreezed away. The only remedy is to pass it off to the arms of an up and coming athlete who doesn’t mind slipping into stinky gear.

6) Books

A couple of lovely encyclopaedias via UsedEdmonton

Aside from the gem or two that you can’t bear to part with, you’ve probably got loads of novels and novellas that absolutely must go. The underwhelming murder mysteries and the cheesy tales of romance are no exception.

5) Golf Clubs

Ladies golf clubs via UsedVictoria

Golfing is a sport for gentlemen and gentlewomen that is, unfortunately, very expensive and time consuming. It comes as no surprise then, that lots of those who try the sport aren’t ready to fully commit. If you fall into that category and you’re ready to reevaluate your decision, you may want to ditch the clubs for something for accessible.

4) Men’s Ties

7 wacky ties via UsedVictoria

Ties are often cited as a fantastic present for dads, and they are. Nevertheless, they will inevitably pile up over time, and every few years you may need to cleanse your rack of the ties that aren’t quite timeless enough to keep.

3) Unused Bicycles

Bike for sale via UsedPQB

Bikes are often one of those things that you use or you don’t. If yours is collecting dust, you may want to put it up for adoption. They always seem to be in high demand, so you’ll have no trouble getting a pretty penny for it.

2) Winter Jackets

Coveted Canada Goose jacket via UsedGatineau

Who doesn’t have five jackets in their closet they could do without? It’s not Summer yet, so pick your favorite and sell the rest before it’s too late.

1) Kids Toys

Motherload of babystuff via UsedVictoria

Have you seen the movie Gremlins? If you answered yes, then you’ll probably share my bewilderment at to why people willingly brought Furbies into their homes. If you answered no, then heed my advice and get rid of it asap. Furbies aside, kids toys are notorious for collecting dust. Your kids may think they’re out of style, but there are likely some out there that would love to get their hands on your lightly used playthings.

So, that’s a lot of stuff you can pass on to someone else and make a little coin in the process. Re-gift, donate or post it for free on your local Used Site. Win, win and win.

Moving Out of Toyland: Reclaiming your Adult Space

This is the tidal wave of toys that almost fell on my son.

Before my son was born, I promised myself that I wouldn’t be one of those parents who bought a gazillion toys for their child because first of all, I didn’t want to deal with the nightmare of mountains of toys covering my house and second, why does a tiny, little baby need so many toys anyway? But, like so many other parents who swear they won’t spoil their children, I really couldn’t help myself. But it’s not my fault…I mean how I could I resist it with all the cheap deals I kept finding on UsedVic!

My husband and I were in total denial and, even though our son Grayson (who is ONLY 9 months now!) already had enough toys to fill an entire room, we continued to buy him used toys with the excuse that “Well, it’s only $5 for this awesome toy train” or “Trust me, he’ll play with that Curious George doll for years.”

The result of this denial (I’m thinking of starting a support group if you’re interested in joining) has made my nightmares a reality and now my house, which was once an uncluttered contemporary adult space, has become a Toyland where at each turn, you run smack dab into a pile of Fisher Price trains and plastic farm animals or worse, end up stepping barefoot on them.  Ouch!  (FYI, that is not what I usually yell out when this happens…it’s more like “@#%#!”… I know, tsk, tsk, bad mommy!)

All of this clutter really annoys me as I am one of those people who like to keep my house tidy (I’m not so much of a cleaner but I constantly tidy in order to create the illusion that my house is really clean!).  Plus these mountains of toys are a safety hazard now that my son is crawling and beginning to pull himself up onto furniture: last week I saved him from a tidal wave of toys (see first picture) about to take him out as he tried to climb onto a storage box (that I bought to store his toys in but it’s already full so I was forced to pile toys on top of the storage box!)

Last week I was finally fed up and just couldn’t take it anymore! I took the proverbial toy bull by the horns and finally made the decision to move out of ToyLand and back into AdultLand (it’s nice to be back in the old neighbourhood) by reclaiming my space and organizing all my son’s toys.  Here are a few cheap and easy ways I discovered that will hopefully help you move out of Toyland too:

Storage Ottomans!!!  Whoever invented these, you are my hero!  I absolutely love these as they look great in almost every room and they discreetly hide dozens of toys until your child is ready to play with them.  I stole the idea from my friend Becci whose house always looks spotless and adult modern because she hides all the toys away in ottomans.

Plus they can be inexpensive if you wait for sales: the smaller cube ottomans can be found on sale new between $10-$20 and the larger storage ottomans for $50-60 or you can find them even cheaper used.  I think I have at least one cube ottoman in every room in my house now.

Recycled grocery bag toy bins:  Again, I can’t take credit for this idea.  I was over at my friend Lara’s house last week and noticed that she had organized all her daughter’s toys into these small toy bins.  I asked her where she got them and to my surprise, she showed me that they were actually recycled grocery bags that she had folded down to make storage bins.  Genius!

This is so easy to do: simply fold the top of the bag down about half way on the outside and then tuck the handles underneath the front and back folds. Or if you like, you can cut off the handles all together (I kept mine so I can use it as a grocery bag again later on). These are great to store all those little toys that might get lost in the bottom of the larger storage ottomans.

Before the baby basket...

After using the baby basket!

Baby gift baskets: Usually every mom gets at least one baby gift basket at their baby shower filled with diapers, soothers and bottles.  Instead of giving it away again as a gift basket, why not use it to store toys in! I had a few of these from my baby showers just sitting in my gift closet collecting dust.   I pulled them out and to my surprise I managed to corral all my son’s toys in the upstairs bedroom into one basket. And they are actually really nice looking baskets too!

You may laugh but decluttering my toy-filled house was almost like a religious experience; it has given me a sense of peace and order I haven’t felt in a long time… I finally feel calm and relaxed in my own space, back at home in AdultLand…I highly recommend you visit here sometime!

After I defeated the tidal wave!

Coupon tip of the week: The first three months of the year are usually the time of year when people start thinking about spring cleaning so this is also the best time of year to buy items to help organize your home as the stores usually have great sales.  Stock up on storage bins and containers in order to be prepared when the spring cleaning urge hits you in April! Also think of storage bins you can use for items later on in the year like camping gear or holiday decorations.

Even MORE Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

The Ugly Side of Winter by Dawn Huczek via Flickr

Well, it’s officially here folks, the winter blues. Or is it, they are officially here? Blues = plural? Either way, it’s not fun! Some say this period of frozen melancholia doesn’t creep its way into our souls until February but I disagree. The moment the Christmas cheer is gone, the blues step in to take its place. But fear not, for there are many ways to combat the winter blues and get back in step with the bright side of life.

Here are my top five suggestions that’ll help you warm up, stretch out, wake up, clean out and brighten your day until April showers come our way.

Number five – Warm up with a luxurious sugar and cinnamon body scrub made up of olive oil, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and of course, cinnamon. Feel free to play around with the proportions to suit your tastes and needs. If you want to give your skin a good scrub (don’t exfoliate more than once a week however), than opt for more sugar. Add just enough olive oil to turn your mixture into a good paste. You can either lather it on before a shower or bath but I prefer to get wet and warm first before rubbing the scrub on. I find doing this makes the scrub easier to spread over my skin but it does reduce its exfoliation factor ever so slightly. Remember not to get water in your container. This can make your paste too watery and encourage bacteria growth. Store in a sealed container and this magic scrub will last for six months. Beauty bonus – you don’t have to moisturize after because the olive oil in the scrub does that for you.

Number four – Brighten your day with good karma by cleaning out your closet for donations. My rule of thumb is simple and common: if you haven’t worn it in three months, donate it. Of course, this doesn’t apply to season-specific clothing. If you keep your winter and summer clothes together year-round, than obviously you won’t follow this rule and end up throwing out an entire summer wardrobe just because you haven’t been able to wear anything in this -30 weather. Another tip I just learned from a friend of mine is to maintain a Parisian wardrobe. As a rule, Parisian’s have very small closets because of the city’s cramped quarters. To keep their closets manageable and their style unforgettable, many keep their wardrobe simple with classic staples that can be worn repeatedly and mix n’ matched. Brilliant, n’est-ce pas? Karma bonus – You’ll not only feel great about your super clean, lean Parisian closet, you’ll also be happy about having helped out a local goodwill store. They are always in need of gently used clothing and trust me; you won’t miss that pink blouse for more than a minute once it’s gone.

Number three – Get acquainted with Tara Stiles, a successful yoga instructor who made a name for herself by posting five minute-long yoga videos on YouTube. What makes her videos special is that each one is geared towards a specific goal. Morning yoga, yoga for flexibility, ab yoga, bedtime yoga, you name it, Tara’s got it. I like her lazy way of speaking, incredible flexibility, and how she doesn’t give airs. Some yogis say she’s dumbed the practice down to sexiness and looking fit but I say she’s made it less intimidating and more accessible. So when you come home from work from a cold walk home and need to loosen up from shivering the whole way, YouTube Tara Stiles for warm up yoga. Budget bonus – All of her videos are free. Yup, nada.

Number two – You put your feet on it, your coffee mug and the paper. Other than that, you don’t give it much thought. But your coffee table not only takes up a fair bit of space in your living area, it can dictate the look of the room too. Give yourself a fun weekend project and brighten up your space by refurbishing your coffee table. Don’t have a coffee table? Do some thrift shopping for an affordable and unique piece. If your table’s wooden and you want to stain it, be aware that you may have to sand it first, causing a major dust problem. You may have to wait for warmer weather so you can do that project outside. But if you want a simple way of sprucing your coffee stand up, consider a couple coats of paint. I’d choose a bold colour that will make your room pop. Pantone just announced that the colour of the year is Tangerine Tango. It’s warm, spicy, yet tropical and fresh. It’ll go with neutrals and just about any colour, so give it a whirl.

Tip – I started painting as a youngin’ with my parents during our home renovations and I did a summer stint with College Pro as a student, so take my advice: regardless of the table’s original colour, use a primer. This’ll guarantee that your colour will stand out in all its true glory and you’ll mask any imperfections in the table’s surface.

Number one – Throw a party! More specifically, throw a swap party. Don’t just swap clothing; try jewelry, purses, footwear, outerwear, CDs, books, magazines, kitchenware, movies, advice, shoveling services and hot chocolate recipes. The sky’s the limit! There’s nothing like a gathering of people over music, wine and free exchanges to warm the cockles of the heart. In my experience, the swap should have a minimum number of donation items required in order for people to participate. Explain that you want gently used and clean items – this applies to kitchenware and multimedia too. No one wants a scratched DVD or gunky food processor. I would avoid setting restrictions on people. As long as they bring the minimum number of items, let them take home as much as they want. I always start my swaps by giving guests five to ten minutes to browse without picking anything up. Then the games can begin! If you have any leftovers, donate them or put them up on your local Used site and donate the profits to charity.

Green Dreams, or How to Fulfill your Life's Ambition While Saving Money and The Planet

Green homes. Environmentally-conscious living. LEED-certified abodes. Hobbit holes.

I value these things. I like to read up on these things. I aspire to these things, or at least some of them. (The hobbit hole?  That’s more Dave. I’m not sure I’m green enough to want to live, erm, underground. Even if the dwellings are kinda adorable.)

Hobbit hole: Photo courtesy of the fabulous Simon Dale blog

Then we went and bought an eighty-year-old house.

Even better, we went and bought an eighty-year-old house literally three days after the federal government’s sustainability rebate credit thingy closed.

Boo. Hiss.

There is little so green – especially from an energy perspective – as an eighty-year-old-house in a climate given to long winters. Especially in February.

Luckily, the house itself gave us clear notice of its miserable state of inefficiency with days of our arrival: the kitchen ceiling began to weep.

Yeh, I know that’s usually bad. Like, “scene from Poltergeist” bad. If the walls had started weeping blood, be assured, we’d have totally hightailed it outta here.

Instead we ended up reading up on ice dams.

Turns out, these climates given to long winters are going through more freeze and thaw cycles in recent years. Turns out, shingles and roofs aren’t made to handle that kind of melt, and ice backs up under shingles and starts leaking through into, oh, say, kitchens. Turns out our attic crawl space was so badly insulated it was about fifteen degrees Celsius up there, on a February night. Turns out that in a story-and-a-half house, that means all the snow melts off the top, slips halfway down the house until it hits the uninsulated spaces off the sides of the bedrooms, where the slopy ceilings come down to meet what are known as the kneewalls.

Knee Wall: Diagram courtesy of Natural Resources Canada. Our handy dandy government at work.

Then it freezes, and all hells breaks loose at the edges of the roof.

Goody.

Now I know why we burned oil like a Hummer in the first few drafty days we were here.

When I received the news that in order to rectify the dripping pot light over our sink – which was not, contrary to my hopes, helping with the dishes – we’d have to bust a hole into our newly painted bedroom wall, I did what any sane person would do.

I began to weep harder than the ceiling.

Dave, however, was less daunted.

Turns out, in addition to dreaming of living in a hobbit hole, Dave has – like, forEVER – aspired to having something like a grownup’s secret hideaway: a space in the house where he can, effectively, disappear. Like a man cave, perhaps, but without a door. A space, so to speak, not on the maps.

And so it transpired that yesterday I came upon this spectacle in the upstairs of my house, right under the little hole that leads to the attic.

That’s Dave, in his fetching insulation outfit. We may save it for Hallowe’en and he can go as a giant condom. Up on the ladder, just out of view, is his dad. Or rather, his dad’s legs.

They blew a boatload of insulation into the floor of our attic to stop the hot air going up and out and heating the outside.

They then cut a hole out of our (freshly painted) bedroom wall so as to access the crawl space behind. It was kind of unspeakable in there, by my standards, but they dried things out and added to the insulation and cleaned and tidied it up real nice, and Dave even varnished the floor.

Then they plugged up the hole with a rather elegant hand-made built-in which totally fits the Arts & Crafts style of the house. Like so.

Take that, ice dams!

(Okay, well, we’ll still have ice until spring, but it’s old ice, we think: no more damming should occur with the new insulation in both the attic and behind the knee wall. And we can pull the cabinet out any time and check and dry things out so as to avoid any further melt leaking around the newly-repainted kitchen ceiling (thanks, Dave’s mom!)

And we’ll save money and energy in the interim. Even in an eighty-year-old house.)

AND behind that cabinet, in fulfillment of his lifelong dream, Dave can, uh, disappear at will.

Don’t tell anybody. It’ll ruin his fun.

UsedEverywhere Art Round-up

Art is intensely personal. I’d venture to say that with some people it could spark as as lively a discussion as politics or religion. We all like and appreciate different things. Our styles, tastes, experiences… they all bring us to a different place in defining what “art” is to us.  And that’s part of why art in your home is so important. The art you feature not only finishes a room, or fills an empty wall, it can speak a lot about your personality, tell a story, or create discussion. Some people may want their art to seamlessly blend with their surroundings for a beautiful, calm, look. Others may want that “statement piece”, intended to provoke conversation or even controversy. Either way, we should all have art in our homes.

Design by Thomas Smythe, photograph by Michael Graydon, via Habitually Chic Blog

This weekend I’ve got a round up of art I’ve found on UsedEverywhere. Have you ever considered purchasing art from your local Used site?  There are so many reasons why you should: to support local artists, to snag a bargain, to find something unique or vintage, or to give old art a second life…

So, first up: How lovely is this pastel painting from UsedVancouver by Quebec artist Gilles Mailloux? And at $150 for a framed 22″x27″ piece, that’s pretty lovely too.

This next one is not cheap (yours for only $2500 bones), but I love it.  And graphic black and white art is reeeally hip these days.  (Am I not hip for using the term “hip”? Hmmm…)

Another trendy item to add to your art collection is a quirky portrait – maybe someone you know, or maybe some interesting unknown visage that you can imagine your own story for!

Design by Joel Bray, photograph by John Cullen for Canadian House & Home

Like perhaps this saucy gypsy lady on UsedGatineau for $50:

Or if you prefer to know the story behind the people on your wall you could get this great portrait of the royal family.

Isn’t it sweet?  (Anyone else LOVE “The King’s Speech”?) It could look great in a new frame in an eclectic art arrangement, or alone on a small wall above an occasional chair.  But I want to buy it.  So if you’re thinking about it, you’d better move quickly.  (And if I get it first you could buy this one.)

This beautiful painting of poppies in Nepean, Ontarioreminds me of the one in this picture that looks so lovely in the arrangement:

Design by Amanda Johnson for "Here's Looking at Me Kid" Blog

A perfect piece of art to pick up before Remembrance Day, perhaps?

And speaking of Remembrance Day, I am a bit of a World War buff, love black and white photography, and think this old photograph of the Canadians on D-Day would be amazing to own:

I also love the look of collections of old oil paintings presented in a modern or eclectic way:

Design by Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick, photograph by Debi Treloar, via Style at Home

Some landscapes or a  floral still life like one of these would be perfect for such an arrangement:

"Coast of Oregon" by Robert Harrison

I’m also really into architectural art,

Moutarde Design, photograph by Jean Longpre for House & Home

so I really like this great engraving of the Paris Stock Exchange.

Another trend in art is using vintage maps.

Design by Steven Shailer, image from Elle Decor

They can be both subdued on your wall, and tell a neat story.  This one on UsedWinnipeg is gorgeous:

And if these are legit (I’d probably get an expert to check them out before purchasing for that price) I would love me some Group of Seven prints.

And I’d likely reframe this piece in something simpler – a black frame with a wide white mat – because the painting itself is so bright and dynamic and bold.

So those are just a few of the many beautiful things I found in my search. They may or may not be your cup of tea, but there was plenty of art out there that I passed over that might look perfect in your home. Go check it out! (Don’t forget to also look for alternative art: stained glass windows, vintage plates, or collections like Andrea’s beautiful antique keys!)

And if you want a bit more art inspiration you can check out my Pinterest board.  Happy weekend!

Finding Fabric Online

I am often asked where I buy fabric for my various home projects (reupholstering chairs, sewing drapes, pillow covers, or slipcovers, etc.).  So here I’ve compiled a list of my go-to sources.  Buying online opens up so many more options (especially for us in Regina who really only have a small handful of fabric shopping options), and sometimes you can get some really great deals.  I’m only including the stores that sell decor weight fabrics, so if you’re looking for quilting cottons (a lighter weight fabric) you could search online for some other good stores!

Some fabrics on my wish list from Fabric.com

If you’re hesitant about ordering online because you’re unable to touch the fabric, or see it with your own eyes, do not give up on online fabric shopping yet!  Most of these stores offer samples, so you can order those before committing to buying yards of a fabric, which is nice. (And I’ve outlined how these stores do that below.)

One thing to watch for when ordering online is shipping.  If you’re ordering from an American store shipping can be hefty, plus you should know if duty/taxes is included in that.  It may depend on how much you’re ordering, how good a deal you have, or how much you love the fabric to know if it’s worth it to order internationally.  If you’re ever unsure of the shipping, save your order and e-mail customer service to get a thorough quote.

Want some of these great fabrics from Tonic Living? Be sure to search for a discount code first!

One more hint for you – before you place an order do a Google search for coupons or discount codes.  Sometimes you can get an extra 10-20% off, which just might cover your shipping.

So here you go…

CANADIAN STORES:

Designer Fabrics Online - This is a fairly high end store out of Toronto.  They sell a large variety of upholstery weight and decor fabrics.  With DF you can borrow samples for free (up to eight samples) and pay the $6 shipping, then return your samples within three weeks.  I like this process so that you don’t have to pay for samples, but you can still look at and feel the fabrics in person.  There is a large selection with a wide variance in prices, so if the first fabric you see is $72/yard, don’t despair!  There is a lot of variety.  Because shipping is within Canada it is reasonable.  Customer service has always been very efficient any time I’ve ordered from this store.

A few favourite fabrics from Designer Fabrics Online

Tonic Living - This is one of my favourite stores.  They sell mostly upholstery weight fabrics and have a really trendy, cute selection.  You can order samples, which you pay a small price for and keep.  (And they’re pretty generous with the sample sizes, which is nice when a fabric has a larger print!)  The Toronto-based store is fairly small (though getting bigger), and the selection is small-ish, but lovely.  Shipping rates are good within Canada.  ALSO, they offer a service where you can order custom drapes, roman shades or pillows from their fabrics if you’re not so into the DIY thing.  And always search for discount codes before shopping here, because you can almost always get 5-10% off your order.

Pretty, fresh fabrics from Tonic Living

AMERICAN STORES:

Purl Soho - This is where my love of fabric and ordering it online all began for me.  This gorgeous little store out of NYC is lovingly run, and full of unique and quirky fabrics (both lightweight cottons and some decor weight), as well as yarns, sewing notions, patterns, sewing books, etc.  They have wonderful customer service.  Prices range from average to high.  Watch their sales, though… you can find some gems!

A selection of fabrics from Purl Soho

Fabric.com - If you’re looking for deals, you can find some here – particularly on upholstery weight fabrics.  This discount store is LARGE and so is the selection.  It can feel like it’s a bit of work to wade through it all, sometimes.  They offer upholstery fabric, quilting cottons, apparel fabrics, sewing notions, and various other craft supplies.  There is a wide variety in fabric quality as well, so it pays to know which brands are always good (like Duralee, Amy Butler, Waverly, Robert Allen, Richloom, etc.), and which ones you might want to order a sample from first (any one you’ve never heard of).  Shipping is usually ridiculously fast (sometimes mere days), but depending on how much you’re ordering the cost of shipping may outweigh the discounts on your fabric once you’ve factored in duty/taxes/international rates.  (Order with a friend, if you can!)  They also have a design board feature where you can save your fabrics and look at them together, which is neat.  Always search for online coupons before you order because they almost always have some discount code offered.

Some gorgeous patterns available from Fabric.com

So those are my sources.  Do you have any online spots you order fabric from?  Any hints for fabric buying?  Do share!

UsedBlog Watches: "I Paint"

Amazing sto-mo animation via University of Saskatchewans’s The Shlog

Help! Food has Taken Over My Freezer! Freezer De-Cluttering Tips

Thanks to that cute little ground hog named Phil, we’re supposed to be getting an early spring this year. So, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to start my spring cleaning early and the first items on my list?  The dreaded freezers!!!

I absolutely love having a deep freeze and a top freezer in my fridge as it allows me to stock up on many food items which saves us lots of money throughout the year. The problem is that I have absolutely no idea what is actually in my deep freeze right now as it is literally overflowing with food stacked from floor to lid! It’s like playing Jenga every time I need to pull something out…”you take a frozen chicken from the bottom and you put it on top, you take a roast from the middle and you put it on top.” Not to mention, the three dozen frozen bananas I have stored in there for when I decide to bake those 100 banana muffins I’ve been saying I’d make for the last year.

I’ve also been wanting to make weekly meal plans but it’s hard to do when you have no idea what is actually available to you in the freezer. ”Hmmmm, so we’ll have steak on Monday if there is steak in the freezer, and ham on Tuesday if I manage to find the time to spend 30 minutes digging to the bottom of the freezer to find it.” Doesn’t work. Clearly something had to be done.

So, this weekend I learned about what kind of “freezer person” I am by facing and defeating my mortal enemies (the freezers) with a few simple ideas to help maximize and organize them both.

1. Make an itemized list of everything in your deep freeze.  When I open up my deep freeze, I can see that I have some ribs, a few pizza crusts, and a bag of beans but what the heck is three feet below these things?

View when I open up my deep freeze. Where's the rest of it?

I don’t have the time to lug out 100 pounds of frozen food every time I need to see what I need to add to my grocery list. And I can’t tell you how many times I have gone out to buy a ham or chicken at full price only to discover the following week that I had two of them buried at the bottom of my freezer!  So I pulled out everything made a list of what was in my freezer. That way, if I am making my weekly meal plan or grocery list, I simply look at the list taped to the deep freeze and I know exactly what I have . If I use something in the freezer, I simply white it out and if I buy something, I just add it to the list. I’m still waiting for someone to invent a see-through deep freeze… Hmm, maybe I should just go on Dragon’s Den with this great concept minus a prototype, blue print or sales… Think they’ll invest?  Tee-hee.

2. Turn those bread end pieces into breadcrumbs. Okay, so I know that most people never eat the end pieces of bread and my mother taught me years ago that the best way to use these end pieces is to throw them in the freezer and then use them to make bread crumbs later.  The problem with this is that over time, those end pieces are forgotten and accumulate, ending up taking up precious room in your freezer. So I came up with a solution:  Make the bread crumbs with the end pieces BEFORE you throw them in the freezer.  That way they are ready to use when you need them and they take up a fraction of the space.  As I had found about 12 bags of end pieces this weekend, I pulled out the food processor and made one big bag of bread crumbs that I then put back in the freezer, saving me tons of room and hassle.

Don't let your freezer look like one at the actual grocery store!

3. Don’t overstock your freezer. Only store food items in your top freezer that you plan on using in the next three months.  Turns out those fridge freezers do not keep food frozen as long as deep freezers do. In fact, they only keep food for about three months compared to a deep freeze that can keep food for close to a year. So make sure to store the freezer food you use on a regular basis in the top fridge freezer and keep the larger and less used items in the deep freeze.  For instance, I kept the frozen turkey and big box of chicken in the deep freeze and moved my steaks, sausage and salmon portions as well as frozen vegetables into the top fridge freezer because we create meals out of these on a regular basis. Note:  if you really want to maximize your deep freeze capacity, DO NOT buy two large turkeys just because they are on sale!  I did this last Thanksgiving thinking I would make them in the next couple of months and guess what…they are still in my freezer!  I’ve since realized that there are several opportunities to get cheap turkeys through the year…Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter…so there is no need to stock up on them unless you really plan on using them soon!

Sadly this is what I had to throw away this weekend! Poor freezer burnt leftovers.

4. Don’t freeze food items unless you’re really going to use them!  I don’t know how many times I’ve made dinner and had plenty of leftovers and so, instead of just planning to eat them over the next couple of days, I have packaged them up and thrown them in the freezer thinking to myself, “Great.  I will simply pull these out later and use them for another dinner. How smart am I?” Answer: Not very smart!

There are some smart people out there who have the memory and diligence to make food, freeze it and then pull it out later for dinner … I am not one of these people!  I thought I was until I went through my freezers, only to discover Tupperware containers filled with lasagne, chilli and spaghetti that I think I made about 2 years ago!  So,be honest with yourself and, if you are like me, don’t freeze your leftovers as they will only end up wastefully thrown in the garbage. (Sorry Mr. Landfill…I promise to eat my leftovers from now on!)

Deep freezers and fridge freezer are wonderful creations but only if you know how to use them properly based on what kind of person you are. For those of you like me who really haven’t been using them properly, I hope some of these tips will help you de-clutter and make better use of your freezers.  If you have any other freezer tips, I would love to hear them.

Coupon Tip of the Week:  Following the theme of freezers, it can be very economical to stock up on meat items when they’re on sale but make sure to only buy what you will use in the next 2-3 months. Otherwise, you run the risk of buying too much and having that meat get freezer burned and going bad before you get a chance to use it.  Remember, there are always sales going on each month so you don’t have to worry that you didn’t buy enough chicken breasts just when they were on for such a good price because they will be on sale again next month!

A bit about needs and wants. And a DIY container for your cotton swabs.

Every year for the past five or six years our family has participated in an annual Shopping Embargo. The goal of the Embargo to be more mindful of our purchases and drastically reduce impulse buys. And it works.

Our rule is this: From Boxing Day until the end of February, we restrict our purchases to the bare necessities; groceries/consumables, gas, basic hygiene (shampoo, soap, but not cosmetics), medicine and essential clothing.

That means… no spontaneous purchases of lip gloss (my personal weakness), video games (my husband’s) and a wealth of other non-essential items that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

You can read more about our Shopping Embargo here.

The hardest part about it is probably determining the difference between needs and wants. Everyone has different priorities, and frankly, it’s easy to persuade yourself that a want is really a need. It became an annual debate with my blog readers. One year I felt that I needed a housecoat. I didn’t actually own a housecoat. So was this a want or a need? You can argue the finer points until the cows come home.

One of the items we tussled about was decorative containers for the bathroom, you know, the things that hold cotton balls and cotton swabs. Are these a want or a need? I’d argue that it’s a “want” because you can technically keep the extra Q-tips its original box under the sink. The whole issue of having decorative bathroom containers seems like such a first world problem, doesn’t it? Well, you can avoid all that by making your own.

Easy peasy.

• Take two matching jars (these are relish jars), soak off the labels and wash them out thoroughly.
•  Find some pretty paper and trace the lids. Cut the paper out and glue onto the lids.

That’s it! You have your own customized containers for bathroom supplies! And you didn’t need to break the bank (or your Shopping Embargo).