So Excited!

I just made our summer vacation reservations for our very favorite campground!

         http://www.greatsmokyjellystone.com/

Jelly Stone Campground 

If you have never camped at this campground, you are missing something really special. 

The owners of this campground really know what they are doing. 

First of all, the campground is pristine! 

The bathhouses are second to none and the camp store is always stocked with essentials.

They have a pool, Putt Putt course and outdoor movies, all on the grounds.

 They also have daily activities for the kids.

One thing that I recommend, always request creek side. 

There is nothing quite like drinking a cup of hot coffee by a mountain stream first thing in the morning.

Organizing My Scrap Stuff On a Budget, Part Two

In Part One I showed you how I dealt with paper storage when just starting out in scrapbooking. 

Well today I am going to show you where it eventually lead me. Because I am such a paperaholic, I quickly outgrew my wonderful drawer organizer. What can I say, I love paper! 

I now use that organizer for finished pages and embellishments. Still my favorite organizer!

Here is a photo of the paper storage solution that I use now...

Simple but Effective

This clear plastic tub holds a ton of paper pads and papers. You can find these tubs just about anywhere and they are very inexpensive. 

They  hold so much paper that  I started by placing two plastic bins within the tub. If you look really close you can see them. This really helps in the beginning, when you don't have enough paper 

to keep them standing upright. 

 I keep my paper pads in one of the two bins and loose paper in the other.

To keep my papers in some sort of order and to make them easier to find when I need them, I made tabs out of card stock and organized them in several different categories. I choose to group mine by colors and seasons. This was a tough decision considering there are so many different ways you could categorize and so many different patterns of papers. This is the system I found that works best for me.

One other great thing about this large tub is that it has a lid to keep your papers safe and dry. 

Also, I can just pick it up and take the whole thing with me when I go to crops.

 Although I recommend getting someone really strong to carry it for you.

 It is extremely heavy and will kill your back!

Organizing My Scrap Stuff On a Budget, Part One

When I began scrap-booking, I had no idea how messy it could get or how much stuff I would aquire and need to keep organized.  There are so many products out there that are designed to help with this problem. So many, in fact, that you could end up spending more money on places to store your tools and paper then you do on your actual scrapbooks. That is not what I wanted to do, so I began looking for inexpensive ways to deal with this problem.

 I have a few ideas for storage that I hope will help you get your scrap-booking organized 

without breaking the bank.

 My first challenge was

  Paper.

Paper gets out of hand really quickly so I needed to deal with it first.

Here is where I started. I bought this wonderful container at Target for $29.99. 

(it has been a few years, so the price or availability may have changed)

Please forgive my photo quality, I am new at this

The reason I love this container so much  is because it is cheap and it is useful in so many different ways. It has individual drawers that pull out and seal completely. You can use each drawer for different purposes. It is perfect for "in progress" projects, keeping all your papers, photos and stickers all together in one drawer. You can  also use these to organize your papers by theme or color. 

This product is well worth the cost!

Okay, the next  big issue with paper would be the scraps! 

These really pile up fast! 

I certainly did not want to use up precious real estate in my drawers to organize these, but I just couldn't throw away pretty paper. 

So here is a system that I found works best for me. 

I have 4 one gallon size zip-lok baggies. I use these to separate and store all my scraps. They are organized by size. Small, medium, and large and 12" strips. Then I  purchased this paper holder at Hobby Lobby for $5.99 to keep them all together. It was worth the cost to keep the bags upright and all together. 

I do have one tip that really helps keep my scraps from getting unruly.... Always trim the edges of the scraps straight before storing. Simple, yet it makes a huge difference.

Tomorrow I will show you how I store large amounts of card stock and patterned paper on the cheap!

Easy Grilled Cabbage,

When we are camping, I don't want to spend my day inside the camper cooking.

 I want easy, quick recipes that taste great. 

 Here is one of my favorite side dishes,

Grilled Cabbage

Photo from Google.com 

One head of Cabbage, cut into 8 wedges

Bacon strips cut in 1/2

Garlic salt

Butter

Wrap each wedge of lettuce with bacon. 

Sprinkle with garlic salt and then pat with teaspoon of butter.

Wrap each wedge with aluminum foil tightly.

Grill for 20 to 30 minutes on grill

This is a great side dish with Jamaican Jerk Chicken