Searching for Signs of SPRING!!

I am not a very good winter dweller. I need long warm days and the sun warming my body to feel happy and healthy. This time of the year is really a drag on my spirit so I am constantly looking for some kind of sign that SPRING is on the horizon. Punxsutawney Phil gave me some hope on February second and I also have found this hopeful sign in the yard:

At this time, I would like to scream at the top of my lungs "THE CROCUS ARE COMING!"
Hold onto to hope my friends, as the fortune cookie says: Good things shall come your way.

Craft Table Catch All

There never seems to be enough room on top of my cutting table. Scissors, tape measure, notepad all in the way all the time. Well I decided to get crafty on the problem the other day and came up with this:

A super tidy place for everything!

You will need about a half yard of fabric and some heavy duty interfacing.
Cut two fabric pieces and one interfacing 9 by 21.5"
Cut two fabric pieces and one interfacing 7 by 21.5"

1) Attach the interfacing per the instructions to the wrong side of one of the like sized rectangles.
2) Sew the small rectangles right sides together across one long side. Trim seam, turn and press.
3) Layer all three pieces together matching the raw edges at the bottom. Your large rectangles will be right sides together sandwiching the smaller rectangle that will be right side out on both sides. Sew around the entire rectangle leaving a 6" opening on the top to turn through.

4) Press back seam allowance in un sewn area. Trim seam allowance in all other areas, clip corners and turn. Press everything.

5)Stitch across the top to close the opening.
6)Use some chalk and a straight edge to mark your stitch lines for your pockets. I did one large enough for my scissors, a smaller one for measuring tapes and notepads and a pencil sized one.

7)Stitch your lines the width of your pocket and be sure to backstitch on both ends.
8)Lastly apply your velcro. I used self adhesive velcro on the table edge and then stitched a same size piece to the back of the organizer. DO NOT try to sew on self adhesive velcro! It makes a mess of your machine!

9)Viola! Attach to your table and be happy that your scissors will never be lost under piles of fabric and all these handy things will be stored at your finger tips!

If you find this confusing, there are a multitude of tutorials out there for crayon organizers that use pretty much the same steps! Many of these people have way more tutorial experience than I do!

Modern and Trendy Bee and Chicken Keeping

You have got to check this out! My husband is fastidiously researching urban bee keeping and ran across the OMLET. This page sells super trendy animal and insect enclosure systems that are sure to put a twinkle in your eye. Don't look at the price though, your heart will sink! It reinforces my theory that you can take anything from drab to fab with a little color. As I am fond of saying "If your gonna do it, might as well do it with flair!" If it requires color and trendiness to bring nay sayers on board, I say be my guest! I am not so certain that some of the setups are that easy to maintain and I am not so fond of large and plastic but for some people it takes a little more and some a little less to make self sufficiency appealing and get people interested.