Getting It Together: Organizing Photos

When my mother passed away in May, we needed to put together some memory boards for her calling hours and funeral. We took it a step further and made media presentations to go along with the memory boards. It turned out so nice, and we were so happy to honor my mother in a manner that she herself would have enjoyed.
But when we took the photos out of the aged albums we ran into some problems…We won’t be able to put them back in the albums because they have deteriorated, so a different solution has become necessary.
We have pictures in 3 formats…

1. Photographs
   
2. CD’s
   
3. jpegs from a camera.

Photographs:
I want to eventually make these into a digital format for ease of use in the future. The overwhelming amount of photos really needs containment in an organized manner first. I found a great website online to help us with a solution (pfile).
I have chosen photo boxes to hold the photos, because it will simplify my sorting process. The boxes hold over 1,000 photos each and come with dividers for easy filing.

These boxes will make the pictures easier to find and this option takes up less space than than the albums that had taken up an entire shelf. I have thousands of pictures to reorganize and I don’t want it to take me a lifetime…
Once they are organized I can go through the CD’s and make sure I don’t already have the photos that match them. Then I will scan in the best of the best photos after that. This will eliminate the need to scan in thousands of pictures.
I sorted enough to fill in one box to show you my system.






In a future posts I can show you how I organized the CD’s, and the digital files. I will also show you how to create a basic presentation.
Photos are a wonderful way to share the memories of our past. My mother took great strides in always taking pictures to hold onto all of those times. I am grateful to her that she did so, and that I can honor her memory now by making use of these photos in a way that can bless my family and my mothers friends.

Getting Frugal: Making a Birthday Cake Instead of Buying One

We do our best every year to make a special cake for the children on their birthdays.  My youngest daughters birthday was last week, and we wanted to make her a Barbie cake it turned out really well.  I can walk you through what we did.


Recipe for the frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco
4 cups confectionary sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
Milk in small increments ( Tbsps.) until it is a spreadable consistency.
Mix all ingredients.








This was another one of the birthday cakes we made, when our son turned 4 years old.

Technorati Tags: Cake,Wilton Cake Molds,Birthday Cake,Recipe,Barbie,Cars

Online Tools: Fly Lady Control Journal

About 3 years ago, I was so disorganized and I was depressed.  I did a search online for tips on organizing my home.  I found a lot of things, but the Flylady stood out to me.  I couldn’t believe this lady wanted to walk me through every step, she wanted to encourage me as much as I wanted to be encouraged.  I was amazed!
I started my Flylady Control Journal about 2 1/2 years ago.  I have had to modify it from time to time, but that is the beauty of it.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, extravagant or expensive.  It can be as simple as a notebook.  I use an address book that had 3 rings.  It works great for me, but it might not be right for you and that’s ok too.  Here is where you can find out how to start your own.
I will show you my Control Journal and how I made it.








I chose to have a control journal that I could change in my word processor, because I can simply make a few changes when necessary and print it out with no trouble.  I have the tendency to write things in my journal, cross things out, use arrows, needless to say it gets messy sometimes.  Its comforting to know that I can easily make a new one, from a file I had started before.
I cannot express enough how much using my control journal has changed my life.  I am able to keep up with my family's schedules, and make sure that I have the right attitude about doing the jobs that don’t always seem so fulfilling.  I sometimes fall off the wagon with my daily tasks, but this journal and the flylady.net team really pick me up throw me in and keep me from feeling like I have failed.  Check her out she is really a God send.

Technorati Tags: Flylady,Control Journal,Organizing,Planning Ahead,Home,Family,Being prepared,Computer

Planning Ahead: Buttoning Up Checklist for Autumn

Autumn is the time to get everything prepared for winter.  It is our last chance to plan ahead and make the seasonal transition run smoothly.
We have compiled a list of our own.  Martha Stewart also has a nice and list as well.  I hope this helps make your fall season a little easier. 
If you have any problems connecting to my link, please let me know.

Technorati Tags: Checklist,.pdf,Autumn,Preparing for winter

Flavors of Autumn- Making Apple Cider

About 7 years ago, my mother and I started a tradition.  She had this enormous apple tree in her front yard, that she never really utilized, and we wanted to start using the apples from it.  So we started catching the apples that fell from it to make cider, and when the tree was full of apples we would pick them and make apple pies.  My mothers pies were so good! 
I am continuing that tradition this year by doing the same.  My stepfather brought a basket of apples to me that he collected and I made my cider once again.
 
I wash them and run them through our juicer. 

Then I boil the juice and strain it through a fine cloth.




The juice turns out so wonderful, and what is strained off I make into apple butter for toast, by adding cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves  and sugar.  Yummmmm!         
It is a lot of work, but well worth the trouble.  Our entire family loves apple cider and apple butter.  It makes enough for a little over a gallon of cider and maybe 4 cups of apple butter and it goes fast.
Traditions are so wonderful, the best ones are the ones you fall into.  Ours came about because we wanted to make great use of something that was already blessing us. 
The feelings and memories this annual job gave us are priceless.  Having those memories has made our lives more fulfilling.  Creating traditions with this in mind will make the effort that goes into these jobs more worth the effort.

del.icio.us Tags: Apples,Cider,Butter,Family,Traditions,Autumn,Memories,Warm Up,Juicer,Straining