Magnets To Brighten Your Day - and Adorn Your Fridge

If you're a "refrigerator magnet" type of person, I've got some treats for you! Let's start with the "monsters" magnets from Fishcakes, which I loved from the moment I saw them. With 70 choices, there's something to suit everyone; I'm pretty fond of the I'm Organized magnet, as well as all the "word nerd" ones. [via Ben Zimmer, on Twitter]




Speaking of word nerds, how about these dictionary magnets from XO Handworks, custom-made with your choice of words?




Jocelyn Proust Designs of Australia makes hand-painted tiles - and some eye-catching hand-painted fridge magnets.




And finally, take a look at Say Hi Beth - who sells science and math magnets (and many more). Her magnets are made from "old recycled children's books and textbooks, many of which were saved from the rain and other elements."

Related Posts:
A Multitude of Magnets
Yet More Magnets: Magnetic Clips
More Magnificent Magnets
6 Magnets That Made Me Smile
I Just Can't Resist a Good Magnet
Refrigerator Door Magnets: An Organizing Choice
Reader Question: Organising products for those of us in Australia?

Four Memorable Magnetic Boards

Like to use a magnetic board to keep a few key pieces of paper in front of you? Then you might be interested in some of my latest finds, including this forget-me-not board from Green & Co.




For nice fabric-covered magnetic boards (and a groaner of a pun), head over to Board Silly. The company also sells hand-painted magnetic boards.




ReMemory Designs is another company with a wide range of magnetic boards.




And finally, there's the Pantone Wallstore, designed for Seletti by John Green, and available in seven Pantone colors. The Wallstore is more than just a magnetic board, with its folded section at the bottom. Sit On Design and Heliotrope are two places to buy it. [via From Europe]

Related Posts:
Magnetic Boards: Beyond the Refrigerator Door
Magnetic Boards in a Multitude of Styles

Sweetgrass Baskets: Traditional Craft, Stunning Storage

Just a few years ago, Nikia Wigfall needed only to drive to the nearby marshes to harvest the sweetgrass that she and other descendants of slaves weave into the beautiful baskets sold to tourists in and around this antebellum port city.

But booming coastal development has made finding the clumps of long, swaying sweetgrass tougher and tougher. --Bruce Smith, savannahnow.com, writing about the sweetgrass basket tradition in Charleston, South Carolina

When I wrote about pine needle baskets a few days ago, commenter JustGail mentioned sweetgrass baskets - and while I'd come across them before, her comment made me really take a good look. The story behind these baskets is fascinating; the article I quoted briefly is worth reading in full, and there's a sweetgrass basketry site with pointers to more good reading.

And some of the baskets are just stunning. This "elephant ear" basket is made by Lillie Howard, and can be found at Edisto Sweetgrass Baskets or Artists and Artisans Gallery.




This lidded basket comes from Darryl and Angela Stoneworth of DNA Sweetgrass Baskets.




And this "canister basket" comes from Sweetgrass Baskets of Charleston by Eva Wright.




Ruthy sells her sweetgrass baskets on Etsy.

All the basketmakers shown here make baskets in many styles, so their sites are worth a look if you want to see more lovely things.

One Person's Story: Keeping the Memory of our Loved Ones Alive

Ellen Joseph is a talented artist, and a friend. She and I were talking about having loved ones pass away, and the things of theirs we choose to hold onto - which inspired Ellen to write this. I thought it was lovely, and she's given me permission to share it.

One of the greatest challenges we all face is the loss of a family member or close friend. After the initial stage of grief, there is the question of how to include a departed loved one in our daily lives. Cultures around the world have set up customs and rituals around the honoring and remembrance of those who've gone on, but we can create our own memorials to those who figure prominently in our hearts.

The loss of my godmother nearly 2 years ago was extremely upsetting, even though I was well prepared by her years of illness. The finality of death is an emotional shock that overrides intellectual understanding. I experienced a great spiritual closeness with Aunt Kay immediately following her death and in the subsequent months.

As time passed, the pain diminished, and I am left with many wonderful memories and cherished gifts she gave me. In order to include her in my daily life, I have several photos placed at eye-level at my desk so that I can feel her love beaming at me through her smile.




Also in my office, I've dedicated the top shelf of my bookcase to Aunt Kay. There is my favorite Beloved Tales book she gave me when I was a child, her As Time Goes By series of DVDs that we used to discuss in the years before her death, and her book about her favorite actress, Judi Dench. There are photos and cards I had sent to her that were returned to me, as well as a photo book I created of her memorial service on St. Patrick's Day.




Prior to her death she asked me what I would like of hers and I told her I would love her set of Blue Onion dishes that meant so much to her. A large portion of the set was broken in the Northridge earthquake, but she left me what remained. Since I am an avid collector of antique china, her dishes represent the bond of a shared appreciation. I like to "start the day with Aunt Kay," serving breakfast on them when I want to remember her love. Also, when my sisters come over, we have family meals on them and always talk about Aunt Kay.

All these daily reminders help me feel that Aunt Kay is never far away.

They Make Baskets from Pine Needles?

"Patience and pine needles" are what's needed to make these baskets, says Judy Mofield Mallow. For those of us without the patience (or perhaps the pine needles), we're lucky enough to have many folks who make beautiful baskets for us. The one above comes from Teri Thompson, who makes a wide range of pine needle baskets. [via Pencil and Leaf]




This pine needle basket comes from Sustaining Art; it's approximately 3" in diameter.




This is one of the many pine needle baskets from Funny River Trading, "handwoven using needles from Ponderosa pine trees."




And this lovely pine needle basket, adorned with beads, come from the Etsy shop called, appropriately, Needles to Baskets.




And this cute pine needle basket comes from another Etsy store, Peacox Creations.




So far, all the baskets I've shown have been made in the United States - but of course, such baskets are made in other parts of the world, too. A Thread of Hope sells fair trade baskets from Guatemala, including this one.




And finally, moving up north, you can get these pine needle baskets by Ojibwe artist Donna Salo from the Museum of Anthropology at The University of British Columbia.

Related Posts:
Baskets: When Plastic Bins Just Won't Do
Baskets Made by African Artisans
Two Beautiful Blue Baskets
In Honor of My Mom: Organizing in Blue

Honoring the Sentimental Stuff by Creating a Memory Box

Cherished mementos don't always fit in an album. -- Country Living

And, as Cynthia Friedlob noted in commenting on my recent memorabilia post:

Not everything of value needs to be displayed in order to be honored. A "treasure box" that is opened periodically so that the contents can be enjoyed can be a good choice for keeping some of the sentimental stuff, too.

I personally have a memory box that has things like a birthday card a college friend wrote to me on a napkin - she was a harried waitress as well as a student, and didn't get around to buying a card. My box also got a bit of handmade lace, now yellowed, but still precious because of the story behind it.

If you'd like to create a memory box - also called a keepsake box or a treasure box - you may want to invest in a box specifically designed to preserve textiles, papers, or whatever; Gaylord, Hollinger Metal Edge and Light Impressions are companies selling such boxes.

Julia over on the Unclutterer forums is taking this approach:

I am ... "building" two small memory boxes, one for each parent - Dad's is a cigar box, Mom's another small cedar box my grandmother kept for needlework supplies. Dad's contains a few old hand tools, his shaving mug, a set of keys, his pocket knife.

And, of course, a number of folks sell a wide range of memory boxes, many of whose archival qualities I can't attest to. But The Memory Keepers - which sells a wide range of customized boxes, including the one at the top of this post - indicates the company's boxes are made from "acid-free quality board." The company has boxes for weddings, graduations, vacations, and more.




Baby keepsake boxes are very popular. This cute one is by Swiss Batiste; the company has a number of other designs, too. The Memory Shelf, in Australia, also has some nice memory boxes, which are "made from archival grade plastic which has been tested by the Image Permanence Institute in Rochester, New York and passed the stringent Photographic Activity Test (PAT)." And The Memory Keepers, mentioned earlier, also has boxes with a baby theme.




This memory box, from Laurie Rohner Studio (and sold on Laurie's Etsy shop) is made from pine - and painted, varnished, and waxed.




And then there are the pewter treasure boxes made by Vilmain. The first one that caught my eye was the "He loves me" box sold by Uncommon Goods, but this heart-shaped treasure box looks nice, too - although the shape is less practical for storage.

And, of course, you could use almost any type of attractive box you wanted to, and call it a "memory box."

Master Your Workday Now!

Michael Linenberger might be a best-selling author, but I found Master Your Workday Now to be a bit of a slog, at least at the start; I only finished it today because it's due at the library tomorrow! However, that doesn't mean there weren't plenty of interesting ideas.

Part 1: Day to Day Task Management

Linenberger believes that looking at a huge to do list every day is too overwhelming. Therefore, he suggests you have three lists; items are added to the different lists based on urgency, not importance.

1. Critical Now
These are the must-do-today items - the things you would stay late at the office to finish. This list would rarely contain more than 5 items.

2. Opportunity Now
These are things you want to start as the opportunity presents itself - sometime this week or next. You look at this list daily, and you want to keep it to no more than 20 items.

Note: Items 1 and 2 make up the Now Tasks list, and they include only "next actions," as David Allen uses the term. So they won't be complex multipart tasks, but rather simple tasks like "Write e-mail to Client A about subject X."

3. Over the Horizon
These are items that you can "chill out" about for right now. This list gets reviewed weekly.

Well, at least that's how the concept starts out - pretty simple. But then Linenberger adds an optional Target Now section to the Opportunity Now list - this is for the items you'd really like to do today.

He also says you might want to split the Over the Horizon list into multiple Over the Horizon lists, based on how often you want to review the items on that list; the rationale here is that people just don't tend to review long lists on a weekly basis. So the single Over the Horizon list may become:
- Over the Horizon: Review Weekly
- Over the Horizon: Review Monthly
- Over the Horizon: Review Every 3 Months
- Over the Horizon: Review Every 6 Months
- Over the Horizon: Review Every 12 Months

And there's a third enhancement: He adds a list of Significant Outcomes (SOCs) to the top of the Now Tasks list. These are the larger efforts - what David Allen would call projects, but which may not be "projects" as most people think of that word - that you want to complete (or make major progress on) during the week.

OK, it's still not that complex - and the graphics in the book (which are also available on the web site, if you give Linenberger your e-mail address) are helpful.

Linenberger does not believe in scheduling calendar time to do specific tasks, in most situations; one exception could be if a task is going to take a chunk of time, and the deadline is looming. But if you're not finding enough time to work on tasks during normal business hours, he suggests adding a one- to two-hour appointment with yourself, just called Tasks, to your calendar each day.

What about tasks you've delegated? Rather than having a Waiting For list, Linenberger creates tasks for doing follow-up activities, and places them on the appropriate lists.

Part II: Goals

In Part II of this book, Linenberger moves beyond the day-to-day task management to talk about goals: goals that incorporate a vision, and a target (but not a timeframe). Many of his examples have to do with earning more money (and often buying more things), such as this one:

I just received a fantastic raise of 25 percent. That means I can now buy that convertible I have been longing for - I can see myself now, driving down the coast, the sun in my face, the wind in my hair,. What a sweet experience this is! I am also going out to dinner every weekend - I love great food.

But other sample goals, also dealing with money, focus on other benefits: security, freedom, etc. And Linenberger also gives examples of goals dealing with things like losing weight.

Linenberger then has you "activate" your goals through "positive visualization" - you "spend a few minutes each day reading and visioning" those goals.

Part III: Connections

And finally, in Part III, Linenberger talks about "connecting your work with who you really are" - connecting with a larger vision, with your own intuition, with your (current) life's work, and with your personal mission. In both this section and the one on goals, Linenberger writes extensively about the power of the subconscious.

Throughout this book, Linenberger acknowledges being influenced by many other thinkers, and there's an extensive resource listing at the end of the book.

Does any of this resonate with you? Has anyone tried any of these approaches? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Attractive To Do Lists That Might Actually Inspire You To Do Stuff

When Lifehacker asked its readers about the best to-do list manager, paper got 23% of the vote - and this is from a techie-oriented crowd. If you're one of those who prefers paper - and you'd like something a bit special to write your list on - I've got some products to show you.

The one above - The Freakin Never Ending To Do List - comes from Erin Vale's Etsy shop, finch&hawk. You can also take a look at her no-cost printable HoneyDew list.




You might also like modernmotive's Rome Wasn't Built in a Day: Stuff To Do List. While designed for projects, it seems like it could work well for general-purpose to do lists, also. And it's printed on eco-friendly paper.




Then there's Skel Design - with so many nice to do notepads that it's hard to pick just one to show you. Here's one in Spanish; there's a also a French version.




And here's one of Skel Design's to do notepads with an animal theme. There are also pads with frogs (jump to it), dogs and cows. All the pads are made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

Related Post:
3 Very Odd To-Do Lists

Getting Organized for Blogging

Organizer Geralin Thomas of Metropolitan Organizing - one of the professional organizers on the TV show Hoarders - asked me how I get organized to research and write my blog posts. If you'd like to read my answer, check out my guest post on her blog.

And while you're there: If you're interested in hoarding, you might want to check out some of Geralin's excellent posts on the subject, including:
- Organizing a Hoarder’s Home for Television
- Helpful Resources for Hoarders

Memorabilia: Honoring That Which We Choose to Save

The question I ask myself when I come across a dusty box under the bed is, “If this is so important emotionally, why aren’t I taking better care of it?” Stuff that needs to be kept but has no emotional impact, like out of season coats and boots, can go under that dusty bed. Perhaps Grandma’s needlepoint deserves something better. -- Louise Hornor, in a comment on Unclutterer

I've been thinking about memorabilia lately - partly because I'm cleaning up my bookmarks on that subject, and partly because a dear friend just died - and her daughter is now dealing with the "all that stuff" issue, as well as her grief. (By the way, this is why I've been a bit light on blog posts lately.)

Today, I'm going to focus on the whole idea of honoring those items we choose to save. Many of my fellow organizers have addressed this subject, and I'd like to share their wisdom.

Here's what organizer Scott Roewer said on the subject:

My clients can keep whatever they want. ... However, I do expect them to know what they have, be able to find what they keep, and to honor the memories in their lives.

I tell them a memory isn’t a memory if it’s in a dark corner of the closet or in a box in the basement - it’s just stuff. So, we work on honoring those memories and not personifying the object. I’ll offer ideas, such as photographing the quilt grandma made in 1960. You know the one - it’s Harvest Gold, has holes from moths, and is so scratchy you’ll never use it. ... The visual of the blanket is what the client wants to hold on to, not the scratchy blanket.

And organizer Lorie Marrero writes:

If you must keep it, honor it and enjoy it. Don't just stash it away. Find a way to display it and make it a part of your life.

Here's one example of someone honoring precious items: heirloom recipes were framed and displayed. (As organizer Tanna Clark says, it's best to make copies of them before doing this.)

And organizer Aby Garvey shares a way that someone displayed her dad's old fishing lures and bobbers.

[Photo: Needlepoint done by photographer Anthony Catalano's grandmother, licensed under Creative Commons]