Inspiration for a joyful and creative life

Real Simple magazine has a slide show with ideas about organizing with every day items.

The picture above shows using a tissue box to store plastic bags so you can pull them out one at at time.

I like their idea about using bubble wrap as a jewelry organizer when you travel.  You just roll your necklaces up into the bubble wrap to keep them from getting tangled or damaged.  It may not be elegant but it is practical!

The show how to use rubber bands on the ends of hangers to keep your clothes from slipping off.

Check it out.  You may find or get some simple ideas of your own on using what you have for creative organizing solutions

The newest look for my kitchen chandelier is the summer watermelon version.

In case you’ve missed it, my light fixture is fun to update and change with the seasons as I constantly find ways to dress it up.  The last rendition was with antique salt and pepper shakers.

Several months ago, I was in Bead It, a fun bead store near Park Meadows and I bought these cute glass watermelons on sale.  I knew they would be making their appearance for my summer chandelier.

The beautiful glass watermelons are about a 1/2 inch long and even have tiny black seeds.  They are translucent so the light shines through them giving off a festive sparkle and shine.

I needed something else to add more color and pizazz.

I looked through my beads, thinking I might wire up something to hang.  I didn’t really want to spend too much time doing this and I found the perfect solution.

I have several strands of these gorgeous red czech glass beads that are the perfect color.

I used the Christmas ornament hooks that I’ve been using to change out my elements on the fixture, and simply looped a hook on either end of the strand so I could create small “swags” with the beads around the top edge of the chandelier.

Then I used a watermelon on a hook to hang in the middle of the swag.  I used the rest of the glass watermelons spaced evenly around and then added a few of my flat resin circles to complete the look.

I love that I can enjoy the gorgeous red czech glass beads now but someday in the future, they will become part of my handmade jewelry and I didn’t even have to take them off their strands!

What do you wish for in the year ahead?

With all this reflection of the past year, what are some things you would like to do, see or be in the new year ahead?

Here are a few questions you might consider:

• I want to make more time for………
• I want to learn more about…….
• I want to take care of myself by….
• I want to practice being more in the moment so I can  ….
• How can I create more best days and moments this year?

Of course, wishing is only the first step but a very important one.  Taking action on those wishes will make them come true.

You may also enjoy reading my article New Year, New Perspective.

As for me, I am already structuring things so that I can have more time to create, make things, and share them so that I can inspire others to enjoy their creativity.  I plan to blur the lines more between working and playing.

What do you wish for?

Sometimes it is hard to be clear or stay focused on what you want.

One thing that really helped me and some of my clients last year was using a weekly reminder to set the intention for the coming week and to review the previous week with a few simple but powerful questions.

It helped us focus on the positive, gain insights on what was working and how to make little tweaks on things to make them better.

I’m setting up a service to offer you the same benefits.  I’ll let you know when it’s ready to go.  I think it will be a great way to help you keep focused on making your wishes come true.