Well Stacy that's good to know that it's the post office doing it. That way I dont have to speak the mailman. I know this is not a big deal but it happens with every single one of my magazines and it's one of those little irritants in life. In the grand scheme of things I know it's petty. And yes, at least I'm getting it. I can see bending it and putting a rubberband around it but to HARD crease it just ruins it. I'll call the post office today and voice my complaint. Truthfully though, I think in the future, I'd rather buy my magazines at the grocery store and have a flat magazine that will lay nice on my coffee table than get $$ off on a subscription and get it all mangled. Maybe I should write the magazines and tell them to stamp DO NOT FOLD on their outer covering? Nah, they'd think I was an old woman with nothing better to do than complain about a folded magazine!! hahahaha!! I guess I am huh?

My love-hate relationship with paper is deep and I've been a sucker for magazines since I was a kid when the Saturday Evening Post and Life used to come in the mail . Finally, I've come to a reasonable (for me) solution. I have several categories of interest, gardening, cooking, travel, home remodeling/interior decorating. I've tried binders, plastic sleeves, upright magazine holders and have always wound up being annoyed at the cost, the weight, the time spent filing. I have determined to limit my clippings on any subject to one portable file box which makes it easy to take to a table or in bed or wherever. So the recipe file box has manila folders marked: breakfasts, drinks, salads, beef, Asian, Mexican, holiday meals etc. like a cookbook. I'll put a clipping in that category LOOSE. If I need to make, say, an appetizer, it's easy to find , I can also toss anything at any time, like when I decided I would get rid of the majority of high fat recipes. If the file box gets too full, I go through it and cull, I mean how many versions of bread pudding does one need?! My rule is no more than will fit. The home decor box has categories such as bedrooms, paint/refinishing, kitchens, bathrooms. The garden box has files on roses, succulents, pots, propagation, fertilizing, garden layout etc. I know much of the info is on the web, but the photos trigger my imagination. This is especially true of the files for travel. Regarding magazines like the New Yorker, I invariably fall behind on the reading, so I cut out and staple the fiction and keep them in an expansion file. When I know I'm going somewhere that will involve waiting, like the doctor's office I take one or two in my bag. When I go on a trip, I might take a couple dozen, read them in the airport or in a restaurant and when done, leave them for someone else. I know unsubscribing is sensible, and in the past I've done it, but eventually I renew. What can I say? It's a small vice.

Not in a kitchen, I think kitchens are a little daunting since they have such high price tags you don't want to screw it up... I used rubber stamps to decorate bathroom walls. The bathroom was a jack and jill, with my young son's room on one side and and a bedroom DH used as an office on the other side. The walls were off white, and I bought vintage-y looking rubber stamps, and made a random pattern (quite widely spaced, the room was mostly off white) with black ink. Things like an old typewriter, and ink well, a trout, a crescent moon, etc etc. People always liked it. In our daughter's nursery, we had a cottage garden theme. We bought wooden shutters and window boxes, painted them white with cast iron strapping hardware and hung them inside the room. The windows boxes were all filled with stuffed animals (realistic ones, no hot pink or purple .... lol). All of this now painted over and removed for staging, alas. PS I saw a kitchen the other day with a beadboard backsplash, and then they had delft tiles here and there, hanging like little paintings. Very cute.

One thing, there is a company called Stamp' UP similar to scrapbook parties. Go on line if you do not have a consultant in your area. They have a large variety of stamps and they are not cheap, but good quality. Also Close to My Heart which is scrap booking but has an excellent selection of clear plastic stamps. Both can be bought on line. Do you have a large Walmart or Hobby Lobby?