Kgsd- I hear you on paper! That too was my nemesis. I still have a way to go but some ideas are below that may work or could be modified to help you. 1. Coupons I started being super selective about what I keep (like TallySue - BBand Bwyons are the main ones I keep) Here's what I do. I open the mail at the door after home from work. I toss the things I don't want into recycling (I have a trass can right at my entry way hidden behind a chest). Those with coupons I take the page or coupon at that time - pop it into my coupon organizer in my purse and I'm done. 2. Birth invitations, letters I've received, etc. Here's what I started doing with birth invitations and holiday cards and thank you notes. I have a hole punch (mine has a heart because I'm a dork but anyone can do). I put a little hole punch in them and add them to a clip like you use for paint samples. I store them all bound together in a decorative bowl on my coffee table that also houses a few reading materials so I can refer back to them. At the end of the year or when the ring is full I stick them in a photo album (just affix the little ring right around the rings of the photo album). 3. Flyers, ads, brochures, etc. Ads I throw away or go into my coupon thingy - brochures go into an idea album if they are worth it. For to do items to do I have a folder that sits in a my basket in my kitchen. Every night I pick out an item to take care of while I watch Oprah (dorky I know) But it forces me to cross one thing off and move to the next. Other important papers: Anyone heard of life.doc? I got mine at Barnes and Nobles it is for your important docs. I took and set mine up for the important things (will, medical info etc). But I also modified it a bit. You can use the CD for a template that prints out onto the sheets. I jsut took and made sheets for other important things and then printed them out in the same format. I store this in an extra kitchen drawer with our phonebooks. Maybe something modified like this would work for you? www.life.doc I hope maybe some of these ideas work! Laurie

Start out slow and don't worry about the cutting tools. These will come in time. Do you have a craft store--like JoAnn', Michels Hobby Lobby" Some of these stores can help you. To begin with try to find an experience scrapbooker, or go to a party like Creative Memories etc. There are a excellent variety of magazine avaiable, but again I found they are all about the same. You can go to different web sites, like Creative Memories and get a free newsletter. I found a great Fiskar trimmer at Office Max at a sale price. Your scrapbook can be as big or as little as you want it to be. You will find that making cards is fun too and the ideas are related. I also take simple cheap cards and add to them--pictures, stickers etc. Go to the library and you can find information free. Ask around and you probably will find someone who either makes cards and/or scrapbooks. Just type scrapbooks in google and you will be amazed. Oriental Trading Co has a catalog free. So does Paper Wishes. Get some free catalogs and you will get so many ideas. Good luck from someone who has boxes of stuff and still collecting and will get a book made soon.

thanks Jan!! i haven't ironed them yet, but i rubbed some glitter glaze on them, in an opal blue color, pretty! i'd like to share a link to an awesome site i found that shows how to fold and cut snowflake patterns up to 12 or was it 16, points. they have animal patterns, leaf patterns, and all kinds of others! Here is a link that might be useful: snowflake folds and cuts patterns

So many people with issues with parents...sad. I was loved, I had toys and gifts,dresses, dolls, books, sport stuff, games,I lacked for nothing . But as I got older, I think I tried to "recapture" my childhood. As an adult, I loved antique shows, flea markets, garage sales. Any time I saw something we had in our house growing up, I had to buy it. I even bought too many rose bushes and planted them in my garden, trying to re-create my Grandma's rose garden. I now have a linen closet stacked with doilies and tablecloths I'll never use, sets of fancy glasses too fragile to use, things like that. Oh, and on the funny side, my daughter cleaned out my bathroom just yesterday. She found eleven bottles of Listerine. I don't know, I hate the stuff, it burns... I remember buying one bottle because it did everything, whitens teeth, freshens breath, makes gums healthy, strengthens the enamel. I'm just always looking for something to make me happy.