How timely that I found this discussion this morning. I have had a collection of tins that I've been adding to for years now. The larger holiday tins I started using for storing holiday decorations in. But the smaller ones I found that I just didn't have anywhere to display them that they wouldn't just be clutter and not serving any real purpose. Well a couple weeks ago DH and I picked up a HUGE entertainment center that came in sections. We really only wanted it for one section so have been repurposing the remaining sections. Anyway to make a long store shorter, part of it we're turning into a sewing area and we're using to 2 of the sections to frame it. When I started going through all of my sewing stuff and sorting and organizing it, I started looking at how I was going to put it in the cabinets. I thought of going out and buying some cute baskets and containers and then the proverbial light bulb went off over my head. I sent DH up to the attic to bring down the BIG box of my tins. I cleaned them all and started putting everything in those tins. We have a 6 month old grandson who is beginning to get mobile so I'm also baby proofing the house for his visits. Well I know that he can't get into these tins because it takes me quite a bit of effort to get into some of them. The bonus is, this area now looks wonderful! I just love Garden Web and often spend hours here just looking through posts getting ideas for decorating, storing, cleaning, you name it! Thanks, Cindy

One of my duties when I worked in the Philadelphia Library was to maintain the clipping file. Every day I read a handful of local papers and clipped articles that might be useful to our patrons or staff. These papers only had a local circulation and were too small to be indexed in any of the major published indexes. This was back in the 70's before we had a computer on every desk and cubby. Retrieving a newspaper or periodical article meant locating the microfiche or microcard and using the appropriate readers. Newspapers in their original form were too fragile for long term storage unless in an archival setting - controlled temperature and humidity, light, dust and pollution free etc. In other words it was a royal P.I.A. - Any clipping that we deemed important was photocopied onto permanent paper - paper that was acid free, lignin free, and tear resistant. The link below has a lot of information of preserving newspapers and at the bottom of the article it has a link to creating archival scrapbooks too. Here is a link that might be useful: clippings

I am painting my studio/craft room Glowing Apricot. I get a lot of light in there and expect it really will glow! I think your room would be a great place to have some fun with color. Strong color on studio walls can throw the color of the materials you're working with. Just keep that in mind. Your ceiling color is probably the most influential on whatever is on your work table. I'd probably get an Ott light and work on a light gray table (I have the folding ones from Staples) to keep your work area as neutral as possible. You could even paint the wall behind your work table a neutral color -- meaning some variation of white or gray , not Shaker Beige! :0) Paint the other walls the fun color. Or vise versa. Three walls to wrap your worktable in a pale blue-gray and one wall a soft orange...the one you look at while exercising. This is just an example... You're probably going to need more light in there for the scrapbooking. Get all your lighting in place before you start to test paint colors.

I have a mix of antique lighting (restored by myself or rejuvination) school house electric and rejuvination. I love them all....very very high quality lighting (though I will say the rejuvination lighting is over 2 years old so I can't comment on recent work). SHE was fabulous to work with...wonderful folks and when I needed a custom piece in a rush, they did everything they could to get it done and had it to me in a few days verses a few weeks. I was very impressed and will do business with them in a heartbeat. RJ was also easy to work with and I do like their website. The lighting was all well wrapped and shipped here safely...almost overkill wrapping, but I do understand why. I didn't notice excessive shipping...but it's been a while, maybe things have changed. I don't order anything from people who charge based on the cost of the order so I can't imagine they did when I ordered, but then AK shipping is always done differently (they always call with the figure and it's never been a flat percentage). I loved their antique fixtures as well and did pick up a few of those as well as lamps. That department isn't as good as the regular folks...they shipped the wrong things a couple of times and then expected me to have noticed (we were buying for the house in several months advance). I had to go through a storage unit to verify their error, then they shipped again and sent the wrong shade...and then I ended up buying all of the mistakes because I was leaving for a several month hospital stay and didn't have time to deal with their mistakes. They should have discounted the price frankly, given it was their huge error, but nada. I have their pocket door fittings and they're superior quality. Directions for install are non-existent and I had a hard time getting them to send me the templates they forgot in the first place. I called three times and finally got a fax that they said they wouldn't send in the first place...a little frustrating. That said, day one when we move into the victorian I'm buying Drake for the entry hall :) So I'll return as a client...but I might go pick him up instead :)