Our "Organized" Family Photo Wall

(Click photo to enlarge.)
In our house, we have a very limited number of photo frames sitting on surfaces. It's too much of a pain to pick them up every time the surfaces needs dusting. We've opted to use our walls to display our favorite shots.

One of those walls is in the hallway in very visible spot.

We started off with a collection of various photos and frames that we've randomly hung throughout the years we've lived in our home. While we enjoyed the photos, I was never too thrilled with the random mix of frames in various colors, textures and styles. It seemed chaotic to me.

Now, don't get me wrong. An eclectic mix of photos and frames may look very good in some homes, depending on the style of that home, and the people in it.

But in our house, we've gone with very traditional furnishings. Plus, the personalities in our home are more reserved. I felt our photo wall should reflect our furnishings and our personalities.

In light of this, my husband and I cut out sheets of paper equal to the sizes of typical photo frames (4 x 6 inch, 5 x 7 inch, etc.) We then fiddled around with possible arrangements, and after a few days ended up with a nice display for our photo wall.

Once we had that, I re-sized the photos we wanted on that wall if they weren't in the size we needed. We have a digital camera and have all our shots available to print at any time.

Finally, I went out and purchased a bunch of frames. They weren't expensive, but they were all black, for consistency and order. The styles and textures differ slightly for interest.

We inserted all the photos and were then ready for getting them on the wall.

Finally, we hung the frames with Command Picture Hanging Strips. They're wonderful! No holes in the wall and they hold the picture frames straight--no sliding around. They're also easily removable, and they don't damage the walls. If you plan to use these, just be sure to check the weight limits on the package. Ours hold up to 10 pounds, but most of our frames were very light.

We're just thrilled with the final result of our Family Photo Wall, and we receive so many nice compliments from our house guests.

How I Organize My Scrapbooking Albums

This past week, I received the below note from a reader. Since scrapbooking is getting to be a popular hobby for many people, I thought I'd just answer her question in my blog. This way, others with similar questions could see the response.

LETTER FROM MICHELLE

Maria, I just read your most recent article about scrapbooking. I am so impressed by the organization of your supplies in the photo. I love scrapbooking too!

I am trying to decide how to organize my family albums. Do you use different colored albums or stay with one color? I use Creative Memories albums. I have albums for vacations, Christmas, and a continuous chronological family album.

I'm running out of colors and am trying to decide what to do. I would most appreciate any help you can offer. I love receiving your newsletter every week. It is extremely motivational. Michelle

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MY RESPONSE

Michelle,

Thanks so much for your note. It's always wonderful to chat with a fellow scrapbook enthusiast and I truly appreciate your compliments on my newsletter!

As you probably saw in my photo in the last article, I too use Creative Memories albums, exclusively.

Here is the organization system I use with my albums:

1) Blue: Trips, Vacations and Outings (We do one 2-page layout for most day trips, and as many 2-page layouts as it takes for more involved vacations.)

2) Purple: Amanda (exclusively photos of our daughter, Joe and me. Each album covers one year at this point.)

3) Green: Family and Friends (photos of family members besides us--grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.--and friends.)

4) Red: Christmas (I started with our first Christmas in our new home and add on every year.)

5) Purple (Light): I also have a purple album in a lighter shade for Halloween. (I started with Amanda's first costume ever, and add onto it every year.)

I always try to use colors that don't go out of style, so I can continue to use this system I've created into the future. I also have all of my albums imprinted on the cover and spine for identification using Persona Imprinting--the printing company that is affiliated with Creative Memories.

Hope this helps. Happy scrapbooking!

Remember What You Can In Quick and Easy Steps

You might have heard of Mnemonics and how they can help you improve your memory.

Mnemonics aren't difficult or tiresome activities; in fact, it's as if there's no pressure when doing the actual memorization because of how simple and pleasant the steps can be. An example of a mnemonic method is the Loci System.

A good scenario when the loci system can be effectively used is when a person has several items or a list needed for immediate remembering. The first important thing to remember when using the loci method is the familiarization of a place and the correct order of locations of the chosen place. It could be the dining room, bedroom or kitchen at home or a favorite route in the park. It doesn't matter where, as long as the location can be easily recalled accurately by the doer.

Let's say, the specific locations are the parking lot, pond, willow tree and the benches in the park. So, let's pretend the items are umbrella, dog food, cell phone and picnic basket.

To associate the items, visualize strongly hundreds of open umbrellas falling down on the parking lot as you find a space where you could park.

Next, as you pass by the pond, you pick up the usual dog food to feed the fish followed by the big willow tree bearing cell phones for fruits and lastly, as you sat by the benches, a picnic basket approaches and sells you what is inside it.

Each time you visit the park or any other place you're strongly familiar with; you can immediately associate the specific locations with any items you need to remember.

When using this method, it's better to imagine objects in familiar places in bizarre or amusing ways because it helps a lot in retaining information.

To learn more about what you can do to boost your memory capacity to its full potention, visit:

http://memory-improvement-techniques.com/go.php?offer=getorgnow1&pid=1

Organizing Paper for Scrapbooking

(Click photo to enlarge.)
As an avid scrapbooker, I like having a variety of patterned paper on hand. In doing so, I can pick and choose the appropriate paper for my project depending on my photos, theme and so on.

I recently discovered these awesome storage boxes made by Karen Foster. They're 13 x 13 inches in size and are called Snap N' Scrap. These are the perfect size for typical 12 x 12 inch scrapbooking paper.

They're the purple and red boxes displayed in the photo. I believe they also come in a few different colors, and sizes.

Each box has an easily changeable label area where you're able to indicate what's in the box.

As you can see, I purchased quite a few of these stylish boxes and use them for my patterned paper storage. I have categories such as Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall, Holiday, Love, Specialty and a few others.

Now, when I want to scrapbook, I just think of the type of scrapbook page I want, and I know exactly where to look.

Easter Wishes and Easter Pie

I just wanted to take a few moments to wish you and your family a very lovely Easter, Passover, spring, or whatever wonderful time of year you choose to celebrate.

While I often hold Easter lunch at my house, this year we've decided to go out to brunch. We'll be going to the Pfister Hotel in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, WI. How nice it will be to enjoy each other's company, without the thought of cooking or cleaning anything!

We were originally thinking of taking a walk down by Lake Michigan afterwards, but it's pretty chilly this week. Yesterday, the high hit just 40 degrees. So, unless we have a warm front come in, we'll likely be spending the second half of our day at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Whatever your plans may be, I wish you a peaceful, joyous and stress-free, organized day.

By the way, here is one of my all-time favorite Easter Recipes -- I'll be making these the day before Easter.

Italian Easter Pie
Makes 2 Pies

Ingredients:

4 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
2 pounds ricotta cheese
6 eggs
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
1 pound cooked ham, chopped
1/2 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/4 pound prosciutto, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Place ricotta in a large mixing bowl and add eggs one at a time while mixing on low speed. Stir in mozzarella, ham, salami, and prosciutto until all ingredients are well combined. Line two 9 inch pans with pastry. Spoon half of mixture into each pan. Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese over each pie, then cover with top pastry. Crimp edges and cut steam vents in tops.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until crust is golden brown. Cool on racks.

Enjoy!