Useful & Pretty Things

* * cup hooks * *

A simple cup hook is a terribly useful thing! I'm always looking for ways to get papers off of horizontal surfaces.  It's just a better use of space AND it's readily visible as you walk by.  But, it can be a challenge!  How often do we seek to hang something....yet all our wallspace is spoken for? Or...perhaps you face the same challenge I do - an open floor plan without an ample amount of wallspace?  Think beyond your wall!

I hung some cup hooks on the bottom of our ribbon board to hold new clipboards and it worked out so well!  They are hung right behind my desk - so they're at arms reach!  It's so easy to do, but be sure you start a pilot hole with a drill first!  You'll be glad you did!  My 10 year old, Sparkly, did this for me!  The cup hook screws in so much nicer and straighter with a pilot hole.

Those adorable clipboards are courtesy of box64 studios - a delicious little etsy shop!  Check out her offerings!

Aren't they pretty hanging there?  I almost hate to hang my lists on them!  LOL!

Now...I shall shift gears quickly from our learning room upstairs to an older daughter's collection of beading work in order to show you another use for those amazing cup hooks:

I don't have any PVC-coated cup hooks pictured in this post, but in my detailed look through the learning spaces you can see them.  These larger hooks are perfect for larger projects like hanging maps!  A small box of cup hooks from the hardware store is one of the most inexpensive organizing tools I know of!  I find the 7/8" cup hooks to be very useful, and those are the cup hooks you see pictured in this post.  Grab a box and see if you can't find a few uses around your home!

* * the action center * *

This is my action center which is arranged here on my supply cabinet.  Ribbon boards are a wonderful way to display a child's artwork, pertinent information, anything important really!  I use it all the time and I hung it using 3M picture hanging strips (more on the usefulness of 3M below!).  That's an Edith Holden print that I cut out of an old book - I have a print for each of the 12 months that I hang up.  (Edith Holden is the author of Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady and I just find her nature sketches inspiring and cheery!) 

I've not been able to find a copy of James Partridge's Natural Science Through the Seasons in spite of my persistent attempts to locate a copy.  That's a hard book to find!!!  However, about a year ago, I did find a delightful little book, Nature Activities (first published 1943), that has some wonderful articles written by a variety of contributors with nature study ideas in it as well as those beautifully sketched nature calendars by D. Farwell such as you would find in Mr. Partridge's Natural Science Through the Seasons.  It's a small, pamphlet size book.  Contributors include: James Partridge, Edwin Way Teale (a favorite naturalist of ours that has written a number of wonderful books detailing natural history in North America), Betty Price, Marie Gaudette, and D. E. Farwell.  This is probably one of my top favorite Nature Study resource books.  Its diminutive size and helpful articles make it accessible and usable without being intimidating in a way that a larger book might be!  Because it's lightweight, I hang it up with Mr. Farwell's inspiring nature calendars open for us to see.  We enjoy looking at them.

* * s-hooks * *

And...lets not forget the excessively useful S-hook either (pictured above holding the calendar on the twine)!  You'll find these in use here all over my home!  I like a variety of sizes! 

In case you're wondering, those are 3M clips there on the left and right.  I make them *pretty* by using double sided tape to hang beautiful holy cards on the top of the clip.  I use 3M products everywhere because they remove easily from a surface!  I used a little twine to wrap over each clip and then an S-hook to hang our favorite Learning Calendar.  Sometimes I use the clips to hold our liturgical wall pocket calendar (pictured at the bottom of the learning room post with instructions for making at the end of this post.)

This is NOT a glamorous or pretty picture from around my house!!  LOL!  There's only so much one can do with a shot of the pantry!  BUT...practical is useful...and I find this terribly useful!  In an attempt to get that box of kitchen trash bags up off the floor, I punch holes in the back of the box and hang it with S-hooks on the back of my open shelving in my pantry.  It hangs right above the trash can, so it's in a convenient location for the person in charge of trash.  Works perfectly!  You'll need substantial S-hooks for this job.

* * a little pretty * *

Goodness!  I can't bear to leave you with an image of my garbage bags as your last memory of this post.  The *pretty* side of me just can't have it!

Here are a few organizing and *pretty* tools I'm using with a few projects I'm working on!  Those are oilcloth pouches & envelopes in a tangerine swirl...and positively delicious turquoise tape!  Doesn't that just inspire you with possibilities?  I'm inspired!!!  I'll have to post later on my projects!

* * *

There you go!  My, but that was a random post - covering garbage bag storage, hooks, pretty tape, and even a positively spontaneous review of a favorite nature study resource!  LOL!!!  Hope you found something that might be a useful idea to inspire you in your home!  Useful can be both practical and lend itself to the pretty of your home!

Happy useful and pretty homes everyone!