DIY Gift Organizer Notebook

I am not a techy.  I prefer pen and paper to apps.  So it should come as no surprise that I decided to throw together a notebook for all my gift plans for Christmas.  Instead of writing down ideas or gifts I've already purchased in multiple places, now I can house them all in this notebook.  No apps that crash.

I used an old Christmas card for the cover.  On the inside I used ledger paper I found at an estate sale to tally up my spending. 

I also created two pockets in the center to hold coupons and receipts.  Then I bound it all together using this method.  This notebook can easily be thrown in my bag or tucked into my daily planner, but most importantly all the information is in one place.  It's a little rough around the edges, but it gets the job done.

How you do organize your gift giving?

Old Music Stand

This is one of my recent purchases.  I bought it for $5 at a flea market.  It was rusty and missing a screw on one of the upper arms.  I walked by it several times, and something about it made me decide I needed it.  I brought it home, cleaned it up, replaced the screw and then spray painted it with copper paint.

I was limited to the colors we had in the garage, and since it was rusting I wanted to get something on it pretty quick.  It would look fantastic with a pop of color.  I'm thinking peacock blue or yellow!

cc hates it, so for now it's banished to the one room I have full control over; my studio.  It actually serves a pretty good purpose there.  I couldn't figure out what to do with it, but then I ran across this rustic studio and the light bulb went off.

{Mari Eriksson photo found here}

I like to work standing up and I typically have different books I'm referencing for inspiration or instruction and they always get in the way on my work station.  Now the music stand can hold my books and free up my table.  Mine is not near as neat as the one in this photo, but hey, it was a bargain!

What would you do with it?

DIY Bike Tire Stamps

Happy Sunday!  I blogged over at Punk Projects yesterday with a bike tire stamp tutorial.  See you there...