Just where did I disappear to in December? I had the delightful opportunity to assemble two incredible photo albums for the sons of my friend, scrapbooks which chronicled a few of the highlights of the first 18 years of each of their lives. In the four weeks I spent on this challenge I watched mere babes bloom into young men, aided and surrounded by love and opportunities. I also learned a few new tips that I'll take forward into my next scrapbook project.

I started with Pinning one suggestion from Buzzfeed DIY: 52 Meticulous Organizing Tips For The OCD Person In You. Then I pinned another. And another... and it was soooo good!

I used to get this kind of satisfaction from Martha Stewart, but the items seem to be on repeat and in rotation for the last many years, so I've stopped browsing.

An ingenious solution for those pesky sheets of 8 1/2 x 14 sheets of paper that don't fit into a binder! Granted, this only works for a handful, lest the end result become bulky, but it sure is handy to have a precious few convenient for reference in your 3-ring.

1. Place the sheet in front of you in portrait (vertical) orientation.
2. Fold up the bottom 3 inches with a clean score and re-open.
3. Fold the bottom left corner upward to make a triangle against the scored bit.
4. Re-fold the bottom 3 inches upward.
5. Punch on the left and insert in binder.

You now have it bound with your other organized papers, yet tidy and protected from marring, as the length of it doesn't drag beneath the boundary of the binder edge.

You know those funny, hinged, slotted lids attached to the silverware caddy in your dishwasher? In addition to holding small items in while the water can rinse out, the slots are also there for your silverware-stacking pleasure. I find that I can stick forks and spoons handle-down through these slots and they all get washed without sticking together. In fact, I can pack more in by this method than without, due to the ordered nature of it.

I've envied the "door cozies" on my neighbor's many doors but haven't successfully located such an item for my own home. The house was built ~1923 when drafts must have been all the fashion... anyhoo, I'm weary of cold tootsies.

After at least 12 months of good intentions, I finally made my own! Behold the repurposing of an old towel to save our house heat and energy bills!

It straddles the bottom of the door. Holes snipped at strategic points provide pass-throughs for decorative cording to hold the rolls in place.

Sloping floors seem to have also been in vogue in 1923. A few modifications on one end of the towel did the trick.

An unintentional benefit is that it also wipes away any wet footprints in the door path. I am *so* smart! (And wonderful. And fabulous. And modest.)