Recycle Remix: Can the Counter Clutter

I LURRRRV going to the thrift store. You already know that, right? I really, really do. Before my allergies dropped acid, got in a tiedyed microbus and ran over my face about a month ago, I took some wadded up one dollar bills and a few quarters and a slightly unwilling Mr. and Little Possum to the Value Village and got some goodies. They have been sitting waiting for me to recover from the 1700 pollen count ever since. The craft supplies, that is. Not the slightly unwilling possums. They have been playing Minecraft. Well, guess what? I'm back, BEBE! I'm off to a slow start, so here's an easy one for ya!

When I get sick, I clean. I'm pretty sure in my twisted mind, that some form of dirt,dust, pollen has made me this way, so I'm going to clean it out of my house. haha ha ha ha. I laugh because, well, let's just not get into what a terrible project this can be for a possum with ADD. Anyway, one of the things I notice is how much stuff we keep on counters. Really. We have cabinets in this house, people!! oh well, I give up. You can keep your lotion, toothpaste, gel, soap, brush, comic book, life savings, rock collection, candy bar, bottle cap, thingamajig, whatever on the counter. UGH! No, it's easier to clean AROUND all that stuff. Seriously.

 So obviously, I'm not going to win the battle of keeping it in the cabinet, but maybe I can keep it in one big container? Then there's just one thing to work around and only one clutter. I have just the thing!  I got this big cookie tin thing for 69 cents!! Yep. I left it in the garage too long and the lid got smashed during an oil change, so I really didn't know what I was going to do with it because I originally planned to use it to store extra K-cups. No lid kinda made that moot. It was some ugly outdoorsy Christmas scene , so I covered it with some self stick shelf paper I had. (I picked up a couple of rolls on clearance for $2.97 at Jo-Ann) The Scotch tape you see in the picture is for taping down the edges of the paper inside the can and on the bottom. It needs a little help staying down on the edges.

Also, a helpful hint: when you are folding down around a curved edge it helps if you will cut the flap down to the edge every 2" so you are folding down smaller pieces. Otherwise you will get wrinkles.

Try to get a can with straight edges, not angled.  I have one that is bigger on the top than the bottom and that was much harder to cover, and I had to make a different design in the middle to cover it up. With straight edges you can just roll your paper right on.

                                         A little hot glue and some ribbon for embellishment

                            
                                                      Fill with clutter and clean the counter!!

See? It's too easy. Little Possum can still get to the soap and lotion pumps without taking them out of the bucket. We still have some shelf paper, so we could make a smaller matching one for Q-tips or something if we needed, but the point was to get stuff off the counter. Really inexpensive and you could use these in an office or kitchen, too. They would be good organizers for art supplies or kids toys...hmm...I might have to go get some more tins, now. Most Salvation Army stores sell these for 25 cents. Value Village is a little pricey for me, but it's what I have for now.  Happy crafting!  What did YOU reuse today?

Oh and don't forget to go like KHK Art on Facebook to be entered in this month's giveaway!!

Let's face it...I was never going to get the house ALL THE WAY CLEAN. 

I mean, I live here. With other people!!

Anyway, I am talking about that because there is a stack of prints sitting here beside me waiting to be painted. Or hand colored, whatever you want to call it. That's what I decided to do instead of clean house this week. I decided to start selling paintings again. Yep. I am now a licensed business owner in the state of Alaska. The funny thing is, I'm blogging. Why? Because I had to stop in the middle of learning how to screen print and set up a business and open an Etsy store, and so now obviously I have to stop and blog about it, gah. And that is why my house will never be clean. And that is why I will never be caught up on all my wonderful blog posts. 

Here is a link, though...

Frozen Fish, Ink.

That is my registered business name in Alaska. Me. I'm a fish. Pisces. Plus I like William Faulkner. (That is a reference to As I Lay Dying.) I live in Alaska, and I have become part of the permafrost, and this new line of prints I think is reflecting that new absurdity. (Well, really I'm sure it was always there, it just becomes harder to hide it with a good case of cabin fever and Army-wifitis.) Ink, because... there is INK involved in printing, slowness, and also because if you use INC or LLC or DBA in your business name then you have to do extra paperwork, so HA! Stick it to the man! I have not even had coffee today, people.  Midnight sun does things to you. Truly.  Just ask Super Husky.

Here she is featured in this original screen print

"Howling at the Midnight Sun"

although, if you ask me, she sort of looks like she's laughing. I think a couple of winters in the interior can do that to you.  I find myself waiting impatiently for the sun to return. I actually did this dance under the aurora borealis display we saw one night and called it my "break up dance."  No, not my "break up with my hubby dance".  Break up is what happens when all the snow and ice "break up" and go away. I really did look as crazy as the dog over there. No kidding.  All that silliness aside, it's been a little hard adjusting to life up here, but I know there are things I will really miss when our time here is done, so for now, my focus will be on capturing those wonderful things in my own crazy way while I still have them to enjoy. 

Don't forget to go check out 

Frozen Fish, Ink

The walls are a little bare right now, but I'm working as fast as I can to add more inventory.  Hopefully, I'll send some memories home with the tourists this summer, too.  I remember what it was like when we drove in the first time. I wrote long letters home about all of it. We mailed a set to ourselves, too. Thank goodness we didn't open them. I would have edited them after shoveling the driveway this past winter. Aww, FISHSTICKS!!