Truly Frightening Trick

Yes, this was Halloween night at the MacDonald household.  And then at midnight, it happens — I age.  aaaaaaaaaaaah!

That is Saturday of course, but growing up and even now that is how I refer to November 1st = My Birthday.

The Treats

The kids greeted me that morning with some Halloween candy-inspired architecture.  Who knows how they come up with this stuff!  LOL.

Mother Nature was in agreement that it was going to be one fine day, and rewarded us with glorious Fall weather.  No jackets required.  Perfect for Brianna's last soccer game of the season, and Neil took this great picture of the 'twinkies'.  That man is getting goooooood with the camera.

Sunday = Brianna's Birthday.  So it was a whole weekend of celebrating!  If you don't want to hear a lot of happy ranting… go surf elsewhere.  If you want to share in the birthday happiness, read on!

The Loot

I caved and got Brianna an American Girl Doll (Felicity).  The campaigning for an American Girl doll has been intense!  But I will admit, I was pretty happy when Brianna spent her birthday money from her grandparents at Borders, buying Felicity books.  If it encourages reading and imaginative play – it's good.  So Brianna had a very happy birthday weekend.

And I have to give a lot of credit to hubby on making this one a dream come true for me personally.  And also for being very good at keeping me from buying something on my own.  Check it out…

I've been on the fence about getting a bit of technology.  A Wacom tablet.  And there was a used one available for sale locally, a 6" x11" I think – but it wasn't really what I wanted.  And hubby knew that.  So he started throwing down 'road blocks'.  'Oh, we need to wait until xyz…before you can buy that' — you know the drill.  It was getting very frustrating until he presented me with…

A 12" x 12" Wacom Tablet!

What a wonderful brat!  This is not the exact model that he got me.  He got one on eBay.  Love it!

And as if that isn't enough, guess what I spent that evening doing?  Why building this, of course!

The Original Scrapbox Minibox!

And I actually put it together.  Woo Hoo!!!  You can click on the picture above to see a video of how it works.  Simply amazing!

As my husband can attest, I was even looking at fixtures at a local shop that is going out of business for a possible solution to my current scrapbook storage dilemna.  But the fact is that I need a scrapbook storage solution, not a display solution.  Slatwall fixtures have nothing to do with storage.  And what I had considered buying from the shop would have ousted the air hockey table from the room.  Not acceptable.  We play TOGETHER in that room.

And so now I have it… the ultimate scrapbook storage solution called The MiniBox made by The Original Scrapbox, and it comes in vanilla, and black, bead board or raised panel. Isn’t it beautiful?  You can watch a video on The Original Scrapbox website to see how it works.

It is counter height.  It is compact and orderly.  I looks downright neat when closed or open because of the matching containers.  This.is.it.

It is functional.  It comes with all of the containers, of varying sizes.  Some of the pieces are meant to be portable, with velcro attachments to the door panels.  I can see through the container fronts to see what is inside.  There is even a label holder on each, for that lovely feeling of putting everything in its place.  They've designed this thing to take advantage of every nook and cranny.  They understand craft supplies.  So important details like paper trays that can accomodate 12×12 paper with the cut off / barcode strips is taken into account.  Vertical and horizontal storage solutions are provided.  Portability and ease of use are all part of the design.  And yes, it is even on wheels.

So be looking for an upcoming post where I give a tour of my reorganized space.  I'm thinking I'll need a good week to get things in order.  This is one present that will keep on giving.

So now we are two birthdays down for November, and two more to go.  Time to check on the arrangements for the twins' birthdays in two weeks.

So now you'll understand that I might be a bit AWOL this month.  But all for very good reason.  I've set a date to scrap at my local scrapbook shop, Express Yourself on December 6th for their 10am – 10pm crop.  Until then, organization and celebration will be the mantra in the MacDonald household.

Thanks for celebrating with me. 🙂