The easiest way to hang pictures...no level required

Maybe I was just way out of the loop on this one, perhaps you've all been using these for years, but I just discovered them and had to pass it on.

I've been using the 3M command adhesive hooks forever and found them very useful. So, when I happened upon these picture hangers based on the same 'easy-remove' technology, I had to give them a shot. By the way, I found them near the hooks in the Wal-Mart hardware department. I believe they were around $3 for 3 hangers.

I couldn't believe how easy they were! I'm horrible at hanging pictures. I hate all the measuring and leveling. I also have a newly painted house and dreaded putting holes in all the walls. These handy little velcro hooks provided a great solution. Essentially, they work like the hooks. Whenever you decided you want to remove the hanger (off the back of your picture or off the wall) you simply pull down on the hanging tab and it pops right off. The two velcro strips can separate without pulling the strip off the wall, so it's really easy to pull all your pictures off for cleaning and then put them right back on.

When I created this arrangement, I laid them out on the floor and figured out how I would want them to look on the wall. Then, I took a picture of the floor arrangement with my digital camera. After that, I stuck both pieces of the velcro hangers on the backs of all of the frames. I then placed the frames on the wall (starting from the center and working out) by referencing the thumbnail-size picture on my camera. In less than 10 mintues, I had a cute, well spaced arrangement on my wall and I didn't use a nail, measuring tape or level. Better yet, when I get sick of it or when I need to add new pictures, I can easily rearrange the pictures without any damage to my wall. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Stash boxes - a great way to contain the clutter

In an ideal mothering world, I'd never pick up after my kids. They would feel responsible for their own messes and clean them up without my assistance. But let's face it, sometimes it's exhausting to enforce the "pick up after yourself" rule throughout the day. I created these "stash boxes" to give me an alternative to the constant nagging.

I really do believe that kids should be responsible for their own stuff, but I hate tripping over toys. With a stash box, I have a way to get the stuff out of my way while still enforcing the "pick up after yourself" rule. I've got one of these boxes (I bought them at Target for $9) just inside the door of every bedroom. Their purpose is to hold all the misc. items from around the house. The kids are responsible for emptying their stash box when it starts to get full and/or on the weekend when they do their Saturday jobs.

It's also very handy for my kids when they're cleaning around the house. They're each responsible for tidying up various rooms in the house throughout the week. Before stash boxes, I would often hear "but I didn't get this out why should I have to put it away?" in a lovely whining tone. Now they know that they can just take all the clutter from the room and distribute it to the various owner's stash boxes. It speeds up the cleaning time for them and forces the original mess maker to do most of the cleaning.

I have loved these stash boxes. We use them constantly. I imagine they'll be a staple at our house for years. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Pottery Barn art boards for a fraction of the price!

I always loved those art boards you see in the Pottery Barn Kids magazine. They're so simple and useful. However, at $30 each they were a little out of my range. Consequently, I decided to make my own.

I bought a pre-painted white, 8-foot piece of molding from Home Depot. I cut it into three equal sections and painted each with acrylic paint (I did two coats). Then I sprayed them with clear gloss to protect the finish.

I bought big magnetic clips from WalMart and popped out the magnets. Next, I used a very short screw to attach the clips to the board. I imagine you could also leave the magnets in and use a very strong super glue to attach them. I used 3M's 'command adhesive' picture hangers to attach them to the wall (you can find those at WalMart too, in hardware next to the hooks).

For about $12 I made three of these handy little art boards and it they were finished in less than a day. My kids love having a place to stash their latest pieces and I love having my fridge back. Just thought I'd pass it on.