Hello ReDo Readers! Welcome to the first blog for 2012! What a year 2011 was – so much change, and so fast! I’m still trying to catch up from it all. But now that 2012 is here I’m looking forward to more opportunities to grow ReDo, to enhance the subject matters I blog about, to reach out to more readers through social networking, and to take some time to learn from the previous year’s challenges and tests. I may have stumbled, faltered, even tripped and scraped my knees, but I’m still standing, still pushing forward, ever onward. My motto for the new year is “Keep Calm and Carry On”; I discovered a poster in the window of a frame shop last summer. It was kismet that I found the poster as I was going through some very difficult personal issues at the time; it gave me a mantra to focus my energy on as I slogged my way through the adversity. “Keep Calm and Carry On” was a poster produced by the Ministry of Information by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion. For me, it raises my emotional and spiritual moral, providing me solace so that during future times of hardship, I remind myself to simply keep calm and carry on. I can and will make it through the hard times, no matter what. “Good times and bum times, I’ve seen them all and, my dear, I’m still here!”
So now that we have a new outlook for the new year, how about we start off 2012 with some really great and clever ideas to employ in your everyday living? Whether at work, home, on the road or whatever direction you take, some of these awesome ideas will make small tasks easy and inspire you to think of more unique and creative ways to simplify daily tasks in life. Not all clever ideas are practical in their execution, such as the toothbrush picture here, but regardless, it’s an interesting and well-thought out concept. A few blogs back I solicited you, the readers, for some ideas to include in my “Clever Ideas” blog. This posting is the first of several highlighting and showcasing some of those awesome entries. And should you have a few more that you don’t see here, feel free to share them and I’ll add them to my next “Clever Ideas” blog.
These clever ideas are in no particular order of personal like or popularity; I think they’re all pretty fun, practical, and great – not to mention easy to work with! What’s great is that with very little effort you can maximum yield from these ideas. So without further ado, here we go!
– I found this cute little ditty while running a random search for clever ideas: If you’ve ever had a lost sock or two – and really, who hasn’t? – and you stuck with what to do with the mate until the lost one reappears, here’s a really clever idea for keep track of the socks. No longer do you have to relegate the loss to the dryer sock monster; now, there’s a crafty solution for your problem, and it’s a great project for your laundry room! Follow the link to see more ideas from this blogger’s site!
– Until everything in the world goes wireless, we’ll always face this problem. I know I’ve been in this situation, and I can tell you this: I HATE WIRES. We all have TV cabinets or home offices with scads of messy wires unorganized, hidden behind our furniture – a million wires strewn about on and behind your desk, TV cabinet, or dresser. It’s a common problem, but this blogger found a neat and practical solutionHere’s a quick solution reusing binder clips to sort them out! Pretty ingenious, eh?
– We tend to purchase cleaning items in various packaging, and most of it winds up in the garbage and landfills after we’re through with them. This clever idea works to not only keep such packaging containers our of the refuse, but it’s a great way to store and save your plastic shopping bags for future use. But one in your pantry for bagging up recycling, keep one near your kitty’s box to dispose of their…you know, clumps and stuff. Keep them in a variety of places for numerous uses in your home, office or car.
– Here’s an idea I saw and thought “How brilliant!”, especially when you consider that it solves 2 problems. More often than not our sheets and pillow cases get laundered, folded and stuffed in our closets however best we can. By putting the clean linens in one of the pillowcases you keep all your items for that bed dressing together. You also simplify your storage by reducing the overall amount of space used, and it saves time when you need to grab a certain sheet set when you change your sheets. Brilliant!
This Clever Ideas blog will be the first of several to come; I’m hoping that with your participation, I can continue to add more to the list of amazing ideas and clever ways of taking ordinary things and finding another use for them. Or, should it be just another practical application of ‘how to do something’, I’d love to hear from my readers on what you’ve discovered works for you and share it here for everyone to enjoy your cleverness. So kick off 2012 with a mantra of your own, whether it’s a positive affirmation, or a reminder of the ‘Joie de Vivre’, fill your new year with clever ideas and have fun learning, sharing and doing with others. With this collaborative effort, who knows what sort of great things we can come up with? Happy New Year, everyone!