Pretty Storage Boxes, Containers & Storage Baskets...Continued..

How did I forget to post the rest of them? Heehee.
Here we are:

Inside this box came a beautiful zodiac necklace. I was born in the year of the monkey..which I've been called many times heehee.

The lid of this box makes room for a photo. Right now I keep candles in here.

What do you do when you're desperate for some storage space and have a lot of messy bottles? Put them in a basket of course! This basket now functions as a lotion bottle holder in my linen closet. but it has always held bottles of some sort.

I love this basket because it can be used for pretty much anything & look adorable. I placed it in my closet to hold winter scarves, hats and mittens.

Pretty Storage Boxes, Containers & Baskets

I love pretty storage containers. They not only look great, but they're super useful too.

The thing is, I need help with maximizing the use of my storage while creating a beautiful look.

Here are the ones that I have accumulated so far:

Chinese Storage Box

Coffee Storage Box

Winnie the Pooh Storage Box

Jewellery Box

Christmas Star Book Basket

Office Paper Basket

Storage boxes are often most impactful when placed together in one area. Right now mine are all over the place, with different functions. If you have things that you simply don't want others to see, pop them in one of these. Also when having children, those small toys can disappear in a jiffy.

Do you have any suggestions or tips about storage box use & display?

The New Gardener - My Quest for Flower Power

I have never had a green thumb. Every plant I've ever owned has either sadly passed away and gone to plant heaven or has been revived by my super green mom before following the light. Yesterday my friend mentioned a garden centre near her house and I knew I just had to give it another try! There just has to be a plant out there that I won't kill!

So we set out and learned a few things about flowers during our quest for some new plant babies.

Out of all the seemingly thousands of different plants and flowers, I chose the Yellow Loosestrife Circle Flower. I just adored the features of this flower: perennial, likes full sun or partial shade, likes moist soil, grows quickly & most of all is labelled as "very hardy". Not just "hardy", "very hardy"!

Lesson #1: Garden centres often label plant "hardiness", which is a definite must for the new gardener.


I thought buying the pot would be the easiest aspect of plant shopping, but I was very mistaken. When asking an associate a question about replanting, she looked at the pot on my cart & said "That pot is way too big. You should replant into a pot that is only a little bit larger than the original pot or else the plant will spend too much energy growing it's roots to accomodate the larger pot and the plant will wilt. Only when the plant has grown into it's slightly larger new pot, can you replant it again into an even larger pot." Wow. I did not know that!

So I returned the original pot and after about 30 more minutes of searching I finally found one that looked to be about the right size! (It was still a teeny bit too big but was the closet I could get!).

Lesson #2: Many plants should be replanted in very slightly larger pots.

Lesson #3: When in doubt, always ask questions.


When we finally took our goods to the counter, I asked what kind of replanting soil I should use(thanks to my friend - as I hadn't even thought about this!). They looked at my plant & were surprised to see that I was putting my flower in a pot. Uh oh. For a moment I thought I had to go back and get an entirely different flower, but they were just concerned about drainage. The associate recommended a common soil & also recommended that I use gravel (such as fish tank gravel) on the bottom of the pot in order to fill it up, but also to help with drainage. This was a great idea, but upon returning home I found that my gravel was at my parent's house. Luckily I had this lightly used fish tank filter. It looks just as good to me!

Lesson #4: Always consider the plant's water drainage requirements when choosing a flower pot.


Upon the associate's recommendation, I purchased a standard potting soil at a sale price of only $3.59!

Lesson #5: Always consider a plant's soil requirements. Fortunately, most plants require standard soil.


Upon returning home I went to work and planted my flower. Here it is on it's first day on the balcony.

Lesson #6: Replant with care. Be gentle!

Lesson #7: Watch how much sun your plant is getting through the day. You might have to play around with the pot location in order to ensure that your flower is getting the right amount of sunlight.

Lesson #8: Love your plant & be happy!

Now I have a question that I always forget to ask. Can anyone tell me why some pots do not have holes on the bottom?

Sophia Quilt ~ I don't know which week!

Oh my goodness! I have been MIA for a really long time! I haven't forgotten about my blogs, but rather have been very preoccupied with a bunch of unexpected things.

Anyway, I'm not sure what week this is for my quilt progress, as it has been so long since I've been here!

I have been dedicating almost every day to working on my quilt for the last couple of weeks and am seeing some definite results. Most of the progress since last time has been white stitching, which should explain why it doesn't look like a huge amount of progress!

I have pretty much completed a few specific shades of pink, purple, blue & of course the white (finally).


The photo below reveals some of the pink, white & purple that I have been working on:


I would love to know if you have ever cross-stitched or done any other type of stitching, sewing, or knitting. Which do you prefer & why?

I dabbled in both knitting, sewing & hooking years ago. My favourites would be hooking & cross stitching, however I think knitting and sewing are by far more productive.