No- Sew Kitchen Binder DIY

Every family knows the struggle of keeping the kitchen organized, especially with multiple people who "fend for themselves" outside of the scheduled meals or snack often. How does one person keep a kitchen organized? One option would be the be a stay-at-home den mom. Not really plausible currently for us and even for those who stay-at-home, I can imagine getting burnt out quickly trying to clean up after multiple people (I know I do).

The alternative and much more realistic option I thought of seemed like a better idea. A kitchen binder. A binder that is kept in the kitchen and used to help make groceries, meal planning, and such easier to manage.

I'd had this revelation while I was walking a local Walgreen's and wandered to their clearance (yay seasonal changes). I spotted an ugly yellow binder on clearance for a great price. $0.50 to get more organized? I'll take it.

So I got home and I set it on the table, was I really going to look at this yellow trapper every day for as long as I can remember? Um... no. But what to do? I glanced over to my plan for the day... I did need yarn and it was a Monday. Craft store it is. I jumped in the car and headed out to Hobby Lobby in my town.

Fabric was very likely going to be the answer to my problem. Lucky enough on the wall of fabric I found it. A Kitchen themed fabric, 30% off, and I knew exactly how much to get. So I'm going to share with you how I made this happen:

No- Sew Kitchen Organizer

Supplies:
1 Binder (what ever you have on hand. I used a clearance one with no pockets on the inside)
1/2 yard of fabric of choice
Duck Tape in coordinating color
Scissors

1. First I laid out the fabric (no need to prewash since this is going to stay on the same binder) to measure and trimmed so it was about an inch around for me to play with. Make sure pattern is straight if it matters with the pattern on the fabric you chose.

2. Cut at the corners, I went diagnally from the point in the fabric to the point on the binder. Also cut at the bind of the binder at each point it bends.

3. At this point you can start folding and taping. Starting from the long side. Fold in the points and lay the fabric on the inside of the binder for both sides of the binder. You do the opposite side after that, pulling as tight as the single strip of duck tape will allow.

At this point the corners will look like this.

4. After that I trimmed the points at the corner to make them a little more manageable for me. Folded in and then folded over to the inside, like I did with the top and bottom and tape. Repeat for the other side.

5. After that is done, you want to worry about the little bit by the trapper part. I folded that fabric into 3rds before taping.

6. Now to make it pretty. I cut strips of the duck tape to lay horizontally before framing those with another layer of duck tape around the edges. Should end up like this or similar. Use your judgement here.

And Viola you have your own No-Sew Kitchen Binder! Now fill it with important papers. What I did was a weekly and monthly menu planner in clear plastic sleeves. Then there is a list of recipes to try so I have that in one place while I'm planning. Followed by a list of inventories for the Kitchen, Pantry, Refridgerator, and Freezer. This binder will also hold the recipes I plan to use for that week in clear plastic sleeves.

I tried dry erase markers on the plastic sleeves, but I'm going to be picking up some wet erase as it is less likely to wipe away notes that I need or the menu until I'm ready to. I got my planners from Clean Mama Printables - Etsy Store. They work wonderfully and I'm very excited to get this kitchen under control to make the final move easier.

Share your finished binders in the comments! I'd love to see them. And until next time, Blessed Be.

New Haven

So, I think this would be the right time to introduce the new home. Our home is a 1960's ranch style home. It needs a lot of love, as I mentioned in the first post. When we first saw it, all we could think about was the potential, we could do anything! When we had the keys, we thought, "What did we get ourselves into.

So they added the "front porch" before we moved in. Not really a porch but I guess it's something. Pretty unassuming. I suppose. Wrong.

Hello, blue living room. with wallpaper even. Oh and commercial grade tile underneath... that stretches the entire household.

So above is what will be my space, a sleeping area, crafting, and of course clothes storage. This will be quite the chore. Notice the blue carpet in one of the side-by-side closets? It bleeds over from the living room. Literally right under the wall. This wall was definitely an after thought.

The basement is going to be the other main area that I will cover first in this series. So here is a nice example of what we walked in to with this house: Basically an open canvas but not quite.

Just look at those stairs would you? That carpet. That paneling. What is a girl to do with all this?

Gut it, of course. :)

I'll bring up the rest of the house later. It's quite special.

Until next time!

New Restaurant and New Experiences

So the Mr. and I made a trip to a local restaurant in the downtown area. We had been putting off the trip for a while, keep coming up with a different excuse each time or just being incredibly busy. The initial suggestion came when he noticed a trend of a fried chicken craving that lasted longer than a few weeks.

So we finally just decided to go, no more excuses. The two of us got in the car and set off on a lunch date to Watson's Shack and Rail. The restaurant itself was very casual, it still had a bar feel but it was fun. The two of us were led to one of the two tables sitting in the large window next to one of the main streets in the downtown area. As we decided on food and talked, I had a wonderful time glancing out to the rainy day to the bookstore across the street. Part of me longed to browse the three stories of bookshelves and the other part was enjoying the company and experience. (The struggle of being an introvert.)

The interior had beautiful tin ceiling, the bar area to the left, seating to the right, and the kitchen in the back. It was switched up from the previous business it used to be according to the Mr. He said the back has a ramp down to street level and had been a loading dock at one point.

After commenting on the interior we refocused on the food. Pork rinds were ordered.

They were followed by other choices but it was definitely my choice of Chicken and Waffles that stole the show. This was the Mr.'s first experience with chicken and waffles and this was a wonderful experience for him. The chicken was gorgeously fried and the waffle was done to perfection. They knew what they were doing. Just wish that they knew that gravy is an option or some people like more syrup. Still nonetheless, it was heavenly.

So heavenly in fact that a week later, Mr. was commenting how he was craving it but wished that he didn't want such an expensive dish. That was when I got the idea to surprise him with dinner at the end of an incredibly long work shift for him. The day before I planned on making this dinner I went looking for a good priced waffle-maker since I had yet to pick one up and neither had he.

With luck I found one at the local Goodwill for a great price and the waffles were 4 hearts joined in the center at the points. My metamour (my boyfriend's wife) agreed that they were adorable and perfect for the surprise.

Next was to find the right recipes for waffles. Then I found two. One was a standard waffle: vanilla, milk, flour, etc. The other was found via Countrified Hicks, and their No Milk Waffles. We've redubbed them, Apple Butter Waffles, or renamed accordingly depending on the main ingredient. The Mr has a lactose intolerance so these were a wonderful alternative. Instead of milk or alternative, these waffles called for apple butter, pumpkin butter, or even applesauce. I am a connoisseur of those goodies so we had the apple butter on stock and I was all too happy to finish off a jar for these.

And so when he came home and he smelled the fried chicken and came in and saw the heaping plates of waffles and the fried chicken, he was grinning from ear to ear and that couldn't help but make me smile too. The other two arrived home shortly after and we had a family meal together as best we could around our small dining room table (made even smaller by my sewing machine, oops).

Blessed Be.

Hello. Aloha. Blessed Be. Shalom.

Welcome to my unconventional family. My Beatnik Tribe.

I should introduce myself and explain how unconventional my family is. I, your friendly neighborhood blogger, am part of a polyamorous quad. I live with my boyfriend, his wife, and her boyfriend (and of course our fur-babies). This blog will not just talk about family dynamics as it relates to a polyamory perspective but it applies to any family. The other common topics will be projects as they pertain to our home such as diy, recipes, our renovation process, organization, pets, and maybe even a little about our garden.



We are currently 2 months before we have to be completely moved in to our new house together. A house that was an interesting decision on our parts. I remember walking in after we signed the paper work and hearing, "Was this really what we paid for? Someone please tell me this will be worth it." It was of course followed by reassurances all around that we were going to get through this together and by the end of this process, be a closer family unit.

We're all from different backgrounds, some of us knowing early on that there was just something different about themselves. Others of us took a little while longer finding ourselves. Somehow, we fit together, it's said when you find your tribe, you love them hard and you hold tight. We plan to do that for a long time.

Some stories may be personal, some may just be about a current project or a meal idea. This will all be from my own point of view unless one of my family members or friends requests to do a guest post.So, now that you know what you will be getting into, I enjoy starting this journey with you, reader.

Have a blessed day.

Kate