Day 3 The Linen Drawer

♫On the third day of Christmas----♪♫♪     No. ♪♪♫♫ On the third day of decluttering my true love said to me♫♫  "Wow, you really are keeping your New Year's Resolution!!"   Yes I am!

The top drawer at the left of the oven is where I keep my everyday linens---tablecloths, napkins, pot holders.  There's another place where I keep my fancier linens---white tablecloths, white napkins. 

Panorama of drawer three before.

Everything dumped out.

This drawer didn't take much time to reorganize.

The recipes in the plastic bag don't belong here.  Oh, that reminds me! I need to reorganize my recipes.  Another resolution perhaps?

This one napkin ring doesn't belong here. Neither did the roll of freezer paper.

Tablecloths that we use outdoors.

Tablecloth with ants.  One of my favorites.

The two tablecloths are ones we use outdoors.  I especially like the one with the "ants" crawling all over it.  I saw this piece of oilcloth and had them cut a piece large enough for an outdoor table.  These are the kinds of ants I don't mind having on the table.  Somewhere I found fabric with this same design and I made eight napkins, but they don't seem to be here.  Maybe I will find them as I continue to declutter.  And check out these ant napkin rings.  Wouldn't they be cute to use for a picnic with this tablecloth?


This drawer also holds trivets and cork hot pads.  I seem to have two packs of hot pads that haven't been opened.  Every time I go to IKEA I seem to buy a pack.  They are such a bargain there---3 for $2.99.  Well I can quit buying these since I have a lifetime supply.

Panorama of drawer after organizing. 

This drawer shaped up nicely and quickly.

Tomorrow on to drawer four.  

Day Two of my New Year's Resolution

Here it is January 2, 2015, and so far I have kept my New Year's Resolution.  Today I cleaned out kitchen drawer number two, the drawer to the right of our refrigerator.  I was able to discard a few things from this drawer and others I moved to a more appropriate drawer.

This is the before photo:

Kitchen drawer two before decluttering.

Here is everything from drawer two.

I don't even know what some of these things are nor where I got them. They look as if they were hand craved (even have the name of the maker on them).  I think they were utensils for opening or eating something we had at a restaurant but I can't remember what or where.  Guess I just decided to bring them home because they were pretty.  Anyway I have jettisoned them. 

Unknown utensils from some meal at a restaurant. 

The skewers belong in the drawer that I did yesterday so out they go to that drawer.

These skewers belong in the drawer I organized yesterday.  Over they go.

I tried this egg timer once with poor results and the egg timer made the water smell strongly of the plastic  from which it is made.  This will be thrown away.

Useless egg timer in my opinion.

The cookie cutters for making dog biscuits---some are shaped like bones---will go to the pantry with the rest of the cookie cutters.  One Christmas I made dog biscuits shaped like bones for all the dogs in the family.  They were a great success.  I had forgotten I had these.  See what you might find if you declutter!

Cookie cutters for dog biscuits.

The little cheese board with spreader made in New Zealand was a gift from Joe and Alice after their trip there.  And the little cheese holder (not part of their gift) is great for holding cheese as you cut it.  It is especially helpful for soft cheeses.

This stays in this drawer.  I always know where to find it when I need it.

I use the pastry cloth whenever I make pies.  I decided to move the rolling pin (the one my Mama had) to this drawer since I had room for it and this seemed the logical place.

Vintage rolling pin that I moved to this drawer.  It needs to be with the pastry cloth.

Perhaps my prize possession in this drawer is the Thermapen instant digital thermometer.  I always use it when cooking meat to determine the degree of doneness and it never lets me down. This is a rather expensive thermometer, but I think it is well worth the price.  We've had this one for over five years.

One of my favorite kitchen tools.  The Thermapen thermometer folds up and fits in a little leather case.

They  have produced a backlit Thermapen that would be great if you grill outdoors at night.  Check out this Youtube.

 Here is what drawer number two looks like reorganized.

Drawer two decluttered and organized.

I'm on schedule with reorganizing my kitchen drawers for the New Year.  Looking forward to day three.