An After-Christmas Story

I love this time of year. It's time for cleaning out the holiday mess, decluttering the house, and organizing what's left. And it gives me a chance to find more uses for my very favorite craft tool: my trusty label maker. Remember in the Christmas Story when all Ralphie kept repeating was,  "I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle"?  Well, for years all I wanted was "an official Dymo, manual action, 26-letter, close-range label maker".

I admit it...I love to organize and I really love labeling my treasures when I'm done. It's not that I don't know where they are, I do...but labeling them just seems to add the final obsessive-compulsive touch to the day's work.

I label my ideas...

and my buttons...

...my magazines, craft books and even more ideas (will I ever get to them all?)...

I alphabetize my spices...

and even label my favorite "Chick Flicks".

Over the years, I have taken my share of heat for my labeling compulsion. When old friends come to dinner, someone will invariably want to open my spice cupboard just to make sure I haven't put the Cumin before the Cinnamon. And one day, my daughter-in-law, Wendy, snuck in when I was out and really set me up; I came home to find my whole house labeled...everything from the plants to the toilet paper! So I guess my Dymo and I have a bit of a reputation. Now I am just waiting for one of my friends, catching me in a frenzy of labeling bliss, to turn to me and holler, "Don't Shoot Your Eye Out!"