ribbons and kittens, oh my!

so the other day i came up with this brilliant way to store (and display) my collection of ribbon. i've kept it all hidden in baskets, sorted by color, but found that i always just pulled out whatever was on top rather than looking at the assortment in each basket every time i needed something. i wanted something more useful than the martha stewart ribbon box i once i had because it didn't hold all of my stuff, obviously, nor did it work for anything not on spools and since the majority of my collection is recycled stuff, anyway, or bits of leftover yarn, it wasn't the solution.

i came across ribbon rings. love them! but. i needed a free solution and a right now, immediate solution. (when i have funds to spend on further organization, though, i'm gettin' me some ribbon rings!)


photo courtesy of http://www.ribbonring.com/

 i had been keeping my aprons and knitting project bags on a coat rack next to my craft desk. it struck me that i could use the coat rack as a ribbon display, instead (though later, much to my delight, i put my aprons back on the coat rack and they all live in perfect harmony!). i used those flat metal hooks used for over-the-door storage bags and sorted by color again, cutting to a decent length, the ribbon that was actually on spools.

ta-da!

now. certainly this is not as tidy as ribbon rings but i sort of like it! it works for now anyway. or will it? see, this was monday. the same day i looked at awesome papa, who has been apprehensive (at best) about letting us add a feline to our family, and said, "okay, no cat." see, i am sometimes on the fence about it but mostly i want one and the boys all very much want one. the day that i set up all of my ribbon within cat-reaching distance from the floor, i sort of resigned myself to the idea of remaining "pet-free." little did i know that awesome papa had already scoped the animal humane website and found a cat. he pretty much told me to check my email because he'd already inquired about her and forwarded me the info.

i was shocked.

i decided my pretty ribbon display was pretty for now but perhaps not the most logical choice. it's been five days and we still don't know because the cat we had our hearts set on wasn't actually available. we didn't know this until we drove to the animal humane across town. i was bummed on several levels but we were told that she had surgery complications and needed to be under vet supervision a while longer. they kept assuring us they'd call us back but also suggested that we call the clinic to get status updates. no one from the clinic ever called me back and on wednesday i finally got more info. she was placed under five days observation earlier on monday and should be ready on friday, possibly saturday. today i noticed that her listing was no longer on the website so i called again. this time i was informed that the vets do not work on friday, saturday, or sunday so there was no way she'd be available until monday at the earliest. no one could actually give me an update on her status or whether or not she'd been improving. the little kids are napping so they don't know yet but pea has been very patiently, but excitedly, saying "we're getting a cat on friday or maybe saturday" and i very selfishly wanted to have her home with us by father's day. i know, it's silly.

the day that we drove all the way down there and left without being able to even catch a glimpse of her, the little boys and i went supplies shopping. we have been very patient and i might just go look at the cats at the location much, much closer to our home when the babies wake up. i know, that's silly, too.

but this stuff has been starting at me for five days and i'm nearly as impatient as a four year old!

i spied a cat blanket at petsmart and as tempting as it was, i knew i had the perfect blanket at home. didn't have one in mind, at the time, but was so happy when i saw this little receiving blanket in the boys' closet!

booda box! best looking litter box, ever!

okay, well as i've been typing this, both babies awoke and my husband has finished his day earlier. we are all meeting at the humane society closest to our home to take a look at a few other girlies that caught my eye ;)