Big Mistake = Big Time Saver!

So, the kids and I went to Costco yesterday, and as they were helping me bring all the groceries in the house our neighbor came by and we got to talking. Long story short, by the time I got in the house the kids had finished bringing everything in and had put it all away!!

I have to say, my kids are awesome, and they really do a LOT to help me!

Anyways, I didn't realize until this morning that the kids had put ALL the meat in the freezer. Now, I do freeze the meat, and save it for later use, but what they didn't realize was that I seperate it into portions, and THEN freeze it.

So, I had a 6 pound block of hamburger meat! At first I thought this was a bad thing... then I thought about it a little more.

I thawed out the big block of meat, and browned the entire thing. Then I seperated it into portions... and refroze it. Now, I have 6 pounds of meat in the freezer already cooked, and ready to be added to whatever meal I plan to make.

Talk about a huge time saver for those nights when we have stuff going on, when my husband is out to sea, or for when I just don't really feel like cooking!

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Old Cutting Mats

If you have a personal cutting machine, you know the cutting mats are not exactly cheap. Here is a way to use your old mats that are still a little sticky, but not quite sticky enough to keep your paper in place while going through the machine.
Use the mat to organize all your little leftover embellishments or paper pieces. I recently painted about 50 sets of eyes, and needed to keep them paired up. So, I stuck the eyes to my old cutting mat, and covered it with the plastic cover to keep them dust free. I can now store it just about anywhere, and not have to worry about the pieces getting messed up.

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Inexpensive Storage for Small Embellishments

I don't know about you, but I had a TON of little embellishments shoved into a drawer. Once I opened the packages I didn't know what to do with the leftovers and they would end up getting lost or scattered around! Then I came across these little stackable pill organizers. They work great for rhinestones, brads, eyelets and lots more! I found some at The Container Store, and at one time I even found some in the $1 bin at Target. So be sure to keep your eyes open for these great little containers!

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