Free Summer Reading! I love this!

I joined this site a few years ago, and have love-love-loved it from Day 1. If you're looking for some good summer reading, check it out ASAP! As of the time of this post, they have OVER 4 MILLION books to choose from!! Yes, you read that right! And you get 2 free credits just for joining and listing 10 books that are gathering dust on your shelves!

If you haven't yet checked it out, I can't recommend it enough! So far, I have traded 147 books and all for free! You pay shipping to mail out your books to those who request them (usually no more than $3 - can you buy the latest book for that? I think not!) When you request a book from someone else, they pay shipping to mail them to you....what a great system! You get credits for each book that you send out, which you then use to request books you want from other members.

Oh yeah, they also have audio books (2 credits) which is my current favorite due to time constraints. I order a couple at a time and always have something good to listen to on my commute to work & back. :)

From Coffee Pot to Clothesline

What I'm Making...

I love Spring! I love hanging sheets on the clothes line, but I hate the way my wooden clothespins look (since I forgot them all winter and left them outside - who knew they weren't made of treated wood??). I finally got some plastic ones, and then decided I was ALSO tired of the old linen bag that held them. So last night, I decided to try a new project. Here's what I came up with:

First, I found an empty coffee canister with a handle:

Then I had the Mister drill some holes in the bottom to drain out any rain that will come over the summer (please, can we get some rain this summer???), and cut the the handle straight across - you'll see why later...

Next, I used the handy-dandy $1.17 spray paint that my crafty friend Michelle got me hooked on last year.

Now comes the part that I *know* I wasn't exactly qualified to do, but I tried anyway. From a distance, it's actually pretty good...but let me preface this next photo with: "I am NOT a painter!" Somehow my children absorbed whatever artistic talent I had and now - Ptttpph. It's gone. : p

Notice that I can't even paint a CIRCLE. How pathetic is that?!? LOL

And the final product (minus the clear coating I have to go buy today to keep the paint from chipping off).

Just slip the clotheline through the handle (remember I had hubby cut through the plastic there before painting). It hangs at a perfect angle for grabbing the pins out as you work!

So here it is - a convenient clothes pin hanger made from stuff I had already in my craft box! I'm pretty happy with it, but I'm sure I'll try to improve on it the next time I empty another coffee canister. (maybe I can get an artist to do the painting portion next time. ;)