Sanity today, insanity tomorrow.

The pictures are looking different tonight. I have no idea how this will look when complete. This is a photo essay about my journey toward sanity for the holiday season. Maybe it will help me stop being so overwhelmed. This is an area of the garage BEFORE.

This is where I have been storing all my ingredients, packaging, and everything basically for the business,

I squished this picture somehow. Now I can't get it to unsquish! Same corner.







This is the new home of most of Hope's Homemades equipment, tools and ingredients! My friend Eric used to own a pizza restaurant and is trying to sell some of the equipment. I asked him if he has shelves and he said no, but he had some shelves he had gotten for free at the store - he now works at Kroger - and had never finished assembling them nor used them. Michael and I stopped on the way home tonight and picked them up. I built them! It was not difficult, but was time consuming.


The big white buckets on the side are what my 50 pound orders of whole wheat flour arrived in. I need to give them back so I have transferred much of the flour to the yellow-lidded storage containers. I am searching for something else. Need to fit on the shelves and have tight-fitting lids. These are only 6 qt, however, and I found that doesn't hold a lot of flour. I saw some that were much bigger, stackable, and rectangular, but I have to make sure they are "food grade" before purchase.

The white topped containers are "storage drawers" the kind you can stack up... They have my cake pans and other stuff that doesn't have boxes, but I don't think it should be out in the open, especially in the garage. Eventually, I want to get a storage unit with doors that close so that is less of a worry.

This drawer holds cake decorating supplies and stuff. On the left are some assorted ingredients. If I get any orders for my sale (sigh...) I will have to go shopping! I am getting low.


Baskets all ready to be made into gift baskets! I purchased many second-hand for one or two dollars each.

Nest shelf is catering/serving type stuff. That yellow lidded container is full of baking and candy and nut cups and paper stuff I am afraid will get crushed.

The foil pans have lots of candy bags, twistie ties, stickers, decorations and stuff for the finer points of packaging.
All that stuff is also in sub-containers, usually gallon bags, so it will stay clean.

My boxes of containers and some of my chocolate supply. I will definitely need chocolate soon! I have a triple chocolate cookie recipe I want to try!













LOOK! An empty space! A little sweeping a little table scooting and there will be room for a Christmas tree! YAY!







To be continued tomorrow, I hope, with my tale of my trip to Lafayette and interaction with Mom and Dad. He has gone home, but tomorrow's post will be the "Insanity" portion because of that.