Auntie B's Wax

There is nothing more frustrating than insomnia, especially if you have to get to work by 6:00 a.m. the next day.  A bout of insomnia on the weekend, however, is a whole different matter.

One weekend I had a really weird pattern of sleep, but I used it to my advantage.  The project: spice cabinet.  The hour: midnight.

Our spice cabinet was a mess.  I tried to keep it organized and put things in alphabetical order, but in so many other ways it was complete chaos.  Spices were stored in different sized containers, because you know buying in bulk is less expensive than buying those little containers every time.  But then when you fill the little plastic container you bought in the first place with the bulk spice you just bought, the bulk stuff doesn’t all fit in the small container, so you have to store the residual bulk stuff somewhere.  More than likely it’s stored somewhere in back where you forget you have it and then when it’s time to fill up that little container again and you know you have some bulk stuff stored somewhere you can’t find it, so you buy another bulk packet of the spice.  This happens with lots of spices, so the cabinet gets fuller and more disorganized as time goes on.  I’d had it.  It was time to change.

The first thing I had to do was empty the cabinet completely.  I was full of energy, even though it was midnight.  The only thing I had to concern myself with was keeping kind of quiet as Husby was fast asleep upstairs.

When I saw the nasty shelf liner I decided to replace that too.  I had some nice green and white liner down in Craftland, which was great because I didn’t want to put the project on hold until I got some shelf liner.

Also lucky for me I was stocked with quite a few spice jars, thanks to Husby.  So I went to work transferring all the spices to same-sized spice jars.  Yes, I had some leftovers, but I organized those all nice and gave them a shelf of their own.  So when I run out of the spice I know exactly where to go to see if I have some more.

The new overflow shelf. Two unopened jars of meat tenderizer? Yes, but there won’t be any more coming into the house until these are gone.

After the shelf liners were in place and the spices were in the jars I got to work printing labels. I wish I could remember where I found the template so I could give some credit. They were the perfect size and just what I wanted.  Once I got them set up and printed out I cut them all out.  Then I stuck them on the jars.  The reason I’m relaying every tiny detail is because if you remember I started this project at midnight.  After each phase of the project I would say to myself, “okay, I’ll just do (the next phase) and then I’m going to bed.”  But I kept going and going.  If you say I was like the Energizer Bunny I might have to push you down.  But it was kind of like that.

Finally everything was done and I could move things back into the cabinet.  Top shelf is the overflow shelf (see picture above).  Second shelf stores the things that I didn’t want to put into spice jars but are used on a fairly regular basis.

Yes, Duck Dynasty fans, that is Phil Robinson’s “zesty” Cajun Style Seasoning. And it’s pretty good.

The very tidy and organized spices. You can’t tell from this picture, but when you look into the cabinet all of the labels are visible, making the search for spices super easy.

And so the clock strikes 5:00 a.m.  Five hours of insomnia put to very good use.  I should spend all of my insomniatic nights like this!  Husby woke up shortly after I finished the project and was very delighted with what he saw.

The finished project. A neat and organized cabinet makes spending time in the kitchen so much more enjoyable.

That’s the story of my spicy night. Too bad Husby slept through it all.

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