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frankie_in_zone_7

Magazine rippers--new idea

Frankie_in_zone_7
13 years ago

Here is a new idea for me, though I may be late to the party.

I am a big magazine-browser and ripper. That is problem number one of itself--so this year I am going to try to go "free" of new magazines. I have a higher-priority project that I want to spend time on and I think I am going to try to focus and spend less time reading magazines and more on this other thing.

Anyways, the background is, I have a backlog and I keep files. Such as: I keep 3-ring binders with magazines using those special mag-slider-holder thingies. I'll keep various mag's for reference--garden and so on--and copies that have a high proportion of "save" stuff, I just keep the whole thing. Since to some extent nothing completely new comes out(you'll see the same themes at every season over the course of years) , I do find it almost as useful to re-read a old Christmas or Thanksgiving issues, or gardening magazines, as to get new ones. Then at some point I'll toss it and sub in a new one.

When I rip stuff out, I have kept it in 1) folders, 2) sheet protectors, and 3) even pasted into scrapbooks when I just want to preserve a small photo or idea--like a collage of ideas. Of course I never use all of these ideas, but I do use some--a craft project here, a plant combination there, a gift idea, etc.

But, folders are a pain to get out of a file and then fiddle with the single sheets inside, that fall out; Sheet protectors are more than you need, but the magazine pages themselves are too fragile for hole-punching. I have multiple categories I collect and like to have together.

So what I have been trying recently is using those clear presentation report covers with the plastic slide thingy. Voila, I can combine dozens of single pages into something that is now like its own specialty magazine of ideas and only the extra weight equivalent to one sheet protector, and easier to flip through than a 3-ring binder, very slim to store. So can have one for each of many types of ideas and is easy to refer to, easy to weed out or add.

Comments (13)

  • jannie
    13 years ago

    Great idea. I have a few of those plastic protectors. I put all my computer passwords on a piece of paper, slipped the list in a protector and filed it in the top drawer of my desk.

  • ohpink
    13 years ago

    I have used the sheet protector in a notebook idea for years. I find that only about 2 or 3 articles in each magazine are worth keeping. These I put in notebooks with dividers for each topic. Mosaic, kids, organization, etc. Then you can get rid of the rest of the magazine saving yourself lots of room. Keep on trying and don't let it get away from you or you will be buried in paper!

  • jannie
    13 years ago

    For years I clipped cooking recipes from magazines. I bought an organizer notebook but I also have a drawer full of pages . Now I never use printed recipes-I can find any recipe in the world using the Internet. AllRecipes comes to mind, as well as Glenda right here at KT.

  • des_arc_ya_ya
    13 years ago

    Sounds like a great idea to me! I have probably 40 three-ring binders full of ideas and believe me, they take up a bunch of room in my spare bedroom closet.

  • marie26
    13 years ago

    I think I beat all of you with what I did with magazine clippings. A few years ago, I went through every last magazine that I had saved for years and cut out those articles that seemed important to me. I organized them all in files in the filing cabinet. Then, I never looked at them again until recently when I was moving. I threw many of the files out when I realized that the decorating, fashion, etc. clippings were not my style anymore. I kept a file on dieting of many types of diets. But I lost weight the past couple of years by just counting calories so most of that file was thrown out. I even had a huge file on nutrition but it's all online so I got rid of that as well.

    Since I'm moving this weekend into my new place, I'm still on the lookout for decorating and organizing ideas but I'll do something with it this time instead of cutting it out just because it was interesting at the moment.

    During the move, I realized I must own over a thousand sheet protectors. I couldn't part with them although I don't know that I'll ever use more than a few.

  • janetpetiole
    13 years ago

    I use an accordion files, one for garden and one for interior decorating that has 12 dividers. Each room is it's own catagory, plus a few categories for specific projects. It makes filing easy and I have found that I am more likely to get rid of something I've lost interest in because everything is loose.

  • Frankie_in_zone_7
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    So my revelation for myself was that when I file things in folders and accordion files, I am less likely to access them again, and when I use sheet protectors it puts in an extra step that I put off doing, but when I just save up some pages and slip on the report clip, I am more likely to flip through it and use it. Go figure! It shows that it can be worthwhile to identify your "filing style."

  • minnie_tx
    13 years ago

    I thought I wrote this for one of the forums years ago but I can't find it. Back when I was interested in a lot of thigs and was a gret mag clipper I used this system. After getting the clippings into ctagories (to begin with and just keep up as you go along) Ex Decorating, scrapbooking, sewing hints, recipes etc. I gave each one a number with blck marking pen up in the right hand corner of the article or clipping. Most of the time I used the see thru page dividers using both front and back etc. Then I entered the title of each clipping into a log I kept on my computer I filed bly number not worrying about the alpha. I sorted the list by numbrs and also did a separate alpha sort. So I knew the order they were in and also was able to retrieve a needed artilce very easily.
    I also did the same thing with boxes of craft materials I listed what was in each box having given the box a number
    Hope this helps someone.
    Oh, I kept them in their own notebooks

  • westvillager
    13 years ago

    I'm more hi-tech, low creativity about magazine finds. I've found a scanner to be the most useful in terms of organization and quick inspiration -- also makes it easier to share with folks like architect, contractor, buyer or friend.

  • tansunny
    13 years ago

    Minnie-That helps me a lot. I am constantly clipping recipes, and then I put them in sheet protectors in binders by category (appetizers/snacks, soups, breads & baked goods, salads, veggie side dishes, grain side dishes, poultry main dishes, beef/lamb main dishes, pork main dishes, fish/seafood main dishes, vegetarian main dishes, and desserts.

    These are spread out between about 3 binders. I used to try to keep like items together (all of the chicken with pasta was together, all the breaded chicken together, all the chicken with sauce together, all of the mexican chicken together, etc), but it gets crazy. Now I just try to put a new recipe in the back.

    I think I am going to try your method. Right now I manually enter my recipes into Mastercook (more for the purpose of making sure I don't have the same recipe twice (or 3-4 times) as I pursue many of the same websites regulary. I suppose a spreadsheet could also be a way to keep track of tried/untried.

  • stephpi
    13 years ago

    LOVE the plastic report cover idea!!!! Seriously, I would not have come up with that on my own. The folder system I am using just hasn't worked for me.

    We are going to start building a home soon, so I think I will label each report cover with a different room of the house with all my 'ideas'. Thanks!!!!

  • PRO
    Skonovd Ranch
    13 years ago

    I too am a scanner. I scan just about everything. Then I pop the pic onto a MS Word page so I can type in notes about the clipping that I am saving. I can even change the size & crop out anything I don't want. It was extremely useful with the house we just built. I would just email the pic to whoever instead of trying to find explain what I wanted.

  • lov2garden
    13 years ago

    1. Frankie, the plastic report cover idea is awesome, easy & cheap! I've got tons of binders and page protectors but they are so big and heavy to actually use. I'm going to switch to your method!

    2. Hey, scanner lovers: my printer has a scanner that does one page at a time so doing 5 pages seems to take forever. Especially since so many articles are double sided. How do you deal with that? At work we have a scanner that you can put 20 or so pages on but I wonder if magazine pages will jam since they are slick and thin? I REALLY like the idea of scanning...can you elaborate on how to do it quickly and easily?

    3. Quick tip about using AllRecipes- if you become a member, you can have your own "recipe box". If I find a magazine recipe or someone gives me a copy or emails me, I search AllRecipes for a similar recipe, then edit the ingredients to match the recipe I found or was given and keep it in my recipe box. I put most of my own favorite recipes in AllRecipes this way. It's easier to edit an existing recipe than enter all of the info from scratch.