Back in January, I showed you how I organize my home decor inspiration pictures in a 3-ring binder.  Plastic sleeves protect the magazine tear-outs and I file them by room (i.e.  kitchen, living room, bathroom, etc). 

Imagine my surprise when I got an email (yes!  my first email from a House*Tweaking reader!) from an old classmate who took My Little Black Book and put her own spin on it.  Shayna and I go waaay back although I haven’t seen or talked to her in ages.  We rode the same school bus for nearly 10 years?!  (Is that right, Shayna?)  In high school, Shayna was by far the most talented artist in our class.  She did artwork for our yearbook cover and designed T-shirts for us too.  Whenever anyone needed some creative style, they usually thought of Shayna first.  So, you better believe I was ecstatic to hear that she had been inspired by something I’d done.  Apparently, Shayna has a green thumb (something I don’t have) and a lot of land (again something I don’t have).  She enjoys gardening and growing things from the ground up.  To document and organize all her plantings and gardening ideas, Shayna put together a Gardening Black Book.  Here’s what she had to say about it:

“On the cover you can see I’ve traced in a satellite photo in Illustrator of my property and I’m using that to decide my placement for planting and possible irrigation. I located areas with shade and shadowed them so I know to use shade plants in those areas. (We have a lot of trees) In my binder I’ve kept I log of when I’ve started which seeds and when I need to start others. I also printed useful things I’ve found online. I’ve sprouted inpatients, pansies, and a few other decorative plants that can begin this way. I’m now starting some veggies in larger pots.

You mentioned that gardening wasn’t one of your hobbies, I just thought you might like to see another spin on your idea!   – Shayna”

Here’s her Gardening Black Book:

See the way she mapped out the landscape of her property?  Isn’t that super cool?!  The gray shaded areas are places for shade-loving plants.  Genius.

The folder contains a calendar, planting notes, receipts and ideas.  I think I even see a little seedling packet.  Shayna’s twist on the inspiration folder is a, well, inspiration.  Just think, you could use it for recipes, coupons, wedding planning, scrapbooking, sewing ideas…the options are endless.

Thanks, Shayna, for sharing your idea with H*T!