But

“When it rains, it pours!”

These last two weeks have been crazy here weather wiseLast week was unseasonably wet after torrential rain showers, flooding and strong winds hit the region. Most of the dams around our state are now bulging with water so concerns have been raised about the prospect of mass flooding this Summer. On top of that, about 15 tropical cyclones are predicted to form in Australian waters this year, with seven or eight likely to cross the coast. It looks like we are going to be in for a wild and wet Summer!


Our house flooded last week due to the enormous amount of rain we received so I have been cleaning up and throwing away anything that was damaged. I decided to use this opportunity to Spring Clean and re-organize the whole house in preparation for the Holidays. So, I dragged out my water-logged boxes full of decorations, wrapping paper, ribbons and cards and I attacked everything!


I found this gorgeous old vintage suitcase in our storage area under the stairs.


The suitcase used to belong to Mr Attorney's Grandmother! I LOVE it!


I cleaned up the suitcase and decided that I would use it to store all of my everyday giftwrap, cards, scissors, tape and ribbons.






It feels so good to be organised!


I then found a larger suitcase to store all of my Christmas goodies.








Finally, I added a scented Crabtree and Evelyn fragrance pillow so that when I open my suitcase next month everything will smell Christmassy and festive!




It felt so good to turn what could have been a bad situation to turn it into something good! I realized that it would have been totally pointless to be worried, angry or upset about our house being flooded.  "None of us is immune to bad luck or tough times." However, we always have opportunities to turn something bad into something good, if we are willing to learn from adversity, and deal with it productively. With a positive attitude we can turn bad situations into great ones!



Linking to

Thanks so much for having me!

Before I go I just want to thank you for visiting me today but I also want to say a very big thank you to the kind folks who left such sweet messages about my poor old flooded home! Things are getting back to normal now and when we compare the amount of damage we had to the terrible damage that many others had we really are so very blessed.


Best wishes and happy weekend,
Natasha In Oz 
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55 comments:

  1. WOW I'm sorry you have had to go through all that! Hope things will settle down for you!

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  2. LOVE the suitcase, and how you are using it. Great idea!

    Jocelyn
    http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

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  3. Too bad about the flooding but sometimes things like that make us make a change and your change is a very good one..great idea! We had an especially wet summer, rained nearly every day! We are having a beautiful Fall right now though :D

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  4. You have far too many vintage things to let the water ruin. I am glad you saved these as they look in good condition. I trust the sun shines on you soon.

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  5. I am sorry about your flooding problems. Your vintage suitcases are awesome!! Nice idea to store your wrapping and Christmas items

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  6. LOVE the suitcase and the idea to store things like papers and wrapping stuff, how cute!! The idea of the scented bag is awesome too!

    blessings from Washington state where we too get lots of rain!

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  7. Yes, you do have to look for the positives when things go wrong. Those suitcases make great storage for your cards and wrapping etc. Crossing fingers that this will be the last of the flooding for your area. xx

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  8. You have a great attitude. I love that suitcase, very unusual. I do think that when there is a mess it causes you to get rid of things you don't need anyway. Yes, I love being organized! It is just a challenge to keep up with it.

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  9. Well the rain might have come down, but your spirit seems to be up. I hope there was no damage to carpets and floors.

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  10. How very true, Natasha...when it rains, it certainly does pour....but I love your spin on it. The 'attitude of gratitude' that it could always be worse, and you seem to look for rainbows amid the storm and that makes a huge difference. Glad the irreplaceable people at your end are all okay. Blessings and warm wishes from New York.

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  11. I am so sorry you had flooding, and I pray that all goes well for you from here on out.

    Great idea about the scents having them smell like Christmas!

    XOXOXO,

    Sheila :-)

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  12. Such a shame about the flood. When I was little, I remember we had a bad one and my parents lost a lot of things. Glad you saved those wonderful suitcases, though - they are great!

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  13. Ahhh I missed the post about you being flooded. Gosh, I had had no idea there was flooding until I happened to be in the doctors' a week or so ago and saw it on the news! At that time we were looking at booking a campervan to come up to Brizzy for a week's holiday! Hope its drying up for you now.

    Love the vintage suitcase!!

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  14. What a great idea! Love it. Sorry about the flood.

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  15. Welcome to Vintage Thingie Thursday!! I love the idea of storing things in vintage suitcases. I have a couple and am always on the lookout for more....how terrible about the flood, attitude is everything to over come such things! Have a great VTT!

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  16. So sorry that your house got flooded! I love the idea for a great functional use for those vintage suitcases! I love them, but never know what to do with them!

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  17. Hi Natasha,
    you are always positive, love that. Sorry for the flood, this makes a lot of mess. But you are organized again and now Christmas can come.
    I start a new blog event, baking christmas cookies, at 3. Nov. 2010. Woult love if you partcipate.
    Greetings, Johanna

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  18. Natasha,
    That is definitely looking on the bright side, We have flooded before and I learned to never store things in cardboard boxes if they are stored on the floor. All plastic for me now--would have saved me some angst. Hope things are getting back to normal now....

    Debi

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  19. What a lot of beautiful things you have !!!!!.woowwwwww so much !!!!.....i really like it....you must be a big big house !!........lovely day.....Ria...

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  20. Natasha,
    I am so sorry about your flooding problems. Hope all is fixed now.

    I love your storage ideas. I need to do just that when I get back to Florida. I always feel much better when I know where everything is!

    Carol

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  21. Natasha, my heart goes out to you. Flooding has to be one of the saddest kinds of disaster, because you can still see everything. Still, I suppose that you have more of a chance to salvage your stuff. I sure hope that the rain stops, and I appreciate your positive attitude.

    My husband has suitcases from his grandfather that were used in travels around the world in the oil fields business. I have filled them with all my husbands memorabilia from his days in law enforcement and childhood stuff. All there in one spot if we have to leave quickly in case of wildfire (our biggest threat around here).

    Oh, remember, when you get some time, choose one of my photos and I will print out an 8x10 and send it off to you.

    Take care and God bless you and your family,

    Kathy

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  22. That's awful about your home being flooded, but you did a lovely job rearranging things and getting things accomplished. Would you like to come organize my house next :)

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  23. You really have a great attitude, and yes it's nice to be all organized...if only would stay longer ;)

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  24. I love your xmas cards and papers. Hope your nice kitchen have not been dammaged! i'm sorry for you. Catherine

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  25. Beautiful eye candy! I enjoyed my visit today.

    e-Mom @ Susannah's {Kitchen}

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  26. I love the idea of using the old suitcase for storage. I have a huge one in the Garage I plan to use now. It's just been useless for so many years. Thanks for the idea. Doylene

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  27. So glad to hear you're back to normal, it must be horrible to have your home flooded... That suitcase is really beautiful and I think it's perfect for keeping all those wrappings and ribbons in, great idea :-) Have a good end of the week, Love from London x

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  28. There is nothing I enjoy more than having a good sort out and rearranging things. Just sorry that it was the flooding you suffered recently that 'inspired' you. The weather is certainly unpredictable all over the world it seems recently!
    Hope you are nearly back to normal.

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  29. You are absolutely the cutest thing.I so love your winning attitude. I would have bawled and squalled (that means big time crying in Texan:)).

    I wish I could get in the mood to organize but I am in the middle of buying Christmas gifts and have them stuck every where. I am going to start wrapping next week. Since a lot of the gifts will be going to teenagers, there's gift card or money...so that won't take much wrapping. :))

    Glad you got things cleaned up at your house.
    xo bj

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  30. Natasha,

    Sorry to hear you were flooded out. We were flooded out here back in "2004". It was a terrible mess to deal with, and took months to clean up. You sound like you are dealing well with the cleanup.Probably better than I did! Love your suitcase ideas!

    I tried to link my Ernie Ford song to your blog, but I think I should have linked the post itself so people would not have to hunt around for the video. So sorry about that...I've never linked a post of mine to someone else's blog.

    Wishing you well and good things to come your way!

    Dorothy

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  31. I am so sorry your home was flooded. :(
    You really have a good attitude about it all. When you write about Summer coming, I have to stop and remember where you live. :D

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  32. I'm glad I found your blog today. That's really a great outlook you have.
    We had flooding in our area just a few weeks ago from too much rain in too short a time.
    I am glad to see that you have been able to save some things.

    We have an old suitcase, too, that used to belong to my mother-in-law. Your post has made me think that perhaps I could find a use for it, other than sitting on the shelf.

    Thanks for sharing with us and I hope you have a great Friday!

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  33. well you post says when live gives you lemons make.... you had water damage to your home but you found this lovely suitcase and organized your wrapping supplies . I'm glad you are getting along okay with getting things put back together

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  34. That is a wonderful use for a vintage suitcase. The plane pictured on the suitcase label is very cute. ♥olive

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  35. So nice and organized ~ this was a great use for this suitcase! It will smell so nice when you open it for Christmas. Sure hope your flooding problems are behind you :)

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  36. Great idea to store your paper goods in those suitcases! I like the idea of the scented one too. Hope the threat of flooding subsides.

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  37. Silver linings...great reminder...

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  38. I had the set I had received for graduation back in 1970 until a couple of years ago. Had never thought of using them for such a fun idea. Debbie

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  39. Hi Natasha, how are you, I just commented on your tablescape its lovely almost to my taste. clean and elegant...
    I love you button on my blog, I hope you will pay a visit to me at

    http://craftaworld.blogspot.com/

    And enjoy your visit and let me know about it...I would love if you take my button and post it on yours, it will be an honour
    Thanks and love
    Farah

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  40. So sorry about the flood. Been there and done that and it is not fun. But glad to see you have such a great attitude about it and turned it into an organizing opportunity.

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  41. Love your attitude- very positive! I, too use vintage suitcases to organize. Though in my case it is card-making supplies:

    http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2010/08/organizing-strategies-card-making-and.html

    I like how you use boxes, though to keep things in the suitcase!

    -Jami
    www.AnOregonCottage.com

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  42. Suitcases for storage of paper items. That's a great idea!
    Blessings~
    Marcia

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  43. What a great find during your spring cleaning!!
    I have gotten rid of old suitcases long before I realized I love old vintage suitcases, darn it!!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Michele

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  44. Love your positive outlook!
    The suitcases are wonderful. I use suitcases for wrapping paper as well, only mine aren't nearly so organized on the inside. Hmm... another project...

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  45. I had no idea about your home and the flood damage - so sorry to hear about this! I hope things are getting better. Love the vintage suitcase - very cool! And a great storage place. Hope things "dry out" soon. :)

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  46. Once again, very creative!
    It made me laugh also, there is something funny about the things tucked away behind the black net part.
    Happy weekend,
    Jacoba

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  47. I LOVE that suitcase!! LOVE IT!! What a find (in your house! I think you should hunt out more stuff!) - and all that wonderful craft stuff you have too! I'd love to be that organized - but my craft stuff ends up in chaos very quickly!

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  48. Hi Natasha, so glad to hear that you were able to get things taken care of after the water damage. You have a great idea to use the vintage suitcases. LOVE THEM!! Thanks so much for linking up with VIF!!
    xo,
    Debra

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  49. Wonderful Christmas treasures in your fabulous suitcase. Already in the mood for Christmas? xo, Britta

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  50. Oh Wow, can I give you my address?! My home could use some serious work!
    Hugs,
    Olivia

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  51. WOW what a great way to use an old suitcase. I love this idea!

    I hope you can stop by my blog and show off your project to my readers on my Show Off Sunday Party.

    http://houseofthriftydecor.blogspot.com/2010/10/show-off-sunday-party_24.html

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  52. I have been snatching up vintage suitcase for this same purpose...but none of mine are as special as yours.

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  53. thanks for your visit! I loved it! fantastic blog! hugs!

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