Ellen Hankes

Promotion Material Pileup

  This morning at the Omaha Empowerment Breakfast my breakfast companion observed the dozens of promotion pieces that were distributed to each attendee. Catalogs, beautiful color booklets printed on glossy paper, simple single sheet ads, business cards offered business awareness, specials and deals.

"As a professional organizer, what do you do with all of these papers?" my new acquaintance asked upon learning of my profession. It is a good question that many business people face as they have opportunities to learn about other businesses through meetings, conferences and one-on-one sessions.

Here are some options for savvy handling of promotional pieces:

Women's History in the Jewelry Box

  March is Women's History Month and the jewelry box can be a wonderful place to review and appreciate the lives of women before us. Since items of jewelry often become keepsakes, they are often parked in a jewelry box. Styles change and women's tastes in color and other aspects of ornament vary with the decade.

In the latter half of the last century ladies coordinated their colors from head to toe--hats, jewelry, clothing, purses and shoes. Costume jewelry from that era can be collectible or it can simply remind of us of someone special.

My friend has a fabulous collection of her mother's crystal jewelry pieces. A skilled jewelry craftswoman, she reformats the jewelry to fit her current lifestyle and seeks additional pieces to supplement items from the collection. At the same time she honors an important woman in her life by extending the life of items she chose years ago.

How do you honor the history of women? We would like to hear how you have given new life to items of yesteryear!