40 in 50: Organize my Craft Room

We woke up to 6 inches of snow this morning, and when that happens in Oregon, the world seems to stop. It was my day off anyways, but I cannot even begin to describe how much I’ve gotten done, and how nice its been to have nowhere to go (not like I really could’ve even if I’d needed to).

We were supposed to get our carpets cleaned at 10am, but the guy called and cancelled because he was snowed in (remember how I said the whole world seems to stop?). So I’ve literally had an entire day to clean, cook, get organized, and relaxxxxx.

And it’s only 2:30!

Luckily, the dog has been asleep since 10- hopefully we don’t pay for it later!

Anyway…given the weather and the fact that I’m cooped up in the house, I had a chance to finally organize my craft room and get it just the way I want it…nearly a year after we moved in.

Better late than never, right?

Here are the before pictures. Bear in mind that this was right after we’d moved in:

What a mess! But I do love the afternoon light that floods this room.

Here it is now…

LOVE Ikea. Honestly, | this | cheap-o bookshelf is one of the greatest and holds so much stuff.

I turned an old shutter on its side to add a little texture to the room and introduce a new shade of blue without actually having to paint.

The ‘be thankful’ sign is just glitter chipboard letters that I attached to some gray bakers twine with mini clothespins. I made it around Thanksgiving time for the mantle, but moved it into the craft room. Don’t we all need to be reminded of this more often?

This $10 flea market quilt adds just the right amount of orange to the room, which I really like.

And this is where I do 99.9% of my projects. I love this little corner.

The white table was my grandpa’s drafting table, he had it built in to his house, so I bought the legs for this one at Ikea (Ikea no longer makes them), they’re adjustable so that the table can be at an angle. I also love that it’s a huge surface, so I can have more than one project going on at once.

The framed wreath came from | Hil | and it fits perfectly in this room.

The picture of Ian is my favorite. I will be so grateful if our kids are half as cute as that.

This is my carry-all. If I’m in the middle of something, I stick it up there so I can look at it for a few days and decide if I really like it or not.

Those 3 adorable boys are my nephews who live on Kauai. They’re getting a little brother or sister tomorrow!

And a few more photos…

1. A random assortment of pillows I’ve made. Chevron, ruffle, and antique flour sack, those coordinate. Right?

2. A place for everything and everything in its place.

| big boxes for fabric scraps |comic book boards (no really), to wrap longer pieces of fabric around | my mom’s old sewing basket |

3. Embellishments (of which I have way too many).

4. A handful of my favorite books. Some left over from studying Interior Design, others that I just like and often reference.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my Justin Bieber Pandora station and work on projects for a baby shower I’m co-hosting this weekend.

It will be a miracle if I get out of my sweats today…

40 in 50: Update My Idea Book

Long before the days of Pinterest (like, literally, when I was still in high school), I started an idea book of looks, inspiration, ideas, colors palettes, furniture, and decorating ideas that I loved. I’d rip pages out of catalogs and magazines, put them in my book, and hope that one day I would be able to put them to use.

Thanks to Pinterest, books like this are a thing of the past, and I’ve neglected to even open the book until a few weeks ago when I was making the list of things I wanted to get done.

First, I was shocked at little how my taste has changed (like, I would die to live in that cottage that I saved the plans for). Second, I was embarrassed by some of the things I’d kept (and I’d really wished I had taken notes about certain things and what I liked about them).

Here’s a peak into my idea book:

Clockwise from top left:

- 1 – Love the open shelving that serve as both a decorative and functional piece.

- 2 – Whatever happened to Domino magazine? It was one of my favorites and where I got this article about different styles of beds and headboards.

- 3 – I’m pretty sure Pottery Barn still has this bathroom unit and there’s a reason- it’s timeless.

- 4 – I love this home. LOVE. I think this came from a Cottage Living. Each month they’d feature a home and give you the floor plans. I love looking at floor plans, I could look at them for hours.

- 5 – How cozy does this chair look? I would snuggle up in this for hours with a cup of joe and my Bible.

- 6 – I’d like to do something like this in our entryway where we have yet another, blank, beige wall staring at us. You can’t really tell in this photo, but the frames are hung at different levels, giving the wall depth.

- 6 – I think this came from Pottery Barn Teen and I adore the idea. A simple frame wrapped with battery-powered Christmas lights would be so fun over a bed.

Anddddd here’s a look at some of the images I had to part with.

(I’m sure at some point, there was a reason I liked pink gingham beds or thought a heinous sheep-themed nursery was cute.)

Do I even need to do any explaining?

In my defense, I think the child-like drawing of a reindeer on the canvas is still a kinda cute idea to hang up at Christmastime.

…And so I’m doing my best at continuing to update the idea book (although I’ll admit, Pinterest is way easier since everything is just a click away), so until these puppies arrive in the mail every month…

It’s nice to know that my dream home is still out there…

And that Pinterest isn’t going anywhere.

Oh yeah! I also made | these | this week. BOMB! Try them if you’re looking for a fun (not exactly healthy) way to change up your breakfast routine.

40 in 50: Linen Frames

I had a set of frames that have been sitting around for awhile, but I’d yet to put anything in them because they were just too plain. So I decided to make them a little more exciting by covering the boring white mat that came with them with some fabric, and the results are much better.

I’ll start by warning you that this is not a pretty project to do, but the final product is worth it and you end up covering up all of the ugliness.

Here’s what you need:

| frame with mat | hot glue gun | straight-edge | scissors or rotary cutter |

| scrap of fabric* | sharpie* |

*My scrap of fabric was a linen-like fabric (I’m not actually sure what it’s called, but you can find it at Jo-Anns with the utility fabric, it’s a lot cheaper than linen, but has almost the exact same look), and ironed it first. You can use any fabric you want. A pretty piece of paper will do the trick also.

*The sharpie is optional. If you want to try your lines before you cut them, you can.

- 1 -

The frame I used was a double mat, so I carefully pulled the two layers apart and set the smaller, top half aside until the end.

- 2 -

Trim away any excess so that your fabric is 1/2″ to 1″ bigger than all sides of your mat. We are going to cut diagonally across this piece, as shown. (This is where you could use your sharpie).

- 3 -

I used a straight edge and pressed it firmly onto both the fabric and mat to prevent slipping while I made the cut with my rotary cutter.

- 4 -

Cut 2 lines from corner to corner. You should have something that looks like this:

- 5 -

This is where it starts to get ugly because it become a hot mess of glue and fabric. Begin by placing a line of hot glue along your mat, and then folding the fabric up (make sure you’re holding the fabric tight), and glue in place.

- 6 -

Next, trim away as I’ve shown in the photo, but leave enough to still fold the fabric over.

- 7 -

Bring that flap over and glue that also.

- 8 -

Continue on all 4 sides until you’re left with something like this. You may also want to trim up any extra fabric.

- 9 -

Finally, replace the smaller mat by placing glue on all 4 sides, then sticking it to the ugly side of the mat you’ve just covered.

Viola!

Simple frames that are much less boring than the white ones I had before.

I printed out | this | and | this | and hung them next to our pantry in the kitchen.

40 in 50: Craft Room Organizer Turned Bathroom Storage

Say that three times fast.

One of the flaws in our home (my husband may not necessarily agree), is that our master bathroom has very little storage. The guest bathroom has more storage than ours does! So when we moved in, I knew something needed to be done.

I had an old shelving unit I got a few years ago for my craft room, but wasn’t using, so Ian hung it above the bathtub, and it now holds things that would otherwise be cluttering up the counter (which I hate).

I wish I had a before picture to show how I used it for crafts, but I don’t, so you only get to see the after.

Yes, I realize one shelf is completely empty, but it’s difficult to fit things when the shelves are only 3″ deep.

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Mason jars are perfect for holding just about everything, plus they’re cute, and one of the few things that fit into these small cubbies.

On an unrelated note, Goose wanted to say hi.

 (Ignore the fact that it looks like a bomb went off in our house behind her)

We’re enjoying my day off infront of the fire until the weather decides to make up its mind.

rain + snow + slush + gray skies one minute + blue skies the next

=

no fun with a puppy who just wants to play chuck-it.

Not a Natural

Green thumb, that is.

Lately, I’ve become a little obsessed with succulents, It seems like they’re everywhere, and when I got one a few months ago, I had no idea how easy it would be to take care of. Admittedly, gardening does not come naturally to me, but succulents are nearly impossible to kill.

Seriously.

Here’s a few of my favorites that I’ve seen recently…

| 1 – 3 | | 4 | | 5 |

The wreath and driftwood basked that I love from Viva Terra were expensive (although I’ll be honest, I did seriously consider the wreath)…but when I did a quick search for succulents on e-bay and etsy, I decided I could do it myself. I bought these on e-bay and decided to give something similar to the driftwood basket a try.

I was pleasantly surprised by what showed up from e-bay, a nice variety of succulents, each still in good shape, even after being shipped.

I planted 8 succulents in one planter, and 8 in another. I did some research and found that succulents can be planted in close proximity to others and their roots are just below the surface so they don’t need super-deep pots. You are supposed to put a little gravel in the bottom of the planter, and then mix sand in with the dirt to create a slightly coarser soil. I have mine sitting in east-facing windows and they seem to be doing just fine, plus they need water only a couple of times per month.

Easy breezy!