Anisa's Craft Room

I have been waiting until I get my craft room perfectly organized exactly how I want it to post pictures of it. Well, folks, it's never going to be exactly how I want it, so I think I'll just post it any way!!! I at least cleaned it up a little:)

This side of the room is my scrapbooking side. I don't like to sit down when I scrapbook so I wanted something counter-top height. So I purchased 4 storage cubes from my local Robert's Crafts. (I'm sorry but I can't remember the brand of the storage cubes). You can buy them in several combinations. I wanted drawers on the bottom and the top to have cupboard doors... but I haven't ever gotten around to buying the doors. I bought a piece of wood for the top at Lowe's and painted it white. The paper stacker underneath was a yard sale purchase. I bought a bar stool without a back at a thrift store and painted it. That way I can push it out of the way most of the time. I have curtain rods hanging above the desk that I can use to display fun crafts or albums. My buttons are organized with a spice rack from Ikea. I got buckets from the dollar section of Target to hold my ribbon scraps. This side of the room is mostly my sewing station. My pink cabinet holds my Cricut and supplies. This side of the room I like to have mostly open. That way I have a place to work when I'm cutting out fabric or when I have a friend over to scrapbook. On the left you will notice a shoe hanger on the wall. You can purchase these for about $5 at Target or Walmart. I have these things all over my house... usually on the back of the door. In my pantry, it holds ziplocs bags, kool aid pouches, popcorn bags, etc.... great way to store stuff. This side of the room is just mostly storage. I love this fun cabinet I bought at a yard sale. I got my small ironing board at Ikea so I can iron fabric projects or bent ribbon. And the shelves on the wall are a great place to display some of my craft projects.

I love my adorable craft room.... it's my place to decorate something girly:) Do you have a craft room... or crafting space? We'd love to see it! Email us pictures at twiddlethumbs@rocketmail.com

-Anisa

Chipboard Album

As mentioned, I am in a crafting rut right now. So, I've kind of halted all projects until something comes up. However, with the school year coming to an end, I thought I would put together a mini album for my 4 year old's first year of preschool. I had purchased this chipboard album at a garage sale for $1 and I had an 8x8 paper pad of some fun paper that I wanted to use up. My little boy was out of town for a week staying with his cousin so I thought I'd get it done for him while he was gone.

I used the biggest Zig glue pen that they make to adhere the paper, photos and all embellishments to the album. I used Maya Mists, paint, rub-ons, etc. It turned out cute! He loves it and I'm glad he's home from his cousins. -Anisa

Bathroom Make-over Part 1

I have long been a huge fan of Becky Higgins and all of the scrapbooking glory that comes with her.  (Especially since she is the one who introduced me to the idea of sketching first!)  She has also shared lots of inspiration for other projects with me and hundreds upon hundreds of other fans, including spray painting ordinary, neutral-colored decor bright friendly colors. 

I have these cute frames that I love.  (Purchased at Tai Pan Trading a few years ago for about $3 each)

They were so pretty against the green wall in my last house, but against the very light tan wall in our current house, they just get lost.  I've been dying to try the spray paint thing.  This seemed like the perfect project for this, but just couldn't justify the $5 per can price for the colors I wanted.  Since, they're just small frames, I hit my local Robert's Arts and Crafts and picked up a few bottles of acrylic paint (on sale!) in the perfect colors. Once home, I gathered a few other supplies and got to work.

After a little sanding, my frames were ready to paint.  My original thought was to do 2-3 coats of paint and then sand.  One coat in, I was smitten with the washed looked it had.  I thought it would be perfect in my Hawaiian-inspired bathroom.  When my one coat was dry, I did do a little sanding.  The blue frame really needed it and just made the frames stand out a bit more overall.  Here's the finished project:

(Sorry for the glare!)

I'm excited for the next one on the bathroom to-do list and will share when it's completed.

~Ang~

My Best Idea for a Long Time

With a little of this...

a wooden dowel and drawer pulls some disassembled flowers

Then I layered them together

on this rather large shelf.The shelf began its life on my little sister's wall. It was painted a midnight blue. Next I painted it a lavender color for my daughter. After that it was painted an almost periwinkle blue for my new baby boy (now three).

I have now repainted it again for my daughter. It used to have those little pegs meant to have connected-wick candles (remember those for home decor?) and other such items, but I did NOT look forward to finding hanging objects for this round of decorating.

My simple solution was to buy a dowel to fill all those tiny holes with. I cut it into small pieces. I found the drawer pulls and when I knew I wanted them to be a different color, the idea of their being the center of a flower turned out to be perfect.

I hammered the dowels in, fitted the flowers over those and capped each off with the drawer pulls. Very inexpensive and my daughter loves it.

-C

A Craft Room Challenge

Hey all!  It's been a long while since I've been here, but all with good reason!  My DH and I are 17 weeks along with baby #4.  Between kids 1-3, being sick and exhaustion, I was doing good to get some semblance of dinner on the table each night.  Thankfully, the sun is sunnier and the skies are bluer (figuratively and literally).  I also think I've hit a bit of a nesting period.  Thus today's challenge:

Go to your craft room, closet or where ever you keep your "stuff."  Pick a box of who-knows-what's-in-here (I know we all have them) or another box of randomness.  Set a timer for whatever time you have available-an hour, 30 minutes, 15...Whatever works for your schedule. Go through that box and see how much you can put away, give away, throw away or gulp...actually finish (the project that is) in that time! 

On your mark....Get seeeeet.....GO!  (I'll wait)

Done?  Great job!  What'd you get done?  A bunch I bet!  I did this yesterday and managed to send off some now undesirable projects/patterns off to the thrift store.  I found some fabric for a table cloth I intended to make for Thanksgiving nearly 2 years ago.  Maybe this bandana dress for my 3 year old girlie and mended a sweater for my 8 year old diva.  Not to mention cleared out some prime real estate in my crafting space. 

So tell me.  What did you find/accomplish?

Frustrations.... please help?

So, folks, I was talking to Cami the other day about the craft blog (this is Anisa). I have been feeling realllllyyyy frustrated lately with a lot of the projects that I've been trying to do (see my post about sewing). I tried to make these velcro embellished flipflops.... and didn't like them because you can see the velcro. I've also been trying to figure out how to somewhat duplicate these shirts for my boys that I saw in a catalog. My technique involves applique and freezer paper stencil. But when I started on the project, my applique wouldn't stick... I don't know if it's the knit (I seem to have issues with knit) or if I got the wrong Heat-n-Bond. I'm feeling super frustrated with crafts right now. I don't know if it's just that I'm trying to make things just for the sake of trying them, or just for the sake of the blog or what my problem is. I'm super busy right now... I work 30 hours a week... but I can do my crafting during that time. And I can't think of anything that I want to do and what I do try doesn't turn out.

So, I was venting my frustrations on Cami and she said, "Should we archive the blog and quit?" If you can't tell, Angie has taken a break from the blog. And Cami wants to take a break from the blog. So, DO I TAKE A BREAK? Or do I take it over for myself? Do you guys like my crafts? Do you want me to keep going? Do you have any ideas of a cute fun craft that I could do while I'm working? I guess I could just scrapbook:)

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think? Do you like Twiddle Thumbs? Do you think I should keep crafting and posting? Let me know.

-Anisa

Staining Tip for Wood Crafts

Seriously, staining has always been such a pain to figure out. I prefer traditional stain, but it has such a strong odor that you have to let it sit in your garage for a few days before you can bring it in the house.

I think I have finally figured out the type of stain that I prefer. And I think I have finally figured out the best techniques. So, here are some tips and tricks.

First, the kind of stain that I buy is Minwax Water-based Wood Stain in Colonial Pine. This stain is somewhat difficult to find, but I have found it at Home Depot. It should be already mixed in that color. The color is important, because anything else will be too dark or too light, etc.

Now, how you stain depends on how distressed or "dirty" you want your craft to look. If you don't want it to look too dirty, then you will want to do a couple of coats of paint and then sand it lightly... that way the stain won't adhere to the wood as well. If you want it to look dirty, then only do one coat of paint and sand away.

This stain is premixed, but I have watered it down a little bit at times to make it go further as well as make it a little lighter.

I always wear gloves when I stain because although it is water-based, it will stick to your hands and is difficult to wash off.

I prefer to stain the sides of the wood first. Then I stain the back. Wipe any excess stain off with paper towels. Then, you will want to stain the front. Wipe the stain on with a foam brush and wipe it off with paper towels. If you don't want the stain to look too dirty, wipe it off quickly.

Always let the stain dry before hot gluing anything to make sure the glue will stick.

Patriotic Wood Craft Classes

I know you guys probably want to get your patriotic stuff up for the summer..... so no time to waste!

Dates:

Tues. June 8th 9:30-11:30 a.m. (my kids have swimming at 11:30, so we have to be done by then).

Thurs. June 10th 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Sat. June 12th 10:00 a.m.- noon

Patriotic Trio: $10 (you may do any combination that you want... just let me know if you want a firework, flag, hat... what combo of 3?) Stands are $5.

Hot Air Balloon: $17

Uncle Sam: $18 (can be a yard stake or hanging)

(you probably remember this guy from St. Patrick's Day)