My first craft in the new house

So, many of you know that I moved... that's why I have been posting or crafting for awhile... too busy packing and unpacking. But sometimes crafting becomes a necessity.

So, here is our computer desk that is built into our kitchen... love having the computer in the kitchen. And you'll notice the nice stack of papers on the desk. I have no where to put my kids homework, calendars, etc. I forgot to send something to preschool with my son because the calendar was buried in the bottom of the stack of papers. Stainless steel fridges are not so good for magnets. And our fridge in encased by wood so I can't even hang stuff on the side.

So in the space below the window, I made a board to hang calendars and homework and reminders on. I simply took a piece of wood (mine was an old piece I had lying around). And I glued clothes pins to the wood. Then I mod podged a piece of scrapbook paper on the front of the clothes pins to decorate them up a little. So now I have a place to hang my calendars and hopefully I won't forget to send anything to preschool again. (Now what can I do to keep from forgetting to pick him up from preschool?)

-Anisa

Button/Embellishment Storage

I have been trying to make my scrapbooking supplies more mobile... so that I can scrapbook someplace other than in my craft room. I have always used these divided containers for my button and embellishment storage.

But they drive me crazy!!! I stick them in my craft bag and all the buttons slide around and get mixed up. So, I put my thinking cap on and came up with a solution!!! I cut a piece of chipboard the size of the lid. Then I cut a piece of batting the same size. Then I cut a piece of fabric about 1" larger around all sides. I then simply hot glued it together and glued it inside the lid of the box. Ta da!!! It totally works!!! No more sliding around and mixing up of buttons. It is a tight squeeze to close it, but that's okay!!!

To hide the back side of the chipboard, I cut a piece of fabric and modpodged it on the front. Then I modpodged a border of scrapbook paper around the edge and stamped acrylic paint to label what was inside. I'm sure I could have decorated and embellished the outside a little better, but oh well!!! The important thing is that it is totally functional and solves the problem of everything getting mixed up inside!!!

-Anisa

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?

Product Challenge: Buckets

Our product challenge this month was buckets! (I can't lie to you, I was super excited because I already had a project done with buckets that I hadn't posted yet). So all I had to do was take a picture. Do you love the dollar section at Target as much as I do? Well, they often have buckets. So, awhile back I bought several buckets at Target to keep my ribbon in. I made a template out of paper for the bucket, then used my scraps of scrapbook paper and covered the buckets with every color of the rainbow... and then some! I then tied little scraps of ribbon on the handle of each bucket. This helped organize my obsession with ribbon (well, at least the smaller pieces. I have the full rolls of ribbon just in a cupboard... I really like ribbon). Hey, let me know if you want to see pics of my whole craft room sometime and I'll try to clean it up to make a post!!! Just leave me a comment.

So, the ribbon ones are totally cute, but you can't forget my favorite bucket of all..... my thread bucket. I love this thing. I keep it next to my sewing machine so when I clip off the thread I have a quick place to throw it!!! -Anisa:)

My bucket project ended up not being a craft but an organizational project. I had been reading Pretty Organized Palace's blog and one post in particular caught my attention. She was sharing some fun ways to cozy up the home for fall and winter. With my inspiration starting there, I headed to my local Hobby Lobby and purchased this large bucket/basket. At home I filled it with all my yummy yarn for crocheting (and one day hopefully knitting) and placed it by the fireplace. I love how it makes my family room just that much more comfy cozy with the bonus I have yarn storage in plain sight.

-Ang

Check out these darling buckets that one of our readers... Shellie... sent into us. Super cute storage. Here's what she says about them,

"Here is what I have been doing with buckets. I only have 3 done. I still want a ribbon one and thread etc… I just bought some for a couple of dollars and spray painted them, cut out vinyl on my Cricut for the letter."

Way to go Shellie!

The Holidays

I love the holidays. I love the changing leaves and the crisp air, making fun costumes and treats,

finding ways to show gratitude for my blessing, being with family, carols, brightly lit trees, etc. WAIT!!!!! Whoa, whoa, whoa....Hold on a second. What's the date? It's already October?! The holidays are here, like it or not.

I am not a planner when it comes to planning daily routines, jobs or meals. But when it comes to the big things, I like to think I do pretty well at planning and staying on top of things. I thought I'd share my holiday planner with you. Feel free to tweak as necessary to fit your family and needs, but please don't sell this. (Unless you send me some of the profits. wink, wink.)

My organization journey started about 6 years ago. I joined FlyLady and in the midst of all my emails from her was one that boasted a free downloadable (is that a word?) holiday planner promising a season of ease and comfort and free from the craziness and stress that unfailingly seems to creep in every season. I grabbed it from her site and have used it every Christmas since. (If Christmas isn't your thing, it would be pretty easy to alter to fit your December celebration needs.) Last year, I added a Halloween planner and making it's organizational debut is my Thanksgiving planner. I could not survive the 3 month holiday season without it. It is quite literally a portable brain.

(Side note-my favorite part of the planner is not only do they have a section for gifts to buy- but also one for gifts to make!)

For my planner, I use a regular 1/2" binder. I slipped a cover page in the front and each holiday has it's own divider (kept in a page protector). As you can see, I kept them simple but festive. Following the dividers are my planning pages for each holiday. There are places for shopping lists, traditions, decorations, food, etc. Be hind each set of planner pages I like to keep some notepaper for random notes that don't fit elsewhere. In the Christmas section, I do keep the Christmas card page in a page protector. It gives me an easy place to store stamps, address labels etc. until I am ready to put my cards together.

I hope this makes your holiday season go much smoother. It definitely has helped me.

Halloween:

http://www.4shared.com/file/136874795/5b3716e3/Halloween.html http://www.4shared.com/file/136874799/52815ac8/_2__Halloween.html Thanksgiving:

http://www.4shared.com/file/136874807/6fa78bbb/_2__Thanksgiving.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/136874798/25866a5e/Thanksgiving.html

Christmas:

http://www.4shared.com/file/136874805/81a9ea97/Christmas.html

http://www.flylady.net/images/HCJ2003.pdf More flying through the holidays help.

Happy planning!

Ang

holiday images courtesy Country Living and Better Homes and Gardens

Sweet Little Tissue Holders

I love these little tissue holders and have wanted to make one for some time. I found a super easy tutorial on Skip to My Lou. Honestly I used the tutorial once and didn't need it again. So easy. Here's mine: Cut 2 pieces of fabric 6 1/2" x 7" each and iron Place right sides together and sew around the edges using a 1/4" seam. Be sure to leave a 1 1/2" opening for turning. (I'm sorry about the poor quality of the above photo. They get better.) Turn out and use your scissors to help push out the corners. Iron again. Fold edges in towards the middle. Allow them to overlap about 1/4" Sew 1/4" seam down both sides. (This will close your gap from turning it right side out.) Turn right side out. Add embellishments if you a little extra. Fill with travel tissue pack. How simple is that?! Love it!

Fabric Baskets

I have been wanting to make a fabric basket (or 2 or 3) for storage in my craft room.  I just love all of the fun different fabrics that are out there.

Here are some sites with great tutorials on fabric baskets.  (I haven't tried any of them yet, so if you do, let me know how hard they are)  Just click on the link below the picture and it will take you to a tutorial on how to make each of these darling baskets.

Crazy Mom Quilts

J. Caroline Creative

Pink Penguin

-Anisa

P.S.  Our giveaway is still open until Sunday...

P.P.S.  Which baskets do you think I should make?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Organize.Plan.Create.

January. The time of organization and goals. Crafting and scrapbooking supplies can always use some good organization (at least my supplies could!) and even an occasional sprinkle of inspiration. Let me introduce you to Marlene and Missy of Organize.Plan.Create. (OPC for short.) These two very talented women have collaborated to bring you a website dedicated to helping the world organize their scrapbooking supplies and photos (both digital and hard copies), getting a plan in place and putting those memories on paper and into albums. Each week they have weekly challenges to help you with what kinds of layouts to do, journaling and ideas for new themes to try. They also use their site to showcase some of their work. The main objective of OPC however, is to help free us all from that being overwhelmed when it comes to documenting our family and personal stories. It's a great site with lots of promise and an e-book soon to come! Marlene and Missy also sponsor Get Down With Scrapbooking an annual scrapbooking event to support the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. We've just come back from a lovely weekend of scrapbooking, great food and AMAZING prizes and free stuff. More to come on this tomorrow!

Arrange-a-frame

12 screws. 6 frames. A big wall. One woman. Thanks to some random home decorating show on TLC (not one I was familiar with) and Pottery Barn's catalog (my home decor study guide), I have a very nice arrangement of our recent family pictures. The pictures are cute and the frames are satisfactory, but how do you hang SIX pictures to form a nice arrangement and keep everything aligned properly?? Let me show you.... First, trace the frames on some paper and cut out --do this for each frame you'll hang. (While you are tracing you can also make marks so you know where to pound in your hardware.) Using painters tape, hang them on your chosen wall and now you have a template! Once your arrangement looks the way you want, drill your screws or pound your nails right on top of the paper like so: Next, rip the paper off and hang your pictures. Here is my final product: Now if I could just figure what to put on either side on my new grouping.....

Playroom Project

For the past two weeks I have been busily working on my kids' playroom. I wanted it to be fun and whimsical, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money. One of my main goals was to have a place to display my kids' artwork. I had thought of several different ideas, but none of them really seemed right. Until a couple of weeks ago when I was at my sister-in-law's house. She had a strip of wood painted red with white clips on it. It clicked!!!- That was what I wanted to put in the playroom. So I went to Lowe's and bought some pine that was 1"x4"x48". Then I painted it black. Then the hunt began for the clips. I tried Lowe's, Robert's Crafts, Walmart, etc. I could not find them. Finally someone told me that they would be an office supply product (duh!). So, I headed to Office Max. For your information, they are called Bulldog Clips. Office Max had these really cute colorful ones. They came in packages of Red/Blue or Green/Yellow. Well, I was making 4 boards, so I needed 16 clips. The Office Max that I went to had only one package of Red/Blue and tons of green/yellow. So, I headed off to another Office Max. Luckily they had tons of Red/Blue. After a whole lot of running around, I finally got my boards put together. My sweet husband screwed the clips on and hung the boards on the wall for me. Part 2 of my project was to paint these circles on the wall. I love to browse Pottery Barn magazines for decorating ideas. Whether or not I can afford to buy anything from there, I still love their ideas. And a lot of times, I can do it myself. I loved the idea of painting circles on the wall. So, I made myself a compass. I took a piece of string and push pinned it into the wall. Then I tied a pencil on the other end. And voila!- a circle. It was rather difficult to paint 3 circles in such bright colors, but 4 coats later, I love the finished look. I also loved this clock from Pottery Barn. But, once again, it was too expensive. So, I found a clock at my local craft store- Robert's Crafts. With my 40% off coupon, it was under $20. I used my Cricut to cut out the vinyl numbers for the clock (the clock came with some, but I did not like them). And here is my finished product. Part 3 of my project was to put alphabet letters on the wall above my clipboards. I used my Cricut to cut out vinyl letters in varrying sizes and fonts. It was really fun and I love the finished look. Posted by: Anisa