Craft Room/ Office DONE!

For the past two years, we've been living in a little box with things dispersed here, there and everywhere...We have a tiny house and I am amazed at how much stuff M and I have together...This weekend, I spent the majority of my time organizing that back room so that it can actually be functional...rather than the storage room of piles of stuff!

This is what it looked like when I started...so embarrassing!

So excited to be able to sew in there rather than the kitchen table!
So excited to have a desk to work at rather than having to spread out all over the couch!
So excited to scrapbook again!
So excited have shelves for my sweaters and scrapbooks instead of random storage in closets or under beds!
So excited to have gone through boxes that have been moved multiple times and I had no idea what was inside of them!

Here's the finished product.

Shelving along one entire wall!

Sewing Table.
















Desk area.



Such a relief and accomplishment...

AND, I worked in the garden!  So happy my tulips are growing abundantly.

Next nice weekend, I'll be planting more!

Quilt in a Day: Disappearing 9 Patch

Disappearing 9-Patch (Variation)

 

I took a class at the local quilt shop and finished this one in a little over a day!  The quilt was fairly easy, but the blocks could get confusing if you did more than one at a time, so it was time-consuming.  I finished all the blocks at the class but had to add the sashing, cornerstones and borders at a later time...

 

I am on a big consolidating kick...trying to make life a little neat and tidier...so I am making a couple quilts that can be used in out living area, as well as when we have visitors and need extra blankets.  My goal is to get rid of the 37 extra, mismatched blankets we have laying about.

 

So, I am half-way there.  (Well, actually a little closer because I have the pieces for my next one cut out...I just have to sew them together!)

Bills organized!

I started putting all my bills in a binder this year. I've been notorious for letting them all pile up and then having to go through them when i need to find something. Big pain!

Here's my method. I feel better (more at peace) already!

Each bill gets opened and put on the calendar on it's due date. When I pay it, I write the check # or payment method and the total paid. Then I put each bill in the binder behind each months' tab. That way, next year at tax time I can just pull out the stuff relevant to taxes and put the rest in a permanent file and start again.

I also keep all the stuff I need in a pouch...calculator, stamps, address labels, pens, etc.

I like visuals and I like to be able to see where my $$ is going. This way we can track it and see how we can save $$ in other places!

Peace!!!

Calendar

Thank you Pinterest! Saw this idea and one of my resolutions this year is to try to stay more organized which in turn will ring peace! I like visuals as well. So, I created a family calendar for the hallway. We have to walk past it so there will be no excuses in forgetting deadlines or birthdays!

Here's what you need:
-picture frame. 11x14 or larger.
-paint sample cards (free from your local paint store)
-double sided tape
-dry erase markers

Here's what you do:
1. Cut paint cards into chunks. Mine were 1 1/2"x1 7/8". You will need at least 6 chucks of each color variation. Some people may choose to do each row in the same color and make the columns varied. I have a lot of color around so I wanted to make it especially colorful!
2. Flip the picture frame liner over and begin carefully adhering each chunk in vertical and horizontal lines making sure to leave a bit of space between each chunk. (I put a background behind mine with scrapbook paper, but you wouldn't have to!)
3. Once you have all the chunks lined up and tape down, flip it over and put the frame together.
4. Lastly, write in the dates for the month and, vuaalah you have a calendar!!!!

Scarves UP!

I don't know a lot about Soccer, but I know that our Seattle Sounders rally cry with scarves and I keep hearing..."Scarves Up!"  Well, if you know me, you know I have an addiction...making things, to coffee, but most importantly, to scarves!  The first step is admitting it, right?!?  My addiction started in London on Notting Hill Road I was in a little shop full of silks from East India. Now, I order them in bulk from an online retailer (because you have to order a minimum, but they are WAY cheaper) and give them as gifts...and keep a few for myself. 

I have yearned for a system to keep them in order and neatly hung, because, more often than not, they are on the floor like this. 

You take the following:
-a hanger (the sturdier the better)
-shower curtain rings
-clothes pins (my addition)
-SCARVES!

How to:
1. Put the rings around the lower part of a clothes hanger. 

2. Thread your scarves through the rings!

3. I put clothes pins in between because as it was they all slid to the center and therefore were not hanging pretty and were all jumbled.

4. Hang up in the closet!

I finally found this idea on Pinterest, but I added a bit more structural stability.  The idea I used from Pinterest wasn't quite holding up under the weight of my vast array of scarves.

Too many utensils, not enough space? Plant flowers...er...silverware!

We have a severe lack of kitchen space and our actual kitchen cabinetry included 1 small drawer.  I refinished an old dresser and book shelf last summer to add some storage.  Then I found another dresser/ hutch and altered it to add more storage.  

Still, we had very little drawer space and I am a chef, so I have many utensils that need happy little homes.  So, after seeing this idea on Pinterest, I decided to give my larger utensils a bit more room to swim and place our silverware their our place to blossom!
Here's what you'll need: 
Small-ish flower pots
spray paint 
cork fabric
buttons
string
scrap paper
hot glue gun!

1. I found flower pots at the dollar store.  They had big, ugly floral decals on them so I chose spray paint in coordinating colors and sprayed away!  You can't even tell they had prints on them!

2. I picked out various buttons of matching colors to put on the rim to give it a little zip!

3. Then I tied the tag I made by stamping the letter of the utensils that belong in this particular pot (s=spoons, f=forks, k=knives) around the rim as well.  I tied a bow.  Really, you could step any extra decorative steps if you wanted, but I like my things to have a little personality!

 4. Then I added a layer of cork to the bottom with hot glue as well.  This is so that the pots don't slip around or stick to the surface of the buffet upon which these beauties will sit.

 Here's the finished product.  I think they turned out CUTE!  Thanks Pinterest!

Remember to bloom where you are planted!