finally finished: craft room

 i'm so glad to finally have this room completed!  when we moved into this house, i literally had DREAMS of my future craft room.  pinterest definitely didn't help- a million wonderful ideas. 

and of course, it was the very last room to be worked in- bedrooms and bathrooms and kitchens take priority.  thankfully, over the holidays, my wonderful sister, molly and super duper organizer friend, sharon came over and bossed me around to help me get it in shape. i needed that.  and now it's done!

just wanted to show some storage ideas and DIY projects for anyone else out there.  this craft room was put together with NO money.  we just couldn't afford to buy anything so it was all free or found or moved from another room or borrow from someone's garage or used from my classroom stuff.

i had some little shelves that i painted blue and put dictionary pages across the back. they are kinda cheapy and can't hold anything heavy but work to brighten up the walls.  they are the same size but look different because of  my terrible editing.

 these little shelves are the cheapest flimsiest wood you could find, circa 1980.  i painted them white on the outside, ruffled up some burlap, hot glued it to a yardstick and drilled that onto the front.  there are two of these and they hold my sewing machine, iron, spray starch, etc.  nice to have all that stuff hidden.

 just a little color.  wooden spools on a bit of string.  old chalkboards with the letters MAKE.

can you even believe these gorgeous shelves?  they came from some type of parts shop, they have writing like "size 8 valves" on them.  they were in the burn pile and i rescued them.  i LOVE them.

they have lots of items on them: fabric, yarn, felt, scraps.  mostly in jars and baskets from here and there. the fabric is rolled with rubberbands, because i can't keep it folded to save my life.  mostly sorted by warms, cools and neutrals.

we used a lot of different storage solutions.  here's an enamel tray and little buckets that were previously in my classroom.  target dollar spot.

 

 wire baskets hold bandanas.  cookie jar holds embroidery thread.
 

this fishbowl came from the thrift store.  holds ribbon scraps. (we pretty determined i am an official hoarder as we organized this room. can't. throw. anything. away.)

everyday items. crate came from my mom's garage.  

this little dresser just holds general crafting stuff for the girls.  feathers, pipe cleaners, markers, chalk, styrofoam, glue sticks, pom poms. it's nice to have a little spot where they can look for things to make with (and leave most of my stuff alone!!)

 

this big ole dresser came with the house and is a funky distressed green.  it holds extra sewing stuff, long paper, stencils and cutting tools.  i like that those things are hidden.  it has a mirror frame that goes on the back which i'm planning to put cork on for an inspiration board but man- that cork is expensive!! even at 40% off.  hoping to find a big bulletin board at the thrift store to repurpose. so in the meantime, i made a little clothespin frame with a broken window frame.

it's ok for now.  

more storage in jars and baskets. i think having it showing just looks pretty and adds color. 

this big ugly dresser got moved into the closet and is wonderful for holding stamps, paint, beads, random and stickers.

 for stuff that needed to be grouped together and isn't particularly pretty, shoeboxes on this wire shelf are the way to go. my sister made me some pretty cursive labels and that helps a bunch! they need to be laminated so they'll last.

 here's the top of the closet. those white dividers hold cardstock, scrapbook paper, construction paper and little boxes. there's a stack of  old books i tear and cut out of regularly.
it's nice to be able close up the closet and hide all that.

 just some cute frames i made above the closet. used to be in my bedroom- moved into this room.

 

love the colors of all the thread on this thread rack. 

 

window view. curtains reused from the old house from ikea.  the good life sign reminds me how blessed and lucky i am.

 

i had planned to toss all these little plastic spools of thread but don't they look cute hanging from the fan? see? hoarder.

 

just happy stuff around the room. colored beads. old game piece. beautiful quilt square from tanyia from our crafty swap. prayer from a girl scout meeting led by my grandmother-in-law.

my table is nothing fancy- an old super heavy office desk. i painted it white and spray painted lace onto the top.  since i am a lazy girl, of course i didn't sand it and now the paint is peeling off the top. see that big scratch?  oh well, i figured it would get all painty and gluey and messed up anyway.  another project some other day. the desk is great for holding my paper cutter and still having a big workspace.

a few more angles of the room.  seriously makes me happy to walk in a start on a project.  i'm trying to do a "daily make" where i do something creative in there each day. (the chalkboards, wooden spool string, and that gold tape art thing are a few of them.)

it's nothing fancy and it's mostly all used or old or repainted but i love it.

thanks for stopping by for a peek!

project lately: string art tree

hi friends!

sorry- been absent lately... thanksgiving came and went and so did a flurry of delicious food (15 pounds of potatoes to peel and 9 pounds of green beans to snap), sweet sister in town for a week, brothers and extended family EVERYWHERE and i have loved it! plus, working on some big things- big girl beds for the littles and christmas decorating and a nasty bug that won't leave our family alone!

anyway- here's a little project lately. wanted the chickies to have something to play with and leave my big tree alone so i whipped up this string art tree.  

 i feel silly making a tutorial for this so i'll just give some basics....

*  bought the board off the scrap cart at home depot.  uh- 51 cents?  i'll take it.  it is big- 2 feet by 3 feet maybe and is made of pressed wood.  really heavy.
*   painted board with white paint found in the paint cabinet. 
*  using a sheet of freezer paper, made a stencil of a tree and outlined it on my board. 
*  to husband's dismay, nailed my panelboard nails around the outline while duck dynasty played.
*  using brown and green yarn, started wrapping.  i did the little rectangle for the trunk first.  then i sectioned my tree into 4 triangles to sting the yarn.  that way if the girls unravel it, i won't have to redo the whole thing.  when i finished stringing the yarn in the sections, i did some lengths from top to bottom and across the whole thing.  
* to make the oranaments, i just used a circle punch to punch out circles.  smeared glitter glue on them to give a little sparkle.  while those dried, i cut paper clips in half and used some pliers to bend them into a candy cane shape. then i just made a little sandwich; foam, wire hook, hot glue and foam.  
* to make the garland, i used a roll of beaded trim. cut into several short lengths. i glued paper clip hooks on the end using hot glue.
* since the background is white, i used white velcro circles to attach a star onto the background.  you don't see the circle when the star isn't there.  and same for the little bag.  it holds all the decorations when they are off the tree and can just come off to make it easier for the girls to hold. 


they love decorating their own tree. it's pretty cute to just have leaning against a wall-  i didn't mount it or anything.  

after the fact:  i might brush watered down glue on it just to potentially prevent all the yarn from unraveling and make it stiffer.  older kids would be much more careful than my littles.  mia has trouble getting the ornaments off alone.  it would also be cute to let older kids decorate their own ornaments or use real shatterproof ones.   

lots of potential, dears.
take care!