Crafting a Space That's Right for You

I took advantage of this weekend by converting the bedroom/office in our cute little bungalow into a bedroom/craft room for myself.

Literally everything for the set up was things we already had around the house.  Two things motivated me to do it this weekend:  1)  The white storage embellishment storage unit on the desk was given to me from a coworker who had one too many (?!!?)...SCORE.  And 2) While looking on my Pinterest Account for craft storage ideas I saw so many people have converted literal closets into craft rooms.  I have more than a closet to use, so I asked myself what the heck I was waiting for?!  I jumped right on this set up starting Friday night.

The fun note about this desk is it is my husband's from his childhood, built by his Dad.  The top shelf unit, as well as the 3 metal pull out drawers are all also made by my father in law.  But you can certainly find things similar or make them!

Coincidentally my husband and I are condensing items for a yard sale this Spring.  Plus, seeking out a new storage unit for our copious amounts of vinyl records.  That being said, we had a spare DVD shelf that my father in law had built for us years back when we lived in our apartment.  Works quite nicely as craft storage!!

The top shelf is all mason jars (have even more in the basement).  I love, love, love mason jars.  I don't know what it is about them, I find them to be useful and attractive.  I chose to not have the lids on mine because it just seems silly given how often I craft, I will be in and out of them often!














Again, I got this embellishment storage center for free but I have heard that you can either use a coupon or, they are very often on sale at 40% off.  You can find more information here.  You can mount it on the wall, or it sits very sturdy and quite well on a desk.  To be honest, this thing is fairly heavy and I wouldn't trust it on just any wall.  This was confirmed by my carpenter father in law this weekend when he laughed at the attachments they give you for it.  My wall in the bedroom just isn't one leaving me feeling confident, so I chose to rest my storage unit on the desk top.  Not to mention, if that thing ever fell off the wall, imagine all the exploded messes you would have!

Anyway, this was so much fun this weekend.  I can't wait to do my first project at it.  Which will be, ironically, decoration for the embellishment center!  Try out organizing your current supplies.  I bet you will be blown away by what you already have without having to spend too much!

Think Spring: Front Door Monogram Twine Sign

Valentine's Day is upon us, St. Patty's is up next, but I want to interrupt the regular scheduled programming with quite possibly the cutest and easiest project I have done.

A monogram front door sign like this is super easy and won't cost you much of anything aside from a couple   hot glue gun burns.

You will need:  wooden letter of your choice.  These range from .50-$1.00 or more depending on how large you want.  Found this one at Michael's.  Some jewelry hemp, or twine.  You can get colored twine which would also look great!  And then your choice (if you choose) of a flower, or whatever decoration you want to add, if you do.  I was going to make a Velcro attachment so mine was interchangeable for the season, but I ran out of Velcro, and simply made a general flower one.  Then, your choice of fun ribbon, and that trusty hot glue gun.

    As you work the twine or hemp around the letter, you will mostly always want to glue to the back.  The only exceptions I made was the edge of the front, in which I very carefully and delicately added just a dab of hot glue to keep the twine in a straight line around the sides.  And, there you have it!  Your own monogrammed front door sign!  Happy Spring (sooner than later please)!

Spread hot glue out flat as you work on the back.

A Super Meal that Truly is Super

Key ingredients of the sweet and spicy chicken wings.

 OK so every year when the Super Bowl comes, no matter whether it involves the New England Patriots in it or not, I always have a "game meal".  Since this Super Bowl did involve the Patriots getting to the Super Bowl, I decided I wanted a new meal to try, from scratch and not as bad for you as other foods. I am crediting three sites for these recipes on here that were all winners.  No matter who wins this game, I certainly won in this meal!  Highly recommend all three, or one that you might give a try.  Note:  Normally I use items from the Asian market for recipes like this.  We had run out, so I settled for grocery store bought and it was still amazing!

 Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings - hate to credit her, but I have to here.  Martha Stewart's recipe for this and the dipping sauce was perfection.  We loved the dipping sauce so much that we are going to use it for our homemade Chinese food night.  I marinaded these over night.  Martha Stewart's Spicy-Sweet Chicken Wings

Next, the Greek Nachos from Chaos in the Kitchen.  I actually used leftover Italian sausage for the meat! I added avacado as well.  Didn't matter - these were so packed!  Chaos' recipe is here:  Greek Nachos  Also, I did use the tzatziki listed on this page, I used this one:  Recommended Tzatziki Dip

Lastly, the simple yet ever-so-tasty Black Bean and Rice Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette.  This was SO easy that I will definitely make again, and soon.  I used a recipe (mostly just for the dressing) at Cooking Books' Black Bean and Rice Salad.

This was such a hit with my husband.  I do plan on making all items again at some point for company and other special nights!

Easy Valentine Scrapbook Paper Wreath

 Looking for an easy and festive Valentine project?  This is for you!  I just used some scrapbook paper, my handy glue dots, and hemp jewelry twine for hanging.

Some of my favorite print papers:  Hello Sunshine designs, and Lily Bee Design papers were the ones I went for this project.

I used Friskar's paper cutter...you don't need a fancy one for this.

Use glue dot to secure ribbon or twine for hanging.

 Cut 12 strips that are 2in X 11in.  You will want to fold this each in half.  Using 2 glue dots on the crease at the top of the heart, and one dot for the bottom.

Then you use a glue dot on the side of each heart to connect to consecutive hearts.  12 hearts should do it.  I cut (by accident) 2 smaller hearts, so I used them inside the middle of the wreath!

And like that, you have a fun, easy, inexpensive Valentine wreath.

Put A Cork In It - Make Your Own Wine Cork Trivet

 I started this at my former job as Activity Director for an Adult Day Program.  We collected corks from local restaurants and did many things with them.  This is just one of several things you can do.  This one, doesn't take as many corks and can be done in just a couple hours.  You can ask others to save corks for you, or just  err...treat yourself a little more often over the next couple months!

Pick out a frame you like and/or one you can repurpose.  If you don't already have one, go to one of my favorite places - the Dollar Tree or Goodwill - and pick one out!  This frame I had lying around, it was broken otherwise, but perfect for this project.

 To make life easier, you will want to organize your corks by size and shape.  You will understand this better once you start forming your trivet.  *Note - try to stick with the wooden corks.  The plastic coated and colored ones are not glue gun friendly...you would have to sand those to get them to stick to each other.  Learned that one the hard way!

Using a utility knife, you can cut corks to the size you need.

 When starting the layout, try to group similar sizes together.  You can have a row going horizontal, then a row vertical and so on.  This is where you let your imagination go and either display the labels the same direction of each cork, or put them off center, or whatever you want to do.  The layout can be anything you want!  Get the glue gun turned on and have fun!

I have had this cork trivet for awhile.  I have put coffee mugs on it, tea pitchers, even used it for a pot or two.  Works excellent!

My Continuous Love for the Dollar Tree -$4 Votive Candle Holder

Glass votive of your choice, flat colored marbles, & mirror

 My husband and I love candles.  We love them so much, we light a couple every night for lighting while watching our shows and movies rather than have the lights on.  I have several holders, and I like those that Yankee Candle Co. often display, but I can never find the right colors I am looking for.  I love color!  Dollar Tree satisfies me once more on this project.  Run down to your nearest, grab everything you see here and your trusty handy high temp glue gun, and you're good to go! Note: I used one and a half bags of the marbles for this project.  This whole project will only take you 1/2 hour to one hour at most.

Line marbles on bottom around perimeter

 With the smallest dab of hot glue, use the tip of the glue gun to smooth out the glue as best you can.  It will blend and look like part of the marble, no worries!  Line the bottom of the votive holder like so.  You want to glue them on rounded side in, onto the inside of the glass holder.

 The second row you will line right above the first, with opposite colors, or whatever you would like for a pattern.  Then, you want to start overlaying the marbles where necessary - filling in any empty spaces - here, you can then glue either the rounded or flat side to the other marbles.  Try to get the marbles to line into place sort of like bricks.  With a couple packages of those marbles, you will find ones close enough to the size you need!

Lookin' spiffy!

Very colorful

And you're done!  Add tea light, votive candle, whatever you choose.  Place that votive on the mirror and you have a really neat, really colorful effect!

Java Really Does Go A Long Way

Coffee Can Containers

So when not crafting, I like to at least have creative storage.  I got the idea to save up coffee cans last year and came across some fabric, adhesive contact paper at my second favorite place, Goodwill.

Using the contact paper (paid .99), colorful buttons I had, the only other item I needed was coordinating ribbon. Found some fun ribbons (inexpensive to boot) at the clearance section of Michaels.  I recommend checking their clearance often...I have more luck with them than AC Moore as far as variety goes.

Then, voila, with some creativity, the ideas are limitless.  I turned these on their side, attached with my high temperature glue gun, and you have a fun storage area for your markers, pens, pencils, even adhesives and spray paints.  I have seen others attach them to a wall near your craft table.  This will be something I plan to do down the road.  My craft room is in transition at the moment.  Save your coffee cans and keep an eye out for eye catching contact or wallpaper!