Ikea love.

On my most recent trip to Ikea, I discovered these racks/baskets in their kitchen gadget area.  They fit spools of ribbon P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y with easy access to individual spools!   I believe I bought this whole set up right here for around $13.  That makes me happy.  Just thought I'd share.

HAPPY ORGANIZING!

A tid-bit here. A tad-bit there.

I've been in a do-it-yourself mood lately. Got a few things done around the house. Little things here and there that make a big difference to me.

We pulled out a weeping cherry tree in back that just made a mess. Had a big hole and didn't know what to do with it. I solved the problem of having an overloaded drip-line...eliminated 5 drippers going to 5 pots, and instead now have one sprayer going to one big veggie box for lettuce next year.

All the wood came from my dad's ever-handy scrap wood pile for this project.


I have big plans for more veggie garden projects and will post later on those.

Found a vintage linen panel with a parakeet print in an antique store I recently visited. Fell in love with it as it reminds me of my grandmother who is no longer with us. She had parakeets at one time, and outfitted their cage with everything that is in this print. Fake stick perches, little white ladders, mirrors, bells...

I decided my sofas have been bare for much too long and decided to spice them up with some throw pillows. I added a zipper to the back so this turned into a washable case. Super important for a house with small children and a dog.

This is a work in progress using scrap material for a third pillow. I love using stuff I already have on hand. Adding some buttons for added interest. Overall, the cost of my three pillows is $23. Not too shabby considering that might buy me one really unique pillow in a store.

We've moved my sons into the same room, so that freed up our spare room. I quickly set up shop and now have an actual sewing room! I needed a way to keep my sharp tools up out of the reach of curious little fingers. Back out to the woodpile to find a board to make into a second shelf (top one was existing). A little spray paint and some nails, and wha-la!

When both of my grandmothers passed on, I, being the the sewer taught by both of them, was given their button boxes. During my antiquing I found these two old jars. I put my grandma's buttons in one, and old wooden spools in another. The red-velvet topped metal box belonged to my maternal grandma, and the strawberry pin cushion belonged to my paternal grandmother.

A great way to use an existing peg hanger to store all my ribbon spools. Makes them easy to see and get to.

And last but not least, I made a towel hanger for my boys at their level. One can never be to young to be taught to be tidy, so now my 4 year old can start hanging up his own towel. I'm all about one less thing for me to pick up!

My Craft Is Back...Maybe

More micro-preemie hats intended for Calvin's Hats.

Let me be perfectly clear about something. I am organized. I am crafty and creative. I am driven. It was not uncommon awhile back for me to start in on a project and be so focused and driven that I would stay up until 3am to see it finished. No biggie to drag myself out of bed at 6am to get ready for work after 3 hours sleep. I'm tough.

Then I had kids, became a stay-at-home-mom and life became a bit chaotic. While I'd never, ever wish to NOT have my children, one of the struggles I've battled with since they joined the ranks has been the forced change of my organized self. My crafty and creative self has suffered a tad bit in the last 4 years....this is because I'm not one to "let my house go", and I've found with kids in the equation, being crafty can turn to chaos pretty quickly. It is utterly amazing what two innocent children can do to one room in less than 60 seconds while I've got my head bent over my sewing machine. Then there is the whole concept of being driven enough to claw out from under the mounds of laundry, toys, dishes and every day cleaning and schedules and have enough energy left over to apply toward something creative. Ha! Well, let's just say that sometimes it is just much easier to park my rear on the couch with a bowl of potato chips to watch the Grey's Anatomy hotness happening on screen. Oh, and let me be clear about something else. The sleep deprivation is certainly still here. Only it is no longer caused from my drive to see a project unfold from start to finish in an uninterrupted manner, but rather because of the drive of my two darling little hoodlums to not let me sleep through a night uninterrupted.

I'm writing this post for my fellow crafters who have felt the same way since children entered the scene. Actually, I'm not sure if I'm writing it to make you feel better or me feel better, so pick whichever one you want. I'm flexible. Regardless, I've made a little vow to myself to document on my blog more of my crafty self. It was originally started as a way to show the online customers I knit for the progress of their orders (yup, I'm a self-taught knitter due to my crunchy tendency that led me to cloth diapering my children). Anyway it might be fun to see my blog morph into something more. I've been reading some really great blogs lately. Pretty Ditty is my latest favorite. As is The Sewing Dork.

This post will focus specifically on work space issues, 'cuz I have 'em. I long for a craft room. A real, live sewing room. One where I can scatter my projects all around me, then walk out and close the door. Or stay in and close the door...even better! Oh, and this make believe craft room will certainly have style AND storage galore! I actually have plans to make this craft room happen in about 2-3 years...when the Super T and Special K are old enough to bunk in the same room. Watch out spare room, Mama's on the prowl!

Ok...moving on. The first step in tackling any project is a cup-o-java to combat the bleary eyes induced by kids. Come to mama, you whipped cream goodness!

The next part is a little depressing for me...I really have no where in our little house to set up shop. I take that back...I have a space, it just isn't inspiring in the least bit. My current make-shift sewing table is our old cast-off living room sofa table that I drug in from the garage the other day. It is a mess with cords and foot pedals going every which way because my little 11 month old Special K loves to make his own "creations of chaos" with them. In the below picture it doesn't look half bad because I hastily straightened it out. Notice the kid's "Art Gallery" above it? That is my $20 solution to the $50 one that Pottery Barn sells. Pat on the back for me.

The next section of my work space is less agreeable with crafting. That being said it also looks pretty good today because it is still morning. By night fall it will look 10x as bad as it does now. It is....drum roll please...my dining room table. Hope no one ever feels the need to eat in this house as our table is never free.


If I need to spread fabric or what have you out, the table is my go-to-gal. Or the floor. Or whatever happens to not be buried under toys, folded (or unfolded) laundry, and general clutter. Oh, and who doesn't need an Astra III rocket and a roll of toilet paper (don't ask) in their crafty space? It's all good.

Now that you see my many challenges, I'll clue you into one more currently intent on impeding me writing this post. Only he's endearing and perfect as he presents his challenge for me, and I'm not biased at all. My 4 year old chatter box, Super T, who is drawing next to the laptop (there really is my rotary cutting mat somewhere under all that mess, by the way, waiting for my next cut of fabric). I'm actually finding this post quite difficult to bang out because I'm being pelted with 101 questions about rockets, volcanoes, lava, germs, stuffy noses, throwing up, and finally, why gold fish crackers don't have more fins on them. Sometimes I think it is a wonder I have a thought to myself! Oh wait, I just had one!

I can't just leave you with my wallowing-in-self-pity-about-my-crafting-challenges. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't leave you with a bit of inspiration too. Because that is what this post is really about...ignoring whatever chaos is going on around you, ignoring those crumbs on the counter you really should wipe up, or perhaps it is the week-old stack of mail you should sort, and instead keep on keepin' on with your crafty inner diva. Out of the mess I described above I created this yesterday:

Marice's version of a summer top that I picked up at a consignment store:

My version that I threw together yesterday. I tackled shirring for the first time! It is now one of my newest favorite sewing techniques and way easier than I dreamed. Try it, you'll like it.(Sorry for the less than stellar pictures. I considered modeling the shirts for a self portrait for about a half a second before deciding that my pasty winter skin would blind you.)

Cheers!

Tiffany