Not the run of the mill craft organization

I'm always trying to figure out new and sometimes different ways to organize my craft supplies.

I try to use things I already have, to keep it inexpensive, but sometimes that's not always the case.

I was browsing through Pinterest the other night...(I try to make it a daily habit!)  and stumbled across some great/unique things to use for all the supplies I have.

There were ways to store your bakers twine...

and card supplies...

organizer from IKEA...(I already have a couple of these!)

a bunch of old fruit boxes made into a shelf.

There was even a fruit basket used for stamps.

Old dressers with missing drawers for fabric storage...

and old wooden soda crates for washi tape.

And then there were just some great industrial looking items for other storage. 

(I find myself sometimes leaning more toward this look than anything.)

All in all, it gave me some new ideas.  When I have a minute (wink, wink...) I'll get to reorganizing my craft space.  Sure would like to have a free minute to get that done!

Friday Five

I have traded one teenage girl for 5 -12 year old boys...doesn't seem even does it?

After track practice, Grace went home to spend the night with a couple of her BFF's and Evan is having his friends over for a belated birthday party.

He turned 12 this past Tuesday.

Three of them are spending the night.

It might get loud., so to escape, I'm picking my first 5 favorites from my Pinterest.com feed today.

This makes me want to buy a house by the sea.    The muted colors are just beautiful.

Just proves all you need to do to any 'ol jar is add some cute paper and a ribbon or twine in this case.  Easy.

My love affair with Coach bags continues.  I don't actually own one because of the price...but I can dream can't I?

This and it's twin would be perfect hanging over the enamel topped table I use as my kitchen island.

and lastly...

I've been doing a lot of dreaming of how I want my new patio out back to look.  I have a table similar to this, only painted...now...for some chairs.

So, what are your 5 favorite things?

What a combination

I had a custom order to do this week for a lady getting married.

She found me through my ETSY shop and asked me to make her some chippy yellow chalkboard frames for her "vintage themed" wedding.

She chose two of my favorite colors for the frames.

Yellow and Grey.

I was excited, and a little nervous.  Will she like them?  Will they fit with her theme?

But anything chippy can't be bad, right?

Especially if it's Grey...

or Yellow...

or both...

They turned out really well, and I plan on making more for the shop.

I've got some ideas for color combos.  What color combo would you pick?

A place for my valuables...

So, since I'm a little slow on the draw, I'm joining a linky party that started YESTERDAY.

I know.

It's alright though.

I got something nice outa the deal.

About 4 or 5 months ago, I picked up this baby at Goodwill for around $3.

It's a jewelry box, even though it looks a little like the old fashioned silverware boxes.

I needed a bigger one than the one I currently have.  NOT that I have a ton of expensive jewelry, but I have alot of costume stuff, and pins and cool rings.

The inside looks like this.

I liked that there were so many different compartments so things wouldn't get all tangled up together.

I also liked the vintage look of it, but knew I could "fix it up" a bit too.

Finally, today, I got around to it.

I pulled out some of my favorite scrapbook paper from October Afternoon.

and some of their embellishments as well.

The old fashioned cards cracked me up.  They were titled, Work at Home, and All the things I've wanted to dye...

I also got out my favorite distressing ink...

and went to town distressing all the papers edges after I had cut them to size.

I just mod podged everything right onto the jewelry box.  It went on like a charm.

I've learned...you can pretty much use mod podge to adhere and seal anything.  Even fabric.

The finished product is great.  I really like it.

So, I'm linking it up to The Vintage Farmhouse's Thursday linky party.

click here to go there.

Come see me and find some other great ideas too.

Happy Weekend.

Why not?

This gorgeously cool weather we've been having has made me want to bake.

All the time.

My freezer is getting full of goodies.

Maybe I'll be ahead for Christmas this year instead of behind like I always am.

I've kinda made it a goal over summer break to  unofficially "fill my freezer" with meals.  I'm also filling it with produce/fruit that's in season, but I wanted to do some meals as well.

I don't know why, but sometimes it's a lot easier to pull a meal out of the freezer than to plan a menu during the work week with sports, meetings, etc.

Today, the kids told me the cookies in the cookie jar were getting hard.  I made them last week, but I guess fresh cookies don't last as long as the processed ones we buy in the store.

I remembered that I recently "pinned" a recipe for cheesecake cookies on Pinterest.

The kids requested that I try that one.

It was the easiest recipe ever!  You can find it here.

It literally took me less than 5 minutes to whip together.

It was like a mini chocolate cheesecake in your mouth!

I didn't have cream cheese in a stick on hand, so I used the whipped cream cheese I had.  It worked just as well...I'm assuming.  I also used mini chocolate chips instead of regular sized ones.

The cookies were a hit.

I'm keeping the recipe.

A Sunnier point of view

The first week of summer break has flown by at a remarkable pace!

We got a lot accomplished, with much more yet to do.

I'm trying to pace myself.

Awhile ago I mentioned that I wanted to repaint the living room.  It's been a very dark brownish/grey since we moved in 6 1/2 years ago.

This week, I finally did it.

I chose Valspar's Kia Caramel as the color.

These pictures unfortunately don't do the room justice.  Every time I wanted to take a pic, the light streaming in from the windows distorted the color...so try your best to visualize.

It's definitely BRIGHTER than I expected, and the room looks alot bigger.  I'm still getting used to it.

The pictures on the left are the before....

I also rearranged the furniture and the things on the walls.  I may do more with that.

My favorite place in the whole room, though is this...

I tried hard to not buy anything new.  I just moved things around and used them in a different way.  Like the berries on the lamp behind the couch...

and the tin Monopoly game box I got at a garage sale years ago.

I still have the desk area to rearrange and fix up before I show it.  I also have more colorful pillows to make for the couch, and a new organizer to make for the desk to hold bills, address books, etc.

But what do you think about the color?

Get out of jail free pass...and some changes

I feel like I've been given a get outta jail free pass.

School is done.  My days are not monopolized by a set work schedule.

NOT that where I was working was bad...I LOVED the people, loved the school...but my house/projects/garden/DIY crafts have suffered greatly all year.

There just isn't enough hours in every day to get things done after work.

Sad but true.

However, now I feel free as a bird.  Free to set my own schedule and do the things I need to accomplish (even if it's just my "own" to-do list.)

I'm starting with rooms.  Something will change in each of the rooms in the house.  It might be small and insignificant, like getting rid of clutter/things not needed anymore...but in other rooms, the look will change as well.

The living room will get a dose of light buttery yellow paint once I nail down the right color.  Grace's room will get some TLC (I'm living with a pre-teen who thinks first the world revolves around her, and second that the room is just one big closet, which means the closet is not the only place where clothes dwell....ah, she's got another thing comin' this summer and she doesn't even know it!), Evan's room will get a mild make-over, and so will our bedroom.

For example...in Grace's room, since she is SO into fashion and New York City (don't know why this particular city keeps popping up in her vocabulary...) we will try this simple craft with her desk.

We will tweak this a little bit.  Her desk is white, but it has big drawers, so I'm thinking I'll use my cricut to make her vinyl New York city names to put on the drawers.  She seems "warm" to this idea, meaning it might change on a moment's notice.  She also wants her room rearranged (a girl after my own heart...I can't stand things the same for too long), and I'm sure there will be many posters from her magazines put up on the walls.

Evan is a harder sell.  As a boy, his room is a dilemma to me.  He is right now into comics, and after I took him to see the new Avenger's movie a month ago, he's into playing with his iron man toys again.
So, I'm thinking this will be framed in his room somewhere...

and maybe I will take the Sunday comics we get once a week and mod podge them onto an initial for his wall.

(an E of course...)
and maybe I'll take the current wooden desk organizer he has and mod podge some comic book pages onto that too.

His will be a gradual process, but I'll post pics with both rooms when done.

All in all, I've got some big ideas floating around in my head, and it feels good, cause I've finally got my craft mojo back.

Oh, and a case of bronchitis, but thanks to my doctor friend in Sunday School class, I've got some meds for the weekend to help me feel better.

Tomorrow, it's gonna be 93 degrees.  Yuck.  I think I'll get some frames spray painted!

What are your weekend plans?

A Sunny Disposition

I have high hopes for some changes come summer break.

I've got 7 days till it all begins.

Frankly, I can't wait!

The color of my living room needs some updating.

It's been the same dark grayish/brown since we moved in 6 years ago.  It doesn't feel very soft and tends to be very dark.

I was thinking of a sunny/farmhouse yellow.

Once I saw Stacey's at a sort of Fairytale, I HAD to copy her.

It's Behr's Frosted Lemon, and it's beautiful!  Just the right shade of light with a tad of color.  Not too yellow.

My room has touches of yellow and red now, I just want to increase the amount of both.
Like this picture at hgtv.com

or this one.

I'm gonna need some yellow pillows

and even some union jack ones of course.

I'll get right on that with some fabric scraps I have.

These flowers have the right inspirational color combo.

Now, where to find the Behr paint...