Craft Room

Posted By: Kristi

My craft room is coming together, here is a sneak peak!

I am hoping next week I will be able to show you the entire room. I am LOVING it!

Craft Room Table/Desk

Posted By: Kristi

Brrrrrr, it's cold here! I am snuggled up in blankets as I type this with hopes of snow. I have many projects to work on but most of them require me to be outside and that is not something I am interested in, like I said...brrrrrrr! Plus, many of the projects I am doing use paint and they wouldn't dry right in these temperatures. So, this leaves me with inside projects. That is fine too, I have plenty to do inside the house.

This last summer I decided to make a craft room for myself in our garage. In the summer it was the perfect place for it. Carson is always outside in the summer so I don't feel alone. In the winter I hate going out there, I love spending time around Carson (even when I do my projects) and he is inside while I am out there in the winter. It wasn't working out. We have an extra bedroom downstairs that I could use until we have a second child. We don't even have a first child yet so since that will be a while, I decided to move my craft room back into the house. This is also the room that guests will stay in when they visit. It will serve a couple purposes. I am getting closer to having everything setup, once it is complete I will post pictures. I am loving it and can't wait to get creative in my new space. The only thing I need now is a desk. I had one in the garage but it is way too large for my little room. I have all dark furniture in my craft room so I knew I wanted a white desk to brighten the room so it felt larger. I began my search.

The first desk that caught my eye was the Micke Desk from Ikea, priced at $69.00.

I love the clean lines and the price is perfect. But I wasn't sure about the size. I used painters tape and taped off the area (the size of the desk) where the desk would sit. It wasn't bad but I realized that I would like something a little longer and more narrow. I continued my search.

Next, I found the Besta Burs desk from Ikea, priced at $269.

Again, I loved the clean lines on this one. The size is perfect and the high gloss is a favorite of mine. However, $269 seems a little steep. I was having a hard time at this point because I was really LOVING this desk and felt like caving and buying it but then I found the Malm Occasional Table, also from Ikea. The Malm has a price tag of $79.99, much better!

It isn't high gloss and doesn't have drawers but drawers are not a must so I am ok with that. It is however, longer than the Besta Burs and one inch more narrow. With a $79.99 price tag, it is perfect! I am pretty sure this is the one I will be buying and I am pretty dang excited about it.

I know this is something I could easily DIY but I have too many other projects to get done so I decided not to go this route. Do you have a desk you love? Something I should buy?

How to Make a Tutu - Tutorial

Posted By:  Stephanie

See this super cute girl?  She belongs to my friend Breanna at Dollar Store Mom.  If you haven't been to her site yet you're missing out.  She has all kinds of tips and tricks on how to be the best mom, on a budget.

When we were invited to her birthday party at the end of September I knew I wanted to find something girly for her, something she could dress up in.  When we went through the girly isles of the store I found this skirt which was $20.  Being that we are on a budget and I also didn't feel that the skirt was as cute as it could be for that money I ventured onto the craft isle to get supplies to make my own.  A friend of ours had gifted a tutu to Little Lou at my baby shower so I went off that one for direction on how to make a tutu for the birthday girl.

I picked out two colors of tulle that I thought would look good together and ribbon to match the lighter color. You can make a tutu with one color or multiple, it's up to you.

I cut two pieces at the same time on top of each other to the size I wanted and then used those as a guide for the rest.  When determining the length you are cutting remember that the length is going to be half of what you cut, it stretches some and think about how tall the person is you're making it for.  When making this one I cut 24 inch pieces knowing that it would be a bit long, I wanted it to fit her longer than a couple months.

To make this process a bit easier I pinned the ribbon on the shelf brackets.  Most people don't have their craft room in a closet but you can find something else to pin it to if you feel the need.  Personally I feel this made the process so much easier.

See below for instructions on how to put the tulle on the ribbon.  I have learned after making this one that you can also use elastic instead of ribbon if you choose.

Once complete you have a cute tutu for an even cuter child.

With Christmas coming up this would be a great gift for the little girls you have planned to purchase gifts for.

Binder Clip Photo Holders and Giveaway

Posted By:  Stephanie

* Giveaway *

Follow us publicly via Google Friend Connect on the right sidebar and be entered to win a $20 gift card to Amazon!  The winner will be randomly selected at 150 followers.  If you are already a follower you are automatically entered to win.  For instructions on how to follow click here.

Back to the Binder Clip Photo Holders:

I love when I get a few minutes to put a quick craft together.  On this rare day (yesterday) Little Lou took about a 45 minute nap which she is doing less of lately so I was able to get to work in my craft room and make binder clip photo holders.  Fun thing about this is that if you have a need for a cute binder clip you can always take the photos out and use them to hold your papers with style.

How I made my binder clip photo holders:

First I measured the clip.

I happened to have three large clips to work with.  I would have loved to have jumbo clips but this is what was at our Dollar Tree, so I went with it.  Once I measured the size of the clip where I wanted the paper I cut two pieces for each clip, one for each side.

Next I got out the handy, dandy Mod Podge and a small paint brush.

*Side note - Once I finished this project I cleaned everything up and the paint brush is missing.  Like NOWHERE to be seen which is weird because my craft room is very clean and organized.  I don't get it.*

Paint a layer of Mod Podge onto the clip to use as adhesive for the paper.

Place the paper on the clip.  I followed the same steps and put the paper on both sides before continuing.

Paint a layer of Mod Podge on the top of the paper on both sides to seal it.

Here are my three clips once I finished all of them.  I let them dry for a few minutes before I put them to use.

See the picture on the right side?  That is Kristi (left) and I (right) when she was 7 and I was 5.  I just love this picture because we're wearing the bows our mom used to make us.  Memories, memories.

Speaking of memories, every time I think of Halloween after the year our little sister Samantha was a witch I always think of her in this costume that our mom made.  She was the CUTEST friendly witch of all time.  I wish my mom still had this costume so that Little Lou could wear it next year, I'll have to ask her but I think it's long gone.

I loved having pictures in my craft room while I was testing out my new photo holders so I decided to keep them in there for now along with Lou's canvas painting that she made featured in this weeks Toddler Tuesday.  I'll have to give it up when her big girl room is done but she may have to make me a replacement.

I am guest posting today over at Nap Time Is My Time, you should go over there and check out Emily's blog, she has a lot of great posts and some fun linky parties too.

Have a great day!

Closet Turned Craft Room

Posted By:  Stephanie

OH MY GOODNESS, I have my own CRAFT ROOM!  I was originally supposed to have my craft space in our laundry room but that just wasn't working out.  My space kept being taken over and I didn't get to use my craft space, not even once.  I finally got to the point where I thought enough was enough and I needed to officially have my own little corner for my crafting fun.  I talked to Will about my idea to move our things in the closet into the laundry room (more on that later) and then turn our closet into my craft room.  I was SO pleased when he agreed completely and was happy to help with the change.

There is still a lot to be done to make the room my own but this is what it looks like so far.  In the before my clothes are not  in the picture because I thought to snap it after all my clothes had already been taken out, they were on the right.  Please notice how crisp and white the room looks in the after picture.  My way awesome husband painted the room for me and I didn't even have to ask!  Previously it was a dull wall paper with some funky stripes.  Not anymore yahoo!

See those pink crates?  Those are brand new from Walmart.  I was so excited when Will and I found these for $1 each, regular price $3.49 each.  Sweet savings!  I wanted something to be able to put all my supplies because I don't have drawers and I wanted to be able to make the shelf look a little more uniform and organized.

We could have taken down the shelf but I actually decided I wanted to keep it there so that I can store things on it if I would like, or maybe I'll use it to display things eventually.  I'm not sure yet but I thought that if we took them down I would be sorry.  Lets be honest, it would have been a lot more work too.  I may eventually take down the one rod that we left up, but for now I think I may end up using it to organize some of my things.  I'll post about that when and if the time comes too.  Will put this shop light in the room for me so that I would have plenty of light when working on my projects.  He put in a bulb that is like natural light which is nice because there isn't a window.  It works great!

Will ran the cord to the light down the wall in the corner and it plugs in under the desk in my extension cord.  There aren't plug ins in the closet my craft room so the extension cord is plugged in out of the room right around the corner in our bedroom.  I will just pull the plug in the room when I'm not using it so that isn't not out the door all the time.  The table is from Ikea.

I got the small black crates at Walmart too.  I'm not using them yet but I'm sure I will be very soon.

This is my super exciting purchase that Will convinced me I should really get it I wanted it, and I DID!  I've been wanting one of these for awhile and I'm glad I waited until I had my craft room to get it.  I think that made it even more exciting.  I will eventually hang it on the wall, I'm just waiting to use the room for a bit so I know exactly where I want it.

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to have my new craft room!  Thank you Will for being such a great support of my crafting and my need/want for a craft space.  Thank you even more for painting and installing that light!  I love you!