She's Crafty

Yes, I LOVE the Beastie Boys and as we speak, I am donning a T-shirt with the words "She's Crafty"  on it given to me by my best friend (the second biggest Beastie fan.)  Although, I am fairly certain that the boys did not mean that "she" was good with a glue gun, and my name is not Lucy, the song will forever be a part of the soundtrack of my life.
Being crafty sometimes means being messy (at least for me) but I am determined to change all of  that.  This year, I vowed to get my paints ducks all in a row and create a place for every little thing in my craft room/office space.  It is a huge work in progress and hopefully some time this year, I will be able to do a big happy dance reveal. But for now, in the still lingering spirit of my spring cleaning/organization kick, I will share some of my "mini" projects.
I have been seeing a lot of gift wrapping "centers" around the blogosphere.  I had always had extra paper, cards, ribbon and tissue laying around, but never really in one spot and organized.  I decided that I would put everything in an over the door organizer on the back of my office door.  Well, that was easier said than done.   Numerous trips to my local home store (which shall remain nameless since usually they are pretty good at having something that could be jerry-rigged) resulted in a major wiff out.  I had all but given up and then I spotted this at Walmart:

an ADJUSTABLE over the door organizer !!!! Genius and just $17, it doesn't get much better (at least in my sad world.)  The only problem is that since it was wire, I would have to find boxes that fit into the spaces for my gift bags and tissue paper, etc. so that it wouldn't fall through the cracks...hmmmm.... and then I had an idea!  I had just read about DIY boxes in one of my favorite blogs I Heart Organizing and decided I would try it.  I actually used the box that the organizer came in because I knew it would fit perfect depth wise: 

Unfortunately, it was a little to wide so I had to cut a little off, and I duck taped the entire open side to create a full box.  The next step was to cover it inside and out with scrap material that I already had.  It wasn't really the prettiest sight at this point. 

But then I added some ribbon:

and finally, you know those canvas closet organizers? The kind that work really great for about 5 years, and then they start to sag? Well, mine started to sag (story of my life)  and since I can't bear to throw anything away, and suspected that I might be able to repurpose the material, I had one laying around.  The piece that I used was actually the top of it that the two hangers went through to attach to the pole.  I just put a ribbon through the holes.  

Not too shabby!  And luckily I found a wicker basket at Goodwill for $1.99 that fit absolutely perfect.  I just embellished the top and the botton with some ribbon.

And the finished project: 

For details, I added Martha Stewart labels from Staples and some ribbon run through the wire.

Oh! and No! I decided not to put my rolls of wrapping paper in this organizer for many reasons, but the most important being that they would not fit.  So I bought a wastebasket at Walmart for around $4, embellished with some matching ribbon, tied up the rolls with yarn and stuck the basket close by. 

And there you have it! She's crafty.. and she's just my type........

  

Spring is here!

Yes, I am in TOTAL denial, and it's where I'm living for the next few weeks.  Valentine brought me home the most beautiful Hyacinth which took her throne on my kitchen windowsill.

Don't tell either one of us (me or Queen Hyacinth) that it's still Winter.  I am blissfully unaware of anything that goes on beyond the window pane when I look at Her.  Stunning.
So it's full blown Spring Fever up inside here with symptoms of cleaning and organizing.

First up, I showed some love to the inside of my kitchen cabinets.  I thought I would spare you the before pictures of all my redundant and expired foods and since I am new at this, I am still a little shy about revealing my dirty little secrets.  No! Not really.  I just didn't get any before pics but trust me, it wasn't pretty.

But THIS is !

Although, that candy basket looks a little disheveled. Hmmmmm.

Anyway, these baskets are from Walmart. The three on the left are medium sized and the four on the right are small sized.  They come three in a package for the small,  two in a package for the mediums and they also have one large one for $3.97!  I think a SUPER deal.  The "jars" at the bottom are twist off tops and are actually plastic. Bonus for anyone with little ones who will climb any mountain (or cabinet) for Goldfish.  They are also from Walmart, come in different sizes and are cheap, somewhere in the $2 neighborhood.  The labels are Martha Stewart Chalkboard Labels that I got at Staples and attached to some scrap cardstock and then tied on with some twine.  I did use the chalk that comes with the chalkboard labels at first, but it wipes off way too easy and I just ended up with a mess and still noone could find anything.  Do yourself a favor and buy a chalkboard marker, they will not only write on chalkboard but vinyl, lightboards, glass and probably much more!  Well worth it.  I also attached some ribbon to the shelf fronts with Velcro because, well, why not?  I really love this ribbon, it was exactly the same size and I first saw the idea on one of my fave blogs A Thoughtful Place.  I do plan on "finishing" this cabinet with some colorful graphic contact paper in the back but I really want to get the cabinets painted first.  Different project, different day.  It's been so far, so good with this setup and even the typically-resistant-to-change husband poured the box of Goldfish into the container after shopping day.  Hey Mikey, he likes it! (remember that one?) 

So...that's the start of my Spring.  Has denial been productive for anyone else?

What would you do?

My sister is trying to update her foyer and the first thing that she would like to tackle is the armoire. It will have the biggest impact since it is the first thing that you see when you walk through her front door. She is leaning towards painting it a neutral color but I am desperately trying to convince her to really make a statement with a bold choice. The problem is that her husband will not even entertain the idea of changing the stair runner any time in the near future...bummer.

I have my ideas on how to pretty 'er up, what do you think?  

Feel free to leave a comment below. you could be the inspiration for this transformation! Stay tuned for the "after" reveal.

Nana

Way before Martha Stewart, Pinterest and Etsy, there was my grandmother.  Crafting even before the term crafting was coined,  she could do ANYTHING.  Famous for her Christmas Tree skirts and knitted afghans, she made one of each for all of her children (3) and grandchildren (9.)  Then there were the countless items of clothing she "spruced up" with paint, or studs, sparkles and leather of which both she and my grandfather proudly adorned.  She didn't need no stinkin' Bedazzler!  Handmade gifts in handmade boxes that held cereal and crackers in a past life.  Christmas ornaments made out of cards and photos (of which still hold a place of honor on my tree year after year),  doll clothes, people clothes, photo albums meticulously labelled and prettied up with decorative frames she would cut out of cardboard or paper, keeping her hands always busy.  She would take coffee cans, vitamin jars and old film containers, cover them with contact paper and VOILA! a pencil holder, paperclip storage, and jewelry safe keepers.  She was magic.
And the cakes...truly saving the best for last, not only were they delicious, exactly whatever was your favorite at the time, but decorated so beautifully and sometimes so complicated, that you almost couldn't bear to cut into them.  But Grampa, having been there throughout the entire cake making process and who loved Nana's cakes more than all of us combined, could always be counted on to wield the knife and become the executioner.  And to make sure that there was not a morsel of guilt hanging around the table, he would say "she can make another one tomorrow" as if she just twinkled her nose and POOF, there appeared perfection.  I guess in a way that's how we all looked at it.  This was our norm.  Nana was Nana, she could whip up whatever, whenever, didn't all grandmothers do that?
When I was young, I often thought it very strange that I had none of her characteristics.  She had these amazing green eyes that were so clear, sparkly and true.  True green eyes that hid nothing.  As a girl and young lady, she had this to-die-for luscious auburn hair and dimples that didn't need a smile to shine.  She was also built perfectly for hugs.  When she put her arms around me, I could feel myself let go; of sadness, fear, anger, uncertainty and know in an instant that possibly everything would be alright.  I believe that there was and never will be a safer place on earth.

We said "see ya later" to her in August of last year. It is my biggest heartbreak.

I now realize though, brown eyed and all, I am undeniably my grandmother's, granddaughter.  She handed down her gift of passion and love for creativity. She is there in every one of my projects.  I may not have gotten the dimples, but I got the BEST part of her

Happy Birthday Nana

Templates and Gadgets and Widgets, Oh My!

Wow, so starting a blog was not as easy as it looked! Although in full disclosure, I am a Capricorn (perfectionist) which means that I spend WAY too much time agonizing over minute details that more than likely only I will notice. (At least that's what I like to tell myself at late o'clock when I am tired, cranky and DONE.) But I did want to give a shout out to some websites that were helpful to me in my early tweaking.

The Real Blogger Status
betshopboy.net
StramaXon
Beautiful Dawn Designs

These people are SUPER smarty pants but don't be intimidated, their tutorials are easy to follow and translated into non-"techy" terms so that even the most technically challenged (me) are able to understand and apply them to their blogs.
I obviously have a lot more learning to do but just as in life, the time comes when you must take the leap and figure the rest out as you go.  So here goes...on three......one...two...THREEEEEEEEE !

Sunburst Mirror

Yes, I realize that I am Jenny-come-lately to the sunburst mirror but haven't they been around since the 17th century? Would that not make it the epitome of a classic? And since I am all about the retro and classic, I just HAD to make one for myself.

Honestly though, I didn't think it all the way through when I decided to use these ultra thin tropical reeds (purchased from Hobby Lobby)... MAN OH MAN !!!!

So 200+ of these babies glue-gunned to the back of one of these mirrors (this picture is of a set from Walmart but I actually got mine at Christmas Tree Shop)

ended up looking like this:

I liked it, and may have even given up left it in its "natural" state but the 8 dowels that I had attached prior to adding the bamboo sticks really stuck out and my original vision had been a gold sunburst mirror after all... So I grabbed my spray paint and here she is:

Totally worth it! Even if I am four centuries behind the trend :)