Valentine Cards for my Friends

I have a group of girlfriends from college with whom I keep in touch.  None of us lives near each other, so I thought I'd send them each a Valentine card just for fun.

These came together fairly quickly.  The front says "Loads of Love!" and the inside sentiment is "friends for the long haul" - which certainly describes our friendship.  

Although we usually keep in touch via facebook, I think it's fun to get "real" mail in your "real" mailbox these days, don't you?

February Birthday Cards

It's officially February and that means a lot of birthdays in my family.  Here's a peek at some of the birthday cards I've been making.

This one is for my niece Kayla, who is turning 11.  She's really into soccer, so I thought she'd appreciate a more sporty card.

One for my brother-in-law.  We won't say how old he is turning.  I always find it more difficult to make cards for guys, don't you?  I thought this striped paper was more masculine while still being festive.

And finally, a more girly one for my sister-in-law.

Then I had a friend who was turning thirty and she wasn't overly excited about it.  So I made her this:

The "30 sucks" idea was circulating around Pinterest lately and I just couldn't resist making my friend laugh.

The Kids' Area of the Craft Room

I have two boys and they have their own area in my newly reorganized craft room. 

Before the reorganization, they had a nice table and chair set (that we got free!) but it was always buried under piles of stuff.  I kept the table and chairs, but made better use of the vertical space with another tall shelf from Target. (It's the same as I used in the craft closet.)

I mostly re-used containers , but the turquoise bin on the bottom shelf and the 2 white bins on the top shelf are new.  Some of the containers are shoeboxes reinforced with blue duct tape.  The main difference is that now, everything has a home, and it's all labeled. (Labels printed from here.)  All of the markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, etc are corralled in one bin with several smaller containers inside it.  In theory, the boys should be able to get their own crafting items and put them away when they are done. (Ha!)

There used to be a bulletin board over their table where they could hang projects they wanted to keep.  It ended up looking very cluttered, so I removed it.  I would like to give them a display area, though.  I'm thinking of getting a towel rack and threading onto it curtain rings with clips on them.  They can hang their artwork from the clips. (Something like this?)  I think it might look neater than a bulletin board.

We'll be testing out their new craft space soon when we make Valentines for their classmates!

Reorganized Craft Area

My craft area is all put together finally!  The project took a couple weeks, but it was totally worth it.  Check out the shocking before and after:

I admit, I didn't make any attempt to clean up the area for the "before" picture, but it is a realistic depiction of what it looked like.  Yikes.  Way too much stuff on the walls, inadequate work table, and haphazard storage. It's no wonder I had a hard time getting inspired in there.

But now!

The table is from IKEA. It's called the Vika Amon Table Top.  You buy the legs separately so you can customize the table to your needs.  It comes in several finishes and sizes, too.  I wanted basic white for a clean surface on which to create.

The pink caddy holds the tools I use the most often.  I'm working on a winter scrapbook page and that's spread all over the table.  Under the table in the corner, I stuffed my rolling scrapbooking tote that I use to haul supplies to crops.  It fits perfectly in there.  The stool is perfect for me (rather than a chair) so I can spin around and face the table or the shelves. And because I often like to stand when I scrap.

My husband helped put together the shelves: two Besta Shelf Units from IKEA.  I liked that they had adjustable shelves because most shelves aren't made for large 12x12 scrapbooking items.  My things were large, so I ended up only using some of the shelves and have 4 left over.  (My husband says he can use them to make shelves on the wall if I'd like.  Hmmm, maybe!)  I also like that the shelf units are low so that they can double as additional work surface.

Right next to the table, I store my pages in progress, my paper and my stamps.  I found turquoise storage boxes at Target and also reused most of my organizing containers from before.  I printed customized labels from the Better Homes and Gardens website.  They are printed right on to sticky labels so I could just stick them on my containers.  (And they were turquoise!)  Cards that I've completed are on the top of the unit. 

The other end of the shelf unit holds more stamps, my kids' school-year albums-in-progress, and my cutting tools.  I wanted the Cricut and other cutting tools to be closer to my work table, but alas, the location of the power outlets didn't cooperate.  But now I think it works better this way anyway.

So now I have a functioning craft room.  I just need to inject some personality and color!  Because the shelf unit is low, there is a vast amount of wall space above it that currently looks very bare!  Since it is a craft room, I plan to make something to hang on the walls, I just don't know what that will be yet.  

I have to show this tray I found at IKEA, though:

Isn't it too cute?  I love birds.  Owls are my favorite, but the office area on the other end of this room was decorated with peacock accessories.  So any suggestions for what to hang on the walls are welcome!  Should I take up my husband's offer for more shelves (maybe above the table)?  Should I make some framed, bird-related art?  Maybe a Bible verse?  Family photos?   Something unexpected like a wreath?

Reorganized Office Area

I am so happy to finally have, not only a functioning office area, but a pretty one as well.

Top Three Transformations:

1. Cleared off the clutter and purged the contents of the filing cabinet.

2. Painted the filing cabinet. (I wrote about that in this post.)

3. Added some peacock accessories to make me smile.

Now I can easily fit my laptop and printer ON MY DESK.  I know, crazy, right?  It's almost a pleasure to pay bills now.  Almost.  It is my goal to keep this desk surface as uncluttered as possible so as to not return to that horrible "before" picture above.

I still have that ugly (but free!) office chair and I'm on the lookout for an inexpensive new one.

Sources:
Peacock feather wreath - Michael's after-Christmas clearance ($7 marked down from $25!!)
Peacock candelabra - Christmas gift from Pier 1
Turquoise magnetic dry-erase board and lamp - Target
Turquoise vase - IKEA

Reorganized Craft Closet

Well, I haven't been posting very often because I have been working to get my craft room organized!  As you can see from the photo above, the closet portion of my room needed some serious help.  I was using a lot of plastic tubs, which are great, but I just had them stacked on top of each other.  Inevitably, I'd need something from the bottom-most tub and it would take quite a while to unearth it.

So I bought two shelving units from Target.  One is tall for the portion of the closet that is full-ceiling height. It holds some seasonal decorations and my wrapping stuff.

 

The other is shorter for the under-the-stairs portion. This one holds pictures and frames, candles and candle holders.  The stuff in the corner is rarely used, but I can still get at it better than I could before.

Then I rearranged all the drawers I had in the closet already.  The dresser and filing cabinet hold fabric.  The other drawers hold various craft supplies.  But the good thing is that they are all cleaned out and labeled so I don't have a bunch of things I no longer use and I can find everything quickly!  And I can even walk in the closet now!

My sewing machine is on a rolling cart just inside the door to the closet.  I did that on purpose because I usually roll the machine out in front of the TV in the family room if I'm doing any serious sewing.  If it's just a quick sewing project, I can bring a stool into the closet and sew right there.

Works for me!

Paper Silhouette Valentine Decoration

Here's a fairly easy project for homemade Valentine's Day decor: paper silhouettes.  These are my two boys, but you could also make one of your spouse or even your dog.

My youngest boy

 The square frames are 7x7 and I purchased them at Michael's a few years back during the after-Christmas clearance. (Since I have red in my living room and kitchen, I buy a lot of things on clearance after Christmas and Valentine's Day!)  The frames came with the red and white mats with a 4x4 opening for a photo.  You could use whatever frame you have and just use cardstock to surround your silhouette.

My oldest boy

Silhouette steps:

• Take a photo of your subject in profile.  Having a mostly blank background makes future steps easier, but it's not required.  Also, the quality of the photo doesn't really matter because you'll just be using the shape - not the actual photo.  
• Print the photo. (Again, quality doesn't matter so you can just print it on regular paper if you want.)  
• Temporarily tape the photo onto some black cardstock.  
• Cut out your silhouette, through the photo paper and the black paper at the same time, using the photo as your guide.  
• Carefully un-stick the photo, flip over the cardstock, and you are left with a lovely black silhouette.

Valentine Mantel

 I taped the silhouette onto white paper using scrapbook tape.  Then I used a paper punch to get the heart shape and I layered it on using foam tape so it sticks up a little.  Insert your project into your frame and you're done!

Side note: The little black frames were purchased in the dollar bin at Michael's.  The "love" letters were cut out using my Cricut, glued onto gray cardstock, and inserted into the frames.